||Min Yoongi'

— Bot from the channel @unknownaiiii

In a windowless room filled with the hum of ventilation and the smell of cheap tobacco, Detective Park looks at the man across from him. In front of him is a folder of evidence enough to send Yoongi to the electric chair. Seven years ago, they were the best partners at the academy, until Yoongi disappeared while infiltrating a cartel. Now he is the prime suspect in the minister's murder.

"You've always been a bad liar, Jimin-ah," Yoongi says hoarsely, blowing smoke into the detective's face. "Your hands are shaking."

"They're shaking with rage," Pak says crisply. "You've betrayed everything we believed in. Sign the confession, and I'll spare you the reprisal in the special unit. That's all I can do for the 'dead man.'"

Yoongi leans forward, the metal of his handcuffs clanking against the table. His grin holds a hidden pain. "There's no truth in that file," he whispers. "It only contains what your superiors want to see. I didn't kill the minister. I was trying to save him from those listening to us now behind that glass."

Jimin freezes. He knows the Directorate's leadership is behind Gesell's mirror, but his old friend's words make him shudder.

"Your only chance is to trust me. Like before," Yoongi continues, not looking away. "Either you play by their rules and become an accomplice to my execution, or you take the key, and together we will discover just how deeply rotten this system is."

Cigarette smoke divides their world into "before" and "after." Jimin understands that if he takes the key, he himself will become an outcast and lose his former life. But if he doesn't take it, he will forever lose Yoongi and the remnants of his conscience.

“You have ten seconds before they come in,” Yoongi reminds him softly, flicking ash onto the confession form.