The Concert
Lost In Your LightThe red lipstick was her trademark. It had started in the academy even before she became an officer and it continued on after she arrived at the station she was assigned to. It captured the eyes of everyone, from the coaches and cadets at the academy to her fellow officers and even the criminals she dealt with.
Officer Ahn Hyejin was used to eyes turning her way everyday when she entered the police station. It was usually the newer officers who hadn’t learn their lesson yet that tried to talk to her, but she would ignore them and let her sergeant deal with their unprofessionalism. A smirk would form on her lips when she would hear Sergeant Park berate the new officers.
It was a rather quiet Saturday morning in the Hongdae Police Station when Hyejin arrived and headed towards the locker room for the female officers. Hyejin had just finished putting up her personal items and adjusting her belt when her sergeant walked into the locker room and motioned for Hyejin to follow her. Closing her locker before stepping out, the young officer followed the older woman out. The walk to the sergeant’s office wasn’t far and Hyejin could see several officers already waiting inside through the large glass windows.
“Good morning everyone, thank you for waiting patiently.” Sergeant Park said after entering the room and heading towards her desk. Hyejin walked over to her partner and stood next to him.
“This year’s Dream Concert is coming up a week from now. Every year I pick some of my best officers to help with security and due to your exceptional work out in the field, I’ve chosen all of you. You will be working alongside officers from other stations in Seoul. Lieutenant Jeon from the Mapo District Station will be expecting all of you Monday morning for orientation and assessment. He is the one you will be answering to when the concert happens, understood?” Sergeant Park explained and the officers replied with a resounding yes ma’am before saluting and making their way out of her office.
The Dream Concert was a very big event and Hyejin wasn’t sure what to make of having to work security for it. Wouldn’t the performances be too distracting? She had caught some of the past concerts on TV but actually being there and working would be a completely different and new experience. She was used to riding around her district of Hongdae and taking care of minor things like traffic stops or disorderly conduct from the citizens. Every once in a while there would be a robbery or something, but usually everything was tame.
“You alright Hyejin?” The sound of her partner’s voice brought Hyejin out of her thoughts and she she turned to look at the older man. He was 15 years her senior and had the same amount of years as an officer.
Hyejin had been a little weary of him at first due to being a rookie and feeling as though he would treat her differently, but Officer Ha Donghoon proved her differently. He welcomed her as his new partner and helped her adjust to being a cop. He even invited her into his home to meet his wife and kids who eventually became like a second family to Hyejin. It eased the loneliness she sometimes felt when missing her own family who were still back in Jeonju where she was originally from.
“Just thinking about this concert. Have you done it before? Wouldn’t it be distracting?” Hyejin’s question made him chuckle.
“You’d think after doing this for fifteen years I would have but I haven’t actually. I did do a smaller venue, but it wasn’t official. I used to do side jobs as an off duty officer. As long as you zone out the music and just pay attention to the crowd you’ll be fine.” He offered her a smile and gently squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it alright? Let’s just head out and catch some bad guys or some speedsters on the road.”
Hyejin smiled back at him and nodded her head. “Now that is much more fun.”
The orientation and assessment that Monday had taken most of the day. All of the officers, Hyejin swore it was hundreds of them, were given a tour of the stadium assigned their positions around the venue. They were to meet on Wednesday for further
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