𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘆 • 𝘀𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗵𝘄𝗮

ｎｉｎｅ

chapter 9:
"you're involving personal problems with professionals"

it was the weekend and seola had decided to spent the entire day alone at home. she thought she deserves to take a whole break from the whole world. a lot of things has been happening lately and her heart is definitely not fine. starting from park seonghwa, park yeoju and her uncertain feelings for seonghwa himself. she wants him so much but yeoju's warnings starts flooding in her head. she doesn't know if she's ready for that kind of risk.

as she said, she wants to spend the entire day alone. the day hasn't started yet but here she is, opening the door for the visitor she was not expecting. "seonghwa?!" she gasp upon opening the door. seonghwa stood at her door, his black hair down and dressed in casual clothes. "may i come in?" seonghwa nicely asked. "uh, sure" she opens the door wider.

"i'm so sorry for coming empty handed and out of nowhere. i thought i should use this chance to talk to you"

"it's fine. yeoju and i talked" she interrupted. "she told me to stay away from you and i'm in the middle of thinking about it." she continued. "then, did you decide to do as she said? i'd hate that" his last three words rings in her head. she wanted to make herself believe that seonghwa maybe felt the same way to her but it's too early. they barely knew each other nor went out together. "seonghwa, i have a question. actually, lots of them" she started. "go on."

"why are you treating me like this?"

"what do you mean?" seonghwa was beyond confused and unable to answer her questions. "we had sex, you paid me, that hurts me, i know taxi fare is an excuse, i can pay for my own fare. your aunt badly wants to get rid of me and now you're here saying you'd hate it if i do as she said" she elaborates, listing everything that happened between them.

"seola"

•

mingi's grip on the picture of park seongwha tightens. he's feeling so much anger that he could not feel a single thing when there's a woman literally kissing his naked chest. he's had enough. he's gonna go all out. it's about time park seonghwa stops doing shits that mess his work up. just his existence itself angers mingi already. now that's he's always around the neighborhood he's living. well, fake living. he could easily get him out.

through song seola.

he had failed to catch park seonghwa once, it was a fucking nuisance that he failed. he won't let it happen again. he's sure of that. as a lawyer, it's his job to put people like park seonghwa behind the bars. he has to eliminate him. "move" he hissed, pushing the woman and putting his clothes on. once finished, he walk to the mirror, pushing his black hair. "what was that?" yoojin hissed, putting on the white robe. "i'm not in the mood"

"not in the mood? after calling me here when i'm literally at the corner of the globe?!"

mingi ignores the rant of the woman and walks out of the room. nothing has been going to the way he wants it to. he's not liking it. "hello, mingi?" he grins as seola answers his call. "let's have dinner, seola. i'll be picking you up, is that alright?" he put on a nice tone. "suddenly? i'm thinking of cooking though" he huffs, feeling mad again. "then, cook for me. i miss my neighbor"

"uh..sure. does pasta sound good?"

"yeah, that'll be lovely. my favorite. i'm actually on my way home, how about i buy the ice cream for dessert?" he offers, walking out of the hotel and to the parking lot. "sure, that sounds great. then, i'll see you"  he hums, hanging up. his smile dropping as he walks to his car.

"i hate pasta"

seola calmly walks out of her kitchen, holding two plates filled with carbonara she cooked. she serves the plates before returning to her kitchen to get their beverages. upon returning, mingi offers her a smile as gratitude for cooking for him. "let's eat" she smiles. "then, thank you for the food" mingi smiles, taking his fork and having a bite. "it's good. i like it"

"that's great" she nods, taking a spoonful for her as well. "how was work?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation going. "stressful as always. i always question myself why i decided to be a lawyer" mingi chuckles. "yeah, i heard lawyers get stressed a lot. especially with cases." she responded. "of course. it's more stressful when we are unable to capture our prime suspect" seola froze. now that she's talking to a lawyer she realizes something.

seonghwa is a criminal and a suspect.

mingi stares at seola in amusement. he could easily read her. now this confirms seola's connection with park seonghwa. he changed his mind. he's going for song seola before park seonghwa. seola will be the one to lead him to park seonghwa. catching someone big like park seonghwa will not only lessen mingi's struggle but will give him the higher chance to move upwards to his career.

"i'm sorry, did i say something wrong?"

"no, it's fine. i was just surprised" seola forced out a chuckle. "what's there to be surprised about? it's a lawyer's job to bring criminals behind the bars" mingi shrugs, taking another spoonful of his food. "like doctors, it's their job to accept the death of their patients. it's the same situation to lawyers. except, we have to catch criminals"

"i'm sorry, i kept talking about my job. it must've bored you"

"no, it's good. this is the first time you're talking about your job" seola speaks. "but why do you live here? i'm pretty sure lawyers got paid a lot" she added. "i'm undercover. i've been trying to catch this person for a while now. i guess you can say all my attempts to catch him were a failed" mingi chuckles, slowly hinting who his target is. "aren't you curious who it is?" he added. "will you tell me? who is it?"

"park seonghwa."

seola froze. she wanted to mask her reaction with something but she couldn't. she's sure mingi has read her now. "do you know what kind of crimes he committed? your connection with him won't do you any good. i am a politician, seola. it's my job to put people like him behind the bars and more, give justice to his victims." there's no backing out now. seola cannot deny anything. mingi is a lawyer, he can see right through people and it makes sense that he cares for the society as he is a public servant.

"what exactly are his crimes?"

"drug extortion, entering illegal weapons in the country, abuse, public disturbance due to his mess and murder" seola was expecting anything but murder. she didn't exactly know that seonghwa was capable of murdering someone. "did you know that his main business is drugs? he gambles. as he always said. all his money is dirty and if you're wearing one with his money, i'm so sorry to tell you but a woman should not be treated with something bought with dirty money"

"i have a lot of proof i can show you but i wanted to take this the easy way. you are a civilian, you don't wanna know what kind of mess the world you're living in has. i specifically value the safety of women and i've grown closer to you so i understand you'll be upset that i'm currently in a case wherein i have to capture your dearest friend park seonghwa."

"did you know that choi san was a victim of him? he could barely hit someone without hissing in pain. he came back here for park seonghwa. he is a public servant as well"

"are you really just doing this because of work and not because you have something against him?"

her question caught mingi off guard. mingi was not happy at her question. it was infuriating. he subconsciously balled his fist. he hates someone so low like song seola reads him like a book. he fucking hates it. "from what i observe, you seemed to have something against him. i understand the part that you're a public servant and this is your work however,"

"you're involving personal problems with professionals"

"am i? from what i remembered, one of my family is a victim of his" that was mingi's last defend and seola found herself unable to argue more. seola was speechless but she watched mingi pull out a brown envelope from his blazer and threw it on the table for her to see. "see for yourself" she was given permission so she grasp it and open the content. she was welcome by pictures, most were men. they're either dead or at the brink of death. badly beaten. seonghwa was neither seen in any other photo until she encounters one that infuriates her and made her confused.

seonghwa was visible on the frame and her father tied on the chair.