Jung Hoseok's POV

"In the end she ran away." I sighed, "Her and her friends made a run for it, leaving the orphanage and everyone who loved them behind."
"Oh, I see." Mr. Han sighed, his hands on the desk. "I think I remember that day, when the police came round."
"Yes." I replied. "That day."

"Did you ever find a reason as to why they ran away?" He questioned.
"There were many reasons." I told him. "But there's just one that I can't stop thinking about; this one regret that keeps on spinning round and round in my head."
"And what's that?" He asked me, but I couldn't reply for a while as the memories came flooding back through my mind.

"I wish I would've just told her."

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

I was heading downstairs after sorting out a matter of a girl's lost phone when I saw Areum making her way along the corridor. She looked deep in thought, so I decided to see if she was okay.
"Hi Areum." I smiled, causing her to look up from the ground.
"Oh, hi." She smiled.
"Everything okay?" I questioned, and we stopped in the middle of the hallway.
"Yeah." She replied, shuffling her feet on the floor.

"Oh by the way," I spoke up. "Where were you last night?" Her feet stopped shuffling and she froze. "Someone claimed that you stole their pencil case, so I went looking for you but I couldn't find you."
"I was in the common room with DREAM." She told me, avoiding eye contact.
"The whole evening?"
"Yeah."

"I went there three times and you weren't there once." I told her. "Where were you really." She better not have gone to that party. She emitted a deep sigh, slouching her shoulders in defeat.
"I went to DREAM's dorm." She sighed, leaning against the wall. "We were all there."

"Areum!" I yelled out, and she looked away. "How many times have I told you not to go into boys dorms."
"We were gonna go to the common room but Jinyoung and his friends were there." She told me. "We didn't want Jaemin to get into another fight."
"That doesn't excuse the fact that you went to the boys dorm." I retorted, placing my hand up to my forehead.

"You shouldn't split up girls and boys." Areum mumbled. "It's 2018 And people are gay now."
"People have always been gay." I gave her a questioning look.
"But now they're openly gay, and trust me when I say that putting DREAM in a dorm together is not good for your 'no sex' rule because they are all gay as fu-"
"That's beside the point." I butted in, nearly rolling my eyes at her foul choice of language. "You're not allo-"

"Hoseok." My co-worker, Sungjin, interrupted me, his head poking through the door leading to the stairs. "You need to come downstairs."
"What, why?" He asked.
"It's an urgent matter." He told me, sending me a look, and I started walking over.
"I'll deal with you later." I pointed to Areum as I walked away. "You better be in your room when I get back."
"Sure thing Hobi~" She replied sarcastically, walking off to her room.

"What's wrong?" I asked Sungjin as we made our way swiftly down the stairs.
"Some kids had a fight in the cafeteria." He told me.
"Which ones?" I asked, hoping that the names in my head were the wrong ones.
"Those DREAM kids." He replied, and a deep sigh escaped my lips. "And-"
"Wanna One?" I interrupted, and he nodded. "For goodness sake."

We made it to the bottom of the stairs, but upon opening the door I noticed two policemen stood in the reception, one of them talking to Kyungja.
"You called the police?" I asked, and Sungjin shook his head in confusion. I walked over to Kyungja who was mid conversation, and asked what was going on.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.
"We're here on a report of two teenagers who were spotted transporting heroin last night." The officer spoke up. "The report is that of a boy and a girl who were delivering the drug late last night, around midnight."

Transporting drugs? No one in their right mind would do that here.

"How do you know these kids are from here?" Kyungja questioned, and the officer checked the piece of paper he held in his hand.
"The witness said they heard the boy say 'I'm wondering what he'd pay a million won for two kids from an orphanage to deliver.' whilst talking to the girl." He replied. "The witness also gave descriptions of their clothes, hair, gait and rough height.

"I can gather the high schoolers in the hall for a register." I told them. "You said you had descriptions of the two kids? You can check them in the hall if you want."
"That would be great." The officer smiled. "Thank you."

We rang the emergency bell, telling all children to gather at the hall. There are three main blocks at the orphanage based off school years - elementary, middle, and high - but we only rang the 'high' bell. The reception connects the three, and the hall is located on the other side of the yard.

Arriving at the hall, we instructed the kids to sit in their dorms upon entry, in order of their room number. They filed in, some looking scared, others messing around. I didn't stay in the hall long as I was instructed to go to the elementary block along with a few others since it was nap time, and I always do nap time shifts. I did my job, making my way back to the hall as fast as I could, squeezing my way past confused and slightly scared teens.

"How's it going?" I asked, and Sungjin looked up at me with slight worry.
"There are eight kids missing." He told me, tapping his pen on the clipboard holding the register, before reading the names out down the register. "Lee Mark, Huang Renjun, Lee Jeno, Lee Donghyuk, Na Jaemin, Zhong Chenle, Park Jisung and Jeon Areum."

"Of course it's them." I sighed, watching in worry as an officer walked over. More police had arrived since I've been gone, but I have no idea why.
"Hello Officer." I greeted her. "Can you explain what's going on? And why there are so many officers here?"
"Of course." She smiled. "As you probably know there are eight children who are not at the orphanage. We've sent out a report to the station and they are patrolling the streets in the nearby area in search of the eight kids."

"The descriptions of the two teenagers seen last night also fit the descriptions of Jeon Areum and Na Jaemin, and since they aren't present they have been labelled the main suspects." I took an anxious breath, folding my arms across my chest and nodding in understanding. "If it's okay we'd like to conduct interviews with the children in the orphanage, asking about the eight missing children and their own alibis, since there are numerous people who fit the descriptions."

"I'm sure that's okay." I smiled. "Have you spoken to Mr. Han?" I gestured to the man stood in the corner, dressed in a suit and staring around the room angrily. "He's the boss here."
"We have," She replied. "And he recommends that his workers should do the interviews with an officer sat next to them in order to relieve stress and tensions."
"Okay." I nodded my head. "When do we start?"

I spoke to the officers first. I talked about Areum and DREAM, the recent encounters I'd had with them including the fight between Jaemin and Jinyoung as well as the party they weren't allowed to go to, and my conversation with Areum moments before she disappeared. I had been told that after DREAM's fight they were sent to their rooms to cool off, and when their room was checked the window was open.

We used the four isolation rooms as setups for the interviews, each child filing in one by one, sitting down at the desk and speaking to a member of staff.  I was given a set list of questions to ask each child, including if they knew the eight missing children - specifically Jaemin and Areum - wether they knew where they were or why they left, and where they saw them last. We also asked for their own alibi.

We were told not to change the questions or change the way we say them, even if we knew information that hadn't already been said. The officers were also allowed to interrupt if extra information was needed, or if an answer was vague. We however were only allowed to say what was written on the paper.

I spoke to a lot of kids, all of them saying they were sleeping at that time of night. Not many knew the eight missing kids personally, but one said that she overheard them talking about running away in passing because Chenle was going to get adopted. A lot of kids mentioned that they were supposed to go to the party but didn't in the end, and one boy even said that yesterday he saw Areum run into DREAM's dorm at around 7pm, but that fits in with what Areum told me before.

The next person that walked in was Park Jihoon. He was the first and only Wanna One member I got to speak with, but what he had to say was very interesting.

"Hi Jihoon." I smiled. "Take a seat." He did so, shuffling nervously in his place. I couldn't help but notice the bruises beginning to form on his face, supposedly from the fight he had just shy from two hours ago. I looked down at the list of questions, and began reading them aloud.

"Please state your full name and age." I read aloud.
"Park Jihoon, age 19." He replied, and the officer took notes. I placed a list of the eight names in front of him.
"Do you know any of these eight people?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes." He replied.
"Can you state any relationships you have with these people?" I spoke up.

"Me and Areum... kinda had a thing..." He trailed off.
"A thing?" The Officer questioned, looking up from her notepad.
"It was like kinda doing dating stuff but not dating." He clarified.
"So you were forming a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship?" She asked, and Jihoon nodded in reply. In the back of my mind I remembered the day of the suspension, and that Jihoon said he was using Areum, but I didn't say anything like I was told.

"I got into a fight with Jaemin at lunch." He added. "Jeno fought my friend Woojin and Haechan fought my other friend Jinyoung."
"Is that Bae Jinyoung who got a suspension earlier this week?" She butted in again, and Jihoon nodded. "And who is Woojin?"
"Park Woojin, he's my best friend in my year." Jihoon told her, and watched as she took notes.

"Why were you fighting?" She asked him, and upon hearing it Jihoon broke eye contact with the officer.
"Jaemin..." Jihoon mumbled. "Embarrassed me in front of a crowd, so we took it out on his friend Mark."
"Mark Lee?" She pointed to the paper, and he nodded. "And who is we?"
"Me and Woojin." He replied.
"Do you know why Na Jaemin 'embarrassed' you?" She asked.
"Uhh.." He thought. "Maybe he was jealous of me and Areum? I'm not too sure." He replied.

"When did this happen?"
"Oh, last night at the part-" He replied eagerly, before realising his mistake.

My eyes widened. Last night? At the party? But I thought they didn't go?

"Mr. Jung." The Officer spoke up, immediately realising that the alibis did not fit together. "The usual rules no longer apply, you can add in any information you need to."
"Areum and Jaemin went to the party last night?" I asked him, and he nodded guiltily. "Let me guess, Jinyoung was there too?" He sent me a guilty look, and I sighed deeply. The witness report states that the two teenagers came out from a house above the tattoo parlour - where the party was held - received a package from an unknown person and delivered it.

"You might as well tell us the whole story then." I told him, leaning back in my seat. Jihoon told us about when he first saw Areum at the party; they were dancing for a while and then they left the dance floor. They then proceeded to make out when Jaemin threw his drink on Jihoon, then the pair walked off outside.

"I followed them." Jihoon told me. "I was a little drunk- err- giddy," he glanced at the officer. "And I was gonna fight Jaemin for spilling his drink on me. When I went outside the two of them were talking with this strange guy, so I hid behind the wall and listened."

"Did the man give his name?" The Officer asked him.
"He said his name was Joon." The boy replied innocently, and suddenly the officers eyes widened drastically. She stood up out of her seat, making her way outside.
"Don't say a word until an officer comes back in the room." She replied, walking out swiftly. We both looked at each other, confused and slightly worried. What had those two got themselves into?

Moments later a different officer walked in, sitting in the seat and smiling warmly, before skimming through the notes.
"You can continue the story." He smiled at Jihoon, who took a shaky breath.

"So," He began. "This Joon guy knew Areum, and when she asked how, he said he knew her mother. He hadn't seen her in.. over ten years, but knew where she lived. He said he'd tell Areum where she was if they delivered this package for them."

I felt my stomach churn. She did this to find her mum. I couldn't help but link it back to me, and how I never told her anything about her family. Would she not have done it if I would've just told her about her past?

"I didn't see any of them until the next day." He continued. "During the fight at lunch Areum wasn't there, but I saw her in the boys half of the dorm about fifteen minutes after we'd been sent to our dorms." He took another breath, glancing over at the officer who was scribbling down notes at hyper speed. "She was nearly crying, so I stopped her and asked what she was doing, but she just panicked and ran off, and started banging on DREAM's door."

"Who is DREAM?" The Officer asked.
"It's the nickname for the seven boys on the paper." I told him, and he nodded.

"It looked like she was having a panic attack, so I ran over and tried to calm her down, but then the door opened and Jaemin was stood there. He told me to get lost after letting Areum in, then slammed the door in my face. Obviously I didn't listen, and kept knocking on the door wanting to know why Areum was in the boys dorm."
"The girls aren't allowed in boys dorms." I explained to the officer. "And vice versa."

"I listened in to what they were saying, and Areum was telling them to pack their clothes because they were leaving." He paused. "When they asked why, she told them that the police were here and that they needed to hurry."
"Did she say anything else?" The Officer butted in.

"No." He replied. "She said she'd explain on the way. While I was listening Woojin was picking the lock with a paperclip, but by the time we got in they'd already left. The window was open so I poked my head out, and I saw Jaemin about to crawl through the hole in the back fence. He stuck his finger up at me and left, and moments later the bell rang to gather in the hall."

"Is that everything?" Jihoon was asked, and he nodded in reply. "Thank you for this crucial piece of evidence, you can leave now." With that he stood up, exiting the room with a bow.

I can't believe it. They didn't listen and went to the party. They delivered drugs. They ran away.