MISSION: Love

+ thirty +

All the prisoners' attention turned to me as my heels clicked along the floor. A policeman was leading me to Hyunsook's cell. I tried to maintain my composed expression as I suppressed all the anger inside me. My hand tightened around the handle of my briefcase as I stood in front of his cell.

Suddenly, the policeman bowed, "Hello, Mr Park."

I turned to where he was looking and saw Sunghoon rolling his eyes as soon as he saw me. "Could you wait for a while, Mr Park? Dr Yoon asked to see Kim Hyunsook first."

"I guess we both can see him?"

"No," I bluntly answered him before entering the cell. I could hear him scoffing and cursing at me from behind. I kept my blank expression as I watched the criminal doing push-ups.

"I think I know why you're here, doctor. You're still mad that I won the case."

"No. I came here because I genuinely wanted to see you. Not because of the case or something," I smirked and put down my briefcase. Sunghoon and the policeman were waiting as they watched me attentively.

"You really love living here, huh?" I stood up and walked around before opening the cell door. Hyunsook laughed and sat on his bed, folding his arm. "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you a chance to escape. Why aren't you doing it?"

"I like it here. If I'm still here then maybe I get to see you almost every day?"

I grimaced as he tried to talk to me sweetly. I dragged a chair across from him before sitting down, "What are you thinking right now, Mr Kim?"

"I'm thinking of how I can kill you and then make love to you. And sleep with your lifeless body. Before I devour you. Maybe turn you into a bowl of pasta? You have a nice figure, Dr Yoon."

I scoffed and asked, "How much did your family pay Sunghoon? Did they bribe him?"

"More than you can imagine. He is the highest-paid and best lawyer in South Korea. I need to have him fight for my case."

I got up and sighed, "That's all. Talking to you makes me sick."

As I turned around, Sunghoon immediately barged in and pushed me aside. "What the hell?" I turned to look at him and saw him holding Hyunsook's arm which had a sharp knife in it.

"He was trying to kill you!" Sunghoon said with gritted teeth. My eyes widened as I watched the policemen come into the cell and hold the criminal down. Sunghoon grabbed my arm tightly and dragged me out of the prison.

As we got out of the building, he pushed my arm and ran a few of his fingers through his hair. "You know it's dangerous when you provoke a criminal like him!"

I scoffed and gave him a death stare, "Why do you care? Didn't you say that he was harmless and that all he needed was just help? To make him sane? If you didn't win the case, none of this would've happened!"

"It's not my fault the prosecutor was incompetent!"

"You're a lawyer, Sunghoon. You're smart. Why did you side with the criminal? Why didn't you side with the victim's family?"

He stayed silent and smirked, annoyed with all the questions I was asking. "Is it because of the money? Because Hyunsook's family is rich? Because they're paying you with a lot of bribe money?"

"So what? It's not like I'm doing a crime. I'm doing what a lawyer was supposed to do. They needed one and I'm available. So I work for them."

"You're a bastard," I pushed him hard as I left him behind.

💌

My heart was filled with guilt and resentment for losing the case. I looked at the passenger's seat in my car and admired a bouquet of white roses. I had parked my car at the entrance of the cemetery where the victims were buried. The parents had clearly stated that I couldn't be there and that I was a disappointment. I knew it wasn't my fault but I still felt the guilt rising inside me.

I took the bouquet and got out of the car, walking into the cemetery. My eyes widened as I saw Sunghoon at one of the victims' graves, putting a bouquet of white tulips next to the gravestone.

I instantly scurried to a tall tree nearby to hide as I peeked at him secretly. He was giving his respects to the victim.

"I'm so sorry for not giving you justice," he spoke as he kept his eyes fixed on the gravestone. I leaned against the tree and sighed, still in disbelief that he would visit the victim's grave.

"You can come out now," his voice was filled with annoyance. I mentally cursed at myself before bringing myself to him. I stood next to him and placed the roses next to his tulips.

"So nowadays, your job is following me? Why?"

"I didn't know you would come here. I thought you don't even care about the victims."

"Who says I don't care about them? What do you know? All you ever think about is how cruel I am."

"You are," I rolled my eyes and turned to leave when his question stopped me, "Why are you here?"

I stayed silent and clenched my fists. I did not know how to answer. Was it because of the guilt? Or was it just to respect the victims and hope for them to rest in peace?

"Did you come here because you feel guilty even when it isn't your fault?" He asked. I looked at him and sighed, "I don't know."

As I averted my attention to his hand, I gasped when I saw his knuckles bruised. "What happened? Why is your hand bruised?"

"Nothing," he avoided my question and walked away. I chased after him and grabbed his hand, "Sunghoon."

He smirked and spoke, "After all these years, you still care about me? Why can't you hate me?"

I released his hand and watched as he left me alone.

Sunghoon

I watched as Hana left me behind. I felt anger rising inside me as I stormed back into the building. I went straight to Hyunsook's cell and told the policemen to close the door. The criminal laughed as he watched me from his bed, "You're back, Mr Park."

I rolled my sleeves up and warmed up my hand before punching him in the face. "I didn't say you can hurt her!"

I punched him again and again until his nose bled. He still had his smug smile on his face. It made my blood boil so I lunged a punch again. He fell to the floor and coughed out some more saliva mixed with blood.

"What is she? Your girlfriend? Your wife?"

I halted and felt my heart drop. Hyunsook laughed when he heard no answer from me, "Just quit it, Park. She doesn't even like you. In fact, I think she hates you."

"I know," was all I said.

"So why? Why did you come here just to beat me up? I didn't even kill her. I was about to until you stopped me. I thought you would be happy if I killed her," he teasingly said.

"I don't know."

I left the cell and massaged my hand due to all the punching.