25. Fair Time

Shortly after Bonita hung up from her Facetime call with Minho, she got up and wrapped a bathrobe about herself before opening the door to see Bang Chan still standing there.

"Are you okay? I heard you yelling."

"Yes," she said. "I just had to talk some sense into my friend. He thinks he has a lead but was going to follow it alone."

"Well he's lucky to have someone like you watching out for him," said Bang Chan as he nodded his head at the stairs. "I didn't know if you wanted to go down and check to see if there was any food still. I see both Felix and I.N aren't in their rooms."

"They act like they are starving or something," said Bonita with a grin, nodding. "Just let me put some clothes on really quick."

It was then that Bang Chan seemed to realize for the first time that she was wrapped up in a bathrobe. His face flushed red as he nodded, letting Bonita close the door to get changed really quick. When she emerged, she followed Bang Chan down the stairs to the dining room where they had eaten last night to see that it was empty.

"Maybe they ran some sort of errand," said Bonita.

No sooner had she said that then Felix and I.N burst through the front door. Felix had some kind of flyer in his hand, waving it above his head like a flag as they entered the dining room.

"Good! You two are up! I need you to help me convince I.N that this is a good idea."

"What's this?" asked Bang Chan as Felix showed him the flyer.

"The fair is in town and I think we should go. It'd be a way to not only let off steam, but to spread rumors that you aren't actually dead. You know fairs are full of gossips."

"Are they now?" asked I.N with an eye roll as he crossed his arms.

Bang Chan studied the flyer in his hands for a moment as Bonita looked it over too. She could see the cartoon Ferris wheel and balloons surrounding the text advertising the dates of the fair.

"What do you think?" Felix asked as he looked at Bonita.

"That's up to you guys," said Bonita as she looked at Bang Chan. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I've only ever read of such things," he said. "Lets do it. Felix is right. This might be a good way to put my face back out there and attract the murderer."

"Yahhhh. I love hearing you say that I'm right. Chris rarely said that," said Felix as he moved to drape an arm about his shoulders. "Lets go have some fun!"

"What's this I hear about fun?" asked a woman's voice then, the four of them turning to watch as I.N's mother entered the room.

"We were going to go to the fair tonight for some time off," said I.N, not wanting to tell his mother the whole truth and worry her.

"I see...and are you sure that's safe given..."

Her voice trailed off as she looked towards Bang Chan, causing him to look away from her. The awkwardness from last night still lingered about like a ghost, haunting all of them with a past that used to be.

"I'm sure Mom. Trust me," said I.N. "We'll watch out for each other."

She nodded, watching as the four of them sat at the table to have some of the brunch that Bong Baek had just set out for them. She lingered near the doorway to observe them for a moment before disappearing down the hall to a nearby study.

- - -

Bang Chan grabbed the lid of his baseball cap to tug it down lower over his face as he stood alongside a food booth later that night with I.N. Their breath was starting to appear in the air as the temperature dropped. The four of them had been at the fair for the last few hours, spending the time in groups of two. I.N had stayed with Bang Chan while Felix had taken Bonita around. They all figured this would keep Bonita safer incase the murderer saw a picture of Bang Chan walking around. If Bonita's face wasn't near his in the pictures, she would remain safe.

However, the whole 'out of sight, out of mind' thing wasn't keeping Bang Chan's mind off Bonita. I.N turned to look at Bang Chan who was staring out into the darkness towards the fair rides nearby.

"She's okay, you know."

"Huh?"

I.N chuckled, rolling his eyes as he paid for their hot dogs, holding one out to Bang Chan to take.

"I'm definitely right about the whole feelings for her thing. I didn't know you had it this bad though."

Bang Chan blushed as he took the hot dog from I.N's hand, moving to follow him away from the food stand.

"She's safer with Felix than she would be with us right now," continued I.N before taking a bite of his hot dog.

"I know," said Bang Chan, still seeming distant as the two of them walked together.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked I.N, trying to break him out of his thoughts.

"You just did, but go ahead and ask another."

I.N smirked causing Bang Chan to mirror it before he cleared his throat and asked, "What happened the other day when you passed out? Was it because you were fading or something like Changbin is worried about?"

"No, it wasn't because of that," said Bang Chan, not even realizing that such a fear would have crossed I.N's mind when that happened. "I saw something when Chris' father touched me."

"Like what?"

"Like a past memory of Chris'."

I.N came to a pause in his walk then as he stared at Bang Chan like a wide-eyed child.

"What did you see?"

"I think I saw his mother getting killed," said Bang Chan, "but I couldn't make out enough to identify the killer."

"Well...it's a start I suppose," said I.N. "We will have to figure out how to replicate whatever it was that triggered it. If it was Chris' father touching you, maybe if he does it again, it'll happen again."

"Maybe, but I..."

Bang Chan's sentence died out as a high-pitched scream pierced the night. He turned his head towards the direction of the scream as panic surged through his system. Even though he hadn't ever heard her scream in fear before, he knew with a hundred percent certainty who the scream belonged to. It was Bonita.

"I'm sure the scream came from a ride or something..." said I.N seeing Bang Chan as concerned as a guard dog.

"That didn't sound like the scream of someone having a good time," said Bang Chan as the scream echoed out again.

This time he didn't wait for I.N to attempt to rationalize anything. Dropping his hot dog onto the ground, Bang Chan took off running towards the scream as fast as he could, making his way through any onlookers nearby. I.N stared after him for a moment before throwing his own hot dog away and chasing after him.

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