Mission J

Something in my jacket’s inner pocket was buzzing, the vibration pressing into my left ribs. My eyes snapped open with a start, quickly yanking out of sleep. My mind quickly processed my surroundings, quickly assessing the unfamiliar setting for any threats. Then I remembered where I was.
The early morning was crisp and chilled as the sun hadn’t peeked over the horizon yet, and the balcony had a slight hint of dampness to it. The air was absolutely frigid; I could feel it in how tight my cheeks felt. But I was practically sweating, itching at borderline heat nausea.

I didn’t feel right, not in the least bit. My muscles ranged from being stiff to bruised sore, and my throat felt scratchy. But I pushed all that aside and reached into my jacket’s inner pocket. I didn’t glance at the caller ID before I answered.
“What,” I said flatly.

“Oh my, well isn’t someone in a bright mood this fine-fine morning.” I heard a snide comment from the other end.

I scowled at the tone and voice, immediately feeling irate.
“Didn’t I talk to you like five hours ago?” I sighed. “Did you already manage to find me something, Detective Kim?”

Jin Ae scoffed on the other end, muttering.
“No, sorry to disappoint.” she said. “I thought I would say good morning as I head into work; you know, just in case you were missing my charming phone calls.”

“I’m going to hang up.” I threatened, not appreciating the sarcastic tone.

Jin Ae scoffed again, sounding amused.
“Chill, you know I wouldn’t call you without a reason. I don’t like you that much.” she told me. “Getting to the point; I just got a message from my Chief saying something about a mandatory meeting with the whole unit.”

“A whole unit,” I echoed, intrigued. “Is that something that happens often?”

“No, it’s actually kinda rare.” Jin Ae said. “We usually have this with major cases where we do a unit briefing or something like that. But I have a feeling it’s something else entirely.”

I sighed, guessing what she was calling about.
“Your gut feelings are usually spot-on, Jin Ae.” I said. “So I’m going to assume that it won’t be easy to keep up contact with you via call.”

“Well, I’m not sure what the situation is, but I think it’s safe to assume yea.” Jin Ae said. “If it is a major case, passing of information would be controlled to prevent leaking to the press. Phone calls, emails, the whole package.”

The heat was killing me, my skin crawling to breathe. I shrugged out of my jacket and dropped it behind me on the chair.
“That does complicate things.” I agreed. “But it can’t be helped. We’ll have to limit our interactions to emergencies only. If you need to get something to me, you know how to get a hold of me.”

“The cemetery, the café, and the library.” she said. “I’ll be sure to get the message to you one way or the other.”

I hummed, swinging my legs over to the side.
“Just signal me when you get a status on your situation.” I said.

Something on my right caught my attention, drawing my eyes to the glass panel doors to the apartment. I frowned.
“I have to go. Tell your partner I said hi.” I said.

“I won’t, because he would have a conniption at the mention of your name.” Jin Ae said dryly. “But I’m sure he would appreciate your regards… if he was impaired or had a concussion.”

“Huh,” I said. I then said a quick goodbye before hanging up. Then quietly, I got up and made my way to the glass doors.
Something was moving behind the curtains, shifting back and forth restlessly. I waited a few seconds to see if the door was going to open. But when nothing happened after a few seconds, I reached forward and swiped the door open, pushing the curtain aside in the same motion.

“Gwah!”

Seo Jae-Sung let out a loud sound and jumped back, clearly scared out of his wits. He stumbled a bit before he recovered and turned to stare at me with wide eyes. I raised an eyebrow at this, not really amused with his over-the-top reaction.

“Superstar,” I said tiredly.

He stared at me, wide-eyed and almost stupidly.
“Su…Super…” he stuttered. But then he stopped and blinked at me.
Then his jaw dropped in a look of shock.
“Yah, you…what are you…” he choked out, pointing accusingly at me.

I gave him a look, assessing his disoriented appearance. He was fully dressed in clean and casual attire, seemingly ready to get going with the day.
“What am I doing here?” I guessed. “I really wish I knew. But I’m not here by choice.”

“How did you get in?” he demanded.

“Your manager gave me the passcode to the apartment lock.” I replied.

He blinked at me some more, as if he was letting the information I have just given him to sink in fully. He then let out a heavy sigh.
“You scared me.” he said.

I rolled my eyes, biting back an insult before pushing off from the doorframe.
“I wasn’t the one creeping behind a curtain.” I pointed out.

“I wasn’t creeping.” he said defensively. He twitched uncomfortably, maybe even sheepishly. “I…thought I heard something.”

I scoffed and I let the curtain before stepped back out onto the balcony.
“Doubtful.” I muttered.

I made my way back to the lounge chair in the corner of the balcony space and picked up the duffel bag that was on the ground right beside it. Since I was up now, may as well start getting ready for the day.
I pulled my gun from the holster that was pressed against my ribs. I wasn’t going to be using this today; at least I was hoping I wouldn’t have to. I’m pretty sure I can take down a few fan girls without a weapon if it came to such situations. Guns and bullets might be a bit too excessive for this job. Quickly, I engaged the safety, pulled out the magazine and checked the barrel for any jammed bullets. Then I stuffed both the disarmed gun and clip into the bottom of the duffel bag.

“Hey, what do you mean---”

I heard Seo start to say something, as he came out onto the balcony. I didn’t bother turning and continued to shift through my things. He stopped talking though, and let out another funny noise and stumbled.
“Dah!” he choked out. He paused a bit for an unknown reason before he let out a shaky breath. “Dammit, it’s so cold out here,”

I bit back another smart comment and ignored him, but I couldn’t help the irritation slowly creeping inside my head.
It was quiet for a bit, something I didn’t mind. But then he spoke again.

“Hey, aren’t you cold?” he asked.

I glanced over my shoulder at the shivering man and shrugged.
“Not really.” I sighed, before turning back to my bag.

Then it was quiet again, back to that awkward silence. I don’t think I need to change clothes, as I had just done so only a few hours ago at my safe house. I may have to touch-up on the cover-up for the bruising on my jawline sometimes soon, just so I don’t alarm people in public.
I rummaged through my back for a small pouch, where I had my small collection of make-up and sanitary needs. I know I had it in my bag; I had packed some of the bag with the things Song Ji Hyun might use. That persona was much more ‘girly’ and high-maintenance.
I located the pouch and rummaged through it. There was a small hand mirror in there and discretely I took a peek at the left side of my face.
In the soft lighting of early morning, the bruising only looked like a slight shadow as I still had some of the cover-up on from yesterday. But fatigue was also evident from the bruised look that cascaded over my eyes, and my eyes even looked slightly bloodshot. Wow, was I a hot mess or what?

Sighing quietly to myself, I straightened a bit and pulled out my cellphone to check the time.



“When did you come in?” I heard Superstar ask.

“Late,” I said, dropping the phone back into my bag. But then I looked over at him and added. “You were asleep on the couch.”

“Where did you go?” he asked.

“Places.” I said simply. I had no plans on elaborating on that.

Seo got quiet again, and I got a feeling he was uncomfortable and tense.
“We need to talk.” he finally said, rather calmly.

I sighed. I knew something like that was coming, and while I agreed to some extent, another part of me found it useless.
“You keep saying that,” I told him. “Never goes according to plan, does it?”

Seo scowled slightly, but the expression didn’t seem to be directed at me. He seemed to be thinking a lot this morning, which seemed strange.
I raised an eyebrow when I saw him shake his head, for what I have no idea.
The sound of the front door opening came from the apartment, turning my attention to the balcony door. Sure enough, not a minute later, a voice came calling from the apartment.

“Jae-Sung! I’m here! I hope you’re awake and ready!” I heard Mr. Park calling.

“Yea, out here!” Seo called back in response.

There was a bit more shuffling before the rustling of the curtains and Mr. Park stepped out onto the balcony.
“What are you doing out here in the cold?” he asked.
Then he saw me and stopped, a surprised look coming on his face.
“K, you’re here,” he said, his tone matching his expression.

I bowed me head in greeting.
“Good morning, Mr. Park.” I said.

Mr. Park returned the bow quickly before he spoke again.
“When did you come in?” he asked.

“She said she came in last night while I was sleeping.” Seo answered before I could open my mouth. “I found her here this morning.”

I raised an eyebrow at him but I didn’t argue or deny. Mr. Park turned to me, and I could see his concern on his face.
“Did you stay out here all night again?” he asked me.

I blinked, quickly considering my response before I spoke.
“Not all night.” I said, telling him half the truth. “I’ve only been here for a few hours and I had a few phone calls to make.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Seo frown and stared at me.

“Well, there’s no sense in staying out here much longer.” Mr. Park said. “You look like you could use a hot drink.”
He then stepped aside and motioned toward the door.
“Come on in; I’ll make you coffee or tea.”

He motioned for me to follow him and dove back inside. I saw Seo looking at me, and I just returned a calm look back before starting after his manager.

“Did you really talk on the phone for hours?” he asked, just as I passed him.
I stopped, and looked over my shoulder. He was questioning me…why?
“It’s been a bit of a stressful situation and I was slightly hot-headed.” I said in a calmly. “I may have taken an hour or so to calm down and rest.”
That’s all I told him before I continued after Mr. Park.

I stepped in through the curtain, and immediately felt the warm air stick to my icy body. It sent an involuntary tremor across my skin, a sensation I wasn’t exactly a fan of.
I saw Mr. Park working in the kitchen, shuffling around in a busy manner. He saw me come in and motioned me to sit at the counter, to which I obeyed without protest.
“What would you like to drink? Coffee, tea?” he asked.

“Whichever is easier to make, thank you.” I said.

Mr. Park turned and looked briefly into the cabinet.
“You know what; I think I saw a thing of red ginseng tea that Jae-Sung got as a gift. It’s works great against fatigue and does the job to warm you up.” he said. “I’ll get that ready for you.”

I smiled and said my thanks. It was quiet as Mr. Park searched through the cabinets for the tea. But then he spoke.
“Do you…need anything? Food…or anything?” he asked quizzically.

I frowned, confused as to what he was asking me. Mr. Park sighed and then came clean.
“See, your friend Jun had given me a prescription of some pain medication he said he had gotten for you just in case you needed them.” he said. “For your…uh…injuries.”

“Oh…” I said lamely, a bit caught off guard. I grimaced at the situation a bit but I put on a smile. “Mr. Park, I’m fine. Pain isn’t an issue right now and the…injuries aren’t something that’s going to affect my job with Mr. Seo…”

Mr. Park nodded.
“I know; your friend has said as much.” he said. “He reassured me that if it’s you, the job will be taken care of properly. But in the case you need them, he had given the pills to me to give to you.”

“I see,” I said. “Thank you for your consideration, but I don’t think I will be needing them right at the moment.”

Mr. Park nodded again.
“Well, if you change your mind, just let me know.” he told me. “Go ahead and get ready; we’re leaving soon so I’ll put the tea in a portable mug.”

I thanked him again and headed back out to the balcony. As I stepped out, I saw Seo hovering over my things, my jacket in his hand. What the hell was he doing?

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t touch my things.” I said.

I saw him stiffen where he stood before he wheeled around.
I walked over to where he was and held my hand out for my jacket. I was too tired to even feel mad about him snooping around. It’s not like I had anything incriminating in there anyways.
He handed me back my jacket without protest, and I didn’t miss the slightly guilty look on his face. I just brushed past him to my duffel bag and started packing my stuff away.

“I thought you were going to go drink something to warm up.” Seo said to me.

“Mr. Park is getting it ready right now.” I replied, putting stuff back in order. I picked up my cell phone and pushed it into my pants pocket.

There was a small pause before Seo spoke up again.
“Hey, are you alright? You look tired.” he said, speaking slowly and almost sounding careful.

I frowned. What was this, did he have dissociated personality disorder or something?
“What’s it to you?” I returned. I shrugged off my gun holster and threw it in the bag. I then swing the jacket over my shoulders and pulled it on.

I saw Seo shrugged.
“I just thought I would ask; I mean if you were out here for hours at negative-two degrees…”

“I’m fine.” I told him. I didn’t trust this ‘nice’ version of him in the least bit. “There wasn’t any rain or much wind this time around.”

Seo grimaced visibly, and he squirmed a bit where he stood.
“Listen…about the other day…” he started

“It doesn’t matter.” I cut him off bluntly. I didn’t really care if I was being rude; I wanted nothing to do with what he was plotting.

He frowned, clearly annoyed with the interruptions
“Yah, I’m just trying to make sure…”

“Make sure what? That I can do my job?” I asked, not letting him finish. I didn’t hide my irritation as I sent a glare his way. “Don’t worry, Mr. Seo. If someone tries to hurt you, I’ll just jump in.”

He stared at me incredulously, and I stared back. He opened his mouth as if to say something but then closed his mouth again. He was gaping at me like a fish.

“Jae-Sung, we have to leave soon!” Mr. Park announce from inside the apartment. “Let’s go over the final schedule once before we leave.”

“You’re being called.” I said. “Well, go on. I’ll head in when I’m done here.”

Seo blinked at me, stunned for a minute. But then he scoffed and wheeled around.
I watched as he stomped back into the apartment. And in a true, childish manner, he slammed the door shut, letting the glass panel slide close with a loud snapping noise.

Damn, Monday evening couldn’t come faster.