Chapter Text
Junho had met some strange people in his years as a detective. Once they'd even brought in some guy who had broken into a construction site just to eat the bricks. The psychologist had taken two minutes before diagnosing the man with pica and taken him away before they could even consider pressing charges. Junho still doesn't know if he'd committed any crime, really. Maybe stealing and breaking and entering, but it didn't feel like a solid leg to stand on.
But, yes, Junho had met strange.
So when his co-workers brought in some man, business suit on and hands cuffed behind his back, and pushed him on to the chair at Junho's own desk, he hoped this man would be like his regular. He hoped this would have been a simple misunderstanding and they could give him a slap on the wrist and send him on his way.
Junho raised an eyebrow as he looked up at his co-worker.
"He was caught in Yangjae Citizen's Forest station physically assaulting someone."
Oh, so this wasn't going to be a simple misunderstanding.
The man in front of him rolled his eyes. "Officer, please, I think that's a stretch. Physically assaulting sounds too brutal. It was a couple of slaps."
With an exhausted sigh, Junho's co-worker gave him a nod before leaving the two.
"I promise, detective, it was consensual."
"Who would consent to that?"
"Me." The man in front of him leant forward, closer to Junho, with his smile widening. "I'd let you slap me whenever you want to, detective."
"Why were you at Yangjae Citizen's station in the first place?"
The man in front of him pouted slightly, leaning back into the chair. "Ah, detective, you're no fun. But I'll tell you the truth, only because I think you're cute." He winked. "I'm recruiting people."
"And that includes slapping people?"
"Well of course! How else would we know how far they'd go for some money?"
"Why do you need to know that?"
"I told you, I'm recruiting them. When you recruit people you need to know if they'd be a good fit."
"Recruiting them for what?"
The man in front of him grinned even wider. "You're lucky I think you're cute, detective, I wouldn't tell anyone else otherwise. Ah, that's probably why they recruited you, hm? You can make anyone confess their crimes just under your stare."
"Just answer the question."
"If my boss found out I was telling you this he'd skin me alive, so let's keep this between the two of us, yes?"
Junho sighed, eyes closing for a brief second of rest. This man was exhausting. For a moment, Junho wished he was having to deal with the brick eater because that was far easier.
"Sure. Just tell me."
"We recruit people to play games."
"Games?"
"Yes. This year they're playing some I'm excited for, like tug of war and marbles. Ah, detective, it's going to be so fun. You can come watch with me if you want. I'll let you come as my plus one, just as long as you don't let my boss know who you are."
"You recruit people just to play games? Let me guess, if they lose you physically hurt them? Just like how you recruited them?"
"You're close, detective! Maybe I underestimated you, maybe they did recruit you because you're so smart. I guess the good looks were just an added bonus."
"Close? Then what do you do if they lose?"
The man just grinned wider. "We kill them."
Junho sighed and leaned back. This was getting them nowhere at all.
"You don't believe me detective?" The man pouted, tilting his head slightly to the side as he met Junho's gaze again. "I promise I'm telling the truth."
"So you convince random people to play kids games with each other and if they lose they die? Why would anyone join?"
"For the cash prize of course! What, you think we're not kind people? They win big!"
"How much?"
"45.6 billion won."
"You want to tell me you manage to get 45.6 billion won just to give to someone who wins all the kids games you make them play?"
The man just smiled and nodded.
"Where do you get the money from?"
"Our investors."
"Who invests?"
"Some rich people from around the world. You know, like billionaires from Russia and America and stuff. They pay a lot to be able to watch these games."
"You're telling me that the richest people on this planet pay billions of won to watch random people from Korea play kids games?"
The man just nodded again, the same smile etched on his face.
"And if they lose you kill them?"
Another nod. Junho couldn't wait to finally go home. Perhaps they could call in the same psychologist they had for the brick eater and Junho can wash his hands of this man.
"Detective..." the man bent his body to look at the nameplate upon his desk. "Hwang. I'm telling the truth, promise. It hurts you think I'm lying. Why'd I lie to you?"
"Do you have any proof of this or do you want to have a word with our psychologist?"
"Psychologist? Detective Hwang that hurts me. I open my heart up to you, risk my job and life to tell you the truth and this is how you respond? It hurts."
After a moment of staring between the two, the man's pout spreads into a wide smile. "But... if you really want proof you can check my front pocket. I'd get it myself but my hands, you see, are unavailable."
For a second, Junho hesitated. This man was strange and unpredictable. Who's to say what could be in the breast pocket of his suit. But that ever-present smug grin on the man's face was enough to get Junho's arm moving forward towards the man's suit. The man's eyes never left Junho's, even when Junho redirected his gaze to where his hand slipped into the mans pocket. Grasping on to a small piece of card, Junho pulled his hand out and held the card in front of him. A business card, made of eco-friendly material. At least, if the man was telling the truth and they were murdering people for entertainment, at least they were being considerate of the environment. The side he was looking at had three shapes, a circle, triangle, and square. Flipping it over, in small print was a number. A mobile number, if the +82 at the start had anything to say.
Junho looked back up at the man. His grin had widened even further. "It's our business cards we give to potential contestants. This ones special though, just for you, detective. I put my personal number on it."
Before Junho could consider how to respond, the same co-worker from before arrived at his desk.
"Charges have been dropped. He's free to go," Junho's co-worker shared before gripping the man's shoulders and reaching down to undo the cuffs.
"Free? We caught him physically assaulting someone in public," Junho argued back, ignoring the way the man smiled wider at him as his cuffs were removed.
"Junho-ssi, it's nearly midnight. If we want to start pressing charges I'll be here till sunrise. Besides, as long as he promises not to do it again, we'll be good."
The man just grinned as he stared up at Junho, holding his free hands out in front of him. "Cross my heart."
With a small smile and nod, Junho's co-worker walked away, leaving just him and the man sitting in front of him, the same man who's eyes hadn't left his the entire time. After a few seconds of silence as they met each other's eyes, the man stood up.
"It was lovely meeting you detective. Please consider calling, I'd definitely make sure you have a good time."
Junho just looked at him.
With a nod, the man turned and walked out the door, and Junho could do nothing but pray he'd never have to see that man again.
--
It didn't take long before the nonsensical ramblings of the man they'd brought in that night to fall to the back of Junho's mind. The man hadn't been caught and brought back in, at least not to their station, and in the following few days, Junho was on the way to even forgetting the man and his weird killing games.
That was until later that afternoon, when Junho walked back into the station to hear yelling. That in itself wasn't unusual. What was unusual, however, was what the man was yelling about. About games, kids games at that, and people being murdered. If Junho had never met that man a few days ago, he would've rolled his eyes and walked away, but now it all felt real. Perhaps it was all just a ploy, something to convince Junho to call the number on the back of the card, the same card he, for reasons he couldn't begin to explain, left on the bedside table, unable to throw away. The more Junho thought of it, this man standing and yelling about these games with unkept hair and clothes that had seen better days, the more he was convinced it was just a ploy. Until he saw the card, the same card with the same shapes on the front. And still, it could be a ploy, it didn't prove anything, really, if he thought about it, but Junho couldn't ignore the feeling in his gut. The sheer urgency in the man's voice, in the way he held himself, the same card. Maybe Junho was going to fall into the so-called recruiters trap, but he wouldn't know until he tried.
So that evening, after hours of considering his options, he made a decision. Sitting on his bed, card in his hand, he dialed up the number. It rang once, and then twice, and then half-way through the third ring it connected.
"Detective, I was beginning to think you wouldn't call."
The man's voice was the same as it was that night they met, smug and unsettling.
"I want you to tell me more about these games."
"And here I was thinking you missed me. If it's worth anything, detective, I missed you. You know, I was really hurt you didn't call. I thought we were really beginning to build a real relationship."
"Stop playing. Tell me about the games, where are they played?"
"Ah, ah, ah, detective, not so quickly. I know I answered all of your questions back in the station, but I'm not going to be so easy anymore. If you want the information you're going to have to give me something in return."
Junho considered hanging up. The few days he spent without even thinking of this man made him forget just how insufferable he was.
"Fine," Junho relented. "What do you want?"
"It's simple really, detective. I think you'll love it as much as I do. Ah, you better, you'd break my heart if you didn't."
"What is it?"
"A date."
This was when Junho really considered hanging up, even holding his finger above the red end call button. But he didn't. Junho will forever blame that on his innate desire to know.
"What."
"You heard me. I want the full thing, too, so don't get any cheap ideas. I want romance, detective. Whether that's a picnic on the Han river or a three course meal at an expensive restaurant that has a candle on the table, I don't care, but if you want answers that's what I want in return."
With a heavy sigh, Junho bit out a quick "fine".
"Wah, detective I'm so excited. You have me kicking my feet and blushing." It pissed Junho off that he could hear that smug smile on his face through the phone. "I'll see you at 6 tomorrow night outside your house. Dress nice."
"My house? How do you know where I live-" and the line went dead.
Throwing the phone to the side and the business card back on the bedside table, Junho sat. He had done many things in his career of being a detective that this won't come close to being top 10 worst things he's ever had to do. It would be fine, Junho could manage.
--
When the clock turned 6, Junho had this feeling that actually, maybe, it wouldn't be fine. Not because he was nervous, no, Hwang Junho doesn't get nervous. He's done plenty of things the past however many years he's worked as a detective and he did them without so much of a sweat. Even being in active gun fire, Junho didn't have even a slither of anxiety. And this situation was no different. Junho wasn't nervous, but he'd rather not have to do this. Not because of the content, going out to dinner isn't exactly Junho's idea of a fun day out, but it's not awful. No, the issue was who he was having to have dinner with. The idea of spending over 10 minutes with the man sounded like hell, let alone what was probably going to be hours. That alone was enough for Junho to consider not going through with this and just forgetting the whole situation. But he couldn't because Hwang Junho had to know things. He had to know if there was truth to what the recruiter and the man at the station were saying.
So, with that in mind, Junho opened his front door and walked out. And just a few steps away was the man in the business suit and the same smug grin on his face. Junho almost turned around and walked away as soon as he saw him.
"Getting dressed up just for me? Wow, you must really care about the date."
The man was already insufferable and it had only been five seconds.
"You told me to."
"You do everything I tell you to? Detective, if you're not careful I'll call off what you have planned and drag you to my house."
He was more than insufferable.
"Are we going or not?"
"That excited? You're so cute, detective."
Junho stared for a moment before he turned away and began walking down the street. It didn't take long before the man had caught up and latched on, grabbing Junho's arm as he pulled himself close.
"Get off," Junho complained, frown pulling at his brows.
"We're on a date. Can't I be affectionate with my date?"
"No."
"You're so cruel to me, detective. It makes me feel like you don't really want to be on a date with me and that makes me not want to share any information with you."
Somewhere in Junho's life, he must've done something evil, something very unjust to be forced to go through something like this. Perhaps someone he'd arrested who hated him had put a curse on him.
"Fine," Junho relented and allowed himself to walk down the street with this man latched onto his arm. They looked like a high school couple going out and it made Junho hate this situation even more.
The night before, Junho had, begrudgingly, made a reservation for a restaurant nearby, and he knew it would pass the recruiters standards because Inho had taken all his previous girlfriends to the same place when he was in high school, and they'd all come back for a second date. He'd checked it over the night before, pausing half way through to reconsider his life choices, but it looked good enough. Cheap enough too, and if Junho could assume anything about the recruiter, he knows he'll be paying for the both of them.
When they arrive, Junho can't help but cringe. It is romantic and Junho hates to be here with this man. The lighting was dimmed and, unfortunately, to the recruiters appart glee, there was a candle on each table. A handful of the tables were full of other couples and it started making Junho feel sick.
"Ah detective, this place is so romantic. You really did a great job."
"Good. Now talk."
The man opposite him pouted, dropping the menu back onto the table. "That's cruel. You take me out to a really nice fancy restaurant for a date and you don't even want to get to know me? Detective, you're mean."
"What do you want me to say?"
"Well... what's your favourite colour?"
"I don't have one."
"Boring," the man whined. "Mine's pink."
"Okay."
"You're so bad at this, you could at least try. It's like you've never been on a date before," the recruiter complained, pout back on his face as he stared back down at the menu. A few seconds of silence passed between the two of them before he looked back up, watching the crease in Junho's brow as he stared down at the menu. "Wait... don't tell me you've never-"
"Shut up."
"You're so cute, detective. You make me want to rip my teeth out. Don't worry, I think that makes this even better," the man grinned wider. "Wah, I can't believe I'm your first. Let's make sure I'm the last too, hm?"
Junho couldn't decide if that was a threat or not. There was part of Junho that hoped it was.
After ordering, the two sat in silence and waited. Eyes never leaving the other, as though they were eyeing the other up like a predator, and Junho wasn't sure who was the prey. Even when the waiter brought their food and laid it in front of them, their eyes still narrowed in on the other.
"You know, for someone who works with the general public, you are terrible at being social."
Junho began to eat, hiding a roll of his eyes.
"I know you haven't been on a date before but you're really not trying. Can't you use something you've watched in a romance movie or something?"
"I don't watch romance movies."
"Let me guess, it's all action movies with crazy CGI. Am I right, detective?"
"I don't watch movies."
The recruiter threw his arms slightly up in the air as he slumped back in his chair. "You're so boring detective! Do you not do anything else but work?"
"Do you?"
"Ah, I know what you're doing. You want me to talk about my job," the recruiter began. "You know, you really haven't earned the information but you're so cute being this uncomfortable on a date, I'll be generous. Just this once, though, don't think I'll be this nice on our next date."
Junho bit his tongue so as to not argue back. That alone was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do in his career.
"Problem is, I've already told you my job. I recruit people. My job’s finished for the year now the games have started, so I'm free whenever you want me."
Leaning forward only made the recruiters smile widen, but Junho didn't move back. "They've already started?"
The recruiter nodded.
"How many games do they play?"
"Six in total. They've already finished the first two. Ah, detective, if only you called sooner, we could've watched the second game together. It was really good, I was on the edge of my seat for most of it! But don't worry, the third game is on tomorrow afternoon, maybe if this date goes well I'll let you watch it with me."
And Junho couldn't decide if that was something he even wanted. Part of him still didn't believe the recruiter, and part of him was desperate to see if there was any proof. On the other hand, if it was true, if everything the recruiter and the man in the station said was actually real, Junho would be far out of his depths. And, the real problem of it all, was that he'd have to put up with this man for even longer.
After a few seconds of silence passed between them, the recruiter spoke up again. "I do wonder, though, why you want to know so much. You see, this is my job, and of course now we're dating you should know about it, it is my life after all, and you shouldn't build a relationship on lies. I wouldn't want to ruin what we have, but my job comes first."
"And so does my job."
"And what is your job exactly, detective?"
"We met at my job, you know exactly what it is. I stop crime, and that includes any illegal underground murder games."
"And that includes me, right? I'm hurt, detective. Here we are sitting at a nice romantic restaurant having dinner and you've been planning my demise the whole time? You are cruel."
"You find people who have nothing else for them and take them into murder and die for the pleasure of these rich billionaires. You sell these people to the slaughter."
"And you don't?"
Junho frowned, shaking his head as he stared at the man in front of him. "Of course not. I take down people who've committed these crimes-"
"You take down the people that commit an act against the law regardless of how unjust that law may be and let the court handle how harsh their punishment is. I find people down on their luck, offer them another chance, and let them and the others who decide to play the games handle how they're ending goes. If anything, what I do is more moral than you."
"They commit a crime, you can't just do anything and get away with it."
"No, but answer me this, if the president decided tomorrow to round up all the people with... let's say a name beginning with "G" to be imprisoned, it's your job to do it, isn't it? Regardless of how just the law is, regardless of what they're punishment is, you would do it, because that's your job."
"You're talking hypotheticals. That doesn't happen."
"Doesn't it? Yet you round up anyone who smokes a bit of weed and send them to prison for years. Maybe you think that's a serious crime, maybe you believe it's worthy of that sentence. But you ruin peoples lives, for what? Because you were told to. You'd round up protestors that got a little too aggressive and send them off for a life-damaging sentence. Because you were told to. You uphold what the rich elite want to be upheld. You sell people to the slaughter."
"You work with people you know are going to kill innocent people. You let them murder people."
"And you don't? Tell me, detective, have any of your co-workers been fired or suspended for unlawful actions? You really think your co-workers are good, law-abiding officers?"
Junho kept silent, frown on his face and grip tightening where it was placed on the edge of the table.
"It's cute you think we're so different. I uphold the rules provided by my boss. I find the people that my boss wants me to find and take them in to experience what my boss wants them to. So do you. We're both just as evil, and there's good, innocent people out there whose lives we've both destroyed."
"Those people knew what their punishment was going to be before they even committed the crime."
"So do the people I recruit. They know what they're getting into when they take up the offer."
It was silent between them. Junho went off his food completely, nausea burning faintly in his stomach. What the recruiter said made sense and it felt like betraying everything about Junho's entire life to even admit that.
“Ah, how foolish we are. Number one rule of a first date is to never talk about politics. Let’s talk about something else. Hmm… What's your favourite dessert? Mine is probably bingsu. You know it never used to be but I went to this one place out in Seongsu and they had this matcha bingsu, and usually I’m not the biggest fan of matcha either, but that day I decided to change things up and I think it was a really great decision. Sometimes going out of your comfort zone really makes you find something amazing, don’t you agree?”
Junho could do nothing but stare at the man in front of him, the man with that ever-present smug grin and eyes that were always carefully watching him. Bile burnt at the flesh of his throat.