A/N: I republished this old fanfiction from my old account.
Disclaimer: OCN [Orion Cinema Network], Lee Jae-Gon (writer) and Nam Sang-Wook (writer) own Special Affairs Team TEN / 특수사건전담반 TEN. Charles Dumont and Michel Vaucaire own the song 'Non, je ne regrette rien'. I do not own the picture too, but I was the one who edit it.
{Reflection}
"Why did you want to change yourself?"
"I thought that if I'm not gloomy and melancholic looking, maybe people would not forget about me."
"Then why were you looking so gloomy and melancholic? Is it because of your special ability?"
"Maybe. People scared of me and my ability.'"
"What do you think about your ability? Is it a curse or a gift?"
"Is it a blessing to know when someone is lying?"
"Well, is it a blessing for you? what do you think, Ye-Ri ah? It all depends on yourself."
{Lies}
"Kim Seonsaengnim lied again."
"Ye-Ri, how did you know? That is so cool!"
She had the ability to tell if someone is lying or not. She knew even if the person only tried to use white lies to protect their precious ones. Lies, lies and lies. She knew it all. People acknowledged her when she was still in middle school. People adored her when she can tell if any teachers lied. Her nickname was 'the lie detector'. Everybody wanted to be her friends.
As times goes by, she went to high school and university. Everything changed. As 'the lie detector', her close friends were trying to avoid her. Nobody can fool her, nobody can lie to her. People around her were scared of her.
"Nam Ye-Ri from class A? She is scary. Tch, we can't lie to her because she will know anyway."
"I don't like that bitch. How disgusting! I bet she will tell to other people and start to make some gossip if maybe a girl had an affair with another boys."
She was there, inside the toilet. She heard them talking bad things about her. She was not the type of person who would love to make some pretty gossip about anyone at school. Everybody hated her.
She remembered when her ex-boyfriend dumped her. "I'm not leaving you because of another woman. I'm leaving you because you're scary."
She will always wondered to herself; "Why me? Why does it have to be me?"
In the end, she tried to be like anybody else. She pretended to be a normal human who can't differentiate the lies and truth. She pretended not to hear those lies. She can't be herself. She wanted to fit in even if nobody understand her.
After all those years with people who were scared of her, she tried to reflect and decided to use her ability in a good way. She decided to become a detective; someone who will find the truth behind all those lies and the truth behind the criminal's action.
{Édith Piaf}
She went to go to the old-fashioned photo studio. It has been more than a decade when she first went to that studio. It was 2004, when she was still a university student. Her melancholic old self, painful breakup and long hair. How nostalgic.
When she opened the door, an energetic voice could be heard by her. "Welcome!"
It was not the same voice as the ahjussi that she met decades ago. She wondered if the ahjussi is still alive or not. It was him who told her to learn how to smile. She entered the studio. Everything was still the same. It was fascinating to see a lot of photographs along the corridor, like how it used to. She smiled, looking at the pictures. Wedding photos, family photos, baby photos. It all scattered like how it used to.
"Welcome, how may I help you?" asked the man in the counter. It was not the same ahjussi, but the man looked older than her.
"I'm looking for the ahjussi. The old man before? He was the one who photographed me around ten years ago."
"Ah, you mean my father? Wait a moment please." answered the man politely. He went to the secret room and she could actually hear the man calling his father. A few minutes later, the man went to the counter and told her to go to the secret room.
She could hear a familiar song when she entered to the secret room. A french song. She had ever been to the secret room before. She looked at the vinyl disc player, which was the same old one as she saw decades ago. The vinyl disc looked very familiar.
"Ah, little Édith Piaf."
She bowed at him and said, "Annyeonghaseo."
The ahjussi looked older than before but somehow he was still the same old ahjussi that she knew. He still used the beret and glasses. Although things changed, like he sat in a wheelchair and his hair was whiter than before. "It's been a long time, agassi. Did you cut hair?"
She smiled and nodded, "Yes, I did. Ahjussi... I... would like to take a picture again."
"Three, two, one!"
The son was the one who photographed her. The Ahjussi was too old to do it on his own. After the photograph session, she took her bag and said thank you to the man. "You can take the photograph tomorrow evening." The son said politely. She nodded.
"You changed a lot, agassi." The ahjussi confessed, "It is rare to see you smile like that."
"You told me to learn how to smile."
The ahjussi laughed and said, "Ah, old times... I'm glad that you're able to smile now, agassi."
He went to his secret room again and came back with a vinyl disc which already been wrapped like a gift. He gave it to her and smiled, "Agassi, I never forget about you. The little Edith Piaf who can't smile at all."
She smiled back. She remembered what the ahjussi said to her; 'I've been taking photograph of people for more than 40 years. I could see their past experience by looking at their expression'. If she had to compare herself with the ahjussi, they both were probably the same. The ahjussi could see people's experience while she could see if people is lying. She bowed to both of the men in that old-fashioned photo studio and left.
The vinyl disc was Édith Piaf's 'Non, je ne regrette rien', which means 'No, I regret nothing'. She listened to the song and searched for the meaning. The song is all about starting from the beginning without any regrets. She hummed the melody of the song. It was such a perfect song to describe the past Nam Ye-Ri and the current Nam Ye-Ri, who was struggling with the misfortune of having an ability of a lie detector.
Je repârs à zéro. It means, I start again with nothing.
"Agassi, you look prettier when you smile. You are indeed a beautiful woman. From now on, please continue to smile and I hope you find your own happiness."
{Fragile}
It was already dark that day. She needed to organise her things before she leave her office. The unsolved 'F' cases' files were scattered in her desk. She needed to tell him about Song Kyung-Tae. He should know that Song Kyung-Tae is not 'F'.
He appeared before her. Yeo Ji-Hoon. The mysterious guy who can tell a perfect lie. 'No matter it's good or bad, if a person who really wants to hide something, they can wear a very thick mask.' She remembered. He was one of them. The monster who wears a very thick mask.
"Are you going home?" asked the man who stood beside her transparent office door. She nodded, both of them were the only one left. Park Min-Ho had some business with his father, while Baek Do-Shik had a blind date.
Special Affairs Team 'TEN'? She was proud of herself for being a part of the team. Of course, who wouldn't be proud of themselves when they are in a team where they investigate cases which have less than a ten percent chance of being solved? But the most important thing to her is trust, not achievement. She trusted her team. Baek Do-Shik sunbaenim, Park Min-Ho and Yeo Ji-Hoon timjangnim. They believed her, they didn't think that her ability is a curse but the opposite. They were glad that she had the ability to tell if the murderer or suspect lied or not.
"Nam Ye-Ri sii?" He called her.
She snapped out of her daydream and panicked, "I'm sorry."
He then left her office, while she took her purse and followed him. It was like a habit, going home with the monster. She was not afraid of him, she wanted to understand him. She knew that he is just normal human being who became a monster because of 'F'. She wanted to help him to overcome his fear and his obsession.
"Timjangnim... Thank you for everything." She said to the man who walked in front of her.
She is a lie detector. She knows if anybody lied to her by looking at their eyes and listening to their voices. But is it a gift or a curse? She thought it was a curse because her ability made her grew distant from her friends. But without her ability, she may not become a detective and a part of team TEN. She realised that it was a gift all along. She was glad to have team TEN on her side.
Is it a blessing to know when someone is lying?
End.
Definition
Agassi - miss / young lady
Ahjussi - uncle / a honorifics addressing somebody who is way older than you.
Annyeonghaseo - hello
Seonsaengnim - a honorifics for addressing teacher
Sunbaenim - senior / equivalent to "senpai" in Japanese
Timjangnim - team leader / chief / director
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A/N: Thank you for reading my TEN fanfiction. Nam Ye-Ri is my favorite character actually. She is very strong and kind. I just love season 1 episode 8 about the TEN members' past, it's a shame that I skip episode 7-9 because the subs suck so badly. Where can we download/watch TEN with a good quality subs? Please kindly tell me if you know. Basically I read the recaps from Dramabeans, Kakashi-sensei and kaedejun. I watched it too but all of the quotes from episode 8 were my guess and thanks to my korean amateur skill. I'm sorry if I mistranslating some of it. Please let me know too, I'll edit it.
I got an idea for {Fragile} because I think it should be interesting like how Yeo Ji-Hoon told (or maybe command) her to go home with him and knowing Ye-Ri's attraction to her timjangnim. {Édith Piaf} was based on season 1 episode 8. I think that it's like a little reunion between Nam Ye-Ri and the photographer and how Nam Ye-Ri changed after decades. Non, je ne regrette rien is a perfect song to describe Nam Ye-Ri's determination to change herself. {Reflection} is the progress on how Ye-Ri become the current Ye-Ri, she is becoming more confident and cheerful. {Lies} is the beginning of all.
I made Yeo Ji-Hoon's past and Nam Ye-Ri's past. Should I make Min-Ho's or Do-Shik's? I guess I could do Min-Ho's next time. Don't forget to review my TEN fanfiction. For those people who haven't read Yeo Ji-Hoon's story, the title is 'Wake Up'. See you!
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Completed: 27.02.2015
