slow down ➳ 이희승

𖥻 chapter twelve

"don't you grow up first." she says & hands him a napkin, pointing at her lips to show him the parts he has to wipe. heeseung complies, throwing the dirty piece of paper aside before digging in once again.

"so, what's the deal with blake?" he asks at some point, and jake glances at ava to see her reaction. she clears her throat & sets her food aside. "she hasn't replied to any of my messages and calls."

"hmm, weird." heeseung nods. "that's soooo not nora blake." "heeseung, this is serious." jake speaks up and adjusts himself on the couch. "ava, can I use the restroom?" he then asks and she points down the hall. "sure, last door to your left." "thank you~"

"why do you guys worry that much?" heeseung continues as jake pushes his legs to pass. "she's prolly getting laid by lydia diamandi right now."

"I called lydia and they haven't talked since yesterday." ava reasons & brings one leg up to her chest. "oooh, maybe they had a love quarrel? interesting." he coos and takes another bite of his food, too busy to notice how ava's brows crease in annoyance.

"can your stupid fuckass stop seeing everything as a joke?"

though stressed, she didn't mean to snap. his impassivity is jabbing at all the wrong spots, and she's anything but willing to have more of his shit.

heeseung stops munching, looking up to meet her watery eyes. oh shoot! he jumps up from his spot & walks up to her, kneeling in front of her as his left hand flies up to her knee.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." he spells while his thumb rubs up & down her exposed skin. he smacks his lips & breathes a sigh, not knowing what to do in order to make up for being a bastard.

"no need, you're this insensitive all the time." she says & wipes her eyes, slapping his hand off of her.

ouch, that should've hurt less.

he purses his lips & stands up, going back to his seat. a door opens in the distance and jake shows up, walking up to the couch. "oof, much better." "dude─"

"I'll go check up on her."

ava announces & abruptly stands up, sliding her feet into her sneakers that lay in front of the armchair. jake and heeseung confusingly stare up at her, not until she grabs the keys of her car from the drawer by the door.

"I'll come with you." heeseung says & stands up as well, but she is quick to shut him off. "you stay here, I can do it myself." she states and opens the door, but before she can walk past the threshold, jake speaks up.

"let us come with you ava, you never know if help is needed." he reasons & ava's eyes widen. "but─" "worst case scenario wise. but better be prepared than face the consequences."

"now now, off we go."

꒰🏁꒱

ava opens the door to nora's house with the spare key given to her. the main hall and living room are quiet, but so is the rest of the house. all the lights are off, with the exception of a weak light coming from the very end of the main hall, where nora's room is.

"nora?" ava calls out, stepping into the apartment. jake and heeseung follow with their breaths hitched, three pairs of ears perked up in case any noise is made.

"shall we split up and look around?" jake suggests when they're all in, and he'd be lying if he said he's not scared right now. heeseung is about to agree, when a shuffling sound coming from the lit bedroom causes their blood to freeze.

"nora?"

the shuffling continues, and ava runs up to the door, but before she can get a glimpse of what's inside, heeseung grabs her by the arm and swings her back to them. "are you nuts? what if someone is in there?"

"what do you mean if? someone is in there! nora is there!" "well you don't fucking know that." "shh!" the blond shushes them both and hands them a knife each, which he got after making a short trip to the kitchen to grab stuff for defense.

"I'll go first." he whispers and quietly makes his way to the bedroom, with heeseung and ava following suit. his hand hovers above the ajar door, and the shuffling is still heard, as he takes a deep breath and turns to look at the two behind him.

"one... two... three!"

they all raise their knives up & enter the room, and the scene was almost comical ─ the way they all stepped & landed on one another ─ if it weren't for the sight before them.

"NORA!"

on her bed lays nora, naked with her back facing them, her once delicate & soft skin now covered in bruises and white sticky essenses. her long hair cover her back, but they can all make all too clearly some deep scratches. ava realizes in horror that the dark spots on the sheets are her friend's blood.

ava jumps on the bed and crawls to her best friend, carefully tapping her shoulder as nora shuffles a little, quiet groans falling off her plump lips. her eyelids falter as she meets the girl's worried eyes, sticky paths adorning her cheeks as she faintly calls her name.

"ava..." her voice is broken & hoarse, and only then does ava notice her hands that are tied above her head. that's also when she notices the girl's phone atop of her drawer, the screen flashing as a message is sent ─ from what ava can see, it's her mother.

"nora... nora love." ava is at a loss for words, and so are the two boys that stand by the door, their limbs having grown frozen at the sight of the girl. the brunette's voice breaks, as soft whimpers and sobs escape her lips ─ luckily or not, nora doesn't notice the two males present in the room.

"who did this to you angel?" ava asks in a hushed tone, hugging nora by her shoulders. the older shakes her head, but ava is adamant & won't back out if she doesn't get an answer out of her friend's mouth.

"nora, please talk to me. no one will get hurt and no one will do anything to you. please, please tell me who was the dipshit that hurt you." her voice breaks once again.

jake turns his back at them, heart too weak to stand all the pain that he's feeling. heeseung is there to pat his shoulder when the first tears fall.

"he'll hurt you ava." nora whispers & sniffles, finally letting go of the tears that wouldn't leave her eyes. "he is a fucking monster." her voice breaks as she utters the last word, her face now morphing in genuine fear as her body quivers under ava's hold.

"no one will get hurt." ava repeats her last statement, wanting nothing more but to know who was the one to harm her friend in such a twisted manner ─ maybe she shouldn't pressure the girl into confessing, but the need to get justice for her is taking over.

whoever that bastard is, he won't get away.

"promise not to tell anyone." her voice echoes soft and distant as she moves a little, a small gasp of pain following. "i promise! heck, i promise! now tell me love. who did this?"

nora takes a deep breath and blinks, looking straight into ava's eyes. "... it was him." she spells.

heeseung raises his head & his brows knit in confusion & sheer anticipation, staring at ava's back raising & falling rapidly. and then, the bomb drops.

"connor maxwill."