Belligerent

13 - Sangwoo

A week passed and we still had no leads of Taerin's whereabouts. 

The district has grown suspicions about our slow progress and is often prying for more information. All our district superiors knew was that she was currently being held captive by Dami's group. 
But what they didn't know was the liability I had against them. Neither of which was properly confirmed.

I was pretty sure Jae was also with-holding some information, or as I assume he was, ignoring me for the past few days. Every time I walked past him, he was always acknowledging my presence, even from a mile away. But he has been acting otherwise.  And I know for a fact something changed the day he chose not to come to work 3 days ago. 

I looked towards his desk and observed him. He had a stern look on his face while looking intently through his computer screen. Sometimes, his seriousness is often underestimated. It was concerning to the point half of us wasn't so sure if he was being serious or simply courteous. I've never seen him become invested in his career, not until a decade ago. I guess Taerin's involvement somehow triggered something in him. 

I heaved a sigh and propped my arms over my desk. To avoid being engulfed by boredom, I glanced over the pile of papers set to the side of my desk. There haven't been any major felonies nor were there any cases that required team effort for the past week. Which wasn't surprising as the autumn season was slowly creeping its way. Some people never bother going out during the cold days. I shuffled through the reports and one caught my interest. I immediately logged into my computer and went through the several databases we had stored on our system. 

As the report stated, this case has been considered unresolved. Though it confused me on how this wasn't put away along with the other cold cases as the incident passed by a decade ago. According to the database the district had, they had solid pieces of evidence as well as leads, and yet they weren't able to close the case. I looked up the date of the incident and to my horrifying surprise, it happened the same day as today. 

I looked around the office for a second, checking to see if someone included the report on purpose for merely a prank. I set aside the rest of the reports in a file cabinet and got into the report I took out among the pile. I skimmed through the attached documents in the folder and looked back at the district's computer database. 

And that was when it clicked to me.

Neither the hard copy nor the digital copy matched each other's information. I turned my attention to Jae, who was still fully engaged in his own world, and reluctantly stood up on my spot towards his desk. Before I could even speak, Jae held his hand up towards me. I stopped and stood dumbfoundedly, opposite his desk while he stood up from his seat. I watched as he slowly made his way out of his small cubicle. 

"Have other people handle it." He muttered, his back facing my direction. 

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The case bothered me for all the reasons I could think of. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I felt frustrated over the fact that Jae brushed me off over a case I needed assistance with. It was definitely unlike him. But I pushed those thoughts away and decided to end the day. I glanced at my wristwatch and remembered the guy I ran into a few weeks back. I pulled out my phone from the pocket of my jacket that was hanging lazily against the back of my seat. 

I was hoping that I could have at least saved his number on my phone as I didn't fully remember his name.  I scrolled through my contacts and found myself briefly hovering over Taerin's contact number. It has been pretty quiet lately without her, to me, at least. I knew she was an important person and all, but I never realized how impactful she was because empty I felt without her presence. I looked over to her empty desk, sucked in a deep breath, and hesitantly continued to find the said person's contact. As expected, I didn't have his contact saved. On a gut feeling, I went over the sticky notes I had posted on a small corkboard I had plastered beside the district's computer. My conscience realized I have yet to organize my workspace as sticky notes were all over the corkboard, forgetting the context behind the small notes. 

Luckily, I was able to find the specific note I had written the person's number on. I hesitantly dialed the number, half hoping they wouldn't take my call but nonetheless wanted to know if they would, at least. It was silent for a bit until I heard the dial tone which gave a sign that the call went through and is in the process of being accepted by the other person. 
"Hello?" a groggy voice said. 

"This is Sangwoo speaking fro-"

"Yeah I know, Detective Im, right?" Seunghyun said, followed by a faint shuffling in the background. I was caught off-guard, "Yes..? How did you know it was me?"
There was a slight pause before I heard a small chuckle, "You seriously don't remember me?"
Now I was ultimately confused, wondering if I had a completely wiped-off memory of this person or if he was just a mischievous bastard. 

"I'll take that as a no," he replied, "well what might the clever detective need from someone like me on a Saturday afternoon?" he continued. 
It piqued my interest as to how he knew me but I didn't. "Are you free at this time?" 
"Are you asking me on a date, detective?" he said and I could feel the smugness in his voice. I heaved a sigh, "Does it look like I'm interested in you to assume that I am?" I replied, annoyed. 

"Okay geez, untwist your knickers," he scoffed, "I'll be by 0 cafe, your favorite spot" then hang up.  I sat still in disbelief and glanced at my phone.

 This son of a gun.