CSU: This Time Around (Chapter 17)
CSU: This Time Around - Chapter 17
"Okay, thank you, GaHee-sshi"
ChangMin said before hanging up. He let out a sigh of relief. GaHee called in to tell him that the shopper who got injured had woke up from her surgery and she had told the police that she didn't know what was going on. She said that she was suffering from a sudden headache and was on the floor calling for help even before the accident occurred and though she was in confusion, she was sure she had blackened out before the display shelf fell on her. So, for the time being, YunHo was safe from felony murder but the state prosecutor was tracking for any possible ways to bring him down, because, let's face it, YunHo doesn't carry much of a good reputation.
He was about to call JaeJoong when he felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned to see YooChun gesturing him to follow him into the building. ChangMin looked at the blinking display board on the the shop and he was confused to read 'Ah! Amusement Centre'.
He directed his gaze his watch to see the time. It's half past five. It had been an 35 minutes since he pleaded the profiler for help, 20 minutes since he presented his findings to YooChun which took the profiler 5 minuted later to drag them out for a short drive and 5 minutes since they arrived in front of the arcade center. ChangMin had no idea what he was doing here. He remembered clearly to have asked YooChun for a quickie on cars and he did specify that he didn't mean the video game.
"Sit" YooChun nudged him before taking a seat on the of the many sit-down games.
"Hyung"
"Sit" YooChun repeated as he examined the steering wheel and pedals. Then, grabbed ChangMin's hand to pull him to sit.
ChangMin complied as he went on with inspecting his side. YooChun then passed him a coin to slot in. The speaker soon come to live and inquire them to insert a name and choose a car. He chose as he was told and when the screen changed to ask for the level, YooChun turned to him.
"Are you any good?"
"I just got my driving license a few months back"
"ExpertPro then" YooChun nodded as he plopped a candy in his mouth. "Ready?"
"Hy-hyung..." ChangMin held onto the steering wheel as the screen displayed a countdown.
THREE. TWO. ONE. GO!
"Woo-Hoo!" YooChun exclaimed as he hit the gas.
ChangMin was feeling uncomfortable as he struggled to keep the car on the road. The music was too loud for his liking and the screen was too bright for his eyes. He was blinking and hands were fighting to catch the grasp of the not so friendly steering wheel. He knew he was last, his car was spinning a few hundred degrees. When he thought he was getting real well with the car, he could hear screeching as he hit on the brake pedal and it spins and hits the board when he was about to make a curve. His anger rising as he heard laughter from spectators that were crowding behind them. They were clearly amazed with YooChun's skills of handling the car.
"ChangMin, come on. Drive" YooChun shouted as his car went past ChangMin's.
Desperation kicks in pretty soon and frustration hits rock bottom when YooChun's car reached for the finished line. He was celebrating with the spectators, hi-fived some of them and laughed. He turned to his left where ChangMin was sitting and saw the boy tearing. While others were laughing at him, YooChun didn't.
"ChangMin..?" YooChun nudged him.
"YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE, YOU KNOW THAT!!!????" ChangMin screamed, stood up and shoved him aside. "FUCK YOU, BASTARD!!!!"
YooChun was shocked as he watched the younger shoving everyone out of the way and stormed out of the centre. He resumed to ran for ChangMin and caught him marching to the parking lot.
"ChangMin...ChangMin...wait!!!" YooChun shouted as he jogged towards him. "Yah! Shim ChangMin!!!"
ChangMin stopped and turned. With eyes still tearing, he howled. "WHAT!!!"
"Look, listen...ChangMin, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to -"
"You didn't mean to? Didn't mean to?" ChangMin said, poking at YooChun's chest. "I came to you for help to get my brother out and here we are, playing some stupid game for your entertainment. Everyone was working their ass off and here I am dealing with a pouch rapist!!!"
"I'm not a pouch rapist!!!" YooChun yelled. "I'm not even a rapist!!!"
"You want to go on playing, that's fine with me but I'm off!!!"
YooChun stood in front to stop him from walking. "ChangMin, wait....listen -"
"Get the fuck off, you fucking bastard!!!" ChangMin pushed him away.
Tired of getting shoved, YooChun shouted from where he stood. "There's a reason for me to bring you here!!!"
"Like what!!!" ChangMin replied but his long legs kept on walking.
"When you drive and seeing a curve right in front of you, what would you do?"
"Didn't you had enough laughing at me!!?"
"Just answer the question!!!"
"I'll brake then step on the clutch, lower the gear and turn"
"So, you were struggling to look for the clutch back there?"
"I knew it" ChangMin rolled his eyes and started to walk.
YooChun stopped him again. "No, no....okay. Use that game as the analogy"
"Brake. Gear. Turn"
"When you brake. What did you hear?"
"Screeches" ChangMin answered. YooChun was gesturing him to continue. but the said genius was still confused. "So?"
YooChun rolled his eyes. "A sudden brake slows a car almost immediately which creates the screech and....produces skid marks"
ChangMin pondered and processed the new information into his brain. He then, unlocked the car, opened the glove compartment and fetch the yellow folder that contain all the pictures and every details of YunHo's case. He searched for the photos he took and found none of them have such skid marks on the road. That only appears on the shop tile floor near to where the main door was.
"No skid marks" ChangMin said. "But he was drunk?"
"You were too, in there" YooChun chuckled as he sat comfortably on the driver seat. "You don't drink, do you?"
ChangMin shook his head.
"In most cases, the person behind the wheel would instinctively halt the vehicle, if any unusual activity occurs while on the road" YooChun explained. "Unless he or she was stupidly drunk where even after getting sober the next day, they wouldn't even remember anything. But in YunHo's case, he remembers so he didn't really fit the category"
"So, why didn't he hit the brake then?"
"Either he was too drunk, which we already know he wasn't or his brake didn't work" YooChun drawled and hopefully, ChangMin gets the idea.
"Someone tampered with the brake" ChangMin said after a while, which earned a very satisfying nod from YooChun. "Wait! If that's the case, why didn't you just tell me without dragging me all the way here? We could have found the whatever thing that causes it"
"One: Because I need to drown my sorrow without ending up like YunHo. Two: I don't like books. Three: I know you love to ask questions and I don't feel like talking. Four: I know as a matter of fact that YunHo, that bastard is innocent but I want him to suffer longer. Five: I think it's just the right time for me to go back. JunSu's waiting"
ChangMin snorted and rolled his eyes. "Waiting to kill you"
"And that's when you come along. Key, please?" YooChun asked but when ChangMin refused to hand him the keys and stared at him annoyingly, he says, "What? After seeing you doing the merry-go-round, you expect me to let you drive? I thought you said you don't want to die yet?"
"You don't know him. I rather we hit a tree than -"
"Don't jinx me" YooChun hushed him and starts off the engine.
+=+=+=+=+=
KiBum sipped into the lukewarm break room, fighting the urge not to gag. After downing 16 cups of coffee he thinks that maybe it's starting to make him sick. He placed three bottles of freshly squeezed orange juice in the refrigerator and promptly ran over to YunHo's office to get the laptop to join the others in the bullpen.
"So, what do we know about our victim?" JaeJoong said as he turned to HeeChul.
"Lee YoungAh, 20, a Chemistry sophomore. Last seen three days ago. She left the Internationel Office and boarded the 8 o'clock bus. The bus driver said he noticed a car stopping right in front of him and horned for her when he was about to leave"
"Did he get to see the plate?"
"Nope. But he did mention about the car. It was a black BMW and it had a Boston University sticker on the wind screen. Said that his neighbour's son own the same sticker in order to get into the compound"
"Run a check on every students that have the same description and report it back to me" JaeJoong said.
"Righto"
"Any news of her personal life?"
"She used Microsoft Outlook for email and the calendar to keep track of appointments. I sorted through the months leading up to her abduction and found only entries containing class schedules and the dates that certain projects were due. But something else caught my attention" JunSu said as he gave JaeJoong a paper.
"Almost a million dollars was going to something called 'Marcus'" JaeJoong read. KiBum's head shot up at the mention of the name and nervously stick up his hand to answer. JaeJoong chuckled at his cuteness and gave him a 'go-ahead'.
"I think Marcus is a he" KiBum said as he maneuver the mouse and a screen to a personal blog popped up. There's a picture of their victim with a group of people. Under it, was the list of their names and 'Marcus' was right next to YoungAh.
"I thought she's a spy for the immigration. What was she doing with this information?" HeeChul asked.
"Maybe she found out" Taking a closer look, JunSu pointed to a tall man standing far back. "Isn't this HanKyung?"
"In here he's....Joshua" KiBum said.
"Run a check on everyone there, will you, HeeChul? And try to get any information you can get from this records" JaeJoong said. HeeChul nodded.
"But one thing for sure, she did know how to make enemies" JunSu stated.
"How so?"
"In one entry, she said that M-Star are gay. M-Star stands for 'Mandarin-Starlet', a club that organize activities for the Chinese students to have some sort of like an open audition to venture into Hollywood market as the the next big thing" JunSu explained as he passed a printed poster of the club. "It says here, 'Who wants to become the next Zhang ZiYi?'"
"What's wrong with youngsters nowadays?" JaeJoong said as he glanced over the paper.
"She left a cynical comment about this one particular idea" JunSu read what's written in that piece of paper. "It says here that the idea was so gay that it will bring more humiliation towards your own countrymen"
"What kind of idea?"
"Street casting" JunSu uttered and brought more of those comment for him to read.
"You are all gay. You're all a bunch of hippies and everyone seems to look up to you as the next big thing. What BS!" JaeJoong read. "Looks like she hated whatever M-Star is doing. We need to find what sort of activity they were doing during that time"
"Guess who's behind M-Star?" JunSu showed them the file. "Jo KyuHyun"
"Well, now, we've got motive. This 'Marcus' guy is looking better every minute" HeeChul chuckled.
"Well, good job, everyone. Seems like we need to get KyuHyun in for questioning and wait for JB's and my report. I can't wait to -" JaeJoong didn't get to finish his sentence when YooChun came bursting happily into the bullpen. "Where the hell were you? I tried calling and you didn't pick up the phone!!!"
"I was helping ChangMin to get YunHo out. So, what did I miss?" YooChun smiled. "Hey, JunSu..."
"Stay away from me" JunSu threatened as he hid behind JaeJoong. The latter could feel the other was trembling.
"YooChun, need to talk to you" JaeJoong announced when JaeBeom walked in with a folder in hand, assumed to tbe the lab report.
"Hey, I'm back with....JunSu, what's wrong?" JaeBeom asked as he marched over trembling JunSu.
"He molested me" JunSu said, pointing at YooChun.
"What?"
"Hey!!! I didn't molest you, okay?" YooChun reasoned. "I didn't even touch you"
"You did!!! You took my pouch's innocence" JunSu started to sniff and held onto JaeBeom for comfort.
"It's okay. It's okay" JaeBeom rubbed JunSu's back.
YooChun didn't like what he was seeing. He shoved JaeJoong to the side and yanked JunSu to stand behind him, so he could face JaeBeom.
"Don't you ever touch him!!!" YooChun said, pushed JaeBeom roughly.
"I believe that's what JunSu wants you to do!" JaeBeom said as he did the same.
And the next thing, havoc starts. YooChun was punching JaeBeom and JaeBeom punching YooChun. HeeChul, who managed to step in between them before, was kicked to the side. ChangMin went to hold onto YooChun while JaeJoong went for JaeBeom but soon sent their peacemakers on the floor. JunSu had to watch helplessly as both men scraped the chairs and tables all around the bullpen. A random kick was given to innocent KiBum, who was trying to find an escape route, winced when his head hit the corner of a table.
"Hyung...stop them!" JunSu squealed as he pulled JaeJoong to get up.
"You started it!!! You stop them!!!"
The fight halt for a mere second. JunSu watched YooChun removing his top jacket, JaeBeom was doing the same before they advance forward. JunSu was anxious, he so want them to stop. He ran to stand in between, stood dumbly as they sandwiched him and maybe, it was the sudden closeness with YooChun's face that made JunSu screamed out loud and sent YooChun grunted as he knelt on the ground before laid there unconscious.
"Oh my God!" JunSu gasped. "He's not dead, right?"
"What did you do?" JaeBeom asked as he crouched over next to YooChun to check his pulse.
JunSu stood still with one feet on the ground and another lifted half way, bended. Both hands still mid air with a very shocking face and eyes wide open. JaeJoong figured his heart had stopped pumping blood because JunSu's face was white, almost blueish and his lungs too seems to follow suit.
HeeChul studied his posture and recalled YooChun's expression before blacking out. "You kicked him in the nut!!!"
"He's still breathing" JaeBeom said gratefully. The last thing he needs was a criminal record.
ChangMin watched as everyone heaved a sigh of relief. He did too. He didn't want YooChun to die, and he knew JunSu didn't want him to die too. YooChun might act as an asshole sometimes but overall, he's a nice hyung. He was puzzled when no one tend to the lying figure.
"Well, what the hell you still standing here for? Get him to the hospital. Quick!!!" ChangMin shouted.
JunSu then went from calm to panic. As he silently prayed, he wielded YooChun's arm up his shoulder and with HeeChul's help, they were already out the door.
"Didn't see that coming. I was -" JaeBeom chuckled but had to withdraw what he was going to say when JaeJoong glared at him.
"I think we need to talk. In my office" JaeJoong said before limping off to the elevator. JaeBeom sighed and followed.
+=+=+=+=+=
"I still think you need to go for a check up"
"No, I'm okay. Just a bump" KiBum chuckled and waved it off. "I've gone through worst"
ChangMin didn't find it funny. He sighed, almost too exhausted as he cleaned each of the red marks with an antiseptic before applying a cold cream to reduce the pain. This had to be done alternatively because KiBum had to use one hand to hold the pack of ice on his head. ChangMin was feeling guilty all of a sudden. He was wondering why KiBum wasn't mad at him. He would have throw a fit if something like this happened to himself. He would have hunt for the person who bring him in. KiBum should be mad at him.
"I'm sorry, KiBum"
"For what?"
"For this. All this" ChangMin sighed.
"It's okay" KiBum just laughed it off but ChangMin was mad.
"No. Not okay. Come on. You should hit me or scold me or something. I mean, you were fine this morning and then I made you help me. You drank more coffee than you need in a day, you got pinched for nothing and then a bump and all this happen in...what....12 hours" ChangMin voiced out in defeat. "I'm not happy with this and neither should you"
KiBum chuckled. "But I am. I get to work in CSU. I'm having fun"
"This isn't the kind of environment you should work in" ChangMin rambled on. KiBum was laughing. "And what are you laughing at?"
"ChangMin, listen, okay? You told me before that working and studying are two very different things and I get to experience that now" KiBum smiled. ChangMin was sceptical. "Yeah, well....this isn't what I plan for in a day but I'm glad you ask me for help. I am! I truly am!"
ChangMin didn't know whether KiBum understood what he meant. But, somehow the burden just flew away the minute he witnessed KiBum's smile and his laughter was soothing. He let out a chuckle.
"I still feel guilty though"
"Don't be" KiBum said. "It an adventure and at least I won't have to sit down wondering how was it like to be a part of CSU anymore?"
"Which kind of suck, huh?" ChangMin said quietly.
"No, not really. Like I say, it's an adventure, the pressure, the adrenaline. It's much better than shoveling books" KiBum said. "Thank you, ChangMin"
"You're one weird dude"
"Same goes to you then" KiBum laughed.
ChangMin laughed along. That was the first for him today. And it seems like it occurs almost too often whenever KiBum's around. It seems so that out of everyone he knew, KiBum treats him differently. Everyone else was giving him such a hard time, it gets tiring but KiBum was different. He seems to stand out and never once pitied him, he gave him strength instead. And his eyes, his smile, his laughter; and 'You're cute'
"What?" KiBum whipped his head up.
"Did I say that out loud?" ChangMin blushed and looked away. Damn...when did his mind have a lips of their own?"
"ChangMin?" KiBum called out softly. He didn't dare to look up. "There's something that kind of bother me"
"What is it?"
"Why didn't you tell me you're allergic to coffee?"
"Oh...that!" ChangMin is so whipped. "Well, you see....you like coffee...and"
"And?"
"I needed company" ChangMin said, was beet red from shyness. "I....like....being....with you"
KiBum's cheek was from pink to red. "Oh....still, you should have told me"
Quiet. ChangMin switched his cream applying gesture to a soft caress. KiBum wondered whether he was doing it on purpose.
"Is there anything else I should know before finding myself sharing a bunk bed with Steven Mildwaters?"
ChangMin chuckled. "I can't take beans and nuts"
"No chocolates too?"
"Nope" ChangMin replied softly.
Silence fills the air as both men try to hide their flushed cheeks and spent almost an hour stealing glances at each other.
"That's it?" KiBum asked.
"Yup" ChangMin nodded.
"Okay" KiBum grinned as he braved himself to stare straight at ChangMin who was happy as well.
"Okay"
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**@ CSU: This Time Around - Chapter 18 @**
"Okay, thank you, GaHee-sshi"
ChangMin said before hanging up. He let out a sigh of relief. GaHee called in to tell him that the shopper who got injured had woke up from her surgery and she had told the police that she didn't know what was going on. She said that she was suffering from a sudden headache and was on the floor calling for help even before the accident occurred and though she was in confusion, she was sure she had blackened out before the display shelf fell on her. So, for the time being, YunHo was safe from felony murder but the state prosecutor was tracking for any possible ways to bring him down, because, let's face it, YunHo doesn't carry much of a good reputation.
He was about to call JaeJoong when he felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned to see YooChun gesturing him to follow him into the building. ChangMin looked at the blinking display board on the the shop and he was confused to read 'Ah! Amusement Centre'.
He directed his gaze his watch to see the time. It's half past five. It had been an 35 minutes since he pleaded the profiler for help, 20 minutes since he presented his findings to YooChun which took the profiler 5 minuted later to drag them out for a short drive and 5 minutes since they arrived in front of the arcade center. ChangMin had no idea what he was doing here. He remembered clearly to have asked YooChun for a quickie on cars and he did specify that he didn't mean the video game.
"Sit" YooChun nudged him before taking a seat on the of the many sit-down games.
"Hyung"
"Sit" YooChun repeated as he examined the steering wheel and pedals. Then, grabbed ChangMin's hand to pull him to sit.
ChangMin complied as he went on with inspecting his side. YooChun then passed him a coin to slot in. The speaker soon come to live and inquire them to insert a name and choose a car. He chose as he was told and when the screen changed to ask for the level, YooChun turned to him.
"Are you any good?"
"I just got my driving license a few months back"
"ExpertPro then" YooChun nodded as he plopped a candy in his mouth. "Ready?"
"Hy-hyung..." ChangMin held onto the steering wheel as the screen displayed a countdown.
THREE. TWO. ONE. GO!
"Woo-Hoo!" YooChun exclaimed as he hit the gas.
ChangMin was feeling uncomfortable as he struggled to keep the car on the road. The music was too loud for his liking and the screen was too bright for his eyes. He was blinking and hands were fighting to catch the grasp of the not so friendly steering wheel. He knew he was last, his car was spinning a few hundred degrees. When he thought he was getting real well with the car, he could hear screeching as he hit on the brake pedal and it spins and hits the board when he was about to make a curve. His anger rising as he heard laughter from spectators that were crowding behind them. They were clearly amazed with YooChun's skills of handling the car.
"ChangMin, come on. Drive" YooChun shouted as his car went past ChangMin's.
Desperation kicks in pretty soon and frustration hits rock bottom when YooChun's car reached for the finished line. He was celebrating with the spectators, hi-fived some of them and laughed. He turned to his left where ChangMin was sitting and saw the boy tearing. While others were laughing at him, YooChun didn't.
"ChangMin..?" YooChun nudged him.
"YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE, YOU KNOW THAT!!!????" ChangMin screamed, stood up and shoved him aside. "FUCK YOU, BASTARD!!!!"
YooChun was shocked as he watched the younger shoving everyone out of the way and stormed out of the centre. He resumed to ran for ChangMin and caught him marching to the parking lot.
"ChangMin...ChangMin...wait!!!" YooChun shouted as he jogged towards him. "Yah! Shim ChangMin!!!"
ChangMin stopped and turned. With eyes still tearing, he howled. "WHAT!!!"
"Look, listen...ChangMin, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to -"
"You didn't mean to? Didn't mean to?" ChangMin said, poking at YooChun's chest. "I came to you for help to get my brother out and here we are, playing some stupid game for your entertainment. Everyone was working their ass off and here I am dealing with a pouch rapist!!!"
"I'm not a pouch rapist!!!" YooChun yelled. "I'm not even a rapist!!!"
"You want to go on playing, that's fine with me but I'm off!!!"
YooChun stood in front to stop him from walking. "ChangMin, wait....listen -"
"Get the fuck off, you fucking bastard!!!" ChangMin pushed him away.
Tired of getting shoved, YooChun shouted from where he stood. "There's a reason for me to bring you here!!!"
"Like what!!!" ChangMin replied but his long legs kept on walking.
"When you drive and seeing a curve right in front of you, what would you do?"
"Didn't you had enough laughing at me!!?"
"Just answer the question!!!"
"I'll brake then step on the clutch, lower the gear and turn"
"So, you were struggling to look for the clutch back there?"
"I knew it" ChangMin rolled his eyes and started to walk.
YooChun stopped him again. "No, no....okay. Use that game as the analogy"
"Brake. Gear. Turn"
"When you brake. What did you hear?"
"Screeches" ChangMin answered. YooChun was gesturing him to continue. but the said genius was still confused. "So?"
YooChun rolled his eyes. "A sudden brake slows a car almost immediately which creates the screech and....produces skid marks"
ChangMin pondered and processed the new information into his brain. He then, unlocked the car, opened the glove compartment and fetch the yellow folder that contain all the pictures and every details of YunHo's case. He searched for the photos he took and found none of them have such skid marks on the road. That only appears on the shop tile floor near to where the main door was.
"No skid marks" ChangMin said. "But he was drunk?"
"You were too, in there" YooChun chuckled as he sat comfortably on the driver seat. "You don't drink, do you?"
ChangMin shook his head.
"In most cases, the person behind the wheel would instinctively halt the vehicle, if any unusual activity occurs while on the road" YooChun explained. "Unless he or she was stupidly drunk where even after getting sober the next day, they wouldn't even remember anything. But in YunHo's case, he remembers so he didn't really fit the category"
"So, why didn't he hit the brake then?"
"Either he was too drunk, which we already know he wasn't or his brake didn't work" YooChun drawled and hopefully, ChangMin gets the idea.
"Someone tampered with the brake" ChangMin said after a while, which earned a very satisfying nod from YooChun. "Wait! If that's the case, why didn't you just tell me without dragging me all the way here? We could have found the whatever thing that causes it"
"One: Because I need to drown my sorrow without ending up like YunHo. Two: I don't like books. Three: I know you love to ask questions and I don't feel like talking. Four: I know as a matter of fact that YunHo, that bastard is innocent but I want him to suffer longer. Five: I think it's just the right time for me to go back. JunSu's waiting"
ChangMin snorted and rolled his eyes. "Waiting to kill you"
"And that's when you come along. Key, please?" YooChun asked but when ChangMin refused to hand him the keys and stared at him annoyingly, he says, "What? After seeing you doing the merry-go-round, you expect me to let you drive? I thought you said you don't want to die yet?"
"You don't know him. I rather we hit a tree than -"
"Don't jinx me" YooChun hushed him and starts off the engine.
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KiBum sipped into the lukewarm break room, fighting the urge not to gag. After downing 16 cups of coffee he thinks that maybe it's starting to make him sick. He placed three bottles of freshly squeezed orange juice in the refrigerator and promptly ran over to YunHo's office to get the laptop to join the others in the bullpen.
"So, what do we know about our victim?" JaeJoong said as he turned to HeeChul.
"Lee YoungAh, 20, a Chemistry sophomore. Last seen three days ago. She left the Internationel Office and boarded the 8 o'clock bus. The bus driver said he noticed a car stopping right in front of him and horned for her when he was about to leave"
"Did he get to see the plate?"
"Nope. But he did mention about the car. It was a black BMW and it had a Boston University sticker on the wind screen. Said that his neighbour's son own the same sticker in order to get into the compound"
"Run a check on every students that have the same description and report it back to me" JaeJoong said.
"Righto"
"Any news of her personal life?"
"She used Microsoft Outlook for email and the calendar to keep track of appointments. I sorted through the months leading up to her abduction and found only entries containing class schedules and the dates that certain projects were due. But something else caught my attention" JunSu said as he gave JaeJoong a paper.
"Almost a million dollars was going to something called 'Marcus'" JaeJoong read. KiBum's head shot up at the mention of the name and nervously stick up his hand to answer. JaeJoong chuckled at his cuteness and gave him a 'go-ahead'.
"I think Marcus is a he" KiBum said as he maneuver the mouse and a screen to a personal blog popped up. There's a picture of their victim with a group of people. Under it, was the list of their names and 'Marcus' was right next to YoungAh.
"I thought she's a spy for the immigration. What was she doing with this information?" HeeChul asked.
"Maybe she found out" Taking a closer look, JunSu pointed to a tall man standing far back. "Isn't this HanKyung?"
"In here he's....Joshua" KiBum said.
"Run a check on everyone there, will you, HeeChul? And try to get any information you can get from this records" JaeJoong said. HeeChul nodded.
"But one thing for sure, she did know how to make enemies" JunSu stated.
"How so?"
"In one entry, she said that M-Star are gay. M-Star stands for 'Mandarin-Starlet', a club that organize activities for the Chinese students to have some sort of like an open audition to venture into Hollywood market as the the next big thing" JunSu explained as he passed a printed poster of the club. "It says here, 'Who wants to become the next Zhang ZiYi?'"
"What's wrong with youngsters nowadays?" JaeJoong said as he glanced over the paper.
"She left a cynical comment about this one particular idea" JunSu read what's written in that piece of paper. "It says here that the idea was so gay that it will bring more humiliation towards your own countrymen"
"What kind of idea?"
"Street casting" JunSu uttered and brought more of those comment for him to read.
"You are all gay. You're all a bunch of hippies and everyone seems to look up to you as the next big thing. What BS!" JaeJoong read. "Looks like she hated whatever M-Star is doing. We need to find what sort of activity they were doing during that time"
"Guess who's behind M-Star?" JunSu showed them the file. "Jo KyuHyun"
"Well, now, we've got motive. This 'Marcus' guy is looking better every minute" HeeChul chuckled.
"Well, good job, everyone. Seems like we need to get KyuHyun in for questioning and wait for JB's and my report. I can't wait to -" JaeJoong didn't get to finish his sentence when YooChun came bursting happily into the bullpen. "Where the hell were you? I tried calling and you didn't pick up the phone!!!"
"I was helping ChangMin to get YunHo out. So, what did I miss?" YooChun smiled. "Hey, JunSu..."
"Stay away from me" JunSu threatened as he hid behind JaeJoong. The latter could feel the other was trembling.
"YooChun, need to talk to you" JaeJoong announced when JaeBeom walked in with a folder in hand, assumed to tbe the lab report.
"Hey, I'm back with....JunSu, what's wrong?" JaeBeom asked as he marched over trembling JunSu.
"He molested me" JunSu said, pointing at YooChun.
"What?"
"Hey!!! I didn't molest you, okay?" YooChun reasoned. "I didn't even touch you"
"You did!!! You took my pouch's innocence" JunSu started to sniff and held onto JaeBeom for comfort.
"It's okay. It's okay" JaeBeom rubbed JunSu's back.
YooChun didn't like what he was seeing. He shoved JaeJoong to the side and yanked JunSu to stand behind him, so he could face JaeBeom.
"Don't you ever touch him!!!" YooChun said, pushed JaeBeom roughly.
"I believe that's what JunSu wants you to do!" JaeBeom said as he did the same.
And the next thing, havoc starts. YooChun was punching JaeBeom and JaeBeom punching YooChun. HeeChul, who managed to step in between them before, was kicked to the side. ChangMin went to hold onto YooChun while JaeJoong went for JaeBeom but soon sent their peacemakers on the floor. JunSu had to watch helplessly as both men scraped the chairs and tables all around the bullpen. A random kick was given to innocent KiBum, who was trying to find an escape route, winced when his head hit the corner of a table.
"Hyung...stop them!" JunSu squealed as he pulled JaeJoong to get up.
"You started it!!! You stop them!!!"
The fight halt for a mere second. JunSu watched YooChun removing his top jacket, JaeBeom was doing the same before they advance forward. JunSu was anxious, he so want them to stop. He ran to stand in between, stood dumbly as they sandwiched him and maybe, it was the sudden closeness with YooChun's face that made JunSu screamed out loud and sent YooChun grunted as he knelt on the ground before laid there unconscious.
"Oh my God!" JunSu gasped. "He's not dead, right?"
"What did you do?" JaeBeom asked as he crouched over next to YooChun to check his pulse.
JunSu stood still with one feet on the ground and another lifted half way, bended. Both hands still mid air with a very shocking face and eyes wide open. JaeJoong figured his heart had stopped pumping blood because JunSu's face was white, almost blueish and his lungs too seems to follow suit.
HeeChul studied his posture and recalled YooChun's expression before blacking out. "You kicked him in the nut!!!"
"He's still breathing" JaeBeom said gratefully. The last thing he needs was a criminal record.
ChangMin watched as everyone heaved a sigh of relief. He did too. He didn't want YooChun to die, and he knew JunSu didn't want him to die too. YooChun might act as an asshole sometimes but overall, he's a nice hyung. He was puzzled when no one tend to the lying figure.
"Well, what the hell you still standing here for? Get him to the hospital. Quick!!!" ChangMin shouted.
JunSu then went from calm to panic. As he silently prayed, he wielded YooChun's arm up his shoulder and with HeeChul's help, they were already out the door.
"Didn't see that coming. I was -" JaeBeom chuckled but had to withdraw what he was going to say when JaeJoong glared at him.
"I think we need to talk. In my office" JaeJoong said before limping off to the elevator. JaeBeom sighed and followed.
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"I still think you need to go for a check up"
"No, I'm okay. Just a bump" KiBum chuckled and waved it off. "I've gone through worst"
ChangMin didn't find it funny. He sighed, almost too exhausted as he cleaned each of the red marks with an antiseptic before applying a cold cream to reduce the pain. This had to be done alternatively because KiBum had to use one hand to hold the pack of ice on his head. ChangMin was feeling guilty all of a sudden. He was wondering why KiBum wasn't mad at him. He would have throw a fit if something like this happened to himself. He would have hunt for the person who bring him in. KiBum should be mad at him.
"I'm sorry, KiBum"
"For what?"
"For this. All this" ChangMin sighed.
"It's okay" KiBum just laughed it off but ChangMin was mad.
"No. Not okay. Come on. You should hit me or scold me or something. I mean, you were fine this morning and then I made you help me. You drank more coffee than you need in a day, you got pinched for nothing and then a bump and all this happen in...what....12 hours" ChangMin voiced out in defeat. "I'm not happy with this and neither should you"
KiBum chuckled. "But I am. I get to work in CSU. I'm having fun"
"This isn't the kind of environment you should work in" ChangMin rambled on. KiBum was laughing. "And what are you laughing at?"
"ChangMin, listen, okay? You told me before that working and studying are two very different things and I get to experience that now" KiBum smiled. ChangMin was sceptical. "Yeah, well....this isn't what I plan for in a day but I'm glad you ask me for help. I am! I truly am!"
ChangMin didn't know whether KiBum understood what he meant. But, somehow the burden just flew away the minute he witnessed KiBum's smile and his laughter was soothing. He let out a chuckle.
"I still feel guilty though"
"Don't be" KiBum said. "It an adventure and at least I won't have to sit down wondering how was it like to be a part of CSU anymore?"
"Which kind of suck, huh?" ChangMin said quietly.
"No, not really. Like I say, it's an adventure, the pressure, the adrenaline. It's much better than shoveling books" KiBum said. "Thank you, ChangMin"
"You're one weird dude"
"Same goes to you then" KiBum laughed.
ChangMin laughed along. That was the first for him today. And it seems like it occurs almost too often whenever KiBum's around. It seems so that out of everyone he knew, KiBum treats him differently. Everyone else was giving him such a hard time, it gets tiring but KiBum was different. He seems to stand out and never once pitied him, he gave him strength instead. And his eyes, his smile, his laughter; and 'You're cute'
"What?" KiBum whipped his head up.
"Did I say that out loud?" ChangMin blushed and looked away. Damn...when did his mind have a lips of their own?"
"ChangMin?" KiBum called out softly. He didn't dare to look up. "There's something that kind of bother me"
"What is it?"
"Why didn't you tell me you're allergic to coffee?"
"Oh...that!" ChangMin is so whipped. "Well, you see....you like coffee...and"
"And?"
"I needed company" ChangMin said, was beet red from shyness. "I....like....being....with you"
KiBum's cheek was from pink to red. "Oh....still, you should have told me"
Quiet. ChangMin switched his cream applying gesture to a soft caress. KiBum wondered whether he was doing it on purpose.
"Is there anything else I should know before finding myself sharing a bunk bed with Steven Mildwaters?"
ChangMin chuckled. "I can't take beans and nuts"
"No chocolates too?"
"Nope" ChangMin replied softly.
Silence fills the air as both men try to hide their flushed cheeks and spent almost an hour stealing glances at each other.
"That's it?" KiBum asked.
"Yup" ChangMin nodded.
"Okay" KiBum grinned as he braved himself to stare straight at ChangMin who was happy as well.
"Okay"
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**@ CSU: This Time Around - Chapter 18 @**