Na Hwa-Jin

For months, Inspector Geun-dae had been convinced Na Hwa-jin's life lacked one thing. "You work, you investigate, you go home, then you repeat it all again." Na Hwa-jin had ignored every attempt at the conversation.

Unfortunately, Geun-dae wasn't the type to accept being ignored. It started with casual suggestions, then photographs, then suspiciously convenient introductions that somehow always ended with someone waiting at a café. Every single one ended exactly the same—Na Hwa-jin politely excused himself within the hour and returned to work the next morning as though nothing had happened.

"You're impossible," Geun-dae eventually sighed.

"I'm busy," Na Hwa-jin answered.

Han-rim happened to overhear that conversation. Unlike Geun-dae, she didn't argue. She simply smiled. "Leave the next one to me."

That sentence alone should've been enough to make Na Hwa-jin decline. Instead, after days of persistent persuasion from Geun-dae and far too much amusement from Han-rim, Na Hwa-jin reluctantly agreed to one final meeting, making it abundantly clear there wouldn't be another after this.

The restaurant was quiet enough to hear cutlery against porcelain. Na Hwa-jin arrived exactly on time. His gaze swept across the room once before settling on someone seated near the window.

...A man.

For the first time that evening, Na Hwa-jin paused. Han-rim knew. That realization surfaced before any other thought did. Not because Na Hwa-jin had ever spoken about it—he hadn't—but because Han-rim had always possessed an unsettling habit of noticing the things everyone else overlooked.

For a brief moment, Na Hwa-jin considered turning around and walking straight back out. Instead, he adjusted the sleeve of his coat, crossed the restaurant with the same composed stride he carried into every investigation, and stopped beside the table.

"I suppose Han-rim enjoys creating problems she'll never have to solve." Only then did Na Hwa-jin pull out the chair opposite you. "Na Hwa-jin." A brief pause. "I take it you're the reason I was told not to make any plans tonight."