03; Mission K-2

'The two of you have been hand-picked. By the president. To pretty much repeat high school.'

A spell of silence fell over the room however it was more than evident by the looks of disbelief on the officers’ faces that they were in far too much shock to verbally respond. Kyungja however was the first to stir; her face quickly gaining composure while Jimin's mouth opened and closed repeatedly as if he failed to muster a coherent sentence.

Did they just hear right? Did they even hear anything at all? 

… Now you're probably wondering why these two were together in a room. With the commissioner. Sitting across from his desk, staring at him as if he were a sputtering plant. Well, let’s go back.

1 hour earlier...

The coffee machine hissed like a wild animal, pluming steam steadily in the stuffy confines of the office that bustled with activity. The large analogue overhead had just struck past 1 and uniforms along with the rare, banged-up catch of the day ambled in tiredly.

Officer Kim Namjoon waved a hand slowly over his paper cup of black coffee and breathed into it, watching as the steam danced off the surface. The morning had been nothing short of a bustling hive of activity for the older blonde, and finally getting some time off during his schedule that otherwise barely allowed for time to breathe, he approached the familiar face at the other end of the large office with long, casual strides.

And just as he reached the desk scattered with papers and numerous ball pens identical to the next, his attention drifted to the noise that was suddenly directed towards the entrance of the station. Every present officer ooh'ed in pleasant surprise as none other than Jongdae graced the building with his overbearing presence, raising his arms as he did like a Queen of England imposter.

'Thank you, thank you,' he smiled his signature jester smile and Namjoon swore he noticed the secretary swoon visibly behind her desk.

He rolled his eyes at the star officer who gravitated towards her desk with a charming smile, and sipping the piping hot coffee from his paper cup, the blonde spotted a familiar dark head between the bodies surrounding Jongdae. He moved through the small gathering and towards Jimin who – despite the excitement the former attracted – seemed incredibly focused on his work, which was a rare sight for the youngster.

Namjoon cocked an eyebrow, hovering over his desk for a moment to the latter's obliviousness. 'Is it just me, or did the crazy cat ahjumma threaten to make you fat with treats if you didn't get down to Felix in the tree?'

Jimin quickly looked up at the sound of the voice that interrupted his flexing wrist over a thick stack of papers. A coiling telephone wire trailed from his left shoulder, and noting the blonde's questioning look, he returned the amusing question with a wave of his pen.

'Just going about business as usual, Officer Kim.'

'Oh no,' Namjoon reared his head back in mock offence, pulling up a chair from behind him towards the desk.

'Do I sense insecurity?'

Jimin scoffed; the phone still attached to his left ear as his eyes darted uneasily between the blonde and his papers, and maybe even the cop of the month. That chap’s antics were as distasteful as always.

'As if. I've just... got a lot on my plate today.'

The older man huffed. 'Whatever you say… coffee? You look like you need it.'

'Nah, I'm good. Gotta ease up on the Joe to get some decent sleep...,' Jimin mumbled, watching as the blonde chugged down more of the steaming black brew. 'And maybe you should too, man.'

'Huh? And why should I?'

'Well...'

As if on cue, Jongdae – spotting the two officers engaging in their usual midday assembly – pulled himself away from the scattering crowd and approached them; Jimin eyeing him levelly as he did. There was nothing relatively exciting about Officer Kim Jongdae's odd visits to his desk, but Jimin stopped bothering about the chap's schemes entirely because of how routine his visits would become. Not to mention how God-awful they were at that too.

'Officer Park...!' he boomed, at which Jimin mentally rolled his eyes at. 'Nice shirt. And Kim! Good coffee run there.'

Jimin smiled tightly. 'Thanks, Kim. Right back at ya.'

'Oh, Jongdae,' Namjoon acknowledged, craning his neck to glance at the officer who stood confidently with hands on his hips and chest puffed out.

'What was it this time?'

The smile on Jongdae's face spread from ear to ear at the question. It was so obvious he had been waiting for one of them to voice the question that Jimin cringed inwardly at the conspicuous overflowing confidence he suddenly exuded.

'Remember that big cartel we're working on? Turns out the house we raided today had cartons of the stuff linked to that dockyard a few years back.'

'What? I thought that case was closed years ago.'

Jongdae shrugged. 'So did I. We busted the major couriers involved, but this time, I've got a hunch it's more than coke... found a bunch of stuffed animals and weird ID copies too from the crates we snagged. I'd say they're snuffing them with drugs to get them out, but the ID's? It's all just theory for now, but we'll get 'em eventually.'

The two listened in on the information attentively. The particular case Jongdae touched was a popular one within the police department considering it was one of the largest syndicate crimes they'd dealt with to date. It was a spiral of connections and other complex attachments the major officers involved in were still struggling to piece together; Park Jimin being one of the officer's involved prior his field accident.

Jimin allowed for the information to sink in gradually before his eyes wandered to Namjoon from across. He watched with incredible amusement as the paper cup in his hand tilted during his bout of intense concentration, and a splash of hot liquid trickled down the blonde's dark navy uniform.

'Nutcracker nights!' he yelped, frowning deeply at the new dark patch in his uniform. 'I just picked this up in the morning!'

'And I thought Jongdae was good luck,' Jimin commented with a chuckle, handing the blonde a wad of serviettes from within a side drawer.

Jongdae boomed with laughter. 'Or maybe chimchim's just bad!'

A few surrounding officers laughed with him and against the madly pulsing vein in his forehead, Jimin laughed too. Despite Namjoon dabbing at the new additional streak in his uniform, his eyes were focused on the incredibly thick tension between the two officers in front of him that he was certain no one else felt. It was amazing how the two even managed to work under the same roof, and unwilling to be dragged into whatever menacing auras they exuded despite the fact that they were laughing, the blonde excused himself. Jongdae as well had made his smooth escape with a few officers who were heading out into the field again, and an incredible sense of despondency overcame Jimin as he watched them leave.

Oh, how he craved to be back in the field...! He could feel himself rotting day by day working behind that darned desk, and watching as they geared up for an exciting mission out in the open, Jimin sighed deeply. Anything apart from the redundant work he was reduced to was a tantalizing prospect.

Ah, and how he wished he could work on the drug case again. Jongdae had wet his appetite for investigation he was prohibited from and soon enough, Jimin found himself immersed in his work again... however whatever attention he mustered into the phone calls and filing of reports was quickly lost when his eyes spotted a familiar, yet chilling face in the crowd: Woon Kyungja.

Even the name sent chills down his spine. Ever since the incident where she'd unexpectedly dropped a bomb on him; courtesy of whatever robotic sort of vent she was capable of; Jimin never looked at the woman the same again. His content admiration for her had been reduced to a shudder every time he so as took notice of her.

He watched as she lingered at the secretary's desk and Jongdae – still present to his surprise – almost naturally floated in her direction. It was ridiculous how endearing the other officers found whatever relationship the two shared and even though Jimin took no interest in gossip, he'd overheard on various occasions that the two were romantically involved... and thinking back on the time when he'd heard such things, he couldn’t help but cringe.

The thought of the fullmetal RoboCop being involved with anybody for that matter in such an intimate way was impossible... and how right Park Jimin was.

Woon Kyungja was a simple woman.

Her morning consisted of the following common rituals: coffee (black, unsweetened), rice crackers (pack of 3, unflavoured), the usual morning jog through the neighbourhood, and a green breakfast (with an extra handful of red and yellow peppers) on her way to work.

Woon Kyungja was a simple woman.

Instead of riding to work on the bike stashed away in her spacious garage, she commuted; sometimes even walked when she still felt far too energetic to sit still after her morning workout. Her hair – being as short as it was – would often be tied into a pony that barely protruded from the hair band, and she did not apply makeup during working hours. Her policy about attire ethics in the workplace were strict and she was content with rules and regulations.

Woon Kyungja – after all – was a simple woman.

Simple because her life was orderly and timed and everything she did was meticulously planned and seen through... however her simplicity was to the point where everyone else around her seemed far too complex to manage. Hence, she spent most of her free time if she wasn’t training – unlike most people who socialized – tending to her collection of miniature indoor aloes and cactus.

'Officer Woon...!' Jongdae boomed obnoxiously, assuming his signature pose with hands on the hips and chest out.

'Looking good. Nice work out there with the hoodlums. You've got pretty fast hands, Officer.'

Woon Kyungja was indeed a woman of simplicity. Yet the complex handful of people she was surrounded by on a daily basis – particularly the one standing in fr