UNEXPECTED SPOUSE | x1

sixteen

jung hwijeong's class ended three hours ago but she decided to stay til 10PM. she is analyzing student profiles as she was tasked to be a psychology professor and at the same time, a counselor for these types of students.

according to the reports, these students mostly commit violence on themselves. it can be depression or anxiety, or others. but what she's afraid of is the time she will see them commit crimes like others did.

the university hired licensed psychologists to help treat their students from the mental illnesses they suffer from. it can be approved by their parents through consent, after that, they will have their own class on a specified time to focus on the counseling. this helps them to make them live like normal kids do.

one student caught her attention. the report says, "often arrives at class under the influence of alcohol." at first, she didn't think it was something serious. this is the least worrisome she has read so far.

"kim yohan..." she murmured the name. suddenly, the door opened so she looked up at the person who arrived. "miss noh." she smiled at her.

her senior smiled back, "not going home yet?" she asked and went to her table, putting her green ragged coat in a paper bag.

the younger shook her head, "got to review student profiles. you seem to be in a rush, sunbaenim."

haeyeon looked at her curiously and asked, "haven't you heard?"

hwijeong paused, something crept in her that she felt uneasy.

"there was a shooting in a resident area here in Seoul. they caught the culprit but he was killed." professor noh told her while changing into a new coat.

so this is why she felt uneasy. it's something about kim wooseok again. why were you always worried about him?

"the detectives called me to help them decipher a code that the culprit left. but i'm no good at such." she chuckled a little. she was in such a rush when she thought there's nothing she can do. "i heard you memorized different coding systems, hwijeong-ssi. you might wanna come with me."

hwijeong stood up abruptly and arranged the papers on her table, "if i can help, then sure." she smiled, clueless as to why she's excited just by thinking about going to the station.

the older chuckled in surprise of her enthusiasm, "that's good," she fixed her collar in front of a mirror, "the culprit also left a statement they weren't able to comprehend. that's where i can help. so I'll leave the coding to you, ne?" the smell of her perfume spread in the room, a sweet vanilla scent.

hwijeong dislikes the scent. sweet fragrances are no match to her. she wrinkled her nose and sprayed her own perfume. professor noh put on some makeup before turning to her, "let's go?"

hwijeong nodded and let haeyeon exit the door first. she noticed the torn paper bag that her senior is carrying.

"do you need a new bag for it?" she asked politely but grew uncomfortable when her senior gawked at her viciously.

but then, she changed it with a sweet smile, "no need, thank you." noh haeyeon walked before her so she followed.

as soon as they got out of the campus, professor noh threw the bag at the bunker of her car. hwijeong grew more suspicious. is there something I need to be wary of?

she thought hard as they entered the car. the picture of haeyeon wearing a ragged coat earlier flashed in her mind. why is she wearing such clothing?

"hwijeong-ssi?" haeyeon looked through the mirror.

right now, hwijeong feels that she couldn't trust those beautiful eyes of hers. "ne?"

"why are you sitting there?" she asked while putting on her seatbelt.

"mianhaeyo. i have trouble sitting beside the driver's seat since my trauma. do you feel uncomfortable?"

the look on her eyes were confusing once again, "no. you can sit wherever you want. i feel bad for not knowing about your trauma."

"gwaenchanhayo."

---

"it says QUANTUM REALM." hwijeong said, brows furrowed after decoding the video they watched.

the gunman made an encoding with a Morse code when he was being interrogated.

"could that be their name?" detective han muttered without wavering his attention on the screen.

"that's possible. didn't he leave any belonging which can prove this?" kim kookheon asked the investigation team.

choi byungchan nodded in agreement, "this one could be their logo." he took out the mask sealed in a Ziploc bag that the gunman used to hide his face to show the illustration in it.

"we're slowly being led to the main target of this mission," kim wooseok smirked, "can you tell us what he's meaning to say?" then shot up a glance at professor noh who is carefully listening to them.

she considered his question for a moment and put the flashdrive, the mask, and ong seongwoo and lee gaea's photo together.

somehow, the detectives think that she might be connected in everything else in this mission. they have to keep them closer.

"I guess you were right about them," she pointed at gaea's picture, "but he might be meaning to say that they're in the plan but not part of the syndicate." her statement is clear. ong seongwoo must be someone the syndicate is targeting because they were alarmed when he handled their evidence. also because he's becoming a successful businessman. while lee gaea is a good bait and also a target along with the kids.

"no matter how much I think of it, I think what he means was," she pointed at the mask, "she is all part of the plan, and you're already closer to them."

"did the enemies purposely step close to us?" hwijeong asked out of the blue. she was listening, but she has another conclusion in her mind. although she thinks it's ridiculous, trust is not an easy thing in this field.

"what do you mean?" lee jinhyuk asked.

the lady smiled, "I mean, do you plan on protecting lee gaea or using her as a bait?" she asked, purposely wanting to know if the teams have good plans.

"both can work." kim wooseok answered.

"then i'll provide her condition first." han seungwoo mustered up his courage to speak, a pang of guilt flooding his mind. he didn't expect this to happen, and the least he can do is to do what they promised her.

"let's help her with the children's custody."