Attraction (5)

"Why are you trying to be nice anyway? Feeling bad about the trauma you put me through, so this is your way of asking for forgiveness, Detective?" Her voice brought him back to the present situation. 

"I apologized for that already," Jintae groaned as he slapped on the bandage, though consciously aware to do it with care. 

"It was hardly a sincere apology," Kyunghee rebuked. "You were practically bragging about catching the criminal." 

"Fine. Consider this a peace offering then," he grumbled unpleasantly. 

Tilting her head to the side, Kyunghee thoroughly assessed Jintae. "Why are you always so grumpy? What has the world done to you, Detective?" She knew what the world had done to her, to make her heart jaded, but what has the world done to him, to make him so brusque? 

"Nothing. I'm born this way," he stated matter-of-factly with lowered eyelids, as he placed on the last band-aid. "It's done." 

Kyunghee looked down at the bandaged hands, sighing helplessly. Halmoni was definitely going to notice this. There was no way around it, but it was her own doing, so she had nobody to blame. Lifting her head, she said sincerely, "Thanks." Kyunghee met Jintae's gaze unwaveringly, causing his heart to ram against his chest and a lump to form in his throat, even though the stoic expression on his face gave away nothing of his true emotions. 

Jintae's lips parted, about to say something, but he was interrupted when the bathroom door sprung opened and halmoni's head popped in. 

"Oh my, what are the two of you doing here? I did say to get friendly but…" halmoni trailed off with a devilish grin. 

"Halmoni!" Kyunghee abruptly sprung to her feet in defense. "Whatever it is you're thinking, it's not true. He was just helping me." Biting the inside of her cheek, Kyunghee reluctantly showed her bandaged hands. 

Halmoni's eyes widened as she practically dashed to Kyunghee's side, taking hold of her hands. "What happened, dear? Did you get hurt?" 

"It's nothing major. I tripped and fell, so my hands got scraped a bit." She paused and added sheepishly, "The ground was really wet. It was raining hard earlier. There were a lot of puddles, and I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking." 

"How can you be so careless?" Halmoni chastised yet there was affection in her voice. Flashing halmoni a grin, Kyunghee looped her arms through halmoni's and placed her head on halmoni's shoulder, purposely putting on an adorable act. 

"You're not going to be mad at me, hmm?" Kyunghee blinked her large eyes with a pitiful expression. "It really wasn't my fault. It was the wet ground that caused me to trip." Well, it was a little white lie that couldn't possibly hurt anyone. 

Halmoni looked at Kyunghee with a sense of defeat, but she didn't nag the young lady any further. Despite knowing it was all an act, Kyunghee's very existence tugged at halmoni's heart for an inexplicable reason. Once upon a time, she used to have a daughter that liked to act cute and spoiled too. "Well, dinner is ready. Let's go and fill up our tummies." 

Kyunghee wrapped her arms around halmoni's small yet strong figure, and squeezed her in a grateful hug. Halmoni chuckled and affectionately ran her hand through Kyunghee's hair as the two of them joked some more and made their way toward the dining table. 

Jintae watched the two's disappearing back as an odd feeling hit him. There was something about Kyunghee and halmoni together that was nagging at his sixth sense. However, he couldn't quite put his finger on it at the moment. So, he shoved the thoughts out of mind, cleaned up the first-aid kit and put it back in the medicinal cabinet, before following the two outside. 

The dining table was already set up with a steaming pot of beef bone stew in the center and various side dishes surrounding the pot. The fragrant, mouth-watering smell of the beef bone stew filled up the entire apartment, wafting into their noses and quickly stirred up their appetites. The three of them settled down around the dining table with ravenous eyes. The unforgettable smell of a nutritious home-cooked meal, the sounds of utensils scraping eagerly against plate bottoms, and a light-hearted exchange of conversations—it was all so peculiar and heart-warming for three people who weren't blood related and had only met by chance. 

"Jintae dear, are there any news about Kyunghee's apartment or the people responsible for it?" halmoni suddenly asked, shifting the conversation toward a more serious topic. 

"They've combed through CCTV footages, but couldn't find anything. Some of the footages weren't working properly, and there were some blind spots in the hallway." Jintae paused then continued, "The victim came around, so we were able to get a statement, but it wasn't helpful either. It was dark, and he was too scared. He only recalls being stabbed and nothing else. The team stationed at the apartment has already cleared out." 

Kyunghee picked up on the hint. "So you're saying that I can go back to the apartment?" An unsurprised and unimpressed look was on her face. "And basically what you're saying is that the investigation is at a dead end." She couldn't even sound disappointed, not when she already had minimal expectations of the police. 

Jintae didn't respond right away. He sensed the derision she had, and his pride as an officer of the law refused to admit the failings. 

Halmoni frowned. "What do you mean? How can she go back to the apartment when the bad guys are still roaming about? It's not safe. Isn't there anything else we can do to catch the bad guys? There must be someone who saw something or could be of help," halmoni pressed, hopeful and anxious. 

"Halmoni," Kyunghee said in comforting tones, "it's okay. Whoever did it caused such a big commotion and even got the police involved. I doubt they would do anything violent again." Despite her words to ease halmoni's anxiety, Kyunghee herself wasn't so sure. However, she didn't want to make halmoni nervous, nor was she going to harbor any expectations for the police. Gong Miryung was right only about one thing—the police never pulled through. You couldn't trust the cops to deliver. They were never proactive, only reactive, and they never learned from past mistakes. 

The disdain when she mentioned the word 'police' wasn't deaf to Jintae's ears. Her negative attitude and blame toward the police bothered him to a great degree as his face darkened. 

"The police are doing the best they can," he said defensively, his tone impatient and curt. 

Kyunghee laughed mockingly. "Sure, but the best is never good enough. Hasn't that always been the case? The police are never there when you need them, but when they need you to do something, well they can be scarier than the Yakuza." Bad memories of run-ins with law officers quickly flashed through her mind's eye, reinforcing the negative convictions she had for the police. But who could blame her? She grew up on the wrong side of the tracks; the side that never had good dealings with figures of authority. 

That hit a sensitive nerve as Jintae slammed his chopsticks down on the table, startling both Kyunghee and halmoni. Her ridicule of the badge he held dear that collectively represented the blood, sweat and tears of his comrades made him furious with indignance. 

"Jintae! Use your words!" halmoni admonished, placing a hand over her surprised heart. 

"Police are human. Humans have limitations." He abruptly stood up, shoving the chair back as its legs scraped annoyingly across the wooden tiled floor. His eyes were raging, hot and wild as he stared down at Kyunghee. "Don't you ever put us in the same sentence as those damned, blood-lusting Yakuza."

With that said, he stormed out of halmoni's apartment, his footsteps were heavy with fury. He slammed the door on the way out with so much power that the apartment shook slightly. 

"Jintae—" Halmoni was about to stand up to chase after the raging man, but Kyunghee promptly stopped her from doing so. 

"Halmoni, let him leave. He's the police. He'll always be on the blue line." 

Halmoni was torn between Kyunghee and Jintae, both of whom she empathized, but eventually she sighed and sat back down in the chair. "You, Kyung, are not any better. You know he's the police and yet you're still saying those words in front of him? How can you be so callous, child? You can't generalize one bad apple. And he's definitely not one of them bad ones. I can tell that he's been doing his best, and he may be a bit hot-headed but he is a good cop, Kyung." Halmoni gave her a stern, chiding look as she reached out and pointed at the band-aids on Kyunghee's hands. "Would a bad cop answer an old granny's hysterical call that had nothing to do with him? Would a bad cop help you with these bandages?" 

Kyunghee pouted in silence, but she was unable to argue. She had to admit that halmoni's lecturing had made her feel bad about the mean things she said. However, she was curious as to what exactly in her words had triggered such a dramatic response from him. 

"I know you have your own thoughts and beliefs, but don't be so caught up on them. Because if you do, you may miss something great." 

Halmoni's words were wise and reasonable. But it would be hard to completely change Kyunghee's negative opinions about the police in an instant, especially when she herself has had so many bad experiences with them. It was difficult not to have prejudice. 

Noting the self-reflection on Kyunghee, halmoni picked up a ladle and refilled Kyunghee's bowl of beef bone stew. "Alright, I won't say anymore. Let's finish dinner and watch some funny variety shows."