Prologue
The mist hung low, a storm was raging far on the horizon and I was standing there, watching pieces of dead sharks pile up on the shore of Incheon.
The previous night, a police raid happened out in the open sea and it reached an unexpectedly violent climax. Three drug smugglers got torn apart by sharks, after they threw their product into the ocean. The police operation was a complete failure and now, my partner and I were forced to pay the price for it and clean up their mistakes. ″ I should’ve known that something bad was gonna happen when I got a call from work on a Sunday. ''
″ You make it sound like you do anything eventful on Sundays, ″ my partner grumbled in response and placed a cigarette between his chapped lips. The sea breeze was toying with his dark curls, his cheeks were rosy from the cold and his battered sneakers were sinking into the wet sand. His expression stayed grim when he took his eyes off the forensic team that already closed different parts of the beach with yellow tape, glanced in my direction and raised his eyebrows in question. ″ Mina and I made a bet about that. She thinks that you ask for free days just because you want us to believe that you have a life outside of work and honestly - you don’t fool me either... I know that you probably secretly indulge in some kind of weird hobby, but my detective skills have yet to decide if it’s cosplay or writing smutty fanfiction. Or both. ''
On most days, I didn’t mind Hyuk’s company and I played along with his attempts to provoke me, but that Sunday was different. My heart was filled with dread and ever since the morning, when I got rudely kicked out of bed by my boss’s phone call, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen. At this point, I was certain that it wasn’t even a matter of if only when, but I knew better than to voice my fears out loud. Hyuk would probably know how to console me, but I didn't want to confirm his and Mina's suspicions that I was crazy.
In my life, there was an everlasting atmosphere of gloom. I had grown accustomed to its company, but it was still nothing like the uneasy anticipation that I was feeling on that Sunday.
As of cue, my eyes lit up in a flash of lighting and the clouds hit us with a sudden downpour.
The thundering was so loud that I almost didn’t hear the sound of my phone. I thought that it was my boss calling again, to check how things were going on the beach and ask for updates from the forensic team, but to my surprise - it was an unknown number.
″ Yes? This is detective Kim Chito speaking, ″ I answered the phone without thinking, as soon as I made it back to my car. My breath was a little heavy and my hair was damp from the heavy rain.
For a few moments, there was silence. Then - a voice so achingly familiar that just the sound of it was enough to tear my heart to shreds: ″ Chito? Is that really you? Damn, you take yourself so seriously these days. I almost thought that I got the wrong number when you finally picked up my call. ″
Navi was a fleeting star in my life, a whirlwind of trauma, resentment and pain, a catastrophe that destroyed everything in her path. The last time that I had heard from my sister was three months ago, when she knocked on my door in the middle of the night and asked me to hide a kilogram of cocaine in the freezer. I was already part of the police force by then and I knew the consequences if someone would find the drugs in my home, but I still did it. Why? Because it was her. Because she was family.
Three months down the line and the cocaine was still there, wedged between frozen pizzas, cheap ice cream and the packets of forest berries that I bought for healthy smoothies and never used. I waited for Navi to come back for it, but she never did.
Incheon beach lit up in another flash of lighting, rain turned into hail and the quiet transmission on the car radio shifted into brain piercing static.
″ I’m your big sister, so I hate to be the one to say this, but... ″ she hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should keep talking or hang up the call and disappear for another couple of months. ″ I really need your help. ″
How dare you call yourself my big sister? You forced me to grow up before my time came and I will never forgive you for that.
″ Where are you? Just give me the address and I'll be there right away. ''
But, you are still my big sister and the only family that I have left, so I will let you hurt me, times and times again.
People often told me that my love for Navi dragged me down and stopped me from reaching my full potential. I believed them, but I didn’t know what else to do. My head was trying to pull me in one direction, where the future was safer and more certain, but my heart still always won and took me back to her.
My hair was still soaked from the rain when I barged through the entrance of a small family clinic back in Seoul. I never heard of it before, but it made sense when Navi told me the address. People like her, people who preferred to stay invisible, often used these type of places to treat their injuries. It was the safest option. You came, got help, paid in cash and left. And the best part of all - nobody ever asked questions
A storm was brewing in my head - perhaps even worse than the one that engulfed Incheon and the streets of Seoul. With a sister like Navi, you could never know what she had done. Sometimes, it was just a mysterious smile and a packet of cocaine, but other times - it was hands covered in a stranger's blood and obvious lies.
A stranger stormed past me, bumped his shoulder against mine and interrupted my erratic train of thought. My gaze snapped up to my now blood-stained jacket, my features twisted into a frown and I angrily mumbled: ″ Fuck! This jacket was expensive! I will have to sell my kidneys to pay for the dry cleaning bill- ″
My eyes connected with the ones of the stranger that bumped his shoulder against mine and I felt like my world got shaken to the core. He didn’t even do or say anything yet, but something about him sparked an odd sense of familiarity. It was strange, because I knew that this was our first time meeting each other and yet I was still overwhelmed with the sudden impression that I had seen him somewhere before.
The stranger arched an eyebrow and I suddenly realised that I had been staring at him like an idiot, so I quickly lowered my head again and ordered: ″ W-Wait here. I need to take care of something, but once I’m done, I’ll come back to you. Don't even think about running - I'm a detective, so I'll definitely catch you. Besides, you also owe me for getting blood on my jacket. I am not going to sell my kidneys for the dry cleaning bill when I can just sell yours. ''
I was breathless when I reached the front desk of the clinic and my heart was racing from the fear for Navi, the brief interaction with the beautifully odd stranger and everything else that happened on that dreadful Sunday. All I wanted was for my sister to be okay and to see her, but to my absolute devastation - she was no longer there. The lady at the front desk blatantly informed me that she disappeared as soon as she hung up on our phone call earlier. ″ She left some unpaid medical bills though. Are you gonna take care of that? ″
Looks like she fucked me over once again, but at least she’s okay. As okay as someone like Navi can be.
The nurse counted my money and nodded in satisfaction. It was only then that she reached into one of the drawers on her desk and handed me a note. She was purposely hiding it until I paid her, but I didn’t resent her for it. Just like me, she knew that her clinic attracted a very particular clientele and she had no choice but to resort to questionable tricks sometimes. I took one glance at the paper, instantly recognized Navi’s slanted handwriting and stuck the note in my pocket.
I half expected for the stranger to be gone by the time that I returned to the waiting room of the clinic, but he was still there. His tall figure was slumped on one of the plastic chairs, back to back with a redhead friend, who’s hands were covered in dried blood. They were having a hushed conversation until I walked past them, pushed my last paper bill in a vending machine and punched the button for a cup of warm milk tea. I could feel the stranger watching me, even before I turned around, folded my arms on my chest and looked into his dark eyes.
″ How did you get that? ″ I seriously asked and gestured with my chin at his arm. Blood already seeped through the bandages that were wrapped over his skin, but he didn’t show any signs of being in pain. ″ It’s a bullet wound, isn’t it? ″
The vending machine behind me buzzed and started pouring murky brown liquid into a plastic cup. Instead of answering my question, the stranger tilted his head to the side and kept staring at me in silence. There was a faintly intrigued, but mostly amused expression in his eyes. I tried to use my professional work voice to make him talk about what happened, but he clearly wasn’t taking me seriously.
Should I wave my police badge in his face or would that count as abuse of my power?
I scoffed, rolled my eyes and took my freshly made drink from the vending machine. ″ Fine, don’t tell me. I won’t tell you what I’m doing here either. ″
″ Nobody asked. ″
The sound of his voice took me by surprise and I accidentally spilled the boiling tea all over my fingers. I hissed in pain and kicked the vending machine in anger, while the redhead suddenly glanced over his shoulder and quietly mumbled: ″ Actually... I kind of want to know what the detective woman is doing in a place like this. ″
″ Shut up, Yuri. Don’t give in. We have the upper hand in this conversation. It’s obvious that she’s dying to find out how I got shot. ″ The stranger ran through his dark hair with his hand and his lips curved into a taunting smile. ″ I want to see how long she’ll last before she’ll show us her badge and try to force the information out of us. ″
I blew some cold air on my scorched hand, glared at him in anger and asked: ″ Are you flirting with me or are you trying to start a fight? ″
″ That depends... Have you already fallen in love with me? ″ He was still smiling and there was a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes. ″ I hope not. I don’t date cops. ″
It wasn’t until hours later, when I was back home, sitting at my kitchen table and looking at the paper where he scribbled his phone number, that I truly pinpointed the emotion that he awoke in my soul. In those brief moments when we were standing in that waiting room, looking at each other and talking, I felt something that I thought I had lost for good: a lust for romance.
After my last relationship, I shut myself from the world and build a wall around my heart, but this guy singlehandedly made me doubt my decision to never fall in love again.
I should call him. What’s the worst that could happen? He will probably break my heart, but if worst comes to worst, I have a freezer full of pizza, ice cream and Navi’s cocaine to help me glue the pieces back together.
I picked up my phone, typed his number and called him. Like a young high school girl in love for the first time, I held my breath in anticipation and naive excitement.
Then - a monotone recording: ″ The number that you have called does not exist. ″
