I had just fallen asleep when I woke up to the sound of heavy thunder. The windows slammed close due to the strong winds. Fresh air enclosed the entire room. Hurriedly, I closed the large windows and stood by a little opening.

It was the retreating rain of the year that promised the cold season's greetings.

A strong gust of wind embraced me and the cool wind had a soothing effect all around. The huge pine tree in the garden swayed violently. A fragrant and sweet smell of distant flowers permeated the air. They must have been some species of Magnolia that smelled of an interesting champagne.

Little drops of rain began falling - the cries and pleas of the people were finally heard after such a long wait. The smell of the quenched earth surrounded the atmosphere. The leaves looked ever so green, drenching happily in the rain. But this rain meant that the electricity was soon to go out.

In a few minutes, the rain increased and people were scurrying down the street. Just as I had imagined it to be, the lights went out. Only the brightly lit autumn moon shone above the road. A little girl with a backpack on her back was running down the street, probably coming back home from her classes. Two delivery guys were doing their best to get past the huge puddles of water that had been created. A couple walked down hurriedly under an umbrella and took shelter in the nearby shop. A group of college students were also in the shop ,talking and giggling.

I stood there for a long time, watching the rain. The wind slammed on my face and messed with my already dishevelled hair, and it felt beautiful. Rain always brings a sense of connection along with it, the earth gets alive with its music, radiating vibrant energy all around.

However, rains were never my favourite. I loved it's isolation around me. I loved the scent of petrichor. I loved the droplets dripping on me. But I despised the nights that it made lonely.

Until mama adopted me, I slept many nights under bridges without any definite house. And on those days that I craved for my mother. On those days, I wanted someone to be around me and hold me, embrace me in the chilly weather and keep me warm.

Rain reminds me of those days.

I felt a shadow behind me but stood as immotile as ever. I knew it was Dami that had come checking on her sister in law. Y/n was fast asleep on her princess like bed. Her classic, baroque bed with pillows and duvets in an European style I remember only to have ever seen in my 10th grade books on French Revolution.

It was after that she left, I found myself sitting on the chair again. I was going through the papers and files, the pendrive and the chronology I had investigated before falling asleep.

For the time, I had 12 articles to read on the case(s) related to what I was investigating and if anything similar had ever happened before.

I closed my laptop and looked around for my brother, sleeping soundly on the floor. They were all exhausted from the day's work and were catching their much required sleeps to have their minds present actively at night.

I got up and packed my bag. I put the few knives I used, my emergency disguise, my insect spray (which I spray on the faces of some unwanted people. Works better than pepper and may damage their sight forever) and some first aid for unexpected situations.

I woke Yeonjun up and then Y/n. Looking at the clock on her wall I said, "We'll have our dinner, plan the entrance and escape routes, and finally leave the house at 10:00 pm. It would take us an hour to reach the destination and we'd start our action at half past eleven, sharp."

Execution 1, had started.

Y/n rubbed her eyes and shook herself out of her sleep. While she did so, she looked like a good, little kid who wanted more sleep but abided by everything her parents asked her to do.

I laughed a little. And that smile came out without any force.

It was exactly 9:50 pm when we were all on the front patio of their garden, going through our plan one last time before we set off.

"So, let's go over it for the last time. How many entrances do we have?"

"We have 5 entrances. The main that leads to the living room, connected to the spiral stairwell. The kitchen door, through the the back of the garden. The other two door are perpendicularly aligned on the Eastern and Western wings of the house. And the last one is that sliding door of the crime scene." Y/n drew her hands against the map that she was working on before I advised her to sleep. Her efficient memory had captured the whole house with one visit and her work was more impressive than her memory.

"Which one do you prefer to enter using?" I asked Y/n.

"If you ask me, I say we break into teams of two. You and Yeonjun-ssi should take the East wing. I will use the West wing. My door would be closer to Yohan's office, which I want to look through. And I want you to enter the security to damage every CCTV connection. Although, that would be Yeonjun's work. Soobin-ssi, run up the corridor and take a note of which paths he and his mistress that night had used." She was speaking faster to save our time and ran out of breath as she finished.

"Quite risky, if you ask me. But that seems justified. We'll do that." Saying so, Yeonjun stopped speaking and connected three wireless communication devices, in the shape of earrings. He helped Y/n open her earrings and wear it. Then he passed me one and I managed to pull out my earring to put it in.

Wearing his own, he said, " Don't wear shoes. We'll get mud on them and I don't want us to leave any evidences. When we enter, we'll wear socks on to prevent a mess."

"Okay." Y/n and I replied in unison. It was getting late for us to leave. Without any more time wasted, we set off in the direction of our destination. Little different to what I expected, it took us a some minutes less than an hour to reach but the remoteness of the location justified it.

All the streets were empty. The area was at the end of hill with very little population already. And then on a rainy night, nobody likes to be outside. The rain had ceased for the time but wet puddles gleamed under the street lights.

I praised the scene in my head as we climbed up the fences. Anybody could do so, very easily. We wished eachother the best of tonight and parted our ways.

We wore plastic bags on our feet as we crossed the mud. Our hands were under clean surgical cloves, preventing any fingerprints.

"Soobin, before we enter, I had to tell you something." Yeonjun voiced. I nodded in affirmation as I took of the plastic bags, stuffed them in my backpack and wore socks.

"That time, earlier at the lunch, you stopped me from talking about your uncle. Kang Dae. Why? Hadn't they attacked you yesterday?"

"Who told you that they attacked? He himself?"

"Nah, he did not. Infact, he hadn't. Y/n told me about that. Why don't you tell her about your past?"

"I don't want her to picture me as anything but what I am now." I replied nonchalantly, but that wasn't what I was feeling. I couldn't let my emotions overwhelm me.

"I know you have a different corner for her, something you're not yet ready to tell. It's okay, I understand. But she is an opportunity, a golden one on top of that. If she's meant to stay, she'll see you for what you are no matter what. Don't hide. Brave isn't the one who fears not, it's the one who knows how to work hand in hand with the fears."

"That would not help, hyung. That isn't my fear. That is my trauma. I'm used to people leaving me but that isn't the story."

"Soobin-ah, I won't argue with you. Just let her know of your past and I'm sure, you'll be able to connect to her more. Remember, love is blind. It doesn't see and believes what it understands. It's the lover that makes love understand. Be honest and make love understand."

He flashed his ever enchanting smile and went inside the security office, immediately knocking the guard out. He stopped the recording and only kept the cameras on to help us. He was going to be our head quarters for the time.

With his signal, I ran down the long corridor. I imagined it to be fancier but nothing really special or menacing about it existed. Only the walls had an intricate pattern on it, something that looked engraved freshly. The fact that those were painted recently was evident from faded larger parts. However I was confirmed it was made newly when I turned to look at the staircase.

A chip of that design near the railings was left undone and broken. The only cool thing about it was the dried patch of blood.

After I had collected some samples, I was zoned out. I was trying to recollect what I had seen in the footage.

"Don't keep standing there, Soobin-ssi. Come over to the edge and duck, fast." Y/n's voice startled me and I jolted out of my trance. I followed her. I looked through the metal frame of the stairway, she was slowly walking across the room.

Yeonjun was directing her and matching some time intervals. That is when I realised that she was actually enacting what Yohan's mistress had done that night. She was walking towards the scene of crime.

I became alert and counted the steps it took her to walk from the main door and all the directions a supposed attack could come from.

"Y/n, stop. Immediately." She froze on her place and asked, "Why?"

"Somebody other than us is present here. There are muddy footprints. Be safe."

"Y/n, retreat. Hide. Fast." Yeonjun exploded our ears with his voice. Y/n ran towards the stairs when a woman, horrified with something, walked past the position where Y/n stood some time ago. As she walked across the windows, the street light fell on her face and it was Yohan's PA. I wouldn't be surprised to meet her here but seeing her rush out felt uneasy.

She was flapping her hands fanatically and as she left, she stubbed her toe. It all looked like a cartoon show in the darkness but her odd attire, reckless behaviour and restlessness proved that she ran away from there.

As she reached the door, she turned back to look at the house again. A cry of agony left her lips as tears brimmed on her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Yohan. I couldn't save you. You deserved it."

She shut the door loud and now, the house was completely empty. The silence was so strong that the ticks of the clock could be heard clearly.

"Did you... Find anything in his office?" I whispered to Y/n.

"Hmm, Yohan's journal. I did not bring it. I have the pictures. It was just like Anhyun's, cruelly bragging about all their morally and legally wrong deeds. His death again, sounds so justified just not just enough."

"Great, let's go back. Our time limit is almost over. I think I have found how the culprit left."

"How?"

"Is there any door or window on this floor large enough to fit a body out?"

"There is. The one right above the back door. That also has a sun shade to stand upon."

"Isn't that also the one that slides, connected to the garden and the crime scene?"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

"That's all that needed to know. Thank you, Y/n."

"But... Why?"

"I'll tell you soon."

⊱ ───ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ─── ⊰

Well I know that things aren't going as fast I wanted it to be but I'm trying.

This chapter is dedicated to Mik_ro_kosmos

Thank you so much for your support!