JUVENILE | kim sunwoo ✔︎

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Y/N POV

I'd let Hyunjae stay the night, he was here late and it was already raining mercilessly outside. Staying in Sunwoo's bed he smiled and thanked me briefly. It was morning by now, daylight breaking through the curtain cracks in harsh golden leaks.

"Have you slept at all?" Hyunjae sat up from his bed and glanced over as I stared at wall in front of me.
"Not really." I turned around to face him, desolately thinking to myself.
"We're gonna get a confession from someone Y/N, we'll get him out." He sighed in a familiar pitch, the one he does when he's being genuine about something - similar to those of a grandpa that vocally expresses his fatigue through enhanced yawns and grumbles.
"Thank you by the way." I glanced across to him with a look of admiration, the newly found alliance with Hyunjae Lee perhaps wouldn't be so bad.
"Don't worry about it." He replied as I lazily got up from the cotton of my bed, readying myself for the day inside the bathroom for a hint of privacy.

First, we'd question Ashley, as hard as that was going to be - it would hopefully lead us somewhere. Having Hyunjae there was major reassurance as he brought me back through the plan diligently. He'd be an incredible police investigator, it's a shame he lost sight of his education a long time ago. I'm pretty sure the only reason he was so good at this was because of his narrow police confrontations.

Dragging my palms across the dense material of my jeans as we stood outside of Ashley's cabin. My phone was in my pocket recording, the red circle of voice memos now morphed into its square, recording the silent waves. Hyunjae brought his hand up to the door and knocked loudly. Creaking open, Jacob stood on the other side confused to see the both of us here so early.
"Can we talk?" Hyunjae asked as Jacob opened the door widely and allowed us to come inside.

"Oh my god Y/N, you look like you haven't slept." Ashley sat up in her bed covers, perplexed to see Hyunjae and I in the same frame.
"I haven't." I replied rather bluntly, watching her eyes sink in a worried glance to Jacob.
"If we cut to the chase Ashley." Hyunjae stepped in, noticing it would be too difficult for me to confront her on my own, "I'll ask you it straight, did put the codeine in Sunwoo's bag?"
She looked at us with a shocked gaze, her eyes widening and jaw hanging agape.
"No! I can't believe you think I'd do that." There was a hint of sadness in her voice, mixed with an unknown anxious wobble.

"Then why did you even come to see me before Sunwoo and I went out? I can dress myself and it's not like anyone else has been in." I added to Hyunjae's question, cleverly pushing her for information.
"You're my best friend and I have no reason to do something like that you." She continued to deny it, exaggerating her words desperately, Jacob stayed silent and perched upon the bed beside her.
"Did you tell Y/N about your crush on Sunwoo when she got here?" Hyunjae cocked a brow, leant over his knees arrogantly.
"Well no, that was back in high school and he was in prison by the time Y/N got here." She commented debunking the whole situation with an underlying huff.
"Then why didn't you tell her?" Hyunjae furthered, causing her to flick between him and I.
"I had no reason to and I wouldn't hide prescription drugs in the bag of someone my best friend clearly loves." She was becoming agitated, spilling words at 100 miles per hour whilst her breath altered nervously.
"No ones said anything about prescription drugs, Ashley." Jacob suddenly chimed in, scrunching his brows inquisitively.

"The only person who knows they were prescription is Hyunjae and that's from him buying street drugs. The only person who could have known that is the person who did it." I added in shock as Ashley's eyes twitched wide open once again, running a stressed hand through her tattered hair.
"I mean- Of course they are prescription right? Orange bottle? It's pretty obvious." She chuckled as we all shared a sure glance between each other.
"Yeah, only to someone who knows their stuff. Why'd you do it Ashley?" Hyunjae asked her immediately, taking her by surprise as she shook her head in denial.
"I didn't!" She didn't justify her point, she just instead refused accountability.
"You know Ashley, this entire time it's been 'oh because you're my best friend!' . Yeah my best friend who put me in danger, my best friend who chooses her relationship over my safety. My best friend who didn't tell me about her little crush on the boy I'm seeing. You know it adds up, this entire thing." I burst out all of a sudden, something in Ashley's eyes resided with anger.

"And what? Yeah I was jealous, you were pretty and boys were interested in you when you got here. You're better than me, smarter than me, prettier and a whole lot of a better person. Fine, I did it, I put prescription codeine in Sunwoo's bag and there's nothing you can do to prove it." She accentuated her movements with her hands, sarcastically adding to her point as we all overlooked her with immense shock.

Glinting beneath the bench I was sat on, it was some kind of label. Curled up and scrunched but still salvageable. I picked it up out of curiosity as Jacob was now arguing with Ashley and I had completely zoned out of their couple drama. Unrolling the sticker it read:

Prescription Codeine, Los Angeles Community Hospital. Prescriber: Doctor Harrison.

Ashley's Mom was the prescriber, I nudged Hyunjae showing him the label I'd found. His eyes widened in realization, we'd found physical evidence.
"Ashley." I piped up holding the label, "Why do you have this? It's almost as if you've peeled it off the bottle."
"That- Where did you- Please don't get me arrested." She stuttered trying to stitch together a reply, I got up and nudged Hyunjae.
"I'll do what I want." I shook my head with a disappointed sigh, leaving the cabin with a slam behind us.

I stopped recording and looked up at Hyunjae with a mix of sadness and relief. Although Ashley had completely used me, she was still the only friend I really had. Wandering away from the cabin, we stood at the edge of the site - perching upon a crooked wooden bench in the shade.
"You ready to go hand her in?" Hyunjae asked, trying to catch my eye line as it darted everywhere in thought.  Apart of me was saying hell yeah, another part of me couldn't process how the entire last 6 months of my life has been a lie.
"I think so. I mean, I'm gonna have no friends to my name after this." I chuckled as the sunlight beamed down onto my skin, the crisp breeze lifting strands of my hair in light whips.
"I mean, I'm no good at picking dresses or talking boys but if you feel like getting high anytime you've got me." Hyunjae chuckled, nudging me with his elbow. "Seriously though, you have us. I'm sure all of us would agree on that."
"Thanks Hyunjae." I smiled at him brightly at him not knowing what to say, it was as if he was a different boy to the one I first met. Still completely irresponsible but he had morals now and hopefully that would become a good thing for Hyunjae Lee.

For now, Colorado Non - Emergency Crime number. Dialing the number, I listened as the line rang patiently.
"Hello, Police department of Colorado. Is there something you need to report?"An official lady's voice echoed across the line as I inhaled shakily.
"Hi, I'd like to turn someone in, there's been a wrongful arrest." I answered, Hyunjae smiling as I retold the events of the past hour, sending over the audio files and taking a picture of the physical evidence for the police database. It would be no more lies for Ashley.

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AUTHORS NOTE

hyunjae.. huh who saw his kind of character arc coming ♡'･ᴗ･'♡

my updates are insanely good for my usual pace.. i hope you don't mind there's a lot at a time but i'm really trying to make the most of my break :,)

anyways i hope your week isn't too draining ! you're halfway through! all best wishes for the end to your week ♡︎..

sending my love always..

clover <3