Rule #15: Seperate yourself from your deductions

You are asking for a death wish." Mireu growled as she glared at Saera in the kitchen of the bakery.

Saera ducked her head as she was scolded. She had finally got the courage to tell Mireu the truth behind her real dealings with Mark and she did not get the warm response that she had stupidly hoped for.

 "It's not that bad."

"Saera, you are interfering in a police investigation. This isn't a joke, you're getting in the way of them finding a killer, a really psychotic killer. Aside from the fact that you could be sending them on a wild goose chase while the really killer gets away, you're also putting yourself in danger. He's already threatened you Sae." Mireu's expression melted into worry as she twisted her apron in her fingers, "What if something happened to you? What about Youngjae?"

Saera nodded, "I know you're worried, but I'm actually helping. I've actually given him and the other officers helpful information. That threat was only because we were getting close. If I help him solve this case, I could have enough money to send Youngjae to college. Can you believe that? And honestly Mi, I'm safe, Mark set up CCTV's and he's always nearby so you have nothing to worry about."

Mireu made a strange face before she started bouncing on her heels. Saera gave her a look before waving a hand in front of her face, "Are you constipated? What's going on with your face?"

"I just feel so conflicted." Mireu whined.

Saera looked confused as ever, "What do you mean?"

"I want to keep having this talk about how freaking stupid you're being with this Collector case or whatever, but for the love of god Saera, you totally like Mark."

Saera looked stunned, "What are you talking about? I don't like Mark like that."

"Oh come on, 'he's always nearby so you have nothing to worry about'. Since when do you trust another person that much? Not to mention a man. You've spent almost the last 3 weeks with him nonstop and now he's living next to you? And don't think that I didn't notice him wearing that bracelet that you always carry around." Mireu said breathlessly.

Saera was about to speak, but Mireu cut her off, "You guys always stand really close to each other and you talk to one another like you've known each other for years. He's always helping you and looking out for you. For most people this wouldn't be anything special, but this is you. The girl who shuts down every guy who comes in here asking for your number. The mere fact that you trust him with Youngjae is enough to speak miles."

Saera's mouth opened but all she could do was stare at her friend helplessly, "Don't you think you're reading too much into this? It's only been 3 weeks."

"Nope." Mireu said confidently, "When his partner came to watch me and Youngjae, he told me that Mark has been changing too. Apparently ever since you hopped into his life, he's a lot more light hearted and outgoing. He thinks that you're rubbing off on Mark and that Mark's letting you rub off on him."

Saera looked unsure, "That's a little…excessive don't you think? We work together. We rarely do things outside of work unless it involves Youngjae. We mostly spend our time together by interviewing suspects and witnesses and breaking into houses. So I don't know where this romance fantasy is coming from."

Mireu tapped her lip, "You're right…I guess we'll have to put it to the test."

"Alright, whatever it is you're thinking, I'm going to need you to pull the brakes on it right now." Saera said in alarm.

Mireu's face filled with mischief, "Too late, the wheels are in motion."

Saera watched helplessly as Mireu grabbed Saera's handbag and shuffled through the contents before pulling something out.

"Here. Go with him and let's see if sparks fly."

Saera gave her a sharp look and yanked the object from her, "Besides the fact that this is so dumb, how is this supposed to prove anything?"

"It's something you two can do that isn't involved to this case. Let's see how you feel after that." Mireu said while shimmying her shoulders.

Saera rolled her eyes and shoved the item back into her bag.

"You need to be checked in the head."

-----

"So Kwon is going to get the files sent over about Megan and then we can plan the next step." Jackson said as he looked around the small storage room Mark was currently living out of.

"I doubt we can find anything important. Cham Ji seems like someone who doesn't like revealing her secrets, even to her handler." Mark said while reviewing one of the files that Jackson brought him.

Jackson shook his head, unable to focus. "Dude seriously? I respect you and all, but are you really living here just because of a girl?"

Mark looked up from his mattress and blinked at his friend, "I'm not doing this for a girl, I'm doing this to protect someone that I hired and put in danger. I'm doing my duty as an off--"

"Officer of the law. Yeah, I've heard it before. It's just that, remember last year when I was trying to seal the deal with a girl who  would only go out with me if her friend could come along on the date as well? I begged you to ask her friend out and you didn't even blink before you said no but here you are living in this closet to protect a girl and her brother." Jackson said simply, like it was the most obvious discrepancy in the world.

Mark scoffed, "You can't really compare a double date to a person who's been threatened by a serial killer."

"When did you and the psychic even get close? I thought you were all grumpy about having her around." Jackson pointed out.

Mark shrugged, "I think once the chief became the common enemy, we got along just fine. Enemy of my enemy, I guess."

Jackson gave him a disbelieving look before shaking his head, "Whatever you say dude, I'm going to head down to the precinct. I'll keep you in the loop."

Mark nodded distractedly as Jackson closed the door. Mark set his file down before leaning his back against the wall that his mattress was pushed up against.

He leaned his head back while staring at his wrist where the black and gold bracelet that Saera gave him hung.

Sure, he was spending a lot of time with Saera and sure he acted a little bit different around her, but that didn't mean anything.

And it's hardly enough for Jackson to be pointing fingers.

Mark chewed the inside of his cheek before grabbing his laptop. He logged into the police database and let his fingers hover over the keyboard.

This was crossing the line for sure.

But it was now to never.

Choi Saera.

He hit the enter key and waited as the screen loaded up the result page.

No results found.

Mark knit his brows as he hit enter again, but the same thing popped up. He even refreshed the page but nothing changed.

That didn't make sense.

There was no way that Saera's name didn't appear. He saw the mailman drop off mail every day. He'd see her scan her bills once a month and frown each time.

He clicked the search engine and typed in a new name.

Choi Youngjae.

He hit enter and waited but wasn't surprised at the notification popped up.

No results found.

What the hell was going on and who the hell was Choi Saera?

-----

Mark swung the door open of his small storage room and blinked when Saera smiled brightly  while holding up a plastic container.

"What are you doing here?" He asked while leaning against the doorframe.

Saera's smile grew even more before opening the cover of the plastic tub, "I baked the buns we made yesterday and brought you some."

"You made…baozi?" He asked incredulously while staring at the white buns lined up in perfect rows.

"Red bean ones. I just guessed since your last name is Tuan that you must be Chinese and I read online that baoziis really popular in China so I thought…um…I don't know…maybe you were home sick and would want some." Her voice was getting increasingly uncertain.

Mark raised his brows in amusement just as he felt a strange shift in his chest. He couldn't remember the last time someone made something specifically with him in mind.

Or cared enough to think he'd be homesick.

"Oh."

Saera's f