Beneath the Surface // Moonsun

Chapter 4

Byulyi's POV

I don't exactly know what I expected from the crooked cop Wheein would always speak so highly of. Most people tend to... crack under pressure where this woman seems frankly unaffected by the situation. I want to reach across the table and slap her to see if she'd react. Lucky for her, I'm in a good mood, otherwise I wouldn't done it by now.

Kim Yongsun sits across from me stiff-backed, the only sign of her being uncomfortable. I take the opportunity to silently assess her again: a dark-haired, rounder-faced, attractive Korean woman. Not so unlike myself. I smirk at the thought and her eyes catch on the movement, but reveal nothing underneath her cool exterior. In some way I wish to dissect her and glimpse what lies beneath her emotionless surface.

I steeple my fingers beneath my chin and finally address her. "Such lovely weather we're having today, isn't it?"

Krystal snorts off to the side and Wheein simply sighs with a shake of her head. And Yongsun deins not to react once again and replies with a brisk, "Sure."

Her eyes challenge me and I lean back in my chair to disguise the flash of annoyance I feel spread across my face before I put my mask back on.

"I'm sure you're dying to know why I've called you here Miss Kim."

"It's crossed my mind."

My nails dig into my palm beneath the table."You're a police officer," she appears about two seconds from muttering something else sarcastic so I barrel on before she can try, "so you must know about our common issue."

She pauses for a brief moment and furrows her brow. "You mean Lin's Clan?"

"Bingo!" I clap my hands. "You're smarter than you look, you know?" I take brief pleasure in the scowl that appears from that comment.

"Okay? So what about it? We're doing what we can to apprehend them when they enter town, but we're pretty sure their base is outside of our jurisdiction. And we can't arrest them without evidence of a crim-"

"You see Yongsun, what I need is police help, and not those bothersome police laws that come with it."

Even though her expression remains neutral, I can see the blood beginning to drain from her face. "I didn't sign up for this."

Hyejin snorts pitiless, "The hell you didn't. You think you can just pick and choose what you can and can't do?"

Yongsun looks helplessly towards Wheein who probably strikes her as the kindest in the room. Little would she know, Wheein could easily be the most brutal.

Wheein doesn't even look up from her phone. "We both know there are only two options here Yongsun: you obey or they'll be a bullet through your brain. As useful as you've been, there will always be someone just like you who can take your place."

I smile at that familiar Wheein honesty she's so known for and also at Yongsun whose emotionless facade begins to fracture, beginning at the trembling corners of those pretty pink lips.

"What -" she falters and looks squarely at me, resolved once again. "What do you want from me?"

"Many things, Yongsun. Firstly, I need police reports on Lin's clan."

"So, I'm being upgraded from the protection drugmonkey to an actual criminal?"

"Turns out you were always an actual criminal, Yongsun." Krystal drawls, cleaning a pistol out to busy herself. "We're just bumping you up from a potential twenty-year sentence to... hm, life maybe?"