The Sun to my Moon

Chapter 18: The Rose

Go Hae-ri spent the next week poring over construction permit filings from all over the state, only occasionally stopping to glance at her rose as it expanded into perfect bloom. She did her best to ignore that warm glow that kept threatening to suffuse her insides when she looked over at it, trying to remain focused. The rose had been relocated from the water bottle she'd placed it in to a beautiful cut glass vase which had mysteriously appeared on her desk the day after Cha Dal-geon had visited the Kim Woo-gi's priest. Her office smelled amazing. Dal-geon had been right. Perhaps she did need to appreciate nature more.

She signed off on the paperwork to clear Gi Tae-ung for active duty with mixed feelings. On the one hand, she was pleased that he was recovered; on the other, she worried that clearing him for active duty put him more firmly in the path of danger.

This was irrational, she knew. He wouldn't be in any more danger than the rest of the team, and she couldn't very well confine them all to desk duty for the foreseeable future. Maybe that was the problem. She was secretly worried about all of them, but with Tae-ung she felt even more protective because of his recent injury.

Kim Se-hun still hadn't made much progress on Miki, but he was working doggedly on the Jo Bu-yeong connection. Tae-ung hadn't turned up much in his discussion with Kim Do-soo's co-workers, but he was sifting through reams of military records that a friend of his from the Special Forces had helped him get access to.

For the past several days, Dalgeon had been disappearing to Life Healing, of all places. He still hadn't told her exactly what he was doing there. When she asked, he replied cheekily that he was engaging in a study of 'Cult Recruitment 101.' He was still good about his check ins, though, calling to chat with her for a few minutes every couple of hours when he was 'between sessions.' He still insisted he would explain everything to her, once he had finalized his theory. Leaving him to his own devices in the company of someone as creepy as Ahn Dabong made her distinctly uneasy, but she swallowed her objections and let him pursue his mysterious theory without interfering.

Now, Dal-geon was in his usual place on the worn leather couch, eyes closed, but not asleep. Hae-ri had learned to recognize by now when he was actually sleeping and when he was pretending to do so for the benefit of passers by. Right now he had his eyes closed in the way that meant his brain was busy whirring away beneath the surface, turning over a particularly interesting puzzle.

Since Tae-ung was still mired in files of military personnel, he had a perfectly reasonable excuse to be at his desk despite the fact that Hae-ri had cleared him for active duty the day before. Se-hun, on the other hand, she suspected of delaying his next interview for the express purpose of lingering in the bullpen to catch the first glimpse of Hwa-sook when she returned.

Sure enough, Se-hun spotted Hwa-sook getting off the elevator before anyone else had even registered the ring of the elevator chime. "She's here!" he announced eagerly. He'd been tipping back in his chair to secure the best vantage point from which to observe the elevator, and he nearly toppled over in his haste to get up and greet Hwa-sook in the hall. "Let me grab those for you," he offered by way of greeting, relieving Hwa-sook of her bags.

"Gomawo, Se-hun," Hw-sook said, giving him a grateful smile. He beamed back.

"Welcome back, Snow white!" Hae-ri said, pleased. She was so ridiculously relieved to see her she surprised herself by giving the agent a quick hug. It wasn't like she'd really expected Edward Park to follow Hwa-sook to Jeju or anything, but she had to admit she felt better when her team was all together these days.

Hwa-dook returned her hug and smiled at her. "Gomawo, Timjangnim."

"How was your flight?" Tae-ung asked.