Red Flavor

An Emergency

"Hyeongsa-nim, letters for you."
"Thank you. Put it on my table, please."
"Right away, Hyeongsa-nim."

The courier put the envelopes on my table and left my office. I sighed, for I knew what those letters were about. I poured my hot coffee and closed my eyes, trying to shake away the feeling of stress, before sipping it slowly while staring out the window.

It was the first day of work after the Christmas weekend. I had gone to the station earlier today, straight from the apartment. For the past couple of weeks, I would usually stop by at Red Velvet's dorm for a quick breakfast or morning coffee with Yeri and the girls, but today Yeri had a full schedule all morning, so here I was.

As soon as I arrived at the police headquarters, I was swarmed with work. Cases and leads were piling up on my table, and my team had been relentlessly attacking me with questions and things they wanted to consult with me from the moment I stepped into the Intelligence Division's floor. I tried to stay calm and collected, leading and answering my team with composure, but somehow my mind was elsewhere.

I had a lot of things on my mind today. The first, and most pressing, was those letters stacking up on my table. I knew those weren't letters from my relatives or loved ones; those are bills. Some of them were due today, while a few of them were overdue. Fuck. I had used most of the down payment Dispatch had given me to pay off some of my debts and installments, but I still had a bunch of them waiting–demanding–to be paid.

Sighing, I walked slowly to my table. I took the first envelope, the one with the large 'OVERDUE' stamp on it. I opened the envelope and took out the letter. It was my apartment's yearly rent. I scowled at the numbers printed at the bottom of the paper. I sighed again, a little louder.

With all of my skills and smarts as a programmer and police detective, one thing I always lacked was the ability to manage my finances. My pay in the police force was not bad, and I still took on jobs on the side, but somehow it seemed like it was never enough to cover my living cost. It wasn't like I liked to go on a shopping spree and splurge on unnecessary things, but there was always something I needed to pay for.

One time it would be my car that suddenly broke down, some other time it would be my air conditioner needing repairs. Sometimes it would be injuries or sickness that somehow weren't covered in my health insurance, some other time it would be back-to-back weddings of family and friends that I had to give cash gifts for, or one of my subordinates asking to borrow money from me because they needed it urgently. Fuck!

"How am I supposed to pay all this..." I uttered frustratedly as I opened the other envelopes. Shit. So many! Should I take another loan? But that wouldn't address the issue, right? It would only send me deeper into trouble.

I sat on my chair and closed my eyes, thinking hard. Suddenly, my phone rang, and somehow today my ringtone sounded so annoying, so I ignored it. I secretly wished I was cuddling with Yeri instead of having to deal with this reality.

Just when the first call stopped, my phone rang again. I groaned furiously. Who was calling me so adamantly this morning? I opened an eye to peek for the caller ID, and when I saw who it was I immediately jumped up from my chair, holding my phone aloft.

It was Dispatch's Editor in Chief. I looked up to the calendar on my table. That's right! Today was December 27th! And that meant...

"Yeoboseyo?" I answered the call hurriedly.
"Moon-hyeongsa nim! How are you? Time flew by so quickly, don't you think? Do you still remember me?" I heard his voice through the phone, sounding upbeat.
"Y–Yes. I'm doing well. How about you?" I asked back, deciding to extend the pleasantries.
"I'm good! I will be better when I read your reports on Yeoni and Jisoo today! Have you found anything interesting about them after investigating this month?" he asked expectantly.