“Wait a minute.” Haru straightened up and leaned forward towards the desk. “You said I could leave if he didn’t come at three and right now –“ She looked at the clock hanging on the opposite wall. 

Youngjae diverted his attention back to the officer. “What time did you come in, Yongguk?”

“At three.” He fumbled into the pocket of his uniform’s black pants and took out a small white clock in slip. “Uh –“ He hands it towards Haru. “My name is Bang Yongguk, it seems we will be sharing each other’s company for 70 hours.”

Please, don’t remind her. 

But, that’s beside the point. Haru jumped to her feet. “Do you…really pay that close attention to the time?” 

Because right on the dot, here he was.

A small shy smile appeared on his lips. “It’s good to be on time.”

“What did I say?” Youngjae remarked from where he sat at his desk. He didn’t look up for her to see his face but she knew he was all smug for being right.

She was starting to understand the people in this station far more quickly than she would have liked. With a heavy sigh, Haru reached for his hand that has been waiting to be shaken. “So, what do we do?”

“Uh – well –“ He stutters. 

At first glance, what an intimidating guy but the moment he opens his mouth, all preconceived notions just kind of dissolves. Haru tried her best to keep her patience in check. Any mistake here will probably lead the 70 hours to increase. “I just watch you do your job, right?” She helped him out.

He nods his head. “Yes.” He answers curtly before clearing some things up. “I know it appears boring but – “

“It is, isn’t it?” Haru couldn’t help but ask blankly.

“I’ll try to make it exciting.” He responds gently.

She doesn’t know how successful he would be but… “Knock yourself out.” She encouraged him.

***

Ten minutes in and Haru knew there was no way she could last. 

Ten minutes felt like ten hours. 

This was the most tedious job on the planet. Sending a glance in Yongguk’s direction, Haru couldn’t understand how he would prefer to do this than to do his job right. It would have taken her one time to learn her lesson. One time to realize that ticket duty is an absolute waste of her time. 

Checking the next car in line, Haru finally felt some sort of excitement. “Yongguk – “ Cue the owner running out of the restaurant to reach his car. Blankly, she stares at the guy trying to get his car door open. 

Just as he grabs the handle, Haru sticks her foot out to push the car door closed. 

“You didn’t pay to park.” 

At the same time, Yongguk arrives and stands beside her. 

“Officer, let me off this one time. I just needed to use the bathroom.” He pleaded.

Just teach him a lesson, Yongguk. Haru waits to hear the pen scribbling but the unexpected happens. 

“I’ll let you off with a warning this time.” Yongguk ends up saying. 

The guy from before offers the officer a smile and finally gets his door open to leave. Dumbfounded, Haru turns to look at Yongguk and he also turns towards her but was confused by the look he was receiving. 

“Is there something wrong, Haru?”

Deciding there were exceptions that Yongguk allows, Haru ends up shaking her head. “No.” Moving forward, Haru goes to check the next car. 

Catching the time on the slip, she figures this time for sure. This time, Yongguk would demonstrate the law. 

“Yongguk.” She calls out and points to the car. Yongguk soon joins her and quite unbelievably, the owner is also running out of a nearby store. Huffing and puffing, he arrives before the two. “Not this again.” She mumbles quietly to herself. 

“Officer, is there a problem?”

“Would we be standing here if there wasn’t?” But if it wasn’t obvious enough, Haru still had some patience to explain. “You overstayed.”

“Huh?” Putting on an act, the guy leans over his car to look at the time slip. “That can’t be right…I put in more money than that.”

Ugh. No way someone would fall for that.

“Since it was a mistake.” Yongguk offers a chuckle which earned him a relieved reaction from the car owner and a very obvious look of disbelief from Haru. “Have a good day.”

So, this is how he gets into trouble. This explains everything. For a moment, she also had a glimpse of how the Police Chief must feel. 

Before Haru can return to the current problem, the man was quick to get into his car to make his getaway. In this case, if Yongguk lets people park to go to the bathroom and to overstay their time…she wonders if there were exceptions to Yongguk’s lenience rather than his strictness. 

“Are you sure…that was a good idea?”

“People make mistakes. They’ll learn from it.” He reasons. 

“I think it’ll have a different effect.” Without ex