Kwangmin rearranged his desk a bit. Their office was a small space rented, situated above a small eatery. They usually have lunch and dinner there if they happen to work overtime, and the owner there will sometimes offer to deliver up for them.

(Kwangmin thinks it's because she has a daughter of marriageable age. The target? Donghyun-hyung, of course.)

Donghyun had apologised for the mess the first day he brought the supposed policeman in, stating how he and the other member of the team were not very good at housekeeping. Kwangmin then offered to pack the place a little, and thought Donghyun shouldn't be as thankful as he was. Kwangmin was pretty much doing it just to create his own space.

The other guy was introduced as Hyunseong, and liked to share his ideas a lot. He would ask for opinions on many things, to which Kwangmin felt slightly relieved he could blabber without being afraid of being thought of as a nuisance. Donghyun mostly kept to himself as he read through articles and paperwork sent by the police, smiling softly whenever the two apologised for being noisy after getting carried away.

“It's okay. I'm glad you could talk to Hyunseong though. I'm not very much of a talker most of the times so he gets a bit sulky.” Donghyun chuckled lightly when Kwangmin formally apologised again at the end of the day.

Their days were pretty much spent this way, mostly comprising useless deductions that always ended up being debunked after debates amongst themselves. Although they should really feel anxious that too much time is passing and they don't even have so much of an idea what the thief is after, Kwangmin really likes this working environment. This was what he had dreamt of, freedom at work and colleagues who value his opinions.

Almost a dream come true, almost.

“Donghyun-hyung, did they send you something?” Hyunseong noted the usually silent but even more silent man's behaviour, raising question about it mid-way his conversation with Kwangmin one day.

Kwangmin was about to feel slightly annoyed that Hyunseong so easily disregarded the topic at hand when he realised that the head of their team never had such a stoic expression since he joined. He usually had a small smile as he listened in on their conversations or minded his own business. Instead of expressing his concern, though, the youngest of the three caught on to the weird way Hyunseong phrased his question. “Who are they?”

“The police.”

Kwangmin wondered if he should take the harsh tone to offence. He was once with the police, and never really thought that him being under Donghyun meant he was in a different entity.

Don't they work together?

“It's nothing.” Donghyun shook his head, then raising a hand. Kwangmin didn't understand what it meant, but Hyunseong who was about to open his mouth did. “Please, don't mind me.”

“Hyung.” Hyunseong frowned, disregarding the previously raised hand and moving towards Donghyun's table. The older of the two reached for the envelope on his table first, knowing it was the younger's goal.

Kwangmin pressed his lips together and tried to figure out the two's dynamics. It seems like this had happened before, and he decided watching it play out would be a smarter idea.

“I said-”

Kwangmin blinked at Hyunseong's pleading look, as if asking him to do something. Kwangmin turned to Donghyun, words formulating before he could have a chance to process them, cutting the older off. “You should really tell us, Donghyun-hyung. Unless of course you deem us incapable of handling this additional information, then I can only apologise for being such a helpless subordinate.”

“Colleague.” Donghyun corrected the younger man, sighing. “Just the usual, they want us to hurry up and close the case.”

Kwangmin and Hyunseong looked at each other, realising Donghyun didn't want to rush them and hence tried to withhold the information.

“Well...”

“Please do not be pressured. I want you both to check all details properly, and it doesn't matter if we take longer than expected.” The oldest firmly stated, looking at the two and waiting for their acknowledgement of his words.

“Right.”

With the knowledge of time being limited, although not in the sense that they were fighting against it, Kwangmin and Hyunseong tried their best not to find fault with every piece of evidence and instead accepting them as they were. Kwangmin continuously updated his brother without telling the other two, and when his twin enlightened him of a possibility he could never come up with himself, he gathered the two other detectives for their opinions.

“You're saying we went about it the wrong way?” Hyunseong tapped the table as if giving some rhythm to his thoughts.

“That's plausible.” Donghyun nodded, then rummaging through his stack of papers for the information on the scenes again. “Nothing here, I'll get them to update me on the messages behind the works.”

“Well, more information is better than none.” Hyunseong shrugged, tapping the table with a quicker rhythm now. He looked to Kwangmin and paused. “But how did you come to this conclusion?”

Kwangmin pursed his lips together, and wonder if the mention of his brother would get him fired. Then again, he rather be fired than claim his twin's conclusion as his own. This was something he could never realise on his own, it just wasn't his usual line of thoughts.

“My twin.” Kwangmin tried a smile. “I kinda, uh, updated him on this case because I was a bit excited.”

“Kwangmin, that's against-”

“Hyunseong, drop it.” Donghyun smiled gently, patting the two on their back. “Confidentiality is important but this is Kwangmin's first case too. We all get a bit caught up during our first cases, and even though Kwangmin's doing as well as a veteran, we have to keep that in mind. Nothing to be too harsh about.”

Kwangmin bit his lower lip, wondering if the two regretted their decision in bringing him in already. Sounds like he built a good impression of himself only to have it crashing down now.

“Besides, I wouldn't mind extending an offer to your twin if he'd like to join our team.” Donghyun finished, causing Kwangmin to open his eyes wide at the implications of Donghyun's words. “The police did say they can allow me to file for a strength of five, including me, six.”

“We're not sure if the twin is any good?” Hyunseong cautiously asked, not trying to sound like he doubted Donghyun too much. Afterall, he trusts the older to make good decisions, even though he personally doesn't agree with them.

Donghyun chuckled lightly, then holding the papers he had searched for previously up to both their line of sight. “We'll see.”

-

“Sorry.” Kwangmin managed, cowering a bit due to the extended silence. Donghyun had asked if Hyunseong could go for a longer lunch break because he had something to discuss with the youngest of the three, and probably sensing Donghyun's intentions, the detective agreed.

“I think you're misunderstanding something.” Donghyun smiled warmly, gesturing at Kwangmin's seat. “Take a seat, please.”

Kwangmin smiled a bit, or he tried to, and took a seat as Donghyun asked. He nervously played with his fingers under the table, and realised he was being especially anxious because he never saw any other emotions on the older man before. Either a usual light smile or a thoughtful stoic expression, and that made Kwangmin dread what may be coming.

“Don't be so nervous, you're making me all fidgety too.” Donghyun reached for Kwangmin's hands and covered them with his own, giving a firm squeeze. Kwangmin was sure there was no such anxiety in the other judging from his calm tone, but slowly find himself relaxing when he realised Donghyun wasn't going to just snap. “I wanted you to tell me about your brother. I didn't want to take up your lunch break hour, so I had to send Hyunseong away.”

“My brother?” Kwangmin repeated, though his posture slowly slumped, visibly losing the previous tension. “What about him?”

“Is he working?” Donghyun started, receiving an affirmative nod from Kwangmin. “He started around the same time as you?”

“Yep, when I entered the police force, he received notice to start work.” Kwangmin spoke, thinking through the details. “And then when I transferred over he was assigned to be a temporary project manager or something like that.”

Donghyun smiled, then chatting a little more with Kwangmin although the younger noted that he never did quite dig beneath the surface. It was all small talks almost unimportant to him, and Kwangmin, while sceptical, decided Donghyun wouldn't play mind games with him.

He was of no worth yet, and every kind action from the other was going to be as sincere as it gets.

-

I swear, I really swear I do not worship Donghyun. If you must know, my bias is Minwoo :D
I don't know why I ended up making everyone sound like Donghyun's some God, but I swear he's not. ;~~~;
And he's not exactly the main main character either.
Every member is the main character so for now he might have a bigger focus 'cause he's still the one that brings all the members together ^^"

Merry Christmas, everyone!
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