~_____~

A half laugh half snort fell out of Tao’s mouth when he laid out the clothes Namjoo had purchased for him onto the bed. One said “Shhhhhhhhhhh…this is my hangover t-shirt.” Another one said “Keep watching I might do a trick.” The other shirts had ridiculous pictures on them and very few of them were decent plain ones. He deemed the pants ok, but the shirts were unacceptable.

An urge to make a complaint to Donghae thrashed his mind. Swinging the door open he made his way through the thin hallway and toward the bright white kitchen of Donghae’s. A white table edged its way into the hallway with four chairs tucked in neatly. A silver fridge had been scooted in between the gap of the counter and the wall which blocked the view of the door. Donghae was currently busy at his special granite designed stove when Tao came to a stop. A living room suited with matching furniture took up the space to his left along with a large screen TV.

Donghae lived well for a single man, Tao supposed. A family picture of Donghae standing between his seated parents had been hung on the wall proudly in his dining room. It told Tao that Donghae was an only child. Not spoiled, but raised with pride.

Forgetting about the clothes he was going to make a complaint about, he asked, “You cook?”

Donghae twisted his head around as if he’d forgotten all about Tao. “Yes.”

“Cooking’s too feminine. Why do you do it?”

“Feminine?” Donghae repeated. “No. It’s not feminine. Don’t gender base everything. A person should at least know the basics to keeping themselves alive.”

Tao felt like snorting again. “You’re so righteous, aren’t you?”

Donghae shot him a smile before lifting the pan up and poured its content onto a plate. “Then should I be immoral?”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“Didn’t quite mean that,” Donghae fixated, “take a seat.”

Tao stared at the plate of meat he had placed in the center of the table before walking toward the rice cooker to dish out some rice.

“Did you have fun in Incheon today?” Donghae scooped up some rice into two small bowls.

“Fun?” Tao repeated a little sarcastically. “Yea, fun watching my life go before my eyes. You have two crazy assistants. Namjoo who’s annoying and Suho who’s crazy.”

Donghae chuckled as if amused before setting his bowl of rice down in front of him. “You’ll probably switch those descriptions to different ones later. They’re probably the best people you’ve met by far.”

“And you’re a blind one for saying that.” Tao remarked.

Donghae took the seat in front of him and picked up his chopsticks. “I think you’re the blind one. Don’t make judgment if you haven’t yet known a person inside out.”

“Why should I care anyway?” Tao stuffed his mouth with a spoonful of rice.

“You should, because they’re you’re teammates and you’re going to be with them for a long time.”

Tao’s mouth dropped open in half bewilderment, “You wouldn’t know that.”

“I can guess that.” Donghae finished.  

~_____~

“Wonju, their home base, is a definite destination, but before we head there lets stake out Cho Chin Ho,” Donghae spoke in their meeting room, “of the two arrested yesterday, Cho Chin Ho was their chain leader. This guy should be more informed about what goes on in their circle. Remember his face well.”

Donghae passed out papers he’d printed early that morning with Cho Chin Ho’s face.

“Black hair, male, well around six feet tall, 180 pounds,” Donghae explained, “three destinations were given to us of where he might be hiding. Anyang, Suwon, and Uijeongbu. Lets bring him in for further questioning before we start the official search for the human trafficking circle.”

“Are you sure he’s not hiding anywhere else?” Victoria asked.

“The two brought in yesterday for questioning said they last met with him in Anyang,” Donghae said, “we have no choice, but to take their words for it. Suspicious activities in these areas, I think so. There should be more people hiding out in Suwon and Uijeongbu. There’s a high possibility that these underground people are hiding him. We’re bound to run into him no matter what.”

“What areas are we searching?” questioned Lay.

“Kris and Namjoo, who were held back yesterday, will be going to Anyang’s central market. It’s frequented by locals who may be insiders of this human trafficking circle. Whoever seems suspicious, get them.” Donghae ignored that dissatisfied expression growing in Namjoo’s eyes before turning to Suho. “Chorong and Suho will be going to Uijeongbu Budaejjigae Street. Chorong has experience with area inspections and has observed interrogations before. Suho can gather pieces of information along the way. Chorong, you handled guns before, right?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“Bring one with you. Suho may seem clean, but there’s often trouble scouting after him.” Donghae turned to Tao. “I can’t trust you alone. I’ll come with you and Lay to Suwon since it’s farthest away from here.”

A small snort slipped out of Tao before he crossed his arms.    

“Do you want to join us?” Donghae turned to Victoria. “Or do you want to join the others?”

“I’ll go with you.” Victoria replied.

~_____~

Great. Namjoo had no idea what was going on or what Donghae’s intentions were, but this was not the way to go. She would complain to him later when she returned from Anyang. Everyone was already preparing to set out. Her intuitions were telling her that it was going to be a long day.

“Namjoo,” an unfamiliar voice called out when she passed by the lounge.

Namjoo stopped in her tracks and turned to see a man whose name only popped into her head a second after he walked toward her. Commander of some police division Lay. If she remembered correctly, he was Lay. He held out a cup of coffee to her with a warm smile.

“I have a feeling it’s going to be a long day with all of us travelling out,” he said, “coffee?”

“I was thinking the same,” she agreed before taking it from him, “thanks.”

“It doesn’t matter if we find him or not. I just hope we don’t come back empty handed,” Lay continued, “good luck. I heard he’s a good detective.”

“Who?” Namjoo asked before it appeared in her head that he was talking about Kris. “Ah…sure.”

“Good luck.” He added with another charming smile before walking down the hall to catch up with the others.

Lay didn’t seem so bad. He seemed like a pretty cool guy compared to Kris and that other female officer, who she had a feeling was just the same as Kris since they came from the same department. Pushing the thoughts away she took a sip of the coffee and let it sit in before swallowing it. Lay, she figured, had good taste in coffee.

“Got your car fixed?” Namjoo questioned out in the parking lot a few minutes later.

“Not mine,” Suho replied kicking at the wheels of his car, “a replica from the garage until they have mine beautified.”

“Wow,” Namjoo commented almost sarcastically, “how kind of them.”

“I know, right?” this genius smirk climbed onto his face. Then his eyes switched on her and Namjoo turned around to see Chorong and Kris walking along the pavement toward them. “Looks like you’re going to have it worse than me today.”

“Are you jinxing me?”

He shrugged with a sly smile, “Well you were with him yesterday, right? Shouldn’t be too bad. Hang in there, Namjoo.”

“Don’t kid me.”

“Really,” Suho shook his head when he turned to face her tucking his hands into the pocket of his pants, “Donghae has it worse than us. Remember Tao?” She watched him slightly turn his head just in case Tao was around. “He’s a brat.”

“Funny to hear that coming from you.” She commented with a small snort. “Whatever. Work is work, right?”

Suho nodded, “Work is work. Lets get today finished with. I’m traveling farther than you today.”

“You’ll be fine,” Namjoo added, “as long as you let her,” Namjoo slightly nodded her head toward Chorong, “handle the violence.”

~_____~

Victoria would have chosen to go with Kris’ team or maybe Chorong’s, but she wanted to have her eye on Donghae, see how well he performed. And she wanted to watch him keep the criminal Huang Zitao under his check. If he was incapable of doing that, then he was a useless leader for having convinced Tao out of jail when he had no power to keep him under control.

“What are you hoping to find in Suwon?” Victoria asked.

Donghae increased speed when he started onto the highway and glanced very quickly into the rearview mirror. “Not hoping for anything.”

Tao’s snort in the back drew Donghae’s attention away from Victoria.

“What? Is something funny?” Donghae wondered.

“Of course you won’t find anything,” Tao commented, “you said all the trouble goes to Suho.”

“How long have you worked with your two assistants?” Victoria questioned.

“A few years good enough to trust them,” Donghae replied. “They’ll get things done within a frame of given time.”

Victoria nodded her head.

“Lets scout Suwon anyway,” Lay spoke up, “maybe we won’t find Cho Chin Ho, but we should dig underground.”

“Underground?” Donghae questioned.

“I don’t think we’re going to find drug sellers in public,” Tao muttered.

Lay turned to look at him, “Not drug sellers. By underground, I mean look at areas we’re not thinking of right now.”

“Tourist areas?” Victoria questioned.

Lay nodded, “Tourist areas. Plenty of families take their children on outings to very famous places, don’t they?”

“Makes sense,” Donghae nodded in agreement.

“When they become too preoccupied, children will go running off,” Lay continued, “then they disappear. We should track down areas where families often spend their weekends.”

“Weekend? Oh that’s right, today’s a Saturday,” Donghae shook his head. “What do you suggest?”

“Lets check out some historic sites,” Victoria suggested, “Hwaseong Fortress.”

“And Paldalsan Park,” Lay added, “it’s a well-rounded trail with a lot of scenery, but it’s the nature that people can use for hideouts.”

“But if someone were to be dragged out, wouldn’t there be witnesses?” Victoria asked.

“There are off trails too,” Lay defended, “people can use those paths to avoid eyes.”

“Hwaaseong Fortress and Paldalsan Park,” Donghae summarized, “lets check out the markets too.”

“Wow, sounds like we’re going on some well planned trip,” Tao remarked underneath his breath.

“Then where would you suggest?” Donghae asked.

Tao groaned and slid down his seat, “I want to sleep.”

“We should follow in areas where there are more people. It’s the more crowded areas where people don’t think there are eyes watching,” Victoria said, “lets cross out Paldalsan Park and head toward the markets.”

“Alright,” Donghae acknowledged, “is that fine, Lay?”

“Sounds like a plan. Lets do that.”

~_____~

“Did you get a new car?” Chorong questioned looking around when she got into the passenger’s seat.

“It’s borrowed,” Suho replied pulling his seatbelt over him. “Where are we going again? Uijeongbu? It’s Uijeongbu, right? I forgot for a second.”

Chorong stole a quick glance at him when she put in her seatbelt. He was good looking. She felt herself flush before turning to stare out the front window. If she didn’t control herself well she might end up acting like a total klutz around him and that’d just be embarrassing. She glanced at Suho again a second later. He seemed really indifferent around her than when he was around Namjoo. There was this expression of ‘business’ on his face rather than someone who wanted to be friendly and comforting on his face. Just what kind of person was he, she wondered.

“Maybe we should eat some budaejjigae before coming back,” Suho seemed to speak to himself, but when she turned he was actually looking at her. “Not everyone goes to Uijeongbu for nothing, right?”

“Oh…” Chorong awkwardly laughed, “yea.”

Suho pulled out of his lot and started down the street, “Why? You don’t like eating?”

“No,” Chorong ended up waving her hand drastically in front of her. “I…I lo…love food!” she’d said it louder than she’d expected and felt like face-palming herself. Ok, she was starting to sweat. Why was he talking to her? He should be paying 100% concentration to the road. Why was he talking to her?!

She was sure he shot her a weird glance. For the first few seconds after she spoke she felt stiff like a doll. Her nerves were destroying themselves and she was sure her confidence level had gone down in front of him. It didn’t seem like Suho noticed though. Chorong’s thoughts rambled on before she wondered why his eyes were so pretty.

Chorong gulped when he spoke again, “I forgot to thank you for yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” she repeated as if dumbfounded.

Suho nodded, “You helped me yesterday, and you helped go after those guys.”

“Ah…” Chorong felt herself blush and she slightly hunched her shoulders up shyly. “It wasn’t much. Tao already had those guys when I got there.”

“But thanks anyway,” Suho said, “Tao wouldn’t have known what else to do.”

Chorong hesitantly turned to look at him, “But…you’re ok, right? I saw them hit you yesterday.”

“Ah…” Suho childishly smiled, but did it proudly as if the bruise on his forehead was a reward for his effort. “My car’s worse off so I don’t feel too bad about it.”

“Your car…” Chorong repeated quietly, “you must like your car a lot.”

“Yes,” he nodded sharply, “I do. It’s the first car I bought with my first paycheck. Been keeping her in good shape. It’s the first time she’s gotten hurt.”

Chorong felt like raising an eyebrow, but instead mused over how he cared for inanimate things. For some reason he seemed brighter than he already was. She thought for a second that his face seemed to glow when he talked about what he liked. Suho, she decided, was cute.

“There doesn’t seem to be much traffic. We’ll probably get there in about an hour’s time,” Suho commented browsing his eyes around the lanes.

Chorong kind of wished the hour wouldn’t go by so fast and on the other hand she wished it would fly by really quickly. Suho spoke about the weather and how he didn’t believe in the weather forecaster. He rambled on about many other random things she’d forgotten about by the time they reached Uijeongbu Budaejjigae Street. She’d been too hooked onto the tone of his voice to catch much of anything else. And to her surprise, the drive wasn’t as awkward as she’d thought it would be. Suho made her feel quite comfortable and she was afraid it only made him look better in her eyes.

Suho found a parking space really quickly and once he had the engine turned off he reached into his pocket for the piece of paper Donghae had handed them that morning.

“There’s a lot of people here already,” Suho commented then glanced at his watch. “It’s only nine in the morning.”

“People are always up early,” Chorong turned to look out the window to see that there was a slight crowd forming down the street. “Business is going to start getting busy in a few hours. There’s going to be a morning rush before lunch begins.”

Suho pulled the keys out and got out of the car after tucking the piece of paper into his pocket. He tilted his head up to look at the large sign arching overhead.

“Lets start looking and asking around,” Suho suggested. “I feel hungry with all this smell of food.”

Lunch…Chorong suddenly couldn’t wait until lunch.