“Nice art you’ve got here.”

The boy drops his can of spray paint and spins a complete one-eighty with wide eyes and parted lips. Irene almost laughs at him. Instead, she schools her face into one of disapproval and crosses her arms. She steps forward a few paces and the boy stumbles back a bit.

“You’ve got talent. But unfortunately, it’s not welcome on this particular canvas of yours here.”

The boy’s eyes are panicked, practically oozing fear and guilt. “Are - Are you going to arrest me?”

Irene can’t find it in her anymore and she laughs, looking down at her pristine uniform then back up at the guilty-looking boy. She shakes her head then grins lopsidedly at him.

“Nah, I’m not. It would be pretty hypocritical of me if I did. Anyway, it’s not like you’re hurting anybody, but here’s some advice, don’t get caught if you’re gonna do it, alright?”

The boy slowly straightens up, his expression shifting into one of confusion. “You’re . . . letting me go?”

Irene leans against a lamppost, eyeing the boy up and down. He doesn’t look like a thug, and the innocence in his eyes shows that what he had been doing before Irene had caught him hadn’t been done to cause any harm.

“I don’t see why not. Unless you want to come to the station with me?”

“No!” The boy looks startled at his own outburst. He clears his throat. “I - I mean, no, it’s okay.”

Irene smiles, pushing off of the lamppost and patting the boy’s shoulder. “Alright then. We’re good here. Don’t let me see you around, kiddo.”

“Remind me how in the world we ended up in the same god damn station together?” Irene growls.

“Don’t ask me, Officer Bae, I didn’t want it either,” Chorong replies.

“Are you guys at it again? Seriously?”

“Shut up, Taehyung!” Irene and Chorong yell simultaneously.

“Okay, okay, chill.”

Irene slams her hand down on the paperwork piled on the desk in front of her. She ruffles her hair in frustration and resists the urge to slam her head against a wall a couple of times. She takes out her phone and smiles fondly at the lock screen. Seulgi despises the picture for some unfathomable reason, but Irene adores it. It’s a candid shot of the younger woman that Irene had taken on one of their dates to a pizzeria. In the photo, Seulgi has flour smudged on her cheek and her hair tied up in a messy bun with a cute, childish smile.

“Officer Bae is whipped ~ !”

“Park, I swear if you don’t shut up I’m going to whup your .”

“Yo, her is mine. That’s a no-no zone.”

“Hey, Bom,” Irene says.

“Yoon Bomi. What did you just say?”

Bomi laughs nervously. “Uhm, what? I said something?”

Irene shakes her head and turns back to her desk. She sighs. She has a long day ahead of her.

Irene sneaks into Nova - the cross between a coffee shop and a bookstore that’s owned by none other than Seulgi. She looks around, quickly putting a finger to her lips when she sees Minho spot her. The man smiles and nods at her, pointing towards the “bookstore” part of the area. He raises three fingers and Irene flashes him an okay sign before creeping towards the third aisle. And finally, she spots her.

Seulgi’s hair is up in a bun like usual. She’s dressed in a floral blouse and jeans and Irene thinks that she’s never seen anything more beautiful in her life. Seulgi’s completely immersed in finding a home for the book in her hand and Irene uses that to her advantage. Silently, she walks towards the younger woman. Irene can hear Seulgi muttering under her breath in this distance, and she almost laughs.

Finally reaching her, Irene extends her hands towards Seulgi’s waist when the younger woman abruptly turns around, and in the process, smacks Irene’s head with the book in her hand. Irene cl