Viridescence | Yunho

༻ 30 ༺

"I desperately hope that you'll be well."
- Hello by Chen (Exo)

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Jihyun curses in her mind when Yunho stops in his tracks, causing her to retreat her hand back to her side.

She follows his stare into a dark corner of the garden. "What are you looking at?" she questions, unable to really see much.

"I think I see a small door on the side of the mansion. It looks a bit suspicious since there are no lamps there. Want to check it out?" he asks, caution present in his voice. She squints a bit more at the corner of the garden and finally sees the door. A few hairs stand on the back of her neck when she notices that there is no path going in that direction either.

"Let's go," she firmly states, already setting in that direction. She apologises to the roses under her breath before stepping between them. She feels bad for hurting her favourite flower. It's not like they did anything wrong.

Finally reaching the dark metal door, she squints to get a better look. "There's a massive lock on it, let's just give up and go back. We'll try and find something to pick this lock later," she sighs, already turning back.

"Wait," Yunho calls out. She turns back with a raised eyebrow. He carefully picks up the lock and considers something for a second. Suddenly, one of his fingers forcefully pulls the lock open. He doesn't exert any effort at all and easily slips the lock off the door. Jihyun's eyes widen before she remembers that he has extra strength.

"If they see the broken lock they'll find out we tampered with it!" she hisses. "Don't worry, I can jam it back into place with force when we're done. Plus it doesn't seem like they come here that frequently after examining the lock," he explains. "How did you realise that much just by staring at the lock for a few seconds?" she asks, impressed.

At last, a bashful smile escapes him. "I don't know, I can't remember anything about myself!" Jihyun's mouth forms an "O" shape as she nods. "Let's go in then." 

She pulls the door open slowly, cringing at the loud squeaking noises it makes. They enter and to her disappointment, it's too dark to see anything properly. One thing that stands out to her however is that the entire wall to their right is made of glass, the moonlight faintly illuminating the room. She looks around but can't see anything clearly. It's all shapes and shadows right now. "I found the light switch!" Yunho exclaims. "Wait!" Jihyun calls out, not wanting to alert any of the other members about their presence.

It's too late as Yunho flips the switch. Jihyun gasps loudly at the sight that greets her eyes. Rows and rows of beautiful crimson flowers. It can't be...

Opium poppies?

She takes a few steps closer and examines one of the flowers closely. It's definitely a poppy, specifically the breed that is used to make opioids. She's uncovered enough of these cases to recognise the flower.

"Why are they hiding flowers here?" Yunho worries. Jihyun starts getting more excited with the concrete evidence she now has against the gang. "These are used to make drugs!" she chirps with a hop. "All we need to do now is take a picture and-" she begins, before it suddenly hits her.

She has no way of capturing this proof. This is finally her first solid bit of evidence, but she has no way of showing anyone outside this mansion.

"What's wrong?" he asks. "We have no way of using this as proof yet, but if we can take a picture of this place and send it to the police, there's no way this gang will get away with it!" she explains.