“Detective Song, there's no need to worry.”

Mino was tired of hearing the words. He had been brushed off with those same words too many times in that place. “Is that so? Kim had to give his badge back just last week for the same reason. He's directing traffic now.”

Sergeant Kang sighed. “Detect– Agent Kim has not solved a single case in three months. He was clearly not suited for the job.”

“I haven't solved a case in six months,” Mino retorted.

Sergeant Kang didn't seem to hear. He waved a hand towards the door. “As I said, do not worry. Go now.”

Mino slammed both hands on the desk. “I know everyone thinks I don't deserve this badge, but I became a policeman because I wanted to be of help and I worked hard to get where I am now. You haven't given me a single case since I became detective.” The look in his eyes was of pure frustration. “Either give me something or fire me. I don't want to stay in my office, drinking coffee and eating donuts all day. I want to help the citizens.”

The sergeant looked definitely upset now. He stood up, even though he was still shorter than Mino, and pushed his chest out as he always did when he wanted everyone in the room to remember who was in charge there.

“Detective Song,” he began, slowly. “If you want to help the citizens so much, you might want to start by helping me.”

“That's what I'm saying, I want to help–”

“Get out.”

Mino stared at his chief. “Excuse me?”

“I don't want to see your face for the rest of the day. That would help my headache very much.”

Mino looked at the triumphant look on sergeant Kang's face. There was nothing else to do. He clenched his fists and his jaw, his heels and walked out of the room, slamming the door.

The sound made everyone in the room turn around. His colleagues glanced at him without much interest; a moment later, no one was paying attention to him anymore, as if he was a ghost.

That was exactly how Mino felt in that police station. Everyone was extremely polite to him, but it was that kind of politeness that left him freezing on the inside. And outside of there, no one really talked to him. When colleagues went out drinking on Friday nights, they always somehow forgot to invite him, for example. Mino didn't care – he had his group of friends and he wasn't the type to be affected by that kind of subtle bullying. They were all adults, but he was the only one acting like such, apparently.

Mino's father had been the Police Chief of that department for many years and he had taught Mino the importance of the job of a policeman. He was a righteous man and a very hard worker. For Mino, it was impossible not to take him as a role model. He wanted to be just like his father, but he had no interest in being powerful: he just wanted to help people.

He had never taken anything for granted. He had always worked hard since the first day at the police academy and he was one of the best of his year. Every step brought him closer to his dream.

Unfortunately, reality hit him as soon as he entered the department. No one there saw him as Song Mino the policeman; he was just the son of the Police Chief, it didn't matter if his father had retired years before. Everyone was convinced he was there solely because of the Police Chief's power, therefore his every effort went unnoticed from the very beginning.

At least, when he was still a simple officer they let him do something. Mino had worked his way up to the detective badge and even though no one thought he had become a detective because of his own efforts, he didn't care as long as he knew the truth. But since he had become detective, sergeant Kang had just stopped giving him cases and every time he tried to get his hands on one, they found a way to push him out. Mino was tired, but it didn't mean he was just going to give up. He was sure everyone expected him to do exactly that, so he pulled out his bright smile.

“I'm going out for a coffee, someone wants one?”

Suddenly, everyone's attention was on him again and Mino spent the next minutes writing down the various requests. They all probably thought that being their errand boy suited Mino better than being a detective. Mino decided to let them think what they wanted. He was going to prove his worth soon enough, he was sure of it.

* *

The coffee shop was crowded and Mino had been in line for ten minutes already. There was a woman with her three children at the head of the line, and she was going crazy trying to order for all of them as the kids kept changing idea. Mino didn't know who was more stressed between the woman and the cashier, but he knew that the rest of the line was growing impatient. He was perfectly calm – a policeman needed to be very patient at times: Mino had dealt with people who loved to talk back to agents and act all mighty even when they were caught red-handed. They were way more annoying than a queue.

As he was mentally going through his colleagues' orders, he heard a deep sigh behind him.

“Kids should be banned from stores until they're old enough to make a decision on their own,” said a very young voice at his back. It was a man and he sounded very distressed.

Mino chuckled, but didn't turn around. “We were all children once.”

“I'm pretty sure I knew what flavor of milkshake I wanted even at that age,” came the same voice, sounding even more annoyed. It was followed by another sigh. “I'm sick and tired of this line. Like, really sick.”

Mino shrugged. “Come on, it's not that bad.”

“No, I think I'm really not feeling well...”

The voice had changed drastically; it now sounded weak and broken to the point that it made Mino want to check on the person. He turned around just in time to catch the man before he crumbled at his feet. It was so sudden that Mino was left shocked for a moment, but he quickly recovered his lucidity.

“Take a step back, please. Let him breathe,” Mino instructed as he laid the man down on the floor.

He was indeed a very young man with a small face that now looked very pale, making a great contrast with his black hair. Mino removed his jacket and made a pillow out of it before pushing it under the man's head. He wasn't unconscious and his eyes fluttered open a moment later.

“Where am I...?” he asked first thing, looking around. There were several people staring at him.

Mino quickly checked if he was wounded anywhere. “Are you alright?”

The young man pointed his dark eyes on Mino for the first time. “Yes, I...” he sat up slowly, while Mino kept a hand behind his back to help him. “I... passed out, didn't I? I have such poor health, I'm sorry.”

Mino looked at those sad eyes and smiled softly. “No need to be.” The man wanted to get up, so the detective helped him on his feet. He looked at him with a worried frown on his face. “Are you sure you're alright?”

“Yes, yes, don't worry,” he cracked a small smile. His front teeth made him look like a bunny. “It happens often, especially in crowded places.”

Mino still had one arm wrapped around his back. “You should get some fresh air,” he suggested.

The younger nodded and Mino escorted him out of the coffee shop. As soon as the cold wind hit their faces, he could see the man's face gaining a bit of color back.

“Thank you,” he said as he slipped out of Mino's hold. His voice sounded normal again. “Sorry for the bother, I'm good to go now.”

“Are you sure?” Mino thought his bright smile looked somehow fake. Maybe he was trying to act strong because he didn't want to be a nuisance. “I work not far from here, I could give you a ride home–” he suddenly remembered about the jacket. “Ah, crap, I left my jacket inside. Wait here a minute, alright?”

The young man stopped him before he could run back into the shop. He was smiling softly and Mino realized he was really handsome when he smiled like that. He looked like the typical nice guy: he wore light jeans and a denim jacket over a plain t-shirt; at his feet, very old sneakers. His clothes made him look even younger than his age, even if Mino didn't know how old he was exactly. He was surely younger than him.

“There's really no need to,” he said kindly. “My apartment is just a few blocks away. I'm sure I can make it,” he chuckled. “Have a nice day.”

The young man walked away and Mino couldn't help searching for any sign of uncertainty in his steps, but the man looked completely fine. He waited until he disappeared around the block before walking into the shop again.

Ten minutes and another long queue later, Mino was finally in front of the cashier, his jacket hanging from his arm. He looked at the menu on the wall and searched his pockets for his wallet, where he had put the piece of paper with the coffees list.

He rummaged the small space for way longer than necessary, but to no avail. The wallet was nowhere to be found. Mino fished out his keys, his badge and everything else that was stuffed in his pockets, but his wallet wasn't there. He checked the jacket just to be sure, but he knew he had not put it there and indeed, there was no trace of his wallet in the pockets.

“Wait just a moment,” he said to the cashier who was looking at him with an eyebrow raised. Someone behind him cleared his throat and Mino moved to the side as he was blocking the line.

His wallet had disappeared. He was sure he had it when he left the station so he had lost it along the way.

Or...

The events of that morning unfolded in front of his eyes like a movie. The long queue. The voice behind him. The young man fainting. Mino wrapping his arms around him and escorting him out.

Mino's eyes grew wide. That man had several chances to get his hands on his wallet. It would explain why he was suddenly back on his feet after passing out. Maybe it was a technique and he had never been sick in the first place.

He has planned it all, he realized. It's probably not his first time either.

Suddenly, coffees and donuts weren't Mino's priority anymore. He wore his jacket and ran out of the shop, trying to remember where the man was headed. He had said he lived a few blocks away from there, but it was probably another lie. He was still around somewhere, maybe pickpocketing other people or worse. Mino thanked the heavens that he needed to focus on his surroundings, because otherwise he would have felt like such an idiot for falling so easily into the trap.

He had lost sight of him just a few minutes before so he couldn't be that far, unless he had taken the public transport – and Mino hoped he didn't. The detective ran around the few blocks near the coffee shop and finally stopped when he reached the main square, which actually had a circular shape and a big fountain in the middle. He could easily keep the whole space under control from there and it didn't take long for him to finally find the person he was looking for.

The young man was resting against the wall outside of another cafeteria and he looked totally relaxed. Mino walked to him, feeling angrier at every step. He had been fooled by that angelic face; he hoped no one at the police station would find out or he could kiss goodbye to the little credibility he had left.

The man was wearing sunglasses and sipping from a big strawberry milkshake through a colorful straw as if he didn't have a single worry in the world.

“Hey, you,” Mino called out when he finally reached him. He was almost out of breath.

The younger tilted his head so that his sunglasses ran down his nose a little, and he glanced at the man briefly over the dark lenses. “Hello.” He sounded cheerful and he kept on his straw.

Mino scanned his figure and noticed a small bulge in his back pocket. “What's that?”

The man looked down at his jeans for a moment and then back at Mino. “My ,” he replied casually, swirling his tongue around the straw before sipping from it some more. The detective had to admit it was quite distracting, but he shook the thought out of his head.

“The thing in your back pocket,” he said. “It's my wallet.”

“Is it?” the other replied, not even slightly bothered. His attitude was totally different from when they were at the coffee shop and Mino felt a shiver running up his spine. What was going on there?

“You took it while I was trying to help you,” Mino felt like he was stating the obvious. “Nice trick you had there. You looked truly sick, but I guess that's just the natural color of your skin since you look pretty dead now too.”

The younger shot an imaginary bullet at him and made a clicking sound with his tongue. “I take that as a compliment,” he said, “and yes, it might be your wallet. But you're wrong – I didn't steal it. I found it.”

“You found it?”

“Outside of the shop, as I was walking away,” he looked at Mino over his sunglasses once again. “Maybe you're just really clumsy, how about that?”

Mino crossed his arms and smirked. “Nice try. Too bad I came from the other way so I couldn't possibly lose it where you said to have found it.”

The young man looked away and kept sipping from his milkshake as if Mino wasn't even there anymore. Maybe he thought that Mino didn't look like someone who would beat him up to get his wallet back. And indeed, Mino didn't need to get to such extremes.

He sighed as he fished out his badge. “Give me back the wallet.”

The younger looked at the detective badge and almost choked on his drink. Typical reaction, Mino thought. He was already smiling when he realized that the other man was choking because he was laughing too hard.

“You're a cop?” he said as he was trying to catch his breath. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “How did you get fooled so easily?”

All of a sudden those bunny teeth didn't look cute anymore. The man was still laughing when Mino realized he had never wanted to punch anyone so hard in his whole life. His expression must have been really eloquent, because the younger stopped laughing after a while.

“Alright, alright, here,” he said, fishing the wallet out of his back pocket. “I'm sure you don't want to waste time and paper on this. Let's say you lost it and I returned it to you, deal?”

Mino took the wallet, glancing at the man with burning eyes. He immediately checked the content and raised an eyebrow. “Where is the money?”

The other looked away, sipping from his milkshake as he fished a bunch of crumpled banknotes from his front pocket. “Minus the ten bucks for the milkshake,” he warned, shrugging. “I expected an officer to be more loaded, somehow. It’s quite disappointing.”

Mino was pretty sure a milkshake wasn't that expensive, but he didn't say anything and he found enough strength to ignore the shade too. He took the money with a grumpy expression and stuffed it inside the wallet. Then, he frowned again. “My credit card?”

The younger man searched through his other pocket and fished out Mino's credit card and a few other documents.

“Oops,” he said. “I'm so clumsy. Sorry, officer.” He didn't look sorry at all.

“Detective,” Mino retorted, snatching the documents away from his hold.

“Detective?” the other echoed, his lips threatening to break into a smile once again.

“Yes, yes, I'm a detective and I got fooled,” Mino rolled his eyes and sighed. “Seriously, you just robbed a policeman, you should be more worried.”

“What for?” the younger replied, on his straw and looking at Mino straight in the eye. “We already settled that I just returned your wallet, right, detective?”

The way he said that word sounded so dirty and Mino was getting a headache. He had no intention of arresting him from the beginning anyway. Arresting a little quick-handed thief wasn't going to help him. He needed to work on a serious case to get some recognition for his skills.

Do you even have any skills when even a little thief managed to steal your wallet under your nose?, said a voice in his head.

“Shut up,” Mino mumbled.

“Excuse me?” the younger said.

“Not you,” Mino sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. “Alright, let's forget about this. But if I catch you stealing again–”

“If,” the other echoed, smiling from ear to ear.

Mino was bewildered by such nerviness. “...Seriously, go to school or something. If I catch you again you will get jailed, you understand?”

The younger made what should have been a military greeting, but in a very careless manner and without shifting his eyes from the half empty milkshake. “Sure thing, detective Song.”

Mino sighed again. Whatever. He still had to buy those damn coffees and endure the rest of that long day at the station. He didn't have time for other brats.

The younger man watched the detective as he walked away and eventually pushed the sunglasses on the top of his head.

His lips curled in a disappointed expression and he looked down at his almost empty cup. “This milkshake brings all the cops to the yard, apparently.”

* *

Head on his palm and eyes half-closed, Mino was googling himself on the office laptop, when a file suddenly dropped on his desk from nowhere. Startled, he looked up to find the bright smile of sergeant Kang staring back at him.

No good – sergeant Kang never smiled. Those who had the misfortune of seeing his smile didn’t stay in that place long enough to tell the tale.

“I have something for you,” the chief said, smiling from ear to ear. He looked extremely satisfied.

Mino’s fingers brushed along the edges of the folder before opening it. Inside, a few papers full of pictures and very little information. He scanned through it quickly.

“What…” his eyes rested on his superior. “This is a dead case.”

“You said you wanted to prove your abilities. I’m sure someone as skilled as you will manage to solve a case no one else in this police station has managed to solve in the last six months.” He underlined the last words with his voice as his smile turned into something more sinist