Danger - Lee Taemin

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Ae Sook became very aware of her words whenever she was around Jongin. His words still rung clearly in her head even though the incident happened yesterday morning.

Jongin, on the other hand, didn’t know whether Ae Sook had believed him or not. He looked over to the girl next to him. They hadn’t said a word to each other ever since their shifts started an hour ago. He silently cursed to himself, why did Chief Inspector Lee have to come in? I bet he’s just trying to make me fail.

He had no idea what to do. He didn’t want to bring it up in fear of sparking her suspicions, but what if she was already over thinking it? He claimed that it was just a friend he knew and called him “Chief Inspector Lee” out of respect since he worked as a detective. It didn’t seem like Ae Sook bought it but she let it slide.

Jongin gritted his teeth as he recalled last night. “Why are you here?” “I can’t be here? I wanted some midnight snacks.”

But Jongin knew he was just messing with him. Chief Inspector Lee knew Jongin would mess up.

“Ae Sook,” Jongin’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. The younger girl looked up at him with no expression on her face. Jongin shifted uneasily, “What are you doing after your shift today?” Their shifts ended at 3 today.

Ae Sook thought for a second, and then she shrugged. “Nothing.”

Jongin blinked, “Really? You don’t have any friends you want to hang out with?”

Ae Sook shook her head, “I don’t really like hanging out with people.”

Hours passed within the blink of an eye. Ae Sook didn’t seem to be ignoring Jongin anymore but she was still a bit distant. His identity was still a mystery to her. Why would a man with looks like that be working in a crumbling convenience store?

Ae Sook grasped the rubber band and pulled it out of her hair. She heard the bell ring from inside the store and looked back. Jongin came out and flashed her a smile.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Ae Sook stepped back and rose a single brow, “Why would I see you?”

Jongin chuckled amusedly and lightly knocked her head with his fist. “We still have work even if it’s a weekend.”

Oh yeah, Ae Sook thought. Her look flattened and she spun on her heels, “I’m leaving.”

Jongin cupped his hands over his mouth and called out, “Don’t go out at night! Be careful!” With a chuckle, he left.

----

Jongin stepped into the office. He was met with Chief Inspector Lee’s mischievous smirk and looked away. Whatever his intention was, Jongin didn’t want to know. He was probably just trying to get all the credit for this case.

“What are you doing back?”

Jongin avoided his eyes and looked at the new files on his desk, “My shift ended already.”

Chief Inspector Lee chuckled as if Jongin cracked a joke. He sat in front of the younger detective, “Did anything happen with that girl after I left? She seemed a little suspicious yesterday.”

There was a hint of amusement in his voice and Jongin clenched his fists in anger. “Nothing happened.” He spat.

The Chief Inspector didn’t seem to be fazed by the resentment in Jongin’s voice. Instead, he kept pushing it. “It sure doesn’t seem like it.”

Jongin’s patience snapped. “WHOSE FAULT DO YOU THINK THAT IS?!” he growled loudly.

The whole office turned towards the two and everything became quiet. Jongin’s body stiffened but he still didn’t drop his glare. The other male seemed surprised that his junior would actually retort.

Jongin became even more pissed off when Chief Inspector Lee stepped back, making it look like Jongin was at fault. “It was just a question, calm down.” Chief Inspector Lee voiced loudly so that everyone thought it was just Jongin being rash.

Jongin narrowed his eyes but didn’t do anything else.

“Besides,” Chief Inspector Lee began, “Why are you so worked up over this?” He narrowed his eyes towards Jongin.

Jongin’s fists clenched tighter, if possible. “Because--“

“You wouldn’t be the one who’s causing all these deaths, would you?” Chief Inspector cut in. Everyone held their breath at the allegation.

Jongin glanced at all the eyes on him and grew even more uncomfortable. “That’s ridiculous. Don’t say such a thing.”

Bastard, Jongin thought. He walked out in anger.

There was another attack that night. The full moon was high in the sky and it seemed to shine brighter than ever before. Yet again, Jongin was missing. The investigation team expected at least that much, but what they didn’t expect was for Chief Inspector Lee to be missing as well.

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