𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 || 𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐍 ||🥀

08

Jeonghan

I flipped the bird to my federal shadow in the parking lot, dropped Pip off at my place, and then grudgingly headed next door. Mina's door loomed in front of me like a castle wall. There was music coming from inside. Something with a driving beat. Something that said “Beware: Angry Woman.” I hesitated for a second, then knocked hard.

The door swung open almost immediately, and I blinked in surprise when Mrs. Soo appeared in the doorway. She was holding her usual evening glass of bourbon on the rocks and dressed in her usual uniform of workout tights, tunic, and frosty pink lipstick. Her white hair was tall and poufy, adding another four inches to her five foot even frame.

I checked the apartment number, wondering how in the hell I’d knocked on the wrong door.

“Well, if it isn’t Studly Do-Right,” she said in her asian twang. The ice in her glass clinked merrily.

2B. Right next door to my place. I hadn’t gotten the wrong place. Mrs. Soo was answering the wrong door.

“Mina here?” I asked.

“Nope. I’m breaking and entering. Wanna cuff me?” She held up her hands, wrists together, and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Mina appeared in the doorway behind her and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“What can I do for you, Chief ?” Mina asked. Her tone was icy. “Do you need to know what I had for lunch today? A list of every person I’ve spoken to since I got here?”

“I’m on that list. We’re BFFFs,” Mrs. Soo piped up.

“BFFFs?” I repeated.

“Best fucking friends forever,” she said. “You got a problem with Mina here? You’ve got a bigger problem with me. Oh, also I need you to stop by and fish my watch out of the garbage disposal again.”

Mina's lips quirked. But all amusement vanished when she caught me looking at her.

“Mrs. Soo, if you let me speak to Mina in private, I’ll stop by after to get your watch out of the sink.”

“And hang my new shower curtain.”

“Another new shower curtain? What the hell happened to the last one?”

She took a rebellious sip of bourbon. “That sounds like a no to me, don’t it, Mina?”

“It sure wasn’t a yes,” she agreed.

“Fine. Watch and shower curtain. Now go away,” I said.

Mrs. Soo patted me on the cheek. “You’re a good boy, Jeonghan. Try not to leave your head down for too long. Sooner or later, the condition’s permanent.” She turned to Mina. “See you at the gym tomorrow morning. Bright and early!”

“It was nice meeting you,” Mina called after her.

All amusement disappeared the second the door closed across the hall.

“If you came here to continue your interrogation—”

I rested my forearm on her doorframe. “No, ma’am.”

“Don’t you ‘ma’am’ me."

Mrs. Soo's door cracked open behind me.

“I came to apologize,” I said, ignoring the eavesdropping audience.

Mina crossed her arms.

“Not gonna make it easy on me, are you?”

“Why should I?”