Pre-Session 5

"Is Aaron around?" Y/N asked as she walked out of the building. The light breeze brushed past her skin, giving her a few chills. "I hear toys"

A giggle went past her lips as she went towards a bench. She let out a breath as the cold material came in contact with her clothes.

"Let me get him," Her mother said.

Y/N eyes widened as a smile spread across her lips. Her heart began to beat a million times faster out of expectation.

"Hello?" His voice seemed to send ice through her veins. Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes as she tried to keep herself from crumbling apart.

"Hi, Aaron," She said softly. "Is your sister Y/N"

"Y/N!" He exclaimed, happiness lacing his tone. Pain seemed to take over her chest as her body trembled.

"How are you? I haven't seen you in so long." She said a sad smile on her face. "Have you grown a lot? Mom tells me you are getting tall"

"I am!" He said.

Y/n could imagine her little brother just laughing and waving his arms as he spoke to her. His rambling going from toys to weather, to all things in between.

"Oh yeah?" She asked, wiping away her stubborn tears. "There's a monster in your closet?"

"Yes.." He trailed off. "And it hurt my leg last time"

Y/N's smile dropped as her heart stopped. Curses ran through her mind as anger boiled inside her veins. She knew the monster very well at this point in time.

"And is it better?" She asked, making sure to keep the boy talking.

He hummed in response.

"I learned how to draw a dog today," He said.

"Would you draw one for me when I go back?" She said, pushing all of her thoughts aside. She couldn't let Allan ruin the few moments she had with the kid.

"Yes," He answered.

A breathy laugh went past Y/N lips as a big grin came upon her face.

"When are you coming home?" He asked, his tone small and sad.

Her chest filled with warmth as she could only imagine his face looking back at her.

"Soon, Aaron. I promise" She said.

Y/N could hear as her mom asked the boy to give back the phone, the youngster refusing teasingly before she heard the woman's voice come through the line.

"We'll be okay. Focus on work and remember to rest well darling." Her mother said.

"Sure," Y/N said. "Bye. Take care"

Silence came over the line as the smile faded from her features. It felt like the world around her weighted itself against her frame. Sobs seemed to push at her throat, but she pushed them in. It felt as if Mr. Choi's eyes were staring right at her in that exact moment, even if she was a few feet away from her by now.

She let out a groan of frustration before relaxing.

She looked at her phone screen and sighed, knowing full well she would return home just to scream and cry out every bit of frustration stored in her chest.

Y/N sat down on one of the metal chairs of the bakery. Yeosang smiled as he saw her approach.

"Nice to see you Mr.." She trailed off for a moment, thinking.

"Kang," He said. "But you can call me Yeosang"

Y/N nodded as she furrowed her eyebrows. His frame was relaxed and calm, unlike when she first met him. Even from afar his shyness was noticeable, but right now, he was completely zoned out. As if they had been friends for a while.

She sighed as she stared at her notes.

"I'm not sure how to even approach this" She mumbled, looking up. "So I will ask you the one thing I know"

Yeosang nodded along, his eyes open wide. There was an unsettling feeling in his eyes. The longer he stared the more exposed she felt. It was as if he was burning off her skin little by little.

"Who and where is Yunho?" She said deadpanned.

Yeosang paused as he looked into his thoughts.

"Did San tell you?" He mumbled, looking at her again.

She nodded.

He let out a long breath as he leaned on his elbows. His eyes were focused on the table as he tried to find his voice from whatever mess his mind seemed to be. His eyes giving it all away.

"He is a dance major down at our local university," He said. "I can't tell you much as I really don't know anything from his side"

Y/N nodded as she jotted down the information.

"But I can tell you about Lily," He said.

Y/N's gaze flicked up at him, her full attention on his words and frame.

"She was a very close friend of mine." He said, letting out a sigh. "She began dating Hongjoong a good chunk of the way through college. They both were very loving."

Y/N nodded along.

"But shit hit the fan rather quickly once San came into the picture. He was a dear friend of ours for a long while. Lily was always very flirty with him, but Hongjoong trusted her with all his being so he didn't doubt it much."

The atmosphere grew tense as her chest tightened.

"Lily then went the extra mile by tricking San into sleeping with her" He said, ruffling his hair. "It spread like wildfire until it reached Hongjoong. That's when we began to break apart. Yunho was the first one to leave and go back to his hometown. He came back recently to finish his scholarship"

"What about the rest of you? How did everyone take it?" She asked softly.

"We had no idea what to do. San felt guilty and broken as he betrayed one of his dearest friends. He even tried to make it up by going on blind dates and getting an actual girlfriend" He said. "Two actually"

His tone went somber as his gaze hardened. His shoulders were locked in place as he remembered something.

"Anything about his studies?" She asked, her voice lost somewhere in the back of her throat.

"He was a literature kid. He was studying languages on the side as well." He said. "He had a few tutors down the line, mostly his friends."

"Who was the small percentage that was not categorized as his close friends?" She asked through jumbled thoughts.

"Two Mandarin teachers" He said, shaking his head. "One of them was during the one-night stand phase"

His voice was breathy, something Y/N didn't hear the first time. She could tell he was taking a few seconds to control his voice. Even if it was deep, the changes were there.

"Was he violent? Compulsive? Maybe even emotionally driven?" She asked.

"All three" Yeosang said without hesitation. "But he was definitely very attached"

"To what?"

"To his family," Yeosang said with a raised eyebrow.

Y/N blinked a few times before nodding. He let out a sigh.

"My grandma always told me he was to be a family man," He said. "Didn't expect any of this to happen really"

"Was there any sign of what he was doing?" She asked.

Yeosang shook his head.

"We have no idea when or how exactly." There. His posture was way to stoic. He was not moving. "We only know it happened" Bullshit.

Her chest seemed to burn slightly as her mind seemed to flare up in alarms.

"Did he disappear a lot?"

"Not exactly," Yeosang said. "He would go out a lot, but he would always be back by noon of the next day"

His body flowed with his words. Y/N cursed inwardly. Now she needed to deal with lying outside of the facility?

"Have you ever met Song Mingi?" She asked casually.

"He is in one of my classes," He said.

That made it three people involved in the case that were studying in the same school. She really needed to check the records then.

"When did you all really fall apart?" She asked.

"After Jongho's graduation," He said.

His name sent shivers down her spine. If she was to take Mr. Choi's word for it, she had to be extremely careful when it came to him.

"We all went our own way," He said.

Why were they all in the same town then? What had really set them apart?

Questions went over her mind as she tried to keep it cool.

She opened her mouth to talk, but her phone rang, making her pause completely.

"Excuse me," She said going outside.

"Hello?"

"Miss Y/L/N?" She frowned at the voice.

"Yes?" She answered

"I'm Wooyoung." He said.

Y/N's eyes went wide for a moment.

"Yeah.." She trailed off. "What's the matter?"

"I will need you to come by after the results are fully in" He said. "You may need to know some of the details"

"Come by where?" She asked, her stomach turning already.

"The lab," Wooyoung said simply.

Well, fuck sleep and sanity for a few days right?

"Ok," She said, turning around. "I'll see you then. Let me know if anything happens"

Her eyes suddenly landed on Yeosang who was coming outside.

"My shift begins soon," He said.

Y/N nodded putting down her phone.

"I will come by with more questions if you wouldn't mind," She said as she looked across the street.

The woman was currently arranging a few flowers.

"See you then," He said quickly before going back in.

A sense of dread filled her chest as she began her walk back home. Her eyes lost on what to focus on.

This is not going to be good, is it?