Post-Sessions [Part 3]

Her steps were quick as she made it down the street. It all felt familiar, like muscle memory really, even if she had down it only a few times.

Her hands suddenly felt the metal rim of a glass door as she opened it, her eyes scanning the bakery in its entirety. Empty. Except for a small table on the corner of the shop. The people sitting there lifted their eyes and she swore fire replaced the blood in her veins in that very moment.

She made her way to them in what seemed like the blink of an eye. The detective and the officer started to stand up from their spot. Y/N stood right in front of Seonghwa, catching his tense stance and firm gaze.

"I think it's better if you sit down detective" She said. "I was looking for you"

His eyes seemed to widen ever so slightly before he forced them back to their normal size. The man sat back down slowly as his head hung low.

"And I was also looking for you" Y/N said turning to Jongho. "Especially when I was told you went missing"

This was much different from how she approached things. She usually waited for the tide to go down before stabbing the shark. She didn't really care at this point. Kill the goddamn thing right?

She pulled a chair from another table and sat down on it, making sure her posture was not as rigid or tense as she usually was under their eyes.

"As you know, I've been gone from this case for a while now" Y/N said, placing her hands on the table. "But something I heard really made my blood run cold"

She closed her eyes for a moment, imagining Irene talking with Mingi in the middle of the street. Something about, even if it felt off, it felt too genuine to let it slide, plus the nervous states she had the officers in seemed to confirm it.

"Officer Choi" She said, her voice turning clearer. "I heard you told San something. Something that led him to attack me"

She leaned a little forward towards him. He was not even looking at her, at this point he wore his fear on his sleeve.

"I wanna know what that was. Because at this point, you are pissing me off with your handy little secrets" She said, her voice seemingly lowering in pitch.

Jongho's biceps bulged up as he kept his gaze away from the woman. A lazy smirk appeared on her face as she turned to the Detective, who had his eyes on her every move. Good.

She drummed her fingers as she let out a hum.

"I honestly don't get why you told me your promise detective." She began. "Much less, allow me to know where it was all heading."

He seemed to debate his actions as he lost her movement. She lifted her fingers, snapping them in front of him.

"Nuh-uh" She said. "Eyes on me"

She met his gaze. Emotions of all sorts twirls inside his eyes. They were rather taken aback by her advances and even she was. But could anyone really blame her? She has been thrown into a lion's den multiple times, she's lost friends, she finally separated herself from her family, she has been threatened to die, all of this for a guy sitting in a cell for being a complete maniac. Yeah, looks like a legit reaction.

"Now, gentlemen, I would say I have no time to waste, but honestly, I could do this all day" She said, leaning back on her chair. "I'm all ears. I'll leave as soon as you guys give me what I want"

She turned to look at Seonghwa.

"And that means the entire story. From how you met San to now. I wanna know even your happiest moments because I wanna see if it all really went wrong" She said.

Y/N closed her mouth, her eyes bouncing between the rigid men. They shared a look, only to be disrupted by her snapping her fingers and hitting the table with her palm.

"Eyes. On. Me" She said. "This is not a three side discussion. I need something from both of you and I will get it. Unless you want me to go into that kitchen and pull out our dear friend from his job just to seat him right there and see how that goes"

Seonghwa's Adam apple bobbed.

"Why are you suddenly so scared?" She said. "You were the commanding presence when I met you for the first time. I was small. But why are the roles reversed? Let's start with that"

She said, knitting her eyebrows together.

Another minute of silence went by. She clicked her tongue, tilting her head to the side.

"You gave me the idea, now I'm doing just that" She said pushing herself up from her chair.

Suddenly, one of them caught her wrist.

"I met him first" Seonghwa said. "He had just arrived in town and we were in high school"

"Year?" She asked.

"Junior" He said. "Please sit down"

His eyes were glossy. She quirked an eyebrow before slowly going back to where she was.

"What happened after that?" She said.

"He was a year below" He said sighing. "Hongjoong was also with us at the time"

Y/N didn't even blink as she waited for him to keep going.

"After, graduating, the group expanded. Hongjoong met Lily, San met Irene, we all found each other, it was pretty great" He said. "That is until Lily showed her true colors"

"So she cheated on Hongjoong" Y/N said. "But not with San"

Seonghwa nodded. "We drifted apart by the rumor until a fight broke out. Irene and San had then broken up and Azalea came in. A girl we had no idea of, but she existed."

Y/N's head naturally shook softly. There it was. Finally, someone decided to say something rather true.

"Then the disappearances began to happen" He said. "Lily went missing and Hongjoong didn't move a muscle. I didn't find out until two weeks in when San came to me and asked me for help. I had just started my training as a cop so you can guess why"

"Lily was hidden in a freezer" Y/N said. "I know that much. Now fast forward, a little. The rest of the victims"

"I didn't know much, but I did give San a big enough space to keep them. I didn't stop him as every month he would come by and drop something off before leaving" Seonghwa said. "This was from January to December."

Y/N didn't move. She kinda knew this, but she was not about to jump on his words. She said she was all ears and she was not about to miss a single detail.

"Suddenly, the bodies began to show up. Many more than I thought would" Seonghwa said. "I was given the case by chance. I needed to prove myself. So I caught San, but I couldn't bring myself to see him die"

"So you helped him" She muttered.

"A circumstantial case at most with a pledge deal" He said.

"Good. He's locked up in a research facility. Now what?" She pressed on. Might as well use the momentum.

"I didn't know much. San handles his wits well" He said. "Until you arrived and I was given an SOS by him."

"So you came to make sure I didn't actually get anything." She said.

"Exactly" He said. "But I also couldn't leave my duty as a cop on the side. I still needed to help. I wanted to know what had happened, because I was not there the entire time."

"So this big promise" She said. "When did this happen?"

Seonghwa suddenly stopped. It seemed like he couldn't get the words out at all. As if this was acidic enough to burn him to pieces.

"After Irene appeared at our dorms covered in blood" Jongho said.

Y/N turned her head.

"I met them in my freshman year, especially Seonghwa. We were all living together except for him and San" He said. "I didn't really ever know much as I was buried under stress due to just coming into my training"

"When did you find out?" She asked.

"August" He said. "Because I helped him"

Y/N paused.

"Samantha Lee was an exchange student from our division" He kept going. "But she was what you would call a complete jackass"

To say her brain was running quickly didn't even qualify to her state.

"She forced people to leave. She sold illicit things. She slept with people only to point them as breaking code" He said, his gaze lost on the table. He was remembering, wasn't he?

"She came for you" She mumbled.

"And San had a bone to pick" He said. "He was already getting trailed as his ways of killing were getting repetitive"

"Is that why she is a Jane Doe? Why her face was almost ripped in half?" She said.

Jongho nodded weakly. "I then got dragged onto Seonghwa's division and now I'm here"

"But you couldn't let go of the rest of your friends" She added. "So you became a middle ground of sorts"

He didn't even move at her words.

"I noticed the moment I came in here asking for Mr. Choi and Yeosang just asked about you" she said. "You are the one to know what everyone did in this godforsaken case, so keep going"

"I went to San that day and told him about your family case, Maybe he could use it against you or sympathize with you. That's it" He said, his eyes filling with fear, as his body was ready for her to move.

"Irene came in after" She muttered. "So you guys are not working together"

Both men shared a glance. You were not asking a question and at this point, they knew it was bad.

"Mingi and Irene are doing something completely different aren't they?" She said. "All of you are covering for him, but they want something else."

She looked at Seonghwa who nodded.

"Another reason for me to believe that Yunho, Yeosang, and Hongjoong really just wanted out?" She said.

"They just tried again as they found out on accident" Seonghwa said.

"Hongjoong knows what happened to his ex. He knew because he was the first one San went to" She said. "He didn't move a muscle would be bullshit. You all love this kid"

"We don't know if it's true" Jongho said. "I may know what is happening but he never told me"

"Then he will tell me" She added. "The promise?"

"Keep him in check and up to date" Jongho said. "As well as safe."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I was the one that got him the deal in exchange for my military training." He said. "I wanted to be a soldier, but after becoming a cop like my parents asked, this thing happened. I managed to convince someone to get the pledge by staying here in the division"

Y/N suddenly swallowed.

"Thank you" She said, standing up.

"Are you planning on going to San?" Seonghwa asked.

She turned and held onto his stare.

"No. Not without a glass in between" She said, walking towards the counter.

"Then, I'll get that for you" He said. "Just go see him"

"Why?" She asked, "Why is it so important?"

"He needs a friend" Jongho said, looking back at her. "And we are nowhere near that since we sent him in"

Y/N turned around as her heart began to burn in her chest, In some way, they did want to help him, but at this point, she was not sure on how that was possible.

She suddenly caught Yeosang walking from one side of the kitchen to another, taking her out of her train of thought. The bakery was completely empty.

Y/N took the opportunity and opened the little door to reach the other side. The narrow hallway expanded into a small square outlined with metal. Her heart jumped as she spotted Yunho in there.

"You heard the conversation guys, I think you may need to open up a bit" She leaned her body against the side of the hallway. They either took the emergency exit, which luckily had an alarm or they were through her, which was not very smart.

Yeosang stopped moving. His eyes were also glossy.

"On one condition" Yunho interjected. "You go see San"

"I don't know much about you" She said. "And I can't go without a full case in my hands. Talk"

She turned to Yeosang.

"Now"

"I was forced to keep the secret. I was forced to not say a single word and to stay out of it" He said.

Her eyes jumped to Yunho, who was not even looking at her.

She suddenly hit the metal wall, taking their attention back with the loud sound

"Eyes up here boys. You can't keep lying to me" She said.

Yeosang swallowed, as his body began to fidget about.

"You knew about it all. You lied to me about it too." She said. "You want me to seemingly save your friend, then open your mouth and talk"

"He knew about it last" Yunho said, taking a step forward.

In the past, Y/N would have flinched. This guy was just as tall as Mingi. But she was over it at this point.

"He promised the same thing I did." He said. "We would keep anyone outside of this case in check"

"That explains why no one told San about Azalea's sister working across the street from you" She said looking at Yeosang.

He took a deep breath.

"I didn't want to be related to him in any way. After what he did, I refused to" He said.

"He killed your sister, I get it. In fact, why are you here at all?" She asked.

Her words had turned vile. She felt as if oil was running down her throat. She never expected herself to do any of this. But she was fed up. Someone needed to crack the egg open.

He suddenly came closer to her, but she caught his wrists. She stared right into his eyes.

"I can't show remorse, especially after the web of lies you all put me through." She looked at him. "I need an answer and I won't sugarcoat anything. This narrative is not an I want, you want. This is I need, you say"

She let go of his limbs harshly. He was frozen in place.

"If you won't give me an answer them fine, but that still puts fact against the wall" She said, looking up at Yunho. "How do you fit into this story?"

He sighed.

"Fuck it." He muttered, pulling out a piece of paper. "I was the one to lull a few of the girls to him."

"You helped him kill them?" She asked.

"Not really" He said, his shoulders tense, but, even if he was fidgety as well, he seemed to be telling the truth. "I didn't know what happened to them after"

She narrowed her eyes.

"You didn't stay in town either" She said. "Why?"

"I was keeping an eye on the twins' family" He said. "They were clueless at the fact their daughters were murdered"

Her gaze went back to Yeosang. She really was not completely sure of his word, but she could use it for now.

"I knew my sister was cheating on San and I kept it to myself" He suddenly said. "I found her right at my doorstep that Friday afternoon. I knew what had happened and I refused to listen to his excuse"

"You were the anonymous tip I never managed to find in files" She said.

Yeosang nodded. "I didn't know what else to do. Everyone else was just letting him be"

"And you saw your sister. It's a different league at that point" She said, lost in the image of her brother looking back at her.

She blinked herself out of it.

"Why were you not with them when I came in?" She asked.

"We heard their plan" Yunho said. "They were going to force Irene and Mingi to take you to San"

"I figured that much was ever going to be true" She muttered. "No, they were planning something else. They are the last people to open their mouths and tell me all of this. I'm fuming since a few hours ago, anyone would talk, but they are the police."

"They found out someone gave them away" Yeosang said, gaining a cautionary glance from Yunho.

"Eyes here blue boy" she said. "None of this is on record, so I can't use it. Plus, I asked for the truth and I was not leaving without it"

Her eyes fell on Yeosang once more.

"There is a research box of sorts that matches the set of reports for San. It's Seonghwa's" He said. "He got pointed at as a witness"

"I think I know what you are getting at" She interjected as he seemed to be losing momentum in his words. "Someone actually told the division he knows about San's case in a much more personal level"

She nodded. "Yeah, sounds accurate"

Both males seemed to take a step back.

"I have an idea of who said it" she said. "But that is for him to solve once I get everything"

She straightened up. "After all, you did keep me alive in the end and a small off tip doesn't hurt anybody. Especially when the damage is already done"

She bowed her head before turning on her heels and exiting the kitchen. The officers were up to their feet at that point, waiting for her most likely.

Y/N stopped right in front of Seonghwa.

"I have an idea on how to get the division off your back," she said. "You just need to keep your hands off this case and not tell anyone about this. And I mean, Hongjoong and Wooyoung batter talk or I will blame you"

He suddenly gripped her wrist. He lifted her hand and placed something in it.

"Locker room 721" He said. "You'll know once you see it"

He let go and she didn't waste any time moving.

The cold air hit her face, just as she noticed the weird arrangement of flowers across the street. Her heart dropped as she read it out. Ivanov.

"I guess the past bites differently" She breathed out.

In loving memory of Laura Ivanov, you will be missed.