S E O U L  P O L I C E  D E P A R T M E N T

Present Day - 07.45 AM

     The rain drizzled lightly on that morning. The police department officers and employees rushed into the building with the expectation of what was about to happen that day. Anything was possible; a suicide, a homicide, a car accident. Nothing in their lives really surprised them anymore since they face the most gruesome of events every day in their lives since they decided to work with the force.

     Among the countless people filing in was a young man in his late twenties, donned in a black windbreaker that was wet from the drops of water as he zoomed past the cars with his motorcycle. He ran towards the threshold then stood by the side to keep clear of people's way, stowing away his key into his pocket. The sound of traffic and rain dozed away slowly as he closed the entrance door. Right at that moment, his cell phone vibrated, the name Choi Seunghyun was displayed when he checked the screen.

"Jiyong-ah, you just arrived right? I want you at the usual place once you're not too busy."

     He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

     "I really don't need this in the morning." He said to himself, taking a moment to decide whether or not he should really take his friend up on his request. "How the hell does he know I arrived anyway?"

     And just then, as if someone listened to his pleas, a police officer approached and halted in front of him. Jiyong blinked obliviously before the man spoke up "Detective, the chief wants you in her office immediately." He beamed, clearly having no will of seeing his best friend in the morning.

     "Well, our Seung Hyun can wait a minute or two can't we? The big lady awaits." He nodded at the officer, "Tell her I'll be on my way."

∞

     Can he be honest? The office that he entered was a mess to behold by his eyes. A smile casted on his face as his gaze landed upon the woman's figure, her head was resting on the desk. No one can see the surface of the desk anymore since it has been covered with paper. It was everywhere though, not just the desk; scattered on the floor, sticking out from an open cabinet. The office also reeks from the coffee that was the only thing standing neatly on the desk. Not many people are privileged to see the boss in such a situation. Outside of this room, she is more conscious about her appearance.

     Ever heard of a chief of police wearing high heels? Didn't think so.

     "Chief?" Jiyong poked her gently, getting no reaction from the lady. "Chief?" He tried once more, this time with a bit of force but she just grunted. "Chief, I thought you needed me immediately?"

     "Halt!" She hollered, her head still plastered to the desk. But her hand appeared from underneath the desk, pointing a gun at Jiyong who was already raising his hands. "Who goes therrrree?" Her sentence turned into a slur of words.

     "Damn." He said to himself, "She's had too much alcohol."

     "NO I DID NOT. JEONG JI HOON, I AM NOT DRINKING ALCOHOL!"

     "I'm not your husband, Madam." Jiyong smiled meekly, witnessing her stir awake and looking around for anything that could remind her of why she was in that room. "Good morning, chief." Realizing her hand was pointing a gun at the young man, she set the weapon down on the desk far enough for her not to reach.

     "Jiyong-ah, why are you here?" She pressed her fingers to her forehead, her head was throbbing wildly.

     "I thought you needed me?"

     "Oh right." She waved her hand, "Sit down."

     Jiyong did as he was told.

     "Oh God, Ji Hoon will be so mad at me." She mumbled, "Do you by any chance have got an aspirin with you?"

     "Nope." He smiled at her, rather amused at his boss' state.

     "Then wait a second." She opened a drawer and popped a white pill into , quickly grabbing the coffee and gulping down before the bitterness of the medicine could be tasted. After a few seconds, she turned back to Jiyong and cleared . "I actually needed you since last night."

     "Forgive me, I needed a well-earned rest last night." He reported.

     "That's okay, I know what you've been through. That last case must've been a to you."

     "Yeah, it kind of was. Plus, you know, Seunghyun..." He shrugged.

     "What a coincidence, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Hyori smiled at him, leaning on to the desk and propping her head on her hands, looking straight into Jiyong's eyes with a light of interest in her eyes.

     "What about Seung Hyun, Chief?" Her sentence has caught his attention, he leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.

     "He's not getting as enough rest as you do." She shook her head, "And you know how important it is for a forensic investigator such as him to have enough rest. The basic code of ethics for a forensic investigator such as him are..."

     "I know, chief, I know." Jiyong smiled to himself, feeling proud over the amount of knowledge that he had about most law-related occupations.

     "Well, he's been sleeping in the lab for a month now." She bit her lip and leaned back, looking down with worry. "I hear he's been showering with the prisoners, eating their left-overs and doing researches on evidences that dated ten years ago." Jiyong could only bite his lip and feel as worried as she was about his friend. "I know it's about Min Kyoung, he's been at it since I recruited him into the force. And at first, I thought it was okay—it meant he had ambition and that he understands what the real world is like." She sighed regretfully, "But this has to stop."

     Hearing that, Jiyong could only nod to express how he agreed with her.

     "He's getting desperate, chief." He shook his head, reminding himself of the things his best friend has been talking about recently. Reminiscing about his dead girlfriend never had any good effect on that man. "It's officially ten years since that case and yet, there's still no lead on who that masked man was and why he killed Min Kyoung." He leaned back and his chin, "If you want me to speak to him, I think I know what I should say to him."

     Hyori nodded and looked away for a second, landing her eyes on the array of cabinets on left side of the office. "But I have to admit, he is right." She stood up and approached the cabinets, "There is never a case that does not give us any leads. All we have is that baekjung mask, the bullet from Min Kyoung's autopsy and Seunghyun himself as witness, it's strange." She opened one cabinet and sorted through the files.

     "What I believe we need is another witness." Jiyong added. "Min Kyoung was supposed to be a witness. She knew why that man killed her. The whole chronology of the crime occurence cannot be complete without her story."

     "What we need is a miracle, Jiyong." The chief said, "I agree with you but if you say it like that, it's like saying that we need to bring her back from the dead." Jiyong hesitated for a second, then nodded. "Well, you are dismissed." Hyori smiled at him, "Please do him a favor, okay? Tell him to stop his behavior even if he insists."

     "Will do, chief." He stood up and headed for the door, dreading the prospect of having to commence a conversation with his friend right after this one.

     "Oh and, Detective?" He stopped in his tracks and turned back.

     "Yes, ma'am?"

     "I want you to be a mentor for a young man. He's a lot like you in your officer days, a detective wanna be." She winked at Jiyong and handed him a file.

     "Haha, very funny, chief." He smiled, sarcastically. Taking the file, the opened it to reveal the first page. The first thing that caught his eye was a headshot of a young man in a police uniform, he had a cheeky smile, a kind of smile that did not please Jiyong very much. The next thing he saw was the young man's name. "Lee Seungri? I think I've heard of that name before."

     "Oh, he's a legend among the ladies. You'll find him quite interesting." She chuckled, "Or at least, I do."

     "We'll just see about that now won't we?" He turned away and opened the door. As he walked through, the door creaked to a close and hid the office from sight. Jiyong looked at the face on the file once more and grinned in amusement. "Let's see what you can do, Seungri." And with that, he walked away from the door and towards the place where he'd find that nerd.

Hi there~ I hope you enjoyed this fairly short chapter! I'm sorry I haven't been posting and yet it's such a young fanfic too. School has a part in this. But here it is, finally! The second chapter of RE:INCARNATION, featuring the supporting characters. And I'm sure you now know who's going to be featured in the character files next~ please look forward to him!

Also, I want to share a very nice ambience music that you can listen to while you read RE:INCARNATION. Just click here (this one probably fits the prologue more as Seunghyun recounts what he saw). It is from my favorite but underrated DS game Hotel Dusk: Room 215. If you check out the other songs from this game, you'll feel what I feel when I think about this story. Maybe some time in the future I'll add a song player to each chapter to fit the mood :)

Anyways, thank you for reading!