VILLAINS.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.

"Hi." I wave at Youngjae, who's currently taking an order at the counter. Wrong timing, Kris. He looks to me and smiles, turning back to the customer.

Oh my god, he's gorgeous.

I head to the corner booth, finding it empty, as always. I'm not sure why people don't sit here. It's the best seat in the café. Then again, I'm not complaining. I prefer sitting here. I'll be selfish about it.

"Hi!" Youngjae walks up to my table. He's wearing an apron. It even has tiny strawberries on it. "Cute apron." I chuckle, making him groan. "You're the third person who's mocked me for it today. It's cute, come on."

"I mean it! It's- It's cute. Really." I sheepishly smile when he grins at me.

"Thanks. The other guys didn't come today?" He asks, turning around to face the door. "Nah. Harper's busy with relatives and Zuri has work to do." I flick my pen and doodle in my notebook.

"Ah, alright. I'm not free just yet, but dad's out and my sister should be able to cover for me. I checked with her. Do you want anything?" He clarifies.

"Not if it means you have to go." I mindlessly blurt out. Shit.

He snickered. "Missing me that much, chérie?" He flirted. I can feel my cheeks getting warmer. "That wasn't what I meant.. We- We have to work.. on the case."

"If you say so. What have you got?"

"Nothing, really. Just the stuff from yesterday." I answered. He hums in response, looking out the window. I suppose he's thinking.

"I don't think it's Audrey." He confesses. "I see why Harper might suspect her, but it's not Audrey. Her motive's not strong enough, even if it was a tiny thing gone wrong. She's not the type of person to do that." He puts his weight onto his elbows and leans in. "Elijah's motive is pretty weak, too, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did something like that. It's more likely."

"That's what I was thinking. She can get really defensive and greedy, but she wouldn't KILL Noah."

He hums again. I think I'm getting a little bit tired of it, because it makes silence. And I hate that silence, although I'm always comfortable around him.

"How long have you been working on this?" He looks back at me as I'm flipping through the pages of my notebook with the information of the case on them. "Huh? Oh, well.. Some.. time." I lie.

Yeah, I think it's pretty obvious this is the only thing that's been on my mind for the past few days.

"You look like you've eaten only broccoli. Hold on." He gets up and heads to the kitchen. He takes a few minutes.

It feels like forever. I already miss him.

What the hell? What's wrong with me?

He places a strawberry shortcake on the table, getting me out of my thoughts. "What's this?" I furrow my brows and smile.

"Strawberry shortcake. Are you blind?" He raises and eyebrow and sits back down. I laugh. "No. Let me phrase that correctly; Why did you bring strawberry shortcake to the table?"

"I'm giving you a treat. Tell me if you don't want it, I'll eat it myself." He picks up the fork and begins to take a large bite. "No, no, I do want it!" I whine, taking a bite with the other fork. "Good. Eat well." He grins.

"Anyone you saw at the funeral who intrigued you?" He asked, taking a large bite of the cake. "Hey! Who told you to finish so much? Loser." I whine, and then think. "Intrigued... Yes, actually. There was this guy from the other grade. His name's Arhaan. He didn't even know Noah, so I'm not sure why he was at the funeral."

He furrows his eyebrows. "They didn't know each other? Hmm.. How was he acting like at the funeral?"

"He wasn't there for long. He seemed really mad. He stood there for a while and left. His jaw was clenched, but at the same time, he looked like he could break down at any moment." I think back on it. I should've thought about it more, fuck!

"He's got to be a lead! We need to check more on him. Find anything related to him. I'll see if he's ever been to the café. We should get some more info about Noah then."