“I’m sorry Mr. Chanyeol but you haven’t been speaking the truth.”

“W-what?”

“I said, you are lying,” Woohyun repeated coolly. He threw the two plastic bags onto the table for us to see. One of them held a cellphone, the other a wallet. Both were pretty worn out. I scowled as I glanced at Chanyeol - his expression had changed and it was easy to see that he was afraid.

“Can you recognize these two objects, Mr. Chanyeol?” Woohyun held up the cellphone and the wallet. “You should be able to, since they were found in your apartment. And, they also happen to belong to your alleged boyfriend, Kris.”

I was shocked. Chanyeol’s face was drained of color. He looked at me, with desperate plea in his eyes but there was nothing I could do for him. Here was proof that he had possessions of the victim – how had he come to possess them? How could he have an explanation for this without seriously implicating himself with the murder?

“I think you’ll appreciate how bad this looks for you. Your only way out is to say the truth. Kris had made his last call at 3.54 am so we can assume that he had his cellphone on him when he died. So how did it get transferred to your apartment?”

Chanyeol was biting his lower lips hard, drawing blood. His eyes looked sunken and as he brushed his fingers across his forehead, beads of sweat were wiped off.

“Chanyeol, there is still hope. If you speak the truth, then we can find the real murderer and you will be free to go.”

He looked up at me, his expression half-hopeful, half-distraught. Finally, he started speaking.

“I got into the cab, but then – it didn’t feel right. I guess the bulge in his jacket had registered at the back of my mind and I just knew something was off. So I told the cab to go back to where we were, but Kris was gone. I looked around for him – he was walking so he couldn’t have gone far. So the cab driver drove me around the neighborhood until I – I spotted someone wearing a jacket that looked like the one Kris had on. I paid and got down from the cab. But then I realized it wasn’t Kris, but someone wearing his jacket. And he – he was – he was looking down at Kris’ body and…”

It took him great effort but he knew he had to talk. His voice came out constricted.

“He ran away and I approached Kris’ body and it was so cold, stone cold,” he muttered, almost to himself now. “There was nothing I could do, I was so overwhelmed. So I took his cellphone, because I knew that whatever was bothering him was in that, and ran. I ran home – I just…”

“Did he have the gun on him?” Woohyun asked, leaning forward. It could very well be that Kris had been overpowered by Scream and his gun had been used to kill him.

Chanyeol shook his head, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.

“And the man wearing Kris’ jacket, how was he? Did you get a look at his face?”

“No. It was dark and I saw him from a distance. He was tall, well-built I’d say. But that’s all I can remember.”

“So why did you take his wallet?”

“There is – there’s a picture of us he keeps in it. I just couldn’t let it go…”

Extricating a glove from his pocket, Woohyun put it on and brought out the wallet from its bag. He opened it, revealing a photograph of a smiling Kris and Chanyeol with his arms around his waist. It was taken some time ago – Kris’ hair was platinum blonde and he looked healthier than the present. Had stress caused him to lose his weight, or was it dieting? We would never know. The man in the picture was just a memory now, and soon like the photo, he would become faded. How long would Chanyeol hold on to his memory?

“So you saw your boyfriend’s dead body, and instead of calling for help, you took his cell phone, wallet and ran?”

Chanyeol clutched at his hair.

“I just – it was all too much for me. I wasn’t thinking straight, I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.”

We had enough to arrest him but not nearly enough evidence to make a strong case against him. He made a few bad mistakes, but that didn’t mean he was the murderer. I was inclined to be on Chanyeol’s side, but Woohyun seemed determine to suspect him. I wondered if he would go as far as arrest him.

“Well you can go now, but stay in town. You might need to come in any time. And if I were you, the next time I’d speak the truth.”

Woohyun got up from his seat. With a nod and smile toward Chnayeol, I followed my partner. We went to the viewing room, where the Captain, Sungyeol and Hana were waiting for us.

“That was good,” the Captain said, more to Woohyun than me. “What do you think?”

“I don’t think he’s our murderer, but he knows more than he’s telling.”

I was relieved to hear than Woohyun didn’t think of Chanyeol as the murderer. I certainly didn’t.

“Do you think he knows who murdered Kris?” Hana asked, frowning.

“I think he at least saw the person. Whether he recognized him or not, I can’t tell.” Woohyun handed the two plastic bags to Hana. “Get tech to check Kris’ cellphone. The threats should be there. Find out what this is about.”

Hana accepted the bags and headed toward the door.

“So Kris was planning to give everything up – modeling and drugs both. It’s weird that no one at his agency knows.” Sungyeol mused out loud.

“You’re right,” Wooohyun said, glancing at him. “Either they don’t know or they’re not telling us.

Encouraged by that, Sungyeol proceeded. “Junho, of all people, should know. He was Kris’ manager.”

“Guys, Junho is here. Should I put him in the room?” Youngjae asked at the door.

“Speak of the devil,” Woohyun muttered, then turned to me. “Ready for another round?”

I was going to reply when the Captain said, “Take Sungyeol with you this time.” It was evident he was talking to Woohyun, who betrayed a look of surprise but did not argue. Sungyeol was trying to suppress a smile.

I turned to look at Howon, but he wasn’t looking my way. He had never interfered in how we handled the case before, and he knew Woohyun and I were partners. If he really didn’t want the pair of us interrogating, he could have taken us both out and assigned Hana and Sungyeol. But instead he stopped me from going in there. What did that mean?

Was he punishing me for some reason?

I could only think of one.

I was dating his only brother.

Trying not to feel too offended, I turned my eyes to the glass in front of me through which I could now see Junho sitting at the table, with Woohyun and Sungyeol opposite him. He looked nervous, not at all distressed like he had seemed the other day. His eyes flitted between Woohyun and Sungyeol anxiously, as if he was trying to measure who would be easier to convince.

Woohyun explained briefly why Junho had been called in again. His eyes became wider.

Coughing, he said, “I –umm, I didn’t want to talk about Kris’ personal life. Chanyeol was a mistake and he admitted it -”

“Junho-ssi, I’d appreciate the truth this time. Kris got engaged to Chanyeol, we have proof. He was planning on leaving the agency. So could you tell us what you discussed with him when he arrived early?” Woohyun’s voice was cold as he fixed Junho with a piercing glare. It had the desired effect. Junho looked shaken.

“Yes he was going to leave, that fool! Giving up his career like that, for a guy. Seriously…he told me to help him to terminate his contract. I denied of course. I was trying to convince him to stay. I tried everything, I tried being nice, sympathetic, angry – nothing worked, he was determined to leave.” Junho sounded bitter. His fist was clenched. He looked angry enough to have tried to harm Kris. Whether he had actually killed him was a still uncertain. I remembered that he had an alibi, but it wouldn’t be impossible to break with some digging.

“So that’s why you threatened him?” Sungyeol suddenly said.

I hadn’t expected him to come off so strong. Junho looked bewildered.

“What? I didn’t threaten him. The only thing I said was terminating his contract wouldn’t be easy; the company might even sue him. That wasn’t a threat, it’s true.”

“Junho-ssi,” Woohyun leaned forward. I could see his back only but I was familiar with his technique. His eyes were boring holes into Junho’s. It not only instilled fear but also made lying more difficult for the interviewee. “Did you know Junho was being threatened? Did you know anything about threat texts he might be getting on his phone?”

Junho shook his head vehemently.

“Of course not! Who told you that? The only one who would be threatening him was Chanyeol. He’s a gold digger. If you ask me, he’s the culprit. He probably didn’t like the fact that Kris was going to leave modeling. He wanted Kris because he was rich.”

Sungyeol scoffed.

“When Chanyeol fell in love with Kris, he was in rehab - a washed up model. Chanyeol could do better.”

Junho’s mouth moved soundlessly. Failing to come up with an argument, he crossed his arms.

“I didn’t kill Kris. I have an alibi, for God’s sake. Yes we had arguments here and there, but I was trying to look out for him.”

“Did you know Kris was dealing drugs again?” Sungyeol shot at him.

Junho laughed.

“That’s impossible! He was fully concentrated on his work, until that Chanyeol started pressuring him about their relationship.”

When Woohyun explained about the drugs that had been found in Kris’ apartment, Junho was genuinely shocked. He told them that he had no indication that Kris might be mixed up with his old drug gang again. He was distracted at times, he admitted, but he thought it was because he was been dogged by Chanyeol.

“There’s no way…he wouldn’t,” Junho affirmed.

After Junho had been sent away, we all gathered at the briefing room, minus the Captain. Hana was setting up something on the computer. Woohyun sat down beside me.

“Hey,” he said. I knew he was trying to bring up the fact that Howon had stopped me from going into the interrogation room with him. He was trying to check if I was upset.

Honestly, I didn’t know how I was feeling about it. It wasn’t a big deal, but then again, Howon had never done something like this to anyone. I couldn’t find a reason why he would do it, so I was confused. It couldn’t have anything to do with Sungjong, could it? Somehow, I didn’t see the Captain as petty, so it was absurd to think that he had done it because he hated me. He knew where to draw the line between professional and personal life.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I checked the caller ID – it was Sungjong. It was a little surprising - Sungjong didn’t usually call me during work, lest he disturbed me. If he was calling me now, when he knew I was at work, it could only mean that it was an emergency. Checking to see that Hana was still not done doing whatever she was trying to do on the computer, I answered the call.

“Hey, are you alright?” Sungjong’s voice was slightly breathless and he seemed to be in a hurry.

“Yeah, why?” I asked, chuckling.

“Oh, umm and how’s hyung?”

It took me a moment to realize that he was talking about Howon and not Sunggyu.

“Fine. Hey what’s going on?” I asked curiously. Sungjong didn’t usually call me up to speak about his brother.

“Nothing, he just called.”

I sensed an ‘and’ there so I prompted him.

“And?”

“Er, we had a row.”

“Okay, and?”

There was a pause.

“It was about you.”

“Oh.”

That explained Howon’s actions from earlier. Sungjong had probably tried defending me which had infuriated the Captain.

“I’m fine, okay. Don’t worry,” I reassured him. I didn’t want him to worry about the little cold-shouldering I received from the Captain. It wasn’t worse than what I was used to from my own brother.

“Alright, it’s up,” Hana called.

“I have to go now, see you later okay? Love you.”

I hung up. Woohyun had politely looked away when I received the call. He turned back to me and smiled. Returning the smile, I focused on the large screen in front of us.

It displayed what looked like an array of texts.

“The threat texts Kris had received,” Hana explained. “They were in Mandarin, but tech made translations.”

The texts were along the same line. The person who sent it intrigued me the most – Scream.

“Looks like if we find Scream, we find the murderer,” Youngjae said matter-of-factly.

“You can’t hide from your past -” Sungyeol read out from the screen. “Scream has to be someone from the drug gang, someone who knows about his past.”

Ignoring Sungyeol’s contribution, Woohyun said, “Yes Youngjae, we need to find Scream, we need to know who he is. Minji, have you had any luck with the files…”

“Those files are locked up. I have filed for a release order, but it might take time.” Minji shrugged.

“Is there no way to trace the texts?” I asked, even though I knew the answer to the question. Burner phones could not be traced. I was frustrated about the fact that we knew who had murdered Kris but we couldn’t identify him. It was worse than not knowing who the murderer was.

“You know what,” I said, struck by a sudden idea. “I will go and talk to Chanyeol at his place. Maybe he will open up to me about whoever he had seen that night. He might not be sure, but he probably has a hunch.”

Woohyun smiled at me, impressed. Even now, sometimes he treated me as a rookie he was training and he would produce a half-proud, half-fatherly smile every time I said or did something clever. It made me feel kind of nostalgic - I remembered the times when I used to follow him around like a lost puppy in the field of crime, and he’d protect me, teach me how to survive; something my brother had never bothered to do.

“I’ll see you later,” I told my partner, pushing my chair backward.

“See ya!”

A/N: Dedicated to Myungeunsoo who probabaly loves this story as much as I do.