#Case016 – 「Hidden」

Gunwoo stared to the star shaped bracelet that was wrapped in a transparent plastic on his palms with a sank heart. Then, he shifted his gaze towards the paper which contains the DNA results from the bracelet.

He sighed. “Jung Eunhwa...is you really the killer? Sooyeon’s killer?”

Gunwoo didn’t know why; he never felt like this before. It’s his job to chase after and arrested criminals for sure but he felt quite reluctant about arresting Eunhwa.

As if she had found his soft spot.

“Hey, Gunwoo ahh!” Gunwoo startled and quickly turned around to see his best friend, Himchan was smiling to him. “Why you’re talking to yourself?”

Gunwoo gave his friend his feeble smile. “Himchan ahh...”

Himchan nodded. “Yup?”

Gunwoo then pushed the transparent plastic to Himchan, along with the DNA results too. “I’d send it to the lab, and that is the result for its owner.”

Himchan shocked to hear every word that came out from Gunwoo’s mouth. He then quickly took the DNA results and read each of it; eventhough maybe there would be a biology terminology that he couldn’t understood so well enough, right until his gaze fall onto a short sentences which held the name of the bracelet owner.

“Jung Eunhwa?” Himchan looked to Gunwoo with confused reactions on his face. “She is Sooyeon’s killer? No... It can’t be...”

Gunwoo took a sip of his Americano before furrowed his eyebrows by seeing Himchan’s reaction just now. “Mwo? Did you possibly know her?”

“Who is it? Jung Eunhwa?” Himchan asked, and Gunwoo nodded as a reply. “No... I don’t think I know her before...”

“I see...” Gunwoo shortly replied. “By the way, I’m so sorry because I called you to come here; in the police station cafeteria too early in the morning – you still don’t take your breakfast yet, am I right?”

Himchan nodded. “But that’s all not important...than this thing, this case.” He showed to the bracelet and also the DNA results with his forefinger. “Thank you for informing me all these; I really appreciate your hard works though.”

Gunwoo fervently shook his head. “No biggie. It’s my responsibility to investigate and chased for the killer after all.” Then, he sighed hard. “But I felt quite sympathized over her fate. Jung Eunhwa’s fate.”

Himchan looked to Gunwoo’s face with a stern face. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She just had been beaten roughly by President Hong yesterday. He is your boss isn’t he?” Gunwoo dropped his gaze on the table, staring blankly.

Himchan jerked by hearing President Hong’s name. “Yes, he is; but why he did those harsh acts to a woman?”

Gunwoo just lifted his both shoulder and shook his head vigorously. “I don’t know how a respectful person like him could do that to a frail woman like her. She was the main suspect for his son, Hong Wonshik’s death. But it’s not even she was really the killer yet – she’s still under investigation and he...urgh!”

Gunwoo had just punched the surface of the table, which caused all eyes in the cafeteria set upon him.

Himchan was taken aback by his friend’s sudden blitz to the innocent table; just because of President Hong’s rough attitude towards Eunhwa last night.

“Gunwoo ahh....gwenchana?” Himchan asked Gunwoo and quickly approached for his bruised hands. “I know what you feel but, you’re not supposed to hurt yourself like this, nae chingu. (My friend)”

“Mian...(Sorry) I’d make you shocked by my sudden action, isn’t it?” Gunwoo then took his hand from Himchan and cupped his face. “It’s just...I feel like I was useless...doing nothing that can stopped him from beat her all over. I’m so disappointed in myself.”

Himchan patted Gunwoo’s shoulder. “I understand that feeling so well. I was once...felt like that when I couldn’t protect Sooyeon with all my might.” Himchan’s eyes welled with tears, and he tried his best to hold back his tears.

Gunwoo then shifted his gaze towards Himchan. He felt somewhat guilty by his sentences to him before. “I-I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to make you remember back those hurtful memories-“

“It’s okay. It was indeed my fault.”

Then, his phone rang and made them looking to each other, wondered whose phone that was ringing loudly.

“I’m sorry. I’ll take this call first.” Himchan slowly get his phone and pressed answer call virtual button without even glanced to the caller ID. “Yeoboseyo?”

“Channie~ It’s Jieun.”

“Oh.” Himchan was surprised a bit as soon as Jieun’s voice entered his eardrum.

“Where did you go, Channie ahh? Don’t you want to eat breakfast together with me at home?” Jieun tried her best to persuade Himchan so that he came back home after he just rushed out from the house last night.

Himchan took a glance to Gunwoo before turned back to his phone. “I’ll come home soon.”

Soojung opened her eyes. Her room was still in the dark, and she didn’t even change her clothes into comfy pajamas before she fell asleep.

“It’s cold....” She slowly whispered to herself as soon as she found out that she was sleeping on the cold floor before. Then, Soojung reached up her hand to her face.

The tears stains still remained on her face.

“Jung Soojung.” She said her own name before she sighed hard. “It’s really not a dream? Last night – it’s all real?”

Then, she shifted her gaze towards the digital clock that had been put on the cabinet beside her bed. It’s already 4 a.m. in the morning.

“I can’t sleep...” Slowly she went towards the lamp switch and turned it on. In a fast speed, the light from the lamp lit through all corner of the room. Then, she could see the pictures of their happy memories that been left lying on the floor.

“Sooyeon unnie.” She smirked. “Himchan oppa.” Soojung moved forward to the picture, but she didn’t take it up and just straightly headed to her bathroom to have a warm morning shower.

It’s still early in the morning, but Soojung still insisted herself to go to work. Because she didn't even want to see Himchan’s face after the incident that happened last night.

She opened her bedroom door and walked down the stairs, when she met Jieun who was walking back and forth anxiously.

“Where are you going to?” Jieun slowly asked Soojung, as she was still scared from Soojung’s action towards her last night.

Soojung was just smirked and wanted to go past Jieun when Jieun held her wrist, which made Soojung startled by Jieun’s sudden act towards her. “What are you doing now, huh?”

“I’m asking you, Jung Soojung sshi – where are you heading to in this early morning time?” Jieun faced Soojung with her stern face. And so did Soojung too as well.

“Why you want to know where I’m going to? You’re not even my family member. And you’re not my sister.” Soojung snapped. And this made Jieun taken aback by her words.

“I-I just...worried-“ Jieun’s lips stuttered as she was struggling hard to said her reason to Soojung.

“Worried?” Soojung had become so infuriated with Jieun’s nosy attitude. “Well, it’s not me that you have to worry about; it’s you, yourself.”

Jieun tried to speak something to Soojung when Soojung just snatched her hands from Jieun’s grip and headed towards her car. As soon as she started the engine, she drove off to SBC building without thought about Jieun for even once in her mind.

The journey just took about several minutes and gladly Soojung went into her workplace in the tenth floor.

She was finally can breathe with ease for now.

“Oh! Look who’s here~ It’s our Soojungie!” Hana exclaimed as soon as she saw Soojung in front of them.

Soojung approached all of her teammates with a slight curious in her face. “Hey. Why all of you guys are here in this early morning?”

Hana furrowed her eyebrows while looked into Soojung’s eyes deeply. “Yah! What gotten into you, Soojung ahh? You’re always being the first to know all these things and yet now you’re so clueless about the discovery of the main suspect of Madman? Unbelievable!”

Soojung bit her lower lips. She really knew nothing about Madman’s case progress lately. “Oh! Jinjjayo? (Really?) I really busy with my personal things lately – I seriously forget about it.”

“Aigoo~ Jung Soojung, this is really a shocking news ever that I’ve ever heard!” One of her teammates voiced out his opinion about Soojung’s attitude. “But anyway, we’ve to get know deeper about this main suspect.”

Soojung and Hana quickly shifted their gaze towards him. Then, he continued his sentences. “One of us has to go to the hospital.”

Soojung became weird. “Hospital? What’s wrong happened to the suspect?”

“I don’t know.” He straightens up his sit position before continued any further information. “But as far as I know, her name is Jung Eunhwa and she’d been hit by the latest victim’s father in the police station last night.”

“Mwo?” Both Soojung and Hana gasped. They just couldn’t believe what they had heard. “She’s been hit in the police station?”

“Yup.” He nodded. Then, he turned his gaze towards Soojung. “So, Soojung sshi. I want you to be the one who investigate about her.”

“It’s that mean that I’ll get more bonus from this?” Soojung gave her rotten smile to her senior teammate.

“Yes, dear. So what are you waiting for? Go! To S National Hospital!” He then yelled to Soojung as she quickly went out from the Crime Section Team room, felt excited to have works which need her to give her most focus as she didn’t want to think about Himchan and Jieun anymore; at this moment.

‘Mianhae Himchan oppa. Give me some time to adapt to our current tense situation...’

Petite_Star's Corner : Feel free to give comments for this chapter. Thank you~ :)