The echo of laughter faded, replaced by the constant hum of the air conditioning. The members of NEON7, exhausted after an exhausting secret mission, returned to the STARS building.
The five of them gathered around the table. The transition from "comedic spies" to "Idol group" was so abrupt they looked like actors who had forgotten to change out of character.
"Alright, special agents," J-Min took the floor. "It's time for the truth."
"Can you stop calling us that?" Vhy muttered, picking glitter off his fingernails. "I feel like we're in a low-budget spy movie."
"Technically, we were low-budget spies," K-Sey pointed out, still plucking hairs from the fake mustache. "Our total budget was Jhin's closet and my SpyT collection."
"Plus our dignity," Vhy laughed.
"Hey! My acting was flawless," K-Sey protested. "Mr. Jahn cried. HE CRIED! That is what it means to be an Imperial Eunuch."
"Yeah, he cried because you reminded him of his ex-wife," Vhy remarked, stifling a laugh. "Who knew you had the makings of a psychologist?"
K-Sey smiled at the apparent compliment. "Artists aren't born, they're made," he declared, striking a pose with a hand over his face. "Like popsicles."
"Can we focus on the recordings?" Jhin interrupted.
"You're right," J-Min agreed, regaining his composure. "We're already 4 minutes and 38 seconds behind schedule."
With the solemnity of a priest and the theatricality of someone who had watched too many movies, K-Sey took the USB from DM's hand. "This will be the moment of truth. The final revelation. The climax of our adventure."
Adopting the stance of a professional pitcher, he tossed the drive to J-Min.
J-Min, pulling a baseball glove out of his pocket, caught it with his left hand, stepping back with the inertia. "187 kilometers per hour. Efficient as always," he approved, plugging in the USB. "I can tell you watched The Sandlot."
"As you noticed," K-Sey remarked. "Wait, you weren't supposed to have seen it."
"Key," J-Min said. "I—it wasn't my intention."
"I knew it, you watched it without me!" K-Sey claimed with a downward gaze. "You knew it was the best baseball movie, and you watched it without me."
"Are you seriously arguing about this?" Vhy asked. "We all watched it together right here. Even the Amethyst girls were there."
"Oh, that's true," K-Sey agreed.
"That was my ninth option," J-Min replied.
"I won't ask about the other eight," Vhy murmured, rubbing his jaw. DM placed a hand on his shoulder, nodding in agreement.
"Why? The seventh reason was very interesting; it involved an iron frog."
"Can we just watch the video?" Jhin interrupted, his anxiety cutting through the comedy.
"Fine, okay... but there was a high probability you guys would have liked it," J-Min muttered, offended.
The image that appeared was grainy, in black and white, and silent. The library hallway looked different on screen: ghostlier, more ominous.
"Wow," J-Min whispered. "This looks like a movie from 57 years ago."
"The school has money for a selfie-pool but not for new cameras?" Vhy complained.
"Those are the library cameras; nobody goes there unless it's for coffee," DM replied. "Remember the nature of this school..."
Their gazes dropped slightly, but stayed fixed on the screen.
"The image quality gives it a very cinematic air," K-Sey added, his artistic eye analyzing the composition. "Very noir."
"Can we avoid the film critic comments while we watch this?" Jhin asked, tense.
No one breathed. The only sound was the almost imperceptible hum of the AC and the occasional crackle of K-Sey trying to peel more glue off his face.
"There," J-Min pointed out, his technical instinct taking over. "Timestamp 10:43. This is where Jhin takes the lead role."
When the image of Jhin appeared on screen, moving with a cruelty and anger amplified by the black and white, the comments stopped.
"Oh, for Jen's sake," Jhin whispered, literally recoiling from his own image. "Do I really look that... intimidating?"
K-Sey and J-Min exchanged an awkward glance, neither wanting to confirm the obvious.
"You look... intense," K-Sey finally said, choosing his words carefully.
"Your body language is very... defined," J-Min added diplomatically. "Very purposeful in your movements."
"Shugar would say you look like a debt collector," Vhy commented. "Maybe we discovered another talent."
"Vhy, you're not helping," K-Sey intervened.
"Sorry, we're idols... people are already afraid to breathe around us," Vhy mentioned, looking away. "She was the exception, weird girl..." he mused.
Eyes fixed on the recording, they watched the young photographer shrink back from Jhin. On the grainy screen, they could only make out her face: small and trembling.
"She looks so small," K-Sey whispered, his voice losing all its previous playfulness.
"And scared," J-Min added, his dancer's eye catching every detail. "Look at how she hunches over—at least 22 degrees."
Then came the key moment. As Jhin turned around on the screen, a small white rectangle slipped from his inner pocket as he snatched the jacket back, falling to the floor like a dead leaf.
"There it is!" J-Min exclaimed, pointing. "At 10:49!"
"Rewind it," K-Sey asked. "I want to see exactly how it falls."
J-Min repeated the sequence several times. Each repetition made the moment feel more surreal.
"2.3 seconds," J-Min muttered, timing it mentally. "From the moment it detaches until it hits the ground."
"Are you timing my clumsiness?" Jhin asked with a strained voice.
"It's instinct," J-Min apologized. "I analyze all movements automatically."
"Everything has the potential to be a choreography," K-Sey commented.
"Or potential lyrics," Vhy murmured.
They watched Jhin walk away on the screen, disappearing from the frame with furious strides. Suri was left alone for a moment.
"She's shaking," Vhy observed, his voice soft, almost breathless.
"How can you see that in this image quality?" DM asked.
"You can see it in her shoulders," J-Min replied, giving Vhy room to breathe.
Then came the crucial moment. The girl looked down, saw the envelope, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she leaned over and picked it up with a trembling hand.
"There it is," K-Sey declared, his voice losing all theatricality. "She... has it."
"Look at that," J-Min stopped the video, leaning forward. "She's the thief. The probability is in my favor once again."
"But she doesn't act like a thief," DM observed, his eyes fixed on the screen.
"Technically it's still theft," K-Sey pointed out. "But a very reluctant theft."
At that moment, Suri turned around and practically fled in the opposite direction, her steps hurried and nervous.
"She has it," Jhin said, his voice barely a broken whisper. It was a mix of relief and despair that made everyone turn to look at him. "I wasn't crazy. She—she has it!"
His face had lost all color. Beads of sweat pearled on his forehead, and his hands were shaking so much he had to interlace his fingers to stop them.
"So she's a thief, after all," Vhy said in a dejected tone.
"Not so fast," DM intervened, his eyes still on the frozen screen. "Look again. Rewind to when she first sees it."
J-Min obeyed. This time they paid more attention to Suri's expression.
"Look at her face," DM insisted. "She doesn't act like a thief. She acts like someone scared and confused. Like someone who doesn't know what to do."
"And does that excuse her?" K-Sey asked, with less conviction in his voice.
"It doesn't excuse her," DM said patiently. "But it explains why she hasn't returned it to us. She doesn't trust us—and with good reason."
Jhin buried his face in his hands, the weight of guilt crushing him like a marble slab. "I was a monster to her," his voice broke. "A complete monster. I terrified her... of course she won't give it back to me. What do I do now?"
J-Min swallowed hard. "Reporting her would be the most logical thing, but since she's a scholarship student, it's highly likely she'll be expelled..."
"How likely?" Jhin asked.
"At least 92%... scholarship students rarely last the month."
The air in the room grew even denser. The hum of the AC seemed louder, more insistent.
Jhin turned, his desperate, glassy eyes searching for Vhy like a castaway looking for a life raft.
"Vhy, you have to help me."
Vhy, who had been staring at the screen with an unreadable expression, looked away. His fingers automatically found his right thigh, beginning to scratch the fabric of his designer pants. "Me? Why me?"
"Because you started this!" Jhin exclaimed, desperation turning into accusation, into a desperate need to blame someone else. "The coffee, your attitude... everything! You set her against me from the start. It's your mistake as much as mine. You have to come with me. You have to help me get that envelope back."
Vhy's scratching became more intense, more urgent. His nails clawed the fabric with silent violence.
"Jhin..." DM began, his voice carrying a note of warning.
"No!" Jhin interrupted, standing up from the sofa with abrupt movements. "Don't tell me to calm down! Vhy has to take responsibility!"
Vhy remained silent, but his jaw tightened like a cable about to snap. His fingers kept scratching, now with such force that the fabric began to fray.
K-Sey and J-Min stayed on the sidelines of the confrontation, their bodies tense, ready to intervene if necessary but not knowing exactly how.
"Please, Vhy," Jhin pleaded, his voice dropping back to a desperate beg. "I can't face her alone. Not after how I treated her. Not after what I did."
Vhy's gaze became glassy, lost in some point beyond the wall, as if he were seeing something the others couldn't see.
The silence stretched out, heavy and oppressive. The only sound was the constant scratching of Vhy's nails against the fabric and the breathing of the five in the room.
"No..." Vhy said finally. His voice was a hollow, cutting whisper that sliced through the air like a knife.
Jhin looked at him, incredulous. "No? Just... no?"
Vhy stood up abruptly. The movement was so sharp his chair almost tipped over. He didn't look at anyone, his eyes fixed on some point on the floor.
"No!" he repeated, louder this time, his voice charged with an emotion that wasn't anger, but something closer to pure panic. "I'm not doing it."
He turned around and walked toward the living room door with rigid, mechanical steps.
"Vhy!" Jhin shouted, standing up to follow him. "You can't just leave! You can't leave me alone with this!"
He was about to grab Vhy's arm when a firm hand stopped him. It was DM, his grip gentle but unbreakable.
Vhy didn't stop. He left the room without looking back, and a second later, they heard his bedroom door slam, echoing through the building like thunder.
Jhin wrenched himself free from DM's grip, his face a mix of fury and betrayal that made him look younger, more vulnerable. "What the hell is wrong with him? Why is he acting like that?"
His eyes were red, not just from frustration but from something deeper, more painful.
DM sighed, a sound that seemed to carry the weight of the world. His usual calm was tinged with a deep sadness that aged his face. He looked at Jhin with nostalgic eyes.
"Have patience with him, Jhin."
"Patience?" Jhin's voice broke. "He just abandoned me! When I need him most, he abandons me!"
"Vhy... is still not okay," DM said. In those few words was a universe of untold history, of shared secrets and guarded pain.
Jhin was left speechless. His anger faded like smoke, replaced by sudden and confused concern. He looked at the closed door of Vhy's bedroom, then back at DM, his eyes searching for answers he knew he wouldn't get.
"What do you mean he's not okay?" he asked, his voice now small and scared.
DM placed a hand on his shoulder, a paternal and protective gesture. "Leave it. Don't press him. There are things... there are things Vhy needs to resolve on his own."
K-Sey and J-Min remained silent, feeling they were witnessing something private—something they didn't fully understand but respected.
"Vhy, besides you, were the only members of the NEONS to stay," Jhin said, looking him in the eye. "There is so much I don't know..."
DM looked at the black USB drive still plugged in, the source of all the chaos. Then he looked at Vhy's closed door, and finally, his eyes met Jhin's with new resolve.
"Tomorrow," DM said, his voice firm but gentle. "You and I will go."
Jhin looked at him, surprised. "You... you'd come with me?"
"Yes," DM replied without hesitation. "One always needs a big brother to look after them." There was affection in his voice, but also a firmness that brooked no argument. "But for now," DM continued, glancing toward Vhy's door, "I think we all need some rest."
Silence filled the room once more, but this time it was different. It wasn't the expectant silence from before, but something heavier, more final. On the screen, the frozen image of Suri picking up the envelope watched them like a reminder of everything that had gone wrong.
And somewhere in the building, behind a closed door...
"Why... why did you do it?" Vhy whispered, hugging a pink rabbit.