Business Attraction

Chapter 19: History

Seoul's central police precinct was a hub of activity, but the small meeting room you and your team found yourselves in remained almost uncomfortably quiet.

Forty eight hours have passed since you'd received that mysterious text in the middle of the night, and an equal amount of time since anyone had last heard from Choa and Jeongyeon. The hope that perhaps their phones had run out of battery or some other reasonable explanation had long since died, and genuine concern that something serious had happened to them gripped what remained of your team.

Across the table Seolhyun is nervously fidgeting, scribbling angrily with a pen in her notebook or biting her fingernails. In the chair next to you Momo's elbows are on the table, her fingertips massaging her temples. You reach over and try, in vain, to ease her mind by massaging the tense muscles of her shoulders.

After what seems like a lifetime the door finally opens and Park Jihyo enters. She is accompanied by another male officer whose clothing and wealth of tattoos make him seem a little bit like he could be a criminal himself, were it not for the badge worn on a chain around his neck and the holstered pistol at his hip.

This is Detective Park Jaebeom, Organized Crime Unit," Jihyo says by way of introduction, as she stands by the head of the table and drops a tablet on it.

"Jay is fine," the officer says with a nod towards you and your team.

"Organized Crime?" Seolhyun asks, "so we're assuming something bad has happened to Choa and Jeongyeon?"

"Given recent events and the text message sent after their disappearance, yes, we are operating under that assumption. As missing persons cases are beyond my jurisdiction and the assumption is that Red Velvet has a hand in this, Jay here has been assigned the case. I'll continue to assist, but he will be lead investigator."

Next to you Momo has covered her mouth with her hands in a vain attempt to hide her shock. You had to admit the seriousness with which the police were handling this case, and in particular the involvement of someone who usually dealt with gangsters and mobsters, made you fear for Choa and Jeongyeon's safety.

"We'll be investigating all possibilities," Jay begins, "including the possibility that they were involved in an incident like a car accident or something else that doesn't necessarily involve foul play. We'll be contacting local hospitals to see if they've been admitted."

"It's fucking Red Velvet," Seolhyun snaps impatiently, who else could it be?"

"We need to investigate all the possibilities," Jay continues, "and Red Velvet will certainly be at the top of that list. Jihyo has given me a brief summary, but I'll need to speak to each of you individually to get the details. She also tells me you guys have combed through the data on their servers?"

"We made a copy of it, yes," you answer, "and we were in the midst of going through it trying to find something that might lead us to Irene, their leader."

"I know her well," Jay answers, a dark looks on his face. There was something in the way he reacted to her name that led you to believe there was history

between him and Red Velvet's leader.

This tablet has a full copy of everything of note that we found on their server," Jihyo says, picking up the iPad she had laid on the table, organized by every case Red Velvet has been involved in."

Jihyo hands the tablet to Jay, who scans the data. The female detective looks at him nervously, as though wondering whether or not she should say something

*...including the Sistar studio case," she adds.

At the mention of the name Jay pauses and sighs, an unreadable expression on his features. Whatever Sistar meant to him, it wasn't good.