Session 2

"I need a list of any person that may have even seen him," Y/N said as she walked down the hall. Mingi and Irene tried to keep up with the woman that took long strides towards the interrogation room. "That means if he went to our university, we are on that list."

Irene's eyes went wide as the taller boy held onto his laugh.

"Got it," Mingi said as the duo rounded a corner and disappeared into the white hallway.

Y/N paused at in front of the metal door as her heart sped up. Shaky breaths made their way out of her lips as the world around her seemed to shrink. Thoughts of confusion and desperation made their presence known as her worst fears personified.

She took a deep breath as she turned the handle softly, entering the room that seemed to suck the life out of her.

Staring into space seemed to relieve the tension in her chest as it all seemed to pass by. She was thoroughly scared as she looked at her own timeline of events. She didn't fear the fact that she may be right. She feared how she was going to find out, and with an hour on the clock, her stomach was already halfway up her throat.

The door opened and the policeman peeked his head inside, making sure there was someone sitting inside. She stood up and bowed her head.

The sound of chains hit her ears as the same man walked in. She had no idea why she felt like this, but then again, what was she expecting?

Mr. Choi sat down, his eyes staying on Y/N's features. Something had changed.

She cleared her throat.

"Good evening Mr. Choi," She said with a smile as she looked up.

"Good evening" His voice was steady. His posture was relaxed. His entire presence seemed bigger than ever. Why was it so different?

"Well, to begin, I would like to ask about your life before the events happened," She said. She had yet to where to stab. "Way before, maybe even your childhood if possible"

Mr. Choi tilted his head as he looked at her hands. He clicked his tongue.

"You managed yourself pretty well last time," He said finding her gaze. "I'm not that disappointed"

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head to the side. "How so?"

"You noticed," He said leaning forward.

Y/N's hand moved without her own orders. Her mind trying to piece together what he was saying.

"I always give the person sitting in that chair a chance," He said. "You won your own"

He shrugged. Y/N's insides seemed to boil at his power play. But she knew that maybe, just maybe, she really did find a crack in his plan. The piece that didn't fit.

"I already asked the question, Mr. Choi," She said as she took in air. "Could you tell me about your childhood?"

He paused and sat back. His eyes staring at the table for a moment before flicking up to her face. Every time he did that, she could feel the heat radiating from where his eyes were looking at.

"I spent a lot of time with my grandparents," He said. Right. He looked right. "Didn't do much out of the ordinary"

Y/N nodded, her hand writing down his words.

"But you..." He mumbled.

Y/N's gaze sparked up.

"You don't seem very on what ordinary looks like," He said.

His head was tilted ever so slightly as his eyes sparked with some kind of mischief or even expectation.

"Why so Mr. Choi?" She asked. Her insides turned as she genuinely didn't want to know.

"Maybe you were on your own." He said. "You just give off that vibe"

Y/N faked surprise as her anger rose up the back of her neck.

"Some of us do" She answered in a somewhat happy tone.

Mr. Choi's eyes narrowed for just a second. There it is.

"As of what you have told me, there was nothing strange during your childhood, what about high school? Any interests of sorts? Any likings? Even crushes?" She asked, her hand gesturing as the pen hung neatly between her fingers.

He shook his head. "None really"

She nodded with a low hum. From what she could see in her peripheral vision, Mr. Choi was much closer. Something froze in alarm as she kept writing. She cleared her throat before lifted her eyes.

"Did you get into college?" She asked. He nodded.

His body was relaxed. His demeanor seemed playful and friendly, almost open to answer anything. She had seen this before, hasn't she?

"Did you make any meaningful friends?" She asked. He blinked once a little too slowly. "I don't need any names, don't worry, just tell me their impact in you as a person"

He blinked slowly again. She gave him a close-mouthed smile as silence took hold of their surroundings. She swore her insides were bubbling out of how nervous she was during these things.

He suddenly coughed dryly.

"Sorry," He said in such an informal tone, Y/N was taken even more back than usual.

He ruffled his hair as he looked to the right.

"I had quite the group of friends," He said. "We were generally small and we had a lot of fun"

She hummed in response.

"They taught me everything and I mean everything I know about life, myself, dancing, and even dating," He said, his emotions displayed on his sleeve. Putting a quote around that one.

But he sounded excited almost proud of his friends. And it all seemed to click. She gave him a small smile.

"That's awesome," She said. She made a pressured pause and furrowed her eyebrows. She needed to look reluctant.

"Did-" She sighed, looking at the table. Her eyes flicked up a hint of doubt in them. "Did something happen that made you all grow apart?"

Mr. Choi sighed. But his entire body remained stoic. Same Game, same rules.

"Maybe," He said. "I had to live without them for a while"

Y/N nodded. "How long was that?"

"5 months" He answered a little too quickly.

She extended the silence as she wrote.

"We spoke with one of the victim's..." She looked up trying to find the words. "Close friend and he expressed that there may have been something going on between you two"

Mr. Choi tilted his head as his eyebrows knitted together.

"However, I can't tell if he was lying as he seemed really disconnected," She said. "So I was requested to ask you about it"

He began to bite the inside of his cheek. His eyes trembled for a second before he paused.

"I was just a close friend," He said. Too dry. And he was not trying to hide it. "He was probably jealous of how much time we spent together"

Y/N nodded.

"Any sign of abuse towards her?" She asked.

He shook his head. She lowered her eyes to write and something clicked out of place.

"But that scar right there looks interesting," He said.

A curse ran through her brain as she knew this was going to bite her back.

"Looks patchy," He said. "Maybe a key or even a nail"

Y/N took in a breath, but he didn't stop.

"Mother or father," He said. "Out of blind rage"

She waited until he was finished. He looked at her in the eyes and she smiled, not letting him see her eyes completely.

"My roommate accidentally clawed me one night," She said. "Never played video games in that room again."

She let out a breathy chuckle.

"So the key around your neck is not for your dorm," He said, not asking, more of repeating a fact. "It is something much more different"

She shook her head. "It's for the room"

She looked down and lifted her eyebrows. He paused on his deduction as she opened and closed her mouth.

"Ummm.."

Mr. Choi was placing all of his attention on her. This was not comfortable.

"How are you here?" She dared ask.

He didn't even flinch. "I killed 13 people"

He said it as if it was a fact that even a dumbass would know. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Let me rephrase that Mr. Choi," She said, shifting in her seat. "Without proof, without a proper confession, without much evidence pointing at you, said evidence that points to a real ex-convict in the area. How, Mr. Choi, have you remained in the system?"

Mr. Choi smirked. Y/N's stomach turned.

"There is one thing that does point at me," He said. "So big, I was charged"

Oh, fuck no.

"Every interaction I had with the victims made it seem like a serial killer was caught without many problems and the cops swallowed it without any hesitation." He said.

Well, that was much better than she expected.

"What about you?" She asked. "Do you want to be here?"

He smirked. "I obviously don't but..."

His eyes went dark. His gaze had turned hypnotizing. She was not winning this by a long shot.

"There is a thing about having someone wanting to crack you open. So much so, they turn you into a puppet. And I indulge in that game."

Y/N swallowed.

"I indulge in showing that I love to pull strings and see who cuts the right ones," He said looking at his hands. "No one has done it yet"

He shrugged and gave her a smirk as Y/N wanted to shrink in her seat.

"Why?" She asked. "Why is it such a problem to pull the confession out? What makes someone worthy of it?"

He chuckled. His voice seemed to rumble through his body as it pierced her own.

"I die in the end," He said. "I know that and I use it. I'm surviving"

Y/N looked down for a moment, her brain suddenly showing images of her father screaming and thrashing as the clock on the wall struck 3. The straps and metal gripping at his skin as her screams muffled in the memory. And then her older brother.

She closed her eyes.

"If someone is able to figure it out, I'm sentenced, but not hanged," He said. "So I leave it to them to charge me fully and honorably"

He points as the camera right above them.

Y/N nods before writing, her mood dragged down considerably. Mr. Choi frowns.

"It seems that you know how this dance goes," He said softly. "You know"

Y/N frowned as she looked up.

"You have seen it," He said in a much lighter tone that appropriate.

"Seen what exactly?" She asked as her body relaxed.

He came even closer, he was probably a few inches away.

"You've seen the executions more than once" He whispered. "And it gives me a great starting point"

He chuckled as the air hit her face. It smelled like mint and something sweet. He sat back down as Y/N felt the lump in her throat asphyxiate her. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"Have you seen them?" She asked. Oh, she could feel Dr. Song wanting to rip her apart at that moment.

Mr. Choi paused.

"Have you seen their faces as the electricity coursed through their body? The sheer realization that they are not going to live more than 30 seconds from the moment they sit down?" She leaned forward.

His eyes were wide as she looked predatory as if she enjoyed it.

"How every crime replays in your head as each victim makes the electricity much worse?" She stared at him right in the eye. "How every single memory of that person seems to seer into your skin? Even if you had never seen him or her in your life?"

He looked stunned. She waited for an answer.

His eyes turned dark.

"Have you seen someone's eyes go hollow?" He said, the same tone. He kept her gaze and he visibly liked what was happening. "Have you ever stared at someone as the life drains from their bodies? How their life flashes before their eyes? How sweet it is to see it go from pink to white? Or from smooth to dry? How addicting the smell right after it happens is?"

He was just as close as before. "How they realize what you had done?"

Y/N blinked as she went back slowly.

"I've seen it," She said.

Mr. Choi smirked. She had him right where she wanted him.

"But I never did it," She said. "That's the difference between you and me"

"And quite the difference it is," He said with the smirk plastered on his face.

"How was it to stare into Lily's eyes as she died?" She asked.

The room turned heavy. Mr. Choi chuckled.

"You're good," He said. "I didn't expect that"

Y/N tilted her head. "How was it, Mr. Choi?"

"Was it arousing? Was it like being high or drunk?" She asked, ready to face whatever came her way.

"It was like having an orgasm without the sex," He said, stringing her organs together as she knew she would have to vomit by the end of the session.

"Was it like that for everyone?" She asked.

"That Y/N, I can't tell yet," He said.

The informality began to bug at her. She really wanted to split his head open. She wrote down as the ideas flourished.

"Did any other relatives or close friends, of the victims of course, did you know of?" She asked, the inside of her chest feeling hollow.

"Some of them had brothers or sister. Most of them didn't really like their parents. And only one of them had a boyfriend" He said.

His eyes had opened wide. He looked like a normal teenager right at that moment. She would definitely be going to run to a bathroom after that.

She hummed, lifting the tension around her as best as she could.

"Any particular characteristics of your friends?" She asked.

He clicked his tongue. "Not quite there yet Y/N"

He smirked as the informality was now visibly knocking at her.

"What else is it that you want to tell me?" She said. She was growing angry and she knew it. Maybe a mental joke or two could calm her nerves.

"Huh," He said. "Tsk"

He shook his head.

"You should drop the formality with a patient, doctor," He said.

Y/N let out air as she came to realize. He was making a mental image of her.

"You're right" She was much happier and amused than she intended to, but it worked. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me, Mr. Choi?"

He straightened up.

"There is a tiny warning I should have given you last time," He said as a smirk formed on his face. "The outside is just as bad as in here Y/N. You may have to keep your mouth shut to certain people"

"Are those certain people Kim Hongjoong by any chance?" She said, feeling a little daring.

"Don't know" Mr. Choi said with a shrug.

"Because he felt nothing when he found Lily," She said casually, looking down at her wrist. "And I noticed how similar you guys are"

Mr. Choi tilted his head. "I never really liked him"

Y/N narrowed her eyes. "I see that"

Mr. Choi had let it slip, didn't he? And he knew it. Oh, how much was she going to enjoy ripping the boyfriend case to smithereens.

"Anything else you'd like to add Mr. Choi?" She asked.

"Yes," He said.

She looked at his right in the eyes as his gaze had turned sultry. Oh, no. Oh hell no.

"There is a way to really nail the point home," He said. "Dig the thing up the throat"

The guard knocked on the door as Y/N looked to the side a little too quickly. Mr. Choi held onto her jaw as he came close to her ear, keeping her face to the side.

"Right up the tongue" He whispered before letting her go.

She stood up and opened the door, the guard's face up in surprise. She bowed her head before running up the hall, and towards the restroom she knew she needed.

Her body rushed inside as she closed the door and locked it. Her organs seemed to be halfway up her throat and her heart hammered against her ribs.

She leaned over the toilet and spilled it all out. Tears ran down her cheeks out of the bottle of emotions that was shaken until it almost popped.

Heavy breaths made their way out her system as she finally stopped. A string of cursed came out her mouth as she tried to let it al out before going into that room and getting smacked for being so weak.

"Y/N?" Mingi knocked on the door. "Are you in there?"

Y/N swallowed, her throat already raw.

"Give me a minute," She said as she stood up and grabbed a paper towel.

"Irene has some water," He said, his voice laced with worried.

She grabbed her notepad from the floor and stared at it for a second.

"You motherfucker" She mumbled as she unlocked the door.