Secret Love

The Mockery

(I wonder what Haru's mask is 😂)

Haru watched the video and listened what the others had to say. It's hard to swallow the truth on how the victims' families had died.

The evidences pointed out to murder, clear as the day, but they know nothing can be done now. With Babel owning the prosecution office, there was very little effort to stop them now.

As they were going through the autopsy report, both Haru and Mr Nam smelt food nearby. Haru got up and was startled to see An crouching by Mr Nam's bicycle.

"Why are you down there?", she asked.

"Just one second", said An, who was holding a tray of four bowls, all containing pasta.

An got up and held the tray steady. "Excuse me, but the chef wants to treat you to some pasta for your hard work", he said.

"Thank you. We'll eat them after our meeting. You can put it over there", Cha-young pointed out to the coffee table nearby.

"Don't bring mine next time", said Vincenzo.

An sat the tray down. He snuck around and peered from behind Team Jipuragi as they were discussing about the suspect's car.

"Cars with fake titles used by these people are probably covered up by many layers, so it's nearly impossible to track it down", An chimed in.

"Wow, are you a chef or a detective?", Haru asked.

An gave a nervous laugh. "I love to watch crime shows like Quiz of God".

An walked away, but slowed his tracks to listen more. Haru was the first to notice, feeling that there's something odd about Toto's apprentice.

Haru tugged Vincenzo's sleeve and pointed everyone at An. Was he that interested in their case?

"What are you doing?", Mr Nam's question snapped An out of whatever he was doing.

"Oh, I've been learning wushu these days", he said before demonstrating his moves by leaping out of the office.

"Gosh, that man reminded me of someone my brother used to talk about", said Haru.

MEANWHILE

"Can I ask one more question?", Choi Myung-hee set her coffee cup down.

"Sure", said Han-seok.

"How did you know her? That intern at Jipuragi...".

"She and my brother are friends. I guess they took it to the next step", he chuckled.

"Do you think she poses a threat?".

"I can handle her. It's that annoying brother of hers, but he's gone now. Were you able to confirm about that picture?".

"Yes, his name is Min Tae-ho, who was born in Jeju, but was raised in London. He recently returned to manage a small estate belonging to his grandparents. According to my "magic crystal ball", he's in Seoul to meet up with some friends before returning back to London. No prior records whatsoever".

Han-seok sighed in relief. "That man can be a thorn in our plans, but he's dead now".

"And his sister?".

"Lee Haru is a soft one. It's not that hard to break her", Han-seok chuckled.

LATER

"Such orders never go through many people. There will be one at most", said Vincenzo.

"Han-seok had to be the one giving out orders", Haru swirled the coffee in the cup in her hand.

"It's just that he's hard to flush out", said Cha-young.

"Well, if we can't find them, we'll make them come to us", said Vincenzo.

"I don't think that's...", Cha-young then realised it, "...You mean, come to kill us?!".

"They're not here to be our friends, boss", said Haru.

"It's a great idea-", said Mr Nam, "-But it's making me very nervous".

"We have no choice", said Cha-young.

"Public mockery and an adequate amount of threat will be the best way to provoke them to come to us", said Vincenzo.

Then, Chul-wook came in and asked them to come with him. Team Jipuragi went to Toto's restaurant with him.

The tenants would like to offer their assistance with the case. That gave Cha-young a great idea.

Vincenzo was unsure, but Cha-young convinced him that this will work. Team Jipuragi and the tenants transformed the dance studio to mimic a news room.

Vincenzo watched as Haru picked out a mask - a red dragon. He looked down on his and it reminded him of that tiny winged intruder in his bedroom.

Vincenzo sighed. "Let's get this over with".

SOMEWHERE ELSE

Han-seok find it entertaining as he watched the people trying to take him down. They mocked both Choi Myung-hee and Han Seung-hyuk..., until....

"Chairman Jang Han-seo...", said the pigeon, "...can't distinguish between quotes from Jospeh Schumpeter and George Soros. How can I put this? He's a dimwit".

Han-seo, who was laughing earlier, dropped his smile. He figured who that was, but he couldn't be too sure.

"This dimwit's brain just sits there as a buffer for his skull", the pigeon added as the masked crowd laughed.

He tossed the cushion aside, angered by their words. Gosh, he wanted to punch the light out of that pigeon. Out of everyone, he got the worse of it.

When Haru went back to his place later, she found him sulking in bed, with her bunny in his arms. She sat down next to him, hopelessly failing to tug her bunny off of him.

"What's wrong? Why are you upset?", she asked, feigning ignorance.

"You made fun of me", he pouted.

"No, I wasn't. I was busy looking into the murder case".

"Sure you are", he turned around, not wanting to face her.

Haru stifled her giggles and went into the kitchen. She decided to cook spicy noodle to lure him out.

Han-seo smelt the delicious food and cursed as his stomach grumbled. He looked down at the pink bunny.

"Your mom is mean", he mumbled.

Han-seo walked out, still sulking. When he reached out for the bowl, Haru pulled it away.

"If you're going to keep sulking, perhaps you shouldn't have any", she said as she took the first bite.

"Haru~! I'm hungry", he whined as he pouted.

"So? Cook it yourself", Haru continued eating.

"You don't love me anymore, do you? You even made fun of me", he turned around.

"No, I told you I was busy with the case", she kept on eating.

Han-seo dragged himself behind the kitchen to cook his own noodles, only to find there was another bowl waiting for him. He turned around and hugged her.

"I knew you love me~", he said.

Haru rolled her eyes and sat down with him to eat. They enjoyed a quiet late night dinner before going to bed.