Okay, it's been weeks since my last update. The whole reason? Schoolwork overload. I've been knee-deep in exam prep, and then they dropped the bomb about the short film fest. I had to churn out a script ASAP. Luckily, I managed to get it done and dusted. So, here's the fresh update.

P.S. A massive shoutout for sticking around. Love you all!

---

"Detective Kang."

"Ms. Krystal."

"Small world, huh? Did Mom send you to tail me?"

Seulgi blinked, surprised at her straightforwardness. "No-..."

"Give me some truth that's not coated in lies. Convince me you're worth believing."

Seulgi was caught off guard; Yoona was right. Krystal was something else, to the point where you'd facepalm at her unwavering confidence. "Actually, you've got it wrong—"

"Save it. Detectives are pros at lying."

Seulgi frowned, struggling to find the right words. "But I'm not like—"

Krystal smirked, an icy aura about her. "Shouldn't you apologize for crashing into me?"

"Excuse me?" Seulgi retorted, taken aback.

Truth be told, that tone made Seulgi's heart race, and Krystal's glare could probably petrify Medusa. Lord, give me strength.

"I-I mean, you should s-say sorry..." Seulgi stammered, and under Krystal's knowing gaze, she nervously gulped before sighing. "I'm sorry."

Krystal batted her eyelashes, surprised that the detective before her had stumbled. "And you promise?"

Oh, damn it.

Seulgi mentally rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "I promise I'll pay more attention to my surroundings next time."

A small smile crept onto Krystal's face, though Seulgi missed it. She was too busy internally berating herself for stumbling into another member of the Jung family and saying things she hadn't meant to, all while avoiding eye contact.

Krystal couldn't fathom why her mood shifted from grumpy to giddy. Earlier, she'd had a fight with her mother, which had soured her mood. Then, bumping into this detective made it worse. But all that its head when she saw the usually composed detective stumble over her words. She couldn't help but enjoy the sight of Seulgi's nervousness.

"Alright then. Off you go,"

Seulgi nodded, bowing slightly before hurrying away, unknowingly leaving Krystal with a beaming smile.

A cute laugh escaped Krystal, her cheeks a little red. "Well, that was unexpected," she said, smirking as she entered the store. "She's quite different from that insufferable detective."

On the flip side, Seulgi groaned as she climbed out of her car and headed into the precinct. What the hell just happened back there? Why did I make a complete fool of myself? No, scratch that, I'm beyond foolish for saying those things. God, that was embarrassing. Screw me.

Furrowing her brows, Seulgi entered the Chief's office and found her cousin and Chief Park deep in thought.

"Hey, everyone! Sorry for being late. Traffic was a nightmare out there!"

Chief Park snapped out of his reverie and greeted her. Seulgi playfully saluted and turned to her cousin. Taking a seat beside her, she rested a hand on Yoona's arm. "What's going on?"

Chief Park cleared his throat, catching Seulgi's attention. "Hyuna is in the hospital. She's been admitted for head injuries."

Seulgi was taken aback and started asking for more details. "Any CCTV footage?"

"Unfortunately, no. All the cameras were turned off when she sneaked out of her house after midnight."

"She sneaked out?"

"Yeah, according to my team, Edawn had a brief conversation with Hyuna before she went to rest. She told him that one of my team members visited her room, informing her that Yoona wanted to meet at a certain location to discuss plans on avoiding any harm related to our recent cases."

"And then things flipped around, she thought Unnie wanted to meet her, but instead, she ended up in a car crash. No offense to her boyfriend, but it seems she was hoping for a chance with my cousin, am I right?"

Chief Park let out a sigh and nodded, "It's my fault. I shouldn't have been so quick to trust all my team members. I got it wrong. They also mentioned that the mystery guy isn't on my roster. They assumed he was one of us since he was wearing a similar uniform."

"What happened to that mystery guy?"

"After Hyuna left the house, he disappeared."

Seulgi contemplated for a moment, thinking carefully. "This guy is spiraling out of control. We need to apprehend him soon, things are escalating."

Throughout their conversation, Yoona remained silent, absorbed in her own thoughts, trying to figure out a solution that wouldn't cause harm again. This is entirely my fault. Why did I even involve them? I acted so recklessly.

"Next on the list is Lee Jong Suk, and we've already scheduled a meeting with him after this."

Yoona looked up and spoke, "Can I talk to Hyuna?"

Both Seulgi and Chief Park were surprised by Yoona's request. "Sure, but you'll have to wait for 3 days. She's under medication, and the doctor won't allow any disturbances during her recovery."

Yoona let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Alright. Chief, please update me after you've talked to him."

Chief Park agreed, and the two left the precinct.

"Tough day?" Seulgi glanced at Yoona and chuckled.

"You have a knack for seeing through everything, don't you? You always know."

Yoona chuckled and patted Seulgi's back, giving her a concerned look. "Your expression looks worse than our case, buddy, or maybe I'm just reading it wrong. My apologies if that's the case."

Seulgi laughed and shook her head. One thing she admired about Yoona was her toughness. She never displayed her pain because she didn't want those around her to worry. Seulgi knew that Yoona was carrying a heavy burden with this current case. She understood that Yoona was battling internally not to break down, as she didn't want to reveal her vulnerability. Seulgi believed that showing weakness wasn't being weak; it was about understanding oneself and not fearing one's emotions. Unfortunately, that philosophy didn't seem to apply to Yoona.

"I had a bit of a disagreement with her."

"Oh, seems more than just a bit from where I'm standing." Yoona gave her a knowing look as she opened the car's passenger door, revealing six cans of beer. She winked at Seulgi and settled into the car. "Drive us to the nearest park, and let's dive into your 'trouble in paradise' scenario."

Seulgi complied, starting the engine and heading to the nearby park. After thirty minutes of driving, they were relieved to find the park relatively empty. They found a spot under a tree, sitting on the grass in a cross-legged position, with the cans of beer before them.

"I never thought love could get this complicated," Seulgi began, gazing ahead, feeling the soothing breeze against her skin. 

"No relationship is perfect, buddy. It all comes naturally. It's a test of how both of you can work through it together. Otherwise, you'll realize one of you is fighting alone, and there's no point in holding on."

Seulgi looked over to her cousin, who was smirking. She rolled her eyes and returned her focus to the scenery. "Nice try, but I'm not planning on breaking up with her. Never."

"That's the spirit, pal. She needs to see that you're willing to stand by her side, no matter what."

Taken aback, Seulgi turned to face Yoona again. "I am."

Yoona chuckled and shook her head. "Well, at least verbally, yes." Seulgi looked puzzled. "Come on! This isn't about you two's issues. It's that Suho guy meddling with your relationship. Obviously, you need to give him a reality check."

"A reality check?" Seulgi muttered, her fists clenching at the thought. "You're absolutely right. He needs to understand that Joohyun is mine. Let's go." She stood up, brushed off her pants, and reached for Yoona's arm, ready to go. But Yoona halted her.

"Where the heck do you think you're going?"

"Well, you said I should teach him a lesson?"

"I did."

"Then why aren't you coming?"

Yoona sighed, signaling Seulgi to return to her seat, which Seulgi did without hesitation. What could she do? She treated Yoona like a relationship master, in a good way.

"I don't mean you should physically attack him, you dimwit. If you resort to that, you're showing her that you're not worth it—which I don't agree with. Sometimes, physical confrontation isn't even worth it. What's worse is getting injured, that's an even bigger mess."

Seulgi was taken aback, genuinely surprised. Did Yoona just share those words of wisdom? She wondered if Yoona had a sudden change of heart. As far as she remembered, Yoona didn't usually give relationship advice, probably because she had her own share of struggles in that department, much like Seulgi herself.

"Oh, honey, please stop overthinking and wondering why I'm spouting this stuff at you. It's just my take on your situation, alright? I'm not doling out relationship advice. That's not my thing."

Yoona dramatically pretended to gag as she took a sip of her beer, while Seulgi laughed. "How much of a hypocrite are you? You and Jennie definitely have something."

Yoona snickered, shaking her head. "We're still not officially a thing, so technically, we're 'not a thing.'"

"If you say so~"

The two lapsed into silence until Seulgi finally spoke up. "Should I confront Suho about Joohyun and me? I'm not one to get riled up easily, but that guy pushed my buttons when he visited Joohyun in the practice room."

"What did he do to you?"

Seulgi recounted the story, causing Yoona to rise from her seat. "What are you waiting for? Let's teach him a lesson!"

Seulgi grabbed her wrist, giving her a knowing look. "But earlier, you said it's not worth it."

"I did, but if you don't take a stand, he might do it again. Do you want that?" Yoona asked, placing both hands on Seulgi's shoulders and looking into her eyes.

Just thinking about it made Seulgi's blood boil. She felt a surge of sickness in her stomach. She desperately wanted to teach him a lesson, to make him understand his boundaries.

"Hell no!" Seulgi gritted.

Yoona smiled and patted her head. "That's the spirit! Let's go."

So the two brushed off the grass and made their way back to the car. Just then, Yoona's phone rang. She excused herself to answer the call, leaving Seulgi alone. Seulgi took the opportunity to read a text from Irene.

From: Joohyun my love

I'm so sorry about earlier. It's my fault, and I never intended for that to happen. I didn't want to upset you, but I did, and I feel ashamed. I've asked him to back off, but he's still pursuing me. I'm at a loss. I want to talk to you so we can work this out, but I understand you need time. I know it's wrong to entertain him, and I have a solution, but I'm not sure if it's the right one. Please talk to me. Let's meet in person. I love you, Seul.

Seulgi couldn't deny that her heart ached reading Irene's message. She longed to see Irene, to hold her, and to reassure her love, but the anger she felt inside was overpowering her emotions.

"Hey."

Seulgi pocketed her phone and looked at her cousin.

"Take me to Jennie's parents' place."

"What are you planning to do there?" Seulgi asked, perplexed.

Yoona shrugged in response. "Her dad wants to meet me, so it's probably some kind of family dinner with her parents."

Seulgi couldn't help but laugh. She hadn't expected this from Yoona.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing. It's just a new sight to see you willingly agree to something like that. I remember you used to hate such things."

Yoona rolled her eyes, surprised at herself for easily agreeing to Jennie's proposal. "Yeah, same here. It's like Jennie slipped something into my drink to make me say yes so easily." Yoona joked, and the two shared a laugh, momentarily forgetting their own problems. However, they both knew they would have to face them again soon. "Come on, let's get going. Or you could come with me."

Seulgi immediately shook her head. "No, I don't want to intrude on your plans."

Yoona chuckled and shook her head. "Trust me, this is a whole new level of willingly doing something I never thought I would."

The drive to the Kim's residence took around 30 minutes. "I'll catch up with you later, pal. Try not to get into any trouble, alright? Think about what I mentioned earlier."

Seulgi offered a soft smile, which seemed to ease Yoona's worries. "I'll thi