the naked face || bts

two

Ara heard the sounds of the reception door opening and closing and the men walking in, and before she even looked up, she could smell what they were. There were two of them. Both in their late twenties- one was short, with a sharp jawline and delicate full lips, while the other was much taller and bulky, his eyes brown and alert. The two men looked completely different and yet, as far as Ara was concerned, they could have been identical.

They were cops. That was what she had smelled. As they moved towards her desk she could feel the drops of perspiration begin to trickle down her armpits through the shield of anti perspirant. Frantically her mind darted over all the treacherous areas of vulnerability. Jihoon? Christ, he had kept out of trouble for over six months. Since that night in his apartment when he had asked her to marry him and had promised to quit the gang.

Sungho? He was overseas in the Air Force, and if anything had happened to her brother, they would not have sent these two to break the news. No, they were here to bust her. She was carrying grass in her purse, and some loudmouthed prick had rapped about it.

But why two of them? Ara tried to tell herself that they could not touch her. She was no longer some dumb hooker that they could push around. Not any more. She was the receptionist for one of the biggest psychoanalysts in the country. But as the two men moved towards her, Ara's panic increased. There was the feral memory of too many years of hiding in stinking, overcrowded tenement apartments while the Law broke down doors and hauled away a father, or a sister, or a cousin.

But nothing of the turmoil in her mind showed on her face. At first glance the two detectives saw only a young and nubile woman in a smartly tailored beige dress. Her voice was cool and impersonal. 'May I help you?' she asked.

Then Lt. Jeon Jungkook, the younger detective, spotted the spreading perspiration stain under the armpit of her dress. He automatically filed it away as an interesting piece of information for future use. The doctor's receptionist was up-tight. Jungkook pulled out a wallet with a worn badge pinned onto the cracked imitation leather. 'Lieutenant Jungkook, Nineteenth Precinct.' He indicated his partner. 'Detective Jimin. We're from the Homicide Division.'

Homicide? A muscle in Ara's arm twitched involuntarily. Jihoon! He had killed someone. He had broken his promise to her and gone back to the gang. He had pulled a robbery and had shot someone, or - was he shot? Dead? Is that what they had come to tell her? She felt the perspiration stain begin to widen. Ara suddenly became conscious of it. Jungkook was looking at her face, but she knew that he had noticed it.

'We'd like to see Dr. Min Yoongi,' said the older detective. His voice was gentle and polite, and went with his appearance. She noticed for the first time that he carried a small parcel wrapped in brown paper and held together with string.

It took an instant for his words to sink in. So it wasn't Jihoon. Or Sungho. Or the grass.

'I'm sorry,' she said, barely hiding her relief. 'Dr. Min is with a patient.' This will only take a few minutes,' Jungkook said. 'We want to ask him some questions.' He paused. 'We can either do it here, or at Police Headquarters.'

She looked at the two of them a moment, puzzled. What the hell could two Homicide detectives want with Dr. Min? Whatever the police might think, the doctor had not done anything wrong. She knew him too well. How long had it been? Four years. Four years since the cold but brilliant doctor had saved her from a lifetime of prostitution and despair. She would have done anything for him. She would have slept with him, killed for him... and now here were these two guys from the Homicide Squad wanting to see him.

Jungkook was getting impatient. 'How about it, miss?' he asked.

'I have orders never to disturb him when he's with a patient,' said Ara. She saw the expression that came into Jungkook's eyes. 'I'll ring him.' She picked up the phone and pressed the intercom buzzer. After thirty seconds of silence, Dr. Min's voice came over the phone. 'Yes?'

'There are two detectives here to see you, Doctor. They're from the Homicide Division.'

She listened for a change in his voice... nervousness... fear. There was nothing. 'They'll have to wait,' he said. He went off the line.

A surge of pride flared through her. Maybe they could panic her, but they could never get her doctor to lose his cool. She looked up defiantly. 'You heard him,' she said.

'How long will his patient be in there?' asked Jimin.

She glanced at the clock on the desk. 'Another twenty-five minutes. It's his last patient for the day.'

The two men exchanged a look.

'We'll wait.' sighed Jungkook.

They took chairs. Jungkook was studying her. 'You look familiar,' he said. She wasn't deceived. He was on a fishing expedition. 'You know what they say,' replied Ara. 'We all look alike.'

.

Exactly twenty-five minutes later, Ara heard the click of the side door that led from the doctor's private office directly to the corridor. A few minutes later, the door of the doctor's office opened and Dr. Min Yoongi stepped out. He hesitated as he saw Jungkook. 'We've met before,' he said. He could not remember where. 

Jungkook nodded impassively. 'Yeah... Lieutenant Jungkook.' He indicated Jimin. 'Detective Park Jimin.'

Yoongi and Jimin shook hands. 'Come in.'
  
The men walked into Yoongi's private office and the door closed. Ara looked after them, trying to piece it together. The big detective had seemed antagonistic towards Dr. Min. But maybe that was just his natural charm. Ara was sure of only one thing. Her dress would have to go to the cleaner's. .
Yoongi's office was furnished like a French country living-room. There was no working desk. Instead, comfortable easy chairs and end tables with authentic antique lamps were scattered about the room. At the far end of the office a private door led out to the corridor. On the floor was an exquisitely patterned area rug, and in a corner was a comfortable damask-covered contour couch. Jungkook noted that there were no diplomas on the walls. But he had checked before coming here. If Dr. Min had wanted to, he could have covered his walls with diplomas and certificates.

This is the first psychiatrist's office I've ever been in,' Jimin said, openly impressed. 'I wish my house looked like this.'

'It relaxes my patients,' Yoongi said easily. 'And by the way, I'm a psychoanalyst.'

'Sorry,' Jimin said. 'What's the difference?'

'About fifty dollars an hour,' Jungkook said. 'My partner doesn't get around much.' Partner. And Yoongi suddenly remembered. Jungkook's partner had been shot and killed and Jungkook had been wounded during the holdup of a liquor store three- or was it four? - years ago. A petty hoodlum named Amos Ziffren had been arrested for the crime. Ziffren's attorney had pleaded his client not guilty by reason of insanity. Yoongi had been called in as an expert for the defense and asked to examine Ziffren. He had found that he was hopelessly insane with advanced paresis. On Yoongi's testimony, Ziffren had escaped the death penalty and had been sent to a mental institution.

'I remember you now,' Yoongi said. 'The Ziffren case. You had three bullets in you;  your partner was killed.'

'And I remember you,' Jungkook said. 'You got the killer off.'

'What can I do for you?'

'We need some information, Doctor,' Jungkook said. He nodded to Jimin. Jimin began fumbling at the string on the package he carried.

'We'd like you to identify something for us,' Jungkook said. His voice was careful, giving nothing away. Jimin had the package open. He held up a yellow oilskin rain slicker. 'Have you ever seen this before?'

'It looks like mine,' Yoongi said in surprise.

'It is yours. At least your name is stenciled inside.'

'Where did you find it?'

'Where do you think we found it?'

The two men were no longer casual A subtle change had taken place in their faces. Yoongi studied Jungkook a moment, then picked up a cig from a rack on a long, low table and began to light it. 'I think you'd better tell me what this is all about,' he said quietly.

'It's about this raincoat, Dr. Min," said Jungkook. 'If it's yours, we want to know how it got out of your possession.'

'There's no mystery about it. It was drizzling when I came in this morning. My umbrella was broken, so I wore the yellow raincoat I keep it for fishing trips. One of my patients hadn't brought a raincoat. It was beginning to snow pretty heavily, so I let him borrow the slicker.' He stopped, suddenly worried. 'What's happened to him?'

'Happened to who?' Jungkook asked.

'My patient- Kim Taehyung.'

'Check,' Jimin said gently. 'You hit the bull's-eye. The reason Taehyung couldn't return the coat himself is that he's dead.'

Yoongi felt a small shock go through him. 'Dead?'

'Someone stuck a knife in his back,' Jungkook said.

Yoongi stared at him incredulously. Jungkook took the coat from Jimin and turned it around so that Yoongi could see the large, ugly slash in the material. The back of the coat was covered with dull, henna-colored stains. A feeling of nausea swept over Yoongi. 'Who would want to kill him?'
  
'We were hoping that you could tell us, Dr. Min,' said Jimin. 'Who'd know better than his psychoanalyst?'

Yoongi shook his head helplessly. 'When did it happen?'

Jungkook answered. 'Eleven o'clock this morning. About a block from your office. A few dozen people must have seen him fall, but they were busy going home to get ready to celebrate the birth of Christ, so they let him lie there bleeding to death in the snow.'

Yoongi squeezed the edge of the table, his knuckles white. 'What time was Taehyung here this morning?' asked Jimin.

'Ten o'clock.'

'How long do your sessions last. Doctor?'

'Fifty minutes.'

'Did he leave as soon as it was over?'

'Yes. I had another patient waiting.'

'Did Taehyung go out through the reception office?'

'No. My patients come in through the reception office and leave by that door.' He indicated the private door leading to the outside corridor. 'In that way they don't meet each other.'

Jungkook nodded. 'So Taehyung was killed within a few minutes of the time he left here. Why was he coming to see you?'

Yoongi hesitated. 'I'm sorry. I can't discuss a doctor-patient relationship.'

'Someone murdered him.' Jungkook said. 'You might be able to help us find his killer.'

Yoongi's cigarette had gone out. He took his time lighting it again.

'How long had he been coming to you?' This time it was Jimin. Police teamwork.
  
'Three years.' Yoongi said.

'What was his problem?'

Yoongi hesitated. He saw Taehyung as he had looked that morning; excited, smiling, eager to enjoy his new freedom. 'He was homosexual.'

'And?'

'Was a homosexual,' Yoongi said. 'Taehyung was converted. I told him this morning that he didn't have to see me any more. He was ready to move back in with his family. He has - had- a wife and two children.'

'A closeted gay with a family?' asked Jungkook. 'It happens often.'

'Maybe one of his playmates didn't want to cut him loose. They got in a fight. He lost his temper and slipped a knife in his boyfriend's back.'

Yoongi considered. 'It's possible,' he said thoughtfully, 'but I don't believe it.'
  
'Why not, Dr. Min?' asked Jimin.

'Because Taehyung hadn't had any romantic contacts in more than a year. I think it's much more likely that someone tried to mug him. Taehyung was the kind of man who would have put up a fight.'

'A brave married gay,' Jungkook said heavily. He took out a cig and lit it. 'There's only one thing wrong with the mugger theory. His wallet hadn't been touched. There were over a hundred dollars in it.' He watched Yoongi's reaction.

Jimin said, 'If we're looking for someone mentally ill, it might make it easier.'

'Not necessarily,' Yoongi objected He walked over to the window. 'Take a look at that crowd down there. One out of twenty is, has been, or will be in a mental hospital.'

'But if a man's crazy...?'

'He doesn't have to necessarily appear crazy,' Yoongi explained. 'For every obvious case of insanity there are at least ten cases undiagnosed.'

Jungkook was studying Yoongi with open interest. 'You know a lot about human nature, don't you. Doctor?'

'There's no such thing as human nature,' Yoongi said. 'Any more than there's such a thing as animal nature. Try to average out a rabbit and a tiger. Or a squirrel and an elephant.'

'How long you been practicing psychoanalysis?' asked Jungkook.

'Twelve years. Why?'

Jungkook shrugged. "You're a good-looking guy. I'll bet a lot of your patients fall in love with you, huh?'

Yoongi's eyes chilled. 'I don't understand the point of the question.'

'Oh, come on, Doc. Sure you do. We're both men of the world. A scared young gay walks in here and finds himself a handsome young doctor to tell his troubles to.' His tone grew confidential. 'Now do you mean to say that in three years on your couch Taehyung didn't get a little hard-on for you?'

Yoongi looked at him without expression. 'Is that your idea of being a man of the world, Lieutenant?'

Jungkook was unperturbed. 'It could have happened. And I'll tell you what else could have happened. You said you told Taehyung you didn't want to see him again. Maybe he didn't like that. He'd grown dependent on you in three years. The two of you had a fight.'

Yoongi's face darkened with anger. Jimin broke the tension. 'Can you think of anyone who had reason to hate him, Doctor? Or someone he might have hated?'

'If there were such a person,' Yoongi said, 'I would tell you. I think I knew everything there was to know about Taehyung. He was a happy man. He didn't hate anyone and I don't know of anyone who hated him.'

'Good for him. You must be one helluva doctor,' Jungkook said. 'We'll take his file along with us.'

'No.'

'We can get a court order.'

'Get it. There's nothing in that file that can help you.'

'Then what harm could it do if you gave it to us?' asked Jimin.

'It could hurt Taehyung's wife and children. You're on the wrong track. You'll find that Taehyung was killed by a stranger.'

'I don't believe it.' Jungkook snapped. Jimin rewrapped the raincoat and tied the string around the bundle. 'We'll get this back to you when we run some more tests on it.'

'Keep it,' Yoongi said. Jungkook opened the private door leading to the corridor.

"We'll be in touch with you, Doctor.' He walked out. Jimin nodded to Yoongi and followed Jungkook out.

Yoongi was still standing there, his mind churning, when Ara walked in. 'Is everything all right?' she asked hesitantly.

'Someone killed Taehyung.'

'Killed him?!'

'He was stabbed,' Yoongi said.

'Oh my God! But why?'

'The police don't know.'

'That's terrible!' She saw his eyes and the pain in them. 'Is there anything I can do, Doctor?'

'Would you close up the office, Ara? I'm going over to see Mrs. Haeun. I'd like to break the news to her myself.'

'Don't worry. Ill take care of everything,' said Ara.

'Thanks.' And Yoongi left. Thirty minutes later Ara had finished putting the files away and was locking her desk when the corridor door opened. It was after six o'clock and the building was closed. Ara looked up as the stranger smiled and moved towards her.