The lives of five different men take a dark turn when they're each approached by Choi San, the enigmatic owner of 'The Garden'. A twisted playground where free will is an illusion and desires of the flesh is encouraged.
"I want to go to the ball Lee...
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XVIII. Anguish • Park Seonghwa 6 months prior...
"I don't know what the fuck you want." The man cursed. He winced beneath the fresh bruises that mottled his pockmarked face. His clothes were absolutely disgusting, covered in a sheen of filth from the abandoned factory he'd been found hiding out in. Smears of dried blood covered the heels of his hands from sliding across asphalt and mud clung stubbornly to his pant legs from trying to escape through the woods near the highway.
The detective's eyes flickered up to the camera in the corner. A red light blinked back at him and his eyes fell back to the criminal. The man was growing increasingly agitated, shifting in his seat, hands continuously clenching and unclenching into fists. The detective's stoic presence seemed to be getting under his skin, an itch he couldn't quite scratch. Good.
The handcuffs scraped over the metal table as the man tried to run his hands through his greasy black hair. When he realized he couldn't reach he let his hands drop to the table; exasperated. "Whatever you think I'm going to say, whatever you think I know, well, you can forget it you fuckingprick— I'm not saying shit."
The detective leaned against the door, a styrofoam cup of black coffee in hand. It was scalding hot, at his request, not how he normally preferred it. His hair was an unkempt mess from continuously mussing it and his shirt was wrinkled from having slept on the station's couch the night before. It was obvious the last restful night of sleep he'd had was long ago. Not since this case ended up in his lap. Not since her body was found. Not for weeks.
He was silently observing, content to just let the man squirm uncomfortably under his gaze. Moments later the red light stopped blinking and the atmosphere shifted almost imperceptibly. He knew he only had a short window of time to get what he needed without the usual... legal constraints.
The AC unit turned on with a dull hum before blasting the room with cold air. Within minutes it would drop to sixty degrees, definitely uncomfortable for someone in damp clothes. The detective's shoulders relaxed and he stalked forward, fixing the man with a steely gaze. He dropped the photos he had had clutched in his hands on the table.
"Who is she?" His question was quiet, calculated.
Detective Park already knew the answer with painful clarity. One that threatened to rip his guts out through his throat along with the utterance of her name. The photos were all of the same breathtakingly beautiful woman. Lee Eun-hee had once had inky hair like the night sky and eyes that reflected the stars trapped within them. Seonghwa would forever cling to their sun drenched memories. Ones where they'd contained nothing but the warm radiance of love and promise of a life ahead of them.
