Depreciation (Criminal AU) (WayV x Reader)

Red Tape

Click.

"Please state your name."

"Y/N."

"Full name."

"Y/N... (M/N) L/N." It was cold. The chair beneath her was like ice to her thighs and the metal dug into her skin like claws of guilt. Her eyes were darting left and right, nervous as to what she was meant to do in this situation. The man seated in front of her was holding what looked to be a recording device, already rolling.

"Miss Y/N. Where were you..." His voice was grating. It was annoying her quite a bit. Either that, or maybe she was just in a state of sensory overload. Regardless, she had a quickly growing headache, and the lights weren't helping. She was currently being held for questioning in a small police station. While she wasn't in any trouble, they did need her preliminary testimony before they could continue on with WayV's detention, trial, and conviction.

She answered. She had gotten so used to answering questions she didn't want to answer. What business of this man's was it who she was? What she was doing? Where she had gone? Once he had established that she was at the WayV concert on the night that she had been kidnapped, he asked an associate to bring a record. When it was given to him, she noted that it was a missing persons case file.

"Now, Miss Y/N- You've been off the grid for quite a while now. Mind telling me where you went? Start from the beginning, please." She swallowed hard. She had a choice to make. She could tell them everything right now. What they had done to her. Getting kidnapped in the bathroom, getting taken to their base, their attempts at selling her, the cuts and bruises- it would all be so difficult, and yet... so easy. She could win justice.

"W-well, I finished the concert and started to leave the building." He nodded, writing as she spoke. "So I went to the bathroom-"

"The ones at the front entrance or on the ground-level deck?" She knew which was the more suspicious answer, but she also wasn't sure what exactly they knew.

"Uh, I think the second one, it was empty." He nodded, allowing her to continue. "I was in there for a while, maybe an hour? The concert was super tiring, a-and I like being alone." Gulping again, her hands started to become sweaty. This was a dangerous game. "As I was sitting there, I-I realized how boring my life was, h-how much I hated it. So I ran away." His head tilted slightly in confusion. This was not the answer he had been expecting.

"You ran away?"

"Y-yes. The first week I was just walking around alone, wondering what I was doing with my life. I slept under a few bridges, met a few people. I got a ride out into that area where you ended up finding me, I-I had been staying in a middle-aged lady's shed, a-and-"

"Do you remember her name?"

"Huh?"

"The lady. Do you remember her name?" Y/N shook her head.

"She didn't know I was there, I just... wanted a roof."

"How did you eat?"

"People gave me money, I mostly just ate fast food."

"Your clothes look fairly nice. Have you been wearing them this whole time?" She shook her head slightly.

"I- I had a change of clothes for the concert, just in case, so I've been taking turns washing each outfit at the coin laundry every few days."

"Where did you get detergent?"

"If I couldn't borrow it I'd just use water." He was asking far too many detailed questions for her liking. She was going to have to remember all of this- every detail.

"You were found in the woods with Wong Kun-Hang. How do you know him?" She breathed deeply, face twitching at the name. Still, she couldn't afford to lose her focus now.

"Y-you mean Hendery?"

"I believe that's his stage name, yes."

"I- I know him from WayV, obviously. I was at the concert."

"Yes, but why were you in the forest speaking with each other?"

"I- I was trying to find a way to move, a bus station or something, get out of town and find a job, I just... I just ran into him and we started talking."

"What were you talking about?" Shit, this is where things would get really complicated. If they asked Hendery the same question and they gave different answers, they were both screwed. She would have been fine before, but now that she was lying to a member of law enforcement, she could get in serious trouble too. She didn't even know why she was protecting them. Stupid- but it was too late.

"I... I don't remember." She put a hand to her head, only half having to feign the pain in her expression. The man's brows angled, clearly annoyed.

"You don't remember?"

"N...no." Sighing, he clicked the tape off. They were off the record, now.

"Look, Y/N. I know you're scared. And I know you used to be a fan of WayV. But these are serious allegations. I don't know what reason you would have to stand in the way of criminal justice, but if for some reason you have some... strange case of Stockholm, or something, you need to do the right thing." He tried to make eye contact, but she was looking to the ground.

"Just admit that you were kidnapped by WayV, and we just happened to find you at the right moment. I can restart the recording, you can tell the truth, and we can go from there." Her eyes widened just a fraction, and she prayed he couldn't see the flush in her cheeks. What was she doing? What the fuck was she doing?

"With all due respect, sir, this feels like coercion. We are off the record for questioning, as well. Both are illegal. I would like to have a lawyer present before answering any more questions." Anger flared up in his eyes, but he controlled himself, standing.

"If that's your choice..."