My name's Hana Song and I'm not your average 20 year old. People my age are probably in college/workforce or wasting their time partying their youth away. I decide to go for the former choice.
I stare at my reflection in the mirror as I brush my auburn red hair. The clock behind me reading 5:13 AM. My shift starting at 6AM at the police academy. I've gotten used to the early mornings ever since high school so it didn't bother me much.
I set my brush down and walk over to my black high heels that wait at the front of my bedroom door. The bedroom quiet with the only sound of the clock ticking as I slide my feet into my heels.
I walk into the kitchen to grab my lunch I've pre-made the night before along with my purse and I silently leave my apartment complex to catch the next subway.
The cool morning air tickles my cheeks as I quickly stride to the subway station. I've been a new cadet for a month and some weeks now and I've only been given the tasks to get coffee and handle paperwork.
My eyebrows scrunching together as I wait for my subway.
I want to do something more. How long is Chief Morrison going to let me stay idle?
I know I'm a new cadet with little to no experience, but how does he expect me to have experience if I'm not allowed to work on any cases?
The sound of the subway arriving snaps me out of my thoughts as a few passengers stand beside me for the oncoming subway. The station full of people on their way to work as I eye the crowd around me.
The subway stopping briefly to allow us to board while others board off to go to their own destinations. I eye an open seat and swiftly walk over to claim it as a few more passengers board on. I notice a little girl sitting across from me. She stares at me with huge wide eyes.
Her expression adorable as I silently wave at her. The little girl shyly looks away and tugs on her moms shirt.
"Mama, police officers can be girls too?" The little girl sweetly asks her mother in a high pitch tone. The mother turns her gaze towards me with warm eyes before looking back at her daughter.
"Of course. You can be anything you want to be if you work hard enough." The mother strokes her daughters cheeks who giggles happily to herself. I avert my gaze shyly from the kind words of the mother.
I turn my eyes towards my watch briefly before shutting them.
The subway ride feels like forever every morning.
🌸
I let out a deep sigh as I step out of the subway station and head towards the police station. My watch reading 5:45 AM. The bustling of the streets and the continuous honking is something I'm used to by this point. Living in Seoul my entire life before moving to NYC helped me adjust to the busy lifestyle.
I push open the glass door to the police station and greet the receptionist, Angela Ziegler.
"Good morning, dear." Angela smiles at me brightly as I bow to her slightly.
"G-Good morning." I stammer.
Ugh, whenever I see Angela I feel intimidated. She's gorgeous, smart, and has a great career going for her. I've heard she's a great detective but the late nights and early mornings have crumbled her health, so she's taking a break to recoup herself by being the receptionist.
"You're early as usual." Angela says as she looks at my ID and punches me in on the computer. I silently nod to her. Her pearly whites blinding me as she hands me my ID back. "Jack likes that from new cadets. It shows him you're serious. Maybe he'll finally give you a case to work on."
I frown from her words, "How did you know I've been wanting to work on a case?"
Angela giggles at me as she leans back in her chair with her arms crossed.
"I can see the fire in your eyes, Hana. I would've given you a case on the first week if I was your chief. But...sadly I'm not." Angela sighs and shakes her head. "Just keep up the good work Hana. If Jack doesn't give you a case by the time my break is over, I'm taking you into my team."
I widen my eyes from her words but no words form from my lips. I bow to her, a habit from living in Korea so long, Angela giggles.
"No need to be so polite." Angela says as she looks back at the clock. "You should go meet up with everyone else, I don't want to take up anymore of your time."
I nod to her and quickly rush off to the elevator, heading to the office. The elevator doors nearly closing as I dash forward, ready to put my hand out to stop the door. To my surprise someone else has already pushed the doors back open.
A muscular tall figure with jet black hair and emerald green eyes with a smirk on their face stares at me.
"Good morning, cadet." The husky tone greets my ears as my cheeks turn a soft pink. I give an awkward nod to the assistant chief, Genji Shimada. He tilts his head to the side. "Are you coming in or do you want to wait for the next elevator?"
I nervously walk into the elevator as he drops his hand back to his sides, stuffing them in his dress pants. The ride up completely awkward for me as I keep my head low. I can feel the intimidation oozing off of him as I inch a bit closer to the elevator walls.
Genji seems to notice from the corner of his eye as he chuckles to himself. He doesn't say a word as the sound of a 'ding' from the elevator tells us we've arrived. Genji motions his hand forward for me to get off first as he follows behind me.
"Ah, there you are." A deep voice from across the office says towards the two of us. Jack walks towards Genji; already busily talking about a case as I inch my way towards my desk. I place my things down and sigh as I sit in my chair.
"Whats with that deep sigh?" A British accent greets my ears as I turn to my left to see Lena Oxton, my higher up by two years. "Did you have a rough morning already?" She inches her rolling chair towards me as she places her hand on her cheek and rests her elbow on my desk.
I shake my head. "Just a bit embarrassed having assistant chief Genji hold the elevator door for me."
Lena chuckles beside me. "That's what you're sighing about? I thought something worse happened. Don't sweat the small things."
Jack and Genji walk towards the white board as Jack clears his throat, getting everyone's attention.
My eyes following the muscular man with blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes.
How did someone as young as him become a Chief?
I'm not listening to a word he says as he greets the team with a good morning.
Jack grabs a marker and starts to assign jobs for the day. I hold my breath in praying Jack won't have me working tedious tasks again. But as I see him write my name, the words miscellaneous is beside it once more.
"Alright, everyone clear on what they're doing today?" Jack's voice booming as the team shouts back with a 'yes sir'.
I slump in my chair as Lena pats my back.
"Maybe next time. I'll be off in the lab looking at the evidence I found yesterday if you need someone to talk to." Lena says as she winks at me. She grabs a folder and walks towards the laboratory leaving me alone at my desk.
As I close my eyes and mentally prepare myself for another boring day, I hear a pile of papers drop on my desk.
"Here you go, new kid." A thick country accent says above me as I open my eyes to see Jesse McCree. A stupid smug smile on his tan face as he winks at me. I silently say thank you and look at the paperwork in front of me.
I guess I have no choice but to organize these in the file room.
I groan at the pile in front of me. Standing up I grab them off my desk. The damn thing probably weighing 20lbs. As I walk towards the file room, I then realize.
"How am I suppose to open this door?!" I quietly whine to myself as I look around for a surface of some sort to put the papers down. Before I can find one Jack clears his throat behind me, a smile on his face as he looks down at me.
"Let me get that for you." His hand brushes against my skin as he grabs the paper stack from me. He looks at me and then at the door. I snap out of my daze and nervously open the door to the file room. Stepping aside, I let Jack in first. He briskly walks over to a table and sets the stack down.
"I'm guessing Jesse did this to you?" He asks. I nod my head coyly. Jack chuckles as he shakes his head. "He just likes messing with new cadets, don't take him too seriously." His blue eyes landing on me as I start to feel my cheeks redden. "Well, I'll let you handle this..." His eyes on the pile of papers as I nod my head. Jack silently leaves the file room and I release the breath I've been holding in.
Why is my chest tightening up?
I shake the weird feeling away and busy myself with the paperwork.
🌸
A few hours has past as I've barely put a dint in the stack.
"That ass..." I grumble to myself as I think of Jesse. A knock on the door startles me.
"Everything okay in here?" Lena asks as a smile of relief forms on my face. Lena walks over with her arms wide open as if she already knows I need a hug. Her hand patting my back gently. "There, there. I know you're tired of this shit work. Those mean guys will eventually have enough trust in you to give you a case."
I sigh in her shoulder as Lena pulls away from me. "Anyway, I've been looking for you."
I raise an eyebrow at her, "Why?"
Lena scoffs at my answer. "Have you not looked at the time? You skipped break."
I quickly glance at my watch and realized it's already 2PM. As if on queue my stomach grumbles and my cheeks instantly heat up.
Lena snickers as she pushes me out of the room. "Grab your lunch and meet me on the roof." I nod my head at her and quickly walk back to my desk to grab my lunch. As I head back towards the elevator, Jack walks past me. He briefly stops to look away from his paperwork.
"Just now going on your break, cadet?" He asks with a small smile. I nod my head ashamed.
"I didn't notice the time until Len- cadet Lena came by." I answer him as he nods his head.
"Don't work too hard." Jack says before walking into his office. I silently watch his broad back and turn my heel towards the elevator to meet up with Lena.
Thankfully no one was in the elevator with me as I reach the rooftop. Lena sits on a bench gazing at the sky with her hands clasp together behind her head. I quietly sit beside her as the cool wind flows through my hair.
"The sky looks beautiful today." Lena whispers softly enough for only me to hear as I take my sandwich out of my lunch bag.
"How did your lab work go?" I ask Lena between bites.
Lena replies without looking at me.
"Smoothly. We scanned the thumbprints from the few samples we found on our investigation. Seems like we're getting closer to the culprit."
As I listen to Lena, I glace at the blue skies. The color reminding me of Jacks eyes.
Why am I thinking about him?
"I hope you find the culprit soon. I don't feel safe knowing there's a murderer out there living a normal life as if they didn't kill a random household just for fun." I look at Lena with eyes full of sadness. Lena finally opens her eyes and looks at me. A look of determination flashing on her face as she grins at me.
"I'll catch that jerk, don't you worry your pretty little head." Lena giggles as she ruffles my hair.
"Lena!" I groan, trying to straighten my hair. Lena laughs at my flustered reaction. The two of us then hear someone clearing their throat. We turn around to find the owner.
Genji looks at the two of us as his back is against the roof door and his arms are crossed.
I instantly stand up as Lena waves at Genji.
"What brings you out here, boss?" Lena asks very casually as I kick her leg.
"You can't talk to Assistant Chief Genji like that..." I whisper shout at her as she waves her hand off.
"I was looking for you. We found more evidence on the culprit. Jack told me you might be up here with the new cadet." Genji says as the wind slightly blows his stray hairs. His emerald green eyes looking from Lena to me.
Lena stretches her arms and stands up beside me. "Looks like break times over for me." Lena glances over at me with a smile. "Make sure you finish your lunch before you get back to work. Don't make me worry about you, cadet." Lena winks as her tone on 'cadet' is playful.
Genji holds the door open for Lena as I watch the two leave. Genji turns his attention to me once more. I raise my eyebrow.
Does he need to say something to me?
I wait for Genji to say something but he doesn't. He gives me a small smile and closes the door behind him, leaving me alone on the rooftop.
"Okay...he's weird." I mumble to myself as I sit back down and take another bite of my sandwich.
How much longer will it take for me to gain their trust? I'm tired of doing the shit work every day.
I groan out loud to no one.
My mind slowly thinking about Chief Morrison.
What did he do to get his position so quickly? What can I do to show him that I'm worthy enough to work on the front line?
I want to make mother and father proud. But I can't do that if no one is giving me a chance.
I frown to myself as I crumble up my sandwich wrapper and grab my trash.
"Time to get back to work." I whisper to myself with downcast eyes.