19; The scream

It wasn't like her to feel sleep-deprived – not even during the festive season where an officer's work revolved around unpleasant hours of the night and early mornings – but Kyungja could feel the toll the mission was taking on her mind and body, today in particular.

She could only imagine just what was going to become of her by the end of it. Because the deeper they immersed themselves in the case, the more she realized it was anything but a walk in the park. Late nights at the station, piles of paperwork, and endless mounds of speculation were what comprised of her life at this point.

Or perhaps it was just that time of the month. Her ovaries played a large role in her current state this Monday morning, often rattling her abdomen with searing pain since awaking, despite the medication she took.

She was increasingly feeling her eyes prickle during the school day, and to her horror, found herself spacing out more often than not. It was the end of the day and she felt as if she had trudged through the entire week in just a few measly hours. Whatever was going on with her truly was bizarre. If not for her keen senses, she was positive she wouldn't have even noticed her partner standing idly between a group of girls, chatting to them with hands tucked away in his pockets and an easy smile on his face.

Contrary to her, he looked rather rejuvenated. In fact, there was something about him that reminded her of Moon Jihye for a brief instant: the sunshine and birdsong aura.

She paused for a moment and stared at him blankly from a distance. His uniform looked meticulously clad for a change; the red blazer buttoned at the centre, allowing for his white shirt and striped tie to settle like some sort of neat package against his body. Even the crinkled fabric around his elbows somehow looked as if they were prepared to crease in just the right places as he fumbled around in his pockets casually. 

With a swoop of his red hair, he mouthed something to the surrounding girls who exploded in giggles in response. Kyungja unconsciously narrowed her eyes at the scene, certainly unimpressed by... well... something about it. She couldn't place precisely what it was, but watching the girls peel away from him like flies off of sticky paper, she was certain it had something to do with his lax attitude in pertinence to their pressing situation at hand. Definitely not anything else. Nope.

It was their final week to deliver. And if they presented nothing of substance by the end of this week, they were both doomed.

She was unconsciously staring at Park Jimin when he turned, making eye contact with her. A surprised look crossed his face before he smiled again, stirring yet another odd feeling within her stomach. Did she perhaps eat or drink something bad this morning? She was certain that sort of sensation in her belly was something she never felt before, and slightly concerned for her health, a troubled frown appeared fleetingly on her face.

'Hey,' Jimin breathed, and contrary to his partner, looking incredibly exuberant and bright.

'I just heard something really interesting. So I just got talking with some of the students about...'

'Park,' she cut him off, tempted to squint at how blinding the combination of his wide grin and bouncing red hair suddenly appeared, but held a strained look of composure. The sensation of her abdomen twisting and scrunching only adding to her discomfort.

'I hope you understand you're resorting to redundant methods. We've already spoken to countless students during the first week, and that hadn't resolved anything. As a matter of fact, about now it’s simply a waste of time.'

The redhead's smile fell a notch at her harsh words, however his eyes remained steely. He could sense agitation radiate off of Kyungja which was a relatively foreign thing, considering she was always either one of the two contrasts: completely unfeeling or utterly drunk. And clearly – given their circumstances – the latter was out of the question.

'Listen to me,' he said; his voice lowered as a pair of students passed by in the corridor. 'I...'

Jimin paused again. This time, his eyes were fixated on his partner whose attention was clearly elsewhere as she proceeded to rubbing her eyes with the back of her fingers; her lips swollen and puffy, and the bottom half of eyes bulging. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell when someone looked like they were in bad shape, and disregarding the uncharacteristic yawn that escaped her, his eyebrows knit with concern.

'Are you OK...?'

Kyungja peered at him – looking winded by his question for a split second – from under her lashes. 'I beg your pardon?'

Another group of students whizzed past; each sparing the two dazed looks as they did; however, Jimin's eyes this time hadn't left his partner.

The unmoving combination of his broad, relaxed shoulders, hands resting in his pockets, face a portrait of complete seriousness, and small dark eyes peering into her soul made her rock hard façade crack. Since when was he capable of such an overwhelming, daunting look? As far as she knew, the man was nothing short of all sorts of childish antics and clumsy blunders, hence, why she suddenly felt small under his fixed study of her.

'You don't look that well. Are you getting enough sleep?'

'I-I don’t...'

Stutter. She stuttered. To her utmost horror and humiliation, but Kyungja was too absorbed in keeping face than to pick at the mortification she felt. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt backed into a corner at his question, and she didn't like it. Why was he so concerned anyway? What right did he think he had asking her such a thing? It wasn't like they were even close... or were they?

‘I don’t need your concern, Park. I’ve been just fine without it all this time and I intend to keep it that way.’

Feeling red-faced, irritable thanks to her ovaries, and rattled by the unexpected things she felt, Kyungja excused herself. 'Well if that’s all, I'll be leaving first.'

Another group of students filed by and Kyungja watched them, waiting to slip into the crowd behind them when she heard a sigh. Jimin's red hair now accommodated a hand which ruffled it, sending rusty strands sticking out everywhere, but it somehow retained decent composure.

Jimin couldn’t help but feel agitated by how effortlessly she brushed off his efforts at relaying information to her, and even disappointed considering he imagined they’d come a long way in terms of their communication skills. He could only assume she was in a terribly grumpy state… but then again, how was he to know this fact for sure if she didn’t even so as acknowledge his concern for her? He was certain he had every right to snap back at her, but instead, he breathed in and out slowly in an attempt to collect his patience, which seemingly worked as he spoke again calmly.

'Look, I'm just worried,' he said; his voice lowering an octave and eyes averted, before settling on her again.

They held a shimmering quality she couldn't place. There was definitely frustration in there somewhere… but something else like sincerity surfaced in the dark orbs peering at her shyly, and at the mere sight of the look he offered her, she felt all the unfavourable things she did just moments ago leave her being.

'You're not super human. You're just like everyone else; you need some time out every once in a while. So... I don't know,' his face burned with embarrassment at the following words.

'Rely on me a little bit.'

Kyungja didn't know what to say. Unlike the feeling she'd gotten earlier of being poked into a corner by his words, she suddenly caught glimpse of an Officer Park Jimin she was more familiar with. One that was capable of words she always found irrelevant and unnecessary. But this time, they were words that moved her. Words that shook her to the core. Words that instead of driving her into defencelessness, wrapped her in a cloud of warmth she'd never felt before.

Kyungja felt her heart swell, yet the sensation was unexpectedly pleasant and comforting. She opened – Jimin watching her expectantly – however before she could say anything, another group of students raced past, this time with shoes thumping and clicking in a flurry of musical excitement down the hallway.

The two officers looked up in surprise, watching as a sea of uniforms seemingly rushed in the general direction of the school entrance. And it didn’t take long for eager comments about the situation at hand to surface from another passing group of students.

‘They’re breaking up?’

‘What? In front of—like—the entire school?’

‘And that’s not even the best part. I heard he threw his drink on her.’

The two officers shared a look of mild curiosity before Kyungja was the first to make a move against the crowd of students that rushed towards the commotion. Melon High was full of surprises, really. Neither of the two could wrap their heads around just how interesting another student’s love life was that they practically dropped whatever they were doing, and raced to the scene as if there was a retail sale on.

Nevertheless, Kyungja felt a sense of relief at the fact that neither she nor her partner were involved in whatever ruckus was in progress whatsoever. Or perhaps it was a fleeting sense of relief that she was saved the embarrassment of not being able to respond to his words at all. Not for now, at least.

‘Let’s go,’ she urged, pausing to glance at Jimin from over her shoulder when she noticed he hadn’t made any advances in joining her.

She found it odd of him at first, however it didn’t take the officer long to place the troubled look on the young man’s face. It wasn’t like him to be capable of producing such expressions… then again, Kyungja was subject to quite a variation of those earlier as well. But somehow, this one was different. It almost looked as if he were terribly unsettled about something, yet before she could question him about it, Jimin’s face relaxed into his default mask of casualty.

‘Right,’ the easy smile on his face returned as he hopped a few steps forward towards his partner, who was clearly unimpressed by the childish antic, but remained silent.

The officer’s thoughts quickly took an unexpected lurch into the unsettling churning of his stomach as they walked. He wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but whatever drama was supposedly transpiring made his police instincts spike. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was. All he was positive of was that there was an inexplicably ominous air about the school, and he didn’t like it one bit.

‘I owe you an apology.’

The words were so startling that the redhead stopped dead in his t