The Hunt

25

Sua glared at me. "That's not funny."

"It's not a joke," I stared her down in hopes she would either leave or explode.

Jimin cleared his throat to gain both our attention. "JiHoon was killed just over a week ago. It is still under investigation, so the police have kept the story out of the news."

I watched Sua's face to gauge her reaction. Her eyes grew wide once Jimin's words began to sink in, and her gaze dropped to the table. "That naive bastard..." Sue muttered under her breath.

Sua looked up at Jimin, eyes wide and glossy as if she was about to cry. "I cared about him, you know?"

Jimin scoffed and I loosened my grip on his thigh.

"How is his family holding up? I bet his younger siblings are devastated. I know how much they looked up to him." Sua shook her head sadly. "Do you have any idea what happened?"

As a single tear rolled down Sua's cheek, I leaned into Jimin and whispered quietly, "Wasn't JiHoon an only child?"

Jimin gave a single, curt nod.

I sat back in my seat and regarded Sua once again. She was impressive and a little scary. Had Jimin not warned me, I might have believed her grieving former girlfriend act. JiHoon must have been a sweetheart.

Not knowing what to do, I lightly patted Jimin's thigh. The situation was beyond my comprehension at that point. Any decent girlfriend would know whether or not her boyfriend had siblings, right?

Am I crazy? Have I been doing this wrong?

Should I just start making up shit as I go?

What?

I was still patting Jimin's thigh when he removed his arm from my shoulders and took my hand in his, giving it a little squeeze.

"Sua, I think you should go now," Jimin's voice came out calm and even.

"What? Why?" Sua whipped a tear from her cheek.Squinting her eyes, she let out a small wail and forced out more tears. "Why are you so cruel, Park Jimin?"

I couldn't peal my eyes away from her, not even when I heard the bell at the front of the shop chime. I was hoping Jimin was paying attention to the front door, because I was enthralled by Sua's performance. What is she hoping to get from this display?

The chair across from me was swiftly pulled out and a less-than smiley Taehyung sat down.

"Sua, leave." Taehyung grumbled without sparing the woman a glance. "Hello, Waffles."

"Hi, Taehyung," I gave him a small smile.

"Taehyung-ie!" Sua sobbed and threw herself at the man sitting next to her, only to be stopped when her forehead collided with the palm of his hand.

"I said leave, Sua." Taehyung growled, his dark brown hair almost appearing to bristle with anger.

Sua blinked hard a few times, then stood up from her seat, but lingered at the end of the table. She pouted and peered down at Jimin. He ignored her.

"Jimin-ie," Sua whined in what appeared to be an attempt at aegyo.

Jimin slowly tilted his head to look up at Sua. I glanced at Taehyung just in time to see his eyes roll back so far I was mildly worried he might topple over the back of his chair.

When Jimin didn't verbally answer, Sua continued, "So... what's going to happen to JiHoon's apartment?"

Jimin sighed and let out an angry groan.

"I know he would usually pay a month in advance, and it would be a shame for it to just sit empty-"

"Stop." Jimin ran his fingers through his hair. "No, you can't move into his empty apartment and continue to try to leech off of him. He's dead, Sua. Have some respect!"

Sua stomped her foot in frustration, shouted a few choice words at Jimin, and finally left our table and the coffee shop.

Once the door closed behind her, I gave Jimin's hand a light squeeze.

"She's a monster."