~_____~

It felt like a date. Chorong was embarrassed eating in front of Suho. Even if he didn’t seem to pay much attention toward her, she still felt shy in front of him. Unlike the big bites she would usually take, she ate timidly and cautiously. Her eyes scurried around the packed restaurant air scented with fresh cooked beef and stew. This smell didn’t exist elsewhere.

Chorong let the aroma drift up her nose past her nostrils and to her brain. She felt all the more hungrier after smelling the air and glanced at the empty soup bowl in front of her. Yet even if she wanted to order more food she felt shameful. She shouldn’t have such a big appetite. She was a girl, a woman after all. It only seemed right that she try to seem more feminine in front of a man.

Grabbing her cup of water she chugged it down and hoped that it would fill the remaining space in her stomach. It sat for a few seconds before her stomach gradually felt empty again. Chorong darted her eyes up to look at Suho who was drinking down the broth of his soup before letting out a satisfied gasp.

“That was good! I’m full!” Suho smiled with wet lips.

Gosh, he was cute. Chorong turned at the loud voice of the shop ahjumma and wondered if she was blushing.

~_____~

“Should we look around one more time?” Suho asked when they stepped out.

He paused and turned to look around for Chorong who was slowly making her way out of the restaurant. Suho wondered if he’d made her eat faster than her normal routine. Chorong had certainly gulped down her food like it was nothing just a few minutes ago. He worried if she might have indigestion.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

Chorong twisted around to face him so abruptly he was a little taken aback. “Ah…yes, I’m fine.”

She gave him another one of her awkward laughs. Suho raised his wrist up to look at his watch. It was a little past 12:00. If nothing showed up for the other team he would have to end up stalking the street until evening.

“I wonder if Namjoo and Kris are any luckier than us,” he said aloud. “It doesn’t seem like we’re going to get anything here.”

“Do you and Namjoo always work together?” Chorong asked.

“Oh…yea,” he nodded as he started walking down the street. “We work on completing cases together. I don’t recall a time when we worked on our own.”

“Are you two close?” Chorong slowly caught up to him.

Suho turned to find her directly behind his shoulder. “Depends on what ‘close’ means, but we’ve known each other for a while. Four years, I guess. We see each other practically every day…I guess we’re close.”

Suho nodded a little amazed with how their relationship had progressed over time. Actually, he’d never really thought about it, but now that Chorong had mentioned it he and Namjoo did know each other quite well. He’d met Namjoo’s mother on a few unpleasant occasions as well as her younger brother, who seemed sweet and had less of a backbone than her. He and Namjoo had traded life stories and a few secrets here and there. Being around each other daily had made them good friends, except he hadn’t realized how good of a friend she was to him until now.

“What about you and Kris? You two come from the same police division, right?”

“Ah…we don’t know each other personally. I’ve only worked with him a few times.” Chorong replied quickly looking up from the ground.

Suho stared at her for a moment wondering why she had a kind of troubled look on her face. She said no more so they returned to work. When they covered the whole street again after asking some questions here and there, Suho decided to head back to headquarters first. He had made a quick decision that Uijeongbu wasn’t the place Cho Chin Ho was hiding at. After returning to headquarters he’d do some more informational research and wait for the others to return. Perhaps the others had more luck than he.

When he drove up the sloping bridge toward the highway all he could hear was the rumbling of the tires against the concrete. The wind passed by in roaring hisses before he the radio for some lively music. While nodding his head along to the beat he noticed Chorong tilting her head toward the window to stare into the side mirror. A graveyard of wildlife green trees transitioned over the businesses and small shops that had just been there a minute ago.

“What is it?” Suho tapped his fingers against the steering wheel.

“I think we’re being followed,” Chorong said in a steady, serious voice that held back panic.

Suho glanced up into the rearview mirror and spotted a silver sedan tailing them from afar. His first instinct was to take in his surroundings and count the number of cars present. Three in the express lane, two behind him in the neighboring lane, and another two in front. If luck was on his side he might escape this with a mere scratch on the car. And if he had already run out of luck, he hoped he’d fall into a ditch alive at least.

“Looks like they found us,” Suho murmured. “Must’ve been keeping an eye out for us.”

Chorong turned to look at him suddenly wondering if she might experience what Tao had experienced yesterday.

~_____~

After an hour of walking around in search of the man she’d spotted earlier, Namjoo decided to give it a rest. Hungry and still irritated from earlier she walked into a dumpling restaurant. Now seated with a plate of fried dumplings and some soy sauce she busied herself with eating.

“How does he look like?” Kris asked sitting down in front of her with his own food.

“Oh, so you’re offering a helping hand now?”

Kris rolled his eyes and put an arm on the table holding back his annoyance with her, “Then I guess I shouldn’t try to look for him at all.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. His attitude was pricking at her patience. She’d only said a few words to spite him earlier. Namjoo hadn’t guessed that Kris would react the same way. No wonder she judged him as incompetent.

“Black hair, 6 feet, big and sturdy,” Namjoo described.

“That’s it?” Kris frowned at her. “Anybody can fit that description.”

“Are you trying to get on my nerves?”

“I’m guessing I’m already on them.” He mocked her with a smile.

Just what was he? He irritated her so bad. Him and the darn cops. He probably assumed she’d never done any real work before. Namjoo couldn’t wait to show him what she could do out in the battlefield. She swore she’d been through much more action than he.

Namjoo put another whole dumpling into before she looked up to find him staring at her, or what she thought was him staring. There was this tint of embarrassment on his face when he quickly turned away.

“What!?” she declared so loudly that the people at the next table turned toward them.

“I’ll be outside,” he excused himself before leaving the table.

Namjoo frowned confused and still annoyed with his behavior before she turned to look at his untouched food.

“Seriously,” she muttered before finishing her plate of fried dumpling and looked around before pulling his food over.

~_____~

Suho eyed the rearview mirror again. He was definitely sure there was only one person in the car, but he couldn’t get a good enough look to see if it was Cho Chin Ho. Swerving the car into the lane to his left, he then accelerated.

“Your seatbelt’s on, right?” Suho wanted to double check.

“Yea, it’s on.” She replied.

“Hold on tight,” Suho warned then quickly turned to look at Chorong, “I’m a bit reckless when I’m in trouble.”

She slightly knitted her brows together before turning to look out the front window. There was a reason why Namjoo had been nominated to handle the soldiers at the front line rather than gather information behind the scenes. It didn’t have to do with the fact that he wouldn’t hold a gun, but rather he was a complete mess when confronted by any kind of dilemma. His problems always ended up in a litter of disorder. Namjoo was confident and headstrong in the face of danger and sometimes Suho felt sorry for relying on her to solve his troubles. But today he’d promised to deal with his own trouble.

“I’m going to speed us out of here so we don’t fall off the bridge,” Suho explained, “when’s the closest exit?”

Chorong quickly turned her head to stare out the window. “10 miles.”

“If the police catches us, that guy’s also a goner.” Suho shot her a smile of complete calmness. Chorong looked worried. “You don’t trust me on this, do you?”

“N…no…that’s not it…”

“It’s ok, I don’t really trust myself too,” he responded. “Does that scare you even more?”

Chorong tried to urge a smile onto her face, but it failed.

“I won’t let you get hurt,” Suho promised before he really stepped onto the accelerator. The gravity forced the two of them against their chairs.

Suho could feel the adrenaline pumping into his blood. The sedan was still following, almost high-tailing them. It wasn’t going to let them get away. He was nearing the car in front of him. Suho quickly glanced back before hastily changing lanes.

“7 miles.” Chorong reported.

“I’m going pretty fast, aren’t I?” Suho asked.

Chorong nodded.

“I’ll understand if you never want to ride in my passenger’s seat again,” Suho said.

“Actually…I think you’re pretty cool.” Chorong admitted shyly. “I wouldn’t know what to do in this kind of situation.”

He glanced at her caught off guard by her confession and wondered if she was trying to make him feel better. It wasn’t like he was degrading himself. Suho never degraded himself.

“Really?” he laughed amused. “Lets stop talking here. I’m going to need to concentrate.”

His eyes shot back toward the rearview mirror before turning back to focus on the road. He had driven over the course of miles at such speed that the exit was coming into sight now. Suho veered off the lane toward it and was glad to see that no cars were around. Hunters often used this route to head toward their destinations in the woody areas, but it wasn’t yet hunting season yet. A wood land marked its territory to his right as soon as he drove down the long road that continued for miles on end. It was a sight of greenery, he mused. Nothing but pine and trees arching up into the high sky.

The sedan was still following, a lot closer now. Suho wondered if he was planning to get rid of them here where no one would see. What he had to most worry about was how he was going to stop him. It wasn’t like he could start shooting in the middle of the road. He didn’t want to have Chorong risk throwing half her body out to shoot at the sedan. The only solution that seemed approachable to him at this rate was if he totaled both cars.

At this point, he wasn’t sure if Park Chorong was ready to trust him. Suho slightly feared he might scar her for life if he did anything reckless. He knew he could stop the sedan, but he didn’t want to do it his way where he would endanger himself in the process. This time he had to be extra cautious because he wasn’t the only existence in this box of metal.

A loud shout escaped Chorong and they both lurched forward in their seat when the sedan drove into the back of their car.

“Ah! Geezes!” Suho shouted turning his head to look back. “I’m going to cut the chase short. Sorry, Chorong, I’m going to ask you to hang in there.”

A wave of emotions fluxed through Chorong at the mention of her name from his lips. Her face became flushed in pink, which Suho misunderstood as anxiety and fear on her part. He felt apologetic toward her as he fully stepped on the accelerator and felt the car fly forward at such speed he’d never experienced before.

Reckless. Namjoo had always called him reckless. Donghae always asked him to be more careful. Suho would definitely not be reckless and he’d definitely be more careful if it hadn’t been for that accident 6 years ago before he joined Donghae’s team. But trouble had always come after him and it had just been in his nature to be reckless no matter how careful he was. Things always twisted against the better on his part somehow. The nightmare from that autumn day 6 years ago raced passed his eyes when the brakes burned against the road.

He definitely wouldn’t let Chorong get hurt. No one would get injured.

A million rounds of bullets charged through the air in his head, it was a total flashback of that autumn day, when he swerved the car around. Chorong had her chin tucked against the collar of her shirt when the car went spinning uncontrollably in the center of the road cutting off both lanes. Suho fought for control of the steering wheel as the tires continued screaming for mercy.

The car came to a complete stop and Suho immediately put the car into park while he waited. It was just as he had planned. His car had planted itself horizontally in the road and the sedan was coming straight at him.

“Call the cops. Now!” Suho raised his voice, his eyes still on the sedan coming straight for them on his left.

Chorong would be saved. She was on the side where no traffic, no cars were present. He watched her fumble for her phone through the corner of his eyes.

“Do you have a gun?” Suho questioned. He didn’t wait for her to reply, “If not, take the gun from the compartment. You know how to handle it from here, right? Chorong, are you listeni…”

The sedan rammed against the car mercilessly. Windows shattered and glass sparkled everywhere as Chorong screamed beside him. Suho lifted his arm up to block himself from injury only to discover pain quickly seeping throughout his entire arm. Almost toppling over from the force the car whined and balanced on only two tires before it fully landed against the concrete on all four wheels.

~_____~

Suho was crazy no matter how cool he seemed in her eyes. She had never known for someone to risk themselves so terribly just to catch one criminal. Chorong had barely frozen in her seat when the car came to a standstill and she realized what Suho had planned. Her hands were shaking, her brain wasn’t transmitting any signals for her to speak, and she could only listen to him shout instructions out to her. Yet, through it all, she admired him for some insane reason.

“Chorong…” the tone of his voice when he’d first called her name made her heart race.

She had always been one to swoon over handsome men. Her friends had made fun of her for having so many hearts, but she suddenly felt like this time Suho had impressed her far more than anyone else. Even if she couldn’t tell what was running through his mind, but she liked it that he was highly focused on his job and he valued doing what he was doing. That was her assumption about him, but she could tell Suho was a sincere person and she just liked that.

The impact of the sedan chilled her to her bones. After screaming for a complete half minute, Chorong finally pulled herself together. She had a job. Suho had left her with instructions and she had better complete them so that when she got to Suho, he would feel some sense of pride in having her as a partner. As an assistant inspector, Chorong had never experienced such action before. This was all so new to her. The only thing she knew to do was to call the cops now and keep that man in the sedan under her control.

Opening the compartment box she grabbed the gun tucked inside. Running back out she shot at the windshield of the sedan listening to birds fly from scare into the sky as the shot echoed into the far distance. The man inside was just unbuckling himself and prepared to run. She wouldn’t let him.

She shot at the windshield again, “You’re under arrest.” The man tried reaching for the handle of the car and Chorong shot at the window again cracking it even more. “I warned you!” And that was when she fumbled for the phone with the operator impatiently waiting for her.

The cops arrived on site 15 minutes later and when they had the man in the sedan handcuffed; Chorong found herself scolding them for not having an ambulance with them.

“Calm down, Miss. We didn’t know anyone was injured. We’ll dial for one immediately.” The officer hushed her.

With her heart still wildly racing she rushed to the damaged car from the garage that Suho had borrowed that morning. He was currently sitting against it with blood oozing out the side of his head and his arm limp beside him.

“Are you ok? The ambulance is coming,” Chorong knelt down by him sick with concern at how he was feeling and sorry that he had to deal with such pain.

“Can you get me my phone?” he asked quietly.

She quickly nodded and walked around the car to the side that hadn’t suffered any damaged. Pulling the door open she searched around before spotting his phone sitting on the ground and picked it up. When she handed the phone to him she listened to him talk to Namjoo enviously and wondered why he hadn’t called Donghae instead.

“Cho Chin Ho, right?” Suho glanced up to look at her.

“Huh?” she asked lost before catching on. “Oh yea…it looked like him.”

“I told you it’s Cho Chin Ho,” Suho spoke into the phone. “I’m not stupid. So quit your search there. Donghae’s going to be at the interrogation room. You better hurry there.” Chorong thought she could hear Namjoo’s loud voice yelling from the other end of the line. “No, I’m not!” Suho raised his voice. “I didn’t do anything stupid. Stop calling me names.” Suho groaned. “If Donghae is right about this human trafficking stuff, you know what it means. So I’m telling you to quickly hurry back before anything gets found out.”

The roar of the ambulance forced Chorong to turn away from Suho. A red truck drove toward them and she watched two men leave the car at the speed of light before reappearing with a stretcher.

“No, that’s not an ambulance.” She heard Suho talk into the phone. “I’m not hurt.”

Why was he lying? Curiosity zipped through Chorong’s mind and got the worst of her.

“I’ll call you later.” Suho told before hanging up when the firemen approached him.

She watched them force Suho to lie down on the stretcher. Once he was lying down she thought he looked more disoriented than ever. Following them to the ambulance gave her an urge to ride along in the back with him to the hospital. She just wanted to make sure he was ok. It wasn’t that she was worried out of affection, but she was concerned as a colleague.  

“I’ll be fine.” Suho said to her when they loaded him into the back of the ambulance. “You go ahead to the detention center. Everyone’s going to be gathering there in a bit. See what comes out of that guy’s mouth.”

“Ok.” Chorong obediently nodded deciding she shouldn’t argue against him.

“And Chorong,” Suho called, “sorry, I hope I didn’t scare you.”

She pulled on her best smile, “It was a little scary, but I still think you’re cool.”

Stepping back she watched the men close the back of the ambulance before driving off.

“Assistant Inspector Park, are you coming with us?” one of the officers called.

On the ride to the detention center all Chorong could think about a little sadly was the way Suho had talked to Namjoo over the phone so comfortably. But why did he lie to her that he wasn’t injured? Was he afraid she would worry? Were there other reasons? 

***So in summary: 6 years ago before Suho joined Donghae 'the accident' happened. I'm not going to reveal what happened yet