Minho frowned upon Jonghyun’s suggestion. He didn’t like the idea of digging into their teammate’s private business. Still, he had to wonder, what else didn’t he know about his teammate? What did he have to hide from them?

“What are we looking for?” Minho asked frowning as he pulled up a chair beside Jonghyun.

“Anything that might help us in this case, things we know Taemin won’t tell Key and Onew.” Jonghyun said, pulling up one of Taemin’s command prompts. “Let’s see, I know you have some background in computers, you can probably pull up some of the easy files right?”

“Yeah.” Minho said relenting as Jonghyun slid the keyboard over to him. Minho looked over Taemin’s simple programs and whistled. Taemin’s systems were a work of art. Minho may have been an amateur but his knowledge was enough for him to realize that Taemin’s encoding was absolutely impeccable. Minho types in a few keystrokes and tries to open up Taemin’s basic files.

“Here we have his birth certificate, degree, driver’s license…” Jonghyun said scanning over the listed documents quickly with his eyes.

“Here at the bottom there are a few files that are restricted.” Minho completed Jonghyun’s sentence and looked at him with a troubled expression.

“Do you think you can unseal them?” Jonghyun asked, puzzling over the mysterious documents.

“Yeah, I can try.” Minho replied as he typed in another few keystrokes and unlocked the files. He frowned, those files shouldn’t have opened that easily, especially not with Taemin’s level of security, but before he could say something, Jonghyun had already clicked into the files.

“Taemin… had a criminal record?” Jonghyun asked Minho in shock.

“No way, that’s impossible; I thought his minor infractions against the Bureau had been wiped already.” Minho said, equally disbelieving.

“Aggravated assault? Multiple charges on battery? Manslaughter?” Jonghyun read out, the pitch of his voice rising with each charge laid on Taemin.

“No, that can’t be it. You and I both know the excruciating background checks made before anyone is offered a job within the Bureau.” Minho said in denial. He couldn’t believe someone as innocent looking as Taemin could’ve been involved in such crimes. Then again, he was finding out more about his teammate in a day that he had in the time they’d worked together.

“Well, this makes sense that we never found out about it.” Jonghyun said as he clicked on the next document. It was a court order from the judge that had all of Taemin’s criminal record expunged on the basis of a very convincing letter from a psychologist.

“Taemin went to a psychologist?” Minho asked and Jonghyun shrugged.

“Can you copy down the name of the doctor and look up the address? I think we need to pay this doctor a visit.” Jonghyun said and Minho grabbed a pen and notepad, copying down the address carefully.

 

“Close your eyes and relax Taemin, we’re just going to try and trigger some memories and we need you describe everything in perfect detail.” Key said, grabbing a notebook and a sketchpad. Taemin closed his eyes, melding himself into the black leather sofa he was sitting on.

Key motioned for Onew to come over and sit down. He gave Onew a list of questions to be asked and settled himself into a chair across from Taemin to record his observations. Onew slipped into the interrogator’s chair and sat facing Taemin.

“Can you describe what happened?” Onew asked and Taemin focused in on the baritone’s calming voice. He let his mind wander back to that day.

“It was hot and sunny; my mother asked me to accompany her to the bank and promised me ice cream afterwards.” Taemin said, remembering back to the day.

“Can you describe the bank for me?” Onew prompted and Taemin exhaled slowly before answering.

“It was a Bank of Korea; there were large windows and a spinning door entrance. The whole room had a calm ambiance, the carpet was grey and there were potted plants hanging from one wall.” Taemin replied, picturing himself back in that room.

The light filtered gently into the room and his mother smiled softly at him. He couldn’t quite make out what she was saying but she was there one moment and gone the next.

“How did you feel?” Onew asked, and Taemin opened his eyes frowning.

“How is this going to help?” Taemin asked and Onew patted his shoulder.

“Just try alright?” Onew coaxed and Taemin sighed, closing his eyes again.

“I felt, a little bit tired since I had raced my mother to the bank, but the air conditioning felt nice on my sweaty forehead. I think… no, I was happy.” Taemin said, opening his eyes briefly to see Onew nod at him encouragingly.

Key watched Taemin’s strange behavior. What made this memory so terrifying that Taemin could barely conjure it?

“Just keep talking.” Onew said and Taemin took a deep breath.

“Two men covered in black walked into the bank, my mother walked towards me just as she finished making her withdrawal.” Taemin said, “They had guns and we trying to rob the bank.”

“Do you remember the faces of the men?” Onew asked and Taemin paused.

“No, they were wearing masks.” Taemin said, but he wasn’t so sure. After all, there had to have been a reason Jinon’s face struck him so clearly.

“Think again.” Onew said and suddenly the man’s face popped into Taemin’s mind.

“Yes, one of the men wasn’t wearing a mask. He took it off after he shot all the security cameras.” Taemin said, “He had a pointy chin, straight nose, a round face and calculating eyes. His hair was short, black and cropped.”

“Yep, got it.” Key said, sketching out a picture, frowning as he did so. This man reminded him of someone… he just couldn’t put a finger on it yet.

“Do you remember what happened next?” Onew asked.

“My mother, she…” Taemin trailed off, his voice shaking.

Bang! The gunshot fired.

“Why did you shoot her?”

“He was taking too long.”

“Why did you shoot her?” Was that a question directed at him by the bandits? No… it couldn’t have been.

“Shots were fired…” Taemin said, taking a deep breath, “And my mother was caught in the midst of it, trying to protect me.” He said. Taemin conveniently left out the details of himself holding the gun and the taunts made by Jinon.

Onew pursed his lips but didn’t push Taemin any further. “We’re done for today then.” Onew said, standing up.

“Great.” Taemin said letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Onew rested an arm on his shoulder, patting it sympathetically and Taemin let it rest there for a moment before casually slipping Onew’s hand off.

“That face…” Key whispered to himself and Taemin turned to him. “I think I know where I’ve seen this face before.” Key said.

“Where?” Onew asked, eyebrows knitting together in concern.

“You’re not going to like this.” Key said as he typed something into a laptop nearby bringing up a familiar list on the Bureau’s homepage.

“Kwon Jiyong. NIS’ Top 10 Most Wanted List.” Onew breathed as Taemin paled. The Yang Jinon he thought he knew was actually the infamous Kwon Jiyong? But then, why was he calling out to Taemin now?