Hues Of Death

The café was half-empty. Late evening.

"You look like you've been reading something interesting," Ji-Woon said, nodding at the psychology book on the table.

Woojin didn't smile.

"Just definitions."

"Of?"

"Human patterns. Behavioral disorders. That kind of thing."

Ji-Woon stirred his iced americano lazily.

"So... psychopath or sociopath?"

Woojin's eyes lifted.

"Psychopaths are born cold. Sociopaths are made cruel."

"And which are you?"

"Neither. I just observe."

Ji-Woon grinned. Not wide. Just crooked.

"You don't believe in diagnosis?"

"I don't believe in labeling weapons."

Silence.

Outside the window, a girl walked a white dog.

Inside, the espresso machine hissed.

Ji-Woon tapped his glass once against the table.

"People talk about morality like it's a compass. I think it's a lockpick. The better you are at pretending to care, the more doors you open."

Woojin tilted his head.

"So which door did Choi Hyun-Seok open?"

A pause.

Ji-Woon's smile didn't falter, but his fingers froze briefly.

"I think he picked the wrong one."

"Unfortunate."

"Mm. For him, at least."

More silence. This one heavier.

---

They don't become friends. Not immediately.
They orbit each other. Test each other. Masked in casual conversation.

Woojin senses Ji-Woon is dangerous-not in a physical way, but socially.
Ji-Woon senses Woojin is cold-unreachable. Not like the others.

And both of them?
They don't trust each other.
But neither can look away.

But when a detective turns up dead, both boys are tied to the shadow left behind.
Not by evidence. Not by motive.
But by the way they watched.

One of them crossed the line.

And the other might have opened the door.

Two monsters. One body. No witnesses.

Who betrayed who first?

Warning: This work is fictional and do not intend to resemble any living person and actual location.

Credits : @Rosy_Posy_Cozy for book cover