𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗪𝗘 𝗛𝗜𝗧 𝗔 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗕 || nct murder mystery

𝗖𝗛 O4

earlier that day

"Hey kiddo, the neighborhood watch meeting is held at our house this week," my mom peered into my room, opening the door gently.

"Alright," I said, eyes glued to the screen of my phone.

"You'll go this time, right?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe. After a few moments of light tapping, she entered the room and sat by my side. The silence was an answer on it's own.

"I know you don't want to go after what happened with that boy, but you also loved going. The girls said that they've missed you," she pressed, brading the strings of my blanket.

I put my phone aside and adjusted myself into a sitting position, "him too?"

"I'm sure he does too," she insisted, grinning ear to ear.

"I'll go, I guess.." I sighed, somewhat enlighted by the idea. It was just a dumb argument between two friends, no more, no less. Right?

• • •

Us kids were scattered across the property while the adults chit-chatted in the livingroom.

I sat with nearly all of the girls in our neighborhood, talking about none other than the Typical-Tuesday tea.

We sat beneathe the tall oak tree in my backyard, basking in it's shade, away from the scorching sun.

"Ah, Sunghee!" gasped Remi all of a sudden. The older girl hummed in response, turning to face her cousin.

"You should tell them what happened in Hawaii," provoked the strawberry blonde, shifting in her seat. She had always claimed the office chair for the sake of spinning, but the group had taken things outside for a change.

"No."

"Please?" the younger begged.

"Maybe another time," Sunghee sighed, a palm pressed to her forehead. Her face was growing red with every passing second.

As much as she would love to tell the story, it was rather embarassing. The new additions to the group, however, were dying to hear.

"Please," pleaded Yangyang, leaning forward with interest. He plucked a few pieces of grass and placed them on the flustered girl.

"Alright so, we were in Hawaii visiting our retired grandma who had just recently lent over her old antique shop to our aunt," began Remi, growing loud as Sunghee tried to drown her out via random noises.

"We were at the beach, racing to get in line for ice cream at an infamous snack bar," she continued, mimicking a running motion with her arms.

"Sunghee ran at the speed of light, she was gonna beat me by a longshot, until.." the dramatic pause had everyone waiting in anticipation.

"Please, no," groaned Sunghee, tucked into a ball of embarassment. The suspense was killing her, seeing as she wanted to get it over with.

"She tripped right infront of some kid, her forehead on his feet, and that kid turned out to be none other than pre-debut Huening Kai from TXT," Remi finished, busting her lungs. No matter how many times she told the story, it never got old.

The group followed suit, laughing until their stomaches ached. All the while, Sunghee was contemplating on running into the pool fully clothed.

Chaeil was grabbing onto Sicheng for dear life, shaking him around like a ragdoll as she called to the birds with hearty laughter.

"You really did that!?" Yangyang wheezed, poking fun at the poor girl. In her defense, Sunghee shouted "all I wanted was some ice cream!"

She then got up and dashed across the yard, the boy chasing after her in a fit of laughter.

I was quiet, knowing that he was nearby had me on edge. Neither of us were willing to approach the other and apologize.

I sighed.

"What's up?" asked a quizzical Remi, tilting her head to meet my downcast gaze. This caught the attention of the other few.

"You're still not upset over what that thing of a human being said, are you?" huffed Chaeil, who once said that she'd throw a stool at him on sight.

"I'm lost," said Doyoung on the verge of falling asleep, head propped up on Remi's leg.

"We'll wait for the two lovebirds to get back before we get into it," cooed Chaeil, eyeing Sunghee and Yangyang as they fooled around in the distance.

".. I thought they were siblings," I admitted with widened eyes.

"I'm sorry, what!?" cried Remi, her face contorted into something between being amused and being apalled.

"I regret coming here," sighed Sicheng. He had probably been plotting his escape from the get-go.

Even Doyoung looked flabbergasted.

Chaeil just got up and ran to the circus, maybe even out of the country. Nobody knew where she went, but she was definetly gone with the wind.

"...Aside from that," shivered Remi. "Have any of you seen Mingming or Jinyoung?"

"Both you and I know that Mingming is out with the boys," I chuckled, thinking of our absent friend. She was, without a doubt, a popular one.

"As for Jin, I heard that she was on snack duty with Jaehyun, but he's at the pool, so she probably went with Johnny instead. What do you think?"

Silence consumed the moment as I waited on her response. Remi was staring into space, mouth agape.

The second she snapped back into reality. She and Sicheng exchanged glances before shaking Doyoung awake and dragging his tired being elsewhere.

After looking around for the possible reason as to why they ran off in such a hurry and eventually finding it, I nearly ran after them.

He was standing there, motioning for me to follow him inside. I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid him for long, so I sighed and brought myself to his side.

As soon as we moved the screen door aside, the once peaceful afternoon turned into everything but.