Another morning, another busy day of patrolling. Nothing special ever seems to happen these days. Just the same people following their daily routines, passing the same road on the way to the same places, all of this bores the same policeman who is always on guard at the local police station, Son Hyunwoo, or, as he likes to call himself, Shownu. He yawns as the people pass by, day after day, sitting behind the front desk, waiting for anyone to drop by to file a case, which actually rarely happens, things are pretty peaceful around his town. 

Shownu is somewhat young, twenty-three, to be exact. He started the job not long after graduating college, having dreams of becoming a legal pursuer of justice. It was a childhood dream really, influenced by watching the superheroes on television, it somehow inspired him to actually chase that dream of becoming like one of them. Capturing bad guys, locking them up in jail, all these factors drove him into the desire of being the one to do it on his own. Though despite that, when he finally got into the department, he was chosen as front desk duty. But hey, he knew it had to start somewhere, so he was fine with it. He knows that one day, he’ll be able to achieve exactly what he’s always wanted.

On this particular morning, something was out of the ordinary. Out of all the bustling people in the busy streets in a rush hour, it would take a few minutes to notice one particular girl in a high school uniform walking back and forth in more numbers that what would be considered usual. Shownu’s eyes followed her through the station window as she rushed from one end to the other, and then back again with a worried expression present on her small, doll-like face. As she reached exhaustion, she stopped pacing. Hands on her slightly bent knees, fringe sticking to her sweaty forehead. She looked up, searching for something. When her eyes stopped to see the police station present just in front of her, her expression turned thoughtful. Shownu watched as she picked up her legs and started walking towards his workstation. She hesitantly opened the door, and the small “Ding!” that indicated someone’s arrival jolted her a bit more than it should. Shownu giggled internally at her reaction, swallowing it down whole when he saw her blush in embarrassment and stared at her own feet. She continued walking to the front desk where Shownu was and looked up to reveal her face clearly to him.

Cute.  

He thought. Then mentally smacked himself in the head. 

The girl still had her worried expression on, along with a mixture of hesitance. It took her a few tries of opening to speak, then closing it again, along with her fiddling fingers that were at unrest, before she finally blurted out something audible. 

“A-am I allowed to file in for a petty case?” She stuttered a bit. Her voice was a bit high pitched, matching her face. Somehow Shownu didn’t find it annoying like some of the idol girls he sees in variety shows. He blinked at her, not realizing that he’d been staring longer than he should. 

“Sure. You can file anything here.” He replied. “What’s the problem?”

Her eyes darted everywhere, not knowing how to explain properly. Shownu started to wonder what could possibly be so nerve-wracking for her.

“W-well I have a cat...” She started, eyes still avoiding his. Shownu already started having a clear idea of what it could possibly be. “...He’s always there on the foot of my bed when I wake up, but today he wasn’t even anywhere in the house...” She muttered out, her worried look creeping back up to take over her face. 

“So you lost your cat.” Shownu repeated as he wrote it down in the form used to file cases. She nodded, somewhat embarrassed. 

“I-I know it’s a stupid case but I’m getting worried…he barely leaves the house without anyone taking him out.” She swallowed her own saliva as beads of sweat forming near her temples. 

“It’s not stupid. No case is ever stupid. I mean I understand why you’re worried. A lot of things could’ve happened to a missing pet.” Shownu regretted the last sentence he said as he saw her face contort into even more anxiety. He awkwardly coughed it off gave the form for her to sign. He told her that an officer would sent to look for her cat in a short while so she could head back to school. 

“No! I want to find him on my own too.” She retorted. Shownu wanted to influence her not to skip school, but seeing her starting to chew her nails as her eyebrows scrunched up to meet each other at the top of her forehead made him think twice. He knew it was a bad thing, especially as an officer, to just allow a high school student to bunk school, but her desperation somehow really took a toll on him. Shownu didn’t know why, but suddenly felt like he was compelled to help her out. She looked so helpless and lost in her own thoughts that he just couldn’t help but feel like he needed to take action. 

“Alright, I’ll lend you a hand in looking for your pet. Let’s find him together.” He finally told her. He saw her face lit up for the slightest bit as she gave him a smile and nodded in agreement. 

Cute.

He subconsciously thought yet again.

Though he didn’t know why, Shownu somehow felt a strange urge to reach out and pat her head, along with telling her that it’s going to be okay. But he didn’t, of course. He knew better. 

He told one of the other officers to take his place in the front desk as he went off to do his job. Shownu and the girl left the police station and looked around, deciding on where they should start searching. 

“Where do you think he could have gone?” He asked. She shrugged slightly, not really sure of what to answer.

“Whenever we take him out we bring him almost anywhere really.” She replied, and then heaved out a sigh.

“In that case, let’s just start looking at each possible place one by one.” Shownu told her an assuring smile. “We’ll find him. I’m sure of it.”

They spent the entire day searching many different places from top to bottom. They searched all around the neighborhood, near the local riverbank, and even back at her place, with Shownu waiting outside as she searched every nook and cranny of her own home, yet still finding no traces of her cat. Along the way they started conversing a lot. Shownu got to find out that her name was Park Hyeryung, and that she was eighteen years old, doing her last year of high school. She told him that she has troubles keeping up in school since she wasn’t very intelligent. He told her not to give up and keep working hard, which made her beam at him for his support. Feeling the wave of a warmhearted smile, Shownu grinned back at her. The kind of grin that makes his eyes disappear. 

She in turn also got to find out about him. Mostly about the little things. His name, nickname, where he was from, things like that. "Oh! You're actually not that much older than me!" She said excitedly as she found out his age. "So in that case, is it okay if I call you Shownu oppa?" 

A shiver rolled down Shownu's spine. 

His ears tingled with a weird sensation as the word lingered in his mind. He didn't know what made it so special, but as soon as it escaped her lips it was imprinted in his brain forever. 

Shownu nodded shyly, pursing his lips into a thin line as he tried to keep in his overwhelmingly wide smile that was threatening to show itself. Hyeryung giggled giddily, repeating the words "Shownu oppa!", liking how it sounded. 

Shownu had to look away, fearful of his cheeks turning into a sheer shade of red. 

As they continued their search, Shownu somehow kept talking more about himself. About how it’s only been a short while since he joined the police department and how he’s currently enjoying whatever job they give him, saying it’s a start to bigger goals. She told him that she admired his positivity and determination as he mindlessly blabbered about his dreams and aspirations, and he apologized for uselessly blurting out his personal matters.

“It’s nothing to be sorry for, Shownu oppa.” She told him. “I enjoy listening to these dreams of yours, they seem really inspiring.” She grinned widely at him, causing him to subconsciously stare longer than he should once again. Somehow, Shownu felt his chest beat faster than usual, and that there was constant flame rushing to his cheeks that caused him to face the other way yet again.

Cutecutecute.

He kept repeating in his brain.

 They arrived at their final spot as the sun was starting to fade into the earth, painting the sky with a bright orange haze. The local park was always filled with kids. Loud laughter could be heard from a mile away. They started to search around said park from each corner of it, checking under benches and behind lamp posts. They were almost about to completely lose hope when all of a sudden,

"There he is!!" Hyeryung squealed, pointing up to the top of a tree. Shownu looked towards the direction of her finger and saw a terrified, medium sized cat curling itself on one of the branches. Shownu internally shook his head in disbelief. How much trouble is this one cat going to get him into? He heaved out a sigh before he started climbing the tree with his strong arms. 

"I'm able to do it too, you know." She told him upon seeing him take the first step on the tree bark, feeling guilty as he's doing most of the work for her.

"I think you're forgetting what you're wearing." She gave her a quick smirk as she looked down on her school skirt and started laughing when she huffed her bangs in annoyance. He continued to climb up the tree, his police uniform slowly getting ruined with each step up. He finally reached the branch and steadied himself on it, then he proceeded to call out to the cat, making whatever hand gestures he could to make it come closer. 

"Be careful Shownu oppa!" Hyeryung shouted from below. Making him mentally curse himself for the subconscious grin forming on his lips. He was just glad that it wasn't visible to her. Shownu finally gained enough of the cat's trust for it to slowly crawl into his arm and he slowly descended down the tree. 

Hyeryung beamed in excitement as Shownu handed over her cat to her as she showered him with endless thank yous. He watched as she cutely scolded her cat for running away, but then treated it with never-ending hugs and laughed as it tried to pry itself out of her tight grasp. Personally, he thought the person was much cuter than the cat. 

He felt his cheeks flush once again.

His ears heard a strange inaudible beeping.

His chest constantly tries to control its unnatural beating. 

And he knew that in that moment, he was staring at her longer than he should.

"Oppa? What's wrong? Your face is all red." She asked innocently with doe eyes, petting her cat that wouldn't stay still. He knew how embarrassingly crimson he would be at that point, yet, he didn't look away this time. His eyes kept fixated into hers as he lost his control of the internal urge he's had since the beginning. He reached out his palm, and she watched as he brought it closer to her, making its way above her head. Her eyes remained locked into his, unblinking as she felt his warm hand place itself on top of her head, gently patting it a few times before slightly ruffling her hair. 

Under the bright orange sky that was rapidly turning into a soft purple shade, the two of them just stood across each other. Their eyes didn't drift away from each others as Shownu started to form a soft smile on his lips.

"Now yours is too."