Yeona POV-

"Ah! Yeona right? Please come in."

I walked in, giving a small smile to mask my grief of my parents' death, which was choking my entire existence.

I have to find those murderers. I won't let it go, assuming that it's those ghosts.

I looked around, pretending to casually sightsee, to search for some hints. On the right, there were three black leathered and back tufted chairs for his customers which faced a wide and large mirror, polished and spotless.

On the left there was a modest sofa, in light pink. In the far end of the left corner stood an old bicycle with a pair of gloves. Before I could observe more, the young, bright smiled man spoke up.

"I'm Jung Hoseok. Your neighbour. This is my barber shop."

"Oh... About my parents...", I began. I couldn't continue because it hurt a lot, more than I could show.

"Ah I'm really sorry... It was really unexpected. I was totally shocked...", He said, sorrowfully.

"Could you tell me what were you doing at that time? How did you get to know that... It happened?"

"My friend, Min Yoongi, who lives nearby knocked at my door, when I was practicing for a competition."

"Competition? In the middle of the night?", I asked, doubtfully.

"The beauty competition was just a day away, and I wanted to do my best..."

"What happened to the competition?", I asked, realising that the incident would have cancelled or postponed the competition to another day.

"It's postponed to tomorrow..."

"Oh."

This guy seems suspicious... Why would someone practice until midnight for a beauty competition?

This seems like a feeble reason... I don't know why. Probably just because I can't buy it.

"Would you like to have something?", He asked, smiling brightly.

I returned the smile, shaking my head. "No, no. Just wanted to know my neighbours..."

He gave a small bow, as I left. I walked out, sighing. "Mom, dad, I'm gonna find who's it. And until then, I'm not going back."

I walked to the next house. The nameplate had '민 윤기' (Min Yoongi) carved on it. I knocked at the door, after taking a deep breath. I've heard my parents talk about him.

He's a weird guy, they said.  Doesn't talk to anyone else much, except Hoseok, roams around the graveyard in the middle of the night and his way of thinking and talking just baffles the others.

Once, my mom told me, that a wife was waiting for her husband to come back home, worried, because it was pretty late in the night. Yoongi, who was passing by enquired about her worried expression and she told him about her concern. He just casually proclaimed as if it was a normal thing, that her husband would have died by a car accident because his company's rival is jealous of his success.

And lo and behold, he had died from a car accident, and exactly like how Yoongi said... due to his rival's jealousy.

He's a really suspicious person. How does he know all that stuff?

No one answered to the knock. I rang the bell this time. I waited for a few minutes.

"Probably he's gone out...", I muttered to myself, partially relieved, because I surely didn't want to encounter him.

Who knows, he might tell that I'd die in a week, because the murderer of my parents has a vengeance over our whole dynasty?

I walked to the next house, and the front seemed like a gaming room. Before I could knock, the door opened, and I staggered backwards, in shock.

The owner exclaimed, "Oh I'm so sorry!!"

I looked at the person, sighing in relief. He was tall, lean, but pretty muscular, with an attractive pair of doe shaped eyes, with a small nose, and cute lips, with a definite cupid's bow.

"I'm really sorry!!"

"It's okay! I'm fine.", I assured him.

"Did you want something?", He asked.

"Ah yes... I hope I didn't disturb you?"

"No no, I was just going to visit our village headstone.", He said, leading me into the house.

"Village headstone? What is that?", I asked, curiously.

"People have faith in God, and they pray them in different forms. For us, it's our 'ARMY Headstone'. It brings us luck, and teaches us to live in harmony and love and adore each other. It also tells us how beautiful the world can be. My name's Jungkook, by the way."

I was slightly amused by his mini speech about the headstone. Probably he loves and has a pretty large amount faith over it...

"Oh... About my parents... Day before yesterday..."

He looked guiltily at me, hesitating to tell me something. My heart beat faster.

Did he kill my parents? Why's he pretty nervous?

"Hey! I didn't kill them!", He exclaimed, after seeing my reaction to his nervousness.

"Um... What happened, then?"

After taking a deep breath, he said, "I was actually gaming, and, as I live nearby, I heard a loud 'HELP!' and quickly sprinted to the house. I broke open the door, because it was locked from inside..."

"What? And?!", I asked, definitely not expecting that.

"I was aghast at the scene which was before me. They were lying down, struggling to breathe, and I could see that they were pretty much beaten up, after which they were choked. There's this village doctor. I- I ran to him, for help. But when we came back, people were surrounding them, and- and... I'm sorry... really sorry... I'm not educated in the doctor field, and couldn't do anything to save them... I... Sorry..."

I was baffled. I was about to faint and didn't know to react. Tears were slowly brimming around the corners of my eyes. He looked really guilty and he looked like he too would cry soon.

"Thank you... At least you tried.", I said, smiling, as much as I could, to hide my pain.

I got up, about to leave, when he called out, "I can take you to a detective, if you want to find who killed them."

"What?", I asked, turning to him. I thought everyone here just believed it was all because of ghosts...

"I don't believe in those ghost stories. Fake, I call them. It's rubbish. How can you blame the dead, for making murders? The dead would know, how it feels to die, if ghosts even exist. And why would they even kill your parents out of all the people?!"

"Oh... Who's the detective?", I asked, eagerly.

"I'll take you to him tomorrow... He's not in town today... He said he'll be back tonight. At 10 a.m.?", He suggested.

"Okay... Thank you so much!!", I exclaimed, grateful.

"No problem ma'am. And I'm really sorry.", He apologized, folding his hands, pleadingly gazing at me.

I gave a teary smile, and said, "It's okay, Jungkook-ssi."

He smiled gratefully, before giving me a bow. I walked out, feeling better.

Finding out who killed your parents after their death might sound weird, considering that I'm no police. But, I need to know.

Why?!! Why did they get killed?!!

I walked to the theatre which was near my parents' home. It had a board labelled '새문안 극장' (Saemunan Theatre). I walked in, looking around.

It looked pretty clean and well maintained. There were many posters for the newly released movies and a schedule table at which I was staring, when a voice called out.

"Who is it?"

"I'm Yeona. My parents-", I began, when his eyes widened.

"Oh!! You! I'm really sorry for what happened, do you need any help?", He asked.

"Um... I wanted to know what exactly happened at that time...", I said.

"Oh... I was walking home after a small reunion with my friends, when I heard someone screaming loudly about a murder... I think it was Jungkook. I ran to the house, where the door was open, and I saw Kim Taehyung there!"

"Kim Taehyung? Who's that?"

"The rich ass guy who puts label on everything, as if it belongs to him! No one likes him! Too stuck up and annoying!!"

"May I know your name, though?", I asked.

"Ah. Myself, Kim Namjoon. I work part-time here, as a ticket collector."

"Thank you for telling me, Namjoon-ssi. It was nice meeting you.", I said, bowing.

"You're welcome. I'm always there for help, do remember that!"

I gave a small smile, and left the house. 

Kim Taehyung? I'll go to his house now.

It wasn't hard to find his house at all, considering that his house was as large as a shopping complex.

Mansion, in other words.

How does enquiring take less time? Probably, as people are friendly and honest here, as far as I know. But I feel weird. How can it be this easy?!

I rang the doorbell, and the door opened, showing a woman, who adorned an apron which was shabby, and face pale, by the door.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Tell the house owner, Kim Taehyung, that I'm Yeona and would like to talk to him."

She bowed, and quickly scampered inside, while I waited for a few minutes, irritated. To just let a guest in, it probably takes an hour here...

After some time, she came and opened the door. I walked in, looking around.

I heard footsteps, and looked up, to see a young man, about 25 years, with a face that made my heart beat faster. I feel like I am a teen, having a high school crush. His heart shaped lips was the first feature which attracted me. Second, his messy, but not messy hair.

 He climbed down the stairs, his orbs boring into mine, intensely. Without realising, my cheeks turned a bright red.

"So, you're Ms. Yeona.", He said, sitting on the sofa, gesturing me to do the same, with a small raise of eyebrows, and lips slightly forming an unintentional pout.

I sat down, nervously. This guy is just making me mad with his expressions, what the hell?

"I saw the sight, and was really shocked. I couldn't believe such a thing would happen... They were planning to sell me the apartment..."

"Sell the apartment?"

"Yeah... I wanted to buy their apartment. It was a nice, cozy place, but wouldn't it be nicer, if the Kim Taehyung owned it?"

"You forced them to sell you the apartment?!"

"No, no. They were convinced to live with you, in Seoul...", He said, shrugging.

Were convinced?

This guy seems really suspicious... More than Yoongi.

I peered at him, doubtfully. He looked amused and asked, "You think I killed them?"

I remained silent.

"Use your common sense, my dear lady! If I kill them, how can I buy the house? It will surely be inherited by you. And you don't know me at all! Of course you won't sell your house, for keeping it as an important place, that is, where they lived!"

I thought hard. It's hard to accept, but what he's saying, is actually true. Even now, I'm just trying to rent it out. Or in the name of renting, staying back to find those criminals.

"My lady, murdering is the last thing I'd do to get a house. Why am I, that desperate?", He asked, amused.

"I know, my reputation is pretty bad. Everyone here has a completely different opinion about me. Ask them. One would say innocent, other would say silent, another would say kind and generous, and some other would say stuck up bitch!"

I was surprised. He does know about these people pretty well... And what he says does sound pretty valid.

"What happened then? How did you know a murder took place?"

"I was coming home, from work, and I saw Jungkook running away from the house. I was curious, and peeped in. I was shocked to see your parents lying down. I'm sure Jungkook killed them."

Oh my God! Can this stop getting complicated the first day itself?! Just now I was happy that it felt slightly easy....

He continued, "I wanted to help your parents. I knelt to them, and asked if I could do anything for them."

I bent closer, as Taehyung too bent closer, reducing his voice to a whisper, "They told me, to leave you a message. An important one."

"What is it?!"

"Min Yoongi."

-

(Hey guyss!! I hope you guys liked this chapter, and it wasn't too boring... I'm trying out different stuff so that my books are interesting... so yeah

Idk how long it's gonna be tho... I'm just working on an idea, which, as of now, I feel pretty good to work on...

I'm really nervous about this book than my previous ones... idky...

Probably bc rn, our dear Prod. Min Suga has become my bias wrecker, ever since 'That That' released T_T

Even tho bias wreckers don't stay long... They turn into bias, then my bias changes, and then my bias wrecker changes, then my bias and my bias wrecker interchange and it just turns into a smoothie 🤧😂

I'm sure u guys didn't understand.

Because.... I hardly did.

I can never understand how things work!! They just make us CRAZY wth 😭😭🤣

Anyways, ILYSM guys! Thank you so much for supporting me!!💜💜💜💜