02:53 a.m
Haven Towers, APT 17
Seoul
★★★
The vodka scraped down her throat, a burning sensation providing momentary comfort to her. Jonghwa brought the thin cigarette to her lips to take the last puff, the once long cigarette now reduced to just a small butt. As she pulled in a breath, the cigarette discoloured further into its harmful ashy grey.
She sat stooped at her dining table, enwreathed in her guilt-stricken conscience. One part of her was telling her to act normal. Live on with her day the way she was doing so far. Nothing was going bad for her. She was living perfectly fine.
The other part—the sane one—kept hammering into her how senseless and cruel she was being. That young woman on the news channels was her friend. Her friend. Probably her best friend, for in ages, Jonghwa had only ever cared so much about this one girl. Jonghwa, in such a long while, had only ever cared about Ahn Youngmi.
Jonghwa's eyes were red and heavy. And tearful.
She tilted her head towards the nightmarish drawer. The one with the envelope. The pen drive. The letter.
Su Jonghwa had crucial evidence with respect to the case of Ahn Youngmi. Evidence that she herself had not seen yet, but knew would be of tremendous help to the case.
Youngmi had a habit of saving her research into a pen drive as backup. Youngmi was a smart girl—an intelligent one. She understood the gravity of her profession. Youngmi knew the risks of being a crime reporter. Especially when her areas of focus were drug cases and homicides. The drug scenario in East Asia was dire, and Korea just happened to be the most affected hub of all.
• • • • •
Youngmi, when freshly eighteen, had taken up journalism with the goal to atone. She wanted to make a difference in a way she could. Youngmi surmised that perhaps being part of the whole search process would help her take a step forward toward her dream.
On her first day of university, she sat on the front row, elated to begin higher studies. Next to her sat another girl, a lot calmer and lot more composed than her. "I'm Ahn Youngmi." Youngmi had introduced herself, extending her hand and putting on a friendly smile.
The girl next to her tilted her head in interest. She accepted Youngmi's handshake with an amused smile. "I'm Su Jonghwa. You have a beautiful smile." She'd complimented.
Both girls had familiarised themselves with one another throughout the rest of the day. They found out they had much in common. Their conversation took place in the university food hall while they gorged themselves on filling meals. The conversation ranged from their respective hometowns to their passions. Each of them had a stable childhood with strict, yet supportive parents who only wished for them to find their calling and do something with their lives.
With passage of time, their genial acquaintanceship blossomed into a strong friendship. They enriched each other in ways they did not anticipate, and that they saw as the best part of their friendship.
After finishing their first semester, the girls moved into a small one-bedroom apartment together, just outside their university campus. They set it the way they wanted—pretty wall stickers sprinkled across the wall and hanging up decorative plants. They bought one small couch and two bean bags and placed it right at the centre of the living room. The girls purchased bunk beds, a childhood dream both seemed to have shared.
Su Jonghwa and Ahn Youngmi were as close as friends got.
The girls settled into a rhythm, a beautiful one like waves crashing against the sea shore even as they navigated through the high and low tides. Their magnitudes complimented one another so well that when together, they doubled in spirits. Their connection was stronger, more profound that any other friend they had ever made in their lives till that point.
One night, a few weeks before their graduation ceremony, the girls found a cosy table at the corner of a small food joint in their locality. They ordered fried chicken and a bottle of soju each. One bottle became to two as the evening progressed into a boisterous night of ambitious talk. Their energies elevated during the illustrious conversation, no concealment present whatsoever.
"You know what I really want to do?" Youngmi croaked, the soju tormenting her throat but soothing her mind.
Jonghwa contained her giggle, sitting upright in her tipsy form. "What?"
"Take down that bastard bitch Song." Youngmi's face went serious, eyes no more sparkling. "I'm sick of his ass."
Jonghwa was taken aback by the sudden change in her best friend's demeanour. "Oh lord," she said, leaning towards Youngmi slightly. She knew quite well who Youngmi was taking about. She only ever saw such fierce elan in Youngmi's eyes when the topic was fanatical ambition. "What do you even have against him? You've been obsessing over the dude since forever."
"It's not obsession," hiccuped Ahm Youngmi. "It's hatred. He's so obviously corrupted. And he's corrupting the youth."
Jonghwa laughed. "Look at you, speaking like an old man."
Youngmi let out an exasperated groan. "It's just. . . it's in plain sight, Jonghwa! How do people not see it? There's so much more to that bastard than just his silly little business. There has to be some dark shit he's involved in. How else can someone be such an untouchable multimillionaire? Beats me."
Jonghwa absorbed Youngmi's words. "You could be right, Ahn." She said, her tone understanding. "But the thing is, making money comes with luck too. Someone people will have strong luck, and that's how they get by in life. You can't just go around saying that Song is a corrupt man."
"That's why I'm going to prove it." Youngmi commented, eyes aflame with determination. "Just you wait."
• • • • •
And so Jonghwa did. Jonghwa waited like Youngmi had asked her to.
Years went by after their graduation. They proceeded work and pursue higher studies simultaneously. Youngmi remained firm on exposing the illicits of Song. Jonghwa would try to reason with her best friend and tell the other about being careful. Youngmi would simply shrug it off.
Jonghwa heaved a sigh, and opened her laptop. She took the pen drive that lay in the drawer, plugged it to her laptop and decided to look into it.
Youngmi had proved herself yet again.
The pen drive contained several folders. Each one holding significance. Someone contained just pictures, some contained documents, and others contained audio recordings.
Youngmi had made Jonghwa wait for years before she'd succeeded. And it had taken the price of Youngmi's life for this gigantic and shocking amount of twisted evidence to come into light.
≻ ⋆ ─────────── ⋆ ≺
a/n: unedited.
a much needed peek into Jonghwa's mind. there's history, there's emotion and there's turmoil. i'm interested in how Jonghwa handles things from this moment onwards. stay tuned! would much appreciate your lovely comments and votes<33
love, bg
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PROBE | discontinued
Fanfiction(KNJ - 김남준 | BTS - 방탄 소년단) "What you see, is not always the case. They are people with power, they decide the truth." · · · • • • • ► ★ ◄ • • • • · · · If they don't solve this case, they'll lose their jobs. If they don't solve this case, they'll fa...
