Synopsis: when a rising student in a reputable school is revealed to be tied to a crime syndicate, the door to the underworld is open and Hwajin is left with no choice but to call in ex-yakuzan member—you—however, you didn’t actually expect that your students would let this chance go to waste… especially when a certain inspector is involved.
Pairing: Na Hwajin x Fem!Reader
Content Warning: angst with happy ending, fem!reader, ex-yakuza!reader, canon-typical violence, 3-D Student, yakuza, swearing, friends-to-lover, mention of blood, mention of death, light humor, mention of criminal activity, implied killing, HARDCORE miscommunication, emotionally constipated!Na Hwajin.
A/N: I would say I didn’t base this off best girl Yamaguchi, but that would be a lie hehe…
Word Count: 5.9k
~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~
Silently driving through the busy streets of Seoul in broad daylight, Hwajin stopped before the intersection as the lights switched red. He heaved a breath with a hand atop the wheel, leaned back to the seat when his eyes caught a sight on his left. Two high school students walking side-by-side and clearly a couple as the girl clung an arm to the boy’s while giving him a bright smile. His mind briefly flashed to a distant memory of being a student, patiently waiting for her to come out so they could walk to school.
A loud beep made his eyes widened for a moment, looking ahead to see the light had turned green, glancing on the rear view mirror before switching gears and continuing to drive across. His right hand tightened around the steering wheel, swallowing the bittersweet memory as he heaved a breath, catching sight of the Ministry of Education building, turning his signal lights on and heading into the parking area.
Walking the ivory hall, Hwajin politely bowed to the hard-working employees whilst making his way to the ERPB’s office, pressing his ID to the sensor nearby and entering while greeting, “Good morning~” His polite smile making the rest greet back as he made his way into the glass walled room, seeing a tall guy preparing the large flat-screen TV for his presentation. “Early as always, Deputy Bong.” Hwajin greeted as Bong Geundae lifted his gaze from the laptop with a small pout, huffing out, “Just earlier than you, Inspector…”
“Sergeant Im Hanrim, reporting!” A loud welcoming voice reached their ears as Geundae slightly jolted whilst Hwajin chuckled, turning to see the woman by the door, saluting. “Yah, didn’t I say civilians don’t salute each other?” “Ah, right–sorry!” Im Hanrim expressed before dropping her hands to her side and walking to a nearby swivel chair, “So what is it that we are doing for this week?” She inquired while settling herself onto the seat, the two inspectors watching as Geundae projected a new school and brief information on the screen.
“I’ve been checking the report list and saw this,” Geundae presented another tab over the first slide, showcasing a gossip-worthy headline, ‘Early Education for Yakuza’s in Seoul?!’. Hanrim furrowed her brows at the statement whilst Hwajin placed his palms on the table, leaned over to assess the attached image and general information of the article. “The school is Baekgum High, an all-boys high school. Apparently, it was known as a prestigious school for those hoping to enter Seoul University.” Geundae expressed, putting the article away and showing the school’s exterior and general information once again.
Hanrim hummed, tilting her head slightly, “A student Yakuza? What kind of proof did they find?” “Even I know such groups wouldn’t take a stab at students.” Hwajin added as Geundae looked confused and eyed Hanrim who informed him, “While underground organizations here let students deal drugs, a foreigner wouldn’t try that because of political affairs, you can say it’s a lose-lose for both countries.”
The genius hacker hummed and nodded in understanding, soon moving the slide of the presentation to a student, “Well, the report in the article says the students’ name is Na Minjae and I looked into him to see that he is a top-student and won an olympiad. Suddenly, this issue started to circulate within internet forums.” Geundae explained, the screen showing blurry images of what looks like a student going to clubs and talking with shady individuals donning an indisputable foreign gang mark, the hacker added, “Because he was nearby the area, people connected him as this student.”
The older man leaned off the table, crossing his arms over his chest, Hwajin inquired, “How’s the school situation?” “From what I saw, it looked like an average high-school, but back then it had a similar reputation to Guun High with a certain class.” Geundae responded as Hanrim sighed, uttering, “No wonder they got involved in such trouble…” “But! I did see that a certain teacher was hired back then and suddenly that reputation started to die down.” He expressed, grabbing a document and giving it to Hwajin.
Taking the file, Hwajin flipped it open while Hanrim slightly stood to peer in. His eyes flickered wide briefly to read the name, Kwon Y/N. A name closely intertwined with his strange past, his thoughts drawn back to a cold rainy day. You… Why are you here again?
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Why is she here?
His mind reeled briefly to see a suited woman before him, pointing a gun at him whilst the other hand held onto a bloody picture frame of three people. Hwajin wore his black-operation uniform whilst holding a rifle towards the figure who seemed to have no fear despite the open danger she presented herself. “Yah… What are you doing?” Hwajin asked the woman as he was about to lower his rifle when you shot off to his right, missing but alerting him, “Yah!”
“Don’t drop your weapon for me…” The voice, usually filled with warmth, felt devoid of any emotion, his gaze meeting your face which looked cold with lips pressed together and eyes lifeless, “When did you come back? Gayun-ie was waiting for your call.” You inquired in a plain tone, turning away from him and putting the picture frame down by the table, staring at the people in the image, young teens beaming at a camera with your best friend in the middle as you were to the right and Hwajin to the left.
With a cautious gesture, he held his hands to the rifle, “I’m on break. Will be back inside by the end of the month for work…” Hwajin took a step close towards you, who slightly turned your head to look over your shoulder, “we tailed a member of a Japanese organization here… but this was your house once. Y/N, what… what’s going on?” His voice felt hollow with nerves bundled in his throat.
“Call us properly,” You said while turning towards him, moving your free hand into your pocket then throwing a phone to the ground by his feet to see its back-lid removed and show a tracker-chip, “I’m part of that organization—well, it’s proper to call it what it is… A Yakuza.” You added, watching his eyes briefly widened at the reality of who you were. “I came by to see Gayun, but you caught onto me too quickly,” Your lips gave a small smile, tracing his face as you made your way to the nearby glass door, you teased out, “You really are a Special Forces member.”
Hwajin followed you out of the room to see you’d stood off by the balcony, he asked, “Yah, what happened? Who’s making you do this?” “No one,” Your answer was immediate and looking back at him with a ghostly smile to see his distraught expression, “I tried to avoid it as much as I could, but my family just couldn’t leave it behind… Now here I am, an enemy to my friend.” You explained, holding onto the cold iron bar of the balcony, heaving a breath.
You felt like your heart was being torn apart with eyes burning but blinked the unshed tears away, “I just wanted to see Gayun and you one more time and say thank you for being my friend…” Staring at his eyes, you felt your lips quiver with a silent thought and mouthed, And thank you for making a flower bloom in my heart, Na Hwajin.
“Let’s never meet again, Na Hwajin.”
With a small smile, you lifted your gun and shot the nearby glass window causing it shatter as Hwajin slightly flinched at the sudden action but before he could even react, you had jumped down the balcony and into the cold forest nearby. Hwajin looked over the balcony with you below and away from his sights, your lips let out a somber smile and heaved a breath, turning away to start your trek away from them, away from him.
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After a long and disastrous commotion by Baekgum High’s gates, you finally managed to settle down the boys from their keeping everyone outside the school. Carefully apologizing to the bothered students and faculty who were all intimidated by your students.
“Boys, what is going on?”
As you stood before the front-table and eyed the frowning and guilty looking boys, soon catching the eyes of a cute-faced ginger-haired boy and widening your eyes as if to say, ‘tell me now’, making the boy sigh. “It’s about an article, Ms. Boss! It’s framing Minjae as being connected to a Yakuza!” The ginger-haired voice exclaimed as another boy who dyed his hair brown spoke out, “And then they said they’d invalidate his scholarships to SNU! He worked and studied hard to get them! We feel it’s unfair!” “Yeah! Minjae would never do that!” Another boy spoke out from the crowd, starting to protest.
Your heart dropped at the realization, feeling your hand shaking at the words spoken amongst them. Your hands tightened around the edges of the wooden table, staring at the brown surface and hearing a faint ringing in your ear. Y-Yakuza… why would Minjae be involved—what’s happening? T-this never happened before… what—
A hand grabbed your wrist, snapping you from spiraling further as your eyes trailed up the limb to see a charming boy with doe-like eyes facing the class, “Yah, be quiet!” The class faced him, a mix of shock and worry in their face, your mouth agape as he added, “can’t you see Ms. Boss breaking down here?!” Soon, their gazes snapped towards you, seeing your lips quivering and body slightly shaking with hands stiffly fidgeting atop the wooden table, each looking away and feeling guilty.
“It’s okay,” Your voice sounded softer than when you were asking them minutes prior, giving them a stiff smile before turning to the doe-eyed boy, “Minjae-ah, you can sit down and we can figure this out, hm?” You expressed, carefully removing his hand and putting into your own, gently patting it, you coaxed, “I don’t believe those articles, so you can trust me, alright?”
Minjae gave a pressed smile, nodding as you let him go and take his seat near the back. Standing before the table, you faced each of the students all of which were a mix of guilt, worry and irritation. You let out a sigh, “You all believe Minjae didn’t do that, right?” “Of course, Ms. Boss!” They spoke out, making you smile, nodding while saying, “Then, I’ll see what the school and I can do. For now, your exams are nearing and Ms. Song will be teaching you, behave, alright?” They enthusiastically cheered but some whined, making you shake your head, grabbing your attendance booklet but were interrupted by the door opening to reveal Ms.Song.
“Ms. Kwon, Principal Baek is calling for you.”
Walking towards the Principals Office, you couldn’t help but frown and cross your arms over your chest, He probably already thinks the boys are back to their old ways, that slacker! Reaching the door, you wipe off the frown on your face for a small polite smile and uncross your arms to knock, hearing a faint come-in. Twisting the door handle, you stepped in and took a respectful bow, “Hello, Principal Baek! I see you’ve heard of the rumors and I can confidently say my students didn’t—” lifting your head, your voice trailed off into silence seeing a familiar slightly tall man sat across from the Principal.
Those same aloof and lazy eyes meeting your own widened orbs, you didn’t expect your heart to skip a beat and your voice to fail you. Principal Baek audibly cleared his throat, making you blink frantically and turn towards your direct superior. “Ms. Kwon, I see you have prepared to defend your students again.” He stated, making your pressed lips turn into a small frigid smile, “Because they certainly didn’t do anything wrong, Mr. Principal.” You expressed, hands moving to hold together to which elicited a slight flinch from the old man.
The guest sitting across from him noted his action, making Principal Baek feel embarrassed before sternly glaring at you as he cleared his throat, “Well, it seems we will see if your so-called innocent students are truly uninvolved—” he politely gestured to the man across from him, “---this man is from the Educational Rights Protection Bureau, we’ve partnered with them in-order to identify why such an article was published against our school.” He explained as the man in-question stood up and gathered his hands together, giving a polite smile that made you look grossed out, failing to control your stiff smile.
“I’m Inspector Na Hwajin, I hope we can get along Ms. Kwon.”
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The rain poured harshly, splashed from the ground ricocheting water to the people around but you stood with simply your hoodie on. Standing before a small tree, you stared down at the embedded name for the person it symbolized, Choi Gayun. You felt your heart tightened as your left hand which held a bundle of bright blue flowers tightened, heaving a breath as your knees buckled down to the wet soil, dirtying your pants, you breathlessly called, “Gayun-ie…”
Holding a hand onto the blackstone, you pressed your head atop it, “You promised me we can see each other again… yah,” You uttered, feeling your tears slowly brimming your eyes fall, nose sniffling as you felt your tears mixing with the rain, “Gayun-ie, please come back…” You uttered, choking your words as you started to wail and sob, “I promise I won’t leave you guys anymore… I’ll treat you to that meal you always wanted… I’ll bring Hwajin back from the Military and make him marry you right now… what do I do to bring you back… please, come back–” You begged, a slew of promises and regret slipping from your lips.
“Gayun-ie, I’m sorry I couldn’t save you…” You uttered as your body shuddered from being doused by the rain, adrenalin worn off as you felt a painful throbbing from your side as you winced. Gently letting go of the flowers atop the tombstone, you leaned back, unzipping your hoodie and showing your gray tank-top, red pooling from the left-side of your stomach. You felt your breath hitching, “Should I just…”
Your eyes noticed a shadow falling over you, seeing the rain no longer dropping on your worn body as you lifted your gaze up, seeing a black umbrella. Slightly turning, you faced a familiar man donning a black-suit and a stony expression, you looked down, “I didn’t mean to see you this time…” You uttered painfully, shakily taking a deep breath, “I’ll let you talk to her now…” You said, standing up before the tombstone only to stumble a few steps forward.
Feeling your arm get yanked, your cheek pressed into a warm chest, hearing his heart thump lowly as your eyes turned glossy, “I couldn’t protect her… I’m sorry.” His words slightly shattered your heart, partially because you knew his love for her and partially because you lost the friend you’d cared for. Just for a moment, your eyes shut and tears fell along with your heart which you buried deep in your heart. With a hand, you shoved him away, stepping away from his warmth and the shade of his umbrella, seeing his concerned and alarmed gaze on you.
“You failed us both, Hwajin-ah…” and the only one who can stand by your side is gone…
You saw how your words stunned him, but your face remained stony and cold just as he had before his fragility broke to comfort you. Seeing his slightly distraught and pained expression made you internally wince but swallow the guilt, “You promised her you’d protect her… and I asked you to never see me again… why are you doing this to us? To me?” You let out a cold laugh while using a hand to brush your hair back and away from your face, “if you care and respect me a little… don’t ever see me again.” You added, moving a hand to grab your bleeding wound, turning away as he asked, “Why?”
“Your Choi Gayun’s protector, that’s why...”
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“You sure changed a lot, Teacher—” “Look who’s talking, Inspector.”
Your frosty tone made Hwajin’s lighthearted tone drop as you turned your heel to face him. “What are you doing here, Na Hwajin?” You asked while crossing your arms over your chest, seeing him lift his ID up and present it before you. “I’m doing my job. I never expected to meet you here, however,” Hwajin responded with his usual aloof tone, trying to sound casual but his voice sounded robotic, “we should talk.” He added, but you scoffed, “We don’t have much to talk about, don’t we?”
“Your past being involved here seems to contradict your statement.”
Hwajin watched the masked politeness and calmness fall, seeing your gaze turn sharp and cold, he briefly pressed his lips together, uttering, “I didn’t mean it like that—” “Then! What exactly were you telling me?” You expressed with a slightly deeper tone and darkened gaze, but pressed your tongue into your inner cheek before heaving a breath, nodding as you stated, “I expected a lot from you… I guess I set myself up for disappointment.”
Fixing the sling of your bag, you turned away from Hwajin, “You can look into my background, spew it out or whatever you damn hypocrites want to do, but!” You slightly turned back to peer over your shoulder, Hwajin recalling the familiar gesture from a bitter memory, “leave those kids out of it… they are innocent, and I’m protecting them from what you failed to do.” You said exhaling before turning to walk ahead and leave behind Hwajin who stared at her retreating back, feeling a strange pain creeping in his body.
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‘As per the ERPB’s orders, your class will be handled by one of their inspectors. Don’t come to school today.’
- Principal Baek.
“That old damn slacker!” You exclaimed, chucking your phone onto the floor and sitting up to see you’d fallen asleep on your couch again. Heaving a breath, you kicked your shoes off and stormed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, gulping the cold drink down as you caught a sight of a few pictures from across the room. Putting the glass cup down with a faint thud, you shrugged off your coat and went into the bathroom, unbuttoning your button-up shirt.
Staring at your reflection, your eyes traced the long gashes on your arms and the scars littered just off to your nape. Lifting your hand to the mirror, you felt the cold glass under your palm as if trying to ground yourself only to hear a loud slashing noise that made you jolt back and step away from the sink, the noise echoing not from your ears but your mind. You felt your mouth let out a loud scream but no noise came as you accidentally knocked a mug nearby as it shattered to the floor by your feet, causing a few slashes on your skin.
Covering your ears, you pressed yourself near the wall, breath hitching when a couple of loud knocks finally broke through your sudden mental deafness. Looking back at the mirror to see your disheveled self, you rushed to splash your face and walked off to the door to hear another knock. Reaching for the handle, you twisted the knob and cracked the door open to reveal him, you uttered, “Na Hwajin?” His gaze landed on your paled face and saw you were planning on shutting the door.
“Wait,” he lodged his feet between the door and used his hand to forcefully keep the door open, seeing you stared up at him with a frown but due to your current state, he managed to push it open and step inside your home, “what happened to you?” He asked and held your arm, looking at your wounds on the feet bleeding. “Why are you—yah!” You felt him lift you from the ground and entered your home, flailing as he remained resilient to your movements, slowly sitting you down on the couch you’d slept on.
“How did you find me?” You asked as he moved towards the end of the hall, annoyed as you called out, “Yah, this is breaking and entering!” When he returned before you with your first aid kit and a wet towel, he gently cleaned your feet despite your initial refusal. You held your hands to the edge of the couch, tilting your head to see his focus was tending to your wound, you asked, “How did you find me?” “I asked the Principal.” Hwajin responded, finishing wrapping the gauze on your feet and facing your slightly annoyed expression.
Feeling his pressing gaze, you carefully remove your feet from his grasp, “Why?” You said as he slowly stood up before you and looked around the room before landing on your sorry-state as you muttered, “You already screwed me over by not letting me go to school…” “Someone’s after you.” Hwajin expressed as your brows furrowed, seeing he wasn’t kidding and tried to stand when he held a hand to your shoulder to keep you sat down. “We dug around and your brother’s name came up, it doesn’t take a lot to realize that.” He added, glancing down to see your distraught expression.
Moving to hide your face into your hands, your mind was sent reeling as Hwajin gently patted your shoulder. “We’ll release a statement that you aren’t a teacher in Baekgum anymore,” your head snapped out, eyes widened and yelled, “Why?!” “You can’t protect them now. Right now, you aren’t helping them but hurting them.” Hwajin argued, keeping his voice calm as you shrugged his hand off. “You… you don’t believe me,” your eyes brimmed with tears mixed with hurt and anger, “do you believe I really would send those boys to the underworld?!” You stated, feeling wronged, but Hwajin remained silent which hurt more than words could have.
“Get out…” Hwajin swallowed a lump in his throat, taking a step to coax her when she stood up and shoved him away from her, “I don’t want to see someone who’d believe the lies of others over their friend!” You yelled, ignoring the pain of your feet and glared at his calm expression, unaware of the storm brewing in himself, he felt his heart clench when she spoke out in a calm tone.
“I hate you… so get out.”
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“Good afternoon—”
His bored greeting was cut when he saw the empty classroom, stepping back to see the number of the class was indeed 3-D before taking a step inside and walking before the table before the board. “They're staking a rebellion.” A slightly deep voice made Hwajin glance to the side to see the reason for their visit, Na Minjae, entering the room, standing diagonally from where he stood. Hwajin let out a scoff, turning to face Minjae, “I see… why didn’t you join them?” “I knew it wouldn’t matter. The principal already sent me a letter to leave so I’m taking my last stroll of Baekgum High.” Minjae responded, giving a small cute smile before walking towards a nearby table and pulling himself.a seat, facing Hwajin on the podium.
“No one believes in this class,” Minjae looked around at the room filled with light splashes of pain from when they played around, giving a small smile as he landed to Hwajin’s figure, “the only reason this class can even exist is because Ms. Kwon pleaded with the board.” Minjae expressed with a distant gaze, making Hwajin briefly hold onto the study planner you’d left behind tightly. “She worked so hard and got a few of my distant seniors to graduate… you know how hard it was for her to even step into this world, right?” Minjae stated, seeing the older man’s eyes flicker wide at the realization which made the student smile.
“Of course we knew of Ms. Kwon’s very dangerous past life… but we never talked about it because we saw how it fundamentally ruined her,” Minjae leaned onto the table, looking down to gaze at his fingers, “the days where she’d be quiet, times where she felt like she was crazy, and moments where she felt alone… so if I have to leave for her, then I'll accept it.” Minjae stated, lifting his gaze to meet with Hwajin’s tame but unyielding gaze.
Clicking his tongue, Minjae slightly leaned close as if telling a secret between the two of them, “Have a little faith in your friend, Inspector… because there’s no telling if her emotions are animosity or fear.”
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Rushing out of your apartment complex, you saw a black van nearby and ran towards it, throwing the passenger door open to see Hwajin in the driver seat, your voice feeling weak as you uttered, “Na Hwajin-sshi…” “Get in.” He said as you sniffled, nodding as you climbed in the car and shut the door beside you. Hearing a faint cough, you glanced back to see the two other members of the ERPB and politely greeted them with a nod that they returned.
As you returned to face Hwajin who remained staring at you, you looked confused and gently wiped your nose, “Your seatbelt.” He uttered, making you look down, rushing to tug the belt and click it over your torso. Only after seeing you were safely seated did Hwajin start to drive, entering the main road. “When did Minjae text you?” “A-An hour ago, I tried calling but no answer and his parents didn’t know where he’d gone.” You responded, fetching your phone and opening your text logs with the student, seeing he hadn’t seen the rest of your messages, making you tear up and let out shaky breaths.
“Can you tell me the number of Minjae-sshi?” Geundae inquired as he opened his laptop to which you opened his information, trying to read it out-loud when Hwajin grabbed the phone and gave it to Hanrim sitting at the back, “You tell him.” He said as Hanrim recited the numbers as he took a glance towards you who looked distraught.
Looking out into the widow, you took sharp inhales as you wiped your tears with the back of your hands. “Please, be okay, Minjae-ah…” you uttered frantically, your chest tightening and hands fisting the fabric of your pants while shutting your eyes, feeling your mind reeling from panic and worry. A warmth engulfed your left hand, causing you to slightly jolt and flutter your eyes open, seeing a callous and big hand holding yours. Trailing your gaze up the limb to see it belonged to Hwajin who drove with his left hand, focusing his eyes on the road.
“He’ll be fine. You can’t be scared now, how can you help Minjae then?”
Your heart slowly mellowed from the panic attack you’d nearly succumb to, nodding as you tried to gently remove his hand but he slightly squeezed your hand as if refusing your action. “If you keep left we can reach him, I think it’s one of those old speak-easies.” Hanrim stated as Hwajin followed the duo’s instructions.
By the time they arrived at the old worn looking building, you had immediately gotten off despite Hwajin’s warnings and barged through the door, eliciting attention from the other ‘staff’. Your gaze turned steely, seeing Geundae take a step back from your suddenly frosty demeanor as Hwajin and Hanrim stood close behind as if to both protect Geundae and back you up. “Oi-oi, if it isn’t the walking corpse herself!” A man entered the room yelling in Japanese as he eyed the small group, he taunted, “I was expecting you… but your company is a little lacking, hah!” Some of the staff chuckled at the mockery but you remained calm, fist balling to your side.
“Na Minjae… where is he?” You asked in Japanese, making the man snicker, “Oi-oi, I never harm a boy who chose to enter my domain… you however are an intruder, Y/N-san.” He expressed as he snapped a finger. A person from the back of the bar hurled Minjae nearby, pinning him down to keep him still, soon meeting your eyes. Minjae called, “Ms. Boss!” His face was a mix of fear and concern for you but seeing him safe and unharmed made you feel relieved, heaving a breath and facing the man.
“Will you…” you spoke in Japanese, eyeing the staff who were ready to act, “return my student?” Your voice was polite and calm, but all hell-broke loose the moment such words were spoken.
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“Ow-ow—” “Does it hurt? Then how did you even go inside such a dangerous place, huh?!”
Standing outside your apartment, you were harshly pinching Minjae’s cheek, the taller boy pouted as you let him go, giving a pointed glare. “I told you to leave this to me—” “---and you promised to come to school the next day. But you didn’t!” Minjae argued, making your eyes widened, huffing a laugh as you slowly turned to glare at Hwajin who decided to look away, Minjae caught your attention as he asked, “Will you be resigned? If you do, I’ll pull out of my scholarships—” “Yah!” “--I’ll never graduate and make Baekgum High another teacher’s hell!”
“She won’t resign,” The inspector caught the teacher-student duo’s attention, both of you looking to see him walk over, “sorry I couldn’t tell you that day, Minjae-sshi, but that was a rumor to keep the press and that organization away.” Hwajin expressed with a pressed smile, Minjae sighed and shook his head in faux disappointment, “Are all Bureau’s this cunning?” “Some of them–ack!” Hanrim whined at Geundae’s nudging, Minjae clicked his tongue and scratched the back of his head, looking at you.
“A week… Will your pay not get docked from skipping—” “Na Minjae, go home.” You interrupted as you grabbed the boy by the arm, pushing him off to the side-walk, “Tell your parents the truth, they know about me, don’t worry.” You said, Minjae humming and turning to the inspectors, politely bowing and saying, “Again, thank you for helping me…” He slowly stood and walked off.
You turned back to see Hwajin still standing there, making you sigh and slowly walk back to him. Standing before him, you stared at him briefly before looking down and lifting a hand to shake with him, “I owe you an apology. Sorry for those words—” You felt your body pulled close as Hwajin hugged you. The warmth made your body freeze up, eyes widened as your cheek was pressed onto his shoulder, trapping your arms between your bodies, feeling gently cup the back of your head to keep you steady, everything felt jittery and endearing, but wrong.
This isn’t right… we shouldn’t be hugging… I shouldn’t be here…
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One of us has to hold our end of the deal… you’re Choi Gayun’s husband. I’m her best friend… let’s keep it that way.
Another clink of a shot glass, Hwajin remained sitting by a table in a local tent-bar, downing several bottles of soju. He’d underestimated his own tolerance or it simply that he didn’t have the will power to feel drunk. Just as he raised a hand, it was held and forcefully pushed down as he looked ahead to see two students, looking familiar. He’d figured it out, “3-D?” He uttered as the slightly tall boy looked at him with a disappointed expression.
“Inspector, are you really going to wallow in rejection here?” The taller boy named Sungji spoke looking exasperated, “My parents said you’d been here for an hour, and with this amount of alcohol your liver is going to hate you!” He argued, gently taking his shot glass away. The shorter of the two named Chan heaved a breath, “You really are hopeless, Mister.”
Hwajin crossed his arms over his chest, leaning on the table as he inquired, “I was rejected by your ‘Ms. Boss’ two hours ago. I think my situation is fairly reasonable, but please tell me your opinion.” Sungji stared at him and threw the alcohol on the ground, tipping the glass upside down, “Inspector, your fiance—no, your wife—is Ms. Kwon Y/N’s best friend, from what I heard they’re almost like sisters. In such a position, how could she ever accept her feelings for you? Her best friend’s husband.” His words made Hwajin silent, looking away and staring at a part of the tent wall.
Seeing his pondering form, Chan hummed, catching his attention despite not looking at him, “Ms. Boss loved you a lot… but when we asked why she never asked you even without Ms. Choi in the picture, she answered very simply…” Hwajin felt his heart thump and pace differently than normal, Chan recalled the words vividly and pitifully from your bright smile.
“No matter what I do or try to say… there will only be one person inside Na Hwajin’s heart, and as painful as it is to admit, it will never be me. It’s better to change that love into hatred so I won’t wallow in it…”
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Exhausted.
That was how you found Na Hwajin by your door, slumped and absolutely tired from the recent cases. It was a few months since you last saw him, mostly due to your own distant behavior during those days. You sighed and opened your door wide, groaning as you bent to squat by him, “Hwajin-ah?” You called, gently shaking his shoulder, “Yah, Na Hwajin, you’ll wake up all sore sitting here.”
Seeing him stir, you retracted your hand to see him lull his head back onto the wall, staring up at you to see your concerned expression, “What’s wrong? Did the case not go well?” You asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere but his gaze remained on your face, making you gently pat your cheek, “Why? Something on my face?” You inquired as he gently reached for your hand, holding it by him as you slightly frowned, uttering, “Hwajin-ah, stop it.”
“Since when did you feel this way?” Hwajin stared at the hand he’d held, slowly stopping resisting as he added, “How long…” You pressed your lips together, staring at his gaze looking lost and confused, “A year after Gayun-ie… the same day we first met,” His gaze slowly looked up to meet your slightly forced smile, “but your eyes remained on her, so I was content with keeping this… to myself.” You added with a calm tone, looking down at your intertwined hands and letting your heart pace.
“How did you keep it for so long…?” “Because I love you… I was content with letting you be happy, even if it wasn’t with me.”
Hwajin stared at your face, shutting his eyes as if feeling a breeze pass by and let him go. “Y/N, I feel strange around you… I wanted to see if I was wrong. If maybe I was mistaking our past for these feelings… but I didn’t realize it was that. I think I’m falling for you.” Hwajin said, unsure and afraid as you stared at him to see his eyes fluttering open, “She’ll always be part of us… but not like this… something constantly hurting us without meaning to.”
The exhausted gaze made you give a small sincere smile, gently patting his hands into your own, “Are you sure you want us and start again?” “Yeah, so you and I can have another chance…” He uttered as he gently pushed himself off the floor and stood as you followed suit, facing him.
“Thank you for giving me a chance to love you.”
~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~♥︎~
P.S: I have no clue what prompted this, Gokusen influenced this. I got busy real fast now...
