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"do not allow yourself to be blinded by fear and anger. everything is only as it is."
— Yuki Urishibara —
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[ 3RD PERSONS VIEW。]
It was an empty Friday night as Mark skidded down the dimly lit streets of Jinhae-gu. Jeno had sent him a message, telling him to meet each other up at the local convenience store.
His mind voided, wandering through numerous of thoughts. He let out a sigh, the misty white fog emitting from his lips, "It's only the start of November but it's already so cold." he mumbled and quickened his pace upon seeing the familiar store.
Pushing the door open, the clerk behind the counter greeted him to which he silently greeted back. The teenager made his way towards the rows of tables were he saw Jeno seated down, scrolling through his phone as he ate a sandwich.
Mark tapped the younger's boys shoulder and Jeno looked back to smile at him, "Hyung! You're here." he scoots over for Mark to take a seat.
"What did you want to talk about?"
Jeno sighed and placed his phone down, "It's about the others."
"Hm? What?"
"They're starting to believe Ji Hanmi." Jeno said reached up to rake his hair in frustration, "I mean– we saw her body! Isn't that enough evidence to prove she's gone?"
Mark patted Jeno's shoulder, trying to reassure him, "Well, actually..."
The younger looked up, "You believe them, too?"
Mark shook his head, "I don't actually believe them. Remember the letter I told you about?"
"Yeah, who was it from?"
"Haruki..." he trailed off slowly, his words turning into a whisper as he didn't want to talk about it too loud.
"Haruki... wrote you... a letter too?"
Mark nodded, "Yeah–" he paused after analyzing Jeno's words, "wait, too!?"
"I received a letter yesterday."
"Shit, what does yours say?" Mark cursed, a panicked tone lacing his voice.
Jeno looked around and gulped, "Let's not talk about it here."
— • • • —
"Chenle!" The girl yelled in happiness as she finally spotted her now dark blue haired cousin. She stops, pointing at his hair, "You... dyed your hair dark?" she gaped in shock.
Ever since they came to South Korea, Chenle had always been trying different colors to dye his hair, it was always either colored or a blonde. Chenle laughs and ruffled her hair, "For a change." he shrugs.
"What happened while I was gone?" he asked as they boarded the black car Lihua came with. The girl frowned and shook her head, "A mess."
"By mess you mean...?"
"Everyone is literally apart! Look, you went to China, Renjun has been locking himself in room. Jaemin has been awfully quiet for two weeks now! Jeno... he's gotten more distant while Mark is trying to cheer every one up but obviously nothing is working," she blabbered, "Donghyuck became a target for rumors and Jisung... well, I haven't really seen him that much other than the time we went to Mark's house."
Chenle felt sad that their friend group was slowly tearing apart just because of Haruki's death, when in fact they should be comforting each other and staying by each other side. But then again, everyone has their own selfish acts and ways of coping with someone's death.
"Do you remember the child kidnapper during summer 2017?" he suddenly brought up and that sent chills down Lihua's spine.
A whine left her lips as she smacked the boy's upper arm, "Don't even mention that! How many victims that kidnapper got? I don't know... six? seven?" she scowled, "I'm quite glad the person has disappeared– but still! That psycho could be roaming around the streets... wait," she cuts her words off with a gasp, eyes widening, "you don't think the kidnapper could be linked with Haruki's death!?"
Chenle pursed his lips, but nodded anyways, "I'm just... suspecting it. I mean, what if the kidnapper drugged her or something..."
Lihua puffed her cheeks, trying to think of any possibilities. "Maybe– if we go by the investigation, didn't they state something about Haruki may have used chemicals, that's why they said it was suicide."
"Suicide by chemicals? Yeah possible, but the letter..."
"What did the letter say?" she tilts her head.
"It wasn't very specific. The first few paragraphs were written by Haruki, like a some sort of goodbye letter. And then the rest talked about her death– how did she know she was going to die? I mean, yes, it seemed like she was about to commit suicide if she planned everything like this," Chenle shifted uncomfortably in the car seat. The longer he talked about Haruki the more scary her death sounded. "but, she stated about someone."
"Someone?"
"The last paragraph said about someone had been watching over her. She couldn't pinpoint who it was, meaning she hadn't really met who was following her, that's why I think the child kidnapper could be linked to this..." Chenle explained and opened his bag, grabbing the pink envelope, taking out the letter swiftly.
"And the PS told me to go back home, does that mean Haruki is counting on us?" he questions his cousin and Lihua fiddled with her fingers.
"Counting on us to what?" she hums, "To find out who killed her?"
Chenle gulped, finding that a bit unsettling, "I think so..."
"Who even sent you that letter?" Lihua muttered and snatched the letter, looking at the stamp. "It was from... Haruki..."
"Yeah," the boy nods, "but how could've she–"
Lihua's jaw dropped and she snapped a look towards Chenle to which confused him.
