“Oh come on, Jun! It is too funny to not tell it to anybody!” Doojoon whined to Junhyung, hopping around the CEO to get in his line of sight but the CEO was adamant about not looking at Doojoon. Dongwoon and Yoseob laughed at the side as they watched how Doojoon pleaded with the CEO to forgive him for spreading the news of him stepping on the soccer ball.


They were at the office’s open air garden in the middle of the whole building. It was a pretty, and calming place. Although it was at a place where many would pass by, the garden remained mostly empty as everybody was busy working. Doojoon and Dongwoon coincidentally had finished an external meeting outside and met Junhyung and Yoseob who were chilling by the garden, taking a breather from work. That was also how Doojoon found out that the CEO was teased by Yoseob for hurting his leg in such a ridiculous manner. Thus, the current situation.


Yoseob thought that this would probably take some time and strolled to a nearby bench to sit on it. Halfway through, he passed by and stopped at the fountain with the magnificent statue of a woman in the middle and smiled at it admiringly, whispering to himself excitedly “Rodin’s work, how did they even get it?”


The other three males stopped and diverted their attention towards the police officer, mouth slightly opened at Yoseob’s words. “How did you---?” Dongwoon stuttered while pointing at the statue, “They met an underground dealer and got this statue from his own personal collection. It’s not of national treasure level and not publicized, ever. How did you know this is his work?”


“Simple. The ratio of the clay, marble and bronze is what he usually work with and the sculpting of it, the details of the woman’s face, the expression she displays. It’s definitely Rodin’s.” Yoseob nodded towards the statue, as if assuring himself that he was certain.


Junhyung beamed at the police officer, casting a proud look at him before smirking at the other two as if to say, ‘He’s smart, isn’t he?’ Dongwoon and Doojoon nodded and clapped their hands, impressed with Yoseob. They knew that he was quick witted and smart but this was a whole new level. “Mr and Mrs Yong were into such art and they whenever they travelled far, they would save a few days just to check out all the exotic stuff that country brings.” Dongwoon explained, gesturing to the statue, “This was one of their best finds.”


Yoseob nodded thoughtfully, “Very tasteful indeed.” He turned to Junhyung with a bright smile, “The late Mr and Mrs Yong must be really fascinating people.” Junhyung closed his eyes and nodded slowly with a small smile. They really were. Throughout the times Junhyung had spent with them, they were always telling him of all their travel stories and they would educate him with so much knowledge about the world outside. Instead of allowing the company to hold them back, they used the business opportunities to have a wider network to find more of such treasures. Their quirkiness also fitted the company well which was why they had made so much profits and money. Junhyung had never been more proud of his parents.

Opening his eyes, he saw that Yoseob was walking slowly towards the bench, Doojoon and Dongwoon beside Junhyung rambling about how smart the secretary was and how lucky Junhyung was to have hired him. He was about to nod his head to agree to them when he spotted something, causing his blood to turn cold and his heart to stop instantly.


A vase was falling hard and fast right above Yoseob.


Doojoon and Dongwoon were still talking amongst themselves, chattering non-stop, not noticing the vase and the dangerous consequence it was going to bring. Yoseob was equally oblivious to it, wiping a speck of dirt on the bench off, ready to sit on it. Junhyung was too far from Yoseob to push him away and the bloodied image of his parents flashed by his mind once again as he shouted.


“Yoseob, move away!”


Fortunately, the police officer was nimble and reacted quickly as he really moved away from the bench, thinking that there was something on it. It wasn’t even two seconds later when there was a large blood-curdling crash on the bench and the broken pieces of vase lay all over it. Yoseob stared wide-eyed at the mess and stood rooted to the ground. It felt like a bucket of icy cold water was poured over his head as he realized that he was right at that spot seconds ago.


Junhyung was by Yoseob’s side almost immediately, grabbing the smaller male and pulling him into a tight embrace, half-shouting into his hair, “How unobservant could you be?! What would happen if something were to happen to you? What would happen to me if something were to happen to you?!” He pulled him away slightly and started fussing all over his body, “Were you scratched? Did any of the glass shards got to you? Oh my goodness, yes!” Junhyung started checking the small cut a stray glass piece managed to create on Yoseob’s forearm, mumbling anxiously, “We’ve got to clean this up before it gets infected. I’m not sure how deep it is but--- what?” The CEO blinked at Yoseob whose eyes were wider than it previously was, staring at him like he had sprouted an extra head.


Tears filled Yoseob’s eyes as he continued staring, frightening Junhyung terribly, “What is it? Does it hurt elsewhere?” The smaller male shook his head, the tears falling from his eyes as he used his uninjured arm that was free from Junhyung’s grip to caress the older male’s face.



“You’re talking”, he whispered hoarsely, more tears streaming down his cheeks.


Junhyung froze in his tirade of words and looked around him, seeing Doojoon and Dongwoon smiling widely, the look of shock apparent but the happiness that shone on their faces were overpowering it. Turning back, he gazed in Yoseob’s eyes that were twinkling with so much joy behind all those tears and after seconds of silence, he gave out a laugh. Pulling the police officer into his embrace, he inhaled his scent deeply and whispered tenderly,



“About time, isn’t it?”


------


After trying to find out who the person who threw the vase down was by looking through the CCTVs and speaking to the terrified owner of the vase who was in a meeting when the incident happened and swore that she did not know anything about it, Yoseob deduced that it was pointless to continue pursuing the matter and so, he and Junhyung now sat at home, behind the familiar glass door. This time though, there was no need for a laptop to be between them as he sat beside Junhyung, who had shifted his chair to be in line with the police officer’s.


The CEO was gently the bandage on Yoseob’s forearm, evidently worried about the cut even after Yoseob and even the doctor had assured him that it was just a small cut and wasn’t anything serious. The police officer patted his hand and smiled at him, his heart still swelling from finally hearing the voice of Junhyung.


It was way better than he had expected.


It was deep with a hint of mystery. It was a little rough when he raised his voice but the husky edges just delighted Yoseob more. It was soothing and melodious when he was speaking softly, cocooning Yoseob in bliss and warmth when he listens to it. It was simply beautiful.


Shaking his head to regain his focus and go back to topic, he coughed a little and straightened his back, “Junhyung ah, you know how I told you I’ve laid out a bait for Woohyun? It was to see how he would react knowing that I knew about him and Hongki being siblings. True enough, he reacted so quickly enough to want to do this to me.”


“What?”


Yoseob slumped his shoulders impatiently before continuing, “I ‘accidentally’ let slipped that I know of them being siblings. Because if Woohyun was the murderer, I would expect him to react slightly viciously. Although I never expected him to do something like this? I mean seeing how he is always flirting for him, I wouldn’t think that he would try to injure me so badly just for knowing that they are siblings. I’m not saying that he’s definitely the one but as of now, it really seem to be the case. I’ll continue setting more baits and then--- ouch! What was that for?” The police officer rubbed his forehead that Junhyung had just flicked and pouted.


“How could you use yourself as the bait? I do want you to arrest the murderer quickly but not at the expense of yourself and definitely not be you risking yourself in such a manner. We don’t know what exactly the murder wants or is capable of and I don’t want you to be making such risky decisions again.”


“Oh I will be fine”, Yoseob waved his hand casually and laughed, “I’m police trained. In fact, I’m one of the better fighters out there.”


“You almost had a whole vase crashing on your head this afternoon.” Junhyung whispered harshly, his eyes staring sternly at the police officer whose laughter had died away very quickly now that he realized that Junhyung was being serious. “I don’t want to see someone I care about all bloody and lifeless in front of me again”, Junhyung continued, his tone less harsh now and his voice wavering, as if trying to control his emotions. “The night it happened, I couldn’t even react before I was knocked out. All I remembered was my guts felt like it was being torn out and my breath was completely out of me. I don’t even remember how painful or how hard the knock on my head was. When I awoke, the first thing that appeared in my mind was their bodies, the blood that covered them.


There were only one stab wound on each of them but the amount of blood I saw that was all over them wasn’t little. Even before the police broke the news to me, even before they took my statement, even before they stepped into my room, I knew. That it was impossible for my parents to have survived after losing that much blood. I didn’t need the police to tell me that the murderer was a skilled man as he stabbed right into their crucial points and he stabbed deep. I knew. That it was impossible that that much blood could have left a person if it was a normal stab.


I don’t know if I should be grateful that the murderer only let them suffer for a little while before they passed