Lies || minsung ✔️

chapter eighteen

August

"CHANNIE HYUNG!" Minho wailed into the phone the next morning.

"What'd you do now?" Chan mumbled, his voice raspy and slurred. It sounded like he just woke up.

"Jisung is working on a case about our murders," Minho whined, sliding under his blanket until only his eyes were poking out. "What if he finds out?"

"Oh shit, I'm awake for this," Chan said, clearing his throat. The sounds of Chan shuffling around could be heard through the phone. "I'll contact Woojin to see if he can manage that stuff. Do you know how much they know?"

"I only know that they've found out the connection between the victims, but they haven't found a motive or a lead yet, but they still know more information than we'd like." Minho paced around his bedroom.

"Ah, hyung, what are we gonna do? I'm so screwed with Jisung," Minho massaged his forehead, trying to smooth out the worry lines that were starting to create faint creases on Minho's distressed face. 

"I'm going to text everyone and see if they can meet up sometime today," Chan informed Minho. "Don't stress too much about it, Minho. We'll figure it out." And with that, Chan hung up.

Unfortunately, Minho could not not stress. How was he supposed to stay calm about something like this? As soon as he thought that things were starting to go right with Jisung, something comes and disrupts the peace. Could a guy have a break once and a while?

Minho slunk out of bed and got ready for work. He took care of his cats and went to work, not bothering to eat breakfast. 

His shift felt impossibly long and infuriatingly short at the same time. He waited and waited and waited and waited for a certain someone to pop his goofy little head through the door, and seconds felt like eons. But also, time was rushing by too fast, and Jisung still hasn't gotten his morning coffee. Minho's shift would be over in less than an hour, and no one has shown up. If Jisung doesn't come soon, they'll miss each other.

And Minho would not be a happy camper if he didn't see Jisung.

The clock struck noon, and Minho glanced wearily at the door. Of course Jisung wouldn't be coming now; he would already be in class, leading a much more fulfilling life than Minho was. Regardless, Minho still worked an extra thirty minutes. Still nothing.

---

Two hours later, Chan, Minho, and Woojin were huddled in a booth in the very back corner of an old, run-down retro diner. It was exactly the place where you'd see sketchy dudes plotting their crimes, but a passerby would never expect these lovely-looking boys to be the culprits.

They ordered some food, speaking casually until they received their meal, ensuring that the waitresses would not stop by as often and interrupt their conversations.

As always, Changbin arrived fashionably late, sliding in to the booth when the food was brought to the table. 

"Perfect timing," Chan smiled, nodding at Changbin, who checked his gleaming new Rolex and grinned at the others. Seo Changbin, who flaunted his wealth through his accessories and gifts to other people, always arrived sporting some kind of new clothing item. Today, he was also adorned with a shiny Gucci belt.

Once the four were settled in and eating, Chan began the serious conversation by saying, "The cops are on to us."

Tension raced between the boys, eyes darting and voices low. They all murmured their questions, voices overlapping each other.

"How much do they know?"

"Who told you this?"

"What're we going to do?"

"How did this information get out?"

Chan waited for the questions to simmer down. Their booth was silent, all eyes watching Chan attentively.

"Minho, why don't you explain?" Chan suggested, earning a small kick from under the table. Minho was already in a bad mood because he hadn't gotten his daily dose of Jisung; he didn't want to explain how their underground business was basically fucked.

"Jisung is interning for the police office that's covering our case. The police thought that they were at a dead end until their adorable little intern pointed out a crucial part to the case because he's a genius. Then, they reopened it, and they've started to reinvestigate." Minho stated flatly.

"How much do they know?" Woojin asked, already opening up his laptop and searching for things on the internet.

"The victims' backgrounds, and method of contact," Minho told them. "They know that they can reach us through email. It's a good thing you stay on top of it and change the email."

Woojin was staring at his laptop, not even acknowledging Minho's comment. He was in charge of the information that was released to the media, and he's also in charge of a lot of the technical stuff behind the murders along with Chan. Woojin changes the email every two weeks and deletes the address once the job is done.

"Did they find our site?" Changbin questioned with a serious face.

Minho shook his head no, and Chan took over the conversation.

"We're going to investigate and figure out exactly how much the police know about us. Woojin, you and I will begin going through the files they have about us and altering them to make sure that they don't find anything else. Changbin, I need you and Minho to figure out exactly how much Jisung knows and suspects, too. You know Jisung's roommate, right? Until then, we'll slow down the murders to half of what they were before this, sounds good?"

Everyone nodded. The conversation immediately switched gears to sports, which is what a passerby would expect a group of boys to be talking about so that they don't draw unwanted attention to themselves. 

Minho's phone buzzed. He pulled it out, and Woojin noted how Minho had the latest phone. He decided to ignore the comment. He didn't even hear it, since his pulse was pounding in his ears.

[jisungie~ <3]

< study session tomorrow after school? ٩( ᐛ )و

[minnie~]

of course~ >

i can't wait to see you :)) >

[jisungie~ <3]

< alrighty, see you tomorrow! ( ^ω^ )

Minho felt like he was floating. His happiness was so refreshing. Han Jisung was an addictive drug that enhanced Lee Minho's senses and made him feel weightless. Being with him was euphoric.

"Minho, did you hear? You need to keep your distance from Jisung, too," Chan warned.

And with that, Minho's dreamy mood shattered.

---

hi y'all!!

thank you for staying with me and my erratic update schedule uwu

thank you all for reading!! have a great day :)

𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 - 𝐜𝐡. 𝟏𝟖

➜ 𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕪𝕤 - 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕪 𝕜𝕚𝕕𝕤

➜ 𝕡𝕤𝕪𝕔𝕙𝕠 - 𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕥

➜ 𝕚 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝟛𝟘𝟘𝟘 - 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕡𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕚