Living In The Past (WheeByul)

CHAPTER 1

"Sit. Down!" She pushed the unhappy looking man down making him sit on the metal chair.

A young man grunted next to her dragging another bigger man and forcing him to sit on the empty chair.

She nodded to her colleague behind the desk before walking away towards the small pantry outside of the loud room

"What's tonight's menu? Drunk fights?" Another young man offered her a cup of coffee.

"Yeah. This is so boring." Byul took a sip and grimaced.

"What is this?"

"Coffee." He also took a sip swallowing with a painful look on his face. "I stand corrected." He threw the contents of his cup into the sink. "We should just collect some money and buy cheap instant coffee. It definitely tastes better than this." He rinsed his mug then filled it with water.

Byul took another sip. "What happened to the usual?" She stuck out her tongue after swallowing. "Blagh!" She placed her mug in the sink. "I can't drink this.'

Budget cuts?"

Byul opened the cabinet and took out the coffee bag. She scrutinized it for a few seconds before she walked to the trashcan, threw it away and walked back to slap the young man on the head.

Ow! What's that for?!" He rubbed his sore head.

"It's expired, genius."

"What-... Oh." He grinned. "Sorry, noona."

She shook her head. "How did you become an Assistant Inspector again? I know intelligence has nothing to do with it..."

"Noona..." He sulked.

"Inspector." She reminded him where they were.

"Sigh... right. Sorry, Inspector."

"Go make a new batch and make sure you check the expiration date this time."

"Yes, Ma'am!" He mock saluted before rummaging in the cabinet for the coffee.

Byul returned to the bustling room and went to her desk. She still had plenty of paperwork to finish.

"Byul." A folder landed on her desk.

She looked up to see Seulgi taking a seat in front of her. She raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Where did you bust those two guys?"

"The Octagon."

Seulgi gestured towards the report. "And you're sure they are connected to this illegal gambling network?"

Byul took the folder and read Seulgi's report. "I just followed the trail, okay?" She tapped one of the names on the paper. "Got the tip about this Min Joon-gook. My informant told me that he's one of the juice collectors."

Seulgi stared at Byul. "Juice collectors?"

"He collects money for the bookmaker – the broker also known as the bookie."

"Then why was he alone? I thought such juice collectors travel in packs? With buddies? Large, bulky, scary buddies."

Byul shrugged. "He said he wasn't working. He was just there to meet some ladies." She grinned.

Seulgi chuckled. "Right, and you believed him? He also said that the brawl was caused by these ladies."

"Judging by his bad taste in clothes, I believe that those ladies didn't exactly warm up to him."

"So this is true?" Seulgi pointed at the paper in Byul's hand, containing the statement that she had just typed out.

Byul nodded. "I believe so."