⚠️TW: M*rder, Police Corruption, and Su*c*de toward the end⚠️

Han spat out his cola once he heard Jeongin speak.

"A What?"

He asked in utter shock while grabbing napkins to clean his mess.

"He's a murderer... You should just keep your distance from him like he's been doing to you."

Felix said before taking a bite out of his chicken sandwich.

"T-that can't be true... y'all are kidding... right?"

Han laughed nervously, hoping that it wasn't true and that he hadn't hung around a murderer for multiple weeks.

"Guys... you're kidding... if he was a murderer he would be in prison."

They all stayed silent before Changbin spoke with one hundred percent seriousness.

"He wasn't convicted. The police said it was foul play but, the coroner said it was suicide, so he was released and the ruling was suicide. But, everyone knows that he was the last person to see her, call her, text her, and even drive her home but, nobody knows for sure what happened next, her house had no cameras and her parents were out of town. And his fingerprints were found all over her body but, so were heavy doses of a sleeping medication she had. Nobody goes near him, Nobody even wants to speak to him. It's better if you stay away."

Changbin spoke to Han sternly hoping the younger boy would listen and leave everything as is. Han nodded and everyone changed the subject to Bang Chan's new car.

Han, couldn't stop thinking about what they had said though.

*"He wasn't convicted though evidence pointed to him? How did it get ruled a suicide if his fingerprints were found on the girl's body?"*

Han thought all day unable to wrap his finger around it.

After school he had decided to get snacks for himself and his grandma so, he hopped on the subway heading to his home and decided to go to the store around the corner from his home.

Once he got on the subway, he sat down and put his headphones on, his house was about twenty minutes away so he grabbed one of his books from his bag and immersed himself into the fantasy world of his favorite book.

After about seven minutes someone bumped into him, shocking him back into reality, he looked at who it was, it was Seungmin, and both boys seemed very nervous at their unexpected encounter.

Han, being polite, moved to the side so that Seungmin could sit down, but the two didn't look each other in the eyes until Han had enough silence and decided to start with some small talk.

"Uhm... So how was Mrs. Higgins's test? Was it hard? I'm taking it tomorrow."

He asked turned toward him ever so slightly. Seungmin was slightly shocked that Han decided to talk to him.

"Uhm, Yeah, it was hard, but, I'm guessing since you're already in the top three percent in the school that you'll do fine."

Seungmin responded, both of them still unable to look at each other properly.

"Mhm, sounds like a challenge."

Han chuckled before going back to silence. They stayed in this awkward silence till they made it to their stop.

Seungmin left first then Han did.

Han ran as fast as he could to the store because he was about seven minutes late. He got his and his grandma's snacks and checked out before walking back home.

He felt something off so, he picked up his pace as he was closer to being home.

He felt something touch his shoulder and he jumped, dropping everything he was carrying.

He fell but, got back up to see who had touched him, Seungmin had been following him since they got off at the station without Han noticing.

Seungmin noticed that Han was scared so, he picked the stuff up and put it all in the bag that it was being held in and helped Han up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Seungmin spoke softly while handing Han his stuff back.

"It's okay, I get startled easily anyway."

Han reassured Seungmin that it wasn't just him.

"Do you want to hang out?"

Seungmin stuttered. Han thought about it for a second and he thought about what Changbin had said earlier but, he wanted to hear Seungmin's side of the story so, he accepted.

The two went to Han's house to drop off the snacks and then went to an amusement park to hang out.

Han decided to forget everything that his friends had told him earlier and wanted to have fun.

The boys spent hours having fun, laughing, eating, and playing games as if nothing had happened and they had been hanging out for years.

"Throw it!"

Seungmin shouted as Han was playing a ball toss game. He laughed at the ridiculousness of the entire scene.

Han won the game and received a large teddy bear which he gave to Seungmin.

The two ended their night with Pretzels in a nearby park, talking and laughing about the past four hours.

"Thank you, that was so much fun."

Seungmin smiled and took a bite of his pretzel.

"No, thank you. If you hadn't asked to hang out, I'd probably be watching a soap opera with my grandma, which would be fine but, she watches old ones."

Han laughed.

"We should do this more often."

Seungmin suggested.

"We should do this more often. This weekend? My grandma can even drive us further."

Han asked.

"That's a plan. And uhm... thank you."

Seungmin spoke softer than before. Han jisung and laughed.

"You already said that."

"N-no... I mean... thank you for not believing the rumors."

Seungmin thanked Han in a quiet and more somber tone. Han looked over at Seungmin and gave him a soft and caring smile.

"I wouldn't have believed it anyway. I'm more of a see-it-to-believe-it type of person but, I do have one question."

Han looked over at Seungmin with a curious look.

"Sure."

"How come they said your fingerprints were on that girl?"

Seungmin sighed and moved his hair out of his face.

"Uhm... It's quite a long story... I had dropped her off at her house after we went to the movies with a bunch of friends and she didn't know how to drive. She seemed fine, I dropped her off, and we said goodbye and goodnight. I noticed that she had left her coat and bag in my car so, I turned around and drove back to her house since I wouldn't be at school the next three days and her bag had her emergency money in it so, I made my way back.

When I got off I noticed all the lights were off in the house which was strange since she was afraid of the dark and it was around 11 p.m., even in the theater she had to hold onto my arm because it was dark. I noticed her front door was also, slightly opened.

I'm the type to prepare for the worst and just in case I had to defend myself I got my knife out, it was in my car, and I carefully made my way into the house but, nobody was in there when I searched around for her, I found her laying face down in her parent's room, with a bottle of her sleeping meds in her hand and at least ten stab wounds on her back.

I was horrified, my best friend was lying there lifeless. So, without even knowing, I started trying to wake her up, hoping she hadn't left yet, Which is why my fingerprints were on her.
She did open her eyes and spike weakly before finally giving in to her injury, she told me she was sorry and to live happily.

She had taken six times her prescribed dose to die and before the effects could kick in, there were noises in her parents' room and the living room, she went to check her parents' room first, since there were a lot of valuables in there but, as she was walking in, someone stabbed her from behind, and the two robbers had left just a few seconds before I got there. It was all caught on her family's security cameras, I tried CPR and called the police and an ambulance.

People say there were no cameras but, there were, I had been at her parents home when her dad installed them. They only think there were no cameras because that is what police had told the public.

Once, they got there, I was arrested, and they got my knife, and though it was spotless they thought it was the murder weapon, she was taken to the hospital, and without even checking the security footage, I was arrested, the officer even threw my knife on the floor and rubbed it in her blood. And, the police department was fine with it, they didn't even try catching the actual murders because they believed that it was me, and the murders' fingerprints were even found but, all the police did was hire cleaners, and all evidence was wiped away.

New York has some good cops but, often, there are the corrupt ones that only arrest people to arrest them. I was traumatized by that. Her parents knew I'd never do such a thing. After it was ruled murder/suicide, I was released since there was no actual evidence of me being the murderer.

The arresting officers were sent to prison though for obstruction of justice, and tampering with evidence though. Which, is the only good thing that came out of that entire situation.

All of that was broadcast to the public, and our classmates also believed I killed her since I had already been labeled "the quiet kid" when we were in middle school and I owned a knife, but it wasn't even the same type used to kill her, mine was a pocket knife, the one determined to kill her was a kitchen knife.

That's why I distanced myself from you, I knew you'd be told about it, and I didn't want to witness your reaction, I thought you would've also blamed me. I'm sorry, for judging quickly but, thank you for sticking with me and not believing it."

Seungmin started to cry and Han rushed to console him.

"I'm so sorry, that all happened to you, don't worry I'm here for you. Don't listen to everyone, they don't know anything. They weren't the ones who had to witness their friend dying in front of them. You're a good person for trying to help her if you hadn't turned around, she wouldn't have been found till her parents had gotten home."

Han told him as they were both crying and holding each other.

Seungmin felt grateful he had a friend who would be there for him. In the past year, nobody had ever talked to him the way Han had, and nobody ever wanted to listen to what he had to say, Han was there for him, Han would defend him, and Han would be there for him no matter what. Seungmin and Han both knew that their friendship would be long-lasting.

"Thank You."

"No, thank you for telling me, I know it was hard but, you can get through it, and I will be there to help you."

Han's grip grew tighter as the boys didn't want to leave each other's comforting embrace.

Han knew he'd make friends but, he didn't realize he'd meet his best friend and Soulmate. He felt grateful that Seungmin was able to open up to him and speak on the incident. Everything had been bottled up for so long and he knew that was tough for Seungmin but, he was proud of him for doing it. It was emotional and hard. He knew he needed a friend and he knew that he didn't want to leave his side.

"Want to spend the night at my house?"

Han asked Seungmin.

"Sure."

Seungmin smiled as they let go.

"Great, my grandma made triple chocolate ice cream yesterday and she's made enchiladas for dinner, she loves Mexican food."

Han smiled his bright and infectious.

"Oh My lord. That sounds amazing."

Seungmin laughed. Han and Seungmin grabbed their things walked to Han's home hand in hand, and spent the rest of the night eating, watching TV, and playing games.

Seungmin was finally happy and Han was no longer lonely.