Ri Young refuses to talk to Eunhyuk with whatever had happened to her earlier that day. Her eyes keep darting towards the ring on her finger and she mentally takes a note each time that she’d have to return it to the store as soon as possible.

At the sound of the door opening, officers flood both of them, determined to get their coffees.

“Yeah, and next time, order your own-” Eunhyuk’s voice is drowned out by simultaneous thanks and praises. Eunhyuk flushes red at a particular busty older woman showing her thanks with a quick peck on each cheek. Silently, Ri Young fumes to herself beside him.

“Lee, Han.” The crowd stops and separates, forming a makeshift lane leading towards their chief. Lee Byung Min stands at the clearing, stern and proud looking as ever. He raises his hand and beckons both of them over. “Office; now,” He instructs. Not waiting for either of them, he turns on his heel and starts marching straight towards his office. Upon reaching the knob however, Chief Lee turns slightly to look over his shoulder. His eyes narrow at the sight of the crowd still gaping at his back like fishes, “Don’t you have jobs?” he growls and almost immediately, the group of people disperse from their spot, hurrying to busy themselves with paperwork.

Ri Young and Eunhyuk are left to themselves, staring at the dreaded office door of their chief. They look at each other, trying to find out what in the world is happening. None of their eyes have the answer.

“Lee, Han; what the hell are the both of you waiting for, Christmas?” Cho Chae Ki barks out, passing by the two of them with an irritated look on her face. Obviously, the older woman disapproves whatever it is Lee Byung Min wants them for. Silently, Eunhyuk tells Ri Young to move faster and away from the old witch.

With three knocks on the wooden door, they hear an almost silent confirmation to enter. Eunhyuk opens the door and steps aside to make room for Ri Young. Wiping her palms on her uniform skirt, the younger girl bites her lower lip and enters the room. The blonde follows her suit, closing the door behind him in the process. They two salute their chief stiffly until they awkwardly stand in silence, side by side.

Chief Lee Byung Min stares up at them quietly with his chin resting on the back of his intertwined hands. He sighs softly before leaning back on his swivel chair. The older man shifts through the piles of folders stacked on his desk and pulls out one of the thicker ones. He glances at it both disdainfully and amusingly before he motions Eunhyuk closer.

Though nervous, Eunhyuk manages to walk stiffly over. Curious, Ri Young moves closer as well, but also maintaining her distance. Byung Min looks at him solemnly before nodding and handing over the file to the blonde.

“I’m putting you in charge of Aiden Lee’s case, Lee.”

Eunhyuk stares with wide eyes at the older man out of disbelief. The folder feels heavy in his hands and he can only open and close his mouth like a fish in surprise.

“We’ve located Lee’s villa somewhere by the border of Seoul.” The chief informs them nonchalantly, looking at his own copy of files. “We need someone experienced with him. We’re set to send an agent to go undercover, find out when he’ll strike next, what his motives are and possibly any other information you can weasel out of him.” Momentarily, he glances towards Ri Young before shifting back to the gaping Lee Hyukjae. Ri Young doesn’t like the way his aged eyes stared at her own when he mentions an undercover agent.

“W-What – b-but I haven’t even-” he stammers out, holding the folder in front of him. “I’ve never even handled anything with him.”

Ri Young is unable to say anything as she stands behind her sunbae, still gaping at the thick file. Lee Byung Min holds out his hand to silence the blonde though and adjusts his position to a more comfortable one in his swivel chair. He offers a hand to the younger male.

“Open the file, Lee.”

Eunhyuk pauses for a short moment before he does as instructed. His brown eyes immediately dart to the official name on the top left corner along with an attached 1 x 1 picture. He closes the files, his eyes uncharacteristically dark and cold as he extends his hand to take the chief’s.

“I’ll do it, sir.”

.oOo.

“The chief is serious? Of all the female officers, he sends me- me?” Ri Young continues to ask, staring in wide eyed horror at her reflection from the vanity mirror. Lord only knows why Eunhyuk even has a vanity mirror in his room.

“Hey, time to test that nickname of yours, Lady Luck.” He mocks though at the same time, shifting seriously through the files. Ri Young notices that ever since Lee Byung Min has entrusted the thick folder to him, he has yet to put it down. Maybe it’s because Eunhyuk has absolutely no experience at all concerning the orange-blonde haired criminal, or maybe something else entirely. Whatever it is, Ri Young doesn’t have the heart to ask him.

“I mean, what am I supposed to do, exactly? Seduce the guy?” she asks looking at Eunhyuk’s reflection. For a moment, she sees him stifle his laughter and for now, she supposes that’s better than the stoic him. “So let the Good Lord help me, the whole department knows how completely unattractive I really am.” Ri Young says pessimistically, staring at her reflection.

Honestly, even with an ego the size of Asia, Han Ri Young cannot see what exactly makes her look the slightest bit prettier than all the other gorgeous ladies serving in the force. Apart from her obvious edge in years, the woman of only 24 constantly questions even Eunhyuk’s kind praises though she knows he is only doing so to make her feel better about her physical appearance.

There is nothing all too special with her looks. As she stares harder at the mirror, the plainer her face seems to be.

Her skin isn’t all too fair, not even as soft or as healthy as she would like thanks to late hours provided by confusing as hell murder cases. Her hair is stick straight and almost midnight black. But it has almost no sheen left in it and certainly no more body being held back in a ponytail for so long. Her eyes aren’t big and bright, nothing special; chinky and a mere dull shade of chocolate.

The only thing really eye catching about her face are her lips, reddish pink and full. She doesn’t use anything on it, afraid any kind of makeup will damage it with even the slightest application of cosmetics. Long fingers touch her soft lips, if only slightly and Ri Young continues to stare somberly at her own reflection.

She isn’t attractive, not in the slightest bit. The only reason people turned to look twice at her is because of her insanely professional makeup skills.

Eunhyuk stares at her back in silence. He has heard enough, and the insecure expression painting Ri Young’s face breaks his heart little by little the more he sees it. Silently, he drops the folder on top of his bed as he pushes himself of the comfy edge of the cushion. He walks carefully and slowly until he is directly behind her with the back of her head almost leaning into his well toned chest. Tentatively, he places his hands on her shoulders before staring at both of their reflections. Without any hesitation though, he brightly grins, gums and teeth showing.

“Do you know what I see?” he asks after he notices that despite his cheery smile Ri Young has yet to budge. “I see a pretty lady.” He reaches out and takes a box full of what seems to be tissues, he pulls out one and only then does she realize it’s actually makeup remover. She doesn’t bother asking, knowing a very embarrassing atmosphere would replace their serious one if she did.

Slowly and gently, he carefully rubs the cleanser on her cheeks until she stops his hand and takes the tissue in her own. She mumbles an embarrassed little, “let me,” before they spend another moment in silence, both watching Ri Young remove the makeup caking her face. Once every bit of cosmetic is gone, Ri Young can hardly look up to meet his eyes. He squeezes her shoulders with as minimal a force as he can muster.

“Now I see a goddess.”

She glares at his reflection but his smile remains plastered on his face. But his serene expression is quite eerie, something Ri Young is definitely not used to seeing. His grip on her shoulders tightens and she winces at the strength. But he doesn’t let go, nor does he stop looking at his own reflection courtesy of the mirror perched upon the vanity table.

“You can break him, I know you can, and after that we’ll set him straight. I can help you.” He sets his jaw and his eyes harden. Faintly though, Ri Young sees the gloss painting his brown orbs. He finally looks at her reflection. “We have one month until the end of the preparation deal. I can feel it, for you, he’ll fall.”

The way he sounds so sure of himself, how convinced he is that Aiden Lee will end up succumbing to a certain Han Ri Young’s seduction is unnerving. He releases one of her shoulders from his death grip and instead, places it gently on her ponytail. For a split second, his expression softens and Ri Young fears he might start crying. But he doesn’t, he squares his shoulders and lets his fingers rest on the band tying up her hair.

“We’ll break him.” Eunhyuk says determinedly and slightly, she wonders if there might be a deeper reason than justice as to why Eunhyuk would even be so worked up over Aiden Lee’s case. He tugs on the band and releases Ri Young’s hair from its ponytail, letting ebony black locks cascade over her shoulders, framing her delicate face.

Eunhyuk takes in a sharp breath before relaxing, his features finally softening as he stares at the porcelain doll staring back at him in the mirror.

“Beautiful.”

A/N: Bit of a boring chapter, but hey, we see more of the character's personalities? :D It seems Hyuk is keeping something from our heroine, hmm.
Oh gosh, I need to update my stories already. Orz [specifically "You Had Me at Yoboseyo". Am I blatantly advertising? Yes, yes I am.] Hopefully, next update will be done soon. Hopefully. D:

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