polygraph test.
DATE: 20190128 LOCATION: first floor, main headquarters TIME: 11:13
He walks into the office with a confused expression on his face, and quickly makes his way towards the chair right in front of the interviewer. He remembers seeing those people around the HQ quite a few times, but never talked to them — he actually thought they didn’t even know about his existence, once he tends to always be locked in the data centre, with his eyes glued to the screen of his computer.
It feels weird, being stared at by someone he doesn’t know, even more with a camera pointing at him.
The people that brought him into the room attach the polygraph to his body and then walk to the door, standing on the way out as if they were supposed to stop Minjae if he tried to sneak out — which he wouldn’t do, he’s not that stupid. He just looks stupid most of the time, but he’s far from that.
The interviewer asks some simple questions at first, like his name and branch and length of service, and he answers to them calmly, but what he really wants is the real deal: the actual questions, the ones they need to make, the ones that could vaporize him if he said anything they didn’t like. But Minjae’s life is an open book: he has nothing to hide, nothing to say about what he assumes they want to know thanks to the rumors he’s heard after the director’s speech.
“Where were you on the 28th of OCTOBER, 2018? Do you have an alibi?”
He looks straight into the interviewer’s eyes when he speaks, doing his best to exhale confidence and tranquility when he answers. “I was with my friends, Hajoon and Hansol, intelligence and clandestine agents. We were at the karaoke on the night before, and since we go out of there late Hansol and I slept over at Hajoon’s place.”
His expression is serious and indifferent the entire time when he speaks, and his voice sounds calm and still firm. “We have photos and receipts on that date if you need them.”
“What are your thoughts on Park Jaekwang? What are you thinking about the murder?”
Minjae nods a few times after that question, he looks away at the polygraph and presses his lips together into a thin line as he thinks about the subject: the death of Park Jaekwang.
“I didn’t really know much about him, but I think he had some connections with my father. You know, my father is somehow influential because of his job and the greatness of his hospital so… They knew each other, and that’s all I knew about Mr. Park.” He nods again, taking a deep breath before he speaks again. “And about his death… I don’t know what to think. It’s very strange how nothing was discovered yet, once he was probably surrounded by security guards. I’m just sorry for his family, I hope they’re doing alright.”
“Is there anything that dissatisfies you within the agency?”
He squints when he looks back at the person across of him, blinking a few times. What is something that dissatisfies him… other than the disgusting tea from the HQ’s canteen?
“I feel like… We don’t know enough. And that’s all I have to say, I think you understand me. Or I’m just being paranoid, wouldn’t be the first time!” And he shrugs, flashing a small and petty smile to the interviewer.
“Have you been in touch with your family lately? How did your mother feel about you not following in your father’s footsteps?”
This time he frowns hard, tilting his head slightly to the side after he hears that question. What the actual fuck, he thought. Why would they ask about his family, about his mother — when he made it very clear from the start that he has no connection with her, or his brother. That hasn’t changed, and he doesn’t plan on changing it anytime soon. Never, to be more exact.
“Why is that relevant?” He asks, with a raised eyebrow. “I am in touch with my father very often, obviously. But I have no connections to my mother. The way she feels about my major doesn’t matter, it’s not important and it doesn’t change anything in my performance doing my job. I don’t see why you need to ask me something like that, but since you did, write this in capitals on your record: JUNG MINJAE HAS NO CONTACT WITH HIS MOTHER. Period.”
“As an analytic methodologist, have you realized any unusual situations or occasions in the past couple of months? Anything different with the administration since the change of directors?”
After calming himself down from the annoyance the previous question caused in him, Minjae takes a deep breath and brushes his fingers through his hair, looking away from the interviewer to avoid further irritation.
“I haven’t noticed anything weird with the administration, I tend to focus on my work only. And speaking of that, I did notice an increase in the stress level in the agents. It’s very clear actually, all you have to do is look at their faces but I don’t think that’s something you guys should pay more attention to. But then again, I could be wrong, I don’t know.”
