Here I Lie // ATEEZ ✔

- 4 -

The horrifying real-life bloodied sculpture is what causes them to instantly wake up, the evidence of yesterday's exhaustion completely melted away. The first thing that they decide to do once they get back their sanity is to close the door while keeping their eyes shut and back away from the door. San is clinging onto Wooyoung, in which now he is the one who is in need of comfort as his whole body is shaking violently, with him sobbing loudly into his shoulder. Wooyoung brings up a trembling hand to rub a hand on his back, trying to summon the comfort that can calm both of them down. From the second floor they bring themselves to the living room down below, which seems like the safest place for all of them right now. The looks of fear quickly turns to distrust as they start pointing fingers at each other, almost as soon as the last person, Jongho, sinks into the sofa.

"Park- Park Seonghwa is- is- dead," Mingi stammers. "Who- who- did that to him- That's-" he cannot bring himself to finish his sentence as he runs off to the bathroom, emptying the contents of his stomach as he cowers over the toilet bowl. The sound of a second uncontrollable emesis comes next before he shuts the door, dulling the sound.

"Kim Hongjoong, it was you, wasn't it-" Yeosang points an accusing finger to the redhead, to which he instantly cusses out while he stands up, trying to defend himself.

"What the fuck are you saying? All of you saw me going up to my room straight away after dinner, didn't you?" he shouts, the veins on his neck popping up as he tries hard to get his point across. "Just because he said he's going to kill me when he had enough you think I'd do the same to him?"

"The message on the wall," Jongho says gravely. "That's the exact response of what you would say to him after his outburst yesterday. Who else would say that to him-"

"Are you stupid?" he snarls. "Why would I make it so obvious by trying to do something that points everything to me? And in case it couldn't get pass through that thick skull of yours, I still need him as my assistant so why the fuck would I go and kill him?"

"He's right," Yunho interjects. "All 7 of us heard what he said yesterday clearly. Yeosang was the last person who saw him-"

"Are you trying to put the blame on me instead now?" Yeosang's cheeks are starting to get red and his fingers are twitching. But still, he tries to remain calm.

"Listen to what I have to fucking say!" Yunho slams a fist on the glass coffee table, rattling it. The atmosphere turns dead silent, all of them shocked at his sudden change in demeanour. Their director; the polite, the full of smiles young man, who has never let any words of cussing go past his lips at the office, is currently having his face painted with anger, his chest puffing up and down with brute force. "I never said I am blaming you, Kang Yeosang. I just said that you were the last person who saw him yesterday and nothing was amiss, right?" The pink-haired man only nods his head while biting his lips, scared of the new man he has become. "What I'm trying to say is, anyone could have overheard our conversation last night and tried to make a sick joke out of this for whatever reason. We didn't shut the windows when we were having our dinner, so anyone could come round and listen on. The best thing we can do now is to call the police and let them handle this case."

"Then risk ourselves being the suspects when we hadn't even touched him?" Hongjoong vocalizes.

"This is going to damage the image of our villa," Wooyoung finally says after being quiet throughout the whole scuffle, albeit very slowly. San still has his face buried in his shoulder, and he rubs a thumb on the back of his hand continuously, calming him down.

The rest stare at him with incredulity, not believing that he had the audacity to even pronounce those words.

"What did you say? Someone just got murdered in your villa and that is all you have to worry about?" Yeosang lunges towards Wooyoung, grabbing a fistful of the front of his shirt. The latter lets himself be held limply while San desperately claws at Yeosang's hand trying to undo the grip. "We have a dead body upstairs and that is what you're thinking?" he spits against Wooyoung's face, to which the latter only turns his head to the side, no clear intention on what he is going to do next. "Park Seonghwa was murdered. Our colleague just got fucking murdered and you're worried about your villa being given a 1-star rating on the stupid website?"