Get back to the station

Jongdae, 17:02

I frowned at my partner’s curt message. I made it a point last night before we left for home to inform him that I would be busy today. Kim Jongdae normally avoids disrupting my days off, so this must be an urgent matter.

“…he’s still as handsome as ever” Baekhyun was dawdling on about Park Hyung-sik. He hasn’t stopped talking about the guy ever since we got out of the theatre that it is coming off to me that Baekhyun is also attracted to the guy.

“Ya” he kicks my foot underneath the table and I wince, peeling my eyes off of my phone to cuss at him, “tell Jongdae that work can wait. You’re with me right now.”

“Aish” Baekhyun narrowed his eyes at my protest, his eyes widening as if daring me to proceed. “I need to go, this sounds really urgent.”

“Why? What did he say?” He presses on.

I roll my eyes at Baekhyun’s persistence. He really wants to be prioritised, but I cannot afford to miss out like that. “He says we have a smuggler’s case. It’s classed as a 101, so chief says we need to get there and our heads together for a strategy to chase the guys before they go onto bigger things.” That was made up, but Baekhyun needs to release me somehow.

Baekhyun scoffs and rather rudely throws his chopstick onto the table. It’s his way of throwing a tantrum and I can’t say I like the fact that I am used to it. I shouldn’t be. It should be a rarity, but throughout our friendship Baekhyun’s done it every single time I bail on something he wants to do.

“Go then” he sounds as though there’s a threat following my departure- if I do leave. “I see how it is” he shrugs and crosses his arms, his head pivoting so that I am faced with his side view.

“Baekhyunnie” I coo, picking up my bag and coat off the back of my chair as I stand up. “I’ll get us some Hanwoo beef once I’m done. Okay? I’ll pass by your house” I attempt to compensate, but Baekhyun only shrugs and hums in response.

Frankly, I could not be bothered arguing with this diva, so with that, I took my leave.

I’m sure he can cope being alone for a few hours.

My drive back was painstakingly long- a known side-effect from bumper to bumper traffics. Perhaps I really should have known better rather than taking the main roads considering it is rush hour for people to get back home so they can make it back in time for dinner.

The moment I entered the precinct I found Jongdae busying himself alone in his desk with some phone calls who then nudged his head towards the direction of the interrogation room. I would be unheard if I tried to question him seeing as he is occupied, so instead I settled my stuff down unto my assigned desk beside Jongdae’s and went to the interrogation room.

Personally, I felt like an outcast dressed in skinny jeans, a crop top and heels, but it was meant to be my day off. It was weird being in the office in such attire, especially because the clacking of my heels seemed to be louder as the noise bounced against the walls.

Our chief had left the door open for me to the interrogation room where he had been sat there for god knows how long, mulling over something. He had several folders spread out on the table and two emptied mugs, which I presumed was once filled with coffee.

It was clear that he felt tense about the new case seeing one of his hands massaging his temple whilst he was deep in thought. The chances of it being drug-related are high with the knowledge that our chief deemed such cases the most troublesome hence it was taking quite a toll on him.

“Sir” I knocked lightly on the door.

Mr Kim didn’t need to raise his head to know who it was. After all, I was the only female officer in his team. Besides, I was the only one he was expecting at the moment lest there is someone else that was unannounced to me, but I highly doubt it.

Entering the room felt suffocating. The strained look on our chief’s face said a million things that lacked positivity and I can tell there is an impending doom. I cannot quite put a finger on it just yet, but the growing anxiety within me and my clammy palms was a rare reaction I only ever got when something bad is about to fall on my hands. Naturally, my breaths came out short and fast as I hesitated to take the seat in front of him.

“How is Mr Byun’s son?” Mr Kim asks, unknowingly adding to my anxiety. Why was he asking about my best friend? He doesn’t normally start our conversation like that.

I gulp and quickly nod, clearing my throat of any kinks to keep my voice from betraying me. “He is doing well, sir.”

Mr Kim nods as well, taking in my response. His eyes never left the sheets laid out before him. I don’t dare look at it by chance that it is something that I will not like at all.

“I’ll get straight to the point” Mr Kim finally sits upright and stares right at me, making me feel smaller than I already do. My stomach tightened at his all too serious stare that I held my breath. He must have noticed because he dove right into the case.

“There has been missing girls in Hanei High School in Gangnam. The first disappearance occurred two months ago and it did not make any sense at all” Mr Kim pushes the file to his very left forward to my direction, so I take it to reveal the profile of a very pretty heiress. “Nam Ji Hye’s father is a chaebol and her demands have always been catered to. By the sound of her courses, it seems like she’s bound to take over her father’s business, so she must have been obedient. It’s not likely for her to despise her life seeing as she’s on top of the world, yet she left a note on her bedside table on Thursday the fifteenth of May, three days before her disappearance.”

I nod as I look over the victim’s profile. Mr Kim was right: she appeared to have been born with a silver spoon and she does not come off as a runaway type of person. With the way she was going about her life, she was definitely bound to come out as a great successor to her father.

“Moon Saera” Mr Kim pushes the file to his right for me to take and I open it to see a profile of yet another pretty heiress. She had doe eyes that painted her as a docile daughter, and not one to be a runaway, again. “She left the same note and the only difference is that some words have been replaced by synonyms. It was poorly written and the most significant giveaway is that she recently fought for her place in her parents’ life. Moon Saera was once a trouble child but because her parents threatened to take away her inheritance and pushed her to move out of their lavish mansion, she immediately changed and became more obedient. It is definitely unlikely for her to give it all up to run away.”

Mr Kim must have gotten the idea that I have the gist of what was happening, so instead of giving me more files to skim over, he sat back on his chair and sighed exasperatedly. There was no actual hard evidence of them being abducted, but I understand where chief got the deduction that they were kidnapped rather than them leaving on their own will. No wonder he is stressed about it.

I got the feeling that Mr Kim wanted to say something, but he hasn’t made a move to do so yet, so I took it upon myself to ask the question. “I take it this is mine and Jongdae’s case to handle?”

He nods and then sits up straight again, clearing his throat as though he did not know how to go about agreeing to my question.

“It’s your case” he finally says, but he kept on parting his mouth then shutting it like he wanted to say more. I furrowed my brows at his hesitancy, gulping at what his next words could be. It is starting to make me feel nervous and almost nauseated, but I’m probably just jumping into cynical conclusions. It can’t be that bad.

“I’m sending you to Hanei as a bait.”

. I blinked multiple times at Mr Kim, unable to fully comprehend what he was saying, or rather, I did not want to accept it. I understand that I am a female and I am likely to be targeted as a victim for this shindig, but he was still putting my life on the line. What if it goes to shambles and I actually get taken?

“Mr Kim…” I trailed off, not wanting to protest against my job, “isn’t there another way? I mean… Minseok can easily pass off as a prettier girl than me and because he’s short and more on the skinny side don’t you think he’d stand a better chance at luring in the criminal than me?”

I was completely lying but I did not want to be used as bait. My anxiety was heightened to the roof seeing as I have never been put in this kind of situation and frankly, I cannot fathom how exactly I’m meant to cope with the constant fear of being targeted.

“You fit in better with the victim’s profile, besides you have Mr Byun who can temporarily name you as his heiress. Besides, you can defend yourself. I don’t doubt that you can beat up the criminal if he gets too close, right?”

I almost want to cry, but Mr Kim is correct. I’m sure Mr Byun wouldn’t mind helping out. It’ll look good on him as well if the mission is successful. It’s not an everyday he gets an opportunity to raise his good image, especially since it is involving the safety of citizens. In fact, he may even get more customers out of it. Aish, the gods are really not on my side.

“You’re starting work tomorrow as a high school senior in Hanei. I’ll get the uniform sent out to you by tomorrow at six o’clock in the morning. Jongdae will be driving you and your posse will consist of Jongdae, Minseok and Jongin.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, sir” I smile tightly at my chief, in hopes that he has second thoughts about this whole thing. “Is there really no other way we can go about solving this?”

Mr Kim returns the tight smile at me, and I can feel the regret seeping in. “I’m sorry Jinah. Just this once okay? I’ll double your rate for every school day you attend.”

Well, at least I’ll be able to afford a holiday abroad after this whole thing.