| Poison | 🔞 |

Chapter 9

 For the next few hours, Hongjoong was held for questioning in a small, cold room as the authorities tried to figure out what the hell happened in penthouse 4. Hongjoong kept quiet for the longest time because he didn't know what to tell them. The truth would get him locked up without hesitation, and lying would only make the situation worse. All he could think about was Seonghwa, he wanted to know if he was okay, he NEEDED to know he was okay.

After spending the last hour in the room alone, a female walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. She walked over to the table that the red-haired male was sitting at, then took a seat across from him on the other side. She was a smaller female, maybe five-foot-two at most. Her black hair was tied back into a neat bun, naturally beautiful without any makeup upon her face, and dressed in a clean suit.

"Hongjoong, is it?" The female spoke softly, tilting her head as she looked at him. "I'm Detective Smin, I came to ask you a few questions. Is that alright?"

Hongjoong looked up from his lap slowly as he laid eyes on the detective. "I've already said I'm not speaking to anyone. Not until someone tells me how Seonghwa is."

The detective smiled a bit, folding her hands on the table. "So I've been told. But in order to understand what happened today, I need to know every step of the incident today. I know you're scared, no one is going to hurt you."

"I'm not afraid of anyone hurting me. I'm not telling you a damn thing." Hongjoong said firmly, his gaze falling to the floor as he fell silent once again.

Detective Smin sat back in her chair as she sighed out. She then put a finger to her ear where an earpiece was placed, beginning to mutter something.

"Cut the feed as we discussed." She said softly, then turned her attention back to Hongjoong.

The soft whir of the camera's shutting down caused Hongjoong to look up once again, a look of confusion on his face.

Why did she cut the cameras? Hongjoong thought to himself, squinting his eyes at the woman suspiciously.

"Let me be upfront with you now that everything is off the record. I'm not a detective, I don't even work for the police department. I have no jurisdiction here, but they don't know that." The woman said with a smile. "I've heard a lot about you, good things. My name is Hana Nims."

Hongjoong blinked with confusion then furrowed his brows slightly. "THE Hana Nims? The eldest daughter of the Nims operation?" Hongjoong suddenly realized something. "Detective Smin... I get it now... Smin is Nims backwards..."

"I see you understand then..." Hana said with a subtle shrug. "I need to find out what has happened to Seonghwa. As you probably know, he's a very beloved member of our family, and we need to hold someone accountable for what happened to him. YOU are the only one who's not dead, so I would greatly appreciate your cooperation."

"Member of your family? What do you mean he's a member? I didn't know outsiders could be apart of the family." Hongjoong seemed confused by what she was saying.

"You see... He's not an outsider, at least not to us. He's proven unbroken loyalty to us and proven that he's a wonderful addition to our operation. He's made more money for us and himself than anyone else we've had come through our front door. To my father, Seonghwa is the son he never had. Once my father passes away, Seonghwa will be appointed as head of the whole operation." Hana explained as he let out another sigh. "Please tell me everything that happened. If my father doesn't find out who did this, he'll automatically hold you accountable for everything, and you'll never walk on the streets again."

Hongjoong hesitated for a moment, still unsure if he should tell her everything or not. He figured she would probably be the only person who could help him out of this if he explained everything, and she would be able to get justice for Seonghwa.