“Big news, we just got a call from the county courts saying Chloe has just legally changed her last name to Kim. After checking public records, I found out that the state has official acknowledged Xiumin’s and Chloe’s marriage too.”

“I ing new it!” Chanyeol yelled, snapping his fingers together at the news.

“What?” Suho yelled, his ears perking at the news. “Say that again.”

Sehun repeated the message, his voice lowering in decibel as he noticed Suho’s hardened expression.

“Dammit!” Suho yelled, slamming the papers he had been holding onto the floor.

“Why the hell are you so pissy? This is what we’ve been waiting for! Now we have confirmation that we’ve been wrong all along.” 

“No. You don’t get it!” Suho said between clenched teeth as he paced back and forth to settle his mind. “Two days ago, I received a call from Chloe saying she was willing to step forward as a witness. She was going to help us obtain evidence.”

Chanyeol folded his arms as he processed the information. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Because she also told me there’s a mole!” Suho yelled, growing more frustrated as everything started falling apart.

Everyone went silent as news of one of their own comrade’s betrayal set in.

“So the legalization of their marriage…it can only mean that Chloe’s no longer on our side.” Baekhyun reasoned out loud.

“I want warrants for their arrest.” Suho ordered. 

“Warrants? Under what grounds? Legally speaking, they've done nothing wrong.”

“Look for parking tickets, unpaid bills, anything that can get them here within the hour!” Suho yelled before trudging off to his office.

Hours later, the mentioned couple ended up at the police department door steps of their own accord, apparently ready to clear up any misunderstanding from Chloe’s previous phone call. As soon as Suho laid eyes on the couple walking hand in hand, he listed off orders again, demanding the two be separated for interrogation.    

Xiumin sat straight-faced as Chanyeol went on an odd tangent about Yoona’s murder case in the middle of his interrogation.

“I guess I should update you on Yoona’s murder case, seeing as how your name’s finally been cleared.” 

“Please, do tell.” Xiumin said, curious to hear his interpretation of the event.

“She was murdered by a client in a bout of rage. It was all conveniently caught on tape for us, so we know for sure he did it.”

Xiumin nodded along, feigning ignorance to information they both knew he was already privy to.

“What was strange was the evidence suggested the guy committed suicide.” Chanyeol said, watching Xiumin’s expression carefully. “Which makes me question, why would a man, about to close a deal with a two-million-dollar commission, with kids and a wife waiting for him at home, who seemingly had everything going for him, decide to commit suicide?”

“I fail to see how this question is relevant to me.” Xiumin responded carefully.

Chanyeol continued. “I guess you could argue that the man went crazy from the guilt. But you and I both know that men like that don’t feel guilt. They only feel pride that they committed a sin without ever being caught.”

Xiumin let out a smile as he shifted his position forward.

“If you ask me, I believe the man got let off easy.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do. Because if you had had your way, you would have tortured him, humiliated him, maybe even had him kill himself.” Chanyeol said, testing out his theory.

But Xiumin’s face remained stoic. “Perhaps.” 

“Hello, I’m Captain Kim Suho. We spoke previously on the phone.”

I let out an impressed whistle as I shook hands with the man. “To what do I owe, the pleasure of such important company?”

“I guess you could say I’ve taken a vested interest in the case.” Suho said as he sat down in front of me.

He was a handsome guy, with hair neatly parted and his shirt pristinely pressed. There was a slightly awkward air about him, but besides that, he seemed to be an all-around clean-cut guy with a killer smile to match. 

“Vested interest?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes at him. What kind of vested interest? Was this a personal vendetta, or a matter of pride for him? “It’s nice to finally associate a face with your voice. You’re much younger than I anticipated.”

Suho let off a smile. “I get that more often than you’d think.”

“I can imagine.” 

“But we’re not here to talk about me, are we?” 

“Of course. You’re only here to talk about my husband.”

“Actually…I had someone else in mind.”

“Oh. You meant me?” I said once realizing my mistake.

“You know, there’s actually a term for what you’re experiencing.”

“Is there?” I questioned, curious to hear what he had to say.

“It’s called Stockholm Syndrome.” He waited to see if the words had any meaning to me. Of course, they did. I had taken a Psychology course my first year in college. “It’s a psychological phenomenon where kidnap victims grow unusually attached to their captors. They say, they actually begin to feel sympathy and empathy for them.” Suho watched my expression carefully as he stated his next question. “Does any of that sound familiar to you?”

My jaw tensed at his words. I had felt sympathy and empathy for Xiumin on more than a few occasions. Was that what this was? Had I somehow misconstrued this ed up form of sympathy, for love?

“And you’re suggesting what I’m doing here is protecting him.” I said after a while.

“Isn’t it?”

I let off a scoff. “Hardly. If only my reason were so pure.”

Suho watched my expression intently, his curiosity mixed with something else that I just couldn’t quite put my finger on.

“Over the phone, you stated Xiumin was the true boss of EXO, correct?”

I sat, biting at my bottom lip, as I considered how to proceed.

“I was deranged.” I finally responded, unable to meet eyes with him.

Suho sat back in his chair, looking at me through narrowed eyes.

“Is that what you’re going with?” Suho asked, obviously already done with my bull.

“I had been drinking.”

“At nine o’clock in the morning?” 

I shrugged. “What can I say? I like my mimosas.” 

Suho shook his head at me.

“So how did you two lovebirds meet?” Suho asked, deciding to play along.

“A friend introduced us. He thought we would suit each other.