29

Sohyun watched the drama, tearing and she turned off the television. “Why must this make me tear,” she murmured and took out the disk. So near yet so far The title of the disk and she sighed.

Then, her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the disk again. “So near, yet so far?” she repeated and clasped her hands together. “I understand everything now!”

---

Kris was waiting for Sohyun for thirty minutes since she last called him. She said that she had some leads regarding the case, and would arrive at his doorstep within fifteen minutes.

Kris frowned and he grabbed his phone, immediately called Sohyun. He waited impatiently for the call to be picked up and he heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Sohyun's voice. But he wasn't relieved for long.

"Hello?" Sohyun spoke weakly, making Kris worried for her as he held the phone closer to his ear. "Hello? Sohyun, what's wrong with you? Are you sick?" he asked in concern while Sohyun winced in pain as she clutched onto her stomach. "I have.. some.. stomach cramps, that's all," she said weakly in the phone while Kris slowly turned red. "I'll.. I'll be at your house immediately," he quickly said while Sohyun shook her head. "No, don't," she quickly replied and she hesitated for a moment, before speaking. "Could you help me.. buy.. female products?" she asked and she immediately regretted it. "BT went back to his hometown for tomb sweeping and unnie is at work, both of them would be back only at dusk, that's why I could only ask you. But it's alright-"

"It's fine with me!" Kris immediately said and his face was flushing red. He scratched the back of his neck shyly and grabbed his documents before leaving his house. "I'll be there in a minute."

Kris stared at the label for a great ten minutes while Tao yawned and rolled his eyes, as he leaned his body against the wall and looked at the giant pitifully. "Poor Kris, embarrassed to buy it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at him while Kris slowly turned his neck to shoot the panda a look. "Will you shut up," he hissed, and sighed. Tao chuckled as he approached him and slung an arm around Kris' shoulder. "What do you want to prove to her?"

"I want to prove to Sohyun that I'm the one for her," Kris replied and Tao shrugged. "And there you have it. Take it, Kris," he said and Kris nodded his head firmly, then grabbed it and placed it into the shopping cart but within seconds, his face started to blush again.

Tao clapped for his friend but a text message immediately interrupted. Tao glanced at his message and he smiled. "Hyomin's calling. Got to go now," he said and patted his back. "Good luck." He laughed and Kris bit his lip, his ears slowly reddening.

Sohyun clutched onto her stomach and she took in a deep breath. She curled herself into a ball, resting on the sofa and she winced in pain.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Sohyun sighed and she slowly stood up, weakly walking towards the door as she opened the door without bothering to know who that person is.

Her eyes rounded in surprise, as she saw Kris standing in front of her, between two policemen. "Miss, I was petrolling around the area and I saw this man lurking around the area suspiciously. We immediately caught him, but he said that he knows you," one of the policeman explained and Sohyun blinked. "Kris? Why?"

Kris bit his lip and shuffled his feet. "Sir, you were chasing after me, of course I had to run," he replied softly. Then, she slowly looked at the plastic bag that he was holding onto and she chuckled. "Sir, I know him. It's all just a misunderstanding. He's just helping me to buy some daily nessicities," she explained and chuckled, while Kris scratched the back of his head shyly.

"Oh, so it's just a misunderstanding. Mister, next time don't act so suspiciously when you're buying pads for your girlfriend," one of the policeman said and Kris nodded, forcing out a smile as he bowed and bid the policemen farewell.

Then, he casted his gaze on Sohyun while she looked back at him and let a small smile form on her lips. "Come in," she said and Kris nodded, slowly shuffling his feet towards the sofa.

"Sorry, Kris," she whispered, sitting on the sofa beside him and took her file from the seat, opening it up and lifted it up, bringing it up to her face. Kris cleared his throat and handed it to her while she quickly took it and laughed nervously. "Woah, you bought every size?" she mumured and Kris blushed again. "Well, there's both day and night. I didn't know which one you want," he explained shyly, his voice trailing off.

Sohyun lowered down the file and softened. "Kris.." she softened while he casted his gaze on her.

Sohyun bit her lip and looked down at the file. "You didn't have to do this much for me," she whispered while Kris looked at her and smiled. "I have to, and I want to," he whispered. He slowly held her hand, and looked into her eyes, slowly leaning forward while Sohyun looked to face him, freezing at her spot.

Just before their lips touch, Sohyun quickly brought up the file to her face again and laughed awkwardly. "Uhm, let's continue on your mother's case," she quickly said and looked away, flipping through  the documents furiously.

She bit her lip and didn't dare look into his eyes, focusing on the words. "I.. I've fo-found o-out, that there were five mini marts around your mother's stall. And one main thing is that all marts were the outlets of the tycoon, Han Sim. There's a mini mart that was actually beside's your mother's stall, and nine out of fifteen of the patients that were poisoned actually went to that mart before visiting your mother's stall," she explained while Kris nodded his head.

"A-and also," she said, searching for the files that were piled up on the coffee table. "The other six patients went to different outlets and one main point is that all fifteen patients that were reported poisoned bought the same brand of cup noodles and ate it before consuming your mother's soup," she finished, slowly closing the file, breathing out deeply.

"A-ah yes,one more point. The cup noodles that were consumed by them were actually recently reported to have chemical X in it, which were poisonous and could lead to the burst of cells, diarrhea and also vomiting, " she pointed out. Kris smiled. "Not bad," he said.

Sohyun slowly smiled and just as she was about to stand up, she accidentally toppled the coffee onto the desk. She quickly cleared her table picking up a document that was left on the table by Kris as she let her gaze travel on the words.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly, examining her hands and wrists.

"I'm fine," she said and looked through the pages then tilted her head. She closed the file and looked at Kris. "So you actually found what I've found too," she said, shaking her head. "And for a second I thought that I could prove to you," she chuckled, scratching her neck.

"Actually you already proved it to me. Your judgement, your explanations were clear and could act as solid evidence. You looked through at cases meticulously and not missing anything out. Glad to have you as a protege Sohyun." He cracked a smile and Sohyun smiled back. "Well I guess it's also because I have a great mentor like you."
 

“Sohyun,” he spoke and once he said her name, Sohyun knew exactly what he was going to say. "We're.. best friends," she quickly said and forced out the biggest grin she could have while Kris shook his head. "Not only that. Sohyun you know what I'm going-"

"Bos-bosom friends."

"No. Sohyun-"

"Sis-sisters."

"Wrong. Sohyun. I-"

"Brothers," she whispered. Her voice was getting softer and weaker as Kris took a step forward. She was already sweating and butterflies were in her stomach.

"No," he whispered softly and looked into her eyes, while she immediately ducked her head, looking right at the ground. She laughed awkwardly. "Stop kidding."

"I'm not. I'm serious. Sohyun, listen," he whispered, cupping her face and brought her eyes to meet his. "After all those cases and those outings we went. Socializing, Hong Kong, and that incident where the life broke down, made my mind, Tao's mind, BT's mind and your sister's mind very clear. I really like you. The person I want to spend my life with."

"Objection!" She quickly shook his hands off, and stepped back. "I.. It's just so sudden and confused and.." she stuttered, at a loss of words and she sighed.

"You don't-"

"It's not that I don't like you. It's just that I'm just confused.."

"That means you like me."

"No!" she shouted and shook her head, immediately covering . "I mean I like you," she said, then quickly covered again. "I mean.. I don't want to start a relationship," she groaned and looked around the living room. "I just think. Now's not the time for relationships, but instead to bring my career to a higher level. And as for now, I think that our relationship is fine. It's best to stay as you being my mentor, and I being your protege. Sorry," she said and quickly grabbed her bag before running out of the house.

Sohyun stopped in her tracks and took in a deep breath, then breathed out. "Sorry Kris, I want to start a relationship too, I'm just .. not ready. I don't dare to start again, I don't have the strength to start again," she whispered and close her eyes, sighing.

---

BT and Sohyun's sister stole quick looks at Kris, while his eyes were focused on SoHyun. The atmosphere just seemed so strange once BT came back. It's like everything changed between Kris and Sohyun, and he had no idea how.

Sohyun slowly looked up from her bowl and quickly looked down, clearing .

"Sohyun, bring the food to Tao's house. I'm scared he would only care about his work and forget about his dinner," BT said and passed a container to Sohyun. She immediately nodded her head and walked out.

When BT confirmed she was away, he immediately dragged Kris up to his bedroom. "What's wrong with you and Sohyun? Why does she seem so distant with you? What did you do to her?"
Kris sighed. "I've confessed to her today."

"That fast?!" they both shouted and grinned, leaning closer towards him. "So what did Sohyun say?" her sister asked.
"Sohyun said yes, didn't she?" BT grinned.
 

Kris shrugged his shoulders.
 

They both frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means she's not prepared. She's confused and just wants our relationship to just be this way."
Sohyun's sister and BT frowned. "But why?"

"She's confused over some stuff. A minute ago she denied liking me, then the next second the truth rolled out of her tongue." Kris sighed once more and thought, while BT and her sister slouched in their seats, sighing.

What made Sohyun think that way? They didn't know.

"BT, do you have any idea?" her sister asked, nudging him while he shook his head and shrugged. "You're the one who has been playing with her since young, shouldn't you know better?" he asked and elbowed her. "But you're the one taking care of her since she was born."

They've been with her since she was brought into this world. They thought they knew her well, but it seems like it wasn't that well.

Her sister pressed her lips into a firm line and pondered, then shooting up from her seat and she clasped her hands together. "I understand why Sohyun felt confused."

-----