Black, Blue and Gold [ryeji]

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Team [Part 1]

"Sit. Down!" She pushed the unhappy looking man down – making him sit on the metal chair.

A young man grunted next to her, dragging another, bigger, man and forcing him to sit on the other empty chair.

She nodded to her colleague behind the desk before walking away towards the small pantry outside of the loud room.

"What's tonight's menu? Drunk fights?" Another young man offered her a cup of coffee.

"Yeah. This is so boring." Ryujin took a sip and grimaced. "What is this?"

"Coffee." He also took a sip – swallowing with a painful look on his face. "I stand corrected." He threw the contents of his cup into the sink. "We should just collect some money and buy cheap instant coffee. It definitely tastes better than this." He rinsed his mug then filled it with water.

Ryujin took another sip. "What happened to the usual?" She stuck out her tongue after swallowing. "Blagh!" She placed her mug in the sink. "I can't drink this."

"Budget cuts?"

Ryujin opened the cabinet and took out the coffee bag. She scrutinized it for a few seconds before she walked to the trashcan, threw it away and walked back to slap the young man on the head.

"Ow! What's that for?!" He rubbed his sore head.

"It's expired, genius."

"Wha-... Oh." He grinned. "Sorry, Noona."

She shook her head. "How did you become Assistant Inspector again? I know intelligence has nothing to do with it..."

"Noona..." He sulked.

"Inspector." She reminded him where they were.

"Sigh... right. Sorry, Inspector."

"Go make a new batch and make sure you check the expiration date this time."

"Yes, Ma'am!" He mock saluted before rummaging in the cabinet for the coffee.

Ryujin returned to the bustling room and went to her desk. She still had plenty of paperwork to finish.

"Ryu." A folder landed on her desk.
She looked up to see Minjeong taking a seat in front of her. She raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Where did you bust those two guys?"

"The Octagon."

Minjeong gestured towards the report. "And you're sure they are connected to this illegal gambling network?"

Ryujin took the folder and read Minjeong's report. "I just followed the trail, okay?" She tapped one of the names on the paper. "Got the tip about this Lee Jukchae. My informant told me that he's one of the juice collectors."

Minjeong stared at Ryujin. "Juice collectors?"
"He collects money for the bookmaker – the broker also known as the bookie."

"Then why was he alone? I thought such juice collectors travel in packs? With buddies? Large, bulky, scary buddies."

Ryujin shrugged. "He said he wasn't working. He was just there to meet some ladies." She grinned.

Minjeong chuckled. "Right. And you believed him? He also said that the brawl was caused by these ladies."

"Judging by his bad taste in clothes, I believe that those ladies didn't exactly warm up to him."

"So this is true?" Minjeong pointed at the paper in Ryujin's hand, containing the statement that she had just typed out.

Ryujin nodded. "I believe so."

"Ladies," said a young man who took a seat next to Minjeong. "Party boy and bouncer dude are locked in safely for the night. Do you want to interrogate now or later?"