The police station was a scary place, even when Yunho was outside the building. He didn't know what the exact protocol was, but if it was anything like the TV dramas he watched, Mingi should be released soon.
Unless, of course, the police found enough evidence to prosecute him.
Yunho paced nervously in a tiny circle, trying unsuccessfully to lower his presence. He was on the far side of the crossroad right outside the gate, because that was the closest to the station he dared to go.
It was early in the morning, so most people crossed the road to go in, displaying their ID cards with an unsmiling expression only inspectors determined to solve their cases could wear on their faces.
All of those officers gave Yunho a questioning look as they passed by.
"...frustrating. He was so worked up we thought he would confess, but he never did."
He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but that was what his frantic mind directed his attention to in order to calm himself down. Intrigued, Yunho looked up from his feet and saw two people standing next to him, waiting for the traffic light to turn green. It was the man who spoke just now, and he was waiting for his female partner to reply.
"I have a feeling this is just one of those cases that will stay an unsolved mystery. You'll see many of those in your career, bud." The woman gave one pat on the man's back.
"We still have the evidence, right?" He asked.
The woman scoffed. "The textile fibers? Those are all we have and that's not strong enough to make the case. Besides, all of our witnesses have said only good things about our suspect. No solid alibi...but the statements make it sound like we're looking at a completely different case."
Yunho casually turned his head when she looked his way. At this point, he was confident that the detectives were talking about Mingi, so he bore into the red man on the traffic light and wished, for once, that he would stay for a bit longer.
"Do you think we got the wrong person?" The male inspector asked.
There was a short pause before the answer came. "Hard to say. I trust the witnesses, though, especially since there are so many, with a wide range of profiles. People judge each other surprisingly well. So..."
The red man disappeared and the light turned green. The officers began crossing the road.
"...he sounds like a harmless young..."
Yunho couldn't hear the rest of the sentence as the woman walked off with her subordinate, but he already heard everything he wanted to hear.
The rest of the twenty minutes flew by. Perhaps it was the certainty of knowing Mingi would come out that gave Yunho that illusion. Either way, he was so elated to see the familiar face emerge from behind the gate that he ran across the road without checking the traffic light and jumped onto Mingi, wrapping his arms around the body he knew so well.
Mingi returned the hug with earnest, pressing the other against himself.
"I'm sorry. You must be worried," said Mingi, stepping out of the hug.
Yunho shook his head, his hands still on Mingi's shoulders. "I wasn't worried. I knew something must've gone wrong. You would never do such a thing." The tears stinging his eyes surprised him as he spoke. He was so happy to see them again - the same gentle eyes and the kind smile he had in his memory.
"Thanks." Mingi's smile went rigid with his short and quiet reply. He didn't tell Yunho that, when he was questioned in the claustrophobic room and presented with incriminating evidence, how he had started to suspect himself more than once.
He clenched the bag in his hands. Inside were his belongings returned to him by the police, including the bottle of pills he took everywhere. He knew the side effects of his medications. He had never injured a person and then forget what he did, but he couldn't stop thinking of the possibility that that was actually what happened.
"You don't look so happy. Aren't you glad you were proven innocent?" Yunho's hands slid off Mingi's shoulders.
"Yeah, of course I am," said Mingi, forcing his voice to go up a pitch. "I'm just tired." He realized that Yunho was right; he gained everyone's trust, even the police's. He was the crazy one to not believe himself.
"So what are you going to do now? You still have to work, don't you?" Mingi asked.
Yunho's heart sank. He knew he had to see Jongho now, who was probably visiting his unconscious friend in the hospital. Jongho never said anything about Mingi being arrested, which was exactly why Yunho dreaded the contentious conversation that would inevitably come.
"I have to go find Jongho-" The rest of his answer got caught in his throat when he saw San approaching.
Following Yunho's gaze, Mingi turned around to meet his flatmate, who looked haggard with the dark bags under his eyes.
"Thank god you're out," said San. He eyed Yunho nervously and grabbed Mingi's arm. "We're going back home."
Mingi opened his mouth to protest, but Yunho beat him to it, with a hint of irritation in his voice. "We're not done talking."
San sighed. The exasperation barely penetrated the layer of exhaustion on his face. "I'm too tired to argue. Just...you two should keep some distance for a while. It's good for both of you." He glanced at Mingi, then at the police station. When he spoke again, his voice was much softer. "For everyone."
Yunho frowned, his irritation slowly escalating to anger. "What do you mean? Mingi did nothing wrong, so why do we have to keep some distance as if he has to hide? I'm sick of you telling me something and not explaining the rest. Either tell me the whole truth or leave us alone."
The bubble holding in the tension burst open. San's eyes turned stony in an instant.
"You let us be for a whole week," continued Yunho, letting his anger take control because he knew fear and anxiety would take their place if he didn't. Deep down he knew that San knew things he didn't want to learn about, so he had to push them away. Push him away. "You saw that nothing happened. So why interfere again? Why-"
Mingi interrupted Yunho by stepping in between him and San. "It's okay." He placed a hand on Yunho's shoulder and guided him a few steps away from San. "He's not trying to separate us. I'll...I'll talk to him. You should go find your friend."
Yunho shrugged the hand away. "Wait, do you know something too?"
Catching the hint of betrayal in Yunho's eyes, Mingi answered hastily, "No! ....not really." All he knew was that his medications were part of the problem. He thought about the headaches and the blackouts and felt trapped when he saw Yunho's pupils tremble with concern.
"You don't have to worry about this," Mingi added. "I'm still me, and I still love you. Nothing will change between us."
Yunho wanted to say something else but stopped because he felt the truth in Mingi's words. He already knew everything he needed to know about Mingi. "You're right. I shouldn't let a third person interfere." Then, hesitantly, he added, "I...I love you too."
Mingi smiled and gave Yunho a quick peck on the lips. Then he turned around and left with his flatmate.
Jongho was sitting on the visitor chair when Yunho arrived. They were in a regular ward now, a bit plain and empty compared to the intensive care unit with all the daunting tubes and machines.
Yeosang was the only occupant in the room, taking the bed nearest to the window out of the four available ones.
"How is he?" Yunho asked, feeling obliged to keep his voice low in the reverent atmosphere. He noticed that the bruises were gone and the wounds were fading on Yeosang's face. The only visible injury left was the bandage-wrapped hand resting on the blanket.
Jongho turned his head slowly from Yeosang to Yunho. His eyes lingered on his tall friend for a while as if they were taking some time to register the man's presence. "Is he out?"
Yunho got the hint. No small talk. His heart felt heavy in his chest and he suddenly wanted to sit down but Jongho stood up at this exact moment, his body blocking the sunlight that streamed through the window.
"Yes," Yunho finally said, following without protest as Jongho walked around him to leave the room.
The hallway was bright, empty, and reeked of disinfectant, though Yunho barely noticed the smell.
"So did he do the other things, too? The animals and the-"
"He was released," said Yunho tersely, cutting Jongho off.
"For the lack of evidence." Jongho's voice was neutral, and he was leaning against the wall with a kind of nonchalance, but Yunho could see the veins running down his neck between the taut muscles.
"There's nothing to prove anything. Let's just leave it as it is, okay?" Yunho heard his tired voice and realized that was exactly how he felt. Tired and despondent, because he knew where this was going and he could do nothing to stop it.
"And what? Will you go back to him again? Do you want to end up like Yeosang?" Jongho was standing straight now, facing Yunho with hurt burning in his eyes.
The fury rose up in him in an instant. Yunho couldn't stop the words coming out of his mouth. "It wasn't him. Mingi didn't do anything!"
"Then why was he arrested? He was a suspect for god's sake!"
Yunho cringed at the offensive word. "He's not one now. He's innocent."
"Just because there wasn't enough evidence doesn't mean he's innocent. He tried to hit you in the restaurant that night, and then we get all these physical assaults." Jongho turned his head to the side in frustration. "You can't tell me that doesn't make you at least a bit suspicious."
"You don't even know what he's like!" Yunho shouted, barely letting Jongho finish. The accusations hurt him, and the fact that they came from his best friend made it even more unbearable.
Pain fueled his anger, and anger worsened the pain. Whatever he said next was just his body trying to let them out before they could consume him. "He was drunk that night, and he-sometimes he acts out of character but that's all just side effects of his medications!"
His voice echoed in the narrow hallway. A nurse warned the two men to be quiet or they would have to leave, but neither of them listened.
Jongho took a silent moment to process what he just heard. "Medications? Acts out of character?" He muttered, putting the puzzle pieces together. "It wasn't only that once, isn't it? What else happened? What didn't you tell me?"
"Nothing." Yunho lowered his voice, trying to stay calm despite saying something he wasn't meant to say. Despite lying straight into Jongho's face. He tried to save it by spitting out a truth. Something he deeply believed in. "Whatever it is, nothing changes the fact that Mingi would never hurt anyone, let alone your friend."
"F**k," said Jongho, running a hand through his hair. He stared wide-eyed at Yunho. "This is what I was talking about. Things come in a package, but you hide when you see or hear something you don't like. You have to see the rest of the package, not just the-"
"Stop saying that. He's a living person." Yunho's soft voice was also deeper now. Something was burning in his heart. Something more than pain and anger. "I'm not hiding. I just see things for what they truly are. I don't hurt people just because they hurt me. I know who Mingi is. And that's why I like him."
A ringtone blared loudly, interrupting the unfinished conversation.
Yunho felt the buzzing in his pocket. He tried to take his phone and realized then that his hand was already squeezing a hard object. The mirror Mingi gave him.