Close To Midnight

Chapter 17

"Send all equipment to the technical team. Verify that none of them is bugged." Dahyun ordered her team who had their head hung low.

"Don't stand there like a bunch of losers." Dahyun yelled at them. "It's not the end of the world. You're the smartest detectives in the whole country. These stupid sulky faces won't do. You'll figure something out." She slapped a hand down on the table. "Now get out of here and go catch those fuckers."

They scrambled away immediately.

Dahyun sighed. The media attention on the case was growing, so was the pressure on the  department. Her superior had even asked her to assign another team to the case. She had stubbornly refused. She hoped that the faith she placed in the four girls wasn't wrong.

____

Chiho gaped with his mouth open.

He knew Nayeon didn't know fear. He'd seen it a thousand times before, but never like this. This was reckless, this was asking to be marked as a target by a whole gang.

Because Nayeon had just slapped Yu-sok across the face. He had asked her to stay away from the central District, said a girl couldn't take it from him. And then Nayeon had slapped him like he was a little bitch. Like he wasn't the head of a gang that terrorised the country.

"Nobody orders me around Yu-sok." She said nonchalantly. The man was fuming.

Jihyo took a look at Yu-sok's men advancing towards them from all directions.

With a flick of his finger, Yu-sok signalled them to stop.

"You'll pay for this." His eyes were cold, livid.

Nayeon shrugged coolly.

Jihyo watched him go with a chill travelling down her spine.

___

It was a good three days before Nayeon saw Mina again. The girl was on her phone, talking to someone in an affectionate tone. When she drew nearer, she heard her say, "Bye mama."

"Mina." Min-Jun waved at her excitedly and shrunk back when Nayeon glared at him. Nayeon wondered when her sidekicks became this fond of the newcomer.

"Think of the devil." Nayeon didn't move as Mina got closer to them with a soft chuckle to her words. "What are you lot doing this evening?"

"Nothing." Chiho supplied eagerly. Another stern glance silenced him and he fell back behind her.

"Well then, come home for dinner." Mina gave a warm smile at everyone except Nayeon. "It's my birthday today." She clarified.

Jihyo opened her mouth but didn't find the words for a moment. "You're inviting us for dinner?" Her tone was full of disbelief.

"All my friends are in Japan. My roommate travels a lot, she isn't home. I don't want to spend my birthday alone like a sad person." She joked, with a mock hint of self depreciation. "So will you come?" She diverted her gaze from the trio to look at Nayeon.

Three pairs of eyes looked at Nayeon expectantly. One pair of eyes looked at her fondly.

Nayeon found herself nodding her head.

___

"It's been so long since I had a homemade meal." Min-Jun announced licking the spoon clean.

Jihyo agreed with a hum and sad smile. "Nobody invites us home. Even our boss just throws money at us to spend it somewhere."

Like throwing biscuits at hungry dogs. Nayeon thought as she looked at the starry sky from the window.

"I always miss my family." Chi-ho said in a quiet voice. "But I miss them a little less today. Thank you Mina." Mina laid a hand over his and squeezed it gently. Nayeon blinked a few times as she looked at the kind eyes of Mina.

"I don't have a family to miss." Min-Jun snorted.

"That's not true." Mina told him in a serious tone. "Home is not bricks and walls. Home is the people around you who cares for you."

Nayeon listened with rapt attention.

"Jihyo have you not thought about leaving this job before?" Mina asked.

"Many times." Jihyo answered immediately.

"What stopped you?"

"Nayeon. I couldn't leave her there alone." Jihyo said softly. Nayeon felt her heart squeeze. She suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Chiho, Min-Jun, you work for money right?" Mina queried.

They nodded.

"Would you kill either Jihyo or Nayeon if I paid you enough?"

They were visibly taken aback at her question.

"No." Chiho murmured.

"Why?" Mina pushed.

"Because they remind me of my sisters back home." Chiho's voice was so low Nayeon would have missed his words if she wasn't paying attention.

"And you Min-Jun?"

"No. They're the only people I have that's anything close to family."

Mina's smile was soft, blinding in its beauty. "See family is not by blood. Home is not some building. You are each other's family. You're each other's home."

Nayeon accepted two things as a fact that day. She was a devil. Mina was definitely an angel.