Photographs; Noren NCT

♱•Thirty-One•♱

Jeno sits and scrolls through his phone. Yeri had been texting him none stop lately that she wanted to meet up and make sure he was okay. She was the one that was stabbed, it should be Jeno that's worrying about her more.

Noona!♡
Jeno please come stay at my place this weekend. I miss you xx

Jenojam!
I will I promise. I miss you too xx

Jeno smiles before pocketing his phone and looking up when hearing the doors open. He expected to see Renjun but stopped when he saw a woman. She had pale skin and looked extremely gaunt, almost as if she hadn't had a decent meal in weeks. Her blonde hair was messily thrown up in a bun with stands dropping down.

She looks around the reception, not really looking like she knew what she was doing. Jeno walks closer and offers the woman a warm smile. She didn't seem old, maybe a year or two older than himself.
"Can I help you?" He asks, getting a little dejavu to the day he first step foot in here. Renjun came up to him and offered the same kindness.

Her eyes look towards him but they seem almost distant. He could see tears welling in her eyes but she was reluctant to let them fall. "I-I was given this card,I'm supposed to make a s-statement" she says as she hands him a white business card. It was the same card Jeno had been given that day in the hospital and he instantly knew why she was here.

"Follow me" he offers another smile before leading her towards Jaehyun's office. He knocks before entering, seeing a smiling Jaehyun sat at his desk.

"Jeno, how can I help you" he says, assuming it was Jeno who needed to talk. He steps aside to let the woman walk in the room, watching as Jaehyun's expression changes slightly. "Thank you" he says earning a small nod from Jeno before he leaves and slowly closes the door.

Jeno couldn't help but think that he could have been in that woman's position. He came here to make a statement about how his sister was stabbed but walked away. This woman was here to make a statement about how she has witnessed her boyfriend get brutally murdered.

Suddenly, a pair of arms snake their way around Jeno's waist, a smile instantly returning to his lips. He turns and gives Renjun a quick kiss.
"What were you speaking to Jaehyun about?" Renjun asks with a small lip bite, worry filling his eyes.

Jeno knew that he would assume he was talking about Renjun's neighbour, but in reality Jaehyun hadn't mentioned it at all since Jeno had spoken to him.
"I wasn't, that mans girlfriend came in to make a statement".

"Ohhh" Renjun looked almost relieved to hear that. Obviously not relieved about the reason the woman was here, but relieved that his own neighbour isn't yet being suspected as a murder by anyone but Jeno.

Renjun takes Jeno's hand in his own, leading him over to the comfy seats. "Lets wait here for a while, I need to speak to Jaehyun about a different case so we'll just wait" he says, pulling Jeno down next to him.

Jeno forgets that they were working on multiple cases at once. Obviously Jeno never knew about them since he was only here to help out on his own case.

•••••

After around half an hour, Jaehyun's office door opens and the woman comes out, head down and her hands reaching up to wipe away tears. Jaehyun rubs her back comfortingly and says something to her before she leaves the building.

"Sir I need-" Renjun starts but is stopped.

"Can it wait? I would like to speak to Jeno" Jaehyun says causing Jeno's heart to sink to his feet.

Slowly, Jeno stands up, glancing towards Renjun and seeing the same worry and anticipation swimming in his eyes.
He moves closer to Jaehyun before disappearing into his office, the door closing after the older man.

"Take a seat Jeno" he says and Jeno does as he's told, pulling out one of the wooden seats and lowering himself into it.
"So your aware that a statement regarding the same suspect has just been made"
Jeno nods, not being able to form words in that moment. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, so loud that he was surprised he could even hear what Jaehyun was saying.

"She gave a statement on the suspects physical looks, claiming they hadn't been wearing the mask at the time of the murder meaning she got a good look at his face" this gave Jeno a little hope. Maybe now he can prove that Renjun and Jaemin's neighbour was the criminal they were looking for.

"The description giving was almost a total opposite of the one you gave" Jaehyun says, linking his fingers together and resting them on top of the wooden desk.

"W-what? No, it must be a different person, I'm telling the truth. The man that lives opposite Renjun, it's definitely him. I remember his eyes, trust me they haunt my dreams every night-" Jeno was pouring out everything that came to mind. He hated that he sounded so desperate but he was. He knew he was right.

"Jeno, your the only person who has made a statement about the suspect having blue eyes. Everyone else has said he had deep brown eyes and light hair. Unless we have solid evidence we can't assume that your statement was truthful"

Jeno froze, his back straightening slightly, a wave of annoyance sweeping over him. "Are you saying I lied?"

Jaehyun sighs and rubs his temples slightly. "Jeno, I'm not calling you a liar, I'm just saying maybe you didn't get a good enough look at the suspect, and maybe you weren't in the right mindset to make a statement as early as you did"

Jeno opens his mouth ready to say something else but stops. What was the point? Jaehyun was a trained detective, Jeno was just a desperate witness.
Standing from his seat, Jeno mutters a small thanks before leaving the office, Renjun already lacing his hand into Jeno's.

"Are you okay?" Renjun asks, rubbing Jeno's arms comfortingly, but right now he just wanted to leave.

Jeno pulls him arm away "I'm fine" he says before walking towards the exit of the police station, leaving a confused Renjun behind.