Nero had just arrived in his room after school when his eyes landed on the charger on his desk. It instantly reminded him of his last moment with Joan.
Back then, the two of them were working on something in his room when Joan became irritated because him phone suddenly died. Nero had a different type of phone, so he couldn't lend her his charger. Joan's own charger was broken, and he mentioned that him phone was the same type as Jio's and Sena's. It seemed like he would borrow him older sibling's charger.
Still in his room, Nero waited for Joan to return, but after a while, he felt Joan was taking too long and went out to look for him.
"Joan," Nero called out to his friend, who was standing motionless outside the room.
Startled, Joan clutched him chest. "You scared me," he said.
"Got the charger already?" Nero asked.
"Y-yeah," Joan replied while showing the charger in him hand.
Nero found it strange that Joan was just standing in front of him room. "You got that from your room? Thought yours was broken."
"This one's Sena's. My brother's charger wasn't there, maybe he hasn't come home yet," Joan answered.
"Sena's home? he had extra classes today," Nero said.
"No, he's not. I haven't seen her around the house," Joan replied.
"That's odd. Sena usually locks him room when he leaves."
"Maybe he forgot," Joan replied.
"he's forgetful, sure, but not when it comes to locking him room. It's like he's hiding gold in there," Nero muttered.
"Anyway, let's not worry about that. Let's get back to investigating Jeongin's case," Joan said, changing the subject.
"Right. That's more exciting," Nero agreed.
The two of them went back to Nero's room to continue the work they had left unfinished.
That memory brought tears to Nero's eyes. If only he hadn't been so curious about solving that case, maybe Joan would still be by his side.
"I'm sorry, Joan."
******
Arkhan let out a harsh sigh. "I feel like this whole problem started because of me. Maybe we should just tell them that we're partners—"
His sentence was cut off as Sandy quickly interrupted, "No one can talk about our job."
"Our line of work isn't safe. It's better to keep it hidden for now," Levan said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"The point is, we can't panic. Unknown is around us—maybe even inside this house," Sandy whispered.
"So we have to be suspicious of each other?" Arkhan asked.
"Whether we like it or not," Levan replied.
"Even you two?" Arkhan asked again.
"You want to suspect the people who are trying to help you?" Sandy mocked.
"I trust you, San. Not sure about this Lee guy, though," Arkhan teased.
Sandy gave Levan a side glance from head to toe. "Easy sell. He'd go fast on a marketplace."
"Dark joke," Levan muttered.
"Anyway, get out of my room for now. I need to be alone," Arkhan said.
The two of them left, and Sandy made sure to shut the door.
Now alone, Arkhan pulled out a pen and paper and started to write.
Suspect 1 – Sena:
That night he went home feels suspicious, especially with the strange mark Nero said he saw on him neck.
Suspect 2 – Nero:
He's good at analyzing things. Maybe he was the one who attacked Sena that night.
Suspect 3 – Levan:
He might be behind this terror because I know his secret.
Suspect 4 – Sandy:
He knows too much about me. Maybe he's threatening me for something.
Suspect 5 – Jio:
Arkhan stopped writing, unsure of what to be suspicious about regarding Jio's connection to the current terror.
Ding!
A new message popped up on Arkhan's phone—another one from Unknown, this time a photo of Arkhan inside his room.
Shocked, Arkhan turned to look at the door, which he had clearly seen Sandy shut earlier, now wide open.
"Looks like this photo was taken just now."
He rushed out of the room and found Nero sitting in the living room, which was close to his bedroom.
"Nero."
"What is it, Khan?" Nero asked without looking up, his eyes fixed on his laptop screen.
"U-uh, nothing. I just thought I saw a shadow," Arkhan replied.
"Dude, don't scare me like that," Nero muttered.
"I-it was just a cat's shadow. Hehe... yeah, that's what I meant," Arkhan said awkwardly.
"Not funny," Nero said with a blank stare.
"Haha, sorry. I'm heading back to my room."
As Arkhan walked back, a question lingered in his mind:
Was that Nero who secretly took the photo of me?