Blaze

Attracted to Trouble

~_____~

It felt like a date. Chorong was embarrassed eating in front of Suho. Even if he didn't seem to pay much attention toward her, she still felt shy in front of him. Unlike the big bites she would usually take, she ate timidly and cautiously. Her eyes scurried around the packed restaurant air scented with fresh cooked beef and stew. This smell didn't exist elsewhere.

Chorong let the aroma drift up her nose past her nostrils and to her brain. She felt all the more hungrier after smelling the air and glanced at the empty soup bowl in front of her. Yet even if she wanted to order more food she felt shameful. She shouldn't have such a big appetite. She was a girl, a woman after all. It only seemed right that she try to seem more feminine in front of a man.

Grabbing her cup of water she chugged it down and hoped that it would fill the remaining space in her stomach. It sat for a few seconds before her stomach gradually felt empty again. Chorong darted her eyes up to look at Suho who was drinking down the broth of his soup before letting out a satisfied gasp.

"That was good! I'm full!" Suho smiled with wet lips.

Gosh, he was cute. Chorong turned at the loud voice of the shop ahjumma and wondered if she was blushing.

~_____~

"Should we look around one more time?" Suho asked when they stepped out.

He paused and turned to look around for Chorong who was slowly making her way out of the restaurant. Suho wondered if he'd made her eat faster than her normal routine. Chorong had certainly gulped down her food like it was nothing just a few minutes ago. He worried if she might have indigestion.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

Chorong twisted around to face him so abruptly he was a little taken aback. "Ah...yes, I'm fine."

She gave him another one of her awkward laughs. Suho raised his wrist up to look at his watch. It was a little past 12:00. If nothing showed up for the other team he would have to end up stalking the street until evening.

"I wonder if Namjoo and Kris are any luckier than us," he said aloud. "It doesn't seem like we're going to get anything here."

"Do you and Namjoo always work together?" Chorong asked.

"Oh...yea," he nodded as he started walking down the street. "We work on completing cases together. I don't recall a time when we worked on our own."

"Are you two close?" Chorong slowly caught up to him.

Suho turned to find her directly behind his shoulder. "Depends on what 'close' means, but we've known each other for a while. Four years, I guess. We see each other practically every day...I guess we're close."

Suho nodded a little amazed with how their relationship had progressed over time. Actually, he'd never really thought about it, but now that Chorong had mentioned it he and Namjoo did know each other quite well. He'd met Namjoo's mother on a few unpleasant occasions as well as her younger brother, who seemed sweet and had less of a backbone than her. He and Namjoo had traded life stories and a few secrets here and there. Being around each other daily had made them good friends, except he hadn't realized how good of a friend she was to him until now.

"What about you and Kris? You two come from the same police division, right?"

"Ah...we don't know each other personally. I've only worked with him a few times." Chorong replied quickly looking up from the ground.

Suho stared at her for a moment wondering why she had a kind of troubled look on her face. She said no more so they returned to work. When they covered the whole street again after asking some questions here and there, Suho decided to head back to headquarters first. He had made a quick decision that Uijeongbu wasn't the place Cho Chin Ho was hiding at. After returning to headquarters he'd do some more informational research and wait for the others to return. Perhaps the others had more luck than he.