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"And all the kids cried out please stop you're scaring me..."
"He's in there."
"I can't help this awful energy..."
"Be careful."
"Goddamn right you should be scared of me..."
"Why?"
"Who is in control?..."
"He's dangerous."
"... I know."
A male lifted his head up at the sound of the door opening opposite him, the song falling silent on his tongue. He leaned back in his chair and the rattle of the chains echoed in the empty room. Well, empty apart from a table, the chair he was sitting on, the chair opposite him, and let's not forget the two-way mirror.
So boring. So unoriginal.
The man let a smirk appear on his face as the officer walked in, his badge gleaming on his uniform and his face just visible in the dull light. He watched as the man shut the door with a click behind him and took a look at his figure.
Damn, he was good looking.
The officer walked over and sat on the empty chair, dropping a brown cover file on the table as he did so.
"Xiao Zhan." the officer announced as he sat down, giving the male a look of hidden intrigue.
"The one and only." Xiao Zhan replied, laughing lightly before speaking. "And who am I so honoured to be in the presence of?"
"Officer Wang Yibo. My team were the ones who captured you."
"Oh... 'captured' is the word you're going with?" Xiao Zhan questioned, raising a brow. "Interesting."
"And what would you call it?" Wang Yibo inquired.
"Temporary custody. A vacation of sorts. You aren't holding me captive."
Wang Yibo was silent as he looked at Xiao Zhan, the most feared mafia leader in Beijing. His golden eyes stood out in the low lighting and pierced through Xiao Zhan. Or as far as they could go. He prided himself on being able to read people: he could observe and understand the situation and intentions. But, as he looked at the male opposite him- who was grinning and leaning back on his chair- he couldn't decipher a thing.
"Many people are an open book, Wang Yibo. I, however, am not."
Yibo was curious as to how Xiao Zhan knew what he was doing but realised that his job required him to always be alert and to know the situation. He could probably tell with just a glance if someone had betrayed him. The mafia was a dangerous life, yet Xiao Zhan looked like he loved every part of it.
"Why did you bring me here?" Zhan asked when the officer made no attempt at conversation.
Yibo was silent as he slid the file into the middle of the table and opened it, the bundle of sheets separating slightly from the action.
"There are thirteen missing people in Beijing since Friday last. Thirteen reports in four days. Your... team, are known for their methods and I understand that-"
"Understand?" Xiao Zhan asked, leaning forward in his chair, his brow raised. "Oh no, Yibo, you don't understand anything."
Wang Yibo frowned at the shortening of his name but nonetheless remained professional, beginning his questioning.
"Are you responsible?"
"Straight to it, are we?" Zhan commented before laughing lightly.
"Are you?" the officer repeated, his gaze cold and tone deep.
"Listen, officer, you may think my world is one full of heartless, immoral people who enjoy murder and kill innocents for fun..."
"But?" Yibo replied when the mafia boss stopped talking.
"But... you are absolutely right." Zhan finished with a grin before bursting out into maniacal laughter, leaning his head back and tilting his chair.
Wang Yibo took in the man's behaviour and was about to ask another question when, all of a sudden, Xiao Zhan stopped laughing and leaned forwards, right until his face was inches from his own. The grin was gone and so was the mischief in his eyes; instead, a cold and stony expression replaced it and he looked ready to murder.
"But, Mr. Officer, my team... we don't hurt innocents. We aren't cruel and we don't stoop so low. We bring about justice- rather like yourself- except we will do no matter what it takes to do so. Unlike you and your almighty officers, we don't care about breaking a few rules. So get off your high horse, Wang Yibo, because both down we both know..."
"Both know what?" Yibo asked, subconsciously leaning forwards so they were centimetres apart.
"We both know that you would love to break the rules. Beneath all that Mr Perfect there's an animal. There is one in all of us but you, well, it's just waiting to be unleashed." Zhan finished with a smirk, loving how Yibo's eyes darkened slightly before resuming their indifferent expression.
"You know nothing about me Xiao Zhan, and stop avoiding the question. Are you responsible for the missing people cases?" Wang Yibo asked for a third time.
"Were you not listening? No, I am not."
"Prove it."
"Prove it?" Zhan asked, feigning sorrow. "You mean you don't believe my word? I'm hurt." he finished, placing a hand over his chest and pouting.
"..."
"Fine. You tell me when they disappeared and I'll tell you where I was and what I was doing. Happy? Great. Although I doubt you will believe me because I'm the 'bad guy', right? I could be lying straight to your face."
"Xiao Zhan, you do understand that lying to a police officer is a criminal offence."
"Oh, really? I didn't know. My bad. It's not as if I've never broken the law before." Zhan replied with a grin.
"And since we have you here, locked in this room, your actions are being recorded and I can get you sent to jail for a very long time," Yibo said, not removing his gaze away from Zhan's relaxed figure.
"Well go on then, we don't have all day," Zhan said, waving his hand about in the air as if swiping away wasted time.
"Friday, 9 pm."
"I was at the club."
"Which club?" Yibo inquired.
"The club."
Yibo didn't say anything except raise an eyebrow.
"The club, Wang Yibo, you know which one," Zhan explained, smirking as the gears worked in Yibo's mind.
Yibo thought for a moment at what club Xiao Zhan was referring to. There were dozens all over the city. He thought about the most popular ones, hidden in plain sight ones, ones only the wealthy could enter. And then it clicked.
"The club on 21st Street?"
"Indeed. You ever been?" Xiao Zhan asked, tilting his head as he leaned back and looked at Yibo.
"No."
"Ah, well it is very good. I can take you some time, help you... loosen up."
Yibo only sighed and placed the document at the top of the pile at the bottom, the sound of the papers shuffling filling the silent air. Yibo could feel Zhan's intense gaze upon him. The club the mafia boss was referring to was the biggest and most elite club in the city. It was nameless, in the shadows, and only those with enough money to attend or those working in the forces knew about it. On 21st street was an ordinary and empty looking house yet a few mere meters down was an underground club with alcohol, drugs, strippers, guns, everything illegal and not. Yibo had heard about it from his older brother Hai Kuan who was a head officer in charge of infiltration missions; he said it was a place Yibo would not like to go. But, as he glanced up at Zhan- whose grin had yet to leave his lips- he found the smallest part of him wanted to go. Merely to see what it was like of course, nothing more.
"Next?" Zhan asked, taking a look at the next report. "Saturday, 6 pm. I was at home cooking dinner. I am a good chef if I do say so myself."
"Hm," Yibo responded before flipping the page over to reveal a single picture. He wanted to ask where Zhan lived but knew that there were several places the mafia boss had possession of all over the city, all over the country, and all over the world. "Look at this picture."
"That's me." Zhan pointed out. "I look good. I bet all of you were watching very closely. You love to do so whenever I go out. Sometimes it is rather annoying: I would like a private life, you know."
Yibo gave an almost blank look at Xiao Zhan as he spoke, yet his eyes gave away his curiosity. He himself took another look over the picture and saw that Zhan had lowered his sunglasses to give a wink to the security camera they were using for surveillance. He opened his mouth to ask how Xiao Zhan knew he was being watched but knew he would receive no concrete answer.
"I have eyes everywhere, Wang Yibo. Even on you." Xiao Zhan commented as he leaned closer, his gleaming chocolate eyes staring right into Wang Yibo's golden ones. "You think my team don't know where I am? You think I don't have my own people watching us right now? You are a novice- and you have much to learn- but I confess I would like to have someone like you working for me. Top of your class at the academy. A brother in the official ranks. An uncle in charge of the local troupes. Well connected, yet I don't see you striving for anything particularly great. So, my guess is... You have personal goals. A vendetta. Am I wrong?"
Throughout the whole of Xiao Zhan's speech, Wang Yibo looked at him with a mixture of curiosity, annoyance and slight awe. He could guess the ways Zhan retrieved information about him but the mentions of his family caused a stir, as did the mention of his vendetta.
"You know nothing about me."
"Oh? You know, we are very much alike. Someone close to us died at a young age. The difference was I had no one, you still had people to rely on. We both had to struggle in this strange and cruel world, not wanting to rely on anyone for help, wanting to do something meaningful in the world... Who died?"
When Xiao Zhan asked the question, Yibo was expecting to see a teasing and mean grin on the man's face but instead, he received nothing but curiosity. He was- for the minutest moment- tempted to answer. Luckily, he recovered and returned to the missing people.
"Sunday, 11 am."
"Church."
Wang Yibo raised a brow at this response.
"I may be the 'bad guy', Yibo. But I am not a bad person and believe in the almighty above us. Now, who was it? Your friend? A cousin? Your parents? Ah..."
"And afterwards?" Wang Yibo asked, ignoring the side comments.
"I'm sorry. My parents... they were killed in front of my eyes when I was a kid. Seven years old is not enough time to learn how to survive in this world." Zhan spoke, his gaze becoming distant and all emotion left his face leaving a soft frown. "God, why am I even telling you this? Doesn't matter anyways..."
"Monday, 3 pm."
"3 pm? Hmm, I think I was at home. Nothing much to do on-" Zhan replied, but stopped mid-speech and peered at the door behind Yibo. A frown appeared once again before his eyes widened in realisation. He turned to the officer before speaking quickly in a hushed tone. "Look, if I ask you to get behind the table will you do it?"
"What?"
Zhan sighed before standing up; Yibo watched in disbelief as the handcuffs fell straight to the floor. The mafia boss could have tried to leave at any moment, yet he didn't. Why? He had no time to question why as the next thing he knew he was being pulled over the table which was flipped on its side; he hit the floor with a thud. Immediately after a loud bang echoed throughout the room and there was dust and debris everywhere. They were being attacked.
"That's my cue to leave. So long Wang Yibo." Xiao Zhan said with a small wave and a smile before beginning to stand up; Yibo watched dazed and confused. "Look," Zhan continued, taking hold of one of Yibo's hands and placing in it a disposable phone, "I know you think we are all bad people, that I'm one of them, but I want you to see there is more to it than meets the eye. You might find you belong somewhere else, where we make our desires a reality. Call me, Wang Yibo."
With a final grin, Xiao Zhan cast a look up at the broken camera and winked before running out of the door and meeting shadowy silhouettes in the distance. Wang Yibo watched as he disappeared from sight, leaning against the turned table and going over the past few seconds in his head. The most dangerous mafia boss in the country- and possibly in the world- had just saved him from getting blown up and had given him direct contact to him. He had told him secrets no one else knew, secrets that could be used against him. He answered all of his questions, no matter how much he messed about. And... his words. Yibo didn't know what to believe nor if what Zhan said was true. Sure, he knew all about the evil in the world and those willing to put a stop to it. People like Zhan were criminals, but- Yibo admitted to himself- they were doing the right thing, simply in an unconventional way.
He glanced up at the broken camera, and once more at the blown-apart door, before looking down at the phone and slipping it into his pocket. He was just in time as in the next moment several officers rushed into the room and helped him up, bombarding him with questions of concern for him and worry at the escaped criminal. At last, Hai Kuan appeared and helped his brother escape the erratic crowd. They reached an empty corridor and Hai Kuan looked upon his brother with curious understanding.
"Yibo," he began, "you know how much I care for you. You know that I have always allowed you to walk your own path. Now I want you to know that whatever you decide to do I will understand and try to help you as much as I can. I have chosen my path: to follow uncle and become a head officer. You have followed this path too but now I see your journey has a crossroads. Yibo, make your decision about what is best for yourself, regardless of the opinions of those around you."
Yibo looked at his brother with complete awe, shocked at how he could understand his thoughts with a mere glance. It was something he had always been jealous of and tried to practice himself. Now, as he was deciding what course of action to take, the weight of the phone in his pocket, he nodded his head and walked away, heading out of the building and straight home.
He had a mind to make up and a phone call to take.