Entranced

Silent Pranksters, Raining Papers, and Gravity

Silent Pranksters, Raining Papers, and Gravity

After Yujeong and Jinye hurriedly brought Jiho out of the trailer, the residents of the Cirque stood around in the still silence that followed.

Watching the commotion down below, Jaehyo had mistakenly hit the switchboard, effectively turning off the music and colourful lights, leaving the Big Top feeling suddenly empty and stripped of its eccentric glory. He dashed downstairs after hearing the shouts, and by the time he did, both Jiho and the man who had assault him were not there.

Running his hands through his hair, he looked at the rest, who were seating in scattered spots of the Big Top, leaving the four remaining eldest members of the circus gathered at the stage. Jaehyo's eyes trailed after the maknaes playing tag and the lone rookie police officer watching them awkwardly. He turned to his right, nudging Minhyuk who was quiet.

"Well that was scary," he said in a low voice.

"It won't happen again," Namjoon interrupted, "I'm telling Mr. Shin. The Presidential Guard is a joke, recruiting a bunch of pansies playing dirty every chance they get." Jin sighed next to him, patting his shoulder.

Taeil looked up, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. "That was the President Guard unit?" he asked in wonder, "But aren't they supposed to be, like, calm and cool?"

Solbin, the only woman out of them, giggled. "Like, smart men in black?"

Namjoon's smirk told her otherwise.

"Whoever that was, he's crazy," she said, plopping onto one of the seats, "Jiho's been fine all week, what he was saying, that he shot him? I mean, seriously!"

"Rumor has it that he was at the Underground a couple of nights ago," Jin piped up, "We got a call from – what was his name again, Namjoon?"

"Cho called me personally," Namjoon said grimly, and the elder members shot a quick glance at Minhyuk before looking away.

But of course, he noticed. "Cho's irrelevant," he commented, as Sungmin suddenly appeared behind them breathlessly, his clown-painted face scrunched up into a confused expression.

"Who's Cho?" he asked, startling the elders.

"Hush, kid," Taeil said, "He's no one. Just part of the Underground. Go and practice."

"I don't want to."

"Sungmin," Minhyuk said piercingly, "Go away."

The boy looked at him in surprise, struck by the intensity in his voice. He turned pink as the other elders watched him, and scurried away out of their presence as Jihoon yelled at him from across the room.

Taeil glanced at Minhyuk out of the sides of his eyes, still talking to Namjoon. "Did you go see whether his claim was true?"

The police officers looked at each other. "We did road blocks, and we've got the President Guard there, but so far we didn't see Jiho or the girl, and Cho himself didn't have any proof although he said his men beat Jiho up," Jin said, "This case is taking a toll on my system. I'm having too many dark circles these days." He rubbed at his face.

"Even so," Jaehyo murmured, "What good would it do if Jiho was with the Shin girl? It's not as if he could bring her here and we'd not notice. Are you positive it was him anyway? I'm starting to think that the maniac that attacked him just now has the wrong guy."