Black, Blue, and Gold (Book 2)

One Step at a Time (Part 4)

Lisa was still in somewhat of a daze when she walked onto the bustling work area. She didn't even realize that Chaeyoung was calling her until the tall inspector came up to her and slapped her arm.

"Ow! Yah! Why did you hit me?"

"Because you've been acting like a weird zombie, standing behind your chair like that without a sound. What's wrong?" Chaeyoung then sniffed. "You went to see Jiyoon's grandmother?"

Lisa nodded, taking her jacket off. She proceeded to spray the perfume she had always kept in her desk drawer ever since Jiyoon became a constant part of her life.

"Cough. Enough!" Chaeyoung grabbed the bottle from Lisa's hand, stopping the excessive spraying. "Are you really okay?"

"Yeah. What's up?" Lisa straightened up and took a deep breath to get her focus back. "Did you find anything?"

"We found some stuff but before we get into that, there's one very urgent matter you need to be aware of."

"What?"

"An unhappy captain."

"Chu knew?"

"Yeah. I needed access to the hospital and prison documents, remember? They required her level of clearance so..."

"How bad is it?"

"Like you said, she had expected it so thankfully, she wasn't pissed. She even gave the okay without asking too many questions. But since you didn't exactly tell her that you were going ahead with this theory of yours in the first place..." Chaeyoung stopped there.

"I'll talk to her."

"Do it now. We'll wait for you guys in the con room with everything we've found so far."

Lisa nodded. "Thanks." She then went straight towards Jisoo's office, taking a second to prepare herself before she knocked on the door.

"Come in."

She heard the voice and quickly opened the door. "Hey. Do you have a minute?"

Jisoo looked up from the papers on her desk. "Sure."

Lisa stepped inside, closed the door behind her and took a seat. "I owe you an apology," she said right away. "I told them to dig further without notifying you first. It's my fault."

"I know it is. Which is why I didn't scold any of them."

"I apologize. I'll take full responsibility for it. Go ahead and scold me."

Jisoo clasped her hands and leaned forward. "Inspector Manoban Lalisa," she began.

Lisa kept her eyes on Jisoo's, ready for whatever was coming.

"You don't trust me anymore?"

"H-huh?" She had expected a scolding, not a question.

"Do you still trust me? Be it as your captain, or a team member, or a friend, or an unnie?"

"Wha-... Of course! I trust you as all that! Why did you even have to ask?"

"Because you kept this from me. Did you think that I wouldn't listen to your theory? Did you think that I didn't believe you when you told me that this was strange for Yongbak to do?"

"N-no-..."

"Then why did you do it? You knew I'd find out sooner or later. Why didn't you just tell me upfront? Personally? Directly?"

"I-..." Lisa wasn't sure what to say. The day had been riddled with so many unexpected events that she couldn't help but feel a bit lost. Her mind was overloading with too many things.