#mi:mpd

TW GUNS

《 WHO ARE YOU? 》

Sungki settles at a table with a cup of coffee. When he’s asked by the person in front of him who he is, the young man smiles discreetly. “My name, Sungki, means beautiful opportunity. Combined with my last name, divine beautiful opportunity.” He says, sipping the coffee calmly. “I do consider myself very much a beautiful opportunity. I’ve got a well-known family, and a well-known younger sister. I’ve received manty accolades and awards at school for my talents and good looks, but does this mean that I’ve become spoiled?”  he keeps sipping the coffee in his hands before looking up at the person asking the question.

“It simply means that I know how to use my skills and talents. Some people would say that I am an ice prince, but they don’t really know me all that well, since it is all crazy rumors.” He then stood up to put his cup in the trash before coming back. “But I do think I am one of the best out there. That’s no lie.”

《 HOW DID YOU GET HERE? 》

“A fascination with guns. Weaponry has always been my weakspot. Growing up, my father, a detective with the SPD, the Seoul Police Department, would take me along on cases, showing me the worst of the worst in criminals. I had a rather regular childhood aside from that and shooting my foot accidentally when he was teaching me how to use a gun.” He said, laughing a bit. “I did say that I had a well-known family and well-known younger sister. My mother runs protection services for all the big shot politicians in Seoul, and my younger sister, as far as I know, does some modelling. You may have seen her as the face of Innisfree recently,” he adds, seemingly very proud. “But I follow my dad all the way,”

《 WHO ARE YOU? 》

he lets out a winded whistle.  “wow, this really feels like the interview process i went through to get into the academy.  ‘cept back then, i didn’t have slugger here to calm me down.”  he gives the german shepherd sitting proudly at attention a quick pat on the head.  “you can pat him too, if you wanna.  he’s off duty.”  when the burly man sitting across the table doesn’t move to do so, ziyi feels a bit offended.  who doesn’t want to pet a dog?  he’d jump at first chance to pet one.

nevertheless, he continues:

“ah, where do i even start?”  he rubs the back of his neck and laughs, but his laughter is short-lived;  mr. burly man doesn’t look amused.  “i’m wang ziyi – or well, technically, wang sungki, if we’re going by passport names – born and raised in seoul.  i’m twenty-five . . no, twenty-six.”  he counts his fingers.  “. . five, six—yeah, twenty-six.  that makes me sound really old, doesn’t it?”  it dawns on him in that precise moment that the interviewer is at least fifty.  “not that being old is bad.  it’s actually really respectable.  my parents are your age, and slugger here is nearin’ middle-age in human years—”

he lets out a short breath.

“is this being evaluated?”

《 HOW DID YOU GET HERE? 》

TW DEATH, MURDER, TRAUMA, WAR, GUNS

《 WHO ARE YOU? 》

“My name is Kang Hyunjae, and I’m a retired senior officer.” 

They had wheeled him into the room, his uniform wrapped around his body, his medals and ribbons proudly attached to his vest. But he doesn’t feel a thing, his eyes are empty, his hands balled into fists. 

“I can’t fight for my country anymore, because I’m officially injured and can’t walk anymore.” He looks away when he says it, hiding the shame and guilt that came with the story of how he lost his right leg to pain and endless trauma.  

He felt like crying, he didn’t want to tell them what happened, he didn’t want to be here. 

“They gave me a team of fifteen men, each one of them had their own stories, their own names. We weren’t connected by blood, but by duty and justice. We brothers until the end of time.” He takes a deep breath, the person that was holding his wheelchair, moving their hand towards his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “We were a good team, maybe even the perfect team. We knew what to do, when to do it, and did it with perfection. We never made mistakes…” 

The tension rises in the room, his voice gets stuck in his throat, but he had to continue… He was in it now, it was best to tell them because he was never going to speak about it again, “There was this one soldier, young and bright. The boy could smile in any situation, a heart of gold.” Hyun starts, “couldn’t believe that a guy like him was sent to a place like that, it was unfair. If someone deserved to be home with his family, it was him.” 

He didn’t want to think about her, about that woman that he had hurt so much, which life he destroyed and could never fix. 

“We were just at the camp you know, there was nothing to be worried about. There were rules, even at war there were rules, and you don’t fucking break them!” His voice rises, making the woman that brought him in the room shush him, but he couldn’t stop. “They came in with thirty of them, guns blazing. We hardly had time to get our guns, the ones that were protecting the camp were already shot dead and I… I should’ve seen it coming, I’m a fucking fool for thinking we all would return to Seoul in one fucking piece.” 

He’s burning now, his tears falling from his eyes, the tears not strong enough to take out the fire within him. 

“He tried to save me… He tried to protect his leader, his comrade. I got shot in the leg, they shot me good, damaged a lot of nerves and muscles, but they shot him clear dead, right between the eyes, his blood was on my face, in my mouth… He couldn’t even speak or say any last words, he was gone, and I just sat there, crying like a fool.” 

The room goes silent after his words, the interviewer seemed lost for words, and he can’t blame her. “It was my duty to tell her that her husband was gone, did it traditionally. Wore my uniform, wore my badges like I was assigned to do, like today, and she opened the door. Knew right away what was going on and held her pregnant belly while she cried. It was that moment when I died with him, and so did she.”

《 HOW DID YOU GET HERE? 》

“You offered me a job. I couldn’t be out in the field anymore even if I tried. I’m a cripple now, and there’s no need for me anymore.” Hyun felt tired, his energy completely drained after he told them his story.

TW PROSTITUTION, PARENTAL DEATH

《 WHO ARE YOU? 》

“I’m Jinah. But—you can call me Allora.” The woman that faces the interviewers is smug, offhanded and yet strangely alluring. There’s something about her that makes people shiver with anticipation, the eyeliner that accents her beautiful fox-like eyes only emphasises her beauty, the small lift at the corners of her lips mysterious and strange, as though it held some kind of secret behind those cherry red lips. She crosses her legs, hands folding lightly around her waist, and the room holds its breath as those beautiful ruby lips pause, then part. “I work as a bartender at LUMIN8.” Strangely enough, every note of her husky voice captures the attention of everyone in the room, even as she stands before them in a skin tight dress, her curves accented sinfully. Every flicker, sigh and breath of the woman was literally a visage of something akin to a mysterious beauty, as though she would flicker out of existence after stirring one’s senses above and beyond within minutes of her own arrival. “Aren’t you wondering what it would be like to draw a kiss from my lips?” The whisper was soft but sensual, airy and light, the open mouthed kiss that was planted on the corner of one of the male interviewer’s lips causing her to hum lightly as she gave a soft scoff and a smirk, smudging the lipstick print that was left at the corners of the male’s mouth.

“Hm. Let’s say this fairly, love. A fair trade. Information for whatever you’d love to do with me.” She leaves them with an everlasting impression of faint, coy laughter and a lover’s caress trailing her steps as she leaves the door.

《 HOW DID YOU GET HERE? 》

《 WHO ARE YOU? 》

He’s a man brought up on morals, knowing what’s the difference between right and wrong and a man who was always told to do something when you see something unjust in the world. Ever since he was little and toddling around the house around his parents feet he knew what was good and bad and what he should and shouldn’t be doing. It was hard not to be brought up on such morals when you were the son of a retired Major General in the ROK Army.

Even now his views from when he was a child has never wavered, though he’s more reckless with how he keeps those morals. He’s a man who will not hesitate to jump into the line of fire to save someone else, be it a complete stranger or a friend. And while it has gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion, he’s still a martyr and simply hates seeing other people hurt. And nothing can make him change his ways, if anything, as he’s gotten older he’s only grown more headstrong in keeping the law and making sure it is upheld at all times. He will not suffer fools gladly and is constantly working to try and arrest as many gang members and law breakers as he possibly can.

But, if you’re a friend or any old stranger off the street he is usually very charming, quick to smile and quick to help out a person in need, he’s also been known to let loose on nights off. A good drink is certainly not a stranger and when he’s not busy breaking into hostage situations or getting shot at, you can usually find him relaxing in a bar with a good drink, some good company and a large grin.

《 HOW DID YOU GET HERE? 》

All his life he was brought up knowing what he was supposed to do. His father, the hard and strict man he was, told him that he would join the army, just like he did. And Hyungsik was quick to try and please his father, he idolized the man, idolized the respect he got from people and wanted to grow up just like him. His mother, on the other hand, was not all too pleased about the direction her husband was pushing their only son towards, but she never complained. She was a diligent wife and simply told her son that she would support him no matter what he chose to do in life.

He was brought up in Seoul, his father deciding to retire there after an old injury put him permanently out of action and he was forced to retire. It was a pretty happy childhood, though the house was always run like a boot camp and everything had to be perfect and prompt at all times, it was happy. Hyungsik never found any reason to complain about where he was brought up or how he was treated as a kid.

In school he was a good student, always working hard and his boyish charms were quick to get him a lot of friends as well. Though he was never really trying, he was somewhat of the popular kid, participated in sports with lots of friends, girls seemingly falling at his feet. But he never let bother him and he never took advantage of it, he was always a good kid, keeping his head down in the classroom and never getting into trouble until the very day that he graduated high school. But he never considered taking his education any further, instantly signing up for the army almost as soon as he graduated at eighteen.

This was what he was brought up to do, it was what his father wanted from him and it was what he had wanted ever since he was a kid. But, as it turned out, it was not what he was expecting in the slightest. You would think with his strict upbringing he would be suited to this life, but Hyungsik ended up hating being in the army. He found no sense of purpose, and while he didn’t struggle following the rules or completing the gruelling training, he knew that he couldn’t keep up with this. And he knew his father was never going to forgive him for giving up.

And he turned out to be correct. When he dropped out of the Army after completing his mandatory 21 months of service, his father was not happy in the slightest. His mother struggled to hold everything together while father and son shouted and argued until the neighbours had to call the cops to break to up and make them shut up. His father simply had no mercy and, despite his wife’s protests, kicked Hyungsik from home and told him to get lost and not come back.

Hyungsik was devastated, but managed to find a temporary home with an old school friend while he tried to figure out what to do with his life next. That’s when his friend suggested he join the police force. At first, Hyungsik laughed it off. He hated the army, so why would the police be any different? However, the more he thought about it, and the longer he went without a job, the more the idea actually grew on him. And after a month of thinking, he enrolled in the Seoul academy.

Surprisingly, even for him, he thrived in the environment and grew to love the training. Though he couldn’t get enough and wanted more, he wanted to do something more than being a typical beat cop. That’s where he started to take a shine to being a S.W.A.T officer, his knowledge of certain tactics and weapons training from his Army days coming in useful in his training. And, after four years, he graduated from the academy in Mapo-gu. But he didn’t remain in Seoul, instead, he was posted to the Head precinct in Yeongi City.

And that’s where he’s stayed. Passing his one year probationary period with flying colours, though with a couple of mishaps where his martyrdom has shone out. While he still misses Seoul and his mother, and even his father who he hasn’t spoken to since he was kicked out, he likes where he is. The gangs are a problem and he’s determined to do all he can to stop them. No matter the cost. At least he knows he’ll be kept busy and he’ll be able to help hundreds of people on top of the hundreds he’s already helped in his four years of service. And that’s all that really matters.

《 WHO ARE YOU? 》

My name is Zhang Yixing. I began working for the Myeongcho Police Department in mid 2017 as a Medical Assistant before taking over as a Medical Examiner last year. It still feels strange to be the one actually leading examinations now but I can’t say I prefer being an assistant. It feels like my years of study have finally paid off you know. Let’s see, what else. I am Chinese, if you couldn’t tell already. I moved here when I was in high school and I’ve been in Myeongcho specifically for almost two years now. I try to visit home when I can but for now that’s not really an option for me. With the rise in criminal activity I’m needed more than ever.

Some could describe me as spacey or vapid which honestly might be true, I tend to forget things like my keys or my wallet or to eat breakfast. Most of the time though that’s because I just have so much on my mind. It’s hard to remember the little things. I’ve also been told that I’m too happy for my own good. I guess people just don’t expect that from someone in my line of work but if I didn’t at least try to stay positive I’d probably lose my mind. I’m dedicated and loyal to my friends, family and co-workers. The MPD are doing their best and so should I. I do tend to neglect my own self interests for the sake of the job sometimes and my friends tell me it’s not healthy. I just can’t help it though. Once I’m onto something I can’t rest until I’m finished and the solution or conclusion is found. Hopefully, if I do my best I can actually make a difference here for the people of Myeongcho.

《 HOW DID YOU GET HERE? 》

TW POSSIBLE KIDNAPPING

《 WHO ARE YOU? 》

user: hwang_minhyun

Welcome, HWANG_MINHYUN! Would you like to access VIGNETTE 1?

( a family of four. for as long as he can remember, he’s known small houses, cramped spaces, black circles beneath his eyes tattooed into his skin like bruises. his younger brother sleeps two inches away from him in the room they’re supposed to share, and minhyun bends his neck over a tattered book, squinting in the rotten yellow hues of a dimming light. he doesn’t want to be wealthy—but he thinks it’d be nice. it’d be nice for dad to be able to take a break from breaking his back at the factory, would be nice for mom to find less reasons to cry at night when the bills start piling up, would be nice for his brother to be allowed to act his age and to reach for the same toys and the same books as all of his peers without forcing his gaze to the ground.

it’d be nice, wouldn’t it? minhyun knows this change is only possible if he makes it possible. )

VIGNETTE 1: ROOTS has been deleted! Would you like to access VIGNETTE 2?

( at some point, things start going right. top of his class, the sweetheart of his neighborhood, his parents’ pride and joy. he’s so much closer to achieving the dream he’s been steadily working toward. a few more years and he’ll make it to medical school. a few more years and he can provide the life he’s always dreamed of—not for himself, but for his family.

and then night comes as quickly as day. the next morning, his younger brother disappears on the way to school. his parents fall to pieces. minhyun nearly shatters. police can’t find him. police are trying, but they can’t find him. a single metal handle from an aluminum lunchbox abandoned on a secluded sidewalk isn’t enough to find a boy.

his plans change almost instantaneously. in the midst of his mother’s weeping and the incense his father burns to pray to every god, every goddess out there in hopes that one—just one—might answer him, minhyun shuts the door to an uncomfortably empty bedroom. if the police can’t find him, that’s unfortunate. minhyun will have to find his brother himself. )

VIGNETTE 2: REASON has been deleted! Would you like to access VIGNETTE 3?

( mister hwang minhyun, we’ve been analyzing some gang activity recently that might be tied to your brother’s disappearance… there’s reason to believe he may not be dead. )

VIGNETTE 3: CATALYST has been deleted! Would you like to access VIGNETTE 4?

( it takes one year for him to grow disillusioned with the police force. no wonder, he finds himself thinking to himself—sometimes too bitterly. no wonder you couldn’t find him.

when the news comes funneled in that his brother might still be alive somewhere, nestled in the depths of some criminal organization minhyun’s supposed to whisper the name of in secret, it takes one moment of weakness before he decides he’ll do it. a single file of evidence that’s supposed to implicate someone for their crime; a single lighter, the flicker of a flame.

he finds them, corners them, and says: you owe me.

he says: find me someone. )

VIGNETTE 4: SHACKLES has been locked! There are no files left to review. Press any key to exit the program.

《 HOW DID YOU GET HERE? 》

he looks familiar, doesn’t he? the same eyes as the boy whose face is plastered in MISSING TEEN! posters nailed all across the island. but he’s here, isn’t he? this one doesn’t need to be found—

TW FAMILY DEATH

《 WHO ARE YOU? 》

My name is Do Kyungsoo, an undercover officer of the Myeongcho Police Department. I was born with an inherent desire for justice and it is my goal to protect innocent people of this city from the supposed Big Five.

Those who know me would describe my positive traits as calm, patient and courageous. People may believe that I am quiet, but in reality, I just prefer to listen because a lot of useful information slip from unzipped lips and I need to be there to catch them. I am patient in terms of waiting for opportunities - I will not strike unless I believe there is a high level of success. Once I believe the opportunity is there, however, I will take my chance and take risks as needed.

Independent to a fault, I can seem unapproachable to people, even my own teammates. I’ve not hated anyone until the death of my sister but now that hatred has lit its fire in my chest, I fear nothing would put it out except for the blood of her murderer. I hope this personal vendetta will not make me lose sight of my main objective, which is to protect and heal, not to kill. I will always be MDP’s Kyungsoo, even if I must live the next years of my life as Hydrus’ Hunter.

To lower people’s guard, I try to take on a harmless persona in Hydrus. A little inexperienced with gangs but gifted at what I do and very eager to please. I push myself out of my natural cold shell so I’d be able to converse with more people and see what information I can gather for MDP.

《 HOW DID YOU GET HERE? 》

I was born to a middle class family in Seoul. I was the type of kid that stood up to bullies, even though I was not physically imposing. This sort of personality got me into a lot of trouble and I was beaten up a lot during my earlier days by people who didn’t like being challenged. I joined an academy when it was time and graduated early for receiving top grades. Then, I’ve joined the policing force and originally wanted to go into forensics due to my father’s career and the knowledge he’d passed onto me. However, an opportunity came and the words ‘undercover officer’ was passed to my ears.

My sister, who was an undercover cop, was murdered after her identity was exposed. Her sacrifice prevented some large scaled event that I was not given details on and while we are proud of her, her death also devastated us all. She died approximately six to seven years ago and I intend to infiltrate the same gang she was in before. It is a risk, I know, but a part of me wants more than to just destroy the gang that took her away from us from within. I guess what I want is to find her actual killer and make sure they suffer for their crime.