The Next Life (?? ?? ???)

The Return

My attention was stolen by a vibration on the table. Two vibrations, actually. I reached out to check my phone and I saw that Sooyoung had done the same. We'd received the same message at the same time, from the Red Velvet group chat.

Seulgi
Sooo I found a new case if you guys are down for it.

Sooyoung and I exchanged glances, and it was clear we were thinking the same thing. After all that had happened, Seulgi even saying a word in the group chat was a surprise.

Seulgi
It's nothing too crazy, just a dude possessed, reportedly.

Seulgi
It might be good, you know, for us to carry on. It's what she would've wanted.

Sooyoung
How sure are you that it's safe?

Seulgi
We can just be a little more careful. And we'll pull out the first sign that things are going south.

Joohyun
I was wrong the other day, I've told you. You don't have to do this.

Seulgi
It's not that. I want to do this.

"What do you think?" Sooyoung took her eyes off her phone and looked at me with concern.

I struggled for a bit to find the words. Mostly because my mind was still a little foggy. "As much as I hate to admit it, I think Seulgi could be right about it being what she would've wanted. You know how enthusiastic she always was about our investigations."

"But if something goes wrong again..."

"I know, I know..." I held my eyes shut. It was almost like I could see the events that led to her death again, as clear as day. "But... these cases were the whole reason you guys formed, right? Maybe it would help to return to some normalcy."

A smirk formed on her face. "Right, because demonic possessions and entities lurking in every corner of the city is our idea of normal."

We both shared a soft, yet relieving laugh. Probably the first time I genuinely felt humour in the past 3 weeks.

Sooyoung
I think we could try it out, see how everyone feels.

Y/N
Same.

Seulgi
Yerim?

Yerim
OK.

~~~

The evening was desolate, with nothing but our soft footsteps over the dry pavement and dying plant matter to fill the emptiness. I took a quick glance across the others' faces and saw that they were all lost in their own minds. My eyes met Yerim's as she looked up for a brief moment, before shooting her gaze back down the second she noticed. It then occurred to me that this was the first time I'd seen any of them, other than Sooyoung, since the night after the funeral almost 2 weeks ago.

It also dawned on me that Wendy was always the one to break the tension in the group, whenever it would arise. Whether it was with a cringe-worthy quip, an engaging question, or a simple remark to break the silence, the group seldom stayed this tense when she was around. Now, that was gone...

Almost as if reading my thoughts, Seulgi cleared her throat. "So, um, you guys remember Jungkook, right? Jeon Jungkook?"

"The petrol station manager, right?" Ildo chimed in.

"The one who called us for the Ras... the attack at the petrol station." Sooyoung changed her sentence halfway, avoiding the clearly sensitive subject matter.

"Right. He's gotten himself into trouble again. That's how I got this case, actually. Haven't had the stomach to trudge through the forums. No, Jungkook called me a couple of days ago, said there was something wrong with him."