Last Chapter Recap:

Donghwa was a village that was surrounded with a lake, a forest and another slum village called wolf village. Inside the forest stood a big castle that was rumoured the home of a strange animal Park Shin Hye was a senior in Donghwa highschool, she was a nerd that often being bullied. Her dad was Park Sang Myun, he built and fixed furniture and transported it to the Donghwa castle.  An old woman lived there, Kim Hae Sook, who served a master who had a bad temper, very strong and had a bad and strong odor. The master did not like stranger and was always angry if someone enter his house. Park Min Woo was the boy who often bullied Shin Hye, he befriended with Park Hae Jin who was a reporter from Seoul. Min Woo had a crush on Kim Ji Won, the town hottie who sadly was interested in Hae Jin. Shin Hye developed a crush on Hae Jin and confessed, but Hae Jin rejected. Park Shin Hye accepted the job to substitute Kim Hae Sook temporarily, but the master hated her and kicked her out and ended up in Wolves Village, she was chased by a few men.When they were about to attack her, the master (Jimseung) saved her. Shin Hye asked him to teach her how to fight. The result of the training was Shin Hye confidence and standing up against bullies. They became friends. Shin Hye noticed that Jimseung can see ghosts as well as she could sense them. They investigate the ghost of his grandfather who committed suicide in that mansion. Jimseung gave her a gift of library and to celebrate Nanny Kim's return, they had a small party. Jimseung and Shin Hye kissed. Hae Jin realised that he actually liked Shin Hye but disappointed when found out that Shin Hye lived in the mansion with Jimseung and appeared friendly. Hae Jin seemed to know Jimseung. Jimseung asked Shin Hye to go with him to the US for study, but because of Hae Jin and her father surgery, Shin Hye cancelled the plan. They went their separate ways.

—o0o---

A busy Thursday afternoon, a few hours to go for the national knock-off time, a book store in the middle of area that was notorious for business centre and tourist attraction was as busy as ever. The store was occupying two out of four stories building, the other two on the upper half were for a cute coffee shop that was also part of the store.

The line on the cashier was quiet long, the pricey imported books attracted the business people as well as the students all over Seoul, being located in Hongdae was also a benefit since it was where people usually go on dates or hang out with friends.

One girl was behind the register, although the line was quite long the smile on her lips did not fade. She liked being busy, and she liked the enthusiasm of the bookstore guests. The cash register frequently chimed as the line was getting shorter.

“Hey Shin Hye-ya! How are doing? Okay?” Another girl walked inside the counter bringing a stack of books.

“Deh Min Young Sunbae! I’m getting a hang of it!” Shin Hye said while handing a change to a young man in a suit. She gave him a friendly smile that made him blush.

“Great job! You’re only here three days, but it seemed like you’ve worked here for three years already. You’re good at adapting.” The girl named Min Young said while arranging the books to be displayed on the counter.

Shin Hye smiled at the praise, “I used to work in a bookstore in high school. So this is like walking down a memory lane, although where I used to live, the people doesn’t really read books, so having a line like this had never happened.” She giggled.

“Gurae? Where are you from?” Min Young was now helping Shin Hye in packing the purchased items into a paper bag.

“A small town called Donghwa? Ring a bell?” Shin Hye glanced towards her co-worker.

Min Young smiled at the name, “Donghwa as in ‘fairy tale’, sounds like a romantic place.”

Shin Hye scoffed, “Don’t be fooled by the name. I got to admit, the place is beautiful, but no fairytale happened there, it’s boring to the core.”

Min Young laughed and was about to say something when she heard a buzz. A cell phone was blinking inside an open drawer below the counter. She noticed it was Shin Hye’s, yet the girl did not seem to budge and kept serving the customers.

“Go ahead, take a break. You’ve been standing since before lunch. I can handle it here.” Min Young offered.

“Are you sure?” Shin Hye asked in disbelief, Min Young nodded. “Arasso, I’ll be outside to get a bit of air.” 

She took the phone and slid it inside her apron pocket while heading to the door. Opening the door with her elbow while sliding her thumb on the phone to answer it.

“Yobuseyo!” She answered it cheerfully.

“Shin Hye-ya! Dinner at Imo’s!!” A familiar male voice came through the receiver.

Shin Hye giggled while propping herself on a low pole outside of the store. “What’s the occasion, Oppa?” 

“She bought too many beef… well that’s what she says, I think she just wants some company.” The guy chuckled. “What time will you finish work?” 

Shin Hye heard someone called him and he talked a bit with the other guy. “Maybe around 7?” Shin Hye said when she felt he was alone again.”

“Do you want me to pick you up?” He said.

Shin Hye was about to answer when something caught her eyes. Three men were sitting on a bench in front of her. They were dressed in a pair of black jeans, jackets and baseball cap. She thought their outfit were unsuitable for the scorching summer day like today. It was also uncommon for the people in Hongdae since it was not a stylist nor business attire like most people. No snack or shopping bag around them, they were just sitting absentmindedly.

“Shin Hye! Are you still there?”

She jerked at the shout and pulled an earphone out of her apron pocket. She put one of them on the ear that was not occupied with the phone.

“O, Hae Jin Oppa! You were saying?” She looked around the area.

“Do you want me to pick you up?” He offered again.

Shin Hye giggled, “What do you think I am? A kinder-gardener? I think I can manage going back to Imo’s myself. Besides, is on the opposite way from the TV station!” 

“Well, you know that I would never say no if you ask me, right?” Shin Hye could feel Hae Jin’s teasing smile with that tone.

She rolled her eyes at the flirtation, “And you know how much I hate troubling other people, right?” She shifted her sitting position the other way around to face the street.

“Shin Hye-ya! After all this years, I’m still ‘other people’ for you?” A disappointed tone was apparent.

One of the three men suddenly locked eyes with Shin Hye, soon after the three guy dispersed to different way as if not acquainted with one another. Shin Hye glanced around before shaking off her suspicion.

“Don’t go fake sulking on me Oppa! I know you’re not.” She giggled, “I’ll see you tonight, Keunho!” She disconnected the phone and went inside the store.

Seeing that the line on the cashier was almost empty, she headed back to her station and told her co-worker that she had her break so she could resume taking care the register. There was not many customers after that, so she sat on the stool while opening one of the book on the display and start reading it.

She heard clacking sound from behind the counter, thinking that a customer was going to pay, she stood up and smiled cheerfully.

“Hello! How may help you..” Her words were stopped by the sight of the customer.

A tall and muscular male was in front of her, he wore all black attire from top to toe. He was facing down, so his face was covered by the black baseball cap. He rudely put a pack of cable tightener, duct tape and a Swiss army on the counter.

Shin Hye noticed him as one of the men sitting in front of the bookstore just now, her body tensed, alarmed by the man. Her hand was shaking slightly as she reached for the items that he was purchasing.

“Would this be all?” She stammered.

“Deh!” He coldly said, his baseball cap lifted a little bit but it was still very hard to see his face.

Shin Hye scanned the barcode of the items and packaged them in a paper bag, she mentioned the total number of purchase to him and he gave her a few bills. When it was time to give him the change, she looked bewildered.

“Would you like to purchase this new book? It’s a best seller for self-healing book.” The guy gave no respond. Shin Hye looked around the counter and stumbled on something. “Maps!! We have various maps around the area, the whole Seoul, Gangnam, here… this is the map for Hongdae!” She took a map and shoved it to his nose.

The guy lifted his head a little bit and reached for the map, he studied it a bit before putting it back to the counter with a huff. Grabbing the change that was on Shin Hye’s hand, he bolted through the door, bumping Min Young on the way.

“Who was that?” She frowned.

Shin Hye shrugged indifferently while taking the map that he had just put back to the counter, “Customer, why?”

“Nothing, he had a scar on his cheek… it looked so deep, it must have been hurt.” Min Young recalled.

“Gurae?” Shin Hye contemplated for awhile before raising her hand showing the map to Min Young, “I think, I’ll buy this map instead.” She said while carefully putting it in a plastic bag.

—-

It was already dark when Shin Hye hopped off from a bus to a bus stop near the house of Jin Ha Naa. The house was not far from the bus stop so it took only a few minutes for her to reach the two stories house. 

The front part of the house was a two stories convenient store, it was still bustling with customers with a few of them enjoyed snacks on the bar table that was facing the top-to-bottom glass wall. There were a few picnic table outside of the store, and since it was summer, most of the tables were occupied.

Shin Hye walked pass the convenient store and pushed a wooden door beside it, she walked through a narrow alley that made out of the store's wall and the next-door neighbour. Once she passed the alley, she was welcomed with a backyard garden. It was neat and minimalistic, most of it was covered with cobblestone pavement and grass, and just a few plants grown on it. A patio with wooden pergola and warm string lights across it, shading a dinner table enough for eight people. The double door near the table was heading to the kitchen.

Sound of people chattering was heard even from the alley, Shin Hye smiled anticipating all of the people who owned the voices. It was always a good time to hang out with them, her childhood friends.

“Shin Hye-ya! Wasseo!” A middle aged woman greeted her as she carried a bowl full of kimchi stew.

Shin Hye scurried to grab the bowl from her, “Ahjumma! Thank you for inviting me. Let me take that.”

“No it’s okay, sit do..!” But the girl ignored her and just grabbed the bowl and put it on the table. She smiled, knowing the girl stubbornness especially when it comes to helping people.

“Did you just finish work?” A man around her age said while stretching his arm towards her. His hair was cut neatly short, his small eyes twinkled in mischievous way, his dimples were showing as he smiled.

Shin Hye stretched her arms too, giving him a high five. “O! I went straight from work. Everything okay Min Woo-ya? Didn't you came with Hae Jin Oppa?” She said while sitting across him.

“Hae Jin Hyung has a last minute report to make for tonight’s news.” A girl beside Shin Hye answered instead while offering her right cheek.

“You’re not working tonight?” Shin Hye asked to Min Woo while putting her right cheek to the girl and air-kissed her.

“Nope, it’s my day off. I have to go to to Daegu tomorrow for a coverage.” Min Woo explained while pinching a side dish and put it in his mouth.

“What about you? Any news today, Ji Won-a?” Shin Hye turned to the girl beside her.

“Yessss!!!” She squealed, Min Woo rolled his eyes. “I got a call for audition!!” She clapped her hand excitedly.

Shin Hye beamed, “That’s great! Which company?” 

Ji Won had been sending her portfolio to all modelling agency across South Korea for the last year, so being called for audition was surely a dream come true. Shin Hye could not be happier for her friend.

“KB Entertainment. Its a new and rising entertainment company… people said it will be as big if not bigger than JYP.” Ji Won bragged.

“I heard the owner is a jerk…” Min Woo’s mouth curled mockingly.

“She’s applying for a job, not for his wife…” Shin Hye said matter-of-factly.

Min Woo widened his eyes over-the top, “Yeah! But what if he tried to do something to Ji Won!?”

Shin Hye giggled at his jealousy, “I for one will not let that happen.” She put her arms on Ji Won shoulder.

“That’s right, Shin Hye will protect me. Unlike you useless cameramen!” Ji Won stuck her tongue out towards Min Woo.

Min Woo's face scrunched feigning disgust yet only triggering their laughter which echoed around the yard. He was used to be attacked by the two girls, and if that was the only way to make Ji Won happy, then so be it. How tables were turn since the day of their time in Highschool.

“Wow!! I could smell the jjigae from the convenient store!” Someone exclaimed from the alley, Hae Jin’s figure appeared not long after.

“Hae Jin hyung!” Min Woo exclaimed cordially, “Sit here! Just in time of Imo bringing the beef out.” cueing the middle-aged lady to come out of the kitchen with trays of raw beef.

Hae Jin went over to Ha Naa and gave her a peck on the cheek, she resumed walking to the table, put the trays of raw meat, intestine and vegetables before walking across the table and sat beside Min Woo. 

Hae Jin shuffled both Shin Hye's and Ji Won’s head which gained loud protest from the girls before sitting himself beside his aunt.

“Are you doing the Lotte Group report again?” Min Woo looked at his Hyung sharply.

Hae Jin side glanced at the girls, “Wae gurae Min Woo-ya? Let’s not talk about work tonight…” he sipped the ice tea in front of him.

“I just don’t understand your obsession with Lotte Group, you always volunteered to cover their story from business and political to the gossip one. Do you wish to be their son-in-law, or something?” Min Woo said ignoring the glare from Hae Jin.

Shin Hye and Ji Won giggled, “Do they have daughters? I think a chaebol daughter would be suitable for him.” Ji Won teased. “Isn’t that why you’re always single all this time?”

Hae Jin pouted, “Aniya! Their kind are the kind of people I like the least to be part of my family.” He shuddered.

Shin Hye beamed at the meat that Ha Naa put on her plate, she took it with her chopstick and put it on . “Wae?” She said while chewing.

Hae Jin winced in disgust, “None of your business! How’s work? Still at the bookstore?” He scooped a mouthful of rice with his chopstick.

“O! It’s my third day, it’s fun, kinda like when I was in Donghwa.” She took another meat and wrapped it inside a sesame leaf, before gobbling it.

“Aaah… those good ol days when Shin Hye was a loner and would trip easily by my affectionate display to her.” Min Woo grinned.

Shin Hye threw a sesame leaf on him, “More like a bully! A lame bully who couldn’t even fight.” She sneered.

The people at the table laughed at her mockery, including Min Woo. “I know, honestly I was surprised when you tackle that guy during our field trip. I thought, have you always good at fighting or did you change? I thought I was in some kind of problem if you were always a good fighter.” He blushed.

The laughter got louder and it subsided while they focused on the feast.

“Well did you?” Min Woo asked in all seriousness.

“Did I what?” Shin Hye said in confusion.

“Were you always a good fighter or did you change?” Min Woo repeated.

Shin Hye was taken aback by the question, her mind was involuntarily drifted to four years ago during the time she lived in the mansion. Her eyes suddenly got teary inexplicably causing a middle sized lump inside . Hae Jin eyed her knowingly.

“I trained…” Shin said said briefly, turning her attention to her plate not wanting the topic to be continued.

“Look at that!! What a pathetic human being!” Suddenly Hae Jin shouted, attracting the attention to everyone on the table.

His eyes were fixated on the TV on one of the kitchen counter, an entertainment news was on and it was reporting the heir of the largest corporation in South Korea for the time being. Lotte Group own most of the building in Gangnam, the most exclusive business district. Their business spanned from entertainment industry, retail until manufacturing. The only heir for the corporation was currently finishing up the study and expected to be back in South Korea by the end of the month.

“Wae Gurae, Hyung?” Min Woo asked while his eyes were on the TV along with everybody else but Shin Hye; she couldn’t care less about the world of the richest, she was just glad that Min Woo stopped asking about her past.

“It’s good to be rich people isn’t it? All he has to do just follow what Daddy says!” Hae Jin’s tone was full of disgust.

“I heard he’s very handsome!” Ji Won sighed imagining a rich handsome man.

“He’s a wuss though, do you really want to date a man who couldn’t protect himself let alone his girlfriend?” Hae Jin swifted his attention to Ji Won.

Ji Won frowned, “He’s rich, he doesn’t have to… he could just hired 10 bodyguards!” 

Hae Jin scoffed, “But even 10 bodyguards could not let ‘it’ up!” 

Everybody’s head turned to him, even his aunt. They stared at him blankly for awhile before bursting out a laugh. 

“Hae Jin-a! Seriously? You know that kind of stuff?” Ha Naa exclaimed, her cheek blushed.

“Imo! He knows everything about that family, even the unimportant one like that!” Min Woo said in between his laugh. “Well, its not actually unimportant. Thank you Hyung, for letting us know that nobody’s perfect.”

They all laughed again, Shin Hye threw a peanut to Min Woo. Hae Jin laughed with them, he glanced at Shin Hye, relieved that the topic about her life in Donghwa was long forgotten now. 

The dinner finally came to an end at nine. After helping Hae Jin’s aunt with the cleaning, Shin Hye and Ji Won said their good byes to everybody and headed out. Walking together to the bus stop, taking the bus across town to Yongsan District and heading to an apartment building that was on one of the hill in the area, Ji Won kept circling her arms to Shin Hye’s.

“So when is your audition?” Shin Hye said while climbing the stairs.

“It's the day after tomorrow at nine, but I’ll go at 7 and wait in a coffee shop nearby. I don’t want to be late like last time.” Ji Won said, “What if I fail again, Shin Hye-ya!”

Shin Hye turned to her friend, saw the sadness on her eyes. “Be confident, be yourself. I don’t know what criteria they’d prefer in audition. But I think just be yourself, and your charm will shine.” 

Ji Won nodded, “It’s been two years since I tried, I’m tired of waiting tables and model for online store… I have to get my big break now or else I’d be too old.” 

“Yaaa!! Where’s my coquettish arrogant friend that was the most beautiful girl in the whole village?” Shin Hye side hugged Ji Won.

“She died when she didn’t find that jerk!” Ji Won’s face turned into a moue, “Just watch me if I ever see him again.”

Shin Hye chuckled, “Are you still having grudge at the guy we meet four years ago?”

“Of course! Because of him I went to Seoul to pursue a modelling career just to find out that he had resigned a few days after we met him. He fooled me!!” Ji Won exclaimed defensively. “Do you know how scared I was to live alone in this big city? Good thing I met you after two years living like a caveman, even though you weren’t in town that often at that time.”

Shin Hye smiled warmly and tightened her hug to Ji Won, “I’m here now, I’ll protect you from all the boys who are hitting on you.” She teased, “Let’s go clubbing this weekend, celebrate your audition.”

Ji Won fake-sulked, “I don’t even know if I’d pass or not.” 

“Who cares!! I just need a reason to drink!!” Shin Hye said as they stepped in front of a door.

Ji Won pouted before laughing with her, they unlocked the door and went inside the apartment. The lights on the window was on for a few moments before it was dark again as both girls resided to their respective bedroom and called it a night.

—-o0o—-

Shin Hye pedalled her bike swiftly on an avenue in Hongdae, one of the most interesting area in Seoul. She turned her bike and stopped in front of a book store. Grabbing her bag and a bouquet of flowers, she unlocked the door and opened it.

A bell chimed in on top of her and the signature fragrant welcomed her. It was a medium size bookstore, mostly sell a business magazine and english book as it was located in a business district of Hongdae. A large bank was beside the store and a fine dining restaurant at the other side.

She dropped her bag inside the counter and wore her apron, smiling brightly as she recalled her old part time job. But this gig was very different, it was not a rundown store yet a sophisticated, air conditioned building, it did not sold a second hand book yet expensive imported books, and it surely wasn’t Donghwa, people actually visited and bought books from that store.

But that day was a bit different, there was not much customer, almost none. She had nothing to do until noon. Being bored due to the lack of work, she decided to go outside of the store and cleaned the window.

Bucket in one hand and brush in the other, she wobbled out of the store, poured soap in the bucket and dipped her brush inside it. Afterwards she glazed the soapy liquid on to the window before brushing it up and down. She grabbed her earphone and put them on both ears, humming while working.

Which was why she did not hear when the alarm of the bank went off, people were running in panic outside of the bank. Three men wearing a hoodie to cover their faces ran from inside the bank, frantically pointing guns all over.

They ran in the direction of an alley, where they met with a dead end while police sirens faintly screamed from the distant. They went back and roamed to the main road, only to be blocked by uniformed police and others. 

Two of them were way in the front that they had no time to dodge and got captured by the police after launching several attacks. But one of them had time to turn and headed back, to where Shin Hye was standing.

He was running passed Shin Hye when she suddenly turned around with the poled brush on her hand. The burglar tripped on her brush and stumbled forward, rolling over several meters.

Shin Hye gasped and pulled her earphone out. As if not knowing that he was a burglar, she went to check on him, feeling bad that she caused harm to someone.

“Ahjussi, gwenchanayo?” She stammered trying to touch the back of her victim that was now crouching on the floor.

Suddenly a few men surrounded her, three men wore police uniform but another three wore civilian outfit yet looking as fierce as the police. Shin Hye frowned looking bewildered at the sudden turn of event.

In the span of a minute, the crouching burglar suddenly stood up and swift to her back. One of his arm flung in front of her neck, while the other put gun on her temple. 

She shrieked, alerting the policemen. They all held their both palms to calm the burglar.

“Everybody stepped back!!” He shouted, “Or I’ll blow her head off!!

“Don’t be reckless! You already shot one person at the Bank, your sentence will be much heavier if you harm her.” One of the man in civilian clothes shouted.

“Release my friend, or I shoot her. I mean it!!!” The robber pointed his gun alternately between Shin Hye’s temple and the police.

"Kim Hyun Joong-shi!" Shin Hye said in a fake calmess, the robber snapped his head towards her, "Don't do this. Think about your grandmother! Who'll take care of her if you spend too long in jail?" She added.

"How do you know my name?!" He bellowed in panic, "I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!!" He positioned his hand better on his gun.

By now, more and more people gathered to watch the scene. Some policemen tried to get the area cleared, but the people were curious and kept looking at Shin Hye and the robber, even though a bit on the back. Some even took out their phone to record the scene.

Stretching her arms, Shin Hye’s eyes scattered at her surrounding, carefully calculating the safety of the people around her. She glanced at one of the man that was standing with the police, she saw him shook his head.

She closed her eyes briefly before swinging her right elbow straight to the robber’s rib cage. The impact was so strong, he stumbled a few steps back. The sound of people shouting in concern resonated in the business alley when they saw Shin Hye broke free and turned to face him.

It took him several second before he stood straight up and point his gun on her. In the split of second, Shin Hye swirled and slid her foot to swiped his feet. The sound of gun shot blared at the same time of him falling to the ground. The civilian around the area ducked their head before realising that everything was fine.

Shin Hye stood up hurriedly and kicked the gun away before punching the robber on the face and turned him on his back. She put her right foot on his back while gathered both of his hands. The policemen behind her scrambled to her, one of them took the gun and kept it safe.

“You’re under arrest for robbery!” Shin Hye started to read his rights.

The robber turned sideways, trying to take a look at her in vain. He thought the bookstore shopkeeper was an easy target for his hostage. She already had seen him a few days ago when he was watching his target. She looked girly and sweet, he was actually contemplating to ask her out once he was rich from robbing the bank.

“Who are you?!” He exclaimed in annoyance.

“Shut up!” Shin Hye yelled as she pulled him to stand.

The policemen in uniform approached them, “Lieutenant Park!!!’ They were panting.

The robber went wide-eyed realising that they were calling the girl he thought was cute. He turned around and saw fierceness on her eyes, no trace of sweetness on her face as she handed him to the policemen.

“Take him!!” She pushed him and they caught the guy who was still struggling to break free.

Shin Hye massaged her collarbone feeling a strained after the fight, she smirked in satisfaction while eyeing the policemen that was walking towards the police car. That was when she saw a huddle near the car, a body laid in the centre of the huddle.

Realising what it was, Shin Hye went wide eyed and dashed toward the huddle. She pushed through the policemen and paramedic to find one of the policeman in uniform was laying on the ground, blood was on his chest.

“Officer Jung! Officer Jung! Gwenchana?” She said in panic when she saw he was unconscious, guilt quickly washed over her.

“He’s okay, the bullet went to the shoulder. This is just the blood. He passed out just now, we’ll take him to the hospital.” Said one of the paramedic.

Shin Hye looked bewildered, but she was relief to hear the explanation. She let go of the wounded policeman and sank onto the floor. The paramedic took him and the huddle immediately dispersed, leaving her sitting in defeat. 

It took her awhile sitting in the middle of the plaza of Hongdae until she saw a pair of foot in front of her, the legs were wearing a black jeans. She looked up and saw a stern face in front of her, the face of man that exuded charisma. The face looked at her, disapproval was across them as the brows furrowed and the eyes glared at Shin Hye. He shook his head and left her there.

Shin Hye exhaled audibly, closed her eyes to calm the turmoil inside her heart. She knew that the day would not be as smooth as she thought it would be.

—

“What did I tell you!!!! You’re job is surveillance, under cover as an employee in that bookstore in case the gank made a move on that bank!!!!” The man shouted until the voice came out of his closed office.

Shin Hye winced at the loud noise, “And I did, Capt! I was the one reported the suspicious three men outside of the bank a few days ago!”

“And you were doing so well!!! I gotta admit, you think fast when you're able to get that man's fingerprints but it was also plain lucky and you should’ve stopped there!!!” He pointed his finger to Shin Hye. “Lay low inside the bookstore! But Nooo… you had to be a hero! What's that all about cleaning the window when you know exactly that the robbery was on going?!" He exhaled in exasperation, standing with his hand on his hips, staring at Shin Hye.

The team leader was a very tall man, his upper body was broad and muscular and fit as policeman should be. His wavy hair fell a bit below his eyebrows and ears, a bit too long than he usually liked to keep them. He had small eyes that almost looked like a cartoon with two dots for the eyes, his lips were thin but wide, it was actually nice if only he would stretch it into a smile instead of curling it.

“I’m sorry, Capt. I thought I’m more useful outside than just watching from the bookstore.” Shin Hye hung her head, glancing at the name board on the Capt desk that said ‘Team Leader Park Sung Woong.

“And look how well that ended?” Park Sung Woong stared at her in a challenging way, “I have an injured policeman in the hospital, luckily the bullet missed his heart otherwise we’ll be serving food in his funeral right now!”

Shin Hye winced again, feeling sorry for her team mates who was now in the hospital because of her recklessness. Tears were starting to filled her eyelid, she sniffed hard, the lasting she wanted was to cry in front of her Captain.

“I know you’re the best graduates in your year, but the field is nothing like school. You should learn how to follow orders! Or do you prefer to be a vice superintendent in a small precinct rather than here? Do you have the need for rank? Do you not like being a junior lieutenant here?” He threatened

Shin Hye looked up in panic, “No Capt! I like it here. I don’t have a need for ranks, I’ll do everything, I’ll learn from the bottom!” She pleaded.

Park Sung Woong smirked, “In that case, you’re grounded behind the desk. Finish all of the report for the whole month, we have been behind on it.”

“What!? That’s unfair!!” Shin Hye could only grimaced in fear of making the report of the detectives in that precinct, she knew how disorganised those guys were.

“Punishments never are! Get out!” He sat down and started to open a folder of document from a high stacks, indicating that his words were final.

Not wanting to be on his bad side any further, Shin Hye let out an exasperated sigh and her heel, opening the door and carefully closing it once she was out. The sound of busy precinct welcomed her senses. People shouting, typewriter clacking, metal door banging, the everyday noise of a precinct in Jong No district.

As one of the best graduates of her year in the Police academy, Shin Hye had the privilege of choosing where she wanted to serve. She could easily became the vice head of precinct in a smaller district but she chose to be in a bigger precinct since she wanted to learn, and being in a larger precinct meant bigger exposure to various crime and better experience for her.

So she ended up in Jong No, even though she would really like to be in the headquarter but this precinct was one of the biggest in Seoul and certainly one of the busiest. Since there were many business, entertainment and exclusive residential areas under its coverage, the precinct never seemed to be boring. Everyday was filled with various kind of cases, from horrifying case of murder to silly case of adultery. And being a part of the violent crime team, Shin Hye’s days were never been dull.

But today, she had a feeling that it might all be changed. Being benched behind the desk until only the Captain knew when, was not the most interesting thing of being a policeman, moreover she had to do the report for other detectives, the chaotic and hasty men who did their work as per instinct and had no skill whatsoever to put their action into written words.

How was she as a newbie was expected to make a report for someone else? It was like cleaning up to someone else’s mess. Imagining that she had to go through all of the documents and evidence of each cases for that month and somehow made a structural report out of it was enough to give her an ulcer. Capt really knew how to punish someone.

Staggering back to her desk, she watched as her team mates were busy at their respective desks. Some were interviewing witness, some were taking reports and a few were shouting at rough men wearing all black leathered attire, indicating a gank. She smiled watching a big bald man with tattoo all over his big arms, nodding obediently when yelled at by one of her team mates.  

She plopped herself onto her chair and started to open the folder in front of her, she might as well started the report for the robbery case.

“Gwenchana?” A detective sitting beside her desk looked over in concern.

Shin Hye pouted at him, faking a cute aegyo. “Ani! Could you please talk to him so I don’t have to do the report for this month?”

The detective scrunched his face in annoyance, “You know that you don’t have a cute aegyo, right!? Kemanhe!” He barked, regretting his concern.

“Pfft!! Gurae! I’m not a cute girl and I don’t have aegyo… not that it would work to Capt, anyway!” She grumbled. “Why does he hate me so much, Gyu Pil Sunbae?” She glared at the Capt.’s office.

“Ya! You try to be in his shoes, he’s supervising dozens of policemen and detectives. He felt responsible for their lives. You know that we are exposed to incident everyday, we literally risking our lives everyday. For him, he’s responsible to even the family of his subordinates to make sure that they’re home everyday.” Go Gyu Pil softly explained.

“I know!” She mumbled in defeat.

“Follow the order next time, at least until you get a partner than can watch your back. You’re the only female detective in this precinct, in years… I can see everybody will turn very protective of you, so if you keep endangering yourself by going against orders, you’re not helping the team, instead you’re being a burden.” He added. “Arasso!!”

“Deh, Sunbae!” Shin Hye nodded obdiently.

“Good!” Go Gyu Pil dropped a box full of random things, “Now could you please do my report first before anybody else!?” He grinned widely.

Shin Hye shot her murderous glare before forcefully chuckled, “Arasso!! Right after I make mine.” 

—-

After hours of reading boring documents, interviewing related detectives and forming sentence after sentence on her computer, Shin Hye finally gave up. She stretched her arms above her head and looked around, finally realising that the precinct was already deserted; there were only two other policemen in her department and she was sure the rest of the precinct was empty as her department was always the busiest one.

The yellow folder fell out of her lap, scattering papers and pictures all over her floor. Heaving a deep sigh, she squatted down to collect them and put them back inside the folder. Something caught her attention, she furrowed and started to rummage the folder once again, as if having a discovery. Then she peered at the other side of the hall.

The team leader’s office was already dark, he did not came back after he went to a crime scene with two of her team mates this morning. She sighed, feeling left out of all the excitement. 

Deciding that she had to take the matter into her own hands, she stood up from her chair, shut down her monitor, put the yellow folder inside her backpack  and headed to the door. After greeting her fellow team mates briefly she turned to the metal bar door.

She scurried outside the building of the precinct, glanced briefly to her watch and sped up her pace as she noticed the bus would pass any minute. She was still a junior in the precinct, moreover she was kind of grounded so any entitlement of vehicle that she didn’t have at the first place was now impossible to get. So public transportation was the only option even though she was about to do some police business.

That was not one of her case, during the time she was not allowed in the field and not under the blessing of her supervisor. So yeah… she couldn’t really ask for a car. Unless she could get a ride…

Which was why she grinned widely when she saw a familar male standing outside the door, propping his left side to the wall as he put cocky smile towards her, his left leg crossed in front the other, arms folded in front of the chest, looking strikingly handsome as a national news anchor should be.

“Oppa!!” Shin Hye exclaimed as she approached her, “What are you doing here?”

He raised his right hand, showing a plastic bag. “I’m sure you haven’t eat dinner.” He stood straight and faced her.

She felt her stomach grumbled and realised that she was in fact forgot to eat her dinner, her smile grew wider. “You know me so well… what’s that!?” 

“Just some sandwich. Are you going somewhere?” He stared at her black backpack slung on her right arm.

“O! I need to do some investigation…” She said deliberately, testing something.

Hae Jin’s eyebrows raised, “Can I tag along?” 

Shin Hye smirked, throwing mental fist pump. She knew Hae Jin could never say no to a potential news worthy activity. “Only if you promise to go as a friend… not as Reporter Park Hae Jin.” She put a serious front.

“Of course! I just want to spend time with you… since dating is impossible, so I might as well tag along when you go to crime scene! It’s more romantic that way anyhow!” He flashed a flirtatious smile.

Rolling her eyes yet blushed a little, Shin Hye climbed down the stair to get to the parking lot. “Yeah right! Everything is off the record, Arraso!?”

Hae Jin smiled wider, “Deal! So can I? Can I?” He skipped in front of her like a five year old asking for a candy.

She halted abruptly, faking a scowl but turned into a grin in a second. “Where’s your car!?”

Hae Jin's laughter erupted as he put his arm on her shoulders and led her to his car. “Ya! I have a feeling that I’m doing you a favour instead of the other way around. Are you snooping?”

“No!”

“Then why are you alone? Where’s Park Sung Woong, Go Kyu Pil… other detectives?” He teased.

“They have better things to do… this is a small case of a pair of high schoolers run away from home.” She said as they reached his car.

Hae Jin walked to the driver side and opened the door, “Gurae? So what are you gonna do with it?”

Shin Hye shrugged, “I just need to check something.” She went in the car and pulled out a small piece of paper, tapped her finger several times to the GPS. “Take me here.”

“Okay… what’s in there?” Hae Jin asked while grabbing his seatbelt.

“The girl’s house, I want to speak with the dad.” 

“Aye Aye Captain. Eat your sandwich while we go there!” He instructed as he ignited the car, Shin Hye smiled warmly obeying his instruction and took out the sandwich from its packaging.

Hae Jin’s Hyundai Santa Fe cut through the city of Seoul smoothly, since it was a couple of hours before midnight and traffic jam had loosened. They arrived in an area in the other side of Han River, a middle class area where the houses had very little lawn and closed to each other. He parked his car on the other side of the street while Shin Hye knocked on one of the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Shin Hye ran back to his car and slipped into the passenger seat. She was softly panting from the short run while her eyes still darted to the house. She took out a yellow folder from the backpack and scanned through a document.

“What’s wrong?” Hae Jin asked while downing a water bottle.

“This is the house of the girl who ran away with her supposedly boyfriend” Shin Hye explained without lifting her sight from the document.

“So?” He looked at her intently.

“Her dad went out of town…” She answered matter-of-factly.

“Instead of looking for his daughter…” Hae Jin finished her sentence.

Shin Hye looked up, “Am I being too paranoid?” 

Hae Jin chuckled, “I’d say you’re being a detective.” He looked around at the area, “This is far away from your precinct, right? Why are you handling it?”

“The boy and the girl went to the same school in our area, they were caught having in an empty house not far from the school.” She said in a flat tone.

“Woaah! Are you sure I can’t cover this?” Hae Jin nudged her.

She threw him a glare, “Not unless you want to be embarrassed, there’s nothing really probably.”

“So why are you suspicious?” He was still staring at her, biting her lips as she ran through the documents in the folder. A smile slowly carved on his face, amused at the seriousness of her. He liked it, he always thought it multiply her beauty.

“I don’t know, gut feeling maybe? The girl is an honorary student, the boy is well known bad boy slash captain of basketball team, they’re having a championship game soon. I don’t think they’re the type to run away because of love, they were only been dating for…” she flipped to a typed documents, “three months! Do you think anyone would elope after dating for three months?!” She flipped both hands opened as if in disbelief.

Hae Jin smiled wider, “Well, it depends on the girl. If I found the right girl and my parents didn’t give me their blessings, I’d run away with her.”

Shin Hye snapped her head to him and saw him staring right on her, his lips was pulled mischievously but his eyes were nothing but sending a longing stare. Somehow it made her blush and she couldn’t help but laugh, joking is the only way she knew to get her out of an awkward situation.

“Let me know when you found her, okay! I’ll persuade Imo so you don’t have to run away, what would we do without you, Oppa!?” She glanced back to her papers.

Hae Jin chuckled with her, not able to stray his gaze from her. Scratch about being serious multiply her beauty, blushing like that made her hundred times more beautiful. “So what do you wanna do now?”

She closed the yellow folder and looked at him, “I think I need to go to the empty house.”

—-

“You know, when you said that you want to go to an empty house, I thought you’re suggesting for us to make out!” Hae Jin begrudgingly comment as he let Shin Hye stood on his palm and pushed her upwards.

“Yeah well… if you like this one, you can always take your girlfriend here to make out, Oppa!” 

Shin Hye grabbed the top of the brick wall and pulled herself up. Once she was seated on it, she let out her hand to Hae Jin so he could grab it and pulled himself onto the wall. He was struggling a bit, but finally he was also straddling the wall facing her.

“Gosh! How do you do it!!?” He complaint as he was catching his breath.

“Have you forget? I used to climb trees and eat peaches on top of it for fun!” Shin Hye giggled.

“Yeah! You’re a little monkey before a policewoman. Do we have to do this again to get out?” He grimaced imagining it.

“Not that hard, look there’s a fountain down there, we could easily climb. Let’s go! You need more exercise!” She patted his shoulder in mockery as she stepped to the faux rocks made from concrete as the decoration for the faux waterfall.

The house was a two stories building, with a spacious lawn. The faux waterfalls were at the front yard in the front of the main door, it was so big the pond stretched until a large window that was supposedly the living room. The whole house was dark as it was already empty for two years, a large banner of “for sale” was on the gate.

Several yellow police lines were pasted across the wooden double door, Shin Hye took out a pouch from her backpack. After rummaging it, she took out a pin and stretched it into an almost straight line. Grabbing another one, she worked on the lock. After a minute, Hae Jin heard a click and saw the door opened when Shin Hye pushed the handle.

“Waah! They sure teach a lot of things in the police academy.” He beamed.

Shin Hye turned her head and grinned at him, took off her bag and threw it inside in between the police line. “Becareful not to wreck any of the line.” She said as she positioned herself to get into the house, careful so as to not touch the plastic line.

“Geez! I shouldn’t slept during my pilates class.” He said sarcastically.

Shin Hye scoffed as she landed and stood up inside the dark foyer, she turned around to help Hae Jin crammed his body to slide in between the line. He ended up stumbling and pushed her with him, they hit the wall and causing a loud thud that echoed around the house.

Hae Jin felt his face was just inches away from her, the proximity instantly increased his heartbeat. He felt his cheek warmed up, he knew he was blushing but he was not sure that she noticed, since it was very dark.

Instead she giggled, which only causing the butterfly in his stomach to fly. “Gwenchana?” She asked in between the giggle.

“O? O...!” His voice cracked, he cursed for losing his coolness around her. “Are you?”

“Yeah! But I kinda need you to step back, I’m having trouble breathing.” Shin Hye said.

He jerked back, as if only now realising that they were pressed too close. “I didn’t know that being alone with me left you breathless.” He teased to cover his nerve.

“Ha! You’re such a word dork! Can you grab my backpack, there’s a flashlight inside it.” She said while heading to the inside of the house.

Turning his heels, Hae Jin carefully searched for the backpack. As his eyes were accustomed with the dark, he found it laid on the ground. He grabbed a flashlight and turned it on, directing it to Shin Hye who was already half way in the living room.

“Haish! Can't you wait for me and the flashlight? How can you be so fearless? What if there’s someone inside?” Hae Jin protested as he walked towards her.

“Like who? Robbers? Nobody would dare to cross a police line… unless the police itself.” She said without turning her back, yet her hand stretched backwards asking for the flashlight.

But he walked passed her instead, trying to become a gentleman who might not fight better than her but at least he had lights on his hand.

Shin Hye gaped at his show of chivalry, chuckled a bit knowing that he did everything wrong in terms of defensing or being cautious during an investigation in an unknown area. Yet since she thought the place was safe, she let him play cop.

“So where did they do it?” Hae Jin asked, she could feel the naughty smile on his face.

Shin Hye shook her head, of all the things she told him, the location of where the students had was the thing he was most curious about. He was never the charismatic, righteous and smart news anchor when he was with her. He was just as a hot-blooded normal man as he could be; and it amused her how misled the public towards his image.

“In the living room…” she answered while glancing at the said location.

A large white leather L-shape sofas surrounded a coffee table. A white cloth draped below uncovering most part of the sofas. The sofa was against a window facing the large front yard and the fish pond.

Shin Hye went to the window that was curtain-less, she looked around the dark yard. The yard was mostly grass and pond, but there was a tree on the far right, the leaves were thick and created a darker shadow on the ground.

“I see that they were a bit of narcissistic, I’m not surprise if they record themselves doing it.” Hae Jin remarked.

“Ew! Oppa! You have a wild imagination!” Shin Hye said as she flung the white cloth to uncover the sofa.

His face turned into a moue, “I’m not saying that they already recorded it. But some time down the line, their the kind of people who would do that.”

“Why?” Shin Hye frowned.

“They did it in front of the freaking large windows!” He held both hands up, “There’s a bedroom just right here, but they chose to do it in the most revealing spot.”

“Hmm…” Shin Hye turned back to the window and contemplated.

“Listen, I did a lot of coverage about teenage, abuse and I think you might be right… teenagers like this is not embarrassed about the relationships, they don’t go to the hotel because hotel felt so intimate, they like the challenge, the sensation of getting caught… that kind of people don’t just run away from their parents…” he said as he looked around to the dining room across the house.

Shin Hye was about to probe him some more when suddenly the temperature in the house extremely dropped, ice was form on the wall, the glass window and the doors as fog came out of . She widened her eyes, knowing what would happen next.

Her breathing started to shorten as invisible hands started to choke on , decreasing the amount of air into her lung. Her eyes darted left and right trying to find the source that made her like that. It was strong, very strong, too strong for her, even after hours of training and control. She could not remember the last time she felt that way.

She turned back again to the large window, and the air thinned even more. Her hands raised, shaking tremendously as she tried to touch the glass. When it did, she felt the suffocation harder as the strangle tighter. She gasped for air but nothing came.

After an excruciating minute that felt like hours, she took her hand off the window and stumbled to the floor. The blurry sight of Haejin was on her line of vision, calling out her name before she out.

—-o0o—-

 “Are you feeling okay, now!?” Hae Jin’s concern voice blared on the receiver of her cellphone.

“Deh, Oppa! Don’t worry!” Shin Hye lied as she lazily laid her head on the desk, not even bothering to hold the phone and just dropped it on her ear. “I think I have a gastric flux last night… thank you for taking care of me.”

“Ya! Don’t forget to eat no matter how busy you are. You passed out for quite some time yesterday, I was worried you know.” His voice was heavy,

“Worried about me? Or about the dark?” She tried to joke.

Hae Jin sighed, “Dont joke! It’s not funny.” He sounded upset.

Shin Hye smile faded, “I know, Oppa! I’m sorry. I really am fine. I talked to the detective who is handling the case, I told them about your theory. They didn’t like it.” 

“Of course they won’t, a reporter could never be smarter than detectives, right?” He said deliberately dropped the topic about her