IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE DISCLAIMER, READ IT HERE. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS. 
 

[Can't Nobody - 2NE1]
 

“Rough night?”

Kyungsoo’s question startles Byul, who blinks rapidly to clear her vision to see the person putting a mug of coffee in front of her. Gratefully, she wraps her fingers around the handle and takes comfort in the warmth seeking through the ceramic. “You could say that.”

“If you ask my opinion,” he murmurs in a careful, halted tone, “I would say that you haven’t slept properly in days. Or that you’ve had several rough nights in a row.”

“Your opinion?”

“Maybe not just mine.”

Byul looks up from her papers. The members of the team are intelligent and observant, and that’s how they were chosen for the team in the first place. “Can I ask you for a favor?”

“No, I’m not asking Mina on a date when she doesn’t even text me back.”

Byul splutters, managing to swallow her coffee before coughing.

“That wasn’t the favor, was it?”

Byul’s eyes meet Kyungsoo’s and they both laugh. She needed that. “No, but I remember Chen had a hired employee in his bar. Did you ever run into him when you were searching for evidence the day after the arrest?”

“Yes, and I got his information and said that someone from headquarters would contact him. The usual procedure.” He yawns into his spare hand. “Does Junmyeon want to call him in?”

“No.”

“So you have a hunch but no evidence.” It’s not a question, but a statement. Byul nods slowly. Not as much as a hunch as a criminal whispering in her ear, but sure—a hunch.

“We don’t know what he really does, but if the worker in the bar has no idea about Chen’s involvement in the underground, then maybe he’s noticed some shady details, or things that stick out to him.” Byul’s explanation is more of her reasoning to find out if what Sehun said was true or not, but even if he’s wrong, there’s a chance that they could get some information.

“I can run it by Junmyeon.” Kyungsoo nods, and then tilts his head slightly. “Or you could tell him yourself—”

Byul stands up, pushing her chair back. “Take credit for this idea.”

“What? Why?” Kyungsoo puts his drink down, confused. “You came up with it.”

“Junmyeon is fair and gives credit where credit is due when talking to the higher-ups.” She swills the mug, draining it until there’s dregs at the bottom of the cup. “You said the superiors didn’t necessarily like you, and you’re technically not in this department. You could do with a boost.”

She doesn’t listen to anything else Kyungsoo says, walking out of the break room and sitting down at her desk. There’s a bottle of cranberry juice that’s been half-guzzled, and she reaches for it again with a wince, twisting it open. She will need to stop by the pharmacy on the way home so she can pick up medications for a yeast infection.

She has no one to blame but herself. Wine has sugar in it, and if Sehun had any residual liquid on his lips, tongue, or fingers, that is an easy path to a yeast infection.

But if yeast infections are the things standing between her and Sehun in prison, then give her yeast infections for the rest of the month. That’s fine. As long as the case is solved, it will be worth it.

Byul knows her obsession is unhealthy. She can’t help it though. The more the Kyrie pushes her down, the more she knows that she has to prove him wrong. She’s been conditioned to solve puzzles all her life.

Logic puzzles, riddles, pattern finding, the list goes on and on. She did them all as a kid, and she started to get good at them. Puzzles make her feel calm. She’s in her element when she’s trying to solve. And she needs to solve this one, because she’s putting her own personal health and pride on the line. She can’t say she’s good at puzzles if she can’t solve this one.

In her short time at headquarters, she realized of a couple of things. First of all, the Kyrie’s case has the most pressure and the most publicity. If she fails, one of the eight members of the team fails, and all eight are needed in order to solve this case. And all eight of them will be under heavy fire, and there’s a chance that several of them could be demoted or even fired if they don’t perform.

And after a year in the department, she knows that they’re all talented and don’t deserve to be outwitted by a man who is playing with the strings of fate as a puppeteer. To put it cleanly, she cares because the team is on the line.

She’s not the only one who knows that their jobs are on the line. Byul can see that knowledge etched into Junmyeon’s face as he dictates their path to solve the case. The most weight is on his shoulders, and even though he doesn’t say much about it, she knows that he might be starting to crack under the pressure.

The crime can happen at any time during the month, and they still don’t know what is being stolen.

“Byul? Byul!”

For the second time that morning, she’s startled by someone. Junmyeon is waving his hand in front of her face, frowning. She lightly slaps his fingers away. “News?”

“No. But Yifan was on a case years ago with someone called the Deer who preyed on vulnerable women. One of the pieces of evidence shows that he is associated with Chen, so there’s a possibility that the Kyrie is part of a large network of criminals.”

“When do you think Mina is going to talk to Chen? And are we going to offer a plea deal that decreases his sentence if he tells us what he knows?”

Junmyeon shoots her a pointed look as she coughs lightly. He runs his tongue over his teeth. “As your boss, I’m supposed to tell you to take the day off if you’re getting sick.”

“You’re supposed to floss your teeth, but judging from your swollen gums, I think someone has been forgetting.”

He raises a single eyebrow, and she knows that was a cheap trick to get the attention off of her. Junmyeon, however, is her boss, and probably knows what she’s doing. But he doesn’t press, going back to the topic of the conversation. “Saying that we’ll give him a lesser sentence is what we have to do, but I doubt that will work. We don’t even really know what he does.”

She clears , “Kyungsoo might have an idea.”

“Really? I’ll go ask him, then.”

Byul nods, yawning and leaning back in her chair. She watches Junmyeon’s profile as he pivots toward the break room, but he pauses and his head turns back toward her. “Byul?”

“Hm?”

“You’re supposed to sleep, but judging from your undereye circles, I think someone has been forgetting.”

And with one last knowing glance, he walks toward the break room and out of sight. She curses a little under her breath. As good as she is at solving puzzles, Junmyeon, in reality, is one step above her and is always able to place the gaps in her façade.

Junmyeon runs a hand through his hair. There’s a fifty-fifty chance that Byul is hiding something. No, it’s higher than fifty-fifty. It’s more like ninety-ten.

But if there’s something he’s learned since Byul joined the team, it’s that he needs to believe in in his team mates, and most of all, he needs to have blind faith in her especially. She doesn’t open up easily, and if something is bothering her personally, it takes time for her to be c