By Zephyria 
Inside the police station, the mechanical sound of typing echoed.
“Your name is Mo Yeon-hu, correct?”
At those words, three people who had been looking elsewhere raised their heads.
“And this is Lee Seung-hwan… and the relationship here is?”
“I’m Park Taek-yoon, Mo Yeon-hu’s friend.”
The state of the three men sitting side by side on the steel chairs was a mess. Lee Seung-hwan was huffing and puffing, rubbing the crown of his head where bruises were forming from being beaten by Mo Yeon-hu. Mo Yeon-hu also looked dazed, his clothes disheveled, as if lost in thought, and Park Taek-yoon looked completely shell-shocked.
“No, you saw it!”
Right then, Lee Seung-hwan raised his voice as if he had been waiting for the moment.
“That crazy bastard attacked an innocent man! He stabbed me with a glass, beat me with a chair—can’t you see my hair was practically ripped out? This is attempted murder, attempted murder!”
“Attempted murder, my foot.”
Mo Yeon-hu, who had kept his mouth shut until then, tilted his head and muttered coldly.
“Who was the one who laid a hand on someone else’s precious child? I was just turning you into a human being. You should be bowing in gratitude, shouldn’t you?”
“This piece of shit, until the very end!”
As Lee Seung-hwan tried to stand up again, the officer slammed the desk.
“Sit down! This is a police station! Mo Yeon-hu, please restrain yourself as well. I’ll hear statements from both sides first, so Mr. Park Taek-yoon, please start. What exactly happened?”
“Well….”
Just as Park Taek-yoon, caught in the middle and feeling awkward, was about to speak, two men dressed in black suits rushed into the station. The two men placed business cards in front of Mo Yeon-hu and Lee Seung-hwan respectively.
“Hello. I am the legal representative for Mr. Lee Seung-hwan.”
“I am the representative for Mr. Mo Yeon-hu.”
They were the two men’s lawyers.
“Oh? Hyung!”
As Lee Seung-hwan welcomed him, the man gave a light nod and quickly assessed his wrecked condition. Lee Seung-hwan immediately spoke up as if he were the victim.
“See how I look? Get this bastard detained. I really almost died!”
However, the lawyer pressed down firmly on Lee Seung-hwan’s shoulder to make him sit and continued calmly without even looking at him.
“I have just finished speaking with Mr. Mo Yeon-hu’s representative. Both parties wish for an amicable settlement. This is a matter that was already settled over the phone with Mr. Lee Seung-hwan a short while ago.”
“Huh? No, when did I…!”
“One moment.”
Lee Seung-hwan widened his eyes to protest, but he quickly shut his mouth after the lawyer whispered a few words low in his ear. Soon after, Lee Seung-hwan’s lawyer presented a settlement agreement and a petition for non-punishment to the detective.
“We will handle all compensation for the property damage in a lump sum.”
“Hmm….”
As Mo Yeon-hu’s lawyer spoke, the officer looked back and forth between the two. After all, if one were to be strict, the victim was Lee Seung-hwan, yet that side was saying they would let it all go. Since the compensation was also being handled, there was nothing more to say.
The officer nodded, looking as if one less task had been added to his plate after skimming through the documents.
“Well, since the parties involved have reached an agreement, I have nothing more to say. I’ll end this with a warning, so both of you go and reflect on your actions. This isn’t a playground.”
“Yes, thank you.”
And so, the matter was wrapped up in an instant. Park Taek-yoon walked outside, feeling bewildered, along with Lee Seung-hwan and Mo Yeon-hu.
“Hey, why is he so quiet? I thought you were going to make him eat prison food.”
Park Taek-yoon shouted, feeling uneasy because Lee Seung-hwan seemed unusually quiet. It was strange that he was like this now after throwing such a fit.
“He’s a drug addict, so there’s nothing good about this becoming a big deal,” Mo Yeon-hu said, as if he had predicted this situation.
As if to prove those words true, Lee Seung-hwan glared at Mo Yeon-hu with a face completely crumpled, as if his insides were still boiling.
“Fuck, Mo Yeon-hu.”
Of course, that didn’t mean it was over.
“Yeah. Why are you calling me? Do you want to get more ripped out?”
“Huh, what?”
“I’m asking if you want me to rip out more of your hair.”
As the psychological warfare began again, Park Taek-yoon watched anxiously and said, “Guys, we’re at a police station,” to which Lee Seung-hwan replied, sounding somewhat defeated.
“Why are you being like this? You didn’t even invite me like you said you would and then you cut me off, so why the hell are you acting out the moment we meet?”
“…….”
“What is it, Mo Yeon-hu? Aren’t you listening to me? Are you ignoring me?”
“…….”
Park Taek-yoon blinked between the two. He had never seen the incredibly docile Mo Yeon-hu look so disgusted and refuse to even associate with someone. Besides, weren’t the two of them quite close?
Sure enough, Lee Seung-hwan’s lips trembled as if he were quite hurt, and then he whipped his head away.
“Ah, fuck, I shouldn’t have thrown that party that day. You, and Kwon Mi-eon too, why are you only giving me a hard time….”
“…Kwon Mi-eon?”
The moment he heard that name, Mo Yeon-hu whipped his head around, and Lee Seung-hwan spoke as if he had realized something.
“Hey. Right. You’re acting like this because of that weird bastard, aren’t you? No wonder he was contacting me like crazy.”
“Kwon Mi-eon contacted you?”
“Yeah, fuck. He was asking if you weren’t Mo Yeon-hu, even trying to get the CCTV footage, and making a fuss telling me to keep contacting you! Ah, no matter how much I think about it, that guy was weird from the moment he started hitting on Ye-jin. That crazy bastard followed her around for months asking where you were and searching for you… Hey, Mo Yeon-hu!”
“Yeon-hu, where are you going!”
Leaving the rambling Lee Seung-hwan and the bewildered Park Taek-yoon behind, Mo Yeon-hu turned and began to run.
‘Kwon Mi-eon was looking for me?’
Actually, he didn’t remember everything perfectly. He had been in bad shape that day because he had drunk too much of a strange liquor.
Since he had collapsed and even cracked his head open, it was the worst kind of day where it would be stranger to remember.
‘Still, it wasn’t the absolute worst because of Kwon Mi-eon.’
In the memories that surfaced clumsily and late, the moments he spent with Kwon Mi-eon were quite pleasant. All night, the two of them talked incessantly in that deserted hallway until dawn literally broke.
‘So what happened then?’
‘I just laughed. What could I do when she said she had a boyfriend?’
‘How could you laugh? You watched movies and held hands with her even though she had a boyfriend.’
‘But I just laughed….’
‘That laugh is a waste.’
‘What?’
‘I said your laugh is a waste.’
‘Ahahaha!’
‘So, what about the next person?’
‘Yeah, that friend was….’
From Mo Yeon-hu’s numerous stories of unrequited love.
‘Hic, so. Why didn’t you, hic, cry back then?’
‘How was I supposed to cry? My mom and dad were struggling as if they were going to die.’
‘But, you were, diffi— no, young… you were young, so it must have been hard if your Hyung died….’
‘It’s fine if I cry next to the smoking room. My mom and dad are non-smokers, so they’ll never come there. No, why are you crying over something that’s already passed, Hyung?’
‘How does someone dying become something that’s passed… you just, sniff, live while covering it up….’
‘……Whatever, forget it. What about you, Hyung? Now tell me how the third stepfather drove a wedge between you.’
‘Ahem, hm. That petty man? That mister was….’
Even to the exceptionally peculiar family histories of the two.
‘Do you know whose account this is? It’s the account of the guy Lee Seung-hwan needs to stay on the good side of…. I’m going to tell him everything about how this guy talked shit on his starsta private account.’
‘Lee Seung-hwan’s personality is no joke, don’t just send it….’
‘I already sent it….’
‘You really are a person with no sense and no plan. What were you thinking doing this?’
‘I think the stuff he put in the drink was, ugh, something strange. I got pissed that he tried to feed this to someone else. Ah, but there’s so much on his private account that sending it is a chore….’
‘Just drop the screenshots you were going to send to me, and I’ll send them.’
‘Huh? Oh… but why? Huh? What? You’re going to send them too…?’
‘I’ll send them to that person from my account as well. Since I’ll be an accomplice then, you’re telling me, right?’
‘Telling you what?’
And so.
‘Your number, Hyung.’
‘My number…? Why… does that suddenly come up?’
‘Because I want to know your contact info, Hyung. Accomplices usually share their contact info.’
‘But I don’t have a Korean number yet…… I bought this phone here… should I give you a foreign number? I might be going to Korea soon.’
‘…Then let’s just follow each other on starsta and DM. And tell me as soon as you get a Korean number.’
‘Yeah, okay….’
‘Hyung.’
‘…….’
‘Hyung?’
‘……Yeah?’
‘We’re meeting again in Korea.’
‘Ah, of course… but I’m sleepy….’
‘Wait a second, I’ll go get some water.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Don’t go anywhere, stay here.’
‘Yeah….’
‘Promise.’
They had promised…!
‘How could I have forgotten this so completely?’
Even after returning to Korea, his life hadn’t been smooth, so he hadn’t had the chance to think about it. But Kwon Mi-eon had been looking for him all this time. In the end, the two had met, but that was essentially….
‘Do you… not remember me?’
A reunion for Kwon Mi-eon alone.