How to meet the worst day

It took a while and it was the scariest thing he ever had to go through, but Hwang Soon-Bum managed to win the fight.

Not that he could actually rejoice about it.

He had wrestled with the prosecutor, cursing and crying at the same time, nailing the vampire on the bed with all his strength, bruising his best friend's wrists and crashing the young man's chest with his elbow. Tae-yeon's fangs had finally disappeared as his labored breathing slowed down. Blue fury in his eyes had turned into weary brown and he had given in into unconsciousness after a last jolt.

Hwang Soon-Bum sat on the edge of the bed, mopping Tae-yeon's forehead with a cold cloth.

- "You're so damn strong", he told the prosecutor. "Even in this state. If all your… well, if the others are the same, I really don't want to have to face a healthy vampire any time soon."

He massaged his forearms. Then he had a little smile, while he soaked again the cloth in a the bowl on the night table.

- "But I bet you have to be a lot stronger to control yourself. Thank you, Tae-yeon. For all the time you restrain your… blue side so you can protect us."

His friend didn't react.

He was laying still, eyes closed, damp locks of messy dark hair on his whitened face, a curled hand abandoned on his pillow.

Soon Bum chuckled.

So child like.

The detective put the cloth back and sighed again.

- "What happened to your vampire healing power today ?" he murmured. "Are the rules changing or what ? Was that dude's blood something different ?"

The young man didn't answer.

Dark circles under his eyes, cheeks sharpened by his pallor, a somehow bitter fold on his lips. The sheet had moved and uncovered a broad naked shoulder laced with an old scar.

Soon Bum darkened.

So hero like.

He got up, went to the window to stretch his legs.

- "Why did it have to be you ?" he muttered with a glance to the bed.

He remembered very well the day he had met Min Tae-yeon for the first time.

It was the same day the young man got the scar.

A very human scar, that no healing power could ever erase.

People kept thinking they had met two years ago, on the Min Jae-In case and both of them had never tried to say otherwise.

It wasn't all wrong.

It wasn't the whole truth either.


It was more than ten years ago, on a hot and sunny day too.

deserted streets going up and down in a blast of light, crispy sound of grasshoppers, distant chatter, and the loud echo of his running steps…

He was panting and cursing under his breath.

He was in good form but the guy he was chasing really could have run a marathon.

Down the stairs – taptaptap – around the corner of the street – pffpffpff – skid and elbows up, let's keep the rythm…

He jerked back, almost colliding with a couple old ladies who were slowly making their ways across the street.

- "Acht! Just stay home eating rice crackers!"

The suspect was getting further and Soon Bum wasn't sure he still had enough stamina to catch up with the growing gap between them.

- "You punk! Wait for me! Er, sorry, ladies!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Then he saw him.

Some crazy chap, probably just coming out of police school, with a black suit and a pair of red sneakers. The guy appeared from nowhere, jumped over a fence, and threw himself from a terrace onto the suspect.

They rolled on the ground in a cloud of dust, wrestling.

Soon Bum caught up, sweaty and breathless.

He joined in the fight and a minute after, the both of them managed to immobilize the runaway. The detective finally sat on the suspect.

- "Aigoo! Who do you think you're giving a tour of Mapo ? I live here, you little fry!"

- Get off, fatso! gurgled the prisoner, struggling to brake free.

He cuffed him after a last slap on the head, then turned to the young man who was panting, slumped against the wall.

- "You okay, kiddo? Thanks for the help. I didn't ask for backup, though. Who sent you?"

Dark brown eyes shot him a mischievous glare.

- "You'd have died out of breath before catching him up, old man."

Hwang stared at the cocky brat.

- "Round 1 over", chewed the suspect from underneath.

Messy black hair, satisfaction showing through white teeth smiling widely, tailored suit, nice tie.

And a handsome face.

Daddy's boy, thought Detective Hwang with a blasé furrowed eyebrow.

He got up and grabbed the suspect by his collar to help him up.

- "First day?" he asked shooting a warning look at the kid. "Wait till you're home to brag, coz' no one's gonna think you're a hero at the station, you know." He made a step then turned back with a thought: "And don't drop the honorifics if you want to live. I'm detective Hwang Soon-Bum. Believe me, you don't want to mess up with me. Well… see ya."

The young man stood up too. He brushed off his sleeves, then flashed an ironic smile.

- "I don't think so", he chuckled. "Detective."

He held out his hand.

- Prosecutor Min Tae-yeon. I talked to your colleague this morning and gave him the location of your suspect."

Soon-Bum's cheeks were on fire.

The tip had saved their brains from boiling up with frustration after 3 days.

He swallowed hard, reached out to shake the hand.

-Er…

He didn't want to say thank you to the kid but had to say something to the prosecutor, obviously.

Damn rules of politeness.

He breathed in.

- "I…"

The young man swayed, suddenly turning pale. His right hand went to his left shoulder and came back stained with blood.

- "Ha!" exclaimed Soon-Bum, forgetting his frustration right away. "You okay?"

- "Don't think so, dude", hissed the suspect. "Took you long, Dumbo…"

The detective's eyes surveyed the area and he noticed for the first time the knife covered with dust and blood.

Must have happened during the fight…

He tightened his grip on the suspect with one hand while the other looked for his cellphone in his trousers' back pocket.

- "Wait a minute, I'll call for an ambulance."

- "I'll be fine", cut in the young man, teeth clenched.

He managed a smirk.

- "Nothing more than a scratch. Let's get our friend to the station. Did you read him his rights ?"

- "Aigoo! You wanna smell of hero that much!" exclaimed the suspect. "Guess it's better than look like Mister Instant Noodles over here."

Detective Hwang slapped the nape of the man's neck, in an absent-minding way. He smiled.

Kid's got guts, eh?

Surely there was more under the nice outfit and handsome face.

- He knows what's in for him, all'right. Let's go.

They didn't walk alone very far. Policemen were coming down the street, with a skinny fox-looking guy in a dark blue suit.

- "Prosecutor Min! Where were you gone? Don't you know you're supposed to follow me like a duckling sticking to his momma? You punk! Come here! We'll see how to make you understand that"

- "Yes, sunbaenim… I'm sorry, sunbaenim…" answered the young man in a bored tone.

Soon Bum frowned.

Didn't the boss noticed the stream of blood along the kid's arm? Clearly, these kind of reproaches could await for AFTER a hospital trip?

He handed over the suspect to his partner, than brushed off his greasy bangs.

- "Excuse me, sir… I need your newbie. Some report at the station."

- "Can't this wait?" barked the skinny man.

- "Nope."

Something must have shone in his eyes – something probably slightly murderous – because the prosecutor boss backed down and muttered his agreement, before leaving the place.

Min Tae-yeon looked at the detective, puzzled.

Hwang Soon-Bum licked his lips, rolling his eylids like this was really nothing of importance.

- "Let's go stitch up your arm, prosecutor Min", he said, without looking directly in the young man's eyes.

The kid had the nerve to snort. A happy sparkle shone briefly in his eyes and he followed the detective to his car.


So much for a kid… you were already a man.

Hwang Soon-Bum returned to the bed and sat on the edge again. He changed the wet cloth, looking at his friend with a fond smile.

- "You always pretend everything's fine. Bad habit, Tae-yeon-ah. I told you before. You can rely on others. I don't need you to protect me. You don't have to be strong all the time… You can rely on me."


At the hospital, he had met the younger sister of the prosecutor and seen how Min Tae-yeon was protecting her from worrying.

- "I fell on a broken fence, while I was chasing after a suspect. It's just a scratch, wait for me a minute, than we'll go home."

Yeah, sure.

The little girl had bought the lie with complete trust. She had waited behind the curtain and the young man hadn't uttered a moan during the stitching.

Detective Hwang was mistaken for their guardian and had to go sign some papers. He did it on behalf of the ugly fox-looking boss, filling up the form in order for them to get the accident-while-at-work insurance money.

When you looked closely, the tailored suit was super clean but quite old and the red sneakers had seen better days.

The little girl's school bag was brand-new and she wore a preppy uniform.

The form titled statue : orphan. Younger sister in custody.

Detective Hwang left unnoticed after a last look in the exam room. The proud smile on the young prosecutor's face, as he told his excited little sister about the arrest and the way he was going to call for justice in court, reminded him of his first successes.

He wondered if you felt that way, watching a younger brother grow up.

He didn't go to the trial and never heard again of the young prosecutor.

When the corpse of a young girl showed up on TV with two holes in her neck, he wasn't working in Seoul and just stopped a few minutes to stare at the screen, trying to remember why she looked familiar.

Then he came back, years later, and met again the prosecutor on their famous case together.

Yes, this wasn't their first encounter, but it was the first time he met who everybody called "arrogant cold genius prosecutor Min Tae-yeon".

The happy bragging kid was no more.

He met a man who relied only on himself and didn't know how to smile any more.

So they didn't act like if they knew each other and for awhile, he thought maybe Min Tae-yeon had forgotten all about that hot and dusty day.

It was fine this way.

Life happened.

Vampire happened.

And then, one day, Soon-bum found himself answering to the prosecutor and realized he didn't know since how long he was being called "hyung".


The young man stirred in the bed. His eyelashes fluttered and his hand moved, as if he was looking for something.

Soon-bum grabbed it.

- "Coming back to the world, eh? Are you okay, Tae-yeon-ah? I'm sorry I had to be a brute."

The prosecutor didn't open his eyes. His hand squeezed weakly his friend's as a fading smile passed on his discolored lips.

- "It's 'coz you use… such words… you're not yet married, Hyung…"

- "Aigoo! Are you making fun of me?"

Detective Hwang laughed, feeling his fear and worry lighten a bit.

- "Are you… crying?"

He wiped his cheeks, surprised.

- "Ha. Weird…"

He had an embarrassed chuckle, then his eyes met Tae-yeon's gaze.

Blue.

Deep sky blue.

But the look inside was the kid's from the former days.

His eyes locked earnestly with the vampire's eyes.

- "You'll be okay, kiddo, trust me", he said.

A glittering drop went down the young man's cheek, silently.

- "Thank you, hyung."

Someone cleared his throat behind them.

- "I didn't know you had blue eyes, prosecutor Min".