Capturing My Demon King Costar

MY COSTAR WATCHES ME BE ARRESTED

Yao Shen barely has the time to exchange a look with Xin Hulei before the two Inspectors are announcing his arrest, each of them flanking him and holding on to his upper arm.

"I'm sure you don't want to be handcuffed for this," Inspector Song says. "Everything will go a lot better if you cooperate. We can avoid drawing any undue attention."

"I haven't done anything, I haven't seen that syringe in my life," Yao Shen says.

Both Inspectors ignore him, and frog marching him out of the room carelessly.

"I'm going too," Xin Hulei says, his eyes blazing.

Inspector Wei raises his free hand to stop Xin Hulei's movements. "This is not a couple's spa package," he says, while Inspector Song snorts. "You'll be called down to the precinct soon enough. Wait your turn."

Yao Shen throws one last worried look at Xin Hulei over his shoulder before being escorted out of the room.

---

Thankfully, the late hour makes it so not a lot of people see the spectacle of him being led into a police car between the two Inspectors, their grip tight on his upper arm.

The ride to the police station passes by in a blur, in which Yao Shen tries to make sense of his jumbled thoughts.

Who would have planted the syringe in his room?

Gao Wu wanted to warn him, so the person's identity must be shocking, someone Yao Shen would never suspect.

While the Inspectors lead him into an interrogation room, and set up all kinds of cameras and recording equipment, Yao Shen rifles trough a mental file of everyone he knows. Trying to think of their motives for framing him, considering what they had to gain.

The only person he can say he trusts, without a shadow of doubt, his Xin Hulei. Everyone else he can come up with a motive for, no matter how flimsy.

Inspector Wei clears his throat and adjusts the knot of his tie. "I'm sure this isn't where you thought you'd spend your evening," he says, his tone friendly and approachable. Yao Shen isn't fooled by the routine, he knows they're just trying to put him at ease so he'll babble whatever he needs to hear.

"We won't handcuff you as a courtesy," Inspector Song says, her tone more curt and to the point. "I don't think you'll give us any trouble. You're smarter than that."

Yao Shen nods, looking down at his hands, laying flat on top of the cool formica tabletop.

They're not going to go for a "bad cop, good cop" approach, that's too american tv show. From what Yao Shen can tell, Inspector Wei will try to be his buddy, a friend he can confide in without judgement, while Inspector Wei will be the strict schoolteacher, not a disciplinarian, or evil, just a stickler for the rules.

Yao Shen has studied characters like these. There's a reason they pop up in a lot of dramas: they're familiar. The neighbourhood buddy who never thinks anything is a big deal, the schoolteacher who does, but only has your best interests in mind, and will do her best to get you out of a tight spot, even if she'll berate you for it.

They hope one of them will resonate with Yao Shen, leave him vulnerable and open to manipulation.

Maybe it works with people who are guilty, or with innocent people who aren't actors and can't tell when someone is playing a role.

"You know as well as I do that that syringe could have been planted," Yao Shen says, cutting straight through their carefully planned line of questioning.

Inspector Wei sprawls against the back of his chair with a snort. "Sure, but that's also something you'd say if we found the murder weapon in your hotel room."