The Murders at Club Eleven // Chanbaek Fan Fic

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chanyeol:

I banged my head on the glass I was leaning on and heaved out a long sigh that made it mist over. There was a knock at the door and I saw Gonho's reflection as he strode inside.

"Thanks, Gonho." I muttered, not bothering to turn to face him. He must be annoyed with me by now, making him drive all the way out to Baekhyun's house just to deliver some food to him. Tae-Moon was here again tonight though. Watching me. I knew every night he was reporting back to his father, and for now it just felt easier to take a step back from Baekhyun for a second to let things cool down with Mr Kim. I did not need him breathing down my neck again any time soon.

"I have a message for you." Gonho said with what sounded like a smirk and I was intrigued enough that I did turn now to look at him now.

"A message? From who?"

"From your little detective." I raised my eyebrow at that. Baekhyun wasn't necessarily my anything...but I liked the sound of it.

"What did he say?" Before messages I'd gotten from Gonho hadn't been much more than thanks for the food.

"He said, if you don't know what to do with your money, you should buy a piano." He replied and I blinked at him.

"He said..." I blew out a choked laugh and rubbed my face sleepily. That little brat. "Thanks Gonho." I mumbled and waved him away. It was late anyway and I had no desire to go back downstairs and be subjected to not-so-subtle stares from Tae-Moon and his friends.

"I think I'm just going to stay in today." I told Se-Hee who frowned at me with concern.

"You sure?" He asked and I hummed as I straightened some bottles on the shelf. It was a public holiday today and because Tae-Moon was annoying me, I gave everyone the day off. Most of my staff didn't work too many nights in a row, but it was still good for moral to give them time off to cool down sometimes. Working in a club could be exhausting.

"Some of us are going to have dinner at - "

"I'll be fine." I said quietly and stuck my hands in my pockets. "Go out. Have fun. I'll just order a pizza."

"Are you sure you want to close for the night?"

"Do you want me to change my mind?" I shot back and he held up his hands.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Boss." He said, already at the door.

I went around the club straightening a few more things before I pulled up an app on my phone and ordered some pizza. I stayed downstairs to wait for it because it was easier, but kept the lights off and sat back in a chair by the bar. I could hear the gentle pitter-patter of rain as it started to fall outside.

I lost track of the time as I waited and when I heard the gentle rumble of a car, I stood up slowly, checking the time and pulling out my wallet. It should just be...

I froze when I got to the door. Baekhyun stood outside in the slow drizzle, looking at the club dejectedly. What was he doing here? He must not have seen me because he turned around slowly, shoulders sagging.

"Baekhyun." I called and he spun back around quickly. "What are you..." I took a few steps closer to him. "It's raining. Come inside."

"I didn't ..." He swallowed and looked back at the club. "I didn't know you were closed today."

"Come inside." I said again and gently pulled on his arm to drag him inside. He sniffed and wiped his nose with his hand while I closed the door and thanked me when I handed him a pile of tissues.

"I don't even know what I'm doing here." He said, almost to himself. I kept quiet and when he was done, I motioned for him to take off his wet coat and wrapped mine that I'd taken off around his shoulders. "It's cold." He muttered.

Outside, I saw the car for the pizza I'd ordered arrive and I tapped Baekhyun on his shoulder.

"Wait for me upstairs, OK?" I jogged over to the man and shoved a number of paper bills in his hand. "Keep it." I said when he handed me the pizza and tried to look for change. His eyes bulged.

"But it's - "

"Thanks." I waved as I hurried back inside and when I had everything downstairs locked up, I rushed up the stairs to my office. Baekhyun was stroking my desk absentmindedly when I walked in. I keyed in my code and when the elevator opened, he trailed in behind me slowly.

I don't even know why I'm here...what had he meant by that? Baekhyun sat silently in my kitchen, nibbling on a small triangle of pizza and picking at the toppings.

"Do you not like peppers?"

"Hmm?" He looked at me finally. I pointed at the plate in front of him.

"You picked them all off. Do you not like peppers?"

"Oh. No, I just..." He put the pizza down and shrugged. "I like peppers. I'm just not very hungry right now." He said and pushed his plate away.

"Is there anything you don't like? I've been sending you food but I didn't even ask..." He gave me a small smile and fiddled with the sleeve of my coat.

"Cucumbers."

"Cucumbers?" I tried not to judge people on what they liked and didn't like to eat but...How could you not like cucumbers? They barely tasted like anything anyway... I was about to ask him when he sniffed again and wiped his nose with my sleeve. "If you're done eating, you can go shower if you want. Get warm."

"Thanks." He whispered and got up from his seat, shuffling down the hall to my bedroom.

I followed after him without bothering to put anything away and took out something for him to wear; changing into something warm and comfortable myself and climbing into bed. I was just on the edge of falling asleep when Baekhyun came out of my bathroom. He put on the clothes I'd left out for him quickly and I was surprised when he didn't even hesitate before crawling in the bed with me. I opened my arms and he slipped into them without blinking, curling himself around me and settling in.

"Are you OK?" I finally asked when I was brave enough. There was a long silence and for a moment I thought maybe Baekhyun had fallen asleep already. When I checked, his eyes were wide open but distant.

"I don't want to be alone tonight." He replied.

"Did something happen at work?" His body stiffened slightly and I rubbed his arms gently, up and down until he relaxed and nodded once. "Do you want to talk about it?" More silence...but eventually Baekhyun sighed against my chest and started talking.

"I haven't been a detective long." He began. "But, I've been to a lot of crime scenes. A lot of them are...not good. They never are. But when there's a child...a small CHILD Chanyeol. 5 years old." He sat up to look at me now.

"This person...this ANIMAL. He walked into that house and he shot that poor woman in front of her child. I know he shot her first because upstairs..." His voice shook. "Upstairs there's a handprint of blood from when her son must have touched her. He touched her and he ran upstairs to get away and that fucking monster dragged him back down those stairs and shot him too. A 5 year old child."

"Baekhyun..." I reached out to touch his cheek lightly while his eyes shone with tears.

"I need to find him, Chanyeol. Do you know what a shotgun does to someone that small, huh?" He closed his eyes and two drops fell onto the back of my hand. "I need to find him. But all I can think about is how I haven't even solved the murders at your club and what if I can't find him too and I can't... I just feel so useless and - " I pulled him back in my arms as he started to cry and hiccup softly.

"It's OK. Shh,it's OK." I stroked his back and pressed my lips to the side of his head. It was hot and I could feel the vein in his head throbbing wildly. Fuck, I felt just as useless as he did. I didn't know what to do besides sit here and let him cry...