Haerin's POV

We finally reached the hospital after a long drive. The drive wouldn't have been that exhausting if Taehyung had decided to keep his mouth shut. But he did everything except that.

I led them towards Byeol's room. When we reached the room, Jungkook was about to twist the door knob but I stopped him. I turned and warned them. " Byeol doesn't know that he is dead. So please make sure not to spill it out. And also she is quite smart so don't make it obvious that there's something wrong with her brother."

They looked at each other and had their usual silent conversation. I doubted if that was their 50th silent conversation for the day.

Though I was unsure of Taehyung's acting skills, I dared to twist the door knob and enter. Byeol was sitting on her bed, scribbling something on her notebook. She looked up on sensing people. Before I could process anything, I was pulled into a tight hug by her .

I hugged her tightly while pushing away the ache in my chest. She peeked up at the two new faces and immediately hid her small body behind me.

"Hey, it's okay," I reassured her with a comforting smile. "They are Jimin's friends."

I lied because there's no way I was gonna say that a pair of detectives are here to solve a mystery. And luckily, Jungkook and Taehyung went along with my act. They gave her a warm smile. She looked unsure if their presence shouldn't be considered a danger but in the end she returned the smile, though it faltered.

"Why isn't Jimin oppa coming to meet me?" She asked in her soft, little and innocent voice.

I didn't know how to answer that. How can I reveal to a small child that her only family has left the world? Saying that would be cruel. Hence I decided to lie again. Lying in this situation wouldn't be a sin. Right?

Before I could cover up, Jungkook crouched down to meet her eye level. He gave her a gentle smile. A smile that made my heart beat faster. "Hi, beautiful. I'm Jungkook. May I know your name?"

"Byeol," she whispered while blushing. That confirmed that even her heart fluttered. But can I blame her for that when I myself had a crush on Leonardo DiCaprio when I was just 6 years old?

Taehyung added, "Wow! Your name is as beautiful as you."

Her cheeks turned redder. There was no way one could not recognize it. She looked adorable that way. Their interaction filled a strange warmth in my heart.

The next few minutes went by Taehyung and Jungkook talking to Byeol as if they had known each other for years. They asked her many questions about her friends, hobbies, favourite food,etc. But I noticed something which she didn't. They slipped a few subtle questions about Jimin in hope of gathering more information. But obviously she was unaware of that. And I preferred it to be that way.

After almost an hour of spending time with her, it was our time to leave to start the actual work which we were here for. Jungkook and Taehyung stood up. She realized that we were leaving and her eyes started shedding tears.

I knelt down to reach her level. I tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek. "Byeol, you are a strong girl right? Strong girls don't cry. I will visit you again. Okay?"

She nodded while giving me a small smile. But I could see the pain behind her smile. She was just like Jimin, smiling just to not worry others. She was too mature for her age. She shouldn't have been that mature at such an age but circumstances made her.

After bidding our farewell, I guided Taehyung and Jungkook to the reception.

When we reached the reception, the lady at the reception immediately recognized me. She gave me a warm smile which I returned politely. But I sensed the air shifting. Jungkook and Taheyung's demeanor completely changed. They came back to their professional selves. I didn't know which one of their personalities was real but it wasn't the moment to worry about it.

They both took out their id's in sync. "We're detectives from the Sentinel Division. We are here to investigate your staff."

Not gonna lie but if it were a movie, they would have looked cool in that shot.

The receptionist froze. I could see that she was panicking a little but she managed to gain her composure. She replied back with a trembling voice, "Of course. Please follow me."

We followed her as she led us to a room which looked like a meeting room of theirs. She left the room to call the other staff.

Jungkook and Taehyung started to scan the room with sharp eyes. I had no idea what they found so suspicious about the room, but then, it wasn't my field to judge them.

A few minutes passed with me looking at Jungkook and Taehyung having their silent conversations from time to time. At this moment if I was granted a superpower, I would ask for the power to understand their conversations.

My thoughts and their conversation broke when a group of nearly 40 staff members entered the room. The large room suddenly shrunk in size. The staff were gazing at us curiously and occasionally murmuring among themselves.

Jungkook was the one to break the silence. "I'm Detective Jeon Jungkook, here with Detective Kim Taehyung. I'm sure you're all aware of the murder that took place in the forest near the highway."

The room erupted with sounds of whispers. A set of people looked aware and horrified as if it was one of the bad memories which of course it was. And the other set of people, who were completely clueless, were probably more concerned about what challenge Mr Beast came up with than the murders going around them.

"The person murdered was Park Jimin," Jungkook continued, ignoring the unnecessary commotion. "And he happens to be the brother of one of your patients named Byeol."

Taehyung stepped forward and continued. "That night, Park Jimin was on his way to the hospital as he received information that Byeol had an operation. But the fact is....she didn't have one. Now whoever sent that message, I request you to come forward and reveal yourself before we find you ourselves, making the situation worse."

The room fell into complete silence and no one dared to move a finger or speak. I watched the staff looking at each other with uncertainty.

For a few seconds no one came forward. Jungkook was about to speak again, probably warning the consequences of not revealing themselves. But he stopped when a young woman, who was in her mid twenties, raised her hand hesitatingly. She looked at the detectives with a calm expression but I didn't fail to notice the hint of fear in it. "I... I was the one who sent the message," she said.

Jungkook looked at her with a sharp gaze. "What is your name?"

I expected him to ask 'why' but I guess he had his own way of questioning.

The young woman answered without hesitating. Yoo Jeongyeon."

Taehyung's sharp eyes narrowed at her. He took a step towards her and in a low voice asked, "Tell us Ms Yoo. Why did you send the message? Was it accidental or intentional?

Of course she would say 'intentional' so that she can go to jail. Dumbo! I badly wanted to say that to Taehyung but I knew it wasn't the right time to be sarcastic.

I could see her panicking at the question. She looked down, deep in thoughts as if choosing her words wisely to come up with the best possible answer. " It was a mistake. I mistakened another patient for Byeol. I didn't try to cause any harm."

Jungkook didn't look convinced. He leaned forward and gazed at her with a dangerous look. "Were you paid to make sure he came to this area that night?"

She started shaking her head. "No. I wasn't paid. I swear. It was just a mistake."

The room was silent again. From the corner of my eyes I could see a man with a label of 'manager' on his badge. He was throwing daggers at Jeongyeon, probably deciding various ways to fire her.

It was obvious that Taehyung or Jungkook didn't believe her entirely and neither did I. They looked at each other having their yet another silent conversation. I doubted if they really had any conversation or if it was just their code language of saying ' I am clueless'.

Jeongyeon immediately pulled out her phone and fumbled with her messages before showing a particular one to Jungkook. "Here. I sent him the first message, but then I realized my mistake and sent an apology an hour later and cleared the misunderstandings."

I peeked at the phone. The first message was sent at 12:10 AM which was seen by Jimin at 12:15 AM. The second message was sent at 1:30 AM but was only seen at 7:30 AM....He was already dead before 7:30 AM.

I looked at Jungkook and knew he was thinking the same as me. He looked at me and Taehyung and said, "Mr. Park's phone is with the murderer. We need to track it."

To be continued

--

Your opinions on the new character?