Warning : Child abuse
The last dialogue of the chapter might be quite disturbing to some people so please proceed with caution
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" Sweetheart "
Taegguk turned her face to the other side, purposely ignoring the officer .
" Kwon ssi " His partner drawled out " You're wasting your time, my time, everybody else's time " Taking out the cigarette box from her skirt's pocket , she placed it on the table ; infront of the man " We all tried but in vain . Either way doesn't know anything about her father's doing or she's been telling us what her father taught her to say during the fruitless interrogation sessions "
" NO ! " The man banged his bare knckles against the table , making the little girl on the other side jump a bit . " SHE KNOWS MANY THINGS ! "
The female officer shot a glare towards the man " Calm down " She gritted down " Just because you've a personal grudge against her father doesn't mean that you have any right to place any false accusations on a fucking child ! " Raising her voice a bit , she stared down the man " control yourself! "
Taegguk looked between them , stiffling a yawn . " Can I go to bed now ? " She asked , earning the attention of the adults " Papa says that good girls don't stay up after 11 and..." She turned her face sideways to look at the clock on the wall " It's 1 in the morning " She stopped , eager eyes scanning the faces of the other two for any reaction .
But nothing happened .
The tension in the air is so thick that it can be sliced by a knife
" Kwon " Eyes still trained on the little girl , the woman officer started " I think we should-" However , before she can complete expressing her thought , her parner had already threw himself at the little girl across the table .
Taegguk shrieked in fear , holding up the teddy bear up in the air and infront of herself, as if the stuffed toy can protect her from the evil present in the world .
" Fuck you ! " Kwon growled out , cruelly snatching out the toy from her hands and threw the toy across the room , earning another loud scream of agony from Taegguk who almost bawled her eyes out , her hands outstretched towards the direction her father's last memory got thrown in .
" PAPA ! " She screamed so loud that the woman officer had to cover her ears , her heart aching for the misery of the poor girl , waiting for another yell .
But it never came .
SLAP !
" PAPA ! " The little girl screamed again , her tears now slowly escaping the border of her eyes , her little palm giving little to no comfort to her wounded right cheek . " Please don't hit me..." She sniffled out.... " Papa doesn't like it when someone hits me..."
" THAT'S ENOUGH KWON !!! " The female officer was so enraged that she even forgot to add a honorific after her partner's name , her motherly instincts running all over her body .
Just because she doesn't have any guardian to protect her now , doesn't mean that it's an open invitation for anyone to mentally or physically abuse her . As a mother herself, she won't allow someone to have a free hand in this matter like this .
But , unfortunately, Taegguk's reactions only managed to irk the man more . Taegguk released a low whimper in fear , her small hands latched onto her swollen cheeks , her small figure trembling as her wide fearful eyes took in his red face and his scary eyes . A small " Papa..." spilled out of her dry , cracked lips .
She took a step back when the man went around the table , ignoring the angry shouts of his partner ." Shut your fucking mouth , officer Hong Jangmi "
" You little shit ! " He spitted out " Come back here ! "
" Kwon ! YOU'RE TAKING IT TOO FAR ! " The other officer screamed out . Kwon didn't paid any attention to her , taking long and determined steps towards the corned little girl. " Stop moving , abomination ! "
" Papa-" SLAP !
Muffled screams escaped Taegguk as Kwon pressed her lithe body against the scraped wall , his calloused hands covering her mouth to stop her cries from getting out of the room . " PAPA THIS, PAPA THAT ! FUCKING STOP THIS GAME OF YOURS , YOU LITTLE BITCH ! "
" KWON ! " Jangmi screamed, picking up the metal bottle from the table and then throwing it towards her partner .
Only for it to miss as the target had already moved his body away , turning around to reveal a writhing Taegguk , struggling for some air to enter the lungs .
" KWON ! " Jangmi desperately shouted " DROP THE CHILD ! YOU'RE KILLING HER ! "
Kill her
Kill her
Kill her
Kill her
Kill her
The moment his grip loosened , Taegguk fell down on the rough ground under them , her mouth wide open , taking in oxygen greedily . Jangmi immidiately ran upto her , falling on her knees before the man as she slowly brought Taegguk's head up to rest it on her lap , her own bottom lip a bloody mess because of how much she is biting down on it .
Taegguk looked up once , her red eyes meeting the sympathetic ones of Jangmi as she delivered a small grin to her in reply .
But the little girl didn't return the gesture .
" Appa " Her lips fell open " Take me to Appa " She panted " I wanna go home-"
" SHUT UP ! " He screamed , making the other two flinch as fear consumed them once again, " YOU WANNA GO HOME TO A MONSTER?! HUH YOU LITTLE SHIT YOU WANT TO GO HOME TO A FUCKING MURDERER ! "
" Kwon ! " Jangmi warned again but the man still knelt down before the almost half-dead girl , his eyes burning with an unknown rage " Jeon Jeongguk is a dangerous man . A murderer . A criminal . A psychopath ! " Taegguk didn't say anything, but he knew that she's listening to him .
" Kwon ssi " Jangmi pleaded " Why don't you go outside and calm yourself down ?! "
" It'll do us a favor. The night is long and Dr. Min said Jeon Jeongguk is going to be outside of the hospital tomorrow"
Kwon took a deep breath , nodding profusely. " Yes , you're right , Hong ssi " He breathed out.
" We have a lot to do tomorrow" Jangmi hummed , wishing for the other to go away as soon as possible.
" I'm going outside to take a smoke , ok ? If you need something , just give me a shout ! " The man exclaimed as he marched towards the table, picking up the cigerette box from the table . " See you later "
" Same to you "
Jangmi didn't look up when the footsteps faded , followed by the sound of the main door banging behind the leaving man .
Jangmi released a quiet sigh , looking down towards Taegguk , only to see that the little girl is already looking at her .
" That uncle is very bad "
Jangmi nodded , a sad smile playing on her lips .
" My papa says that bad people always get punished " The older released a chuckle , earning a confused Taegguk in return . " Why ? "
" We are the police , darling " She retorted " We are the punishers " She said in a sad tone " Who will punish us ? "
" Papa ! " Jangmi's eyebrows got furrowed, wondering what made Taegguk said that . But then again , she is a child and to every child , there parents are some kind of superheroes . When Jangmi was a child herself, she used to believe that her mama and papa are superheroes .
" Okay " She smiled brightly " If we did anything wrong , your Papa will punish us , okay Taeggukie ? Now tell me what's your favourite cartoon ? Mine is Oggy and the cockroaches! " Jangmi didn't want to press on that subject more so she tried changing the topic .
Taegguk looked at her blankly " Tom and Jerry . Can you please bring me my teddy bear ? "
Jangmi immidiately nodded as Taegguk sat up from her lap " Wait a moment , sweetheart" She said , standing up .
Taegguk didn't said anything, blankly staring at the dull wall infront of her .
The woman slowly turned around, immidiately spotting the mentioned teddy bear , seating slumped down against the north wall .
" There you are " She quietly said to herself, approaching slowly. " And" She knelt down infront of it . " I will-" Before she can pick it up , her eyes fell on the black beads of the teddy bear and a familiar sensation of fear ran up her spine .
This teddy bear is anything but
Normal .
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Kwon closed the door behind him and realisation struck him like a thunder . He forgot to take a lighter .
It's not like he can go inside again and risk angering a woman like Jangmi or take it from someone outside because it's almost 2 in the morning and the entire police quarter must be in dreamland by now .
It doesn't help that it's a new moon night too and there's no lightposts around this area .
" Fuck " He cursed , his eyeshit almost equivalent to the state of a blind person now .
" Kwon ? You there man ? "
The mentioned man almost got a cardiac arrest due to the suddenness of the question, his eyes frantically moving around in the dark before the voice spoke up again .
" This is Joseph , man . Did you forget me or what ? "
Kwon released a sigh of relief .
Thank the heavens above that he revealed himself or I would've been forced to enter a bullet in him .
" Oh hey buddy " He greeted , eyes still struggling to find the mentioned man in the dark . " How are you doing ? "
" Fine " The other man answered shortly " What are you doing outside at this time of night anyways ? " Kwon gulped .
Should I tell him the truth? He's working on the same case as me though.
" Can't sleep " He answered shortly " Thought that a cig or two will do me good "
A small hum echoed around him .
" And forgot to take a lighter , perhaps ? "
Kwon can't help but give out a little laugh in reply " You know me too well , Taehyung "
I don't even know him properly and I'm sure that neither does he
The other man didn't said anything .
Not even a second later , a small flame suddenly erupted in the air , starling the officer quite a bit .
" You okay , friend ? " Joseph asked , holding up the lighter closer to the other man .
" Yes " Kwon replied briefly, using the lighter as a source of light as well as he dipped his hands in his pocket to take out the cigarette box . " Want one ? "
" No , thanks . I'm a bottle guy , not one for smokes " Kwon hummed , taking out a cigerette from the box .
" How's your undercover mission going though , Mr. Kim Joseph Taehyung ? " The officer jokingly questioned " Heard that Boss ordered you and Lina to pose as a couple and follow Jeon to his vacation ? "
" Hm " Joseph answered " He did "
" What else ? " Kwon asked . He doesn't know much about that mission , just the upper infos and shit. If Joseph here have discovered a weakness of Jeongguk, it would be a great help to him though.
" Mhm . Did many crazy things during the mission . You know that I'm a quite crazy man , right ? "
Kwon released a puff of smoke into the air , his eyes trained on the darkness infront of him as he prepared himself for a lie to tell the other man .
I don't even know him properly! How will I about his characteristics ?
" Ofcourse, I do , Joseph " He lied through gritted teeth , settling the cig against his lips again .
" So...." Joseph sounded quite uncertain yet somewhat confident at the moment " There is thing....I've been wondering about for a long time "
Kwon released another ring ,closing his eyes .
Either a personal problem or a clue to Jeon's case
" What is it ? " He asked , placing the cigarette between his lips .
" Have you ever wondered what will happen to a person if they swallow a very much burning cigerette ? "