They laughed when she said she wanted to become a police officer.  “The only thing you’d run after is a hot guy,” they’d chide.  “A police officer?  If pigs could fly.”  And she’d turn away, dejected.  Was she not deserving of their support?  But even if they didn’t believe in her, she had already signed up for the academy.

 

Song Jun Su was the only one who didn’t criticize her dream.  “I think you’d make a wonderful officer, Bella.”  And then he’d kiss her on the forehead before pulling her into an embrace.

 

She pulled away and laughed.  “But my name’s not even Bella.  Don’t associate me with that Twilight thing!”  How long had he been calling her that?  Far longer than Stephenie Meyer had been around.

 

He ruffled her hair playfully.  “I know, Ha Neul.  But you’re the most beautiful girl in the world.”

 

Unlike many “ideal couples”, Song Jun Su and Lee Ha Neul hadn’t known each other since their childhood; in fact, they had only met two years ago at a self-defense class.  And yet, they acted as if they had known each other for a lifetime.  They could tell you exactly what the other was thinking.  Soulmates, their friends called them.  There was no way this couple could ever break up---they were perfect for each other.

 

So it came to no surprise that Jun Su had also decided to become a police officer.  Wherever Ha Neul was, so Jun Su would be too.

 

 

 

Ha Neul nodded off as the teacher lectured, monotone, in the front of the classroom.  This was ridiculous.  One of the reasons she had enrolled into this police school was to get away from the confines of the classroom and instead get some hands-on experience.  If she had known lecturing was included, Ha Neul would’ve joined Le Bleu---the cooking school which tried to sound sophisticated and classy with its French name down the street.

 

“So what is the answer, Miss Lee Ha Neul?” the teacher suddenly asked, turning to face his class.

 

Jun Su poked her awake with his pencil.  “460 KM,” he coughed behind her.

 

“Ah, 560 KM,” Ha Neul replied drowsily.  Jun Su coughed again.  “I mean, 460 KM,” she quickly corrected herself.

 

The instructor sighed, shaking his head at Jun Su, and resumed writing on the whiteboard.

 

Turning around in her seat, Ha Neul whispered, “Thanks.”

 

 

Jun Su beamed and pinched her cheek.  “But seriously, Bella should pay more attention in class.  Hey are you free tonight?”

 

She furrowed her eyebrows.  “WHAT?  That’s so random.”  The thoughts didn’t even link.

 

“There’s a soccer game on tonight, and I thought you’d like to come over to make me sandwiches.”

 

Ha Neul slammed the desk angrily.  “YAH.  SONG JUN SU.  I AM NOT YOUR STEREOTYPICAL SANDWICH-MAKING GIRLFRIEND.”

 

 He chuckled, patting her on the arm.  “I know, I know.”

 

“Miss Lee Ha Neul, see me after class,” the teacher announced, obviously irritated by her loud outburst.

 

Ha Neul shot a glare at her boyfriend before turning away angrily.  In all her years of school, she had always been well-behaved, careful to never anger a teacher.  But one class with Jun Su and she had already made enemies with the instructor.

 

The bell rang and Jun Su grinned sheepishly at her before slinking off to physical t raining.

 

 

Ha Neul walked up slowly to Mr. Kim’s desk.  She hesitated, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “Sorry for disrupting your class.”

 

Dropping his red pen onto the desk, he looked up from his stack of papers.  “Huh?  Ah, your disruption.  Don’t worry about it; I always get a student or two who just can’t stay in the classroom.”  Mr. Kim reminded Ha Neul a lot of her father.  Mr. Kim smiled exactly like him, with his eyes creasing into half moons.  And they shared the same tone when speaking to her.  She wondered how her father would look like now.

 

She breathed a sigh of relief---so he wasn’t angry at her.

 

“So how is your mother doing?” he asked, gesturing for her to take a seat.

 

He didn’t ask about her father, Ha Neul noted suspiciously.  But it was understandable.  Lee Sae Young had once been Seoul Police Department’s most notable chief.  Everybody knew of him---even the convicts would shake in their shoes whenever they heard the name.  He was amazing; he was brilliant; he was, as everybody believed him to be, almost immortal---until that one gunshot.  “Hm…she’s good.  She’s kind of disowned me, now that I’m becoming a police officer.” 

 

‘Why can’t you do something safer,’ her mother would ask, ‘like be a pharmacist.  All you need to do is count pills.’

 

But Ha Neul couldn’t.  At the tender age of ten, she had been stripped of her father by Seoul’s most notorious gang, Quicksilver.  What made them do that, she used to ask herself.  What had her father done to deserve such a fate.  She was determined to avenge his death---and the only way to do so, was to become a police officer so she could arrest them all.  All of them who had had a part in his death.

 

“Ha Neul,” Mr. Kim said seriously, staring deep into her eyes.  “I’ve seen many students during my time here---some that were naturals, some that…didn’t belong.  You…are meant for this.”

 

“Thanks,” she replied awkwardly, fiddling with her fingers.

 

Mr. Kim got up from his seat and walked towards the exit.  He checked both sides of the hallway before closing his door.  “Miss Lee Ha Neul, what do you think of going undercover?”

 

Her heart skipped a beat; her breath caught in .  “Un-undercover?” she stammered.

 

He smiled a confirmation.

 

This had been what she was working for, wasn’t it?  A chance to get back at them.  Ha Neul nodded excitedly.

 

Mr. Kim shook his head.  “No, before you answer, I want you to have a full understanding of all the ramifications.  Ha Neul, if you’re going to go undercover, you’re going to have to leave the people you love right now.  Everywhere you go, people will shun you.  You won’t have the same comforting home to return to again.  And you won’t be able to share anything with anyone, save for me.  With that being said, are you still as excited to take up this job?”

 

Ha Neul paused.  Give up everything she had grown up around?  How would her mother react, thinking that her only daughter was to join the very men who had killed her husband.  How would Jun Su, a police-in-training, react to it?  Would he still love her though she had “become” an enemy?  To never be able to lie in his arms and pour out her emotions to him.  She bit her lip.  This was such a good opportunity, and yet… “Can I get some more time to think about this?” she asked.

 

 

 

They strolled down the busy sidewalk, hand in hand.

 

“You smell funny today.  What’d Mr. Kim make you do, Bella?  Clean the toilets?” Jun Su asked as he kissed her neck.

 

Ha Neul drew back.  “No thanks to you.”  She stretched her arms, subtly trying to sniff her armpits.  She had only gone on a long jog to clear her mind; there was no way she could smell as bad as Jun Su was making her out to seem.

 

“You’ll be wanting these,” he declared, tossing a packet of mints at her.  As she hurried to open the tin, he stopped her. “Save them for later, when we kiss.”  He smirked.

 

She rolled her eyes and was about to stalk off when she stopped in her tracks.  “Hey Jun Su?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

“What would you do if I were to join Quicksilver?”

 

“Why would you?” he asked, staring suspiciously at her.  “Wait, did Mr. Kim kick you out of the academy?”

 

She shook her head with a laugh.  “No way, I’m too perfect for the job.  But seriously, let’s just say I did.  What would you do?”

 

He latched onto her arm, worried.  “Why?  Do they pay better over there or something?  Because if you need money, I can totally raise our family.  You can just stay home and be a wonderful wife.  I thought you hated Quicksilver.”

 

“I do…” Ha Neul responded quietly.  Why was she asking him this anyway?  Joining the enemy?  What was she thinking.

 

“But to answer your question, I think I’d die before you would ever join those scums.”

 

She offered him a smile.  “Thanks.”  That was right; there were other ways she could bring Quicksilver down.  Going undercover?  That was asking for too much.

 

“So Bella,” Jun Su started as he led her down an alleyway.  “Do you know what day it is today?”  He cornered her against a brick wall.

 

“What?  Your death day?” Ha Neul laughed, not taking the bait.

 

Offended, he poked her in the stomach.  “Nah, it’s our---“  But he never was able to finish his sentence.

 

 

Shots rang out, and the alleyway only intensified the bang.

 

“Move!” Jun Su shouted, tackling her to the pavement, out of harm’s way.  For a while, the shots continued.  And then it was quiet.

 

The criminals had long gone, but still the pedestrians went crazy, screaming at the top of their lungs and running around.

 

“Jun Su,” Ha Neul mumbled, “Get off of me.  We need to go check the damage.”  That had always been their first lesson: to always think of the civilians.

 

He grunted but didn’t move.

 

“Seriously Jun Su,” she groaned.  Ha Neul pushed him off of her to stare at her bloody palms in disbelief.  There was no way the blood was his.  He couldn’t have dodged the bullet for her; he was supposed to be selfish like the rest of mankind.  She searched his body, looking for the injury.  She swallowed and looked away.  A bullet had pierced his back, probably puncturing his right lung too.

 

Ha Neul pressed down on his wound, in hopes of stopping the bleeding with the pressure.  But they both knew there was nothing much they could do.

 

“Bella,” he moaned softly, taking her hands into his.  “Open the mints.”

 

“J-J-Jun…,” she whispered.  Her voice was caught in .  She couldn’t even bring herself to say his name.  “I’ll call the ambulance.”  She tore away from him, fumbling for her cell phone.  He slapped the phone out of her hands with his remaining energy.

 

“Open the mints,” he repeated.  The blood stain on his shirt continued to bloom.

 

Trembling, she finally managed to open the container.  Inside there weren’t any mints, but a candy heart with the words “Forever with you”.

 

“Promise me you’ll take care of yourself.”

 

“Jun Su, Jun Su-ah.  Don’t do this to me!” she screamed.  Her heart was racing; he couldn’t do this to her.  He couldn’t leave her behind in this world like this.  She placed on a finger on his lips.  Don’t talk, Junsu, she wanted to say.  Save your energy.  But he continued.

 

“Promise me you won’t join them.”

 

Ha Neul looked away.  Why was he doing this to her.  She was supposed to fulfill his every wish, but she couldn’t do it.  She couldn’t not take revenge against somebody who had taken two important men away from her.

 

“Ha Neul, happy 7^th month anniversary” were his last words.

 

Their 7^th month anniversary…how could she have forgotten?  He remembered everything about them, but she couldn’t muster enough courage to grant his last dying wish.  Shaken, she leaned in and kissed his pale lips softly.

 

He had died because of her.

But she couldn’t even shed a tear for him.