Note: Beware of swearing, although I've censored most of it.
"What in the world do you mean, bury a body?!" Ara whispered as she approached Jungsu.
Jungsu shrugged and said, "It's exactly as it sounds. The body is in the dumpster in the basement floor, to the right side of the building. The man was a spy, I'm sure you can get help if you ask your superiors."
"And why did you feel the need to call me?" She grumbled under her breath as they walked to the elevator.
Jungsu looked over at her from the corner of his eyes and said, "It's because you irritate me. I simply wish to inconvenience you."
Ara leaned back to look at him, shooting him a sharp look.
"You can handle it yourself, can't you? I'll leave you to it, I have a room to clean."
"What do you mean you'll leave me to it?"
Ara opened her mouth in outrage as Jungsu stepped inside the elevator going upstairs.
"You are an investigator. This should be quite simple for you right?"
"Just wait a moment-"
"You can't arrest me, Investigator. They won't let you do that yet, not until they've taken everything they can from me. Though you should call for backup." Jungsu smiled as the doors closed on her outraged face.
Jungsu glanced at his watch as the elevator moved up. It was ten o'clock now. Jungsu should be in bed, asleep, yet here he was in a luxurious elevator.
Once he got off the elevator and entered his room, he immediately started cleaning up the floors, as he had done many times before. But this time, he was not worried about the consequences. After washing his hands, he stepped outside again, and entered the elevator for the... he didn't know how many times he'd been in there by now. He stood in the silence until the ding of the elevator had him glance up.
A man stepped inside the elevator and looked right into Jungsu's eyes. Jungsu waited for the man to glance away but he kept staring, even as he came to stand beside him.
Jungsu turned his head towards him and smiled coldly.
"Can I help you?"
Just then, Jungsu felt a drop travel down his face from the strands of his hair. As it moved down the side of his temple, Jungsu knew immediately what it was. Blood. He didn't know how he'd managed to miss it. Perhaps because he was no longer wearing his headband that held back his hair.
He eyed the man beside him in disdain as the man's eyes moved from the drop of blood travelling down his jaw, to his cold eyes. Jungsu reached up and wiped at it with the back of his hand. The man trembled for a moment before glancing away. Jungsu also glanced away, figuring he didn't need to explain himself to a stranger in the hypothetical scenario that he was questioned for the murder of a North Korean assassin.
The elevator opened, and they both stepped out onto the lobby floor with Jungsu moving towards the entrance in search of Ara, while the man stared after him.
The man in question, was Director Beom Seok, an award-winning director for action and thriller movies with almost as many box office hits as he had movies. He stood staring after the man walking away from him. Beom Seok was still trembling.
He'd recognized that man, he was Song Jungsu, the one who had recently saved two children from a burning building. Yet, still, despite knowing him, Beom Seok had felt as though he would die in that elevator under Jungsu's cold eyes. He had stood in such an effortlessly intimidating way as if he'd been born to kill, as if there was nobody born to kill him. When Beom Seok had seen the blood rolling down his temples, he thought that he was in a fever dream for it had felt so surreal.
Bringing his hand to his heart, he let out a laugh as it refused to settle down. Though the man was far too handsome for what the director had in mind, Beom Seok didn't think anyone in all the corners of the world could play the role better than Jungsu could. The role of Baekhyun, the psychotic killer in his new movie, The Testament.
Picking up his phone, he dialled his secretary while keeping his eyes trained on Jungsu's back, watching as he leisurely and powerfully walked outside, commanding the attention of everyone around him.
"Jin Ae, yes hello. I'm gonna need you to contact Song Jungsu's manager. Yes, the man who saved the children. The what? Squirrel whisperer? Alright. Yes, him. I think we found our villain."
Beom Seok smiled, still feeling a sense of exhilaration and inspiration as the image of the villain of his movie shifted completely to Jungsu.
__________
Jungsu was back at the villa. It was one of the last episodes they would be filming before they would leave the villa. He hadn't expected the time to fly by as quickly as it had.
But something had changed in the villa. The contestants and staff were now looking at him weirdly, and acting as if they were walking on eggshells around him.
When Jungsu had asked Yuri why everyone was acting so strange, she had said, "It's because we saw the video of you firespinning. It's really strange Jungsu, with how talented you are at so many things."
"Yeah," Ae-ri joined in, "it almost feels like you are part of some kind of secret organization or something. That, or you're super rich. Are you... rich?"
Ae-ri leaned in to ask and Jungsu felt his eye twitch under her scrutiny.
Perhaps Jungsu had been acting too strange. But it was not as if people were not talented. There were many actors and idols who were naturally very talented in numerous things. It was a part of the reason why they were popular. Jungsu had the impression that people didn't ask too many questions about why people were talented when it came to celebrities. Or perhaps he was wrong? But was there any reason to be suspicious? Perhaps Jungsu was simply good at hand-to-hand coordination. That could explain why he could climb a building, play the violin, and spin fire.
"I have good hand coordination." He said slightly louder so that the camera could catch it. Sure enough, the camera zoomed in on him as he said that.
"Ah. I see, that makes sense." Yuri nodded, and Jungsu felt a great sense of relief.
They were walking now in the direction of a small building nearby that the staff of Double Shift had booked for another mystery activity.
Yeong-cheol came up from behind them and swung his arm around Jungsu's shoulders. Despite the other contestants seeming more wary around him, Yeong-cheol had kept the same irritating and relaxed behaviour in front of Jungsu.
"Ha, ha, ha!" Yeong-cheol laughed his same usual laugh for no apparent reason.
"What do you think we're gonna do today, Jungsu?"
"I don't know, Hyung." Jungsu lied.
He knew what they were doing today. He simply wanted to see the slow realization and dread on Yeong-cheol's face when he himself realized it.
"Hey, you'll give me some of the perfume you got right? Not like you need it anyways." Yeong-cheol took a sniff of Jungsu's neck causing Jungsu to look back at him in irritation.
"How come you smell so good? What body wash are you using?" Yeong-cheol pouted.
"The one provided by the villa." Jungsu responded.
"That one?" Yeong-cheol frowned as he recalled the smell.
"But, that doesn't smell like anything?" Yeong-cheol muttered under his breath.
They'd arrived in front of the building, which was uncharacteristically dark under the setting sun. As they all gathered around, the filming crew had just finished setting up their cameras.
"Welcome, contestants." Bo-mi grinned from in front of them.
"Today you will be embarking on a challenge of bravery." She said mysteriously at which point, Jungsu could tell some had already guessed what they were about to be doing.
Just then, a scream sounded from inside the building and everyone jumped in their places. Everyone but Jungsu.
Jungsu turned his face to the side, swallowing back a smile at the look on Yeong-cheol's face. His eyes which had previously been optimistic and carefree had only in a moment turned to dread. He now realized the situation they were in and what they would have to accomplish. They were going into the building, into the haunted house.
"Yes, you guessed it right contestants! You will all be split into teams of three, four, or five members on each team. Your task will be retrieving a key from within one of the rooms in the building. There will be clues left all over the building for you to find and decipher. We will let you choose your teams, so you can discuss amongst yourselves."
Everyone paused for a moment, thinking about who they should partner up with before rushing towards Jungsu, with the exception of Dong-ha. Jungsu tilted his head back as he was bombarded with voices and bodies shoving into him from the front.
"Hey! Back off! He's mine!" Yeong-cheol shouted as he grabbed onto Jungsu's arm.
"Ya! Enough!" Bo-mi shouted.
The contestants backed away, grumbling under their breaths in discontent.
"Okay, you will not get to choose your groups." Bo-mi glared at Jungsu as if he was at fault.
Jungsu felt his mouth open in disbelief at the look she was throwing his way.
"We will draw your names now."
Jungsu's group consisted of Yeong-cheol, who had nearly cried in joy, Ae-ri, and Na-yeon, and Jae-ho. They were the first to go inside as they had the most amount of members, with Jungsu being placed in front of the line they had decided to enter in, and Jae-ho at the back.
Yeong-cheol grabbed onto Jungsu tightly from behind as they entered the dark building. Jungsu squinted his eyes, keeping his arms by his sides if he needed to use them at any moment. Though he needed to be careful not to hit any of the staff members who were dressed up to scare them. Though they had tried getting Jungsu to hold onto the camera as he was in the front, Jungsu had blatantly refused. Thus, Yeong-cheol was holding onto a selfie stick, along with Na-yeon.
Jungsu ran his fingers along the sides of the walls and then grabbed ahold of the piece of paper sticking to it.
Opening up the paper, he read the riddle out loud.
"Number 1; You will find your answers in the abyss."
"W-what is that supposed to mean? Do we have to find the Abyss?" Yeong-cheol cried.
"Oh shut it, will you?" Na-yeon whispered from behind him, feeling a bit braver with Jungsu leading them.
They walked quickly towards the end of the hallway before turning the corner to climb a set of stairs. As they quickly walked up, Jungsu said, "Keep your heads down."
Just then, a doll swung towards them and the contestants let out a scream.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Yeong-cheol cried out, his voice tangling in with Na-yeon, Ae-ri, and Jae-ho's screams.
Jungsu walked even faster, forcing the contestants to catch up to his fast pace.
He sensed something wrong the moment he spotted the man. He was wearing a mask that looked something like a mix between a clown and a ghost. The way he stood caught Jungsu's attention. He wasn't a simple staff member. No, Jungsu could tell he was here for him.
Jungsu smiled as he hummed in thought, wondering what had taken them so long to crash the show.
The man approached them at a quick pace, causing everyone to run off in different directions. Jungsu remained still, waiting in a relaxed pose as the man threw a punch towards him. He caught the fist, then jabbed the man lightly in the chest with his palm, pushing him back a couple paces. He could have removed the man's mask if he wanted to, but he wanted to keep up the pretense of this simply being an act, all for the mission of the haunted house. He was hyperaware of every camera pointed at them at the moment, which is why he simply rolled with the man's punches, dodging them left and right. Then, he threw a high kick, causing the man to duck down, after which Jungsu simply jumped over him in a leap frog manner and ran off.
Meanwhile, the filming staff were watching on in confusion as the masked man engaged in combat with Jungsu and chased after him. They had not told the staff to fight back, but considering how Jungsu wasn't even surprised, they figured he must have spoken to the staff beforehand and allowed for it. Regardless, they weren't complaining as the footage they were getting was like a high quality action movie.
As Jungsu climbed up the stairs in search of his teammates, he entered a room as he saw the masked man quickly approaching him. Pushing up onto the walls of the room, he climbed into the corner and waited, 'accidentally' knocking down the only camera in the room.
The masked man entered this time with a knife in his hands that both Jungsu and the man knew was not a prop.
He looked around as Jungsu hovered above his head, before Jungsu hopped down on top of the man, knocking him to the ground and disarming him in a swift motion as Jungsu brought his arm behind his back.
Jungsu shook his head as he took of the man's mask and recognized him as number Two.
"Lovely seeing you here, Two. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
The man snarled back at Jungsu as he struggled under his hold.
"You f**king cheated! Fight me one on one you sly-"
"You want a repeat of our last fight? I won't go easy on you this time." Jungsu said silently. "I only broke two of your bones. This time, how about I crush all the bones in your body?"
The man trembled underneath him, but still appeared calm. He was one of the best spies his unit had. Still, he was no match for Jungsu. Nobody was.
"Did Leeseo send you?" He sighed as he saw the man's eyes flicker.
"Why are you chasing after someone who doesn't care about you number Two? As your superior, I advise you-"
"You ain't sh*t now! Don't call yourself my superior. I don't know why the hell Leeseo likes you."
"Likes me?" Jungsu huffed out a breath. "You must be mad if you think that woman is capable of liking anyone."
"Don't talk as if you are you sick bastard!" Spittle flew from the man's mouth as his words and Jungsu made a face.
Jungsu nodded his head in thought.
"Yes, perhaps you are right. Now, tell me, what business do you have here?"
Jungsu twisted the man's arm until the man was pleading with him to stop. While number two was a strong fighter, he was weak. Not physically, but mentally.
Practically shouting at him, he said, "S-she sent me to send you a message!"
Jungsu narrowed his eyes as the man relayed the message. "T-tag. I'm it."
Jungsu abruptly let go of the man's arm as he backed away, feeling his stomach drop at the words. He felt a wave of nausea, despite the constant reminder that he was free from that place, and from her games.
He knew what that meant.
She was coming for him.