By the time Kyunghee arrived back at halmoni's apartment, it was late in the night. The sun had set, and the skies had turned dark. A few stars showed up, but the grey clouds were more overwhelming with its ominous presence. Sensing the drop in temperature and the wind getting chillier, Kyunghee rushed into the building.
She strode toward the elevator, but abruptly stopped. She looked down at the white bandages wrapped around her knuckles, and hesitated. There was a part of her that was afraid if she showed up with these, halmoni was going to freak out and start bombarding her with questions she didn't want to answer. Kyunghee walked over to the lobby trash can and hurriedly ripped off the bandages, discarding it determinedly.
She stared at her knuckles and palms with small scrapes here and there. The blood had dried, and it had scabbed in most parts. It wasn't so bad that it was noticeable. It didn't hurt as much either, but there was still a bit of stinging sensation. Kyunghee pulled down her sleeves to cover it up. Satisfied, she then headed for the elevator up.
Halmoni had given her a set of spare keys to the apartment unit. She had barely stepped foot in through the doorway, but she could already hear halmoni's panic-laden voice, accompanied with harried footsteps being dragged back and forth across the floor.
"It's already so late! She left in the early morning. I can't call her at all. Her phone is off. Jintae darling, can't you use your police superpowers and track her down? This old lady is getting worried. What if those bad guys who broke into her apartment kidnapped her?"
"Halmoni, it's only 7 PM. It's not that late. Besides, she's a grown woman," replied a masculine voice, trying to sound as calm as he could be but there was a reluctance in his words that betrayed his true thoughts.
"You didn't answer my question. What if those bad guys who—oh! Dear Lord!" Halmoni cried in sudden relief when her gaze landed on a bewildered Kyunghee, standing at the doorway. Halmoni placed both hands over her chest and sighed. "There you are, my dear!" She walked over to Kyunghee, placed both hands on Kyunghee's shoulders as she turned Kyunghee left and right while scrutinizing her in detail, as if looking for any signs of damage. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Kyunghee stared in confusion, but also instinctively hid her hands further up the sleeves of her jacket. She was hit with a wave of guilt, like a child caught red-handed reaching for the cookie jar and now had to lie her way out. Her eyes flickered between halmoni's worried expression and Jintae's stern face in the background. Dressed in a pair of dark jeans and black hoodie, he rose to his height when he saw her. The uncomfortable feelings weighing him down seemed to have disappeared at the sight of Kyunghee.
"I'm fine, halmoni. What's going on?" Kyunghee asked rather innocently, but that turned the relief on halmoni's face into a deep-set frown.
"You! Kyung, you is what's going on!" Halmoni chastised with tough love. "How can you leave all day without saying anything? I tried calling you but nothing went through. Do you know how worried I was about you? What if you ran into bad people?"
"I…" Kyunghee reached into her bag but couldn't find her phone anywhere. Her eyes widened in horror as she opened the bag wider, searching thoroughly at every nook and cranny. There was no sign of her phone anywhere.
"What's wrong?" Halmoni questioned, noting Kyunghee's frazzled expression.
Kyunghee pursed her lips and looked at halmoni apologetically. "I'm sorry, halmoni. I think I lost my phone somewhere."
"Oh no," halmoni breathed. "When did you last have it?"
Kyunghee contemplated. "I had it this morning still but then…" Her words trailed off as she recalled the hospital episode with Jang Woosuk. For some reason, her suspicions that he might have her phone grew but she had no concrete evidence at the moment.
"But then?"
Kyunghee peeled away from her thoughts at halmoni's prompting. Gazing at halmoni's concern, Kyunghee didn't think it was fair to let the old granny worry about her even more with the truth. Especially if, in a few days when everything was settled with her apartment, they were going to part ways and probably never see each other again. The thought of never seeing halmoni again somehow made her sad.
"I don't know," Kyunghee replied obscurely. On the one hand, she truly didn't know where her phone went. At the same time, she had a growing suspicion.
"It's okay," halmoni comforted. "It's just a phone. Where were you anyway?"
"I…went to a café."
"Goodness, you worried me. I thought something bad happened to you, Kyung."
"Sorry halmoni. I wanted to get a coffee and some fresh air, but I guess I lost track of time."
"As long as you're okay." Halmoni patted Kyunghee's arm lovingly.
Kyunghee's gaze flicked over to Jintae skeptically. "Detective, what are you doing here?"
"Oh it was me," halmoni interjected on Jintae's behalf. "I was so worried about you. I didn't know what to do. Then I remembered Jintae gave me his number to call if anything happened, so well, I called him here."
The corners of her mouth tugged into a subtle frown, but Kyunghee didn't comment further. She didn't want to say it in front of the man, but she made a note to have a private conversation with halmoni later. She didn't want halmoni to be calling Detective Hothead at every little thing that happened to her, or didn't happen to her. Kyunghee didn't like the idea of being tied down to the hotheaded cop any further that it already was.
The slight change in Kyunghee's demeanor didn't go unnoticed by Jintae. However, he chose not to say anything but for some reason, he wasn't happy about it either.
He turned to the old granny and addressed her, "Halmoni, since everything's fine here, I'll get going."
Halmoni didn't live to her age without understanding a thing or two about social cues. Besides, her instincts were sharp, and she immediately picked up on the awkward tensions battling between Jintae and Kyunghee, though she wasn't sure what the cause for it was. In particular, it was more so Kyunghee with the combative stance toward Jintae. The detective, on the other hand, seemed a bit misconstrued and a little bit helpless, so halmoni sympathized with him. Halmoni figured something must have happened between the two that she didn't know about, but she was also a peace-loving person. If she could help the two of them get over their misunderstandings and become friends, it would be the best for everyone.
"Not yet you're not," halmoni disagreed firmly. "It was my fault for troubling you, so let me treat you to a home-cooked meal. I must say, my beef bone soup recipe is quite popular. Now that everyone is here, safe and sound, I'll go heat things up in the kitchen. It shouldn't take too long. The two of you get friendly now." Halmoni didn't give either of them a moment to protest. Her words were final as she walked forward to the kitchen, leaving behind the two in a taxing silence.
Feeling somewhat helpless, Kyunghee walked up to the couch and sat down. Jintae also sat back down. Neither of them said anything as they sat side by side. The only sound they could hear was halmoni humming happily in the kitchen as she heated up dinner. Questions ran through Jintae's mind, but he couldn't formulate them into words. On the other hand, Kyunghee was stewing in her own thoughts, wondering why the detective was still hanging around. She would be lying if she said she wasn't biased against the police. She simply didn't like cops and with him being one—especially after the hell ride with him that nearly cost her life—she really didn't want to be anywhere near the man. Despite what halmoni suggested, Kyunghee had no intentions on being friends with the police.
Clearing her throat, Kyunghee absentmindedly rolled up her sleeves. "I'll go see if halmoni needs help," she said as she got up from the couch. Before she could take another step however, his hand wrapped itself around her left wrist and held her knuckles up to light.
"What's this?" he questioned, looking at the new scrapes and scabs.
Kyunghee's eyes widened, and she tried to retrieve her hand, but he tightened his grip. Her eyebrows furrowed as she glanced surreptitiously in the kitchen's direction, catching a glimpse of halmoni's unsuspecting back. In a hushed tone, she instructed, "Don't make a big deal out of it. It's nothing."
"It looks fresh," he scrutinized. Some scrapes were starting to bleed again.
She was a little irritated that he had hawk-eyes. Kyunghee paused and changed her tone into a pleading one, "I don't want halmoni to know."
Jintae glanced at the kitchen where halmoni was busying away with dinner. An image of the old lady pacing back and forth from earlier came to mind. Then his gaze returned to the scrapes on her knuckles that she was still trying to hide under the sleeves. For some reason, he was suddenly a bit angry with her. Without letting go of her wrist, he got up and pulled her toward the bathroom.
Kyunghee bit her lip, stopping herself from making a big commotion, as she glowered into the back of his head, wondering what the heck Detective Hothead was up to. He pulled her into the bathroom and closed the door behind them. The bathroom was a decent size but with his strapping stature, it made the room feel cramped and discomforting. There was barely enough personal space with him all up in her face.
"What are you doing?" she hissed in low tones as she tried to maneuver around him.
Jintae blocked Kyunghee from escaping. "If you don't want halmoni to know then be quiet and listen to me," he commanded in a surly voice, pinning her into place with a hardened, no-nonsense gaze—the kind that cops used on their suspects. The kind that Kyunghee hated, but admittedly was also a bit apprehensive about.
Kyunghee pursed her lips in quiet defiance but didn't protest out loud as she reluctantly sat down on the closed lidded toilet. Meanwhile, Jintae opened the medicinal cabinet and pulled out a compact first-aid kit. He looked so at ease with where things were located that it surprised Kyunghee.
"How do you know there's a first-aid kit there? Were you looking through halmoni's things?"
The question reminded Jintae of the faint scalding sensation on his inner left wrist, the spot where he had accidentally spilled hot tea on a couple of hours ago, while halmoni had been going on about Kyunghee's disappearance. Halmoni had showed him the first-aid kit then. However, Jintae ignored Kyunghee's question.
"Show me your hand," he commanded in a direct manner.
She hesitated but nevertheless ended up raising both hands. He paused and stared at both hands, clenching his jaw in disbelief. He didn't think there were scrapes on the other hand too. Just exactly what was this woman doing all day? Jintae thought in annoyance. He eyed her somewhat guilt-laden expression and sighed in resignation as he grabbed the antiseptic wipes.
He moved over to the other side and sat down on the edge of the tub, reaching for her right hand first. He brusquely tore open the antiseptic wipe with his teeth, but gently wiped down the area that showed small signs of blood. Kyunghee flinched from the stinging sensation as she watched his movement in silence. Neither of them said a word to each other. The only sounds audible was their steady breathing and of Jintae working away at the first-aid kit.
"If you didn't want the old granny to worry, why not take care of yourself first?" Jintae grumbled in discontent as he turned up the palm of her hand, inspecting it closely. He reached for a second antiseptic wipe.
"It's just a small scratch," she retorted stubbornly.
"Right," he said and purposefully pressed harder into the wound on her palm.
"Ouch!" Kyunghee cried, attempting to pull her hand back out of instinct but Jintae refused to let go. "You jerk!"
"What? Isn't it just a small scratch?" he drily asked, throwing her words back at her as his unrelenting gaze called out her bluff.
She heaved and glowered at him. "If that's how you're going to help, I'd rather do it myself."
However, he ignored her words as he lowered his focus to the task at hand. Despite the gruff expression and tone of voice, he was surprisingly gentle with the wound care. The bathroom fell into a thickened silence again.
"You're not going to tell halmoni, right?" Kyunghee asked moments later, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
Jintae acted as if he was blind to the imploring look, but without realizing it, his actions become gentler. "I won't, but she's going to see the bandages anyway. She's got a sharp mind. What happened anyway?"
"I tripped and fell."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. You don't believe me?"
"Hard to say, Pink."
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Stop calling me Pink."
"You prefer Stella?"
"Don't say that in front of halmoni!"
"Can't call you this, can't call you that. You're so hard to please."
"Nobody's asking you to please me."
His movements stopped as he contemplated the potential double-meaning behind those words. He shifted his gaze up to meet hers. She was looking at him in bewilderment, unaware of what was going through his mind.
"What?" She blinked, wary.
Jintae shook his head, suddenly feeling like the shitty person with the bad thoughts here. He concentrated on nursing the scrapes. He didn't want to stare into those tempting eyes. He'd be damned to let her know he thought her attractive in more ways than one, although she probably already knew that about herself. It was hard to fathom a woman like her had no awareness of her appeal to the opposite gender, especially since she worked at Playlights. Not everyone could work at Playlights. As superficial as it sounded, the girls had to meet a certain visual requirement to be hired.
It wasn't as if he had never interacted with those kinds of girls before. Some of them were even his informants. So, what made her any different than the others? Was it the eyes or the dimpled smile, or was it because of his unfinished story ten years ago? A story this woman didn't even know she was a part of.