It was a terrible time for Sung Gyu’s Private investigators firm. After a chain of homicides and criminal events, the firm was hired to investigate a grand scale mafia clan who had allegedly been involved in them, in turn putting the lives of the investigators as well as their families in danger. The clan was humongous, spreading throughout the city with hidden and unknown adherents they were trying to track down with great difficulty. Although they were gaining the support from the prosecutor’s office and the local police station, the search team was largely outnumbered in comparison to the number of unknown clan members. All in all, it was simply difficult for them to compete, defeat and lock down this mafia clan.

Since Sung Gyu was involved in the investigation, he had to record to work every single day of the week. He hardly had time to look out for his son and had to completely leave the responsibility to the baby sitter. During weekends, he would drop Sung Jae at his parents on the way to work and pick him up in the night on Sundays. Sung Jae, on his part, kept questioning what was going on at work but Sung Gyu didn’t want to tell him that his father’s life was in danger and scare the little one. Sung Gyu constantly held onto the lie of ‘special detective work’ as an excuse to his adherent absence.

In consequence to Sung Gyu’s busy work, Eunji reserved a raise in her pay, hence long hours of work. Sung Gyu returned home after midnight on the weekdays, practically dead and beat, so until he returned home, Eunji reigned the condo as though it was her own, ordering the little bum around and relaxing on the sofa half of the day. Sung Gyu, of course, was convinced that Eunji was working hard during her stay, and he was thankful. At least he had no worries about leaving his son alone or in wrong hands. The only thing was that he had no idea whatsoever about what no goodness schemes that may or may not be going about in his own house.

One Sunday night there was a police report going on the TV about the murder of a presidential secret service member in the crack of the dawn, the victim had been brutally stabbed and the body was found on the river bank of the Han River. The word was that the body was about two days old. It was proved that the mafia clan was responsible for this since they had left the infamous logo sealed onto the dead body. In further investigation it was revealed that the man was murdered because he was involved in an investigation of a drug trafficking which had taken place within the secret service, which had had a major involvement of the Mafia clan.  Sung Gyu’s mother was watching this police report in the living room, her grandson sound asleep in her lap, and she couldn’t help but be overtaken by fear, remembering that her son was involved in the investigation too.

“This mafia clan is dangerous Yeobo!” She told her husband, who was sitting on the floor, eating sunflower seeds. “They have killed another man involved in the investigation…don’t you think our Gyu is in danger too? Shouldn’t we stop him?”

“He will be fine” Grunted the older man from his spot on the floor. “They are given proper training to be discreet”

“But Yeobo!” The mother cried, her fingers running through the soft locks of Sung Jae’s hair. “Sung Gyu has a son to take care of, we can’t have his life in danger! And he’s our only son!”

Sung Gyu’s mother was against of it all from the beginning when Sung Gyu admitted to them that he was going to work for a private investigators agency. In fact, Sung Gyu’s mother didn’t want her baby boy to take part in any kind of institution which focused on criminals and crime solving. Basically, she despised all the institutions where there were weapons involved. She had always complained that she had brought up her two children like flowers, and maybe she had because at the age of twenty one, Sung Gyu still had no idea how to cook a packet of ramen for himself (Which led him to loads of trouble, for an example, starving nights) and she thoroughly believed that they should remain being her two little babies until the end. She had cried endlessly on the night Sung Gyu revealed to them that he had finally joined the firm. He had shown her the gun he was given for personal defense too. She almost got a heart attack, seeing a gun in her precious son’s hand. She even tried to change the child’s mind, but he was already the father of the baby Sung Jae by then, and he was hell bent on taking good care of him. For Sung Gyu, the pay of the firm was reliable; and he needed that to raise his child. Therefore Sung Gyu’s mother had to agree without complains.

Despite that, she had always been his greatest pillar of support. Every time Sung Gyu needed to go away or work late for his investigations, his mother offered to take care of the son. Sung Gyu was grateful, with all his heart, and for this reason Sung Gyu strived to give his best in his work so that he wouldn’t end up being a mere disappointment. For his parents, however, Sung Gyu never was a disappointment. Though their words and actions may imply otherwise, even though Sung Gyu had granted them a grandson out of nowhere, Sung Gyu was the most precious asset they had, as a son, who would always keep their head up in pride.

Sung Gyu’s father was assessing a handful of sunflower seeds as he spoke, occasionally discarding the empty shells. “Maybe you should talk to him, Jagi…I don’t think he would listen, but you can try…”

“At least for these few days…” His mother uttered, worry etched deep in her voice. “I don’t want my babies to be in danger…both Gyu and Jae are precious to me…”

“He might understand you” The father said, turned around and patted his wife on her bony hand which rested on Sung Jae soft tuft of dark hair. “He’s our Gyu after all…”

*

Sung Gyu returned home late that night, exhausted and feeling nauseas from all the trips he had to make throughout the day. While he was engaged in the homicides streak of the city, he was moved to investigate on the drug trafficking scam within the presidential secret service wherein the mafia clan was allegedly involved. He had to drive to the Han River bank, and then to the hospital to garner the postmortem reports, then to the prosecutor, and then to the headquarters…all in all, it was one terrible day for Sung Gyu. He didn’t feel like he was up to drive to his own home tonight, but he had to, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to send Sung Jae to school the next day.

When he stumbled into his parents; house, half of his clothes discarded and held in his hand, his mother approached him with worry filled eyes. His mother had been like this ever since he joined the investigation. He didn’t want to worry his parents, but with his exhaustion and all the worries he already had in hand, Sung Gyu wished they would be understanding of the fact that this was all for his job.

“Son, have you eaten?” His mother asked, taking his belongings from his hands. Sung Gyu had lost weight significantly, and his skin had gone all pale owing to standing in the cold for too long. Autumn was just around the corner and his mother didn’t want him to catch a cold, But Sung Gyu simply wasn’t wearing enough layers of cloth to conceal his skin from the chilly atmosphere.

“I hadn’t time…” Sung Gyu mumbled, taking off his shoes. “Where is Jae, Omma?”

“He’s sleeping” she said and placed a warm hand on his face. “Look at you, Sung Gyu ah…at this rate you will end up getting sick…and I heard…today…”

Sung Gyu could already say that this was about the murder of the secret service member, so he heaved a heavy sigh before resting a hand on his mother’s shoulder. “Omma…I am handling the case of that murder…”

Sung gyu’s mother was even more confounded, hearing that. “Sung Gyu-ah…”

“But don’t be scared…I will be fine. We were promised that our identities will be kept discreet, and if anything, we could ask for special security to our families…but it isn’t necessary…”

“That’s not what I mean, Sung Gyu!” His mother echoed, her voice already a little cranky. “Your life! Aren’t you in danger? Your life will be at a great risk if you go on being involved in this case!”

Although the mother expected Sung Gyu to take this matter quite seriously, all he did was making a throaty laughter.

“Relax, Omma…true, my life is in danger…but I know how to be safe…besides, what’s the worst that could happen? I could die…but I am not scared because I know that my son will be growing up in good hands…”

“Sung Gyu-ah, don’t say that!” Sung Gyu’s mother cried out, eyes already filling with tears. Sung Gyu gave her a soft warm smile. He knew that she would be forever worried about him, he knew that she couldn’t sleep at night, thinking about the danger her son was living in. Sung Gyu couldn’t stop all the risks from coming on his way, but he could assure to his mother that he would give his best and keep himself safe. He slowly reached out and held his mother in his hands, burying his face in her shoulder.

“Don’t be scared Omma…I will never die on you…”

While the mother and the son engulfed in the motherly moment, having no clue about their surroundings, there was little Sung Jae, standing on the doorway of the living room, watching the entire scene. He had listened to everything his father and grandmother were talking about. Though he couldn’t understand much and put two and two together, he understood enough. He understood that his father was in the danger of dying, and that he still was working without worrying about that. Sung Jae was proud of his father; in his opinion, his father was the greatest detective in the whole country. What other detective would have his life in danger and still solve crimes to save the country? His father was a hero, and Sung Jae was happy to believe that. Clenching his tiny wrists, Sung Jae came down to a new resolve. Though he was still a kid, Sung Jae too will be a hero like his father one day and save his father from dying.

*

On a Saturday morning, Sung Gyu was preparing Sung Jae to be sent over to his parents’ house when the two came over to his place themselves. Sung Gyu was surprised at first since he had already called them up and informed that he would be dropping his son off at their place on his way to work, but then again they he was thankful because the headquarters were quite a drive away and he really was tight of time. His parents have always been supportive of his job despite despising it, and if he ever needed any major help of the sort, they would never hesitate to volunteer and take the matter in to their hands.

Sung Gyu came to the main hall with Sung Jae’s tiny suitcase being pulled behind him while his parents sat in the living room, having tea. Sung Jae was still in his room, having a last minute nap until his father would be done to carry him to the car. Upon Sung Gyu’s arrival, his mother stood up and began to flatten the creases on his shirt.

“Your tie is crooked, and my, you have barely brushed your hair!” She complained, arranging his jet black wavy locks of hair to a side. Sung Gyu didn’t get this kind of treatment very often so he was just silently enjoying it.

“Where’s Sung Jae?” Came his father’s voice from the general direction of the sofa.

“Sung Jae’s having a last minute nap, I’ll carry him to the car, appa”

“Poor child,” His mother said, returning to her seat. “He must be tired, going here and there every weekend…:

“The case would be ending soon, Omma” Sung Gyu quickly answered before his mother would get back to telling him to leave it, and made his way into the kitchen. Though Eunji wasn’t working on weekends, he had politely asked her to prepare something for them to have for breakfast on Saturdays which she did, though with much grumbling and complaining. He didn’t really cared less, as long as he got his work done. For that particular Saturday, Eunji had left the batter for waffles made in the refrigerator, and Sung Gyu only had to pour it into the waffle maker and take them down once they were done. He had already packed some for Sung Jae in a box with a dollop of butter and maple syrup. He was getting some of his own, loaded onto a plate when his mother called from the living room.

“Sung Gyu-ah! The clock in the living room has stopped!”

“It has?” Sung Gyu echoed, pouring syrup over his warm waffles. He had already served his parents too. Usually, he was the last one to eat. “I hadn’t any time to change the batteries!”

This time, his mother was talking from the doorway of the kitchen. “Child, it brings bad luck to keep a stopped clock in the house…and especially at a time like this? Think more of your life!”

Sung Gyu was sitting on the cabinet, his plate in his lap and feet dangling down, he was swaying them back and forth like a child. He looked so adorable, laughing like that but his mother wasn’t buying it, not even when he said; “Ah, so you mean the mafia people will kill me right at the time the clock has stopped? Was it morning” Afternoon? Evening? Night? Ah…but I really hope they’d kill me on a week end when Sung Jae is at your place...”

“Sung Gyu! I told you! Don’t say such terrible things! What if your child heard it?”

Sung Gyu shrugged and maple syrup off his sticky fingers. “Nah, Sung Jae doesn’t believe those things because I don’t…they are just superstitious stuff Omma. Just because the clock has stopped I won’t die…”

“But still” His mother said, folding her arms on her chest. “Change the battery, or tell your new baby sitter to do it.”

“Who? Eunji?” Sung Gyu said smugly, and scoffed at his waffle as though the waffle represented her face. “She’d stupid and short…she can’t do it, besides she’ll make me pay extra”

“Whatever” The mother shook off his stupidity in the air. Sometimes she just can’t get her head around it that her son was actually thirty-two, and a father of an eight year old, at that. “Just do as Omma say and take down the clock, okay?”

Sung Gyu was just about to make a smart reply when his father’s voice echoed from the hallway.

“Aigoo, Sung Jae-ah…you slept a lot!”

“Ah, Sung Jae’s up!” Sung Gyu exclaimed and hurriedly stuffed his half eaten breakfast into the refrigerator. He was waiting for his son to wake up so that they could get going, and now that he was, breakfast didn’t really matter anymore. He dashed out of the kitchen, calling out for the boy and leaving his mother behind to her thoughts. She looked at the spot he was sitting, thought of his hardly eaten breakfast and sighed. This wasn’t how she had brought up her son, and then to her utter dismay, this was what he had grown up to become.

A responsible, loving father at such a young age. She wasn’t sure whether to be proud or saddened by it.

*

Sung Jae was buried in a whole lot of worries. It was late in the night and he was still at his grandparents’ house, sleeping on the bed, according to his grandmother, his appa had slept in when he was still a kid. Sung Jae was given his appa’s old bedroom, and many of the things that appa owned when he was a kid like Sung Jae were still kept in there. There were loads of posters of vehicles, super heroes and musician, a rack full of cars and action figured and all sorts of things that Sung Jae found to be really fascinating. Usually Sung Jae would take down the action figures and appa’s old toy cars and play with them; but that particular night, Sung Jae was in a lot of worries. He had overheard his father talking to his grandmother in the morning today, and they were again talking about appa dying. He loved appa a lot, and since he didn’t have an Omma, appa was all he had, and he really didn’t want him to die. He was a detective, and detectives were known to live with loads of threats and the like; but his appa was a detective and a father and a cool one at that. He couldn’t let the bad people (Mafia clan, as how he heard it) to kill him. Sung Jae had to do something.

And then that morning he had heard grandma talking about the stopped watch. Sung Gyu had taught Sung Jae about superstitious stuff; as explained they were the kind of things people are scared of because they always mean that something terrible would happen to someone. The stopped clock, as he heard his appa saying, was a superstition like that too. But it was grandma who said it, and it was really really scared. What if the clock really meant that his father will be killed by the Mafia clan? He had to stop it, he had to get rid of the stopped clock.

Right at that moment, his grandfather walked into the room with a tray on which was Sung Jae’s dinner of Macaroni and cheese and a bread roll. Sung Jae hated to eat at the dinner table when his father wasn’t there because it made him feel lonely, so either one of the two of his grandparents would carry his dinner to the room.

“Hey little detective! Have some mac!” Grandpa greeted, setting the tray on his appa’s old table. Grandpa called him the little detective all the time because his appa was a detective. Not that he was complaining or anything. Frankly he was liking it very, very much.

Sung Jae slid off the bed and approached the table before climbing onto the chair. His grandfather sat on a stool beside him with a warm smile. Grandpa was a cool person, just like his father was, so he can ask him anything. Sung Jae decided that he should ask him and clear his doubts.

“Harabeoji...” He called out, twisting his fork in the mac.

“Yes, kid? You look a little down…”

Sung Jae lifted his head and asked; “Is it true that the Mafia clan will kill appa?”

His grandpa laughed and patted softly on his head. “Aigoo, no son. Your appa is a detective, and he was given training to be safe. The mafia clan won’t even find him!”

“Oh...” Sung Jae nodded, still unconvinced. Appa and grandma had been talking about appa dying more than once. There wasn’t anything much that Sung Jae could help with. Even if it wasn’t entirely true, he really wanted to believe his grandfather and forget it. But the stopped clock really bothered him. He took small bites of his food while his grandfather was telling him about how his appa played house with his sister and his cousins when he was younger, and it was at that time that he saw a cuckoo clock hung on the wall above the table. It was working perfectly well.

“Harabeoji” Sung Jae called out and pointed a chubby finger at it. “Can I take that clock home?”

“Why, you like it?” The older man asked, laughing. “It’s your appa’s, but I’ll wrap it and give you when you go home…”

Sung Jae looked at it again to realize that it was quite big, but it was still working, and it looked cool too, so it was perfectly fine.

*

“Is he asleep?” Sung Gyu whispered as he tiptoed into his old bedroom in his parents’ house. “Did he go to bed early? Had he had dinner?”

“He said he wanted to wait for you” Sung Gyu’s mother whispered, following after him. “But he just fell asleep”

Sung Gyu switched off the light and slowly stepped towards the bed. It was cold in the night those days so Sung Jae was deeply buried in Sung Gyu’s old covers, sleeping so peacefully that it almost brought tears to his eyes.

“He looks just like you, Sung Gyu…” His mother whispered from behind him as he lovingly ruffled the child’s hair. “Hmm, he does…my poor baby…”

The mother smiled and lightly squeezed Sung Gyu’s boney shoulder. “You’re tired, sweetie, get home soon…”

Sung Gyu nodded and reluctantly got back to his feet. His mother was already holding Sung Jae’s little pastel blue suitcase in her arm, his father right behind her, smiling warmly. Sung Gyu took a deep breath and took Sung Jae into his arms. Sung Gyu’s parents’ house had a narrow garden and an old iron gate. He usually parked his car outside in the street so every night he would come to their place like this, his father will accompany him all the way to the car. Sung Gyu greeted his parents after he had carefully belted up his son inside and Sung Gyu’s mother left a deep kiss on his forehead, pulling back with tears in her eyes. “Call us if you need anything okay? Eat well…”

“Alright Omma,” He said, giving her the warmest of his smiles. “Take care yourself.”

After the two were gone, Sung Gyu’s parents returned to the house, feeling a little down. It was like that every time they would return after a visit, and the only thing that they could do was going into Sung Gyu’s old room and try to recoil in the warmth they have left. That night too, the two were doing that when suddenly Sung Gyu’s father let out a loud gasp.

“Why, Yeobo?” His wife asked with concern, and the father pointed at the cuckoo clock hung on the wall.

“The clock, Sung Jae wanted to take it home…ah! I forgot!”

*

Monday mornings were the worst days in the world for Jung Eunji. She’d always wake up to Eun-Mi’s stupid voice screaming her to wake up and the baby’s cries; the usual hustle and bustle in the morning won’t allow her to go back to sleep either. And there were those even terrible times when her boss would call her up early in the damned morning to tell her about something she normally didn’t give a about, and those times she’d hate the whole world, she’d hate everything.

It was another one of those mornings and she had to wake up super early because the baby had to wake up and start his endless screaming, totally killing her of her beauty sleep. Waking up early also meant that she’d be going to work super early, doing to work super early would furthermore imply the possibility of meeting either a half- boss running around in the hallway or one grumpy eight year old refusing to go to school owing to an apparent (Mostly imagined) tummy bug.

And on this particular morning, it was the…well, the former.

“Put on a damned shirt!” Eunji screamed the first thing in the morning when Sung Gyu clicked on the door for her. He was still in his slacks and was in the middle of ironing his and Sung Jae’s shirt when he heard the doorbell ring. And since it was still early, Sung Gyu really wasn’t expecting to see the baby sitter there, and when he did, it really came as a great shock that he completely forgot it that he still hadn’t put a shirt on.

“Oh” He mumbled and cleared his throat, averting his eyes while making room for the girl to come in. “I really wasn’t expecting you, Miss Jung. I was expecting a co-worker of mine…my apologies…”

“Do I look like I care? Jeez” Eunji yelled as she made her way to the kitchen. Sung Gyu heaved a deep sigh, wondering what sin he had done to have to deal with that girls antics every single morning; and simply made his way back into the laundry room.

Eunji, as she usually does, prepared Sung Jae’s food in a box and carried it to the living room where the kid was sitting with his usual grumpy mood on. He was staring at the wall blankly with a long face, clad in his school uniform and not really giving a care to the rest of the world, and when Eunji dumped the lunch box into his bag he simply zipped it up, put it on his back and walked off.

”Aish, that kid really!?!” Eunji yelled, scoffing loudly and at that very moment, Sung Gyu suddenly popped in from the doorway, his hands working on his tie.

“Is anything the matter Miss Jung?”

Eunji hated his bloody politeness. She was sure he hated her just as much as she did, why couldn’t he be the badass and treat her the same way? She’s rather if he and his bloody courtesy would go to hell. And though was itching to say this, all she did was pulling out a very fake smile and swayed side to side.

“Nope…nothing...”

“Okay, good” Sung Gyu nodded and pulled his navy blue jacket over his shoulder. “I would be late tonight too, so I would be pleased if you stay late as well…since these days we’re having quite a…I’d say, crucial? Time, Please lock the doors and stay safe, don’t let any strangers in under any circumstances…”

Sung Gyu had been giving the same speech for the last three weeks and had kept Eunji wondering herself what kind of a problem they were dealing with. She knew that both Woohyun and her boss worked on the same case but both apparently had been sworn to discretion that no inside information got out. Eunji was finding the whole idea completely ridiculous. She couldn’t find a single reason why they should keep things from her; it wasn’t like she’d actually go and tell the world about it. The hell did she even care.

After the two Kims have gone on their way, Eunji took a two hour break of switching through the channels on the TV and devouring a stray bag of chips. After she was tired of relaxing, then only she got down to real work which were only carrying the laundry and cleaning the bedrooms and making lunch for Sung Jae. She did a little extra work too since she had an excess of time in hand, once she was done she locked up the Condo and waited in her car with the Radio , waiting for the right time until she’d go off to pick Sung Jae from school.

She wasn’t the type to really keep up with the news or anything, but the hourly news broadcast on the radio really caught her attention.

“Wait…” she mumbled to herself, increasing the volume of the station. “Isn’t that the investigators firm? Is that what they are handling?” Eunji thought back to what she heard from Sung Gyu that morning. A crucial time and stay safe…even Woohyun oppa was telling similar things. So that was what they referring to? Bloody hell.

The way to Sung Jae’s school and all the way back, Eunji couldn’t help but be totally paranoid. She was worriedly looking at every person she passed by, wondering if they could be a potential member of the mafia gang, and even the single sound which came on her way would freak the heavens out of her. She noticed that Sung Jae seemed quite pre-occupied too; he wasn’t making his usual nags and complains but silently sat through the ride, and when the two reached the apartment complex Eunji wondered if she should really take the fire exit stairways.

“No”, she mumbled to herself, panicking by herself. “If there were Mafia people here, they would definitely be hiding there…”

She finally opted to taking their usual method of the lift and hurriedly rushed into it before anyone else could. It was in the constricted space of the elevator that she finally began to feel safe. ‘Gosh these investigators…they must be dying if I’m freaking out like this!’ She thought, watching the numbers on the display screen. ‘Waah, so cool…they must be really brave’. In the course of this thought a sudden mental picture of the shirtless Sung Gyu and the Sung Gyu struggling with his tie appeared in his head. ‘Waah…they are really y too…wait! What the hell am I thinking?’

With much effort, Eunji managed to dismiss the ungodly mental picture of hers and stepped out the lift with a deep breath. Sung Jae was already giving her weird looks on her side, and she definitely shouldn’t be thinking of his father while he was around (Not that she did, or meant to do) so she forcefully put up a serious face and walked ahead through the long corridors. There were four condos on each floor in count and the Kims’ was on the dead end of the corridor, which was long, boring way ahead. She was muttering to herself things that she didn’t recognize herself, and when the door of their destination came into sight that she got all the horrors in the world.

There was a box, a humongous, unidentified box kept in front of their door. The Kim’s front door.

“Holy , is that…?” She whimpered in utter horror, taking a step back and securely grabbing Sung Jae’s hand. Sung Jae looked equally horrified, staring at the big brown box.

“Oh god, oh my god…what the hell is this?”

Without a warning, her mind went back to the radio announcement about the mafia people lurking about the city. And Sung Gyu was a crucial member of the investigation team. It could be possible he’s a potential aim too. Eunji was having a complete nervous breakdown. She was protecting Sung Jae and herself all the way from the school, she and Sung Jae possibly couldn’t die after they had returned home! From a bomb attack at that!

“Bomb…” she mumbled, a sudden brainstorm hitting her. That’s exactly what it was!

“Sung Jae…” She whispered, in fears that the culprit was around. “Did you appa have death threats or something?”

“Death…?” Sung Jae wondered aloud, sounding confused.

“Yes, like, some Mafia people, were they going to kill him or something?”

Sung Jae took a moment to ponder it and suddenly the conversations he had overheard came to his mind. “Ah…appa said…grandma too…that mafia clan will kill him…”

“What?” Eunji echoed, gripped in horror. Now she was sure that this was potentially something harmful. Besides Sung Gyu had said that she shouldn’t open the door for any strangers…was this what he meant?

And she had to secure Sung Jae’s safety too. She had only one way to find out.

“Stay put, Sung Jae” Eunji said to the boy firmly and Sung Jae nodded, fear etched on his face. She took a single brief glance at him, gesturing him to not to not to move and in slow steps she made her way to the unattended package by their front door.

The package was quite big in size, a parcel sealed with a considerable about of scotch tape. There wasn’t any registered seal from the post, not eve all those labels that they put thus she was sure it wasn’t anything they had received from post. There was only a single blue paper stuck onto it, addressing to Kim Sung Gyu in hurried Korean letters. Eunji widened her eyes in pure horror. She was certain that this was a bomb, or maybe a whole lot of heroin or anthrax virus like it was sent to Winston Churchill or someone (It wasn’t like Sung Gyu was an important political personnel or anything, but you could never tell). Taking action on the spot, Eunji quickly pulled her phone out and dialed Sung Gyu’s number. She patiently waited until the line picked up, feeling the rush of adrenaline in her veins, and when Sung Gyu’s voice sounded on the other end, she felt a huge rush of relief.

“Miss Jung?” Sung Gyu answered, breathlessly. She could tell that he was still at work.

“Sung Gyu-Ssi, It’s an emergency!” She exclaimed, her voice trembling the slightest. She could hear the rustle on the other end, followed by footsteps, and then sounded his voice quite clearer.

“Yes, tell me Miss Jung-,”

“There’s an unattended parcel on your doorstep”

Sung Gyu was silent for a moment, and then went; “A what?”

“An unattended parcel! There is one on your condo’s doorstep!”

Sung Gyu sounded dubious and also slightly shaken as he spoke. “Okay…Eunji-Ssi, listen. Please calm down first and slowly explain to me the nature of the parcel...”

“The…nature?”

She could hear him in-take a patient breath before he spoke. “How it looks like, the size, the color…”

“Oh right” Eunji nodded and began to explain.  “Well, its brown, covered in scotch tape and it’s-it’s about the size of…six regular loafs of bread stacked together? I don’t know its weight though…but there is a paper on the top. A blue one. It isn’t posted. I think it’s just kept there…” Eunji stopped then and took a deep breath. “And it’s addressed to you”

Sung Gyu seemed to be taking a moment to let all the information sink in. She could hear his heavy breathing and muttering gibberish to himself before he said. “Eunji, is Sung Jae with you?”

“Yeah…I just picked him up from school”

“Okay” Sung Gyu said breezily and went on. “Okay, now what you should do is keep an ear to the parcel and see if you can hear something suspicious, a beep or a clicking or something…”

“Got it” Eunji nodded, brazing herself for the worse and crouched down on the floor before bending forwards so that she was in the proximity of the parcel. Then she aligned her right year above it. She didn’t even have to listen long when she heard what’s suspicious. “Holy !”

“Why what?” Sung Gyu asked, panicking himself.

“There is a ticking inside! Like a clock! It’s a time bomb!”

Sung Gyu took an audible breath in. “Wait, Eunji…are you sure?”

“Yes, certain! There is a ticking clock inside!”

“Okay okay…wait…” Sung Gyu muttered, and then she could hear him talking to someone. She patiently waited on the line until he returned. When he finally did, he said. “I spoke to someone, and he said that it isn’t likely that a modern time bomb could have a ticking bomb, but it’s not entirely impossible because the culprits could have manually assembled it…so I want you to stay put, Eunji-Ssi…we’re coming over...”

“Okay” Eunji nodded, getting up on her feet and released a heavy sigh. She and Sung Jae weren’t going to die in a bomb blast after all.

“And Eunji-Ssi?”

“Yeah?”

“Please take care of Sung Jae for me…is he around?”

“Yes...”

“Good, take good care of him”

*

It didn’t take long for Sung Gyu to arrive at the scene, accompanied by a SWAT team clad in their black police attire, as well as a few people from the bomb disposal unit. There were a lot, and they all seemed so tense and vigilant that it seemed almost surreal. It was like a scene straight out from a movie. Sung Jae was tightly holding Eunji’s hand, looking scared and tense himself, and the moment the police arrived, Eunji pulled him into her arms. Sung Gyu’s figure merged through the crowd, and suddenly everything stopped around her.

Sung Gyu the investigator in action, for Eunji, was the hottest piece of meat in the whole damned world. She was so distracted by his sudden ungodlily y appearance, suit disheveled, holster on his waist and beads of sweat glistening through the messed up fringes of hair; that she almost lost it when he stood in front of her, breathlessly calling her name. ‘Oh god… I could do with breathless….’

“E-eh?”

“I was asking you if you were alright.”

“Uh-uh yeah…”

Sung Gyu nodded and ruffled his son’s soft hair. “You be cool, little detective, okay?”

With that Sung Gyu hurried off to where the SWAT team was surrounding the said suspicious parcel, Eunji stood back, giving them their space while tightly holding onto Sung Jae in her hands. The men fumbled around for a moment, the bomb disposal unit doing their thing, and after a while there was a huge commotion which caught Eunji’s attention. ‘Are they done disposing it?’

She took a few careful steps into the crowd, deep enough until she could have a clear view of what was going on the floor, and what she happened to find were Sung Gyu and three other people from the bomb disposal unit holding what seemed to her a colorful, plastic cuckoo clock.

“Sir, it’s a clock” Said one of the officers. Sung Gyu was still unconvinced. This was a Mafia gang they were dealing with They were so unpredictable that they could never be too sure about anything suspicious.

“We should run further tests on it…there could be potential dangers…”

“Then we’ll take it under custody sir?”

Sung Gyu nodded, standing up on his feet, and Eunji really wasn’t meaning to look at the view of his behind…’Oh god…I could really do with that …stop! Eunji! Focus! This is a national crisis!’

“Take it under custody” Sung Gyu instructed as the rest of the men began to slowly retreat. “It could have potential danger since it’s an unrecognized item-,”

“Appa” Sung Jae called out after he had magically appeared within the crowd, pulling at Sung Gyu’s sleeve. Sung Gyu sighed and looked down at his son. “Not now, Sung Jae, appa is working….” He turned back to the SWAT members. “So like I was telling you…the suspicious item could-,”

“Appa…”

“Not now I said-!”

Sung Jae ignored his father and simply pointed at the clock in the officer’s hand. “The clock, it’s the clock from your room…”

Sung Gyu looked at the clock, head titled, wondering what he was referring to and shook his head. “No, Jae, it looks like it, but-,”

“Halmeoni and Harabeoji said they will bring it today…they called in the morning”

Sung Gyu shot Sung Jae a dubious look. “They…what?”

“Halmeoni and Harabeoji said they were bringing it today because I wanted it…they called in the morning”

Sung Gyu was currently having a major nervous meltdown. He felt like his brain was being stabbed by millions of tiny needles as he tried to form it out. Yes, the clock terribly did resemble to the one from his bedroom and it wasn’t a bomb of any sort, it was just a clock, and Sung Jae cannot be making things up, he wasn’t the kind to do such things…which only meant…

Sung Gyu turned to his side and kneeled down so he was in the same level with his son. “Sung jae…are you really, really sure that this is that clock?”

Sung Jae nodded quite innocently. “It is…”

Sung Gyu nodded, gulping down the lump in his throat. “Okay…now are you sure Halmeoni and Harabeoji called in the morning?”

“They called in the morning to the house phone…”

“And you picked up?”

Sung Jae nodded, now seeming quite sure of himself. Sung Gyu could say that Sung Jae wasn’t lying, he could easily read all the sincerity etched in his eyes and Sung Gyu just couldn’t believe it otherwise. In turn it also meant…

Sung Gyu quickly stood up and held a hand towards the officer who held the clock. “Let me check it first”

The officer handed it over quite hesitantly and Sung Gyu examined it, eyes furrowed and lips pursed, and by looking at it, he was sure it was his, so he decided to call his mother.

“Omma, did you leave a parcel on our doorstep today?” Sung Gyu asked the moment his mother picked up the phone.

“Oh…oh yes! That’s the clock for Sung Jae…we both came over but nobody was at home. We were in a hurry so we left it there so you would find it…I was going to call...”

“Right, right…” Sung Gyu nodded, fighting his huge urge to hit his head repeatedly on the nearest wall. “Okay Omma…”

“Why, is everything alright?”

Sung Gyu sighed, and replied in a forced cheery tone. “Yeah, fine, fine…I’ll call you later”

“Sung Jae’s right, it’s a clock” He announced, completely dismayed, earning loud groans from the rest. This only meant hours of time wasted, effort and money wasted, Sung Gyu could barely think up an excuse to give when he would return to headquarters again. In a nutshell, Sung Gyu had caused major chaos and breached the laws of national security. Sung Gyu could die with it, he could actually swallow the goddamned clock and die with it. But he didn’t, instead, in hopes that it would calm the annoyed officers down he said in forced cheerfulness; “False alarm, guys, false alarm!”

Eunji on the other hand could only watch the whole ordeal in a daze. Did she just  commit a huge crime? Would they throw her to jail? But then again it wasn’t her fault…what if it was a bomb? She couldn’t ever tell!

However after the SWAT members have gone out and away from the scene, Sung Gyu stayed back, looking like he’d like to have everyone he’d come across for dinner. Eunji didn’t dare speak a word, intimidated by the dark aura surrounding him. Sung Gyu who took a few deep breaths in hopes he’d calm down, stared at the roof for good five minutes and turned to his child before crouching down on the floor. When he spoke, Eunji could hear it, he was speaking with such great patience and resolve.

“Sung Jae…you did good…but tell appa…tell appa why on earth did you want that stupid clock?!?”

The kid looked a little shaken by his father’s firm voice, but held his ground and simply replied;

“The stopped clock…Halmeoni said you would die…so I wanted to change it…so appa wouldn’t die…”