~ Jung DaeHyun ~

Once back at the precinct, DaeHyun hurries to the chief’s office, rushing past the business of the borough as people yell over each other and men wait in line against the wall for processing. DaeHyun nocks on the door to the chief’s room, standing impatiently as he waits for the call to enter. When it doesn't come, DaeHyun nocks again and leans closer, putting his ear to the door.

“What?” Chief yells as he pulls the door open, startling DaeHyun.

“Oh, chief,” DaeHyun stumbles back, “Sir, do you have a moment to talk?”
“No! What do you want?” the man chews on the end of his cigar.

“It’s about GDragon, sir, about NATAS.”

The chief looks to him for a moment and then looks around at the room behind him. He nods and waves him in, turning back to his desk. DaeHyun quickly follows and shuts the door behind him. He walks directly over the chief’s desk and places his hands on the table, looking down into the chief’s eyes.

“Hyori is dead.” DaeHyun exhales at once.

The chief stares up to him in silence for what feels like an eternity before slamming his own desk with his fists, “Is that what you’ve been banging on my door for this whole time? You don’t think we already thought that three years ago? That’s why we shut the case, but your father was the only one who remained consistent with it!”

DaeHyun’s mouth drops as he stands up and glances around, “But, sir, maybe there was a reason that my father wanted it open still! Aren’t you curious as to how I know so positively that’s she dead? And that it wasn’t an accident… I think that it was murder!”

Finally, the chief’s interest seems to have been sparked as he leans back in his chair, taking his cigar from his mouth. He motions for DaeHyun to have a seat and then nods, “Tell me what you know, kid.”

DaeHyun takes a breath, “Sir, I looked into GDragon’s file and he has a lot more information than the one you gave me.”

The chief nods, “Of course, I suspected that.”

“Well, sir, I found a bunch of information in his files. Information on some sort of NATAS group and a building explosion resulting from chemicals. Those are what killed Hyori! There was a list of people killed in the explosion and she was among them!”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, sir!” DaeHyun feels as if he’s yelling now, “Why would Hyori be involved with NATAS? BiRain never mentioned anything like that. She was an art teacher. She did animal volunteer programs on the side, but she was never apart of anything with the government like this! GDragon was in the list as a survivor, and there’s photographs missing people that might look like JunHyung and YongGuk and that girl at Chaelin’s shop-”

The chief takes a breath, “Take it easy, kid, don’t get ahead of yourself. You said that JunHyung boy? Ha!” The chief scoffs, “That little trouble maker would be apart of the mess in this town!”

“No, sir, I don’t think it’s JunHyung this isn’t something like a couple bar fights it’s something bigger…a lot bigger!”

“Calm down, son,” the chief holds his hands up, “Maybe it was a bad idea putting you on this case.”

“What?” DaeHyun breathes.

The chief shakes his head, “I didn’t know that you would get so deep into it…I think you have some emotional ties about your father…”

“Emotional ties?”
“Listen,” the chief states, leaning forward, “I’m not going to pull you yet…but watch out for yourself! If you think this GDragon guy is up to something with the government…” he shakes his head, “Then don't get yourself involved.”

“You said to retrieve more information, chief,” DaeHyun pants.

“Forget that,” he says, “I’m only looking out for you, kid, because your father was a good man. But…he was getting to engrossed in the case too and look what happened to him…I don’t want that to happen to you.”

“Chief, it won’t…”

“No, it won’t because I’m going to be more cautious!” the chief rises and puts a hand on DaeHyun’s back, leading him towards the door, “Just take this guy around town until he leaves and then forget about it. Let the bigger divisions handle it…you focus on Chinju, alright?”

“But sir,” DaeHyun tries to argue but the chief leads him out to the busy room, bringing the door closed between them.

“Let it go, Jung,” he says with serious eyes and then shuts the door.

DaeHyun breathes for a second and then quickly turns and makes his way back to his desk. He pulls out his files and yanks out some paper. He scribbles on the blank sheet, “GDragon and NATAS. Father deceased in chemical blast a year ago along with Hyori. Hyori reported missing three years prior. JunHyung, YongGuk and unnamed third girl possibly in list of missing, along with a second girl. Possible name: Kim HyunA. One man remains as active, whatever that means.” He looks down to his own discoveries and then shoves the paper inside his file and hides them within his desk, wondering whether or not he should pay another visit to Chaelin’s bakery without GDragon.

~ Kim HyunA ~

On Saturday, Hyuna wakes up even earlier and hurries to clean the apartment and the store before the day starts in preparation for Chaelin’s return. After speaking with CL on the phone the night before, she was told that CL would arrive a little after noon. BiRain had stopped by last evening as well, and took the initiative of recruiting himself, JunHyung, and YongGuk as aids in helping to run the store and clean the place up. The boys were already down in the shop, scrubbing everything and tidying up as Hyuna did the same to the apartment.

She sighs as she wipes down the bathroom mirror, wondering what her next move will be. Now that she and JunHyung and YongGuk seem to be in the same predicament together, they should definitely stay together…but YongGuk wants to move on and JunHyung wants to stay in Chinju. Honestly, Hyuna doesn’t know which option seems best to her…but with the prying eyes of this GDragon guy lately…the choice of moving out almost feels like the safest solution.

However, she was happy with the life that she had discovered in this town of Chinju, with people like CL and BiRain, and even the cop DaeHyun. She found now, with the nearing possibility of leaving, that she was happy here and would like to stay. She shakes her head, thinking that if GDragon proved to cause any trouble, than in order to keep CL unnie and BiRain oppa safe…moving on would again be the best choice.

~ Yong JunHyung ~

JunHyung wipes his forehead, beads of sweat forming along his hairline from wiping the store windows, the warm early sun streaming in. He looks behind him to YongGuk, who sweeps the floor of the shop, and BiRain, who wipes the counters and tables.

He rolls his eyes, if it weren’t for BiRain, than JunHyung wouldn’t have accepted the role of aid along side of YongGuk. The guy seemed to do everything he could to push JunHyung’s buttons…and what was worse…he did it with a calm and cool composure. JunHyung huffs, thinking that the only way to get under the guy’s skin was to use Hyuna…but he didn’t even want to do that anymore. Hyuna was neither a tool to be used nor an object to fight over. She was a person with complicated feelings from a complicated past, and YongGuk was only making things more difficult. JunHyung wishes that the guy would had stayed a dog hiding in the woods…

“Are you boys coming to Church with us tomorrow?” BiRain suddenly asks as he moves on to the tables with the cloth.

JunHyung shrugs, “I hadn’t thought about it.”

“I’m not opposed to it,” YongGuk mumbles.

“What does that mean?” JunHyung asks with a raised eyebrow.

YongGuk looks up to them with an innocent face. “I’ve never been to a church before.”

“Really?” BiRain smiles, “Than you should come with us to ours! Chaelin, JunHyung, and I used to go every week.”

YongGuk shrugs and looks back down to his sweeping, “I don’t know what I think about that.”

“You don’t…believe in a God, YongGuk?” BiRain asks cautiously.

“No, I do.” He stands up again and leans on the broom handle, staring off into space, “I look at the complexity of nature and the diversity of life and how everything works together like a machine…and I think that there must be a deity,” he shakes his head and continues to clean, “I just don’t know which one that is. I think…perhaps this deity is actually more like a substance…within nature and everything else.”

JunHyung stares at him, trying to comprehend what he means. “You don’t think that there is a God who controls everything?”

YongGuk shakes his head, “No, and that’s where Hyuna resides on her opinion as well.”

“What do you mean? Hyuna believes in a God, she mentioned it before.”

“I doubt it,” YongGuk huffs, “Trust me, she used to talk to me about it all the time earlier in the year. The way she sees it is that if there were any type of God, and He created everything and has all the power and knowledge, than he is a terrible tyrant to allow people to suffer and such.”

JunHyung’s face softens, wondering if Hyuna really believes that. “But…there’s more than that. There’s beauty and majesty and love.”

“But there’s terror and violence and death.”

“That’s life, though,” JunHyung mumbles.

“The way I see it, is there’s a choice,” BiRain voices, “I do believe in one God that has all power and knowledge but also that He does love us. I just believe that He lets us live the way we want…and we can choose Him or not, also allowing us to choose our lives. So…with some people choosing Him and others not…there’s going to be a mixture of both happiness and sadness in the world. It’s an individualistic picture.”

YongGuk sighs and shrugs, “I still don’t know your God, I only know of a deity. But for Hyuna…she will be harder to convince. She’s so bent on the idea that there can’t be a loving god in a terrible place like this…that she’d rather not believe in any god at all.”

“That’s a risky decision though,” JunHyung states.

“Every decision and choice has its consequence,” YongGuk replies, looking to him with stern eyes.

JunHyung begins to worry about Hyuna, only wanting the best for her. YongGuk…he seems to be set in his own beliefs…but Hyuna seems lost. JunHyung wants to be the one to find her…to help her and show her. Not only in the idea of religion…but in life in general. He wants to make her happy.

He blinks as he watches YongGuk return to his cleaning, thinking that if this guy made Hyuna happy…than maybe he could stick around. JunHyung’s lips curl in annoyance, again hoping that YongGuk won’t be the one to make her happy in the same way that JunHyung wants.

~ Kim HyunA ~

Hyuna hurries downstairs to help with the store a little after noon. They work together to manage the store as well as keep it clean until Chaelin arrives. BiRain had taken the car out thirty minutes ago to pick her up from the bus station, leaving Hyuna alone with JunHyung and YongGuk…again.

She finds herself smiling as she looks to them, seeing that they sit together at the same table in the corner now, talking to each other about…something. She looks at YongGuk’s eyes as he speaks, noticing how he looks to JunHyung’s eyes when being addressed. YongGuk has a certain atmosphere of relaxation and patience.

She glances to JunHyung as he talks to see that he looks down rather than to hold YongGuk’s stare. His lips move slowly as he forms his words, his lips slightly jutting out with each expression. He glances up to meet her eyes, and she smiles to him as he leans back in his chair, his mouth slowly forming a smile. YongGuk follows JunHyung’s gaze to Hyuna, and he laughs.

“Why are you looking at us?” YongGuk asks as he glances to JunHyung with narrow eyes.

JunHyung rolls his eyes.

Hyuna smiles and walks out from behind the counter, “What are you guys talking about?”

“You.” YongGuk states with a playful smile, earning a pair of surprised eyes from JunHyung.

“Really? What about?” Hyuna laughs, pulling up a chair.

“We were wondering about what to do next,” JunHyung answers, “We found that we both want the same thing.”

“And what’s that?” she asks nervously, looking between the boys.

“Your happiness and safety,” YongGuk replies, “The only issue is deciding how to balance it out.”

“I’m listening,” Hyuna smiles, leaning forward and placing her chin in her hands on the table.

“Are you happy here?” JunHyung asks.

Hyuna looks to him with soft eyes and nods, “I am.”

YongGuk sighs, “But I feel like we can’t become too comfortable with living in this town. It’s too risky with us…being so different. That DaeHyun kid seems too young to be a cop. And I don’t like that GDragon guy.”

“Me either,” Hyuna and JunHyung say in unison.

“DaeHyun’s about twenty five…a couple years older than us. Really good kid. He’s only on the force because his father was,” JunHyung waves his hand, “But I’ve never seen that GDragon guy around.”

“What does he want?” Hyuna whispers.

The boys shake their heads and stare into the distance.

“When I look at him,” YongGuk says softly, “I almost feel as if he knows. His pulse is so even when he talks to us, and his breathing controlled.”

“Huh, how do you know?” JunHyung scoffs.

YongGuk looks to him, “I have great senses…I can feel it.”

JunHyung rolls his eyes.
“Anyways,” Hyuna interrupts, looking to YongGuk, “Do you really think he knows?”

YongGuk looks to JunHyung and they purse their lips.

Hyuna sighs, “What if he does? What does that mean for us?”

“He works with the government, right?” JunHyung speaks, “That can’t be good.”

“Let’s make a deal,” YongGuk leans forward, looking to both of them, “If this guy proves to be too nosey…we move on. No matter what.”

Hyuna looks to JunHyung, her eyes showing her fright and sorrow. He looks to her and blinks slowly, also seeming defeated. He glances back to YongGuk and nods.

The door to the shop rings as someone enters, but Chaelin’s voice cries out in excitement over the clanging of the bells. “I’m home!” she chimes with a wide smile, holding the door open for BiRain as he carries in her bags.

“Chaelin!” Hyuna and JunHyung cry, standing to greet her.

Both give her a hug as she laughs and looks about the shops, “I’m impressed!” she exclaims, “Everything looks great!”

“It looks better than when you were here!” BiRain laughs and CL glares at him.

“How was your trip?” JunHyung asks.

CL waves her hand, “Oh, it was okay. Seoul is so different than here! But it was good to see my sisters and mother! Especially my younger sister, Minzy!” she smiles and then pauses on YongGuk, “Are you still here?” she smiles.

He laughs and nods, holding his hand out for a handshake. “YongGuk, it’s good to see you again.”

CL shakes his hand and laughs, “Yes, it’s good to see you.”

“The boy’s been helping Hyuna with the store when JunHyung and I can’t be here,” BiRain explains, “He’s got a great voice for some of my songs I’ve been writing,” he winks at YongGuk.

CL sighs as she looks around the shop, obviously happy to be back. Hyuna grabs her hand with a smile.

“Chaelin unnie, tell us all about your trip!”

CL smiles and nods, “Okay, and then I want to hear what you all have been up to!”

Hyuna glances to JunHyung and YongGuk, noticing their frozen smiles and eyes as they dart to her.
“Of course!” Hyuna smiles, “YongGuk and I were just discussing about how we would like to stay in Chinju for a while longer.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~LC~

Small update~ more on the way! comment/share/subscribe :)