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

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

None of the team members got enough sleep that night. Those who were able to go to the scene tried their best to process everything from eyewitness accounts to CCTV videos while the rest waited restlessly, standing by in case something else happened. Seulgi was an exception since she had to stay at the hospital as a precautionary measure thanks to the injury caused by the accident.

Byul stayed up with the help of endless cups of coffee. Even when WheeIn accidentally fell asleep next to her due to exhaustion, her anxiety and fear kept her awake. She had changed into a pair of jeans and t-shirt with her gun safely holstered at her side, her car keys always in her pocket and her phone fully charged. The device's ringer was left on so she wouldn't miss any calls or messages. She also kept checking on Ha-eun, secretly glad that there was no window in that room.

By sunrise, the team had managed to identify the three cars used in the attack thanks to Bo Mi and the eyewitness accounts. All of them had fake license plates, taken from other vehicles that had been reported as stolen.

Solar and Hwasa had spent all night interrogating Uhm Tae-woong with Won-jae's help. Xiumin watched over the whole thing and even tried to talk to Tae-woong himself but the man remained silent as stone. They couldn't get a word out of him, not even after Won-jae's endless pleas.

"Good morning!"

The girl's loud cheerful voice rang across the quiet and somber workspace, making heads turn and smiles reappear on tired faces.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well, buddy?" asked Tae Hyung who had just walked out of the pantry with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Yes, I did, buddy," replied Ha-eun as she ran towards the young man, hoping to get a pat on the head like she always did. She noticed the exhaustion and frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay. Just a bit tired," said Tae Hyung who squatted down. "My hands are kinda full so how about a hug?" he asked, showing the cup in one hand and the other hand that was still bandaged.

The girl gladly obliged then went around greeting and hugging everyone because they all looked tired to her.

The mood instantly improved thanks to the cute innocent act and WheeIn found herself smiling when she saw Ha-eun drawing yet another random picture on Jimin's cast as per his request.

Byul had gone inside Solar's office with Xiumin and Tae-woong the moment she arrived, closing the door behind her.

"How bad is it?" WheeIn asked Hwasa.

"Seul will need to wear a neck brace for a couple of days so that would be quite fun to tease," said Hwasa with a weak smile. "I spent the whole night trying to get Tae-woong to talk but he wouldn't so much as open his mouth."

WheeIn went to Byul's desk and sat down, switching the computer on. "There must be something behind that 'Emperor' clue he left us. I have a feeling that he left that for me so I should be able to understand it, shouldn't I?"

"Maybe but it was too cryptic even for you so don't pressure yourself about it," Hwasa replied as she leaned back in her chair. "I think that it's already amazing that you were able to find the pieces of the puzzle."

"Yes but it's a useless feat without knowing what it actually means." WheeIn accessed the case files and retrieved everything related to that symbol. "Emperor," she mumbled. "King?" she said the word in English then searched for an online dictionary.

Meanwhile, the four people in Solar's office had reached a point where they were seriously considering joining the raid to Ji-sub's warehouse in order to catch Ji Soo.

"Will our case stand? I mean, we can't even tell whether the man in that car was indeed Ji Soo," Xiumin said. "It's our words against his and he might not even be at Ji-sub's warehouse."

"Oh he'll be around. He has nowhere else to go," said Byul.

"I agree with Byul," remarked Won-jae. "He could go into hiding but knowing him, he has no other means besides his uncle. Whatever amount of money he had managed to set aside had probably run out since he had to pay for his surgery and those thugs he employed to stalk and attack your team. Not to mention that whole prison riot and hospital escape plan. Nothing comes free or cheap these days. I think it's also why he resorted to use Doctor Sung and Uhm Tae-woong. He didn't have to pay them, at least."

"So can we join the raid?" Byul asked Solar. "Let's just get him first then let Doctor Sung and Uhm Tae-woong testify against him."

"I can testify too although I'm not sure how much my testimony's worth," said Won-jae.

"You might go to jail for impersonating a nurse," said Solar to Won-jae.

The man only shrugged. "I'm prepared to live with the consequences to my actions, Captain Kim. As long as those bastards are in jail, I don't mind serving my time. I have nothing else to live for anymore anyway." He smiled sadly.

"Convicts don't take kindly to undercover cops or snitches, you know," warned Xuimin. "Your time in prison might be a life-threatening one."

"Like I said, Inspector Kim Min-seok, I'm prepared to accept the consequences to my actions," replied Won-jae firmly. "Now let's just get this show on the road."

"Alright. I'll arrange a meeting with the Commissioner and the task force leaders as soon as possible," said Solar. "In the meantime, the Commissioner suggested that the three of you stay at our house. At least until we get Ji Soo," she told Byul, referring to WheeIn and Ha-eun.

"That would be too much of an inconvenience. I can't possibly do that to your family."

"It's not an inconvenience to us. We have a guestroom and an extra mattress so the three of you can stay in one room."

"Yong..."

"It's safer, Byul-Yi. There's always a uniform around and everything."

"I'll think about it, okay?" Byul tried ending the talk.

"Another option is to place extra security at your apartment if you don't want to stay with us."

"That might be better. I'll take that option for now." Byul took a deep breath. "So I assume we all agree that the next target might be me or WheeIn?"

No one dared say yes although they were indeed thinking that.

"Just be extra careful, Byul," Solar finally said. "My house is always open for you, okay?"

A knock from the door stopped Byul from replying.

"Come in," said Solar.

The door opened and Hwasa appeared. "WheeIn found something that I think all of you should know." She gestured outside, towards the conference room.

The four people in the room went out, following Hwasa into the conference room.

"Where's Ha-eun?" asked Byul once she had scanned the room.

"She's with Bo Mi. I don't think she should hear this," answered WheeIn.

"What did you find, Whee?" Solar stood near the blank screen, crossing her arms.

"Hwasa told me that your talk with Uhm Tae-woong amounted to nothing but I think we should try talking to him again," began WheeIn. She then pressed a button on the tablet, displaying the Chinese character 皇 for everyone to see.

"Emperor. You've discovered its meaning?" asked Solar.

"I have a hunch. This word is used in both Chinese and Japanese so I tried searching for their meanings or origins. The most interesting find is in its pronunciation," explained WheeIn. "It's pronounced as Jīn in Chinese, which is spelled as Jung in Korean." (A/N: Since this is a fiction, this term and definition is not real and doesn't match. The original term should be "Huang", but since WheeIn's last name is Jung, I just changed it to simply Jung.)

Several people's eyes widened while others held their breaths.

"Jung as in... Jung?" asked Byul carefully.

"Yeah. As in my last name," replied WheeIn. "Apparently, the Korean 'Jung' originated from this exact Chinese word and symbol. Jīn or Emperor. I think Tae-woong was trying to tell us who Ji Soo's real target is. Me."

"You're not the only Jung in this Team, or in this country, you know," said Byul. She refused to accept this no matter how much it made sense. "And there is still a possibility that it means star instead of emperor."

"I tried searching more on the star meaning but it led nowhere. This makes more sense," said WheeIn. "I'm the only Jung in this team that played a huge part in sending him to jail. I think it fits. The attacks on you were just threats. He was trying to send me a message."

"What message? If he's really after you then why didn't he just attack you from the start? Why did he have to attack Sandeul and Tae Hyung first before attacking you and Jimin?" argued Byul. "And what about last night? Why did he go after Xuimin's car and not ours?"

"I think I understand her point," Won-jae carefully spoke. "Ji Soo is arrogant. He thrives on intimidation. To go straight to her would take the 'fun' out of it - excuse my wording," he apologized to Byul, knowing how much this affected her. "He wants her to cower in fear by showing her what he's capable of. That he can even take out police officers if he wanted to."

Byul let out a scoff. "He didn't take anyone out."

"I hate to say this but he could have," said Xiumin. "If it weren't for the backup last night, I honestly don't know how we would have ended up."

"Oh come on! We're trained officers here! We're a special force! We're better than him! He's just a bully!" Byul finally raised her voice.

"Inspector Moon," warned Solar.

"What? I'm telling the truth. We're better than him. I know we are."

"Maybe when we're together but he caught us off guard and always when we were alone or defenseless," said Hwasa. "In a fair fight, yes, we'd win hands down. But he's not playing fair, is he? He never plays fair. So in that case, I think he could've finished us if it weren't for luck and help from others."

"This is nonsense," grumbled Byul, clenching her jaws and crossing her arms. "There has to be another explanation." She then straightened up. "I'm going to talk to that arrogant man," she said as she rushed out of the room.

"Damage control. On it," Hwasa told Solar before anyone else could react. The petite inspector ran out of the room with Xiumin and Won-jae behind her.

WheeIn pushed her chair back, ready to join the others who went after Byul.

"I think it's better if you stay hidden, Whee." Solar moved to block WheeIn's path. "Stay here with Sandeul and Jimin, okay? Let them take care of Byul."

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The man looked up when the door opened with a bang and in rushed a fuming Byul.

His expression didn't change even when the inspector pulled the empty chair and slammed it against the wall.

"Inspector Moon!"

Hwasa and Xuimin burst into the room but Byul held up her hand, stopping them before they could get any closer. Her eyes never left the man's.

Won-jae quietly stepped inside the interrogation room and closed the door, standing next to it.

"What does 'Emperor' mean?" asked Byul, nostrils flaring in suppressed anger.

"Judging by how you're behaving right now, I think you've already figured it out somehow."

"Jīn. Jung. Is that it?"

He said nothing but the twinkle in his eyes told Byul that it was indeed it.

She let out a curse and punched the table. "So your boss is after Jung WheeIn?"

"..."

"Then why attack the others? What is he up to?"

"..."

"Talk, dammit!" Byul yelled straight at his face, leaning forward, leaving barely any space between their faces. She was not going to take silence for an answer.

"You, out of all people, should know why I can't say another word," Tae-woong calmly said without even blinking. "Jung Eunjung. We've known each other since we were just neighboring kids. She was my first love. Uhm Dohyun. Eight years old. Twice as old as that little girl of yours."

Byul could feel her anger receding just a little bit as her fist on the table began to slacken.

He noticed it and smiled sadly, not arrogantly or teasingly, but with genuine sympathy. "I'm sorry, Inspector. We're in the same boat right now. I've done what I could. I've already endangered their safety enough. He won't be happy if he finds out about the clue I've left you."

With that, he leaned back in his seat and calmly clasped his handcuffed hands on his lap.

"Hyung, come on," Won-jae addressed Tae-woong from where he was standing. "Just a yes or a no. Is Jung WheeIn really the target?"

"..."

Byul knew that she probably wouldn't be able to get anything else out of him but decided to try anyway. "You said you changed your ways then why can't you prove that? Why can't you just tell us what Ji Soo's really after? You're here already anyway. What's the difference?"

"..."

"Do you want me to force it out of you? I won't hesitate to do so, you know." She lifted her hand but someone caught it before she could swing it.

"I think we're done here, Inspector."

Byul turned her head to see Xuimin holding her arm. She yanked it free and stomped out of the room, past Hwasa and Won-jae and everyone else.

She didn't stop until she reached Solar's office.

Solar was already waiting for Byul. She didn't even need to witness the interrogation because she trusted Xuimin and Hwasa to keep Byul in check. She was also sure that Tae-woong wouldn't say another word.

"Please tell me that you didn't punch him again this time?"

Byul slammed the door and threw herself on the empty chair in front of Solar. "Can't we do something to make him talk? Pick up his wife and son and get them here? Under our watch?"

"You know that would only piss Ji Soo off and, in turn, might put them in more danger. At least this way, Ji Soo would think that Tae-woong hasn't said a word to us."

Byul cursed the situation out loud, fighting the urge to shoot something.

"Do you need some time off, Byul?"

"No. No time off. I need to get to the bottom of this."

"This is clearly affecting you-..."

"Isn't that expected?!"

"Yes but-..."

"No, Yong. Not when we've come this close. Let's join that raid and get him. After that, you can even fire me. I don't care. I just want this to end. I want him to end. To disappear from the face of the earth."

"Byul..."

"Not again, okay? I couldn't do anything back then but now, now I can do something about it and I'm not backing down. I won't let history repeat itself. Ji Soo is going down and Ji-sub is next."

"Okay. I'm willing to let you stay on the team but you have got to stay cool, Byul. I know it's not easy at all but please, let's not let this slip because of our own mistakes, okay? Can you at least do that for me?" asked Solar. "I want the old cool, reasonable, smart Inspector Moon back. The one who could get her emotions under control both in the interrogation room and in the courtroom."

"That old Inspector Moon had nothing to lose, Yong. This one has everything to lose."

"I understand. But try? For their sake?"

Byul took a deep breath and let out another curse before standing up to leave.

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The rest of that Sunday was spent in a somewhat tense atmosphere.

Byul kept to herself and spent most of her time down at the lab with Bo Mi, going through the evidences that they had managed to gather and analyze ever since the first attack on Sandeul.

Since it was WheeIn's day off from Irene's restaurant thanks to the new bride's honeymoon, she spent the day at the station accompanying Ha-eun.

The girl was bored by the time lunch ended and started to whine so Solar suggested they all went to get an early dinner together with her parents to relax for a bit after work was done, under the condition that Ha-eun would be patient just a little bit longer.

Byul couldn't refuse the excited girl who immediately agreed on meeting the older couple so she went along.

The meal went on just like any other meal they had had but Solar's parents didn't fail to notice Byul's unusual quietness. They said nothing about it until Solar offered the girl to get ice cream at the small store across the street from the restaurant.

Byul was about to object but Solar assured her that there was another plain clothed officer there that would go with them. Add Ha-eun's puppy eyes to that, Byul had no choice but to let the girl go get her treat.

"Yong told me that you refused my offer to stay at our house until this blows over," said the Commissioner once Ha-eun had left the restaurant.

"We don't want to inconvenience you, Ahboji," said Byul.

"You're never an inconvenience, Byul. I thought you knew that," said the Commissioner's wife.

"Thank you, Omoni, but three people is a lot."

"We have a spare room and I can use the company."

"Thank you but it's already too much for you to agree to let WheeIn stay with you once we start the adoption process."

"Safety first, Byul-ah," said the Commissioner. "Our house is safe. No one is stupid enough to attack the Commissioner and the Captain's house. And there's always at least one officer on duty at all times."

Byul shook her head. "I'm sorry, Ahboji, Omoni. Not this time."

WheeIn listened without saying a word. She didn't know what to say so she chose to stay quiet. It was indeed safer, in her opinion, to stay with Solar's family but she understood Byul's choice. If they were to enjoy every moment to the fullest, it would be much better to just be the three of them.

"What do you think, WheeIn? Our house is much safer, you know," said the man, asking for WheeIn's opinion on the matter.

WheeIn smiled politely. "That is true, Samchon, but I'm letting Byul decide. I trust her."

"Why are kids these days so stubborn?" said the man with a sigh and a shake of the head.

"Besides, the target is me this time and I'm old enough to be aware and cautious of everything so it's going to be okay," continued WheeIn without wavering.

Byul stealthily placed a hand on WheeIn's thigh under the table, silently telling her that she wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"It's okay, Star." WheeIn placed her hand on Byul's and smiled to her. "It's okay. I won't cower in fear like he wants me to. I have faith in you and our friends," she said, trying her best to sound convincingly strong.

Byul said nothing. She wanted to hug and kiss WheeIn and comfort her but since she couldn't, all she could do was hold WheeIn's hand tightly.

The older couple understood and changed the subject into a lighter one, hoping that they could help the two forget about this even only for a while.

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"Okay so we're clear on our objectives here?" asked the Commissioner as he looked around the table where Solar, Byul, Jin Young and Dong Woo were sitting. "There will be no changes with the current plan, we'll just be adding Captain Jung's team whose objective will mostly be apprehending Ji Soo. We know that he has altered his looks so there's a chance that we won't be able to recognize him. Thus, we must not let anyone escape, no matter how insignificant he or she looks."

Everyone nodded.

"Good. It has been a quiet couple of days and I'm relieved for that," continued the Commissioner. "Let's get the whole team together tomorrow morning and brief them thoroughly. We have less than a week to prepare. I want no mistakes so make sure everyone's up for it or just leave them out of this one. That would probably include Inspector Kang Seulgi and Assistant Inspector Park Jimin."

Solar and Byul nodded once more.

The Tuesday afternoon meeting continued while on the other side of town, WheeIn and Hwasa were rushing to pick Ha-eun up. They were running slightly late thanks to a sudden commotion at the station, caused by none other than the Suncheon hospital director and Doctor Sung's girlfriend.

The woman had barged in, demanding to have her boyfriend released, insisting on his innocence while accusing the police of harassment. The officers at the station directed her to Solar's team and since Hwasa was the one left in charge, she had to talk to her and reason with her with Tae Hyung's help.

WheeIn wanted to leave alone but since Byul had strictly ordered her to go pick Ha-eun up with Hwasa, she had to wait for the petite inspector to finish dealing with the yelling woman.

Once they reached Ha-eun's school, there were not many children left on the playground.

WheeIn rushed to find Ha-eun's teacher whom she had notified regarding her situation. She saw her talking to another parent and quickly approached her, asking for the girl.

"Ha-eun? But her grandfather already picked her up."

"W-what?! What grandfather?!" WheeIn felt her heart stop beating and her breath left her chest. Fear began to grip her and she struggled to keep her composure.

"Your father, Miss Jung. He came to pick her up in your place and since Ha-eun recognized him and was willing to go with him, I thought..." The woman saw the color draining from WheeIn's face and realized her mistake. "Oh no."

WheeIn turned around and ran out of the playground, followed by a confused Hwasa.

"What's wrong, Whee? Where's Ha-eun?"

WheeIn took out her phone and dialed Byul's number while running up and down the street, turning her head in every direction to look for the girl in uniform.

"Hey," Byul finally answered her call. "I'm still in-..."

"Ha-eun's gone!" said WheeIn. "She's gone, Star!"

"Whoa whoa. Calm down. What happened?" Byul tried not to panic. "Where could she be?"

"Call my father! Now! Her teacher said that my father picked her up. Call him!"

"Okay okay. I'll do that. You stay with Hwasa, okay? Talk to you later." Byul quickly hung up, excusing herself while running out of the room to call WheeIn's father.

The number was unavailable.

Byul cursed and dialed again and again. Every call she made went straight to that automated voice telling her that the phone was either switched off or out of range.

"What's wrong, Byul?" Solar walked out of the room.

"Ha-eun. He took Ha-eun," Byul answered breathlessly. "I gotta go, Yong. Tell your father I'm sorry."

"Byul!" Solar called out but Byul had already run towards the staircase. She quickly dialed Hwasa's number.

"Hello?"

"What's going on? What happened to Ha-eun?"

"WheeIn and I are searching for her. We were a bit late to pick her up and the teacher let WheeIn's father take Ha-eun, apparently," explained Hwasa.

Solar face-palmed. "Dammit! Go find her. I'll notify the rest." She ended the call and went back inside the meeting room.

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Byul never stopped cursing all the way to the small guesthouse. She parked her car haphazardly and ran inside, slamming her hand on the reception desk while flashing her badge, making the woman there jolt in her seat.

"Room 7. Where is it?"

"It's down the hall to the right but it's vacant!" the woman shouted after Byul who had run off in the middle of her sentence.

Byul halted her steps and turned around. "What?!"

"The occupant checked out last week. Saturday, I think." The receptionist began searching in a large book she had open on her desk. "Yes, Mr. Jung checked out last Saturday morning."

"Where did he go?"

"I have no idea."

"Did he leave a phone number or an address?"

"There's a phone number here but he paid cash," said the woman, showing Byul the guestbook.

Unfortunately, it was the same cell number that he had given Byul.

"He said he was a friend of the owner here. Where is that owner? Let me talk to him."

"Um... I don't think he's a friend of the owner. He paid for this room just like everyone else. You can ask the owner yourself if you want." The woman pointed at the door behind Byul marked 'Office'. "She's in there."

"Thank you." Byul went to the door and knocked impatiently.

"Come in."

She opened the door and saw a middle-aged woman sitting behind a messy desk. "Are you the owner of this guesthouse?"

"I run it, yes. But it belongs to my sister, actually. You are?"

Byul showed the woman her badge. "I'm Inspector Moon Byul-Yi from the Seoul Police. I'm looking for one of your tenants who claimed to have been your friend. He rented room 7."

"Ah. That kind man. He checked out last week but he's not my friend."

"Your sister's maybe?"

The woman shook her head. "He's just a regular guest. Is he a criminal?"

"He's a kidnapping suspect," said Byul. "Can you please call me should he return here?" She took out her card and gave it to the woman.

"O-of course!" the woman said as she took the card, looking bewildered.

"Thank you."

Byul ran out without giving the woman another look. She cursed herself as she raced through the afternoon traffic, blaming herself for not listening to WheeIn, for letting that man come too close.

Her phone rang and she answered it while keeping one hand on the wheel, not even caring about breaking rules. "Yes?"

"Please tell me you've found her?" came WheeIn's pleading voice.

Byul gritted her teeth. "I haven't. He's not at the guesthouse." She could hear WheeIn starting to break down and cry. "Hey hey, calm down. He might have just taken her to eat ice cream or to the mall or something. Let's wait while we keep looking, okay? Stay with Hwasa. I'll be right there. Okay, Whee?"

The only reply Byul got was sobbing and sniffing.

"WheeIn-ah," she gently called, feeling tears of fear begin to seep through her eyes as well but she held them back, "it's going to be okay. Ha-eun is alright. We'll find her soon enough."

"J-Jung..." stuttered WheeIn.

"What?"

"J-Jung Ha-eun. I'm n-not the only Jung, Star. We f-forgot that I'm not the only Jung."

Byul's eyes widened in shock. It hit her so hard that she almost rammed her car against the vehicle in front of her. Thankfully, she managed to snap out of it on time and stepped on the brake with all her strength.

The cars behind her honked angrily but she didn't have time to apologize. She dropped her phone and quickly turned the wheel, switching lanes and pressed her foot onto the gas pedal, racing to where WheeIn was without even caring about the other motorists around her.

There was only one thing on her mind and that was to find that little girl no matter what.

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Sorry for the late update everyone.... Just got busy recently so was not able to finish the chapter within the time frame plus gotta do some proofreading.... Hopefully you like this as well...

I actually got chills in proofreading this due to the scenario....

Please don't forget to vote everyone.... 

So Excited for next months MyCon....