CHAPTER SEVEN - FOR YOU, I CAN PRETEND
"THIS IS the dumbest idea you've ever had, and I want no part in it. At all."
Namjoon crossed his arms, clearly peeved as he glared straight at Yoongi. He tapped his foot against the tiled floor, eyes not once wavering from the face of his friend. Although, in the moment, he was beginning to question their friendship.
On his way out of the coffee shop - where he was disappointed to find that Nouri was not working that morning - Namjoon had received a call from Yoongi. All he had said was, "Get down to the station. Urgent," before hanging up.
Turns out, after making Namjoon rush there as if his life depended on it, that Yoongi just wanted to try and convince Namjoon to agree with his and Hoseok's plan.
"What exactly is so dumb about it?" Yoongi asked casually. "There wouldn't be a reward out for information if the help wasn't wanted. Besides, you didn't seem this passionately against the idea of helping us out when we talked about it last night."
"That's because Nouri was in the car, and I didn't want her to see me yell at you," Namjoon explained, causing Yoongi to roll his eyes.
"I'm serious!" Namjoon snapped. "I thought it was a terrible idea the first moment you brought it up, and I still think it is now. I can't believe you'd even think of getting Nouri involved in this."
Namjoon was telling the truth - he had practically been fuming upon hearing Yoongi suggest the idea to himself and to Nouri. It wasn't something that even needed to be discussed, in his opinion. It was dangerous. Much too dangerous.
"You normally are much more calm and collected about these things," Yoongi pointed out. "What happened to the old Namjoon? The one that would say stuff like, 'Yoongi, maybe just think this over a bit more,' or, 'I'm not sure if that's the best idea. Let's reevaluate.' I miss those days."
This time it was Namjoon who rolled his eyes. "You know why it's different this time."
Yoongi simply raised his brow, feigning ignorance.
Namjoon sighed in agitation. "Yoongi! You know how I feel about -"
"Yoongi?" Namjoon's voice went silent at the sound of that voice. He gulped, turning around and nearly choking on his own saliva as he saw Nouri standing right behind him. He was close to passing out simply thinking about what would have happened if he had finished that sentence, with Nouri standing so close behind ready to hear.
"Oh, Namjoon!" She said with a smile as she walked up to them. "I didn't know you were going to be here."
He laughed nervously, running his hand through his hair swiftly. Yoongi smiled at Nouri. "Glad you came, Nouri. Namjoon is here because I called him in."
Namjoon glared at his friend, wanting to blurt out how Yoongi had lured him there under the impression that there had been an emergency when, in reality, he just wanted Namjoon to agree to help with this awful plan. He decided to keep that information to himself for the time being, and settled for gritting his teeth and forcing a smile.
"Why are you here, Nouri?" Namjoon asked.
She smiled again. "Well, I've decided to give this whole thing a shot. I'm going to help out."
Namjoon's eyes grew wide.
So Yoongi was right. This was an emergency.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Namjoon couldn't believe that she had decided to take part in this. He thought that she seemed to be pretty against it when she left the car the night before, yet here she was. Perhaps he had judged her emotions poorly.
Her smile faltered, and he saw a hint of a frown slip through the cracks. It was as if this sight had sparked Namjoon's perceptive skills into action. He noticed the dark circles on her face, and the redness around her slightly swollen eyes. She had been crying.
To anyone else, the mask of pure happiness that she slapped back on right as it slipped off would probably cover up any signs of distress present on her face.
But Namjoon had always been good at reading between the lines.
"I'm sure it will all work out," she said. It wasn't really the answer Namjoon had been hoping to hear her give.
"Of course it will!" All three of them flinched a bit at the sound of a loud voice suddenly beside of them.
"Hoseok, do you have to be so incredibly loud all the time?" Yoongi asked the bright officer who had appeared out of nowhere, rubbing his ear in annoyance.
"Sorry!" Hoseok chirped in a voice that was even louder than before, if anything. "As I was saying, I'm certain everything will be just fine. You're working with two of the best officers on the team, after all!" He smiled brightly as he wrapped his arm around Yoongi, who scowled deeply before throwing his partner's arm off of his shoulder.
"I thought you two were still rookies," Namjoon spoke without thinking. He regretted it immediately after because of the look he received from Yoongi. Namjoon gulped with wide eyes, and Nouri scratched the back of her head, glancing away from the tension.
"You're funny, Namjoon!" Hoseok laughed, attempting to lighten the atmosphere. "I thought you hated this idea, though? I'm surprised you decided to help out."
"So am I," Nouri chimed in, looking up at Namjoon with a curious gleam in her blue eyes. "You really want to do this?"
Namjoon knew, internally, that he did not want to have a part in this. He swallowed as he stared back at Nouri.
No, he didn't want to do this.
For her, however, he was willing to pretend.
"Yeah, sure," he attempted to say casually. His voice sounded strained and high, but Nouri didn't seem to notice as her eyes grew bright and she graced him with her beautiful smile.
Yoongi glanced between Nouri and Namjoon for a moment before smirking, shaking his head slowly. Namjoon rolled his eyes before clearing his throat. "So. What are we going to do, exactly? Do we have a game plan?"
Yoongi nodded. "Follow me."
Namjoon and Nouri complied, walking side by side as they followed Yoongi and Hoseok back into the main lobby. There were still several people from the night before present in the room.
"People who were closer to where Mira - the missing girl - was sitting, were called back in for more questioning," Hoseok explained.
"They're not offering much help at all though," Yoongi sighed. "Nobody was really able to see anything thanks to that blasted light. I've never heard of anything like it before."
Namjoon frowned, eyes scanning the room as he recognized faces from the day before. He caught the familiar figure of a tall brunette sitting beside of a smaller girl with black hair. Seokjin, and whoever his girlfriend was.
Namjoon's gaze snapped straight to Nouri, and his heart sank to see her already staring right at Seokjin. Of course, he would be the first person her eyes would spot in the room. Perhaps it annoyed Namjoon a bit at the core. He tried to remind himself that it was normal.
After all, Nouri was the first person he noticed when walking into a room.
That meant that she felt the same way about Seokjin, that Namjoon did about her.
This only served to make him more agitated.
"You alright, Nouri?" He finally decided to ask. The blonde jumped a bit, tearing her gaze from the object of her interests and glancing up at Namjoon.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly, her eyes floating back towards Seokjin. Her face fell even more as Seokjin's arm went around his girlfriend. "Perfectly fine."
Namjoon sighed, biting the inside of his cheek. He stuck his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet as he tried to think of something to say.
"We're friends now, right?" He asked.
Nouri looked up at him again. "Yes."
"Well, like I said last night. You can talk to me about it. Maybe I'll even be able to help you out with Seokjin," he said, not sure why he decided to add that last part in. Even saying his name put a bitter taste on his tongue.
Nouri smiled softly, glancing one last time at Seokjin before turning to fully face Namjoon. "I remember you telling me that I could talk to you about him," she said. "I just wasn't sure if you were trying to only be polite in the moment, or if you actually meant it."
Namjoon wanted to tell her it was neither of those things. He had said that last night because he was grasping for any possible chance he could get to talk to her, to see her, to be beside of her. He wasn't just trying to be polite. And he definitely didn't want to hear her talk about how much she liked a guy.
A guy that wasn't him.
For her, he could pretend.
"Of course I meant it," he said effortlessly, giving her a dimpled smile. "Talk to me about whatever you need to. I'm all ears."
Before she had a chance to respond, their names were called.
"Nouri! Namjoon! What are you doing?"
Not liking the tone of voice Yoongi held when saying this, the two of them quickly rushed over to where he was standing, a couple of papers in his hands.
"Here," he said as soon as they were within arms reach, shoving papers at each of them. Nouri quickly took hold of hers, while Namjoon took a moment to mouth silent threats at his older friend about his attitude before taking the sheets of paper from his hands.
"This is the exact spot where everything happened," Yoongi explained, pointing at a red circle on the map he had handed them. "Hoseok and I are on duty, so we can't go with you."
"What do you want us to do there?" Nouri asked, looking the map over as she spoke.
"Well, we've already been out there all night and most of the morning, but there were absolutely no traces on the road or roadside," Yoongi replied. "The force has moved to the woods beside the road for now, continuing the search, but we don't want you guys in there without us. So, just to make sure all the bases are covered, search the area over again really quickly. You're not allowed to touch anything if you find it - call me if you see something."
They both nodded and soon found themselves seated in the backseat of a taxi, speeding towards their destination.
"There's next to nothing written under the 'current information' section," Namjoon mumbled as he flipped through the papers Yoongi had given to him.
"Yeah," Nouri agreed, sighing as she folded the papers on her lap. "This isn't going to be easy."
Soon they were back to where they had been the night before - on the side of the road. Namjoon remembered having to hold Nouri after she passed out, sitting on the soft grass. It was a bittersweet memory.
"Okay," Nouri said, clapping her hands together. "Yoongi said that this wouldn't take long, so let's get started."
Namjoon nodded, and the two began looking over the small area, moving out of the way whenever cars would come flying by. It didn't take long for him to grow discouraged at the lack of, well, anything present to even give them the slighest bit of a hint.
"This isn't getting us anywhere," Nouri complained, kicking a rock in mild frustration. Namjoon sighed and was about to agree with her, when something reflected the sun back into his eyes.
He hissed, covering his eyes with his hand. "Wait," he said, squinting as he looked down at where the light's reflection had come from.
"What is it? Did you find something?" Nouri asked, rushing to his side.
"Maybe? I'm not sure, something reflected the sun but all I see is cement," he explained, crouching down and closely looking over the area where he thought the light had come from. His eyes only saw the various shades of grays coating the road.
"Wait!" Nouri said excitedly, leaning closer to Namjoon. His breath caught, and he forced himself to focus.
"What? Where?" Namjoon asked, still not seeing anything there.
"Look," she whispered, pointing close to soemthing small and silver. It was close to the same color as the cement, but smooth and shiny in contrast to the roadside's gritty texture. It was round in shape.
"A coin?" Namjoon asked. "I don't think that's going to be very helpful.
"But look closer," Nouri urged. "The writing. That's not Korean, is it?"
Upon closer observation, Namjoon was able to tell that Nouri was right - this was a foreign coin.
Maybe it would be useful after all.