Now With U (Living In The Past - Book 2) (WheeByul)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Byul rushed out of the elevator to see Hwasa and Solar talking in hushed voices near the end of the corridor. She immediately approached them and managed to hear Hwasa raising her voice.

"No, Yong. It's because I refused to go with him!"

"It's not, Hyejin-ah," said Solar as she patted Hwasa's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Byul asked, stopping next to the two officers.

"Hwasa here has been blaming herself all night for what happened to Tae Hyung," explained Solar.

Hwasa shook her head, shrugged Solar's hand off her shoulder and walked away.

"Let her be." Byul grabbed Solar's arm when the latter was about to go after Hwasa. "What happened? How bad is it?"

"It's not that bad, luckily. Tae Hyung's shadowing officer stepped in just in time. He got a few bruises and dislocated his shoulder from being shoved against the wall too hard, but that's pretty much it." Solar then exhaled. "But Hwasa feels responsible."

"Wouldn't you be too if you were in her shoes?"

"But it's not her fault!"

"She'll get over it. We all do. I've felt that way at least a thousand times. Each time one of you got shot or hit or nearly blown to pieces," Byul said, wincing at the memory of how she almost lost the people she cared about. "But unfortunately, it's occupational hazard. Don't worry about her. Let her calm down and I'll try to talk to her later. Can we see him now?"

"Sure. The others are in there too." Solar started walking down a few room doors from where they were standing and pushed a door to her left.

Byul walked in to see Jimin, Bo Mi and Seulgi gathered around Tae Hyung's bed.

"Hi, Byul," greeted Tae Hyung with a smile when he saw Byul appearing from behind Solar. "Sorry to have woken you up at this hour."

"No need to apologize. WheeIn couldn't come, unfortunately. She's looking after Ha-eun. She sends you her 'get well soon' wishes and scolding for not being careful."

"Is that last one really from her or from you?" asked Tae Hyung teasingly.

"Scare me like this again and you're on desk duty for the rest of the year," threatened Byul, making Tae Hyung laugh.

"No more sitting! My butt is still recovering from all the hours of sitting I've done today," protested the injured assistant inspector. "Which reminds me, we found out a lot in Suncheon. Apparently, the doctor used to go hiking with his friends and friends of those friends. Ji Soo was one of them, I think, although he denied knowing him. And that nurse, Eun Ji-won, was disowned by his family because of what he had done. He has a brother, Eun Won-jae, who's-..."

"Stop. Hwasa can tell us all about it tomorrow. You rest. Now." Byul lifted her hand, stopping Tae Hyung's eager story.

"B-but... we might even find a possible DNA match for Ji Soo!" said Tae Hyung excitedly before grimacing when he accidentally moved the one arm wrapped in a sling.

"What?" Byul's eyes widened. "How is that even possible? I thought he was cremated?" She looked around the room, at her team members who shrugged or shook their heads, until her sight landed on Solar who didn't react at all. "You know something."

"Hwasa hasn't had the chance to brief me completely," replied Solar coolly. "I was planning to let her and Tae Hyung brief all of us first thing tomorrow morning. It's still not proof, Byul. The test results from the Suncheon police hasn't even arrived. We still have nothing, technically speaking."