Kindred Spirit (3)

Her apartment had become a crime scene.

They stepped out of the elevator but came to an immediate stop at the sight. 

In front of her door was a small pool of blood that had now dried up. It didn't need to be asked to know whose blood it belonged to. There were yellow police tape cordoning off access to prevent contamination. The mere sight of the red liquid made Kyunghee sick as she instinctively tightened her grasp on halmoni's hand. The sight of blood was disconcerting and chilling to the bones. 

From her peripheral vision, Kyunghee detected Jintae's movement as he walked around her and halmoni, taking the lead in their stead. Pushing away the nauseating feeling, Kyunghee followed Jintae into her apartment. 

The apartment was a mess. Everything was scattered about on the floor. The chairs, sofa and table were turned over. It looked like a land dump. There were holes in the wall too and the paint was chipped. A dining chair had been thrown at the wall which created a huge dent in it. The chair's legs were also broken as a result. Her apartment was unrecognizable. 

There was another male uniform officer in her apartment alongside a female crime scene examiner. While the uniform officer was inspecting the apartment and damages, the forensic examiner was taking pictures of the apartment in varying degrees and angles as evidence. The officers looked up when they arrived. It took a but a minute for their attention to be completely absorbed by Jintae's presence instead. 

"Detective Choi!" The uniform officer breathed in amazement. His reaction was exactly the same as the other uniform officer downstairs. Kyunghee could only assume the two of them were partners. Kyunghee and halmoni was relegated to the sideline like flies on the wall. 

"It's really you. I can't believe I actually get to meet one of the legends of the police force," said the uniform officer, looking star-struck. 

Kyunghee and halmoni watched in bewilderment and amusement, wondering the same thing. What kind of legend were these patrol officers talking about? 

"I've heard so much about you, Detective Choi. It's such an honor to meet you tonight." The female forensic examiner was a lot more composed than the uniform officer, but the admiration in her eyes was clear as a midsummer's night. Kyunghee quietly assessed Jintae. Never in a million years would she have guessed that he was some sort of an idol equivalent in the police force. The thought itself was unimaginable to begin with. 

Either Jintae was oblivious to the sparkles in their eyes or he didn't care. "Fill me in what happened," he curtly instructed, calmly taking in the messed up surroundings. 

"Yes, Sir!" The uniform officer saluted as he recited enthusiastically, "At 7:35 PM tonight, dispatch received a 119 call from Mrs. Jung Chaerim hysterically reporting that her husband, Mr. Jung Minjoon, was stabbed and needed emergency help. My partner and I were closest to the scene so we arrived here stat, at 7:48 PM. Ambulance arrived shortly after and took the couple to the hospital. Forensics came at 8:05 PM to collect evidence. As you can see, the culprit turned apartment 402 upside down, as if they were searching for something to no avail. At that time, the tenant of this apartment suite, Ms. Ahn Kyunghee, was not present at home. We surmised that the culprit was leaving and ran into Mr. Jung, and that's when the stabbing occurred. We can't conclude if this was just a break-and-enter or if anything had been stolen until we can interview Ms. Ahn. End of report, Sir!" 

Reaching into her pocket, Kyunghee pulled out her phone only to realize that it had died because she hadn't charged the battery yesterday. "I'm Ahn Kyunghee. Sorry, it looks like my phone died so I couldn't receive any calls." 

The officer's eyes fell on Kyunghee, noticing her for the first time belatedly. "Ms. Ahn, I'm Officer Ha. Would you be able to answer a few questions?" 

"Of course." 

"Do you have any idea who might've been responsible for this, Ms. Ahn?" 

"I don't know," Kyunghee answered, shaking her head. "I don't know who would do something like this." She took in the sight of the messy and miserable apartment, suddenly feeling insecure and cold. 

"Are you sure?" Officer Ha probed, closely examining her expression. "You don't have the slightest of suspicions? Break-and-enters in apartment buildings are usually a rare occurrence because of the higher risk of being caught by tenants. If you know anything, Ms. Ahn, it would definitely help us find the suspects faster and charge them for these damages." 

Kyunghee thought long about it, but still regretfully shook her head. "I'm sorry…I really don't know." 

"Well, your neighbor from across the hall said last week, there was a strange man knocking on your door but you weren't home at the time so he left," Officer Ha said with an expectant look. "Do you have any idea who that man might be?" 

Kyunghee's eyebrows came together, surprised. "My neighbor never mentioned this to me. I had no idea a stranger was at my door…" she said quietly, sensing a shiver down her spine. She knew she wasn't a favorite in this building, but how could her neighbor not mention such a thing to her? The fact that some stranger showed up to her door last week and now this break-and-enter happened, it was too much of a coincidence. A warning would have been appreciated, but that was harboring too many expectations for the tenants in this building. 

Disappointment flitted across Officer Ha's face. 

"Hmm, I see. There seems to be nothing much we can do at the moment, but we'll get the investigation under way and definitely follow up with you, Ms. Ahn." 

"Thank you.." Kyunghee nodded absentmindedly, with all sorts of complicated thoughts. 

"You won't be able to stay here tonight, unfortunately. Do you have an alternative arrangement, Ms. Ahn?" Officer Ha inquired carefully. 

She soaked in Officer Ha's words as Jiwon came to mind. The last thing Kyunghee wanted to do was worry Jiwon. "I'll think of something." 

Officer Ha nodded. "Ok, you should go and pack up your necessities for the night. Oh, and if you discover anything missing, please let us know. After everything's been booked, we'll let you know immediately once you can return to the apartment." After that, Officer Ha turned towards Jintae to say a few words, his serious and professional demeanor instantly changing to that of a starry-eyed fanboy. 

However, Kyunghee wasn't in the mood to listen and dissect whatever it was he was saying to Jintae. Instead, she mindlessly maneuvered around them and headed for the bedroom to pack up some belongings to take with her for the night. 

Even though the officer's mouth was running a mile a minute, Jintae could barely focus on what the man was saying. It sounded a lot like the officer was regurgitating Jintae's work history to Jintae himself. His peripheral vision followed Kyunghee's small frame, an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. He had an urge to go after her, but the officer had a lot to say that it was starting to irritate Jintae. Right when he couldn't listen to it any longer and was about to lose his calm, halmoni sharply intervened. 

"I'll go see how she's doing." With that, the old granny advanced towards the bedroom. The granny's words somehow reassured and tamed his agitation, but Jintae still glowered at the talkative officer. The look on Jintae's face put an immediate stop to the officer's rambling. 

Meanwhile, Kyunghee was in her bedroom with an empty duffel bag, packing up a few change of clothes and toiletries. Although the officer said it would only be for the night, but Kyunghee would rather overpack than underpack. Besides, she wasn't sure if she was brave enough to return to her apartment after just one night. This home of hers no longer felt safe and secure. It was cold and unsettling. 

"Dear, do you need any help?" Halmoni's voice sliced through her morbid thoughts. 

Kyunghee smiled weakly. "I'm ok, halmoni. I'm just packing up a few things. It doesn't look like anything's stolen so far. Not that I have anything valuable anyway…" The words trailed off in a whisper as she swallowed past the lump in her throat. The realization that she didn't have anything valuable and yet, could have been stabbed the way Minjoon was if she had been at home instead of at a drone show with Jiwon earlier this evening, brought another round of trepidation deep in her soul. But she didn't want halmoni to detect how scared she was. 

Despite her age, halmoni had a keen mind and was not oblivious to Kyunghee's emotions. "Where will you be staying tonight, dear?" 

"I'm going to stay at a nearby motel—" 

"Oh I know! Why don't you stay with me?" Halmoni chimed out of the blue, startling Kyunghee into a moment of speechlessness. 

"Halmoni, what are you saying?" she asked, regaining her composure. "I can rent a motel room for the night. It's not a big deal." 

"Of course it's a big deal. This is not an ordinary burglary. Someone got stabbed, dear. I will feel better if you stay with me tonight. The two of us together will lend each other some comfort." Halmoni paused, taking in Kyunghee's appearance with a frown. "Look at how pale you are. You're not okay like you say." 

"But halmoni…we…we just met…" Kyunghee was at a loss for words. Even though she had an unexplainable affinity towards halmoni, she didn't want to inconvenient the old granny. This was her problem to deal with anyway. Ever since she was a young girl, she had been responsible for everything in the family. She was used to dealing with her problems alone. 

"It doesn't matter. Besides, you renting a motel room is also renting from a stranger. How is that any better than receiving help from me?" Halmoni pouted as she added in a hurt tone of voice, "Or is it because you think staying with this old granny is too cumbersome?"

"No!" Kyunghee's eyes widened. "That's not it. It's just—" 

"You should stay with her," Jintae chimed in by the door, his brows tightened in a serious line, as if she was asking for his opinion. He quietly took in her ashen expression. He could see the anxiety hidden in those stubborn, brown depths. 

"Won't I be inconveniencing you, halmoni?" Kyunghee said unsurely. 

"Nonsense. I've been living alone for so long that you don't know how excited I am to have a roommate tonight!" Halmoni rebuked cheerfully, causing Kyunghee to chuckle. Seeing the smile on Kyunghee's face, halmoni squeezed her hand gently. "You can think of it as renting a room from my apartment. It's the same thing as renting a motel room from a stranger. But I'm a much better company than motel strangers, Kyunghee dear. It's settled then! You have to listen to your senior, hmm?" 

When halmoni put it that way, Kyunghee had no way of refusing any longer. At the same time, a feeling of warmth unfurled in her chest. She knew halmoni came up with the suggestion because the old lady was concerned about her wellbeing. How could it be, that in such a short amount of time that they've met, it was like they were each other's kindred spirits? And yet, the woman who carried her in the womb for nine months could so heartlessly abandoned her? 

Some things in life were too illogical and unpredictable, beyond the scope of comprehension.