The nurse yelps before reflexively ducking and reaching out her hands, protecting herself from the flying metal tray. The tray hits the wall, denting it, before falling with a clang to the floor. The show isn't over as two more objects follow; plastic utensils and packed porridge. It looks like a storm has raged inside the room, with the curtain being ripped off from its railing halfway through and the bedsheets bunching up at the foot of the bed. In one corner of the room, the patient is screaming, flailing his hands around trying to prevent whatever he's seeing from coming close to him. The nurse shouts for help outside of the room, before other nurses come to her aid, and it takes three of them to restrain the patient from acting out. The patient is too strong for them, as it seems that they are the ones being dragged around instead of the other way.

"Nurse Na, go and grab the sedative! We need to sedate him!" With the instruction from her fellow nurse, she dashes out of the room, running past curious onlookers.

"They are out to get me; they're going to kill me!" the patient howls, still fighting back against the nurses. "I need to run or they will kill me! Please let me go," he cries, putting in effort to hug himself. He fails to do so as the nurses are holding his arms back, pinning them to the wall. When it seems that he's starting to become less violent, they loosen their grip but tightens them again as he wails and points towards the door, "Look at that, he's smiling at me! Once you leave me alone in this room he's going to kill me!"

"No one will kill you, Mr. Choi. Your room is guarded and we will make sure that they won't lay their hands on you," one of the nurses says, although he has no idea what he's actually convincing him with.

He has heard the incomplete news of the three patients admitted yesterday morning, about how their trip has gone down a sinister road, but even so he doesn't know the full story and he can't make a judgement. As compared to his other two colleagues brought to the hospital with him, this one, Choi Jongho, is the most affected and difficult one. Sometimes he's too quiet and unresponsive that he looks like the walking dead, while sometimes he turns violent and thrash about, convinced that there is someone out there is going to kill him. Now is the latter case, considering how he's determined to tear the whole room apart.

"He's there, look at him standing at the door! Why is no one arresting him?" Jongho utters. He jabs his finger towards the door. The nurses don't look at the direction of the door, refusing to entertain him. They believe that he's only hallucinating, fuelled by the acute pressure he was said to experience.

The silver-haired man stands under the doorframe, observing the chaotic scene. His face remains expressionless, but there is a twinkle in his eyes hinting that he's amused looking at how Jongho is behaving. The youngest is currently pointing at his direction, desperately trying to make everyone believe that he's not crazy and there is someone at the door. However, no one does take his words.

Ah, what a sight. This definitely brings back memories, Choi San thinks to himself.

The nurse that was sent on an errand to grab the sedative returns, runs past him without giving a second glance and goes straight to uncapping the syringe. She plunges the needle intravenously, taking part in controlling the patient by pinning down his legs and waiting impatiently for the sedative to take effect. Counting down the minutes the patient finally collapses, his system dampened.

Jongho whimpers as the nurses carry him over to the bed, not completely blocked out from the world yet. With mild force, the nurses have to take drastic measures by tying his hands to the railing of the bed, afraid that another episode will occur. He complies, his vision getting cloudy while the drug courses through his body, adrenaline blocked from being passed on through his nerves. While they are bending over him, grumbling over the mess he has made, he sees San looking over their shoulders. San shakes his head, as if distressed by what he has become.

"Sleep tight," San whispers, but it seems that only Jongho is the one who hears it clearly as the nurses give no response. The whisper sounds as if San is right beside him, blowing into his ear with words that sound innocent but with an underlying threatening tone.

San straightens his body before turning around, leaving the nurses crowding around the bed. Choi San has already left, his shoes silently stepping on the tiled floor. No one pays any attention to the man with the white shirt, and no one believes that Jongho did see him. He makes his way out of the ward, passing by patients in wheelchairs and IV drips. He smooths out his hair, dips his head slightly to a lonely old man who looks like his death certificate is about to be filled in the very same day. Then he steps out through the revolving doors of the entrance to the west wing of the hospital before disappearing among the bustling crowd of the city.

Before he blacks out, Jongho reaches out his hand weakly, and he calls out a name. It isn't the silver-haired man's name, but instead he says his boss' name, "Mr. Jeong..."

"Who is Mr. Jeong?" one of the nurses ask to the other three but only receives shrugs in response. Jongho then mumbles something and curious, the nurse lowers down his head to capture the words coming out of the sedated patient. His face crinkles as he listens. The patient's head slumps against the pillow, bringing an end to his tantrum-throwing session.

---

Hongjoong scrapes off the last bit of the chicken porridge at the bottom of the plastic bowl, still feeling famished even when he had shamelessly asked for the second bowl. The nurse had looked at him with such pity in her eyes that she didn't interject and immediately served him another. Even the MO that had paid him a visit to evaluate his condition only managed to smile weakly, the way you would do to a child that had finally gotten his candy that he had been throwing tantrums for.

While he's busy eating, he pretended to only be interested in the serving in front of him when in truth, he's been training his ears to catch the nurse and MO discussing - although not entirely silently - about the conditions of the other two that was brought together with him. He has no idea why they would discuss it in his room when he's pretty sure the hospital is as big as it can get, but it is as if they wanted him to listen on, but not explicitly saying so. They would even steal glances at him, and all the while throwing expressions that border between sorrow and shock.

He felt irritated that they were talking about him like he couldn't hear and he wasn't there, but at the same time he used them as his way of knowing what is happening with both Jongho and Yeosang. Although it is highly unlikely, he had this little hope that maybe they would spill something that could lead him to hearing about the whereabouts of Mingi, and maybe even Yunho and Seonghwa. He knows, if the two of them still had not been caught, he will not be able to rest peacefully knowing they are still out there.

He glances at the wall clock; the detective promised to them that he would meet them at the same place yesterday to update them on their case. He calmly pushes away the bowl, purposely making a sound so that the nurse and the doctor will snap out of their conversation and turn their attention to him instead. It's his way of telling him that he's done with his breakfast, despite low-key wanting to ask for another bowl since something else seems to be living in his stomach and he just can't shut off his hunger. But he's done, refusing to spend more time in the room when there's no need to and he's starting to get bored seeing the same ceiling when he wakes up. The nurse and doctor aren't giving much away from their conversation, and he figures it's because they don't know any more than he does. Plus, it's already time for him to meet the detective, which he hopes would at least enlighten their situation.

As he walks the way he had already memorized to the rooftop patio, he guesses that it would only be a three-people party that includes him, Yeosang and the detective. He had heard faintly the sound of Jongho throwing a fit and had seen the nurse running past his door while screaming that she needed a sedative for the patient in room 6084. It's most likely that Jongho won't show up. When he steps outside, he sees the head of the finance department sitting there, talking to a little girl who seems to be another patient at the hospital. The latter waves as she skips away, happily dragging her teddy bear with her as she runs into the arms of who he assumes is her mother.

He is aware of the two officers tailing him around, watching over him. He walks to Yeosang at the same table they sat at yesterday, which could turn into their regular discussion table considering how their case needs a lot of it. The officers stop walking and stand near the railing that overlooks the front part of the hospital. He pulls out a chair before starting a conversation to try and diffuse the awkward situation.

"You fancy kids?" he asks, referring to how Yeosang was entertaining the little girl.

"I don't hate them," the pink-haired man replies. "Doesn't mean I would want five of them running around my house though. The little girl approached me because she said my hair looked like cotton candy." He smiles when he thinks back to it before quickly switching it off. "Said it reminded her of the times when she was able to eat as much as cotton candy as she wanted."

"Sounds like a sweet girl."

"She is."

The pair turns quiet again, and Hongjoong feels like he could drown in the palpable silence. As he racks his brain to find another topic to talk about while they wait for the detective to come, Yeosang taps his fingers on the stone table. The redhead gets startled when the pink-haired man asks him instead.

"Are you okay?"

It's a question he does not expect, especially coming from someone whom he had seen experiencing worse than him. He cannot even begin to imagine how he would react if he were to be in Yeosang's situation, but the latter is now calm, as if nothing actually ever happened at the trip. It's a question that he should be asking to Yeosang, but he finds genuine concern in his tone, like he wouldn't be happy until he has at least heard that Hongjoong is fine.

Of course he's not, because who would be after all the shit they went through, even without understanding how and why they had to endure it? There is a phantom pain every time he's reminded of his literally sealed lips, and he brings up a hand to feel them, relieved that the stitches are not there. Then there is the guilt of having to forcefully participate in the wicked game, and how it brought immense pain to the two. He was involved in the choice of torturing them, although involuntarily, yet Yeosang looks to be in a much better state than he is.

Knowing fully well of what his answer is supposed to be, he says the exact opposite. "I'm fine. Should be much better than both of you since I'm the one who made the choices. Could have made it better and the two of you wouldn't suffer."

Yeosang clears his throat before chuckling lowly. He really doesn't give off a picture of someone who had been through what he had, and Hongjoong finds that slightly unnerving. Yeosang shakes his head, "Obviously it's not your and Mingi's fault. You were forced to, and don't be so sure that the other would have been any better. Looking at the two psychos, do you think they would even give a better choice? For all we know they could have been lying about even having a choice."

The redhead loses his words to answer, but he doesn't have to because the detective finally comes by and greets them, "Good morning, gentlemen." He doesn't ask for permission to sit together with them, and he looks eager to share whatever information he has with him. A pen is tucked in at his breast pocket and he sets down an envelope and his notebook.

It was a long night for them, with his colleagues breaking into the villa and him searching up every possible information related to the property and looking up the profiles of the torturers. What he came up with made him sink back into his creaky chair, rubbing his hands onto his face for he is still unsure of what he is supposed to make out of the case. There are still a lot of things unsolved, but for now, he wants to deliver what he has to the two. He doesn't ask for the youngest - Choi Jongho - because judging from his condition yesterday, he didn't seem like he's able to handle all the information anyway.

If he who has no relations at all to the victims finds the case to be shocking and confusing, he can't think of how the two will find it. He arranges the words in his mind carefully first, making sure that whatever he's going to say will not be all over the place.

"So yesterday night, based on the directions from you, Mr. Kim, my teammates arrived at the villa and ransacked the whole house. Unfortunately, although somewhat expected, the property was empty. They couldn't find the two, in which the people you've said that introduced themselves as Jung Wooyoung and Choi San in the house. It seemed that they had run away, although it makes no sense since you mentioned how Wooyoung had wanted the police to know about everything they did to you."

"What about Park Seonghwa? Did you find his body?" Yeosang presses on.

The detective shakes his head. "Unfortunately they did not find his body, and there is still an ongoing search to locate where they could have buried him. I'm afraid it will take some time since the land around the villa is enormous."

"They could have just thrown him anywhere, maybe the sea-"

"We are looking into all possibilities, Mr. Kang, I assure you. And we can say that they are not after your assets, because everything is still intact. All your belongings are still in the house, left in your own rooms, but we had to confiscate it as it could be evidence."

They have no interests in their belongings anyway, because they are more interested in the people in the villa. Why would they run away after sending them off to tell the police? All their actions have never made sense and it's frustrating them. If there is one thing they want right now is for everything to turn back to normal - but it's impossible knowing that they have two dead colleagues and another missing.

"Our director, Mr. Jeong- I mean, Jeong Yunho, what about him? Was there no indicator on where he could be?"

Dowoon shifts uncomfortably in his seat, flicking through empty pages of his notebook, clearly looking like he is trying to avoid the question. Hongjoong notices this but says nothing, while Yeosang frowns.

The pink-haired man taps a knuckle on the table, prompting him to speak. "Did you find anything about him?"

"Are you... really sure that Wooyoung mentioned about Jeong Yunho being dead?" the detective directs a question to the redhead instead of answering Yeosang's.

Without hesitation, Hongjong nods. "There were three enclosures and he said that it was too bad the third person died too early. When Mingi said something about Seonghwa, he retaliated saying he never mentioned the third one was for him. Whatever he tried saying told us that he was talking about Yunho."

"He-" the detective quickly corrects himself, "-they could only be toying with you."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh..." he uses the end of his pen to scratch his head before uttering, "This might come as a huge shock to both of you, because as far as I'm concerned both of you mentioned that the villa is a guesthouse that your director booked for this short trip, am I right?"

Both of them simultaneously nod. Yeosang adds, "Our director searched for a place to stay, but apparently Jongho was the one who put a call through and booked the place for the past weekend. Since Jongho is-" he backtracks, a bit hesitantly, "-was his assistant, he always does that kind of work for him."

"Well," the detective clasps his hands and leans forward, his voice lowering in volume, "the villa is not and was never a guesthouse. It's a private property that was recently bought three years ago, and there is no record of it being opened as a guesthouse."

"But he showed us the booking site-" Yeosang stops talking when he remembers how it actually went down. Still trying to make sense of it all, he changes the direction of his reply, "Then the two owners must have faked it, for whatever reason."

"That's what I've been thinking of at first," he looks at Hongjoong, then Yeosang, to make sure they are paying attention to him. He takes out a piece of paper from the envelope, his eyes flicking through the whole page, debating with himself before setting down the paper in front of them. He turns it around so that they can read it.

The paper contains the information about the property - the villa - but they are still unsure of what they are supposed to look for now that their eyes are roaming all over the page.

Yeosang spots the discrepancy first as he blinks a few times, finding it hard to believe. Hongjoong's face changes as his eyes catch the information. The detective looks on, studying their reactions.

"The owner of the villa is not one of the two names you mentioned," Dowoon declares. "The rightful owner to the property is your boss, the one that you assumed is dead. Jeong Yunho. He bought the property legally three years ago."

"This... doesn't make any sense. He invited all of us on a trip on the pretense of staying at a guesthouse. If it was indeed his villa..."

"He invited all of you on a trip with a purpose and he pretended to not know the other two when you were there."

"Then he is the accomplice!" Yeosang shouts, the feeling of betrayal creeping up fast on him. "He must be the one who killed Park Seonghwa!"

"We can't really be sure about that." Dowoon puts up both of his hands shoulder-height to calm the patient down. "We still need evidence to point that to him. We can't say that he was the murderer just because he owns the villa and that the other two claimed it wasn't them." He pauses for a second, before taking out two pictures from the envelope. He lays them out in front of them. "Are these the two people you met at the villa?"

They only take one look at the picture but they know that they are the people who are on the run; the ones they are currently looking for. And desperate to catch. Both are the portraits of the people that had introduced themselves as the owners initially: Jung Wooyoung and Choi San. There is no doubt.

"This is Jung Wooyoung," Dowoon points to the portrait of the man with brown hair. "Am I correct?"

Hongjoong and Yeosang look away, the bad memories starting again as they lay their eyes on the face. "Yes," Hongjoong says, almost inaudible.

"This one with the silver hair is who introduced himself as Choi San." He doesn't make it sound like a question anymore, because they immediately nod their heads. He gathers up the pictures before slipping them back into the envelope. He widens the mouth of the envelope, spotting one more picture. He takes it out and lets them see it. He lets them study the picture for a moment, but he doesn't expect anyone to speak up.

So he does. He points towards the picture; one with three people in it, from left to right, Choi San, Jeong Yunho and Jung Wooyoung. All are beaming, seemingly on a trip somewhere out of the country. The background is a picture of a waterfall, and Yunho had both of his arms around the other two's shoulders. Even from the picture, you can tell; they were the best of friends.

Dowoon's finger lands on Yunho first. "Jeong Yunho is the link between all of you and the other two. He invited you on the trip with a purpose, but that purpose is unclear. So we still need to find that out. From the circumstances you've told me we can say that all three are working together. But," he presses harder, "the link between the five of you, besides working at his company, seems to not exist. What we need to do now is establish a link between all of you."

"So they knew each other before?" Hongjoong says, still sinking in his disbelief.

"They were friends from high school until university, as what I've gathered."

"There is still something more about the other two you're not telling us, aren't you?" Yeosang cuts him off as he narrows his eyes. "Your tone changed when you spoke about the two of them."

The detective sighs. He moves a finger towards Wooyoung in the picture, "Jung Wooyoung went missing four years ago, just when he was supposed to graduate. His family gave up their search for him when they couldn't get any news of him after some time. Since his family gave up, the rest gave it up too and the case got buried just like that."

"And?"

Reluctantly, Dowoon drags his finger to the other end, landing on San. "As for Choi San... he died four years ago and the cause of death... was suicide."