"Who made this? Where can I meet this amazing person?" Heeseung asked with his mouth full as they all sat at the large dining table filled with fine silver cutlery and countless dishes of food.
"Oh this is just the amazing work of our chef. He came from Italy so it's obvious." Sunghoon replied.
"I'm glad you all agreed to stay here until the case isn't solved because coming here from the city daily would be very inconvenient." He expressed his joy with a smile.
"But we can't enjoy ourselves either ways. We can't even sleep once we're on a case." Kai informed after he was done chewing.
"Yeah, it's better that we discuss the matter we're here for." Beomgyu agreed.
"What do you want to know?" Sunghoon asked as he cut his knife through the roasted buttered potato.
"Was Linda your student?" Kiarra asked in response.
"Yes, indeed. Infact she was one of the brilliant students of my class. She was highly active in performing on stage." The man replied.
"So that means she was outgoing and social. She must have a lot of friends." Beomgyu thought to himself out loud.
"Did she have a boyfriend?" He asked Sunghoon.
"I'm sorry but I'm not involved in my students' personal life. All I know is that she was a cheerful girl with a gorgeous smile." The man explained.
"You sure did notice her smile carefully." Soobin commented with a low voice before drinking from his glass.
"Pardon?" Sunghoon looked at him.
"Nothing." He immediately shook his head.
"Did anyone ever try to bully her? Or did she have a rival?" Kiarra questioned.
"She was mostly friendly with everyone but yeah I remember she did get in a fight with one of girl's in her class." Seonhee responded.
"But it was just because she got to perform in an act instead of the other girl. I think that's natural among students."
"Please provide me with the details of that girl please." Kiarra asked and she nodded with a smile.
"Sure. I will."
"If It's possible....can we please talk with the students who are left here?" Beomgyu asked and Sunghoon hummed in response.
"Sure, we'll introduce all the students to you once we're done with lunch." He answered.
"Aren't you going to drink your wine?" Sunghoon questioned Kiarra with raised eyebrows.
"Ah no I don't drink." She gave out an embarrassed chuckle.
"So I heard this castle was haunted?" Heeseung rose up the question that made Sunghoon freeze in his spot.
"Obviously. It's a given at such a place." He replied after gulping the food down his throat. "Everyone thinks places like these are haunted."
"But the question is that is this place really haunted?" Heeseung questioned once again as he looked directly into Sunghoon's eyes.
"It depends....if you believe in the supernatural then it must be." He replied with his usual calm tone.
"Do you believe in the supernatural?" Kiarra asked making him look at her now.
"No. I don't." He answered firmly without a second thought.
"Magic is just special effects and strategic techniques. I think everyone knows that."
"I think the opposite. If you really believe in something then it might be true." Seonhee negated.
"Yes of course. My sister has always been fond of creepy things." Soobin commented while bringing his lips into a straight line.
"You're just a scaredy cat." She scoffed in response.
"I think magic isn't what we think of it as. It's not like a superpower in movies or something, maybe it's just the unexplained things that happen in our daily life." Kiarra presented her thought as she circled the top of the glass with her finger.
"Here comes philosopher Kia."
Kai chuckled sarcastically.
"I seriously don't understand the things you say most of the time." Beomgyu commented while carelessly eating.
"It's not my fault you're dumb. I still can't believe you're at a such a high position with that tiny brain of yours." The woman teased him.
"Stop it before I-" He stopped mid sentence after realising they were in a new atmosphere.
"You guys must be close." Sunghoon commented with an admiring chuckle.
"Yeah we are. Right Kia." Soobin replied while placing an arm around her shoulders.
"Yes...." She laughed and removed his arm away.
"We all met in highschool and here we are now infront of your eyes."
"Tell us about yourself too. I'm curious. How did you come till here? I mean you're quite famous." Heeseung inquired as he dug the tiny spoon into his pudding.
"I just do what I love. And that's performing on stage." He answered with a proud smile.
"What about your friends? Like do you have any here or are they in another places?" Heeseung asked again and Seonhee silently admired him from the side as he ate.
"I don't know about friends but my brother also teaches here." He answered.
"Oh is he also a magician like you?" Heeseung asked being quite submerged in the topic.
"No, he teaches method acting. He's a well known stage performer but not as known as me." The man explained.
"He....likes to stay away from the spotlight most of the time."
"He mbti must be an I." Kai commented with a chuckle.
"Probably." Sunghoon replied with a tight smile.
"If everyone is done with their food, we can go and get acquainted with the students for the investigation." He suggested and everyone agreed while getting up one by one.
"Can I bring my dessert with me?" Heeseung asked with curious eyes as he held the glass pudding cup in his hands.
"Of course you can." Seonhee permitted with a smile and he gave her a shy smile in response.
"We'll be moving upstairs to the classes. You are advised to stick behind me so you don't get lost." Sunghoon instructed as they all followed him on the huge staircase.
"I hate stairs." Kiarra spoke under her breath.
"Should I carry you up?" Soobin proposed with a side smirk.
"Uh no thanks. I don't want to end up rolling down the stairs." She responded.
"But you know I can do it with ease." He spoke the truth but she chose to ignore him.
After much climbing they were finally welcomed by the first floor of the castle where all the classes were located.
"This is our dance room....which is quite full during this time of the day but is now closed due to the current situation." Sunghoon showed them the huge hall filled with mirrors on two of the walls.
"Next is the music room where all the musical instruments are placed for practice. Which is also closed..." He showed them the room filled with all types of instruments and chairs.
"The students must be taking a class after lunch here...." He knocked on the door and a woman opened it.
"Good afternoon sir." She bowed at Sunghoon and let him in being followed by the rest.
"Hello students.....sit down sit down please." He told the numbered students that barely filled the front row.
"This our crime investigation team that is investigating on Linda's case. Please be helpful and inform us if you know the least amount of information regarding her." Sunghoon instructed and they all nodded.
"I have some business to attend so I'll catch up with you guys later. Until then Seonhee will be here to assist you." He turned around and informed the team and waved them off.
"Okay so we'll start by names....what's your name?" Kiarra looked around and pointed at a boy.
"I'm Haru." He answered nervously.
"No need to be nervous. We're not here to pressurize any of you. Be comfortable and consider this an interview for a famous magazine." Kiarra suggested with her hands clasped together and some of the students smiled at that.
"So, Haru what made you stay here?" She asked the boy and he blinked his eyes trying to think of a suitable answer.
"I love this university and I don't want it to close down. That's why I want to help in figuring out the killer as soon as possible." He answered.
"You must be very passionate about magic." Kiarra gave him an eye smile.
"Speaking of magic, I heard someone say that some of the students here are practicing real magic." She threw the bait and all the students looked at each other to exchange glances.
"Does anyone of you think Linda was involved in that maybe that's why she ended up like that?
Everyone went silent but one student rose up their hand.
"Yes dear, your name please." Kiarra asked.
"Hani." She replied.
"Are you related to Haru here? Because you look quite alike." The woman asked.
"Yes ma'am he's my twin brother." She answered with her sweet shy voice.
"Oh please call me Kia. Nice to meet all of you. This is Soobin, this is Beomgyu, this here is Heeseung and last but not least Kai." She introduced her team to them.
"Is Kai your brother Miss. Kia?" A boy asked.
"No... we just happen to have the same name with different letter placements." She laughed in response.
"Anyways, Hani you were saying something?"
"Yes....Miss. Kia, I wanted to tell you that yesterday..... before Linda's death I overheard some girls in the library including Linda talking about some cursed spell book." She informed.
"Please tell me more." Kiarra encouraged her and all of them took chairs to sit infront of the children as they listened to them one by one to hear what they had to say.
▪︎♡▪︎
Kiarra tied the warm bathrobe around her waist as she came out of the steaming bathroom.
"Boo!" Heeseung came and scared her from behind the door.
"Haha I'm so scared." She spoke with no emotion in her voice and kept walking ahead.
"This place is even creepier at night." Heeseung looked out of the large window and then covered it with the curtains immediately.
"You're such a big loser." She laughed and he frowned in response.
"Just imagine if this place is literally haunted." She teased him.
"Please don't....or I'll have to sleep next to you." He neared her slowly while looking around.
"Yeah as if I'll let you. Now stop bothering me I'm going to get some hot chocolate from downstairs." She pushed him away from infront of her.
"You're going......downstairs.....alone...." He looked at her with wide eyes.
"Yeah...obviously. Are you scared?" She smirked at him.
"N-No why the hell would I be scared?! Bring scared is so dumb....." He chuckled nervously.
"Alright then go back to your room and sleep on time because we have to wake up early tomorrow." She instructed while twisting the fancy door knob and he ran after her before she could exit.
"Goodnight Kia." He waved at her nervously and she waved back with a chuckle and continued to go ahead into the empty hallway.
She wasn't afraid to go downstairs alone because one, she really didn't fear ghosts or anything and second, she knew how to defend herself since she had been professionally trained for it.
At daytime the castle was lit up with electrical lights but at night all the hallways were lit with dim tourches to give off an old vibe to the place.
She jogged down the stairs and finally found her way into the kitchen which was to the right, near the staircase.
That area was awfully darker than the rest of the place so she instantly regretted not bringing her phone for a flashlight because it was hard to look where she was going.
Nonetheless she managed to find the swinging kitchen door which she pushed and it swung open.
The dim light from outside peeped into the kitchen as she looked around for the light switch but couldn't find it since it was too dark to even see what was two centimeters ahead.
She heard a weird sound come from behind her that immediately made her look back but it was obviously too dark to figure out what was happening.
She guided herself blindly through touching the kitchen counter and reached the stove to look for a possible lighter or match box.
The young woman had remarkable sharp senses and she felt the air shifting behind her that meant someone or something was nearing her from behind.
She traced her fingers on the counter and got hold of a huge sharp knife grabbing its handle while she waited for movement.
Just like always, her senses were right and a person stood right behind her with only an inch of distance between their bodies.
Within a second she sprung out the knife while turning around to place it on the person's neck.
She couldn't see who it was since it was too dark but in the other moment the light was on with a clap of the person's hands.
She widened her eyes seeing Sunghoon's face this close to hers and removed the blade from his neck.
"I'm sorry.....I thought...." She looked away nervously.
"It's fine...actually I was scared too. I have to be alert since you know....the situation of this place is quite dangerous these days." He explained and stepped back a bit.
"What if I killed you? Don't come near me like that again." She chuckled as she walked over to the refrigerator to take out the milk.
"Then I'd accept death at such beautiful hands." He commented with a satisfied smirk.
"Magicians are always good with their words." She shook her head with smile as she lit the stove amd looked for a saucepan.
"In there." He directed her with his finger.
"What are you making anyways?" He asked.
"Oh just some hot chocolate since I took a shower." She pointed at her obvious wet hair.
"Do you want some?"
"Yeah sure." He nodded eagerly and she chuckled.
"Where's the chocolate powder now?" She asked while opening the cabinets.
"I don't know....I don't come in the kitchen often." He answered.
"Ah here it is." She picked up the tin and closed the cabinet.
"You can use the microwave though." He suggested.
"No the milk doesn't boil naturally....I don't know I just don't like it that way." She refused and placed the saucepan full of milk onto the stove that lit up with a click.
"So how old are you?" He asked as both of them leaned on the opposite counters.
"Just turned twenty six." She replied.
"Same. Wow we're the same age." He chuckled and she smiled back.
"I don't want to get too personal but do you have like someone you like or are you in a relationship?" He asksd further.
"Uh no. I don't like anyone currently and neither am I in a relationship." She answered.
"Oh nice." He nodded.
"What about you?" She asked back.
"Same again." He curled up his lips.
As the two were busy in their short conversation the milk boiled up and came out of the saucepan.
Kiarra panicked and turned around at the sound to turn off the stove but it was too late since half of the milk had already fallen out.
"It's fine. I can help." He walked ahead as she ripped a piece of paper towel and threw it on the stove.
Sunghoon also ripped multiple pieces of paper towel and threw it all over the spilt milk.
Both of them placed their hand on the paper towels at the same time which resulted in their hands meeting and they immediately picked them up while looking away.
They looked at each other and broke into laughter.
It was a start of something both of them would regret.
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