Jiyong’s handcuffed hands rested on the table as he shot the detective a stare. Yongguk was unnerved, however, so he pulled himself a seat and settled down leisurely in order to show Jiyong that he was not afraid of him anymore. Another detective waited with two of her subordinates outside the one way mirror. A tooled up cop stood not far from Jiyong, watching every of his movements in case he blew up and attacked.

The girl was in the room beside this one, they said she kept shivering while hugging herself in the corner of the room. No one was able to get in contact with her. She started to scream when one tried to comfort her so they let her be on her own as long as she was still under surveillance of a uniform.

Strange, Yongguk thought. He swore he’d seen the girl looked so calm in Jiyong’s arms.

Jiyong lifted his chin while gazing at the detective as if he was expecting the questions. Yongguk gave him a firm glance before setting the recorder on. The pen was being held firmly in his hand as he readied himself to write down his answers.

“You’ve been read your rights and you understand those, right?” Yongguk began the interrogation. Jiyong nodded.

“We need to know your whereabouts on the night of August fifteenth.”

Jiyong shrugged nonchalantly. “Dealing.”

“Where?” Yongguk emphasized the word.

“The alley beside a Chinese restaurant.”

Honesty. “What time did you do it?”

“After midnight. I don’t know, one or two?” Jiyong talked so naturally that common people would’ve believed he was innocent. Fortunately, Yongguk was out of the list.

“Where did you go after that?”

“Home.”

“Someone was murdered on the alley which is located just one building away from where you did the dealing.”

“Oh. Then?” he replied apathetically.

“This victim happened to have a bag of drugs candies in his pocket.”

“Bad boy,” Jiyong let out a sly snicker and Yongguk had to hold back the urge to punch him in the face. Recognizing the look on Yongguk’s eyes, he snapped. “And what? You’re linking his murder to me? Even though I’m a drug dealer doesn’t mean I sell drugs to him. I don’t even know him.” Jiyong moved his hands as he talked, making the handcuffs clunk to each other.

“Then who does?”

“I’m no Google, Mr. Officer. I can’t provide the answer you want.” Jiyong leaned back in his seat; his crooked smile was back to his face. Then what was that sorrowful look back at the railway?

“You can provide the information about the drugs. You’re an expert in it, aren’t you?” Yongguk said sarcastically.

Without giving the conversation an unnecessary pause, Jiyong replied briefly. His voice was calm and the smile tugging on his lips began to fade. “I don’t sell drugs candies.”

Yongguk nodded at him, beckoning for him to continue while he prepared himself to write the continuation.

“I only sell powders. It is up to the consumer to modify it to something else, I don’t care. I get the powders, I sell them, money in hand and it’s done.”

“What about the others? Does anyone of you sell drugs candies?”

“No idea. His peons are ing everywhere.” Jiyong shrugged nonchalantly and Yongguk sent him a glare. Jiyong must be up to no good. He knew something; Yongguk was doubtlessly sure about that.

“Who was the last person you sold the drugs to?”

“Nobody,” Jiyong shrugged. “Someone out of the stereotype.”

Yongguk almost furrowed his eyebrows at his last sentence but he managed to stay in his composure. He couldn’t show any emotion.

“I need names, Mr. Kwon.”

“And I’m not gonna sell my client out.”

“And I’ll keep pushing you until you spill everything out.”

“Try me.” There it was, the same mischievous crooked smile. Yongguk gritted his teeth to suppress his anger before returning his smile with a taut one.

“I’d really appreciate it if you’re willing to cooperate with us and give us some lead so we’ll leave you alone and never meddle in your business anymore. You give us the truth, we give you freedom. If you’re innocent, you will surely accept this offer.”

“Let me tell you three things, detective.” Jiyong shifted in his seat to sit upright. “First, I don’t need your appreciation.” Jiyong said while lifting his forefinger. “Second, I still won’t sell my client out.” He raised his middle finger. “And third, I have no problem with you meddling with my business. You’ll be the one tired of pushing me.” The man raised his ring finger as he said this. Yongguk then realized something was off with it. It wasn’t a complete finger, it was just a half. Like something had cut it into two. Well, he worked for the mob anyway, this finger-cutting thing was usual. Jiyong intertwined his fingers together; it was easy for Yongguk to examine all fingers in one moment.

Just then he noticed something off. He wore a wedding ring on his right ring finger. He got married? Well that was new information.

Jiyong seemed to notice the detective’s stare so he tried to hide the ring although his effort went in vain. His hands were cuffed, nothing much he could do about it.

“You have a wife?” Yongguk couldn’t help but ask yet Jiyong refused to answer.

“How’s your mom doing?”

The sudden change of topic caught him off guard. The muscles on Yongguk’s body tensed at the mention of his mother. Jiyong seemed to notice so he let a light mischievous laugh escaped his mouth. He had a triumphant look on and the crooked smile carved perfectly on his lips.

“We’re not here to talk about my mother,” Yongguk almost snapped, but he managed to calm down.

“She doing better now?”

“Mr. Kwon, do you realize your act will-”

“So what? They know I’m a criminal. But they don’t know that a detective like you had bought-”

“We’re done. You’re under arrest.” Yongguk said as clearly as he could while trying to calm down the angry bull inside him. Jiyong must have tricked him to lose his focus which he successfully did. This guy had brought him back to the past he tried to bury with all his might. Jiyong just cut his old wound open and poured salt into it. The monster he fought hard to defeat had made its appearance with bigger and scarier embodiment.

Yongguk ran a hand through his short black hair before gathering all his interrogation equipment. Jiyong gasped– almost too contrived –as he stared up at Yongguk.

“What? Why? For almost spilling out the truth?”

Yongguk couldn’t stand his cocky behavior anymore. He slammed his palm onto the metal table; the loud sound echoed in the closed space. He bent down and leveled his gaze at Jiyong who seemed happy with the change of his demeanor.

“For drugs dealing,” he spoke coldly.

“ no.” The other snapped, looking unsatisfied. “You arrest me won’t change anything. The drugs dealing will still be working and the murderer is still out there. I’m just a piece in a board game, alright? If I disappear, the player can buy another piece or replace it with something suitable. I’m not the guy you’re looking for.”

“You have anyone to verify that you’re really not the guy?” This shut Jiyong up.

Suddenly a shrill screaming was heard from next door. The uniforms stormed in and tried to calm the girl down but to no avail. She threw a chair at them and attempted to run away but got held tightly by the uniforms. They tried to bring her down but the strength she had was astonishing. It was as if somebody lent his strength to her.

The officer beside Jiyong tightened his grip on his gun. Yongguk stared down at Jiyong who stared back at him. Cold sweats dripping down his temple although the room was freezing cold.

“Let’s negotiate, Yongguk.” Jiyong said a bit loudly to make his voice hearable in the middle of the chaos.

“What?” Yongguk frowned. He, too, spoke a bit louder than usual.

“Let’s negotiate. I take care of the girl and you won’t throw me to jail.”

“What advantage does it have for me?” Yongguk disagreed. What kind of negotiation was that anyway? The only benefit was for Jiyong himself.

“I will be under your surveillance. This way, you can verify that I’m not the murderer.”

“That’ll be easier to be done in jail.”

Jiyong quickly spoke as soon as Yongguk finished his sentence. “No one can handle her other than me. Think of this as a punishment for me, too. Do you think handling a mentally ill girl would be that easy?”

Yongguk understood then. Jiyong despised prison. He would do anything just to stay away from prison. Another strange side of him. He wouldn’t put so much hatred toward prison if he hadn’t been in it at least once. He must have experienced a life in prison but why were there no criminal records about him? The paper only labeled him as a drug dealer, no prison records. Nothing.

“Prove it. If you can handle her now, I’ll agree with the negotiation.”

“All right.” Jiyong stood up and held his hands out to him. “Take my handcuffs off. She won’t calm down if she sees me as the bad guy.”

“Whatever.” Yongguk scoffed and unlocked the handcuffs. He then ushered Jiyong outside with the officer following from behind.

They got to the next room where a female detective folded her arms across her stomach in a protective way as three officers held the screaming girl. She kept struggling and screaming but never said any coherent words.

“Hey, it’s me,” Jiyong greeted the girl calmly. She didn’t seem to notice his presence because her screaming had not come to a halt.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Please, let go of her. She’s not dangerous. You’re not dangerous.” Slowly, he marched forward and touched her hand.  The girl flinched and her screaming got even louder than before. Jiyong held her hand firmly and gave it a light squeeze. He grabbed the other hand and locked it in his grip. The officers let go and was surprised that Jiyong could handle the girl alone.

“Breathe. Inhale slowly and exhale. You can do it. You’re not alone. I’m here. Come on, I’m helping you to breathe. Now slowly..” The girl did as told. She inhaled a shaky breath and exhaled it a bit eagerly. She tried again until her breathing became normal. Now that she calmed down, she looked just like any other normal teenagers. A normal, sleepless teenager.

“How do you feel? Better?” Jiyong asked softly. The girl nodded faintly. Then Jiyong flashed a smile, a genuine one. He looked much younger and vulnerable with that smile on.

What’s with his drastic change of attitude? Is he suffering from a personality disorder or something?

He swore to God the Jiyong he talked to minutes ago was not the same Jiyong in front of him now.

The girl sat on the chair while holding a cup of hot chocolate. Jiyong lent his jacket to cover her shivering fragile body. The precinct was now composed. People got back to their job and were too busy to care about the insane girl.

“What was that?” Yongguk asked Jiyong once they were left alone.

“Panic attack.”

“I mean you. You changed to a completely different person in a blink of an eye.”

“What do you expect? Me calming her down by using sarcasm and physical abuse? That’ll just make things worse.” Jiyong replied defenselessly while leaning his shoulder on the wall. Yongguk had to admit he was right but still…it was too…bizarre.

“You’re going to take her home?”

“Like I have other choices.”

“We have to install surveillance equipment in your house.”

“I know.” Jiyong glanced up at the taller man. “Do whatever you want.”

Yongguk nodded and rubbed his chin. Heaving an exhausted sigh, he glanced at his wristwatch. 3 AM, time had passed so quickly. He leaned on the wall behind him, holding the urge to shut his eyes closed.

Meanwhile, Jiyong stood next to him with one of his hands handcuffed to a metal bar of a cell behind him. His eyes caught a figure walking toward them with heavy steps. He was a man in white shirt, his tie was loose from his pulling earlier, and his sleeves were crumpled due to thoughtless roll-and-unroll activity.

Yongguk stood up straight immediately and bowed down forming an acute angle. The other man lowered his head in response and they both exchanged a faint nod.

“So, you’ll let this guy go?” Dujun, the man in white shirt, asked.

“No, Sir. He’s under our surveillance. We’ll install surveillance equipment in his place and in his car, also a tracker in his phone. Basically, he can’t get away from us.”

“What about the girl? She can’t talk, we can’t get any information from her.”

“She can, but she doesn’t want to,” Jiyong butted in. Dujun’s gaze met his.

 “How can she relax when you’re around? She knows you?”

Jiyong shook his head. “I don’t know her either.”

“As if I can trust that.”

“You can, because it’s the truth.” Jiyong said. “I had a…relative with this kind of panic attack so I know how to handle it.” The two exchanged a glance and Dujun heaved a sigh.

“Have you tried getting her prints?” Yongguk spoke.

“We tried the ones on the chair she threw earlier but nothing came up. It’s whether the system or somebody hacked to our system.” Dujun emphasized the word ‘or’.

“Hack?” Yongguk’s eyebrows met in astonishment. “What about the other data? Are they gone?”

Dujun seemed to hesitate for awhile before nodding his head slowly. His expression stiffened as he said this, “All the criminals’ data are gone.”

= =

The two-story house screamed gloomy without its lights on and the untrimmed shrubbery on the yard. The house which located in a housing complex looked normal from the outside after Jiyong turned the lights on; the shrubbery was an exception.

But when Yongguk stepped in, he couldn’t help but to feel the strong eerie ambiance coming from every corner of the room. The white walls were empty. No photographs, no paintings. It was as though the house was done yesterday, no one got the chance to hang any photographs yet.

Yongguk’s eyes followed Jiyong as he led the girl to her room. Judging by the white furniture and the soft pink walls, it seemed like the room was meant for a girl. Now that he remembered, he still hadn’t had the answer about Jiyong’s marriage. The house was definitely empty, no signs or wife or any family living with him. Then where was his family? Their disappearance was unexplainable, as if they got into a black hole.

And suddenly Yongguk remembered the words Dujun said earlier. Someone deleted all criminals’ data and they got no data about the girl. Could it be…the girl was a criminal too?

Yongguk seemed too lost in his thoughts; he didn’t realize Jiyong was talking to him.

“….to stay here all night?” His voice slowly faded in. Yongguk snapped back to reality and faced him.

“Yes?”

“Are you going to stay here all night?” he repeated with an annoyed tone. “Seriously, dude. With all this surveillance equipments or whatsoever I am pretty much sure I can’t run away. You don’t need to stay with me 24/7. I only have two bedrooms.”

“Sadly, Jiyong, I am asked to keep an eye on you 24/7 as for now. And don’t worry about bedroom, I can sleep on the couch.”

Jiyong shrugged tiredly and his heel. “Help yourself,” he said as he walked to his own bedroom and locked it from the inside.

Yongguk ended up didn’t sleep at all. He laid down on the surprisingly cozy couch after gulping down a can of beer. Thoughts swam on his mind, snapping him back to reality whenever he tried to sleep. First, it was the murder. Second, the drugs candies dealer. Third, the strange girl. And lastly, the hacker. One event followed by another with little gap of time. He couldn’t help but to feel something bad was going to happen. All these events were ruled by a mastermind, Yongguk had the kind of feeling.

Speaking about mastermind, he knew someone suitable for that role.

The mob, Lucas Han.

To be continued