After Dark (Prompts)

Be With You - 2

Finally done with her paperwork, Inspector Ha Chae Yoon sat back a heaved a sigh.

These days, she wondered if she would stay as a negotiator for long. As much as she felt she was good at her job, when a hostage situation goes wrong, it goes pretty bad.

Witnessing the death of Min Hyun Ju scarred her. While she was glad that Min Tae Gu's life was spared, it was quite draining for her and made her rethink where she wanted her career to go.

Luckily, a hostage in the city was few and far between so she hoped it will be awhile before she faced another one again. Lost in her thoughts as she left the station, she found herself heading to the cemetery where Min Hyun Ju was laid to rest.

"Hi, Min Hyun Ju," Ha Chae Yoon said out loud. "Your brother was put in prison today but he's safe... well, as safe as one can be in those circumstances. But he's alive."

The wind blew allowing Ha Chae Yoon to take in the crisp summer air. "I couldn't get him off without charges. His revenge was understandable but we can't deny that your brother was involved in very shady things."

Before she left, she said a promise to the young woman she was unable to save. "I'll watch over him and I'll help him as much as I can. Maybe one day, he'll even find a reason to live a great life."

As she headed to the exit, she crossed paths with a tall man bringing flowers to one of the graves. She only got a glimpse but she could see the man's pain.

Did he lose that person recently? Or has it been years but the love remains?

But as she left, Ha Chae Yoon wished that one day Min Tae Gu would be given the chance to visit his sister.

*

Im Cheol-Ryung did a double take as he passed the woman leaving the cemetery. Wasn't she from the station? He wondered. The thought was quickly replaced as he saw the grave of his wife and unborn child.

"Happy anniversary, Hwa-ryung," he whisperer. "Two anniversaries now that we're spending with you in heaven. How cruel life could be that we didn't even get to spend one together here on Earth."

As he sat on the bench, he thought about how little time he and Hwa-ryung spent as a married couple before they were finally separated between life and death.

"I miss you," he said before going home. "Hug our baby for me."

Before he turned in for the night, his partner sent him a message.

Don't be late tomorrow. We have an early training with the Hostage Negotiation team.

*

The next day, Im Cheol-Ryung took a seat at the back of the room. The training will be conducted in batches to avoid disrupting work so the group wasn't that large. Still, he wanted to stay as far back as possible.

He was in a surly mood, which was usual for him after a special date that he was supposed to celebrate with Hwa-ryung.

But it was not meant to be.

Crossing his arms, he stared out the window while waiting for the training to start. The sun was shining brightly but he didn't feel its warmth. He hasn't felt anything but cold and numb for over two years now.

"Good morning everyone," a voice called out from the front of the room. "Welcome to the Hostage Negotiation Training. I will be your instructor for today. My name is Inspector Ha Chae Yoon."

Im Cheol-Ryung turned.

It was the woman he saw at the cemetery. Who was she visiting? He wondered. That initial curiosity was added to when he realized he was gazing at the Inspector's face.

She's very pretty, he thought. Shaking that thought away quickly because he immediately felt guilty for having wayward thoughts. He felt like it was betrayal.

"And you are?"

Kang Jin-tae nudged him. "Introduce yourself," his partner prompted.

Im Cheol-Ryung realized everyone was now staring at him. Clearing his throat, he said, "Detective Im Cheol-Ryung."

"Good morning," Ha Chae Yoon greeted, smiling at him before she moved on to the next cop beside him.

He stared out the window again. Suddenly, he felt his cheeks warm and a fluttering in his chest.

Biting the inside of his cheek to hopefully regain focus, Im Cheol-Ryung scolded himself to quit his nonsense.

Widowers did not develop crushes. They didn't.

Even if the Inspector was very pretty.

With a nice eye smile that made him want to smile along with her.

Must. Resist.

Must. Resist.

"Please feel free to let me know if it's getting boring. We can shift topics around a bit. I apologize in advance if I'm not too interesting," the Inspector was now saying, self-deprecatingly. She then laughed with the group.

Im Cheol-Ryung started to smile.

Resist.

He then scowled.

Kang Jin-tae saw his partner's awful expression. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I'm bored," Im Cheol-Ryung said.

"We're barely 15 minutes in," Kang Jin-tae pointed out. "You're weird sometimes."

The training proper started then so there was no need for Cheol-Ryung to reply. He just hoped he could maintain this scowl for the entire two hours without giving him a headache.

Must.

Resist.

—
A/N: Hi! I honestly could not understand what would be the difference between a detective and an inspector. I tried to read up but it's still a blur for me. Since HCY is called Inspector and ICR a detective in their respective movies, I'm going with those titles for this. =)