0325 ⤅ stray kids leeknow

part five - pieces

Seungmin's POV; 0328

"Hyung, you might wanna come see this..."

I rolled my eyes at Jeongin calling from the room next to me. Whatever this was, it better be important; I was in the middle of a call with Hyunjin.

"Hang on, I'll be right back, okay?" Hyunjin giggled and answered, 'alright'.

The television was all I heard as I walked into the room.

"An investigation has opened up regarding the murder-suicide of a married couple in their suburban home this past Sunday. A tip from an eye witness has been provided, the witness claiming it wasn't that at all, but a homicide. They say that they saw the killer huddled in the room where his parents were killed while holding the gun. That's right, the leading suspect in this new case is the victims' son, Lee Minho."

I clutched onto the back of the couch where Jeongin was sitting and made eye contact with him, his expression that of disbelief and utter shock.

"The defendant has since disputed the claims against him and has provided his version of events that night," the reporter continued, "While we'd love to report this, the Seoul Police Department has asked to keep this information disclosed for now. Though, rumors of a trial have started up."

"No!"

Jeongin shouted and stood up, throwing the cushion he was hugging to the floor.

"No! No way, Seungmin! This can't be right. We know what we saw... he wasn't even there!"

I grabbed the remote and turned off the television — as the news had transitioned to a story of a baby elephant born in the Seoul Zoo — and I instinctively walked towards him to calm him down, but he pushed me away from him.

"It was you, wasn't it! You went to the police and made up some bullshit story, huh!" Jeongin threw the pillow at me now, wishing he could do more damage. "Whatever the fuck you think you saw is wrong, Seungmin! I can't believe you'd go to them without letting me know!"

"Oh my God, Jeongin," I whined, "I didn't lie to the police, it must have been someone else. Innie, I didn't even know the guy, stop jumping to conclusions."

"Oh sure, Seungmin, I totally believe you," he rolled his eyes which made me even more pissed off, "You went out the day after the murder and didn't tell me where you were going. You want to gain more attention don't you! Like your dad's wallet isn't enough!"

Of course he would suspect me, but I had only gone out to have coffee with Hyunjin over my job interview. I was nervous about the outcome, so I didn't tell Jeongin in order to spare my embarrassment. Turns out that they're still considering me for the job, and the coffee was a chance for me to answer some follow up questions, but man was it great to get to know Hyunjin more. We've been talking nonstop since that day.

"Jeongin, don't talk about my father like that, ever. You have no clue how hard he works for you and me. How many fucking times are we going to argue over this god damn subject!"

He stood glaring at me with his arms crossed, bouncing his leg up and down so fast that he looked like a toddler about to cry. The thing is, he actually did. Jeongin plopped himself on the couch again, head in his hands as he sobbed, "Seungmin, what the hell are we going to do..."

I sat beside him and rubbed his back, shushing him. His sobs became softer and his breaths shorter. "There you go... it's alright."

"Lee Minho is going to be arrested for something he didn't do, Minnie... worse yet, he's not even in stable condition right now."

I looked up at him confused. There were no reports of him injured or in hospital care. Hell, he wasn't even arrested. Jeongin slowly sat back in his seat and placed his hands on his head, sighing deeply.

"We both saw Minho run down the street and through the front window, and that was after both gun shots went off. Even if he did shoot them, the timing is all wrong. There's no way he could have exited the house and ran all that way just to come back that fast.

"He entered his parents room, and I heard him screaming and crying and saying something I couldn't make out, so I peeked up over the truck, and there he stood in the window, pacing and freaking out. He... picked up the gun — maybe the one his dad used — and he..."

Jeongin's face went pale and his eyes widened.

"He held it up to his head and pulled the trigger... but there weren't any bullets left."

The silence spoke for itself. Neither one of us could force anything from our throats after that, the shock being too overwhelming. I walked back into the bedroom and called a friend of Minho, maybe someone who could help us understand what his mental state was like before the murders.

"Hey, Minnie," a deep Aussie accent came through the line.

"Felix... could you come over... please."

"It's about Min, isn't it," he could read the somberness in my tone just right, and he sounded like he wasn't in the mood for whatever this conversation would be.

"You know him better than Jeongin and me," I pleaded, "and I need you to help me out. All your friends in that car know him right? Do you think they could all come over? There's something we all really need to straighten out."

Felix sighed causing a sound like static to go through.

"You want me to bring all those who were there so we can... talk," he sounded tired, I assumed from the circumstances.

"Felix... Minho is the suspect for an investigation that isn't necessary. Someone thought they saw something but were wrong! We need to figure this out all together," I pleaded. We needed our facts straight if Jeongin and I were to go to the police.

Felix stayed silent for a minute, almost like he was hiding something. "I... I guess maybe..." I waited for him to continue, but he didn't. Instead, the sound of an argument came through the line. Changbin's voice was loud and angry, and Felix sounded panicked. Felix blurted out an, "I gotta go," before abruptly ending the call. I stared down at my phone in disbelief.

"So is he coming?" Jeongin appeared in the doorway behind me.

"Innie, who all was there that night."

"Well, me and you, Felix, and Changbin, um- Woojin! I remember him, because he introduced himself to us. And uh... oh, the guy who brought Minho out of the house."

We locked eye contact as the realization both dawned on us.

"Chan." I whispered.