After Dark (Prompts)

Be With You - 31

A/N: Heads up! This is a short chapter. It would be obvious why at the end =)

---

To Cho Cheol Gang's surprise, he found Min Tae Gu in the office when he arrived the following day. The man was over six feet tall and his presence made the women swoon so it was impossible to miss his presence. 

Nodding to acknowledge the guest, Cho Cheol Gang was aware that Min Tae Gu stood and followed him into his office.

He expected as much. He had left marks on Min Tae Gu's plaything and it would probably not go over well.  Still, he had an ace up his sleeve so he knew Min Tae Gu would not harm him. He thought he was safe when he sat.

He was wrong.

Grabbing his wrist harshly it almost cut off his blood circulation, Min Tae Gu slammed it on the desk then stabbed a letter opener down. If his fingers weren't splayed, one of them would probably be cut off by now.

Hissing at Cho Cheol Gang, Min Tae Gu glared at him then said, "Next time, I won't miss."

Then, Min Tae Gu straightened, adjusted his coat then walked out of Cho Cheol Gang's office. The door closing with a soft click as if nothing was amiss.

*

"Lee Da-bin," Ha Chae Yoon called out quietly to her colleague.

At this mysterious tone, Lee Da-bin looked up from her computer. "What is it?"

"I have to tell you something but promise me not to tell Im Cheol-Ryung... yet."

Lee Da-bin frowned. "I don't like secrets between couples. If you're having an affair, let me tell you now that I do not stand for it."

"What?!" Ha Chae Yoon asked, repulsed by the idea of letting someone other than Im Cheol-Ryung touch her. "No. I'm not having an affair and I don't intend to."

"Good. So, what is it?"

Ha Chae Yoon chose her words carefully. "I think I'm being followed."

"WHAT?!"

"Shhhh! I said not to tell Im Cheol-Ryung. That does not mean let the whole department in on it," Ha Chae Yoon reprimanded. When the younger woman settled down, Chae Yoon continued. "It comes at random times so I can't be exactly certain. I can't detect a pattern."

"Do you think it relates to any of your cases?" Lee Da-bin asked.

"Highly likely but I can't tell which one," Ha Chae Yoon admitted. "Although, I wonder..."

She pulled up the file on the hostage crisis that Min Tae Gu started, which inevitably led her to read up on the file on Min Hyun Ju's death, but she leaned back in frustration. "I don't know," Ha Ha Chae Yoon said.

"I don't like this. You should tell the Detective," Lee Da-bin advised.

"I know. I just don't want to worry him unnecessarily," Ha Chae Yoon shared. 

"I understand, but if anything happens to you, can you imagine what state he'd be in then?" Lee Da-bin pointed out.

"I know," Ha Chae Yoon repeated. 

Touching her belly, she had to stop herself from saying that there were two of them who Cheol-Ryung would be concerned about but since she was not past her first trimester yet, she stopped herself.

Deciding that it was unwise to keep something so important, Ha Chae Yoon decided to talk to Im Cheol-Ryung at the soonest possible time. However, her husband was on patrol that night so she just left a message first. "Yeobo, I need to talk to you. Can we meet for a quick meal? Or breakfast tomorrow at the latest?"

Im Cheol-Ryung was pulled into a meeting before this shift so he told Ha Chae Yoon they would have to move it to breakfast. "Is anything wrong?" he asked, over the phone.

"I wanted to tell you in person but since I can't see you tonight..." she paused, choosing her words carefully before she continued. Finally telling him what she had told Lee Da-bin, she tried to assure him, "I may just be paranoid and it could be nothing."

Im Cheol-Ryung was silent.

"I'm listing possible leads already but I'm drawing a blank. That's why I wanted to talk to you in case you could see another angle on this?" she said.

"Okay," Cheol-Ryung finally said. "Can you leave the list at my desk? I'll have a look at it and we could go over what I find tomorrow."

"Yes, okay."

"Stay where the CCTVs can capture you, okay?" he reminded her. 

"I will. Make sure you stay safe, too," she said. 

His tone was even, the shake in voice barely detectable, but Ha Chae Yoon picked it up. "Please be careful."

"I promise. Baby and I will take utmost care," she whispered. "See you at breakfast."

"See you," he returned. "Yeobo?"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you. I love both of you," he said, again with that barely detectable hitch in his tone. 

"I love you, Sweetheart. Please don't worry," she said, though she knew he will. His concern was for good reason.

Ha Chae Yoon never made it home.