𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 || 𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐍 ||🥀

05

Mina

The Riperia Public Library was housed across the hall from the police department in the Choi Seungcheol Municipal Building, a name that was the source of endless entertainment for me.

I snapped a picture of the bold, gold lettering and fired it off in a text to the man, the grump, the legend himself.

Seungcheol's response was immediate. A middle finger emoji.

With a grin, I put my phone away and headed inside.

The building had been largely funded by a hefty “donation” that came from the lottery winnings Seungcheol had tried to force on Jeonghan. It was, in my opinion, an expert-level “fuck you.”

Apparently, it had also driven a wedge between the two, one that had been reinforced by inherited stubbornness and subpar family communication.

Not that Seungcheol and I had shared any heart-to-hearts in all our years of friendship. We kept things light, didn’t burden each other with the heavy stuff. Didn’t try to bring things into the light for useless examination.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was how you made a relationship last.

No burdens. No emotional baggage.

Keep your needs few and your quality time fun.

With this in mind, I made a specific point not to peer through the glass into the police station. I wasn’t prepared to make small talk with the chief of police mere hours after hearing him in the shower.

Just thinking about it had my cheeks heating.

I’d never stood at a sink brushing my teeth for that long in my life.

One thing was certain, Chief Yoon was a ticking time bomb. And whoever this Moon was, I hoped I wouldn’t have to hate her.

I headed into the library. It was busier and louder than I expected. There was a club activity going on where adults were reading stories to little children.

I stayed and listened for an entire book before remembering I was on a mission.

I found Kim Seoyeon, librarian extraordinaire, on the second floor in the stacks arguing about something bookish with an elderly man.

Seoyeon was unlike any librarian I’d known. She was a petite spitfire with black hair and blonde streaks. She dressed like a cool teenager, drove a souped-up Jeep Wrangler, and hosted a monthly Booze and Books Happy Hour. From what I had gathered, she had single-handedly turned the failing Riperia Public Library into the heart of the community through grit, determination, and a number of grants.

There was something about her that reminded me of the nice, cool girls in high school. I’d once been a member of that exclusive club.

“All I’m saying is give Octavia Butler a try. And then come back with apology flowers and tequila because you’re dead wrong,” she told the man.

He shook his head. “I’ll give it a try. But when I hate it, you need to deliver one of them loaves of sundried tomato bread.”

Seoyeon stuck her hand out. “Deal. Good tequila. Not ‘I stole this crap from my parents’ liquor cabinet for the high school bonfire’ tequila.”

The man nodded shrewdly and shook her hand. “Deal.”

“Do you always bribe patrons with baked goods?” I asked.

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

We entered a spacious conference room where Seoyeon headed straight for the dry erase board and began removing several crude drawings of naked human bodies.