In The Dark (SNOWDROP)

"what a shame"

❄︎ — chapter 12 — ❄︎

To say that Lim Sooho was stressed would be an understatement.

Since the case had been reopened the previous day, he'd spent every waking moment trying to get information that could lead to pinpointing Haegeumseong 1's location. That included looking into every place he could've gone to around Seoul and the rest of South Korea, and names of possible accomplices.

In short, it was exhausting.

So when three in the afternoon came around, he was ready for a break.

But in its own way, his 'break' would be just as stressful as the rest of his work day.

Because he was going on a coffee date with Eun Yeongro, the daughter of Number One, also known as Eun Changsu, the director of the ANSP.

A couple minutes earlier, Jang Hanna had found him and asked him to get a few papers she'd left in one of her car's compartments, but since he didn't want to be late, he'd handed off the task and Hanna's keys to Lee Kangmu, who he'd run into returning from the Chief's office. Hanna wouldn't mind, as long as the papers got to her.

On Sooho's way out of the office, he stopped by the bathroom, fixing his hair and straightening out his clothes, trying his best to look presentable. This was possibly the most important date he'd ever go on.

He rushed outside, getting into his car and starting up the engine. The coffee shop wasn't that far from the office, but he still wanted to be a couple of minutes early. It was a courtesy, after all.

Traffic was light, and he made it there with no problem. Yeongro wasn't there yet, so he grabbed a booth behind the fish tank and waited, busying himself in the meantime with building a matchstick tower. It was something of an art form he liked perfecting.

He was able to build it up rather quickly, and was just about to place the final match when a voice startled him.

"Annyeonghaseyo."

Sooho looked up, seeing Eun Yeongro standing in front of the table, dressed in a light pink dress and white flats. He hastily got up and bowed politely to her, careful not to knock into the matchsticks.

"Annyeonghaseyo."

Yeongro smiled angelically at him and sat on the opposite side of the booth, facing him.

"I'm sorry that I'm late," she said. "There was a bit of traffic."

"Anniyo, anniyo," he assured her. "I haven't been here for long.

Yeongro looked down at the match tower, admiration clearly on her face. "Long enough to build that."

"Oh," Sooho couldn't hide a sheepish smile. "I've been building matchstick towers for a while. I think this is the fastest I've ever made one."

"Impressive," Yeongro commented. She nudged the last match laying on the table. "Just one more, right?"

He nodded. "You can put it on, if you'd like. Just on the top, here."

Yeongro picked up the match and gingerly laid it across the top. Sooho grinned widely, although he wasn't sure if he was smiling at the match tower or the beautiful girl who'd just completed it.

"It's perfect," he said. "I wish I had my camera to take a picture of it."

Yeongro giggled affectionately. "It is perfect..."

Her eyes widened and she glanced up at him.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, worriedly.

"You're going to think I'm an idiot," Yeongro fretted. "I haven't even gotten your name yet."

"Oh," Sooho said dumbly. He didn't think he'd ever asked for hers, either. He only knew her name from the case file on her brother, but he didn't exactly want her knowing that. "I haven't gotten yours either, right?"

"I don't think so," Yeongro tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "My name is Eun Yeongro."

"Eun Yeongro," Sooho repeated. Her name easily rolled off his lips. "I'm Lim Sooho."

Yeongro smiled. "Nice to meet you, Lim Sooho-ssi. Thank you for the cassette tape yesterday."

"I told you, it's an apology for running into you at the rice cake shop," Sooho said. "And you don't have to call me Sooho-ssi. Just Sooho-ya works fine."

She nodded. "Then Yeongro-ya works for me, too."

They ordered their drinks— for Yeongro a strawberry milkshake, and for Sooho coffee with cream. Sooho insisted on paying, and Yeongro couldn't get him to budge one bit. The cashier had just chuckled at the two and accepted the won Sooho handed him. They walked back to the booth to wait for their drinks, and Sooho accidentally bumped the table as he went to sit. The matchstick tower collapsed as the table was shaken, and both Yeongro and Sooho instinctively tried to catch it.

They failed to save the tower, but their hands touched in that split second. Sooho looked up to see Yeongro's face much closer than he'd anticipated. His cheeks heated up, and he pulled away, sitting down while trying not to betray how much his heart was racing at the moment.

"What a shame..." Yeongro mumbled, her cheeks also a little red. "It was so pretty."

"It was," Sooho agreed. He gathered up the fallen matches and moved the coaster he'd been using as a base to the middle of the table between them.

"I guess we'll just have to build a new one then, Yeongro-ya."

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Kim Mandong managed to sneak out of the factory close to the end of the work day. Still disguised in his stolen factory worker's clothes, he crept across the parking lot to the black Jeep he'd seen the agent Black Tiger unlock and get a few papers out of less than an hour ago, before locking the car again and reentering the building.

Armed with a wrench and a pair of wire cutters in his rubber-gloved hands, he got to the Jeep undetected, always checking over his shoulder to make sure no one could see him. Quickly, Mandong threw open the Jeep's hood and cut a few of the ignition wires, ensuring that the car would be unable to start up. For extra security, he took out the spark plug wires and tossed them into the dumpster in the back corner of the lot.

His plan was simple— strand the Black Tiger at the factory with a broken-down vehicle, then ambush him from behind while he tried to figure out what was wrong with the car.

What could possibly go wrong?

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NOTE: KOREAN TERM TRANSLATIONS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE GLOSSARY

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