"Do you know one of the Bellmires?" Yuria asked. Judging by what he said, it sounded like Jin was familiar with the family.
"Somewhat. Addison, the youngest daughter of the Bellmire family, asked me to marry her a few weeks ago."
"WHAT?!" Both women nearly fell to the floor upon hearing the crazy news Jin just announced.
"S-She proposed to you? What did you say?"
"No, of course." Jin thought that was pretty obvious.
"N-No? You said no?" Yuria looked at Jin as if he had lost his mind. Marrying into the Bellmire family was akin to having a diamond spoon in your mouth.
"Are you crazy!" Karen had the same thought process as Yuria
Jin shrugged. "Probably."
"Wow. Okay, well, talking to the Bellmires might be pretty difficult on our end, but we'll see what we can do. If we aren't able to investigate, then you should ask your friend if she could let you to have you investigate yourself. If that's not too much to ask."
Jin shook his head. "It's not. Just call me if you aren't able to investigate any further. Oh, could you also keep what I did to that guy off the books?"
"Hahaha! Sure, kid, sure." Karen patted Jin on the back.
Jin smiled. For the rest of the day, he helped Yuria with everything—from paperwork and organizing file cabinets to responding to calls: rescuing a dog from a tree, breaking up a fight, and rushing a boy to the hospital after he'd eaten too much nutmeg.
After a long day at work, Jin returned to his dorm room and meditated until he fell asleep.
---
"Hello, Mrs Bellmire, my name is Detective Karen, and this is my associate, Officer Qutesh. We're here following up on an investigation that was about one of your warehouses being robbed yesterday afternoon."
It was the following day, and while Jin was still doing his morning workouts, Yuria and Detective Karen had headed to Bellmire Corperations to talk with the president of the company, who was Addison's mother.
Currently, they were sitting in her office and gave her all the information they had on the break-in, hoping she would be able to help their investigation.
"First, I would like to thank you for returning the prototype pulsar cannon to us, Officer Qutesh. I would also like to apologize to you because your vehicle was destroyed, thanks to our technology. We will fully compensate the police department for the damages."
Yuria smiled. "You don't need to apologize, Ma'am. I'm just glad that no one was hurt and that we were able to return your technology."
"Thank you. Now, as for your investigation, I'm afraid that I cannot help you with that. You see, my team is already conducting an investigation, and we have everything covered." Mrs Bellmire appreciated the officer's potential aid, but she wasn't interested in having them look around her warehouses and labs.
"Mrs Bellmire, please reconsider. The people who stole your technology belong to the Brotherhood gang, and they said that they were used as decoys so you could be compromised."
Yuria added on to Karen's statement. "And according to one of the gang members, the technology they stole from you could tip the balance of the world. What does that mean?"
Mrs Bellmire held up her hand. "I'm well aware of that. However, the Brotherhood isn't foolish enough to steal from me; I support their casino after all. Besides, they aren't really known for their organized crime."
She effortlessly avoided the important parts of their questions.
"But Mrs. Bellmire-"
"That will be all, thank you very much, Ladies. Now, please see your way out of my office."
Yuria and Karen stood up, thanked Mrs Bellmire for her time.
"Oh, before you go, you mentioned there was an Aegis Corps trainee with you at the time, right, Officer Qutesh?"
She nodded. "Yes. His name is Jin Telegard."
"A man?"
"Correct. He's extremely smart and is great in combat. His file is up on the Aegis Corps databank if you wish to check him out."
"I think I will. I should reward him for helping you out after all."
Once the officers were gone, Mrs. Bellmire became extremely angry. She pressed a button on her office phone, contacting someone.
"You buzzed, Madam?" A person on the other side of the line asked
"Speed up the investigation ASAP! We cannot let the technology that was stolen find its way into the wrong hands!"
"Yes, Madam."
She hung up. "DAMMIT! FUCKING DAMMIT! WHOEVER STOLE FROM ME WILL FUCKING DIE!" She slammed her fist into her table, shattering it with one strike.
---
"And that's what happened," Yuria called Jin and told him about the conversation with Mrs. Bellmire.
"I see. Well, I'll be on my way to the station soon. I will see what I can do off the books."
"Thanks, Jin."
"No problem." He hung up.
"Who was that?" Addison walked over to him.
"Police." Jin responded
Addison nodded. "When are you available?"
"Why, wanna take me out on a date or something?"
"Something like that."
Jin was not expecting that response, so it took him off guard. "Uhh, what?"
"My mother. She wants to thank you for helping the officers return the stolen technology from her company."
"Oh, well, tell her that I said it was my pleasure to help. Use a heart emoji as well. Wait, use flowers instead. You know what, don't use any emojis at all." Jin didn't want it to seem like he was flirting with Addison's mom.
"I will. But she wants to invite you to have dinner with my family."
"Huh? What? Why?"
"She read your file and saw that you're very capable. Also, she knows that I asked you to marry me."
'Motherfucker!' Jin wanted to refuse, but that would be foolish—not because it was a missed opportunity, but because Adeline Bellmire was one of the most powerful people in the country, in strength, wealth, and influence.
However, there was no way Jin was going to accept without having a condition.
"Okay, I'll go. I'm free on the weekend, Saturday to be specific. However, I need your help with something."
Addison smiled. "What do you need?"
"I need your help breaking into your mother's company to find out what really happened there. I have a feeling that something big is happening."
Jin lived long enough to know when he felt something was off. After countless times when he disregarded his instincts, leading to the deaths of many people he cared about, he decided to always trust his gut after that point.
"Sure."
"What? That's it? You're not even going to question me?"
Addison shrugged. "I've been breaking into my mother's company since I was a child as a form of training. Besides, this could be a good bonding time between us."
'I don't know if breaking into a multibillion-dollar company would count as bonding time, but whatever.'
"Sweet. We'll meet up on Saturday at midnight. I guess that's Sunday, but you understand what I mean."