RENDEZVOUS | chanbaek

SIX

Chanyeol took a calming breath before dialing the number, and waiting a few moments before hearing the beautifully hypnotic voice from the night before; Chanyeol felt his body reacting to the sweet sound as flashes from the night before flickered inside his head. He had to calm his breathing and inhale a steadying breath before he was able to speak.

"Hello, is this . . . Byun Baekhyun?" Chanyeol asked after glancing down at the card to be sure.

"Yes, to whom am I speaking with?" he asked.

Chanyeol bit his bottom lip and gave a fake alias before saying, "I saw the report on TV about the body that was found, and heard you were looking for information on the case, is that correct?"

"Yes, do you have any information that'll help us solve the case?"

"Yes, I was a witness."

+ + +

ONE HOUR LATER

"Chanyeol, this is . . ." Jongin trailed off.

"Insane," Minseok finished quietly.

"Yeah, completely and utterly insane," Jongin said. "What is even your plan?"

"You'll see . . ." Chanyeol replied in a low voice, with a tiny inkling in his eye that screamed trouble.

Jongin bit his lip and Minseok cringed as Chanyeol stepped forward onto his stage. He was setting yet another example, and this time, everyone had to watch.

Chanyeol crouched down in front of the man he had spoken to earlier on the phone, who was now bound to a chair that had been bolted into the cement, with rope tying his hands and legs and to the chair legs. Chanyeol pursed his lips as he stared into his eyes, manically satisfied at the look of fear in his eyes.

Chanyeol smiled and gently reached out to caress his cheek as he whispered, "Tell me what you did wrong?"

"S–some–someone saw me," they breathed.

"Exactly, now the police are sniffing around for answers that will lead them back to us. So what are you going to do about that?" Chanyeol asked softly.

They gulped and whispered, "F–fix it."

"How are you going to fix it?"

"B–by feeding them a fake story."

"What's the story?" Chanyeol asked as he slowly pulled out his black leather gloves, that had the man gulping and tears running down his cheeks as he cried.

"I w–was walking when I–I saw a homeless man m-mugging the dead guy, but h–he wouldn't give up, so the homeless man k–killed him for his wallet. I tried running away, but the homeless man b–beat me up to so b–badly that I–I was hos–hospitalized and couldn't tell the police about what I s–saw until I was re–released."

Chanyeol malicious grin widened as he purred, "Good job," and then his fist connected to the man's jaw, and the first crack of breaking bone filled the deathly silence; screaming and begging soon ensued.

+  +  +

FOUR HOURS LATER

Baekhyun turned off his GPS when he reached the park, and cut the ignition in his car before climbing out. He thought it was weird that the witness to the investigation of a homicide wanted to meet in a park instead of the station, but then again, if it was gang related maybe whoever it was was just trying to save their own ass.

Baekhyun sighed as he walked over the dewy grass to a park bench, he laid his coat down onto the damp wood so he's jeans wouldn't get wet, and then all there was left to do was wait for his witness to appear. He was scrolling through his unread text messages from Sehun when a dark shadow descended over him, and curiously, he glanced up only for his jaw to drop in horror.

Baekhyun immediately jumped to his feet as he cried, "Holy shit—- I mean, mhm, excuse me. Hello, are you my ominous tipper?"

"Are you Byun Baekhyun?" they asked around the soreness in their jaw.

Baekhyun nodded. "Yes, and you . . . have information for me, correct?"

They nodded. "I do."

Baekhyun nodded, and tried not to stare as he said, "If you'd like, we can reschedule this for tomorrow because um . . ."

The man sighed and grimaced as he replied, "No, I'll be okay. I've been wanting to give my eyewitness account since the beginning but I...." He trailed off, and glanced at himself.

Baekhyun did as well, and couldn't help himself when he cringed. His eyewitness looked like hell, with his face an array of black and blue; a split lip and a bandaged forehead cut; a broken arm as well as a broken leg . . . He was a mess, and whoever did it to him definitely didn't want him living to tell it.

The man swallowed roughly before saying, "I was just taking a walk when I noticed a homeless man trying to mug your . . . victim, and when I tried running away he . . . did this so I wasn't immediately able to say anything to help with the case. I'm sorry about that . . ."

Baekhyun shook his head and waved off his apology as he said, "Please, it's okay, I'm just glad you were able to make it out with your life. Thank you so much for your help, and I just need a few more things. First, can you give a description of your attacker? And secondly, the victim was killed with a gun, did you happen to . . . see one?"

"Um, I–I don't recall, everything happened so fast. I'm sorry, but the suspect had long scraggly brown hair and a bread, his clothing was dirty and old and long, and um . . . I–I can't really remember anything else. I'm sorry . . ."

Baekhyun smiled thinly and muttered, "It's alright, thank you once again for your help. I hope you feel better soon." Baekhyun said as he stood up and gave a small bow. He walked back to his car and pulled out his notebook before taking notes about the eyewitness account of the homicide, but things still weren't sitting right. Pieces of the puzzle were still missing; things didn't quite add up; and despite Baekhyun's strong desire to write the case off as a homeless man committing a murder, the wounds the victim had sustained seemed too calculated and delicate to be the results of a simple mugging.

Someone was lying, but who?

Word count: 1,036

~ 🌸 ~

A/N: *sighs* Oh Baekkie, you should walk away while you still can . . .

😊

I hope everyone enjoyed the update, and thank you so much for reading, have a lovely day/night!

Love from,
BunnyBaekkiee ❤️