‘I want you to… seduce Sungmin.’

‘Are you kidding me?’

‘No, I hardly express humour, Kyuhyun-ssi. Approach him, touch him, seduce him.’

‘Why?’

‘Let’s just say I’m interested in how my little brother will react.’

‘I can’t do it. Sungmin wouldn’t even let me close.’

‘I’ll create an opportunity for you. There’s a friend of mine in Japan throwing a birthday party in two weeks. I’ll send you the details.’

‘There—’

‘Is there any other problem, Kyuhyun-ssi?’

‘Why should I do this?’

‘Because you love Ahra and Sungmin more than I do. You can’t live without them, but I can.’

‘Hah. Don’t speak as if you know me.’

‘It isn’t that hard to learn about you, Kyuhyun-ssi.’

‘Whatever. What exactly do you want from me? It can’t just be for me to try ing Sungmin.’

‘I’ll give you credits for your brains, Officer. I’ll drop you an email with everything you need to know and do. Till then, have a good rest, Kyuhyun-ssi. All the paperwork must have worn you out.’

Kyuhyun tapped his fingers in frustration on the table, carefully observing the others in the office. Asphalt always seemed to know their actions and schedule and this might be the work of some mole in their team.

He had received the email from Asphalt in the morning, which immediately put him in a bad mood. The birthday party was in ten days and he had to work out something before then to protect both Sungmin and Ahra. He didn’t know how exactly he should do that, but he definitely needed to start by getting permission to take leave to fly to Japan.

It sounded stupid for him to just follow Asphalt’s instructions blindly, but the safety of Sungmin and Ahra was his top priority. Additionally, it was a chance for him to finally earn some trust from Sungmin. Sungmin definitely must have some information about Yunho’s murderer for him to keep sticking in the gang, and Kyuhyun was bent on getting that information and investigating it for him. He would solve the problem, and then persuade Sungmin to leave that dangerous pit.

Spotting Siwon passing by his table, he grabbed his friend’s arm. “I need to talk to you.”

~---~

“So is this work or personal?” Siwon crossed his arms, leaning against the corridor wall.

“It’s… personal, I guess.” Kyuhyun observed his friend closely, anticipating any reaction. “I would like to take leave next week.”

“What for?”

“It’s personal, team leader.” Kyuhyun tried to brush off the topic.

Siwon raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Then I’m interested in knowing as a friend. Are you going on a date?”

“Yeah, there’s this new girl I met the other day and I asked her out.” Kyuhyun shrugged, pausing when he realized Siwon was scrutinizing him. “What? Why are you looking at me like this? Can’t I get a new girlfriend?”

“You’re gay, Kyuhyun.” Siwon answered in all seriousness.

Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “Fine, can’t I get a new boyfriend then?”

Siwon shifted, releasing his arms from position. “Say, it this about Sungmin?”

“What? Where is this coming from?” Kyuhyun lied smoothly, “Not everything has to be about Sungmin.”

“Is it your family then? You’re not the kind to just take leave randomly.”

“No, it’s not about my family.”

“Then what? What is it that you can’t tell me?”

“I… just want to take a short break.” Kyuhyun tried to pull a convincing face. “I’m tired, Siwon. This whole thing about Sungmin – I need to get away for a while to think through things.”

Siwon gave a light pat to his shoulder. “How many days do you need?”

“I was hoping to get four or five days off starting next Friday.”

“That long? Are you planning to go somewhere?”

“I want to visit Japan,” Kyuhyun answered honestly.

“Japan?” A frown formed on Siwon’s face. “Why Japan?”

“No special reason. It’s near enough I guess. And probably because I went there once with Sungmin. I want to… visit some places again.”

“And you said not everything has to be about Sungmin.” Siwon paused in contemplation. “Look, it’s not that I don’t want to give you a break, but we’ll be quite busy next week. Can it wait till two weeks later?”

Kyuhyun frowned at the reply. He couldn’t wait; he had to get to that birthday party. “Just three days then? I’ll only be in Japan. If you really need me, I can fly back immediately—”

“Japan? You’re going to Japan, Kyuhyun?” Jongwoon walked towards them with an interested smile on his face.

“Yeah, I was hoping to get a few days off next week, but Siwon seems to want to work me to death.”

“Next week?” Jongwoon’s face brightened up even more. “Do you speak Japanese, Kyuhyun?”

“A little, not a total expert, but conversational.”

“Conversational is enough!” Jongwoon exclaimed, turning to Siwon. “Siwon! You don’t have to give him leave, but lend me Kyuhyun for a few days next week!”

“Lend him? For what?” Siwon’s frown deepened.

“Team A is investigating this corporation suspected of illegal dealings with a Japanese organisation, whose leader is having a birthday party next week. They asked Myungsoo for help to infiltrate the party to check if the CEO of the corporation will appear there, since they couldn’t do it themselves without being recognized. Donghee is supposedly going with me, but he can’t even say ‘hello’ in Japanese!”

“But—”

“Please, Siwon, you don’t want me to get busted in a foreign country, right? I heard the organisation is a yakuza in disguise. Donghee can take Kyuhyun’s place in your team in exchange for that few days!”

Siwon sighed. “What do you think, Kyuhyun?”

“Well… I don’t mind if I get to relax while doing some work at the same time,” Kyuhyun replied, sounding as casual as he could.

Birthday party. Yakuza organisation. Japan. Next week. He had no doubt the party Jongwoon spoke of was the one he needed to be at. It was the perfect opportunity, as though everything had been set up for him—he looked over at Jongwoon, who was whining at Siwon to give in. Suspicions of Jongwoon working for Asphalt ran past Kyuhyun’s mind, but the officer wasn’t going because he wanted to; his leader sent him because anoth