Rule #16: Don't make deductions based on something that isn't there

"Cauliflower is not a flower." Mark said firmly as he sat at his desk at the precinct.

Saera tsked while she flipped open another file of Megan's notes, "You are wrong, Tuan. They are flowers. It's in the damn name."

"What? That's not a good enough reason. And if it was a flower,  then how come I've never bought a girl a bouquet of cauliflowers?"

"That's obvious. It's because the roses have locked down the romance department before cauliflowers could even get a chance. If anything it's unfair to the cauliflowers." Saera said seriously.

Mark snorted, "That's bull and you know it."

"Look it up. They're small flower buds." She challenged.

Mark looked up from his notes and stared at her. She had her legs stretched out on a second chair and was wearing ripped jeans, combat boots and a dark blue plaid shirt over a tight black t-shirt. Her hair was pinned up in a bun with a pen tucked behind her ear.

"Fine." He turned to his computer and tapped on the keyboard before clicking on something and scrolling down. He skimmed the page while reading it out loud, under his breath, a habit that Saera learned he did when he was focused.

"Typically, only the head is eaten. The cauliflower head is composed of a white inflorescence meristem. Cauliflower heads resemble those in broccoli, which differs in having….flower buds." He read the last part reluctantly while his lips turned down.

He glanced up at Saera and scowled at her. Her eyes were pinned down at the file but she had a huge smug, grin on her lips as she moved her head from side to side.

"How do you even know this?" He asked angrily.

She shrugged with a smile, "I'm a baker, I think about this stuff in my free time."

"I thought you didn't have free time." He asked sceptically.

Saera wiggled her brows teasingly, "I don't. That's why I think about cauliflower. I don't have the time to think about anything else."

Mark rolled his eyes and stared at the files before clearing his throat, "Youngjae's going back to school right?"

Saera nodded, "The principle felt bad for suspending him for a whole week so she allowed him to end his punishment early. She kinda has a soft spot for us."

Mark nodded and wet back to his notes.

"So about this wedding thing…"Saera said while fidgeting in her seat.

Mark glanced up at her before looking back at his file, "Are you trying to flake on me?"

"N-No! It's just that…I mean do you really want to go with me?" Saera asked quietly.

Mark shrugged, "Yeah, I mean why wouldn't I?"

"Why did you even agree?" She asked dubiously.

Mark looked up and met her uneasy eyes, "I'm not so sure. I figured it would be something different to do. And honestly, I'm going to try to hustle the bride into making you a bridesmaid."

Saera gasped in horror, "You wouldn't dare!"

"Can you imagine it? You in the same tacky dress as 5 other girls, walking down the aisle next to some guy you don't know while smiling for photos that the bride and groom, who you haven't seen in over a decade will have for the rest of their lives?" Mark goaded.

Saera shook her head slowly while shooting daggers at him, "Ohhh, I hate you so much right now."

"You are definitely going to be at the bouquet toss, before the two of us do the YMCA." He said while snickering.

Saera sunk down in her chair. "Please stop."

"Can you sing All You Need Is Love? Maybe I can get you to sing their first dance." He said in mock excitement.

"Keep this up and I'll wait until you're all dressed up before standing you up." She threatened.

Mark placed his palm over his heart, "My fragile male ego will be shattered."

Saera shook her head, choosing to ignore him before looking down at the papers, "There's nothing here. Megan's notes are just her, talking in circles. It looks like Cham Ji was pulling most of the weight."

"That's expected." Mark stated, "The handler just watches over the undercover officer and makes sure their cover isn't blown. They usually aren't too heavily associated with the case, but we won't know if Cham Ji let Megan in on anything until we go through all these documents."

Saera stared at the tall pile with a desolate look, "I don't know what Youngjae sees in all of this. Being a detective ."

"You get used it." Mark said back blankly.  "And arresting criminals on a daily basis makes up for the gruelling paperwork."

Saera scrunched her nose up, "I can't believe that I'm giving up potential sessions with my clients for this."

Mark gave her a look before checking his watch.

3:00

He stood up and nudged her foot, "Hey, there's something I need to do real quick, I'll be back, okay?"

Saera looked up at him from her file and nodded, "Sure. Leave me with the boring paperwork. It's no big deal. It's not like I'm DYING OF BOREDOM!"

Mark rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket before slipping it on.

"Oh and one more thing."

Saera sighed in annoyance, "What?"

A cheeky glint in Mark's eye took her by surprise as he leaned close to her.

"What colour is your dress going to be?"

-----

Mark was driving down the road when he spotted Youngjae walking out of the school yard.

He slowed his car down and rolled down his window before honking his horn. Youngjae looked up and pulled his earphones out of his ears before grinning. He jogged up to Mark's car and ducked his head down.

"What are you doing here?" Youngjae asked with a smile.

Mark tapped his wheel, "I needed to run an errand before meeting your sister back at the precinct. Want a ride?"

Youngjae's eyes widened, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, get it." Mark said with a nod.

Youngjae's grin couldn't have gotten bigger as he jumped in next to Mark. "You are so cool."

Mark chuckled, a strange warmth filling his gut at the sound of adoration, "Tone it back, casanova."

"No, it's true. I looked you up online, you've closed so many badass cases and you've won so many awards and you were in the army for 2 EXTRA TERMS!" Youngjae said while bouncing in his chair.

It was amazing.

He was almost exactly like Saera. They had the same excitement, the same enthusiasm and the same smile.

"It's weird hearing you tell me about myself." He said jokingly.

Youngjae looked undeterred, "Man, my sister is so lucky to get follow you around."

"Well you'll be following me around next week." Mark pointed out.  

Youngjae groaned, "Yeah, but for one day."

Mark's lips twitched, "I'm guessing school is going well."

"I guess." Youngjae muttered, his face suddenly darkened.

Mark caught on quickly and glanced at him through the side of his eye, "What's wrong?"

"Saera thinks I'm getting bullied." Youngjae mumbled.

Mark raised his brows, "Are you?"

"No, I'm not!" Youngjae exclaimed,

"So why are you getting into so many fights?" Mark asked.

Youngjae hung his head down and looked at his lap, "Things…happened."

Instead of prying, Mark stayed silent as he drove. He wasn't calling Youngjae a criminal or anything but in the  past he had learnt that the best way to get a culprit into confessing was silence.

Pure radio silence.

The tension who suffocate them into blurting everything out and Youngjae seemed like the type of person that would break under that sort of tension.

Mark counted down in his head.

5

4

3

2

"Saera does everything for me. She works almost 24 hours just for me. Not for herself, but me. I already know what kind of burden I am on her so I don't like telling her my problems. She has enough to deal with already." Youngjae said quietly.

Mark frowned, "She does it because she wants to, not because she has to. Do you know how easy it would've been to throw you into the system and let the government deal with  where to send you? She made the choice to be there for you and that's because she wants to be."

"But do you know how that makes me feel?" Youngjae said angrily.

Mark raised his brow."Does she?"

Youngjae opened his mouth but nothing came out. He stared at Mark's profile for a long time before leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest, "You're good."

"I know." Mark said with a smile as he rolled to a stop.

Youngjae scratched the back of his ear before shifting nervously in his seat, "So…um…look, this might be weird, but I never really knew my father. He and my mom sort of left us when I was a kid."

Mark nodded casually, "Yeah I think your sister mentioned it in passing."

"Well, I guess since you're around a lo--"

"Woah." Mark said suddenly while slamming the brakes and turning to him, "Hold on, now."

Youngjae shook his head, "No, no, no, dude. I'm not asking you to be my dad or something."

Mark narrowed his eyes with caution, "So what is it?"

Youngjae's brown knit together in deep thought, "After you and Saera finish whatever it is you two are working on, are you going to leave?"

"What do you mean 'leave'?" Mark's voice with littered in confusion.

"Will you move out and stop hanging around her…and me?"

"Well, I'm definitely moving out and me and your sister don't really have a reason to see each other after we finish our…project." Mark said slowly. He knew it sounded rude but it was the truth, what else was he supposed to say?

Youngjae's face turned blank as he took a moment of silence before nodding, "Okay."

"Why? It's not like you look up to me, right?" Mark balked with a joking laugh.

"No." Youngjae said snappishly.

Mark's eyes widened as he stared at the boy. Youngjae was scowling while staring out the window. Mark was joking when he said that, he didn't actually think that Youngjae looked up to him.

For 's sake, he could count the times he spoke to the kid on one hand.

No one looks up to a guy they barely know.

"Youngjae, aside from what you might think about me, I'm not someone that you should look up to. I might be a cop and I might have served in the army but that doesn't make me a good person." Mark said grimly.

Youngjae scoffed, "I already said that I don't look up to you."

"Your sister is someone who you should be looking up to. She's the role model you need, not me." Mark's fingers tightened around the wheel until he knuckles turned white. "I'm not someone whose footsteps you would want to follow. Or someone you want to be like when you get older."

Youngjae didn't bother giving him eye contact, "If you weren't a good person then my sister wouldn't have let you move in next to us."

"Your sister and I have a…weird relationship. It's not really conventional."