The Boy Who Vanished - Jung Hoseok ✔︎

#1 - Archived

~22 years later~

~Hyun Jaehwa's POV~

Being a cop in Gwangju has it's ups and downs.

The hightlight of my day is catching the bad guys who deserve to be interrogated and locked up, therefore stopping the crime they were doing, or were about to commit. Saving people from their deeds and doings, and bringing peace among the victims and in Gwangju.

But the downfalls are when you don't catch the bad guys. When they get away. When you lose them. And after many, many months of trying to find them, they leave no traces behind.

They vanish.

You never get to catch them, because of how well they can hide from you. That's the part which is frustrating.

But, regardless of these faults, I try to solve every case that has ever occurred here. We all do. Because every case deserves to be solved, no matter how big or small it may be.

No matter how big of a significance it will bring upon someone, people are still waiting for their answers. Every mystery has an answer waiting to be found, it just depends if you find them or not.

"Any leads?" I say, whilst staring at my partner behind the computer. I stand at my desk, hands leaned against the table and arching my body forwards.

Since our desks are connected and facing each other, I can talk to him whenever I want and he has no choice but to respond.

The man sighs, looking up at me lazily. "It's the same as when you asked me 5 minutes ago: no."

Biting the inside of my cheek I groan, slumping back down in my chair. "Gwangju has been too quiet recently." I rest my head on my hand, propping my elbow onto the desk. "There has to be something happening right now. There has to be."

He chuckles, standing to his feet and walking round to my desk. He rests his hip on the side, folding his arms. His shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, tie loosened and shirt loosely tucked into his trousers. His brown hair looks soft and fluffy, as it always does.

With one eyebrow raised, he stares down at me. "Patience, Jaehwa. Never knew you could be so needy for some danger."

My eyes roll. "Get back to work Daejung."

"What work? Like you said, Gwangju's been silent. There's no cases to work on." Daejung says as an excuse.

"Then just...take a hike!" I blurt out.

A laugh erupts from his throat, and he shoves his hands in his trouser pockets. He leans backwards on my desk, half sitting down on it.

"Stop stressing. Isn't this good that nothing's happening?"

"Too good to be true." I mumble, leaning backwards in my spiny chair.

Daejung sighs, eyeing the clock on the far wall. "It's getting late. Myself and the others have the night shift, so you should go home."

I drag myself out of my chair, collecting all my belongings sprawled out on the desk and into my bag.

Just as I'm doing so, our boss casually strolls into the station. His brightly blonde hair stands captures your eyes at first glance, as it drapes over his eyes a little. His eyes flicker to mine, then to what I'm doing. And he becomes very puzzled.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I raise an eyebrow, exchanging looks with Daejung. "Going home?"

He sniggers, resting a hand on his hip. "I don't think so, Miss Hyun."