Little Ba Reum AU - The roads not taken

Chapter 7

Moo Chi was holding his presentation, having put a lot more work in it than he normally should. There had been a lot of complaining and grumbling from his colleagues once they realised that there was another meeting about regulations.

Those quieted down when prosecutor Ji arrived in the room and sat in the corner, sitting at the back like a looming giant, staring at Moo Chi.

Grinning, he put on the PowerPoint, started his rehearsed texts, and using the most practical examples he could find.

Complete with pictures, of himself and his colleagues, each caught in the act that he was describing and what they should have done. He soon had an engaged audience, who kept on calling out suggestions when it was a case that didn't involve themselves.

He saw the prosecutor's look of surprise, and saw the man looking intently at him, but still no smile graced that face, something that didn't escape Ha Neul's notice, the man grinning at him.

"And last but not least, our last safety regulation," Moo Chi said, clicking to the next slide, a picture of the prosecutor being shown. Suddenly, the room was silent, and Ji raised an eyebrow, leaning forward curiously, but also wary.

He had often enough been a victim of bullying, but seeing as everyone here had been looked at, it didn't have that vibe.

"What have I done wrong?" Ji said, curious.

"I think that you put the whole team in danger, with what you have done prosecutor," Moo Chi said, his face serious, and he could see everyone staring in worry at him.

"I bring them in danger. Present tense?" Hyuk asked.

"Yes sir. A little birdy told me that you are planned to work half time," Moo Chi said, "I give it a week without you looking over us that one of us does something stupid,"

A smile appeared on the prosecutor's face, but Moo Chi didn't look over to Ha Neul, knowing it was important to keep eye contact with the tall man.

"A week?" Ji asked, and Moo Chi nodded, swallowing slightly nervous and hoping that the man wasn't going to rip him apart for daring to put him in the presentation, "how generous of you. I give it three days,"

Ha Neul couldn't help but snort at that and soon the room was laughing out loud, any tension that had formed broken, and Moo Chi ten bucks richer at the end of the day.

Coming home from his last week as a fulltime prosecutor felt like a relief to Hyuk. It wasn't that he minded the work, but half time was a much better balance for him. He still wanted to go, just to be in a social setting, but financially he could just stop if he wanted to.

Opening the door, he smelled food, and smiled.

"Hi dad, came to visit?" Hyuk called out when he came into the kitchen, seeing the take-away spread on the table, "robbed a restaurant?"

"I didn't know what you would feel like," the man said, "you can eat the leftovers in the weekend,"

"It looks great," the tall man said, smiling and sitting down.

"So, how is it going? I ran into Tae Il, and he said you were feeling kind of down," the man said, and Hyuk nodded, glad to have a dad that cared so much about him.

"It's okay, I'm just not finding a little immediately," Hyuk said, his dad humming in understanding.

"I've seen the nursery. The crib is from outstanding quality," the man said, putting his hand on his son's, "it reminds me about the one your mom had made when you were a baby,"

"Yes, it's based on that design", Hyuk said, "I hope you don't mind?"

"No, of course not," the man said, "I'm just glad that you liked it enough. I love seeing elements of your mom here,"