My Baker's Dozen

25

Minghao's POV

“Stay here while we get the statements of the others.” The officer commanded while motioning towards the metal chair in front of the table. The room was pretty well lit up from the multiple light fixtures, but the dark green walls and the cement floor made it seem as though it only had one single light bulb instead of five.

With my hands cuffed behind my back, it made it difficult to pull out the chair so I could sit in it, but I managed by facing away from the chair. As I did so, I noticed the section of wall that was an entire mirror. From every movie I've watched, I knew they were watching me from the outside. Which led me to notice the two cameras on opposite sides of the room, both which had a red light blinking at the bottom to show they were recording.

What's going on Jun?

They are trying to get a statement from Dokyeom in another room, but I don't think he's going to talk. It's like he's spaced out, but he won't snap out of it.

Does Appa know?

They won't let us call anyone until we give them our statements.

This is awful, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that.

I shouldn't have expected you to stay out of it.

I laughed a bit to myself, but then stopped when I remembered I was alone and they were watching me. I didn't need them thinking I'm crazy.

Dokyeom just came out, so I have to go in now.

Do you think he said anything?

The officer just told me they couldn't get anything out of him.

That's not going to help us get home any faster.

The others should be getting home soon, so Appa will definitely know.

Great. Just great.

“Choi Minghao?” An officer asked while walking into the room, and I nodded. He shut the door behind him and took a seat across from me. A manila folder was in his chapped hands, and dark eye bags adorned his face. This guy must be running off of coffee.

“Fifteen years of age?” I nodded again, but he barely even looked up from his papers at me.

“So, you're in ninth grade, and you have eleven brothers and one sister.” He stated, and it was hard to tell if it was a question. But his information was wrong anyways.

“Twelve brother actually, Sir. We adopted another almost two months ago.” I stated, and he chuckled to himself a bit.

“A baker's dozen of boys. No wonder you wanted attention.” He stated with another laugh, and I furrowed my eyebrows.

“Not to be rude, Sir, but I wasn't doing this for attention. I was trying to help that guy.” I said as politely as possible, and he finally looked up from his papers.

“We'll have to wait for the video footage from a nearby store or traffic light to know for sure.” I had to take some deep breaths to try and remain from lashing out and making my situation worse.

Jun, do you know what they did with my nunchucks?

If they didn't confiscate them, Appa will.

I mentally groaned so the police officer wouldn't question anything, and he stood up from the table.

“I'll be back when we have received the footage and have taken a look over it. I'll call your Father to take your brothers home.” Before I could even say anything, the guy left me alone in this extremely uncomfortable chair. At least I'm not in a cell with some other people who could probably snap me in half with their pinkies.

They're going to call Appa to come and get you soon. How's Dk holding up?

He won't stop shaking, Ming. I think the other two are trying to get him to talk.

A hug always works for Chan, have you tried that?

Yeah, he just freaked out even more. He's scaring me, Ming.

Let's just hope Appa comes for you guys soon.

What do you mean? Are you not coming with us?

No, they're making me stay until they have video footage of what happened. But I know they can't legally keep me here for more than a day.

You watch a few too many crime videos.

And you watch them with me, Jun.

Fair enough. They said Appa is coming soon. Will you be okay on your own?

Yeah, I'll just be sore from this chair tomorrow.

Don't forget about all the hits you took too.

How the heck could I forget?

I sighed and rested my head on the cold table to try and at least see if I could sleep to pass the time. But I was in too awkward of a position for that.

I jolted up when I heard the door pop open, and the police officer from before walked in. It only took him around twenty minutes, but he looked stressed.

“We can't get access to any of the store cameras since they all closed a few minutes ago. But none of the traffic lights caught anything, so we have to keep you here overnight. Do you want to call anyone or go into a cell where at least you'd have a bed?” He asked me, and for a second I thought I caught pity.

“I'll just stay here, but can I call my house?” The man nodded and came back with a cell phone for me to call on. He typed in the number for me and put it on speaker before leaving the room and giving me some sense of privacy. Even though I knew he was listening on the other side of that mirror.

“Hello?” I heard Jeonghan hyung ask from the other side of the phone, and I sighed in relief. Appa must be on the road.

“Hey, hyung. It's Minghao.” I said so he knew for sure, and I could hear shuffling in the background.

“I put you on speaker so we can all hear. So what happened? Dk won't tell Boo and Hosh anything.” Jeonghan hyung stated, and it only confirmed our guesses.

“I was trying to help a guy who was getting mugged, but now they think I was involved. They can't prove anything until tomorrow, so I have to stay here.” As soon as I said that, the whole situation finally hit me. This is my first night without any of my siblings, and it's in an interrogation room.

“We know you're innocent, hyung! Just hang in there!” I heard Samuel yell and I smiled.

“Thanks, Sammie. Can you take care of my frog for me?” My voice cracked and suddenly I couldn't keep up my tough front.

“Chan and I will take good care of him for you!” I heard the eight year old yell, and then I heard some shuffling.

“It's just the Americanos and I now. Are you okay, Ming bean?” Jeonghan hyung asked gently, and I really collapsed.

“No, I just want to go home! I hurt so bad and I'm handcuffed in a cold, metal chair. Dk is so shook up right now he won't respond to anything. Appa's going to be so upset with me. I'm scared, hyung.” I whispered, and I tried to keep myself from crying even though a few tears slipped. I didn't want to be alone.

“If we could do a jailbreak, we would. But we need you to hang in there for us, okay? We'll take care of Dk. You're going to be okay.” Hansol hyung said, and I tried to take a few deep breaths.

“We'll try and make sure Appa doesn't flip out. But we need you to stay strong.” Joshua hyung piped in, and I was glad that the three of them were there for me. I just want to be with them so bad.

“Thank you, hyungs.” I choked out, and the metal of the handcuffs rubbed against my skin as my shoulders moved up and down.

“Do you want to talk to anyone else for some cheering up?” Jeonghan hyung asked, and my tears finally stopped even though there weren't many.

“Yes please.”