DEADLY ENTANGLEMENT ⋮ markhyuck

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After obtaining the search warrant and investigating with Jaemin's help, Mark had a break for a few minutes and visited the brothel owner again but this time with Jeno. They asked Mr. Kim to introduce them to this place's latest visitors.

They wanted to see the names.

"I have them written here," Mr. Kim, pushed a book with a row of names.

"Are these the names of the people who were here this evening?" Mark asked for confirmation.

"No, they're only nicknames. We don't use real names here for privacy. That's why this place is so popular..."

"Well, that is new, and it makes everything even harder," he said to the owner of the brothel, then turned to Jeno. "There are lots of nicknames."

"This place is really popular," the assistant detective whispered. "Weird, and I don't like it."

"Do you know which one of these visitors was with Haewon and became his client for the evening?" Mark turned back at the owner.

"I don't remember these things," the latter replied. "If I'm not wrong, he was with five different guys that night."

"And you don't know who they were?"

The man shook his head.

"The information here is useful," Mark nudged Jeno, then looked back at the owner. "We have to confiscate this for our investigation, Mr. Kim."

"S-Sure," the latter mumbled, but it was obvious he wasn't satisfied by such an important thing being taken away.

"Could you show us your surveillance cameras?" Mark asked the next question, rushing the process.

The owner agreed, and both inspectors were soon brought to the narrow security room.

"This is the footage of yesterday," the guard, responsible for that, introduced them to the view that had just gotten on the screen.

"Let's see," Mark leaned closer. "Could we see the hallway two hours before the murder happened?"

"Sure."

The guard skipped the footage around Mark's suggested time. The four of them watched everything in silence and observed how prostitutes took the customers inside the rooms and how they left. Jeno recognized the victim and pointed him out. They all then watched how he went inside the room. Alone. But no matter how many people passed by, he never left.

"Is there any other entrance to that room?" Mark asked, clearing his throat.

"No, there's only one. This door. We don't even have windows..."

"Assistant Detective," Mark turned to his colleague and friend, Jeno.

The latter nodded and left the security room. Without further words, he understood that Mark wanted him to check.

"Maybe he killed himself?" the brothel keeper wondered.

Mark felt the man looking at him, but he couldn't approve or disapprove, since it was a mystery to him too.

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The morning broke, but Mark didn't move any further. He and his fellow assistant tried to seek the answers to the nicknames, wondering that maybe at least one person called themselves by their own name. But no one did.  They were either one-word nicknames or full fake names. The thing that made Mark uneasy was that they not only weren't embarrassed to visit such places, but they also showed their sick creativity with their nicknames. Who would even call themselves Vye Brator, Milky Sauce, or YuriNator?