THE VELVET. | blackvelvet

POWER + CONTROL.

If there was one thing Kang Seulgi had learned during her six years of being a detective- it was that people were liars. She'd read dozens of surveys, each asking a detective why they chose one of the most dangerous career paths out there, and the majority of the responses were the same thing: to serve their community.

At first Seulgi had agreed, but as the days on the job passed she found herself no longer doing it for the people and more doing it for the money (not that she was earning much). She knew others felt the same; she saw how all life slowly faded from their eyes starting the second they walked through the precinct eyes to the moment they retire and are left a mere corpse of their old self.

Although, there were a few that tried to cling onto the joy they once had, "Hey, Kang." Seulgi looked up from her stacks of paperwork to the cluttered desk opposite her own, raising a sharp eyebrow at the mention of her name, "Wanna go get a drink when this shift is over?"

The detective wanted to roll her eyes but couldn't, having grown too tired to after months of her partner's attempts to take her out. Don't get Seulgi wrong, she loved being partnered with Sunmi- but the girl kept trying to form a romance that would never happen, "Sorry, Sunmi," Seulgi spoke softly, making sure to use her partner's first name as a means to let her down gently, "I have plans." It wasn't a lie, but either way Seulgi would've said no. 

Sunmi sighed and nodded briefly, the smile from her face fading as she buried herself even deeper into the case that she and Seulgi were working on. It wasn't the hardest homicide to solve- the idiot had been stupid enough to go back to the crime scene and try and clean up the dozens of prints he'd left behind- but, hey, why should she complain? It just meant easier work for her.

From then on there was no conversation between the two partners, and as time passed detectives slowly trickled out of the precinct and into the dark Seoul streets, some rushing to go home and see their families and others going to clubs and bars with their co-workers. Sunmi made it obvious she was avoiding Seulgi since the rejection, making sure to steer her eyes to the computer screen everytime the other girl so much as glanced in her direction.

It was flattering, Seulgi thought, that someone as pretty and smart as Sunmi would ever take interest in her- but that wasn't the only thing on her mind. It felt like every other moment when the younger detective would take a look at the thin-strapped watch on her wrist, counting the seconds till it turned seven o'clock and she could finally leave for the day. Not long left. Ten more minutes.

She signed off one more document, building a small pile of finished reports next to the enormous stack of incomplete ones. How could there be so much crime in Seoul? It used to be one of the safest cities in the world, practically murder-free compared to other parts of the globe. A nagging feeling of guilt settled into Seulgi's stomach, and it only doubled when her computer  beeped, signalling the end of her shift. 

Rushing to her feet, Detective Kang slipped her black trench-coat on and grabbed the empty coffee-cup she'd gotten at lunch. She threw it in the recycling, fully prepared to speed past the rest of the empty desks (spare the one her partner was sat at) and rush into the elevator. Yet that was the thing: Sunmi remained neck deep in her work.