“Jo Kwangmin!” Youngmin growled, staring at a piece of paper before him. “What have you done!”

“I'm sorry! I was asked and so I spoke truthfully!” Kwangmin winced, visibly hunched up before his twin.

“I'm not doing this.” Youngmin rolled his eyes, ready to crumple the offensive piece of paper and feed it to the bin.

Kwangmin reached out to stop the other, when they both paused at the sound of the doorbell ringing. It was pretty weird, because they don't usually have visitors.

“Calm down.” Kwangmin gave a sheepish smile. “Let's check the door first.”

In came a poised and dignified young man that only looked older than the twins because of the confident aura he exuded. He smiled at Kwangmin and offered his hand to Youngmin, words clear as he looked into Youngmin's eyes. “A pleasure to meet you, I am Kim Donghyun, Kwangmin's colleague in the case you've taken part in.”

Youngmin took the hand more due to reflex than anything else, noticing the other had clasped his own hand with two of his own. He managed a friendly smile to this sophisticated detective, half-cursing Kwangmin for revealing that he had suggested the younger to think of the case from another perspective. “I'm Youngmin. And I didn't really do much.”

“You did.” Donghyun retracted his hands, smiling kindly. “I suppose you've received my formal invitation to join the team?”

Youngmin thought back to the piece of paper he was about to trash, then looked at their position by the door. Such an elegant man wouldn't ask to take a seat without an invitation to properly enter the house, so it was probably basic courtesy to invite Donghyun for a chat over instant tea. “Let's have a seat inside.”

Kwangmin smiled brightly, gesturing for Donghyun to follow while the older man apologised for his intrusion. Youngmin once again noted how refined the man was, and smiled softly. Kwangmin's lucky to meet someone like that. There probably isn't many people able to stand Kwangmin's personality, and much less in a stressful job like a detective. This was the head of the team of detectives (as Kwangmin rambled on the other day), but he introduced himself as Kwangmin's equal when the younger twin was obviously just a greenhorn. What a humble person. Youngmin then headed to the kitchen to bring out teabags while boiling water.

“Go, go have a chat!” Kwangmin bounced in, excitement clear in his face. “I'll make tea!”

“Kwangmin, I'm telling you, no. I can't be a detective, I'm not fit for it.” Youngmin sighed. “Look at my files, look at those numbers. That's what I studied for.”

“Just talk to Donghyun-hyung, okay? He's a nice guy and he wouldn't force you either. He just wants to greet you, thank you for your work and ask for your opinion on an opening in the team. We have another member on the team and we're still looking for more people, so it's, you know, like a job offer from the desperate.” Kwangmin spoke with a growing grin, probably believing Donghyun could cajole Youngmin into a job he didn't want (really?).

“I-” Youngmin cut himself off, knowing the house wasn't big enough for him to complain and not let the guest hear it. Besides, he should also greet Donghyun properly for taking care of Kwangmin thus far. “Make sure you use clean cups!”

“Yes~!” The younger twin saluted, humming a tune as Youngmin dragged his feet towards the sofa where Donghyun was taking in the surroundings.

“It's a nice cosy place here.” Donghyun smiled warmly as he acknowledged Youngmin's presence, and Youngmin felt a bit ashamed that his guest had to make him feel comfortable instead. “Your mother must do the housework often despite her day job.”

“Does Kwangmin talk about us often?” Youngmin smiled despite being surprised that Donghyun knows so much.

“No, it's just she's not in right now and the curtains seem to be well-maintained. Most people don't put much effort into washing curtains.” Donghyun shrugged lightly, then thanking Kwangmin as he arrived with tea. Youngmin almost face-palmed himself. A detective could of course tell that much, how could he forget?  “So Youngmin, I hope you don't mind me dropping the formalities, but I would like to let you know how much I appreciate the help you gave us. Our humble team of three have the most logical brains I've worked with but we aren't very good with human minds as we are with cold, hard facts. I heard you took psychology?”

“Yes, that is true.” Youngmin replied courteously, but shot Kwangmin a glare. “I had some free time with a Business degree so I took it as a major.”

“Businessman.” Donghyun nodded thoughtfully. “To be honest, I wanted to bring our last member with me today. However, I didn't quite want to overwhelm you, hence only came to offer a greeting. If you saw us three, you'd probably understand our dilemma right now.”

“Dilemma?” Youngmin repeated.

“Hyunseong-hyung is more of a science person. He does the algorithms and whatnots to pinpoint locations mostly. Does a lot of research, but specialises in location finding of next possible crime. Donghyun-hyung goes to the scenes and take in everything to minimise damage done to the scene, then he brings back the information and the three of us discuss it. I'm still learning.” Kwangmin grinned, explaining excitedly. “And you know how I am, so basically we are three men without hearts.”

“That's a nice way to put it.” Donghyun laughed, and Youngmin didn't know a laugh could sound so...classy. “Well, I would say I'm interested in bringing an amazing person like you into our team, but I understand if you have your reservations about joining us after deciding on a Business degree and going through to get it. If it's about the qualifications though, there's nothing to worry. We're more like a freelancer team than a formal organisation. This case showed us we really need someone with a heart, you see.”

Youngmin smiled apologetically, still not quite convinced. He paused.

Was he waiting to be convinced?

Donghyun then took the tea cup to his lips, drinking a sip. “I hope you don't mind me asking, but how are things going at your job?”

“Not very well.” Kwangmin jumped in, himself certain because he sits Youngmin down and talk to him about the case's progress, and the older twin also sometimes talk about the stress at his job. “Office politics, the manager probably doesn't like my brother a lot because he's such an eye-catcher and does his work well.”

“Probably not too well.” Youngmin winced, burdened by Kwangmin's high praises for his work that he didn't have the same confidence for. He had just gotten another lecture a few days ago for doing a haphazard outline for a project, although his colleagues said it was the best proposal they've seen in a while. “And what do you mean eye-catcher?”

“You said he wasn't married, and since your colleagues are young, pretty ladies, he's probably jealous.” Kwangmin shrugged.

Youngmin frowned. He never thought of it this way. He merely thought his superior was fed up with the new generation of office workers working with new methods in comparison to traditional ones.

Donghyun gave a small smile. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be intrusive.”

“It's completely fine.” Youngmin waved off Donghyun's polite words, reconsidering the paper he left at the kitchen counter. Donghyun would be an amazing superior to have. The grin on Kwangmin's face pretty much says it all.

“Well then.” Donghyun paused as he finished his tea, standing up and causing the twins to follow suit. “I don't want to overstay my welcome. Please excuse me and continue resting on a pleasant weekend like this.”

“Please, feel free to drop by again.” Youngmin shook his head to express that the older wasn't being a bother. The three headed to the door, and Kwangmin spontaneously decided to go out with Donghyun for a cup of coffee. “All right then, see you again, and Kwangmin, remember to come back for dinner!”

“Yep!” Kwangmin chirped, putting on his shoes.

“Youngmin.” Donghyun smiled, offering his hand again. Youngmin hurriedly used his feet to hold the door while taking the handshake, unconsciously bowing at the same time. “It's a real pleasure to be able to talk to you today. Please do consider, and I suppose you can tell Kwangmin about your decision when you have thought it through.”

“Yes.” Youngmin managed, still overwhelmed by Donghyun's apparent superior upbringing.

And that was the first meeting.

-

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