Scene 1

Establishing shot

Every attempt at questioning, even after they’d put the men in separate rooms, proved fruitless. Like a mantra the same sentence was repeated with six voices ranging from boredom to frustration; “I won’t say a word before Lee Sungjong gets here”.

“This situation is unacceptable.”

“It’s absurd is what it is!”

“Yet the only thing we can do seems to be following their orders...”

“Lee Sungjong doesn’t even exist officially anymore, that file is sealed. He is protected by law!”

“But it’s such a simple request. We can’t keep them here forever in hopes that they’ll give up.”

“Which, considering the level of arrogance back there, doesn’t seem likely.”

“This is the only lead we’ve got on the Chaser-case after two weeks. The press is already calling it the perfect crime. No hard evidence found at the scene, no eyewitnesses, all of the cameras blind. We don’t even know if it was a group or an individual behind it!”

“Which brings us to my next point; we don’t have any proof that any of them did it”

“You mean they’re protecting someone?”

“Or maybe they’re after the attention. You have to admit that it’s quite odd that they’d give themselves up after committing a crime they knew they couldn’t be convicted for.”

“Let me just interrupt you there” the chief of police cut in; “What is the only thing they asked for?”

“Lee Sungjong”

“Exactly. I think it’s safe to assume that he is what they’re after then, and that worries me. There must have been a reason why the boy’s file was sealed in the first place. For all we know the lot in the waiting room could be that very reason. I think it’s about time we contacted someone higher up” the chief said.

After a serious phone call, the chief didn't look any more satisfied. He shared the news with his subordinates accompanied by some serious frowning; “There is no need to contact the Organized Crime Unit about the case of Lee Sungjong. He was given a new identity because of a persistent stalker.”

“That sounds a bit exaggerated.”

“I don’t think we’re in the position to question the court’s decisions. Anyway, they never found out the stalker’s identity but Lee Sungjong was convinced that it was someone close to him. His friend’s were bought in for a psychological evaluation but none of them stood out.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have gotten the names of those friends?”

“Way ahead of you. Each and everyone of the men here appeared on the list; Lee Howon, Lee Sungyeol, Yang Dongwoo, Nam Woohyun, Kim Myungsoo and Kim Sunggyu.”

“Chief! The phone, you better pick up! They’re directing us to the officer responsible of Lee Sungjong’s rehabilitation.”

“That was quick” was all the chief could say before an angry woman started talking on the other end of the line. For a moment the chief was sure he had been directed to some deprived house-wives hotline.

“He’s been through horrible mental torment and you want to throw him back in? Because you think that the people who may or may not have anything to do with the Chaser-case, and amongst who is most probably the very reason the boy can’t see his relatives or friends anymore, might up and tell you everything once they’ve managed to extort you to handing over Lee Sungjong?” the woman ranted.

That’s about it… the chief thought, saying; “We can’t, of course, force the boy to come out here. But I ask you to look at this from our perspective; we have no other leads. This is it. I can promise the boy full police protection; he won’t come to harms way.”

“I can ask him” the female officer said in an icy tone.

“Thank— She hung up.”

Lee Sungjong arrived, accompanied by a stern looking female police officer, in the evening when the station was almost stranded. He was a tall and skinny kid, the chief noted. When he watched the boy speak to one of the officers, however, he could also see the quality that could drive someone to obsession. Even with his shoulders crouched and eyes fearfully rounded he was still unnervingly beautiful.

“What do you need me to do?” Sungjong asked after the chief had introduced himself.

“We don’t really know what their intention is, for now all they asked was to get you here. Come, we’ve prepared a line-up for you”

Sungjong seemed shaken up when he saw the line-up. The chief studied him curiously; his expression now was more akin to guilt than fear. “These are the guys you picked up?” he asked doubtfully.

“We didn’t pick them up. They confessed.”

“What? All of them? What do they need me for?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Ready?” the chief asked. Sungjong nodded uncertainly and a door was opened for him to step in.

“Ah, here he is! The star of the show” Woohyun said cheekily.

“Hey Sungjong!” Sungyeol bellowed with a wide grin.

“Been a long time, mate!” Hoya looked like he was about to dart across the room for a big hug.

“You could have at least given a call, hyung was worried!” Dongwoo said and au contra-ire to his words gave a smile that seemed to spread to every corner of his face.

“You look good” Sunggyu said seriously, earning an amused look from the rest.

Myungsoo nodded from the end of the line; “It’s good to see you”.

Sungjong’s head was buzzing. How was it that they of all people had ended in the same room? The pressure was almost too much to bear. At the same time it felt so incredibly wonderful to see so many familiar faces that all Sungjong could do was not to cry. Then he realized that tears were already on his cheeks and staying detached, objective, was suddenly impossible.

“Don’t “hey” me! What on earth is going on here? Could one of you explain ‘cause they’re telling me you robbed a bank! Dongwoo?” Sungjong asked the compassionate man who’d started to sniffle the moment that Sungjong’s eyes had dampened. It was Myungsoo who answered, however.

“We did this for you” he said plainly.

“Think of it as an early birthday present” Sungyeol said cheerily.

“Only s choding like you would think getting arrested could win my favor! Fine, whatever. Now you’ve seen me, tell them everything so we can get this farce over with.” Sungjong said.

Woohyun smirked happily, ever the sadomasochist; “Sharp as ever. We haven’t seen you for two years, is a smile too much to ask?”

The answer Woohyun got was not so much a smile as an annoyed twitch of muscles.

“Mr. Lee is right. We have fulfilled our part of the deal, it’s your turn to deliver now” the chief interrupted the not-so-merry get-together.

“Fine, here’s how it went—“ Woohyun began and the chief waved for the officer behind the mirror to start up the recorder. “I met Sungjong at a party and man, was I intrigued. I hardly need to explain what caught my eye, but I knew I had to have him. So I scooted over, we had a bit of a tumble and it was all going very well. Then I was stabbed.”

“Mr. Nam. This isn’t the story we were promised” the chief said.

”Maybe not, but it's the story you are going to hear.”

​

A/N I'll be travelling around southern India for the next few weeks, I'll continue this if I make it out of the jungles and beach-parties alive!