Bad Things (Ryeji Au)

34

The camera turns off and the interviewer immediately stands up and leaves the room for a breather, as well as a majority of the crew.

Hearing Ryujin talk about her murders and her life as a murderer is overwhelming. It's disturbing how charming she is, too--during the interview, many of them forgot that the woman being interviewed is one of the deadliest serial killers in America.

Five minutes later, the crew returns with Yeji, who appears shaken and like she has been crying.

"You okay babe?" Ryujin frowns as she sees the disheveled state of her girlfriend. "You really don't need to do this. It's not too late to back out, I know it was hard to listen to some of that."

"No, no, it's okay," Yeji shakes her head vigorously. The crew pulls up another chair next to Ryujin's and seats the smaller girl in it.

As everyone gets back into their respective positions, Ryujin takes her girlfriend's hand and squeezes it to comfort her.

The camera starts rolling and the director signals the interviewer to begin speaking.

"Welcome back. Tonight, I am interviewing one of the deadliest serial killers in Korea. Her girlfriend, Hwang Yeji, who also happens to be the older sister of her final victim. Good afternoon, Yeji. Thank you for joining us today," he starts his monologue by addressing the camera, and then addresses Yeji at the end.

"Happy to be here to answer your questions," Yeji speaks and cringes a bit afterward. That sounded a bit like a news anchor response and it was terribly executed. She isn't as smooth as her girlfriend in front of the camera.

"Ryujin, will you briefly explain how you chose most of your victims and lured them to your house?" the interviewer turns to Ryujin.

"There wasn't much to it. I went to clubs and parties that were overcrowded and full of drunk people. Everyone was too focused on themselves or their drinks to worry about what I was doing with other people. It wasn't hard to get people to come back home with me...once again, I'm going to sound like a narcissist, but I know I'm attractive based on society's standards. I could flirt with both genders, dance with them, buy them a few drinks, and soon they'd be coming home with me under the pretense of hooking up. And then instead of fucking them, I killed them in my basement. Simple as that," Ryujin shrugs as if it is no big deal.

"Analyzing your victims, every victim except one was killed after they went home with you from the club. That one victim was Hwang Lucy. Why the sudden, sporadic change in pattern? Did you intend on shifting your targets to children, or was it a one time deal?" the interviewer asks.

Ryujin eyes Yeji and wishes that they wouldn't ask about this. Why did she even ask Yeji to do this with her? She should have figured that they would have inevitably asked uncomfortable questions like this.

Taking a deep breath and briefly squeezing Yeji's hand tighter for a moment, she answers, "It was... a crime of opportunity. I'm not an impulsive person so it was, admittedly, very out of character as well."

The interviewer sits in silence for a few seconds, waiting for Ryujin to continue. Most of her answers have been long and very elaborate.

This one is not. When it becomes clear that she has nothing more to say, he tries to prompt more out of her. "So nothing stuck out about her? There wasn't anything unique?"

"Nope," Ryujin wants to move onto the next topic and makes this known with her short answers and an impatient tap of the foot. Yeji's eyes are glued to the ground as she focuses on not crying.

"I can tell you don't want to speak about this subject, but I have one last question pertaining to Lucy. After her murder, you completely fell off the grid as a murderer. No further murders ensued. Why? Did you ever plan on continuing, or was she your final kill?"

"As I'm sure you're aware, the disappearance of Lucy was huge in the media. I was..engrossed..in the search for her. With that, on top of the fact that it would have been a poor move for me to continue my killings during the search, I had to lay low so I stopped," Ryujin says. She's careful to not say anything that would further upset Yeji.

The interviewer finally turns his attention to Yeji. "Yeji, Ryujin wasn't always your girlfriend. She was your therapist for a year. Tell us about that. What was she like? Would you have ever suspected that the woman who was helping you heal from your loss was the same woman who took your younger sister from you?"

Yeji breathes and unlatches her hand from Ryujin's. She closes her eyes, grounds herself, and prepares herself to answer.

Opening them, she sees the concerned face of the interviewer who must pity her and think of her as pathetic. "She was wonderful. She really helped me. It was a long journey but she was the best therapist I've ever had and I'm not saying that just because she's my girlfriend. And...no, I would not have suspected that she was the Seoul Butcher."

"Did you ever feel like something was off with her when your relationship evolved from therapist and client to a more intimate one?"

She initially shakes her head. For the most part, there was never any reason to believe that Ryujin carried the dark secret that she did.

She acted like a completely normal woman. There's a reason why she stayed off of the FBI's suspect list for the investigation. But then she remembers the incident of the break-in.

The smile on Ryujin's face when she was stabbing the intruder. "Actually...yeah, there was one time I thought something was a little weird. I never really thought too much about it until after the fact. It was when the intruder...Kai, I think? Yeah, him. It's when he broke into our house. She told me to hide and--too long of a story, um, it pretty much ended up with her stabbing him to death. She looked up at me in the middle of stabbing him and she was panting...blood all over her body and her face. There was this...wicked smile on her face. The smile faded and she started to cry but for a split second, I saw who she really was. But, like I said, I didn't realize it until later."

Ryujin watches Yeji during her whole answer, but Yeji maintains eye contact with the interviewer.

She feels her girlfriend's piercing stare from her green eyes. How could she not feel that powerful gaze?

"When you found the journal, how did you connect that with her being the Seoul Butcher? For all you knew, she could have just been tracking the murders of the Butcher," the interviewer refers back to the journal. In her head, Ryujin rolls her eyes, wishing they'd stop bringing up her damn journal.

"There was a key in it and my gut knew where the key led, so I tested it and I was right. The basement smelled like death.

There were bloodstains and weapons everywhere. Everything just connected and when I confronted her...she admitted to it," Yeji shudders at the memory of the fated day where everything changed.

"Ryujin, back to you: did you pursue Yeji because she was the sister of your final victim?" the interviewer addresses the wiskers.

"No," she answers faster than any of her other answers. "No. Absolutely not. From the moment she walked into my office I did know that she was Lucy's sister, yes. And I also knew that she was beautiful, and it wasn't because she was Lucy's sister. Our relationship didn't start until after she was no longer my client. We had a chance encounter in a bar, happened to find each other attractive, and wanted to give it a try. I fell in love with her because of who she is. I would have fallen in love with her if she had been a stranger. Her being Lucy's sister changes nothing."

"It changes absolutely nothing? You never once felt strange or wrong about the fact that you were dating your final victim's sister? You knew how much she grieved over the loss of Lucy. You even helped her through it. And yet, despite your 'love' for her, you still pursued her knowing that the truth would hurt her. Why? Were you ever self-aware that someone else would have been better for her?" the interviewer continued.

......