Chereads / Linked To You / Chapter 19 - Chapter 18

Chapter 19 - Chapter 18

"Welcome to my humble abode!" Mihwa announced dramatically, though warmly welcoming Jintae and Kyunghee into the quaint but cozy private house. 

The private residence was a little bit dated in terms of appearance with its dark brick walls, but past the gates, every nook and cranny showed personality. There was a small garden in the front yard, which was surprisingly spacious. It might not be the biggest yard, but it was big enough to have a family get-together, especially during the summer months where a barbecue could be set up. Inside the house, the walls were decorated with unique artworks. The granny's furniture had none of the mass-produced appearance one would find at IKEA, but they were more antiquated and wistful. 

If she had grandparents, Kyunghee imagined this would be the exact kind of place she would grow up in. It was intimate and filled with heritage. 

"I have two beds and two baths. There's one bath upstairs where the bedrooms are, and the second bath is on the ground floor here. Although I have two bedrooms upstairs, only one of them, which is my bedroom, has a bed. The other one I use for arts and crafts, so unfortunately, Kyunghee, you should have to share the bedroom with me. Of course, if you're not comfortable sharing a bed, I have the empty but furnished rooftop apartment. So, would you like to share a bed with me or have your own private space?" Mihwa asked, after an excited introduction of her residence. 

"Umm…I think it's better if I use the rooftop apartment," Kyunghee concluded. It wasn't that she had anything against sharing a bed with the elder, but it was always better to have some privacy. 

"No problem! Let's go check it out then. The access to the rooftop is outside though," Mihwa directed them back out the front door, to the side of the building where a staircase led up to the rooftop unit. They followed in Mihwa's steps as she explained simultaneously, "I recently renovated the rooftop unit two years ago for renting, so the appliances are still quite new. It doesn't look like it from the outside, but it is." They stopped in front of the door which had a smart door lock. "See? It has this fancy door lock. It took me a while to understand this, but I learned. The passcode is 1234." 

Mihwa looked at Jintae and Kyunghee's amused expression and chuckled. 

"I'm not very good with passcodes," she admitted bashfully as she punched in the digital codes. The smart lock beeped and turned green, signaling the code was correct, and then unlocked itself. Mihwa opened the door wide and entered first, turning on the lights. 

True to Mihwa's words, the rooftop unit was furnished with new appliances. It looked completely different than the granny's space downstairs. Unlike Mihwa's living quarters, the rooftop unit was more modern-looking with its white-and-beige color schemes and hardwood floor. The kitchen was compact, clean and minimalistic in aesthetics. The kitchen and living room was connected in an open space design. The living and kitchen was separated by an island table with two yellow high-top chairs, which was also used as the dining table. There were two large doors—leading to the one bedroom and bathroom—and a smaller door which opened into a pantry area. There were a couple of cardboard boxes messily stored in the living room area, likely belonging to the granny. 

Although everything looked clean and efficient in the rooftop unit, it lacked the quirkiness and coziness downstairs, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Kyunghee was already grateful to have a place to sleep. 

"What do you think? Do you like it? When I was renovating this, the contractors said this is the kind of design your generation likes. If you ask me though, I don't quite like it but I need to get with the times right? Otherwise how can I rent out the place?" Mihwa commented, sighing in resignation. 

Jintae scanned the area, his eyes on the yellow high-top chairs. "I don't like the yellow. Black would've been better." 

Kyunghee bit back the urge to roll her eyes. 

"Oh really?" Mihwa asked, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Well, I didn't buy that. The former tenant did, and left it when she moved out." Mihwa shrugged. 

They spent a couple more minutes of Mihwa showing Kyunghee the rest of the apartment unit. Afterwards, Mihwa insisted they have some snacks, so the three of them ended up downstairs in her dining room, seated at the round, oak antique dining table. Mihwa had brought out a plateful of traditional Korean snacks, ranging from honey cookies to sweet rice puffs and pine rice cakes. She also poured them a glass each of sweet rice punch to quench their thirst. 

Kyunghee wasn't hungry, but she couldn't refuse the old granny's hospitality, so she nibbled on some rice puffs. On the other hand, Jintae seemed to be enjoying the honey cookies and rice cakes. Mihwa seemed delighted that he had finished almost half of the plate as she looked at Jintae with approval. 

Silently Kyunghee was glaring at Jintae, feeling irritated that he was somehow in the center of Mihwa's attention, just because he was eating a little bit more than her. When Mihwa excused herself to the bathroom, Kyunghee let her annoyance speak. 

"And here I thought you had no social niceties. You're actually quite the suck-up." 

He arched an eyebrow and demanded simply, "Explain." 

"Old people love it when the younger people eat their food, and you're here finishing half of halmoni's snacks," Kyunghee said pointedly, glancing down at the half empty plate. 

Jintae brushed the crumbs off his hands and leaned back into the chair. He hadn't had dinner, so he had been hungry when the food appeared. However, he didn't plan on clarifying the misunderstanding. "Why are you so bothered?" 

"I'm not bothered," she weakly argued. 

"Yes you are. You're bothered she's paying attention to me, but why?" 

So she was a tad bit annoyed when all of the granny's attention went to him, but Kyunghee refused to admit it, mainly because it made her seemed childish. She changed the subject. "What are you still doing here, Detective? You could've left a long time ago after dropping us off." He had driven them here and they had thanked him earlier, but he still tagged along and was even eating the granny's snacks when he could've just left already. Kyunghee didn't understand. 

Jintae stuttered to find a valid reason. He didn't know why, but he just wanted to make sure she was safe, though he didn't plan on saying these. He easily found an excuse instead. "I thought of something earlier. When I dropped you off at your apartment a few days ago, there was a suspicious person lurking around the front of the building. Does he seem familiar to you?" 

Kyunghee recalled that night as well as the mysterious figure who had been smoking. Pressing her lips together, she contemplated carefully but eventually shook her head. "No, I don't think I even know what he looked like that night. He was wearing dark clothing and a cap that covered his face." She paused and studied the detective's serious expression. "You don't think he's the one? But people smoke in front of the building all the time. Sometimes you even find people passed out drunk, drenched in their own vomit, at 5 AM in the morning. Things like that…it happens in that area. It can't be." 

"Why are you so sure it can't be? He was acting suspiciously. He was squirmish. He kept glancing in our direction." 

She hadn't noticed that then, but maybe he was right. "So did you see what he looked like?" 

Jintae shook his head regretfully. "It was too dark, and like you said, the dark clothing didn't help. We'll comb through CCTVs." 

After a moment of silence, Kyunghee asked, "We? Are you responsible for these types of cases?" 

"There's foul play and someone got stabbed, so yes, this falls under a criminal investigation." 

"Are you going to be the lead detective on this case?" Kyunghee wasn't sure how she felt about having Detective Hothead in charge of her case. 

His eyes narrowed, crossing his arms defiantly. "Do you have a problem with that?" 

"Of course!" she blurted before she could stop herself. His frown deepened. "After what you put me through last time, you can hardly be surprise when I say I have no confidence." 

"You don't believe in giving people second chances?" 

Her mouth curved into a sarcastic smile. She couldn't help but think of the past, a saddened look in her eyes. "I gave them too many chances," she muttered softly, as if he wasn't here, but it was audible enough for him to catch. 

"Have you finished the sweet snacks? Do you want something else?" Mihwa reappeared with a cheery question, breaking the somber mood. "Jintae, I didn't know you have such a sweet tooth." Mihwa exclaimed, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

"Uh, I don't usually." Jintae ran a hand up and down his neck. 

"Oh! Then you must've been hungry. Do you want something more savory? Ramyeon?" 

"Actually, I should get going, halmoni. It's getting late, and I have some things to do." His eyes shifted over to Kyunghee, who had her gaze down and was busy with her own thoughts. A thought crossed his mind as he contemplated. Then he steered his gaze back to Mihwa and asked, "Halmoni, where's your phone?" 

"My phone?" Mihwa felt around her clothes before reaching into the pocket of her sweater and pulled out an older Samsung phone. "What do you need my phone for?" she wondered but handed it over to Jintae anyway. 

He opened her phone, which had a passcode lock on it. He easily guessed the code by inferencing Mihwa's words earlier. When the phone unlocked, Jintae punched in his phone number. Dialing the number, he allowed the call to go through until he heard the ringing on his own phone before ending the call. He saved his number into Mihwa's contact book and saved her number in his. When all that was done, he handed the phone back to the granny. 

"Halmoni, if you need anything, just call my number." 

Mihwa arched an eyebrow as she retrieved her phone from him. Even though the detective was staring intently at her as he said those words, Mihwa's instinct told her his words were actually meant for someone else to hear in such an unclear, roundabout manner. Hamoni glanced at Kyunghee, who was watching them with an expression that was neither here nor there. In fact, Kyunghee's lack of response indicated she didn't think much of anything the detective said. 

"Okay. If anything happens to Kyunghee, I will let you know," she assured as she shoved the phone back into her pocket. 

"No, I meant…" Jintae started but stopped instantly, sensing that it would be hopeless to argue with the granny. Even though he didn't want to admit it himself, the old granny was a lot more acute than he had initially given her credit for. "Never mind. It's been a long night. Get some rest, halmoni," he said as he stood up from the chair, making his way toward the front door with Kyunghee in tow to see him out. 

His steps slowed as he neared the door. He didn't leave right away. Jintae hesitated for a moment, but eventually spun around to face Kyunghee this time. "You shouldn't go back to the apartment by yourself, at least not for now. And if you manage to think up of something, or someone, let us know. It'll help." 

Kyunghee met Jintae's earnest gaze, but suddenly felt tired and hopeless. She doubted the police would get far; she doubted the police's best was really their best. Ever since she was a little girl, if it wasn't life's circumstances then it was her mother that had sowed distrust and prejudice toward the police into her beliefs. 

"Alright," Kyunghee agreed because she didn't want to get started on that can of worms. Not to mention, she was tired and just wanted him to leave so she could get some rest too. 

"…If you need anything, tell halmoni to call me," he added in a softer voice, but didn't wait around for her answer. 

Kyunghee watched his disappearing back through the opened front door. 

"He's a good man," Mihwa commented, breaking her focus. 

Kyunghee wasn't so sure, but she also couldn't explain his help tonight if he weren't. 

"Kyunghee dear, it's getting late. You should go get some rest. I'll be here if you need anything." Mihwa reached over and patted Kyunghee's back gently. 

It was hard to explain the affinity she had toward this young woman. Was it because of her loneliness? Was it because she longed for familial comfort? Ever since her husband, the love of her life, passed away, Lim Mihwa had been by herself. She missed having someone depending on her. It felt nice to be relied on, to be someone else's support, to be needed. This young lady needed her right now. 

She wanted to tell the granny this could barely be considered "late" since there were nights where she had to work till five in the morning. However, the words were stuck in her throat. She couldn't say those things because it would mean disclosing to this sweet, compassionate, kind granny the type of business she was involved in, the type of person she was. 

In that moment, looking into Mihwa's caring eyes, Kyunghee felt a deep sense of shame.