【HaKen/VIXX】WHITE

CASE 38 - Scapegoats Part IV

The first generation.

Yoojae followed ChangIn everywhere as his personal assistant, and there was never a time where he'd question what his boss did. He's learned to respect the older man and his vision, seeing for himself how much the man cared about those around him and the society. ChangIn was a man with much ambition but it was always for the good. But that day, when he drove ChangIn to the middle of nowhere, he didn't think he'd be involved in something so big.

"Boss, where are we going?" Yoojae asked as he found himself driving further and further away from the city.

"You'll know when we get there," ChangIn told him. "Do you still remember the project I mentioned a while back?"

"Project... Yes, I remember you mentioned something like that before. You said that you've been working on it since you were in university or something, right?" Yoojae could barely remember since he never got the details to begin with.

"Yoojae-ah," ChangIn's tone seemed to change a little with a small pause after. "What do you think of our world?"

"Huh? Our world? What do you mean?" Yoojae was confused with the random question.

"Do you think it's beautiful?"

"Well, it's good enough, I guess. Depends on what you mean by beautiful," he told him honestly.

"I like that answer," ChangIn smiled a little. "I grew up in a good place with a good background. I didn't have to fight so hard for anything since I was young and things were given to me as long as I asked. I thought the world was perfect in my eyes, I thought my life was both extravagant and beautiful. I painted the world with pride in my mind."

Yoojae looked through his rear mirror and noticed the complicated expression on his boss's face. ChangIn's expression was slowly falling.

"But as I grew older, as I travelled around the world and met many people under different circumstances, I realized that it was only I, who lived in such a perfect world whereas for others, this world was like hell. They saw the world differently from me, and I was ignorant about reality. So, I started to look for an answer."

"Did you find it?" Yoojae was curious.

"No, not yet..."

"Does it have something to do with the project you're working on?"

"It's a part of it."

"I see..." Yoojae didn't know what else to say and simply continued to drive as the two fell into silence.

They could no longer see the city of Seoul behind them and eventually, Yoojae found himself driving several hours since the morning to the far East of South Korea. By late noon, he saw the ocean ahead of him, near the coastal city of Gangneung. After another hour, the car finally stopped and reached its destination.

However, Yoojae was confused why he spent such a long time driving from Seoul to find himself in the middle of nowhere, standing in front of the ocean and surrounded by containers, at a cargo dock.

"What is this place?" Yoojae asked ChangIn.

"Follow me," the old man took his cane out and walked ahead.

Yoojae didn't say more and quietly followed behind.

The entire trip was a mystery to Yoojae, with every step he moved forward, the more confused he became. He wasn't scared though for some reason and just found himself following instructions without question. Just as he was lost in his thoughts, ChangIn stood in front of the containers and took out a key.