The drive to the hospital would have been relatively quiet if the backseat passengers didn’t continue their playful bickering. Seung-Ho glanced in the rearview mirror and saw how happy they were. He couldn’t help but feel the loneliness creeping into his heart even though the car was filled with laughter. He let out a long sigh as he tried to suppress his feelings.

Solar interrogated Moonbyul for a good while. She tried every tactic she could think of on the fly; most were pleading and begging with the occasional dissatisfied grumbling. Moonbyul almost cracked a few times but she stuck through it to the end. Eventually, Solar relented and Moonbyul sighed in relief; softly and facing away from Solar of course. She didn’t want Solar to be suspicious of her again.

“You guys sure are close,” Seung-Ho commented.

“Closer than you think!” Moonbyul said proudly, with an almost smug expression. The way she was positioning herself, she wanted to wrap her arm around Solar to show Seung-Ho how close they really were. She even excitedly glanced in Solar’s direction, as though it was a guarantee that Solar would give her the go ahead.

“Of course we’re close. You’re sitting right here,” Solar jest, shooting down Moonbyul’s chance of showing off.

“That’s not what I meant!” Moonbyul protested.

“It’s not?” Solar looked at her innocently.

“Nevermind…” she could only shake her head and sighed.

“How long have you known each other?” He asked.

“A very long time,” Moonbyul answered once more. “But she probably never talked about me,” she blurted without thinking.

Seung-Ho was surprised. “You’re right. She never did. How did you know?”

Solar looked down sadly.

“I-I asked her not to. Yeah! That’s right, I asked-asked her not to.” Moonbyul fumbled over her words, clearly flustered.

“Did something happen?” He inquired further.

“O-of course not. I-I’m just a private person, that’s all.”

“I see…” he wasn’t convinced with her answer, but decided against prying further.

Moonbyul thought Seung-Ho would continue this line of inquiry, and proceeded to ask her questions before he could direct any more at her. “What about you two? How did you meet?”

“I was her sponsor in the doctorate program,” he said happily. “The first time we met she almost got her luggage stolen.”

“What!? What happened?” Moonbyul looked over to Solar for an answer.

Solar didn’t reply and looked down at her feet.

“Solar?” Moonbyul looked at her expectantly.

“You don’t want to talk about it?” He asked.

“It’s not that…” Solar answered softly.

“Should I tell her about it then?” He said.

Solar nodded fervently as she replied, “Yes.”

“So what happened?” Moonbyul looked over to Seung-Ho.

He recounted the disaster he had encountered at the airport. It was not long after their last message to each other that he arrived to pick her up. He tried to contact her but it was to no avail, and the loss of communication was making him anxious. He went looking for her and saw her walking away from her luggage; effectively leaving them unattended. Not a moment later, a man tried to leave with her bags.

Seung-Ho ran as quickly as he could towards the man and took them back. The man threatened him but he didn’t relent. The heated argument drew a crowd and the man backed off looking a bit scared. The man quickly made a run for it as if he was being chased but not before screaming profanity at everyone.

It didn’t take long before Solar approached him, looking a bit shaken and defensive. Her eyes were also a bit red, as if she had been crying. He didn’t understand at first but quickly realized that he was a strange man holding tightly onto her belongings. He apologized and introduced himself, showing her his identification and the messages she had sent him earlier. She checked them out carefully before letting out a sigh of relief.

Solar apologized for jumping to conclusions and thanked him for keeping her things safe. She told him what happened and held up the tattered pieces of her phone. They went back to his car and he gave her the grand tour. Before dropping her off at her dorm, they had a meal together.

“Remember how my car almost got towed and I had to beg them to let me off the hook?” He jest, glancing at Solar with a big grin.

“That happened?” Solar questioned.

“You don’t remember?” Moonbyul raised an eyebrow.

“It’s been a while,” Solar answered.

Seung-Ho was surprised by Solar’s response. He had set up a joke but it fell flat. I guess she’s not in the mood for it. He shrugged it off and chimed in, “It had been a few years. It can’t be helped.”

“I agree.” Solar nodded with a serious expression. “A-anyway, being a detective must be exciting. You must catch a lot of bad guys.”

Moonbyul was taken aback. In the past, she would be the one excited as she told stories about the danger she has to face trying to apprehend criminals. Solar would often scold her for not being more careful even if she was happy for her. She was a worrywart and Moonbyul’s thrilling tales only made it worse. I guessed she’s changed? It’s been a few years, I guess changes are unavoidable. Moonbyul shook her head slightly and smiled to herself.

“It’s not all that exciting. I mostly do paperworks.” Moonbyul answered.

“Really?” Seung-Ho raised an eyebrow.

“That can’t be!” Solar protested.

Is she trying to coax me into telling her so she can scold me? “I’m serious! There’s more paperwork than you think.” Moonbyul assured her.

“I know what you mean,” Seung-Ho laughed, saving Moonbyul in time.

“It can’t be all that bad at your job.” Moonbyul commented.

“I guess not. I haven’t led an operation myself, but helping in the operating room can still be nerve wracking, right Solar?” He said joyfully.

She nodded, “even watching from the gallery gets my heart pumping.”

“Right! I feel like I might get a heart attack sometime!” He said it as dramatically as he could.

“No worry! I will give you medical attention if that happens!” Solar teased.

“Aw~ thank you.” Seung-Ho said with a big grin.

“Should I be a witness?” Moonbyul jest.

“Are you implying I will botch it?” Solar pouted.

“Nope, I did no such thing.” Moonbyul shook her head while smiling mischievously.

“You’re thinking about it!” Solar protested.

“Nope,” Moonbyul shook her head again.

“It’s written on your face!” Solar exclaimed.

“That’s not possible,” Moonbyul gave a playful shock expression.

“You’re not even denying it anymore!” Solar furrowed her eyebrows.

“Now, now, you two.” Seung-Ho pretended to scold them, but was having difficulty containing his laughter.

Any tension in the car had dissipated by this point. They chatted happily the rest of the way. It didn’t take long before they reached the hospital. After parking, they kept each other company as they headed for the entrance. It was a short walk from the parking garage.

“By the way, Seung-Ho is a pretty good mechanic. He can help you with your bike.” Solar said.

“I don’t want to trouble him,” Moonbyul replied.

“It’s no trouble.” He smiled.

“I can’t possibly…”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” Solar chimed in, cutting Moonbyul off.

“But…” Moonbyul tried to protest.

“We’re here.” Solar exclaimed.

“This is where we part ways,” Seung-Ho smiled.

“Thanks,” Moonbyul said in a slightly sullen tone, worrying that the secret of her bike might be discovered.

“Anytime,” he replied happily.

“We have to go now. Keep out of trouble!” Solar jest.

“Hey!” She protested. “I don’t go around causing trouble.”

Solar smiled sweetly as she approached Moonbyul, “I know. Be safe.”

Moonbyul embraced her and whispered, “You too. Stay safe.”

“I will,” Solar replied.

Seung-Ho would have been surprised by how intimate they seemed if he didn’t witness their interaction in the car. Unfortunately, he did. He suspected there was more to them than they let on. Although he was curious, he didn’t want to pry so he left it at that.

They bid Moonbyul farewell and headed towards the door. A few moments later, Seung-Ho heard a bike and noticed a motorcyclist coming down the road at high speed. Moonbyul was standing near the road, looking down at her phone. Thinking she hadn’t registered the danger she was in, he dashed towards her in hope of keeping her from getting injured.

Moonbyul was a bit lost in thought as she was worrying about Seung-Ho coming to help with her bike. If he was as good as Solar had claimed, or even if he was mediocre, he might notice that the bike was tampered with. In that case, she would get another round of interrogation from Solar. As she was mulling over what to do, she heard the bike and knew it was going well over the speed limit.

She took out her phone to prepare and note down the license plate. She knew it wouldn’t take long for her to move and if the motorcyclist didn’t avoid her she could tack on more than just reckless driving. The motorcyclist didn’t slow down. In fact, it almost seemed as though he sped up towards her. She moved out of harm's way and was ready to jot down all she needed to find and arrest the bastard. What she didn’t expect however was Seung-Ho appearing right in front of her. On top of that, he was falling.

When Seung-Ho was about to reach Moonbyul, she jumped in his path. He had to alter his direction or they would have collided. This caused him to twist his ankle and fell. She instinctively grabbed him and broke his fall. Her arms were wrapped around his waist. His hands were gripping onto her leather jacket. They were close enough that their chests were almost pressing against one another.

The pain from his ankle as well as his slippery shoes made him lose balance once more. In an effort to stabilize himself, he involuntarily pulled on Moonbyul’s jacket. In a blink of an eye, their lips were touching. Their eyes widened in shock and Moonbyul dropped everything. Both her phone and Seung-Ho hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. She stood up straight, still trying to register what had occurred.

Solar ran over to them and pointed at them when she spoke. “Did you two…”

“I remember I have something to do. I have to go!” Moonbyul interrupted before Solar could finish. She quickly grabbed her phone and bolted.

“H-hey, I’m not done!” Solar yelled but Moonbyul kept going and didn’t look back. She turned her attention towards Seung-Ho. “You…”

“W-we’re late for work. We should head in.”

He got on his feet and tried his best to leave as quickly as possible. He would have fled too if he had two perfectly working legs. It wasn’t difficult for Solar to chase after him, however, he avoided talking about the incident involving Moonbyul.