Black, Blue, and Gold (Book 2)

One Step at a Time (Part 12)

Lisa rushed out of the elevator to see Chaeyoung and Jisoo talking in hushed voices near the end of the corridor. She immediately approached them and managed to hear Chaeyoung raising her voice.

"No, Chu. It's because I refused to go with him!"

"It's not, Chaeng," said Jisoo as she patted Chaeyoung's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Lisa asked, stopping next to the two tall officers.

"Chaeyoung here has been blaming herself all night for what happened to Jongin," explained Jisoo.

Chaeyoung shook her head, shrugged Jisoo's hand off her shoulder and walked away.

"Let her be." Lisa grabbed Jisoo's arm when the latter was about to go after Chaeyoung. "What happened? How bad is it?"

"It's not that bad, luckily. Jongin's shadowing officer stepped in just in time. He got a few bruises and dislocated his shoulder from being shoved against the wall too hard, but that's pretty much it." Jisoo then exhaled. "But Chaeyoung feels responsible."

"Wouldn't you be too if you were in her shoes?"

"But it's not her fault!"

"She'll get over it. We all do. I've felt that way at least a thousand times. Each time one of you got shot or hit or nearly blown to pieces," Lisa said, wincing at the memory of how she almost lost the people she cared about. "But unfortunately, it's occupational hazard. Don't worry about her. Let her calm down and I'll try to talk to her later. Can we see him now?"

"Sure. The others are in there too." Jisoo started walking down a few room doors from where they were standing and pushed a door to her left.

Lisa walked in to see Joonmyun, Sooyoung and Seulgi gathered around Jongin's bed.

"Hi, Lis," greeted Jongin with a smile when he saw Lisa appearing from behind Jisoo. "Sorry to have woken you up at this hour."

"No need to apologize. Jen couldn't come, unfortunately. She's looking after Jiyoon. She sends you her 'get well soon' wishes and scolding for not being careful."

"Is that last one really from her or from you?" asked Jongin teasingly.

"Scare me like this again and you're on desk duty for the rest of the year," threatened Lisa, making Jongin laugh.

"No more sitting! My butt is still recovering from all the hours of sitting I've done today," protested the injured assistant inspector. "Which reminds me, we found out a lot in Suncheon. Apparently, the doctor used to go hiking with his friends and friends of those friends. Seungjin was one of them, I think, although he denied knowing him. And that nurse, Jo Chadol, was disowned by his family because of what he had done. He has a brother, Jo Himchan, who's-..."

"Stop. Chaeyoung can tell us all about it tomorrow. You rest. Now." Lisa lifted her hand, stopping Jongin's eager story.

"B-but... we might even find a possible DNA match for Seungjin!" said Jongin excitedly before grimacing when he accidentally moved the one arm wrapped in a sling.

"What?" Lisa's eyes widened. "How is that even possible? I thought he was cremated?" She looked around the room, at her team members who shrugged or shook their heads, until her sight landed on Jisoo who didn't react at all. "You know something."

"Chaeyoung hasn't had the chance to brief me completely," replied Jisoo coolly. "I was planning to let her and Jongin brief all of us first thing tomorrow morning. It's still not proof, Lis. The test results from the Suncheon police hasn't even arrived. We still have nothing, technically speaking."