Chapter One - The Wedding

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, he takes a step back to make sure his tuxedo is lint free and absolutely perfect. Fixing the loose tie, he takes a deep breath and smiled. Today is finally the big day, he thought to himself. 

Walking out of the bathroom, he quickly greet the incoming guests who were just arriving to the grand ballroom. “Thank you for coming,” he said with a smile plastered on his face. “Thank you so much.”

Kim Jong Kook couldn’t believe that it’s finally happening. It’s been a six month process to make sure that tonight goes perfect. From the flowers, invitations, decorations, even the tuxedos for the groomsmen - he helped figure everything out. 

If no one knew better, somebody would mistake this as his own wedding. 

“Did he text you when he’s coming get?” Lee Kwang Soo asked as he smiled and shook hands with every single guest as they sign their names onto the guest book. “It’s starting soon.”

Jong Kook shook his head as he checked the time on his watch again. The groom should’ve text him today if he was arriving soon or not. “He’ll come.”

Kwang Soo fixed his tuxedo jacket. “He better.”

”Ji Hoon wouldn’t miss his own wedding.” Jong Kook tries to defend his good friend. He takes a look at the signatures on the guest book. “Everybody is here?”

”Everybody but the groom.” Kwang Soo said.

Glaring at Kwang Soo, Jong Kook checked his phone to see if he missed any calls or messages. Nothing. “He is coming.” Jong Kook took a glance over at the bride’s private room. He really hopes that the groom will come soon.

. . . 

Putting on the wedding veil on her head, Song Ji Hyo took a deep breath and squealed in excitement. Today is finally the big day! She is finally getting married to the man she loves. Twirling around in the beautiful lace wedding dress that she has spent months picking, she is so overwhelmed with happiness right now. 

Ji Hyo stopped twirling when the she heard of somebody knocking on the door. Looking at the time on the clock, she smiled. It’s offically time! Just as she was about to walk through the door, confusion ran through her face as she saw it was her best friend, Kim Jong Kook, at the door. “Why aren’t you standing there as the best man?” He supposed to be standing next to the groom - her to be husband, as his best man. 

And that’s when she saw it, the expression on his face. Maybe it’s the timing or she didn’t put on the wedding veil on right but it fell onto the ground as she listened to what Jong Kook has to say. 

. . . 

2 Years Later.

”Stop right there!” Ji Hyo jumped over the fence and chased after the suspect through the busy traffic on the streets. “Ya! Stop right there!!!” She finally caught up with him, tackling the suspect down by jumping on top of him. “You’re so damn persistent on running away, aren’t you?!”

”I didn’t do anything!!!”

Ji Hyo rolled her eyes. “Sure and that definitely explains why you like running away from cops.” She held onto his shirt collar to pull him up. “Hong Shin, you are under arrest for breaking and entering, robbery and - “ she watched as her partner starting catching up, panting out of breath. “Hitting a police officer as well.”

Nodding his head, Ha Dong Hoon, collapses onto the floor as Ji Hyo handcuffs the suspect. “He hit me right here.” Showing his cheek as he tried to regulate his breathing. How does Ji Hyo run that fast and still not breathe as if she’s about to die? “I’m beat.”

Ji Hyo laughed. “Beat as in tired or beaten up because you don’t know how to get a punch in?”

Dong Hoon scoffed in disbelief. “Ya, if it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t have been distracted enough.” 

She laughed as she handed the suspect over to a fellow cop, who’s in charge of sending him to the station. “Sunbae, just admit it.” She put her arms around Dong Hoon. “Your face just looks punchable.” She burst out laughing as soon as Dong Hoon tried to fly kick her as she ran away. 

“Song Ji Hyo! Come over here! Ya! I’ve been too nice to you lately! Let this sunbae teach you a lesson!!” 

. . . 

Jong Kook closed the case file that he has been studying over the last hour. He’s due in court in 30 minutes and there is still no evidence concrete enough for him to put away the suspect. This case has been going on for weeks and the group of detectives that’s assigned are just useless. As a prosecutor, he’s supposed to be in court with confidence and evidence. Right now, he has neither. 

The office phone started ringing just as he was getting ready to leave. “This is Prosecutor Kim,” he started rummaging through his desk for the necessary paperwork for court. “Bring him in.” Putting the phone back onto the receiver, he sat down to wait for the guest that the lobby has sent up. His door opened within minutes and he glanced up to see his longtime friend and sunbae. “Hyung, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Jong Kook got up and gave Yoo Jae Suk a hug.

”It’s nice to see you as well, Jong Kookie.” 

Wow. Jong Kook hasn’t been called that in years. “What brings you back to Seoul?” The last thing he heard was that Jae Suk moved to the countryside to live with his wife and kids. He retired early and has been enjoying the new life.

”I need your help.” Jae Suk pleaded.

Jong Kook stopped rummaging through his desk and looked up to take a good look at Jae Suk. He sees it now. The desperation and pleading eyes from him. “Hyung, you’re scaring me....” In the decade that he has known Jae Suk, he has never looked like this. “What do you need me to do?” 

. . . 

Ji Hyo took a sip of her coffee as she finished typing down her report. As soon as she was done, she sent the documents to her leader and leaned back in her seat. More than half the day, she has spent chasing after people. To think that in a few hours she will finally be home and take a couple of days rest, it’s already exciting for her. 

“What are you doing on your days off?” Dong Hoon asked. 

“Sleep.”

Dong Hoon shook his head in disapproval. “Don’t you do anything fun on your days off? Ji Hyo, in the years I’ve known you, I don’t think I’ve seen you do anything except work and sleep.”

”That’s all I do.” Ji Hyo smiled. 

“Go find a boyfriend, date and marry him!” Dong Hoon laughed. “It’s what normal women your age does!”

Ji Hyo’s smile faltered at the word marry. Suddenly, she wanted to throw up. She jolted from her seat. “I’m going to check if there’s more coffee.” As soon as she was out of view from the fellow cops, she clenched into the countertop tightly. Why does this always happen? Why does her breathing become irregular like this at that simple mention of marriage? It’s been two years now. She thought she was over this. 

Two years of humiliation. Two years of searching and feeling empty inside. That’s how she has been spending the years since she was left at the altar. Not much people knows about her past. Some people in the station does but they choose not to speak on it. She knows that Ha Dong Hoon means well because he wants her to find someone better. 

But sometimes, it’s a little hard to get over somebody that you spent so many years with. And to think that she thought the love was mutual - everything was a lie. 

“Are you okay?”

She snapped back to reality with the familiar sound came from behind. She turned around to greet the leader of her team. “I’m fine.” 

Lee Dong Wook, senior lead detective, nods his head as he moved over to where the coffee pot was. “If you say so.” Stirring the black coffee with sugar, he looked at Ji Hyo. “Good job with the case.”

”Thank you.”

”I heard you chased the suspect from Park Avenue to Downtown.” He took a sip of the coffee. “That’s some stamina you have.”

”I only tried my best, Sir.” Ji Hyo didn’t even knew she chased him that far until she had to backtrack her steps in order to write the report. “The suspect tested my skills.”

Dong Wook chuckled. “Wrong mistake of his.” He glances down at her shaky hand. Before he walked in the break room, he could already tell something was bothering her. “Heard you’re taking a few days off?”

”Yes.” Ji Hyo held her hands together to stop the shakiness. When her emotions run high, she tends to become shaky. “I’ll still be on call, Sunbae. So if there’s a case that appears that needs my help, I’ll come running.”

He lets out a laugh. “I know you would.” Pouring a bit more coffee into his cup, he shrugged his shoulders. “Our unit isn’t that exciting unfortunately. So, don’t worry and just relax.” Without another word, he walked out of the break room and straight into his office.

Ji Hyo sighed. That’s right. It’s not like they are a part of the homicide unit. They’re just a group of detectives dying of boredom in the Robbery Unit. She briefly closed her eyes. The chase today was probably the most exciting thing she has done since she joined this unit. 

. . . 

Jong Kook tapped the table with the pen in his hand endlessly as he read over the police report that he had asked for. This is crazy, he thought. His mind is about to explode the more he tries to find a loophole somewhere. 

“Can you stop that?” Ji Hyo sat down next to him at the table, biting down a sandwich. “I hate it when you do that.” 

“What?”

Grabbing the pen from his hand, she repeatedly tapped the end of it onto the table to show him what he does. “When you tend to be stress, you do this. My head is about to burst because of you!”

Jong Kook grabbed the pen back. “Do you remember Yoo Jae Suk?”

”Jae Suk oppa?” Ji Hyo hasn’t heard that name for a while. “What about him?”

”He’s in trouble.”

”If he’s in trouble, tell him to get himself out of it.” She laughed. Yoo Jae Suk is practically a legend in Seoul. As one of the top persecutors, he had a long career and immense amount of money to earn. Every one who is in the police force or even in law were shock to hear that he retired so early. Ji Hyo stopped laughing as soon as she noticed Jong Kook wasn’t laughing along. “What kind of trouble?”

”This is the police report...” Jong Kook slides the piece of paper over to her. “It’s bad, Ji Hyo.”

Suspect came home to find his wife with another man. Suspect picked up metal baseball bat and swung at the Victim repeatedly. Suspect beat the Victim for over 10 minutes before realizing what he did wrong. He didn’t call the police until two hours has passed. Evidence has been compromised with. Only Evidence A (Blood splatter on Suspect’s clothing) is kept. Suspect’s wife refuses to say anything. Victim is currently in coma, critical condition.

Ji Hyo’s eyes widened. “Jae Suk Oppa did this?”

Jong Kook nodded his head. “The problem is that he’s denying that he caught his wife in the act. He says his wife wasn’t cheating. He said he found his wife crying in the corner and the victim was already unconscious by the time he came home.”

“His wife did the beating?” Ji Hyo highly doubts that such a fragile, kind woman would be capable of such a thing. 

“No. He said....” Jong Kook doesn’t even know where to start. “Do you remember Yoo Jin Suk?” 

Yoo Jin Suk? Ji Hyo furrowed her eyebrows together. “His brother?” 

Unbelievable. She has heard that Jae Suk had a younger brother, who didn’t quite did as well as he did in life. “Are you saying that his brother did this? Framing Jae Suk?” 

“Yeah and he wants me to help him prove it.”

Ji Hyo sighed and looked at her best friend. “Oppa, you know as much as I do that this isn’t your territory. You’re a prosecutor, not a defense lawyer. He has his own.” Sometimes she wonder how kind can Kim Jong Kook be. One look at this man, people would be automatically be scared of him. All that muscles means nothing when his heart is as soft as a pillow. “How are you going to help him?”

”I can do the research, find the missing evidence, or even find the real suspect.” Jong Kook said.

”And what? Lay it out on a silver platter for his defense lawyer? You’re doing somebody else’s job, Kim Jong Kook.” Ji Hyo stood up to clean the plate once the sandwich was done. “You wouldn’t want somebody to come and invade your work, would you?” She knows that he thinks what he is doing right now is for the best but it's a complete invasion.

He hates it when she's right. He took the police report back and stuffed it back inside the case file. Jong Kook knows that he shouldn’t but this is something he really has to do. If it wasn’t for Yoo Jae Suk, he wouldn’t have become the prosecutor he is today. With his guidance and support, Jong Kook owes him so much for everything. “How was work?” He has to change the topic or else Ji Hyo will grill him until the end. 

Ji Hyo smacked his arm, knowing him way too well. “Don’t change the topic.” Leaning over to grab a bag of chips, she sighed. “I chased a suspect down today.”

”That’s good!” Jong Kook watched as she munched in the chips mindlessly. How does she go from eating a whole sandwich and straight into a bag of chips already? “That’s exciting.”

”It’s the most exciting part of my job in 7 months.” She couldn’t believe that she hasn’t done anything worthy as a cop. Changing her career two years ago was a tough choice but she really thought she could be doing great things as a cop. She’s dead wrong. All she has been doing is getting blinder by staring at computer screen for too long and her back is killing her from sitting at the desk too much. “Check back a year later when the next exciting thing happens.”

Jong Kook scoffed at her. “Be thankful that you haven’t done too much. It means that our city is being safe - “

”I’m not stupid. I live with you, Oppa. Those cases you have are about killers and wrongful deaths, I’ve seen and heard them all!” She stood up with her arms held high. “That’s what I want!”

”Ya, Song Ji Hyo.” Jong Kook picked up his case files and laptop from the table. “If something happens to you, who is going to help me pay the rent for this damn place?”

“Who else?” She turned her head over to the front door as soon as the sound of keys rattling was heard through the walls. “Lee Kwang Soo will help you!”

Kwang Soo walked into the house, startled to see his Hyung and Noona staring at him. “Huh?”

Checking the time on the clock, Jong Kook narrowed his eyes at Kwang Soo. “Why are you coming home so late?”

”Work.” Kwang Soo collapsed onto the couch and groaned. “Noona, I’m hungry.”

”Awww, my poor Kwang Soo.” She walked over to the couch, placing the half empty bag of chips on his stomach. “Here’s dinner. You don’t like it? Make your own food.” Ji Hyo laughed. “Don’t you have a ramen hidden somewhere?” 

“I do!” Kwang Soo jumped out of seat to run into the kitchen. “Wait - “ poking his head, he smiled. “Noona, it’s in the box that’s in my room. Can you get it for me?”

”Why the heck do you have ramen in your room, Kwang Soo?” Jong Kook can’t believe what he is hearing. 

“Because somebody doesn’t eat ramen in this house so I have to hide things.”

Ji Hyo walked into Kwang Soo’s room, looking for a box somewhere. “Ya! Can you clean your room for once?!” Finding the box, she opened it to quickly grab two ramen when she noticed a familiar looking envelope hidden inside. Furrowing her eyebrowstogerher, she opened the envelope to see it was exactly what she thought - her old wedding invitation. 

July 8th 2017 

Song Ji Hyo & Joo Ji Hoon

You’re invited to witness our love and wedding! 

Clenching onto the wedding invitation tightly, she could feel her breathing becoming irregular.

“Noona, what’s taking so - “ Kwang Soo paused and swore under his breath. “Ji Hyo...”

”I found your ramen.” She quickly wiped her tears away and turned around to hand him the ramen. With her big smile on her face, she cleared . “I’m a little tired. Goodnight.” As soon as she was alone in her bedroom, her smile faltered.

Two years ago, she moved in with Jong Kook and Kwang Soo. Sometimes she feels weird to be living with her close friends like this but two years ago, she didn’t have a choice. When she was left at the altar, she spent months doing nothing but cry. It sounds sad to spend days crying over a man that has caused complete humiliation on the biggest days of her life but that’s all she did.

She spent every ounce of energy into that wedding. Ji Hyo changed everything about her life for him. It was because she thought that she was marrying the one. How could someone just change their mind or heart like that? She will never understand. 

Feeling tired, she laid down on her bed to stop thinking about the past. She’s not the same person as two years ago anymore. 

She has changed for the better. With the new career choice and lifestyle, she is living for only herself now. Maybe that’s why she needs excitement in her life. The old Song Ji Hyo would’ve done anything to make her partner happy. That old Song Ji Hyo quit her job and poured her whole savings into a wedding that never happened.

Putting the blanket over her, she closed her eyes. Not this Ji Hyo, she thought to herself. She’s a new Song Ji Hyo now. She will be choosing to live for herself, do things she only wants to do. 

A tear slid down her face as she moved endlessly around in bed. She will never be that stupid ever again. 

. . . 

Jong Kook stood in front of her bedroom door, debating if he should knock or not. He silently sighed and ran his hand through his hair out of frustration. Feeling completely at loss, he doesn’t even know what to say. 

He walked back into the living room, throwing a pillow at Kwang Soo. “Why the heck do you even have the invitation for? Throw it away!”

”Hyung! Listen, I kept it because - “

”No! Throw it away right now! You know she has been doing great on forgetting the past! Don’t you remember how hard it was for us to wake her up and drag her out of bed? She finally is starting over, don’t ruin it.”

Guilt ran through his body. “I really didn’t mean to...”

Jong Kook sighed. “It’s fine. She’ll be fine...” He sat back down and unlock his phone. Looking through the old pictures, he found one with him and Joo Ji Hoon. He will never understand why Ji Hoon did what he did. 

After the cancelled wedding that day, guests went home feeling confused and sad for Ji Hyo. People even took back their wedding gifts and money as they left the grand ballroom. The hotel charged them a double cancellation fee. That night didn't end like how they all thought it would. He had spent hours calling Ji Hoon for an explanation but he got no reply. That lowlife is nothing but a coward. Jong Kook can't believe that he used to call him a friend. Heck, Jong Kook sometimes blames himself because he was the one that introduced Ji Hoon and Ji Hyo together.

If Jong Kook ever runs into Ji Hoon again, he will beat him so much that once he is done - he’ll put himself in jail for assault. 

He took one glance at Ji Hyo’s bedroom door again and sighed.