Intertwined: Two fates

35 - Why her?!

Thick silence encased the interrogation room.

That's right. From the start to the end, Zhao Yunji's incident had been kept under a tight lid that not even the officers next door knew about the identity of the victim. Namjoon also had not said anything regarding Yunji's death to the man in front of him. He merely asked whether he knew her or not. So... how did Seo Won find out about it?

Behind the one-way mirror, the members of the Violent Crime Unit burst out into curses one after another.

"Fuck, don't tell me... is he actually another accomplice in the murder case?!"

"Not necessarily," another person interjected. "Remember, Dong-Wook has already stayed in Phoenix Ablaze for three days before we came to get him. It's not entirely impossible that he wasted himself and started to babble."

The officer's conjecture was soon proven right.

Inside the brightly lit room, Seo Won gave a nervous laugh. "Actually... almost every staff member in the VIP lounge knows this matter. Li Ming's lackey — what is his surname again? Dong? — he accidentally told the bartender when he was drunk one day. And then..." he shrugged. "Rumors spread fast. I immediately knew that this should be Li Ming's order. More importantly, the evidence she was talking about... has the police received them?"

Namjoon stared at the Beta's worried and nervous look, and did not answer.

A few minutes later, his earpiece gave a crackle and reports came in. "Capt, he is telling the truth. The bartender indeed heard Dong-Wook talk about it in a drunken slur. Then he secretly discussed it with the other staff members."

"That's right, 7 out of 10 people know it."

Only then did Namjoon hum and restrain the pressure on his gaze. "Don't worry. Miss Zhao's evidence has successfully gotten into our hands. Li Ming will not be able to escape anymore."

"Good... that's good..." Seo Won visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"After this incident, have you had any other contact with Miss Yunji?"

"No," Seo Won answered in a heartbeat. "There is only that one encounter. That's why I was so shocked when I heard the news of her sudden passing..." he showed a bitter and regretful smile.

Namjoon leaned forward, opened his notebook and clicked on the tip of his ballpoint. In his mind, Seo Won had been ruled out of the list of accomplices and became an important witness. "Now you're going to tell me the identity and characteristics of the minors Li Ming brought into the bar, as well as everything you know about them."

***

"What are you looking at?" Hoseok asked curiously when he discovered that Lisa had been fixing her razor-sharp gaze on Seo Won.

"Do you trust him?"

"Huh?"

Lisa turned to him and repeated her question, "Seo Won. Do you trust what he said?"

Hoseok tilted his head in confusion. He had also been listening to the interrogation together with Lisa, yet he did not spot anything amiss. "Is there something wrong with him?"

He scrutinized Seo Won closer, trying to see if he could discover anything. But then, his mind started to wander instead. "You know, he is actually quite good-looking now that I am taking a closer look at him."

Lisa gave him a deadpan look. "He's wearing make-up."

Once again, Hoseok only blinked in confusion.

However, Lisa was no longer interested in conversing with him. She returned her gaze to Seo Won and murmured under her breath. "It's so early in the morning. The bar has not opened yet. And he has already put on make-up?"