After school
"Come to this address." I received a text from Jangjun as soon as I took out my phone. I only stared my phone, confused. The message didn't include anything more except for the address.
"What's wrong?" Joochan asked, standing next to me. I suddenly remembered what happened in recess. Someone took pictures of me and Jibeom, and Jangjun is the one to inform me about it, so I guess it's related to this.
"You what?!" Joochan screamed after I told him everything.
"Shut up! So are you coming with me?" I groaned. He nodded.
We went to the address Jangjun provided. It's an old garage. Joochan and I went inside and closed the door.
Jangjun stood there, waiting for us, and a girl is tied to a chair with her mouth covered by a cloth.
The girl is awake, she widened her eyes at our presence. Jangjun quietly removed the cloth, letting her speak with us.
"Sookyung?" I asked, shocked. Joochan looked surprised as well.
She's the one who took the pictures?
"Minkyung? Joochan?" Sookyung exclaimed, shocked as well.
"Here's her camera." Jangjun coldly threw a camera at us.
"Don't throw it! It's expensive!" Sookyung cried.
"Shut up!" Jangjun answered as he kicked her chair. Sookyung stayed quiet, scared.
Jangjun is usually a happy and bright person. But when he's facing enemies, he can become really scary.
"Don't hurt her." I said. Joochan caught the camera and turned it on, starting to look through the photos.
"Look." Joochan said as he went through the photos one by one. It included photos of me grabbing Jibeom's collar of his shirt, and more photos of us having a conversation.
I looked at Joochan's reaction carefully. I thought that he'll get mad, but he stayed calm.
"Did you hear anything?" I asked Sookyung.
"I know nothing, I swear!!" She cried.
"Perhaps... Jibeom asked you to do this?" Joochan questioned quietly, but Sookyung shook her head.
"I wasn't helping anyone... I just wanted to find some new gossip and then I saw you with Jibeom... I thought it will be great news since almost everyone knows you're with Joochan... I'm so sorry!!! Please don't hurt me!!!" Sookyung explained as she looked at me.
"Now one problem is solved, there is still one more problem..." Jangjun spoke as he crouched down to look at Sookyung.
"Do you believe that killers exist?" He asked. Sookyung widened her eyes in fear.
"Y-you guys are killers?" Sookyung asked, her voice was shaking, shocked as she looked at both me and Joochan.
"That's right." Jangjun smirked.
"I didn't know that!!! But I promise I'll keep it as a secret!!!" Sookyung cried as Jangjun took out a gun.
"Only one type of people can keep secrets, and those are dead people." Jangjun smiled, pointing the gun at Sookyung's head.
"Don't." Joochan looked at Jangjun. But I know that no one can stop Jangjun.
"If I die, the police will find out and you guys will get arrested!" Sookyung exclaimed, trying to stop Jangjun from killing her, but I shook my head.
"That won't happen... it will be reported as an accident, we won't get caught." I said quietly. She started sobbing.
"Goodbye." As Jangjun as about to kill her, the door of the garage is suddenly kicked down.
Joochan and I immediately got ready to fight whoever it is, but what that person said made all of us freeze in place.
"Hands off my girlfriend."
We looked at the person in shock. I can't believe Sookyung's boyfriend would actually come to save her. And what that means is...
He's a killer.
Jangjun looked shocked as well, he slowly put down his gun.
"I'm surprised to see you here, Jangjun." The boy said coldly.
"Same here, Youngtaek." Jangjun sounded calm, but I can tell that he's really surprised.
"We even went to hang out together yesterday, can't believe we became enemies today." The boy, who Jangjun called Youngtaek, chuckled.
So they are friends? That's why Jangjun is shocked.
What if one of your closest friends has been your enemy the whole time? I can't imagine how Jangjun felt.
"Tag! Why are you here?" Sookyung widened her eyes. Youngtaek looked at her lovingly, before turning back to Jangjun.
"She really knows nothing. So don't hurt her." He said.
"So how do you make sure our secrets stay safe?" Jangjun asked, putting his gun back in his pocket.
"I'll bring her back, and erase her memory about whatever happened that affected you guys." Youngtaek answered, walking to Sookyung to untie her.
"Sure, I trust you. I guess you wouldn't want her to know that you're a killer too." Jangjun smirked.
Once Sookyung got untied, she hugged Youngtaek tightly, the boy hugged her back.
"So, I guess I'll see you guys soon." Youngtaek looked at us.
"Sure, see you soon." Jangjun smiled. Youngtaek left the garage with Sookyung. Everyone fell silent.
"Jangjun..." Joochan and I spoke.
"Leave me alone. Give me some time..." He answered quietly.
Joochan and I exchanged looks, before silently exiting the garage.
---------------------------
The next day
When we got back to school, Sookyung really got her memory erased. She had no clue of what happened yesterday, nor anything that happened between Jibeom and I.
But Jibeom didn't come to school today for some reason. I wonder if he's sick or went out for a mission or anything. But Joochan told me not to care so much about him. He seemed to be annoyed every time I talk about Jibeom.
I know he's being jealous but I don't know if it's just acting or not. Some times it's hard to guess what Joochan is thinking.
We went back to the base immediately after school. Since we'll go out for a mission with Donghyun, we need to meet up with him first.
This mission isn't a normal mission. We're not going to complete it. In fact, our main purpose of going to this mission is to know more about the other killer group, whose missions overlapped with ours.
We know that they'll be completing this mission before us, so we can take this chance to actually find them.
"Jangjun isn't here today?" Joochan asked. Donghyun shook his head.
Donghyun was also surprised to hear what happened yesterday. He told us that Jangjun might have went to the gym today to work out to relieve his stress.
"So, let's go?" I asked. They nodded and we started heading towards our destination.
We arrived at an estate. We walked up the stairs until we reached the 2nd floor and reached the door of a flat.
The door isn't locked, so we directly opened it. But what happened inside there made us widen our eyes in shock.
As expected, our targets were dead already, killed by those killers.
However, their heads were cut off and nowhere to be seen. Their lifeless bodies laid on the floor and there's a huge puddle of blood.
The 3 of us entered the apartment, and we looked around carefully. I widened my eyes as I saw the heads on the desk...
A girl is sitting at the table, facing the heads...
And she's eating lunch as if nothing happened. She's even hugging a teddy bear as she's eating.
My jaw dropped. I have never seen such a hilarious scene before.
Am I... dreaming?
"Ah I know I know. Dammit! I said I'll finish my homework don't worry about me!" On the other side of the apartment, a boy is sitting on the sofa as he's playing video games while talking on his phone.
Donghyun, Joochan, and I stood there like an idiot. This looked nothing like a murder scene, in fact this is chaos.
They're all doing their own stuff, ignoring our existence.
No, I have to do something about this. I slowly walked to the girl and sat down on the opposite side of the table. Donghyun took a seat next to me while Joochan went to the boy.
Once I sat down, not mentioning the sight, I can smell the blood and it already makes me want to vomit, but as I killer I have to handle these.
"Hey..." Donghyun spoke to the girl after I nudged him.
"I don't want to fight when I'm eating." The girl answered without even looking up. Donghyun and I exchanged looks, not knowing what to do.
"Okay, then we won't fight." I answered, carefully cooperating with her.
But at this moment, a person flew above us and made a huge crashing noise as he hit the wall.
"Ah, dammit." Joochan groaned as he got up.
"Are you okay?" I widened my eyes in shock, and got ready to stand up and fight the boy who was just playing video games just one minute ago.
"Careful, I can handle this, but they're stronger than you think." Joochan bit his lip, before blocking a punch from the boy he's fighting with.
Donghyun stood up immediately, wanting to help Joochan, but the girl grabbed his arm, making him widen his eyes in shock.
"Make it 1 vs 1. Alright?" The girl smiled, before letting go of Donghyun's arm and kicked him, making him fall backwards.
Donghyun threw out a knife but the girl dodged it quickly. He then got up but the girl already ran to punch him in the stomach.
"She's so quick!" Donghyun widened his eyes in shock.
I threw a knife at the girl, trying to help Donghyun, but she caught it.
How did she...
"I said 1 vs 1!" The girl exclaimed as she threw the knife at Donghyun. Donghyun dodged the knife, but he crashed into the bookshelf and it collapsed on him.
"Donghyun!" I exclaimed, so shocked that I accidentally called out his real name. Donghyun didn't get up again as he lost consciousness.
I turned to the two dangerous killers, ready for them to attack me.
"We win." The boy said as he knocked Joochan out as well. But they just stayed in their own spot.
"It had just been 1 minute 20 seconds. Can't believe that they're this weak." The girl laughed as well.
"You-" I widened my eyes as I tightened my grip on the gun I'm holding behind my back.
"Woah chill, we won't fight any more. As we said before, 1 vs 1. The game will work like this too." The boy said with a smile.
"Plus, it would've been no fun if we kill you guys now so easily. We can wait until the game. We'll be fighting the same people anyways." The girl added.
"So what do you guys want now?" I asked.
"Shouldn't we be asking you that? You guys are the ones coming to find us." The girl answered. I didn't answer her, because she's right.
"Hey, could she be the girl that Jibeom likes?" The girl then asked the boy.
So they really are a team. And... did they just say that Jibeom likes me? They're serious about that?
"I guess so. You forgot to use code names, by the way." The boy answered.
"As if it'll even matter, Bomin. They'll all be dead anyways." The girl replied, laughing.
I couldn't help but feel nervous. How are they still so relaxed?
"Alright, then let's introduce ourselves. I'm Choi Bomin, this is my partner Min Eunha. We're in the same team as Kim Jibeom." The boy, Bomin turned to me and explained with a smile.
"What are your names?" Eunha asked brightly.
They seem so relaxed that it scares me.
And did they just reveal their real names? What are they doing? Are they planning something?
I felt like they have something else planned, and took a step back, but I bumped into someone.
"Bomin, stay aware. No one ever knows what'll happen next."
I turned around and widened my eyes in horror.
"Jibeom..."
"Don't underestimate us, Bae Minkyung." Jibeom said with a smile.
Suddenly I felt sharp pain in my head before I blacked out.
-----------------------------
"What's taking so long?" Sungyoon questioned himself as he looked at the door. The youngest three teammates hasn't came back yet.
"Did they fight and...lost?" He widened his eyes.
No way...then the game won't be able to start... they promised that they won't kill anyone before the game.
"We should find them." At this moment, Seungmin came out of the room and said.
"Seungmin..." Sungyoon answered.
"Even though I trust the three of them, the other team is more dangerous than we thought. We need to be careful." Seungmin said. Sungyoon nodded.
"I'll leave a message behind for Jangjun, let's go."
---------------------------
When I opened my eyes once again, I found myself tied to a chair. And as expected, Jibeom is sitting right in front of me.
"Your face..." I stared at his face in disbelief. His scar is gone. It was fake?
"I'm handsome, right? I know it too." He smiled. I just rolled my eyes in response.
I looked at what's behind Jibeom, and I can see Joochan and Donghyun tied to the wall. They're still unconscious.
"They're not going to wake up in a while. So for now it's just us two." The boy explained.
"Do you really have to capture us?" I sighed and asked.
"What else can we do?! You guys are the ones trying to bring us trouble yet we can't kill you guys." Jibeom shrugged.
"So now what? You're going to punish us?" I replied. He smiled once again, leaning in and kissed me on the cheek.
To be honest I'm not even surprised anymore, but why did my heartbeat got louder?
"How do you want me to punish you? I'll let you choose this time. The very last time." He said. I laughed.
"Let's play a game." I replied.
"What is it?" Jibeom asked.
"Phone call game." I said.
"Explain how it works and who it'll benefit." He crossed his arms, looking interested.
"You have a gun with you, right?" I asked, stealing a glance at the desk. A gun was placed there.
"Yes, and?"
"Take out your phone. Also take out my phone from my pocket." I said, he did what I was told to.
"In this game, we'll have take turns to give a phone call to someone. If any of our phone calls are picked up, we lose." I explained. He smiled.
"If I lose, you use that gun and shoot whoever you want. But if you lose, you'll have to let all of us go." I said.
Jibeom nodded, knowing that he's the one who'll benefit from this game. Because the moment my phone call is being picked up, he can immediately shoot us.
And...
He can regret his actions and shoot us even when he lost.
"Alright, who'll start first?" He asked, taking the gun from the table.
"I'll start. Take my phone, help me click into the contacts and press on the name I told you to press on. It'll directly call the person." I explained. He nodded and took my phone after I unlocked it.
"Name?"
"Cho Jihwan." I said.
"Found it. Who is it? If I find out it's a fake number then I will immediately shoot your partner." Jibeom smirked.
"Oh, that's my ex crush." I replied.
"Ah ex crush I see..." He nodded as he pressed on the contact name, starting to call the person.
After 4 beeps, the phone call won't be able to be picked up. There will be a beep every 4.5 seconds.
"Beep... beep... beep... beep..."
Both of us silently waited until the 4 beeps went past, and Jibeom ended the call.
"You're lucky this time. Sad that your ex crush didn't pick up the call." He said, picking up his own phone. He went to the contacts and clicked into a number before showing me.
"This is my ex best friend." Jibeom explained, placing down his phone.
"Beep... beep... beep... beep..."
He ended the phone call with a smile. How can he still smile at this point?
"Your turn." He said.
"Heo Cheonjoon." I answered.
"Who is it?"
"My first boyfriend." I answered and he burst out laughing.
"Okay, let's see if your first boyfriend will pick up your call." Jibeom nodded, scrolling through the contacts and pressed on the name.
"Beep... beep..."
"Please don't pick up the call!!!!" I exclaimed, almost crying.
"Look at how nervous you are." Jibeom laughed, looking at his gun then back at me.
"Beep... beep..."
I sighed in relief.
"Looks like your first boyfriend doesn't care about you anymore." Jibeom said.
"It's your turn." I didn't look bothered by his words.
He clicked into another contact.
"It's my classmate before I transferred to your school." He explained before pressing the call button.
"Beep... beep... beep... beep..."
He did not look nervous at all, but neither did I.
"Looks like this game will go on for a long time. It's your turn again." Jibeom smiled as he ended the call.
"Jung Heechan. Childhood friend." I answered.
"You really like taking risks at the most important moment, huh." He answered, helping me start the phone call.
"Beep... beep... beep... beep..."
Jibeom ended the call and I sighed in relief once again.
"It's your turn." I smiled. He still didn't look nervous at all.
"I'll call my mom." He said, scrolling through his phone. I widened my eyes in shock.
"Your mom?" I questioned. He nodded.
"She's not going to pick up anyways." He shrugged, pressing call on the phone.
But I have a feeling that it won't be like what he said.
"Beep... beep... beep..."
As we waited for the last beep...
The phone call was picked up.
"Hello? Jibeomie? Is it Jibeomie?! Oh my gosh you finally called after so long!!! Mom misses you so much! How are you? Are you studying well? Do you still play a lot of video games? Did you make any new friends-"
Both of us widened our eyes. But Jibeom looked extremely mad.
"MOM! WHY?! Why did you have to pick up the phone call?! I... I could've won!! Why do you still care about me so much WHY CAN'T YOU HATE ME!!!!" He shouted before ending the call and throwing his phone onto the ground.
"Don't estimate a mother's love. No matter how time passes, her love will only grow more and never gets less." I said calmly, staring at him.
"I... I don't understand..." He sat down on his chair weakly, staring at his phone in disbelief.
"You lost, Kim Jibeom. You lost to the greatness of your mother's love." I said. He looked up.
"Of course I'm not going to let you guys go that easily." Jibeom burst out laughing, and picked up the gun from the desk. He pointed the gun at me.
"I won't let you guys win." He said.
"BANG!!!"
A gun sound was heard.
Did I get shot? No.
Did I shoot Jibeom? No.
Did he shoot himself? No.
Then what happened?
There's not only us two in this place.
Jibeom got shot on the arm, by Joochan who regained consciousness.
Jibeom groaned in pain as he dropped his gun, and fell to the floor, holding his injured arm.
"Bang!" Joochan shot his leg as well so he can't move.
"Let's go." Joochan said to me as he untied himself, and untied Donghyun as well, carrying him on his back.
He then went to me and untie me, and we found the exit. We opened the door and left. At last Joochan closed the door.
"I locked the door." Joochan explained, looking around.
"I guess we're in a building." I said. Joochan quickly went to the staircase and started running down. I followed after him.
We're at the 5th floor of a building, and surprisingly no one attacked us on our way going downstairs.
When we exited the building, we're surprised to find a car stopped in front of us.
A taxi, to be exact.
The window of the taxi opened, revealing Sungyoon at the driver seat and Seungmin at the front seat.
"Want a ride?" Sungyoon asked with a smile.
We smiled and got on the taxi.
"Is Donghyun okay?" Sungyoon asked.
"He'll be awake in a while." Joochan answered.
We didn't question how Sungyoon managed to find us, because he won't tell us, and we trust him.
"You have been awake since the second call, am I right?" I asked Joochan.
"That's right. Your acting is great. And, if you have to call for 4th time, who will you call?" Joochan answered while laughing.
"Donghyun, I guess." I replied.
That's right. I called Joochan for all three calls in the game, and the phone calls woke him up.
A killer needs several identities, so saving multiple contacts is also a normal thing, especially when he's my partner.
But the fact that I chose to use all three chances to call Joochan, simply means that he's important to me.
"Thanks for trusting me." Joochan gave me a high five.
Flashback
"Joochan!" I exclaimed as I finally found him in a distance.
"Minkyung?" Joochan widened his eyes as I punched him hard in the shoulder.
"Ouch what the hell?!" He exclaimed.
"Why didn't you pick up any of my calls?" I asked, looking sad.
"What? I-" Joochan took out his phone.
"Ah, I always put my phone on vibration mode, sorry." He immediately apologized.
"Okay, I understand now." I smiled.
End of flashback
"By the way, I feel bad for Jibeom's mother." I said. This time Joochan nodded as well.
"Let's send her some money when we have time." He replied.