Now With U (Living In The Past - Book 2) (WheeByul)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Byul was still in somewhat of a daze when she walked onto the bustling work area. She didn't even realize that Hwasa was calling her until the 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?" Hwasa then sniffed. "You went to see Ha-eun's grandmother?"

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

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

"Yeah. What's up?" Byul 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."

"Yong 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..." Hwasa 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."

Byul nodded. "Thanks." She then went straight towards Solar'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?"

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

Byul 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."

Solar clasped her hands and leaned forward. "Inspector Moon Byul-yi," she began.

Byul kept her eyes on Solar'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 Ji-sub 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?"