Taemin left his friend's house as it was getting dark outside. He slowly walked down the road, in no particular hurry to get anywhere but eventually got hungry and thought of stopping by his favorite restaurant. He goes there so often that almost every staff member knows him, not to mention the owner who has recently become his friend. Taemin really liked the unique taste of this restaurant's food and he never failed to tell the owner.

The boy entered the already crowded restaurant. As he sat down to eat, he looked around to see if there's someone he knows. While doing so he noticed a man who was stealing glances at him from behind a newspaper. It was obvious that the man wasn't reading it.

"Hey there little mushroom!" Kibum, a waiter, greeted him. Taemin swore that he saw the man's surprised face when the waiter talked to him so casually.

"Hey hyung." Taemin replied, casually chatting with Kibum while he wrote down the order.

Once he got his kimchi soup he saw the man get up and walk to the kitchen. Within two minutes he came back and left the restaurant without even glancing at Taemin.

"What did that tall man ask for?" Taemin asked the owner while paying the bill.

Jinki, the owner, looked up at the younger with a serious face. "He said he's a private detective."

"Oh.."

"He showed me a picture on his phone and asked if I knew that person. The thing is, the guy in the picture looked just like you. So I told him that you are not someone to be taken to the police and you're innocent and all that." Jinki said, all the while continuing his work. "He thought you were a criminal."

"Ah! Why did you do that?" Taemin flopped on to a nearby chair.

"What do you mean, why did you? You would have been arrested if I wasn't there."

Taemin sighed. "If he took me to the police, then I could have spent some time with him."

"Don't tell me that you have a crush on him." Jinki replied.

"Well he's handsome." the younger said.

"Then why don't you pretend to be the suspect." Kibum joined the conversation and Taemin's eyes sparkled.

"Oh my god! You two are crazy." Jinki said leaving the counter. "If you get thrown in jail, I'm not helping."

*******

That night Taemin didn't go to his apartment as usual, but just walked down the dark street while shiftily looking left and right, like a thief. He remained like that for thirty minutes