Author's notes:

Is this.. Is this counted as filler? I dunno but not much goes on about the case here uhu but aha, we get a little backstory on Haeun's past with Byunwoo (wanna know why his name is Byunwoo? I wanted either Eunwoo or Baekhyun to play the part as her ex but then eh, just merged 'Byun' Baekhyun and Cha Eun'woo' = Cha Byunwoo.) Also ehemdrunkehemtaeyongehem good luck reading that. Have a nice day fellas!

The man adjusted his glasses and smiles once his sight becomes a bit clearer. He tries to pat down his hair, an attempt to look more polished than his actual state. The papers are stuffed into his bag while the next words stutter out of his mouth.

“H-Haeun… I haven’t s-seen you in y-years,” he fixes his tie but Haeun can see how shaky his hands are. “It’s n-nice to see you a-again,” his smile seemed genuine but her focus was on the taxi coming around the corner. She raises her hand but still fails to catch a ride. Her eyes divert back to Byunwoo and she’s not sure what she should say to him. There was still an awkward air between them.

“Nice to see you too, Byunwoo,” she looks down to her watch, trying to place her eyes anywhere else to avoid eye contact with the man in front of her. Even after years had passed, she still felt the same way as she did when they had parted. Time was surely taking its time to heal her wound considering how she still wasn’t able to look him in the eye after that day. Now that she was seeing him face to face just made her even more nervous and she hated how uneasy she felt. She hears him rummage for something in his pockets before she sees the outstretched hand.

His business card.

As she takes the card, Byunwoo speaks. “I’m an accountant now. Have been for the last few years,” he’s trying to make small talk but Haeun doesn’t even want to talk to him at the moment. His body turns to face the road, similar to Haeun’s position. “I haven’t heard anything about you since high school ended. How are things between you and Lucas? And Seonghan?”

So, he still remembered. Haeun wonders for a second if Byunwoo still carried a grudge against her or Lucas. He was a good friend in their circle of friends before they breakup caused both Seonghan and Lucas to cut ties with him. Before she could answer his question, an arm slings over her shoulders. The sudden presence is a surprise to both of them.

“I told you to wait for me,”

Taeyong speaks, his eyes locked on Haeun with a hint of worry in his tone. Being the good actor he was, he pretended to just have noticed Byunwoo’s presence. “Oh?” he tilts his head, “Who’s this?” Taeyong moves to block Haeun’s figure from Byunwoo’s sight. The look on Taeyong’s face is enough to make Byunwoo feel a chill go down his spine.

“Apologies, I didn’t mean any h-harm. Haeun was my schoolmate, I haven’t seen her in years,” he tries to explain his situation just as a car pulls up in front of him. He gives one last look to Taeyong and Haeun before he slips into the passenger seat. The window rolls down and Haeun hears him say, “Let’s have coffee someday, Haeun.” As the car drives away, Haeun’s knees go weak. She holds onto Taeyong’s arm to steady herself, her eyes glued to Byunwoo’s car as it drove out of sight.

“How did you know I was here?” Haeun manages to ask Taeyong once it dawned on her that she hadn’t told anyone where she was headed out today. Instead of answering her, Taeyong simply walked away. The woman scoffed before rushing her steps to follow him. “Yah, answer me,” she walks beside him, her hands held behind her, “Don’t tell me…” She gasps for dramatic effect while her hand flies to . “Are you some sort of stalker? Wow~”

Taeyong lightly shoves her and she sees him crack a smile. “Like someone would stalk you,” he comments, “I doubt anyone would find you interesting enough.” He notices her jaw-dropping but he doesn’t stop his steps. “Who was that guy anyway?” The man turns around to look at her but his feet continue on walking backwards. He sees the way her eyes fall to her shoes for a second before coming back up to meet his.

“Just someone I knew from high school,” she puts on a bitter smile, “Ex-boyfriend and ex-friend. Ugly stuff.”

“Oooh~ A tragic backstory? You’re like some kind of heroine in a drama,” he teases in a way to lighten the mood. “Does that make me your love interest then?” His joke earns him a smack on the head but his laugh indicates that he didn’t mind it. He properly turns around to face the front, “We could go and grab a drink, get drunk while you tell me about your past and then fall in love while you pass out in my arms.”

They arrive at his car and he hears Haeun’s words just as he unlocks the car. “Only if you’re paying,” she brushes off the rest of his sentence as a tease. Taeyong opens the passenger seat for her, “You still haven’t answered my question; How did you find me?”

“Let’s chalk it up as luck,” was all he answered before he started the engine. Haeun decides to not pester him for a better answer.

Taeyong watched as Haeun opened the soju bottle and took a long gulp from it. Currently, both of them were at the street stall. He poured himself a shot of the soju, “So, about that guy?”

Haeun wiped , picking up her food with the chopsticks. “Byunwoo, his name is Byunwoo. Dated him back in high school,” she explains, “For around… 2 years? Yeah, 2 years. He was friends with Seonghan and Lucas but none of us talked to him since we broke up.”

“Did you have a reason?” Taeyong moves his seat closer to Haeun, his chin resting on his palm. “Did he accuse you of cheating or anything?”

There’s a dark look in Haeun’s eyes and Taeyong wonders if he shouldn’t have asked for details. “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it,” he smiles at her, pouring another shot. Haeun shakes her head instead, “It’s fine – I’ll tell you.”

She takes another long gulp from the bottle and wipes with the back of her hand. “Back in high school, I got bullied a bit. You know the usual shoving and names written on your lockers or having some of your stuff stolen,” she rubs her nape, “I guess I was easy to target back then – I never imagined I would become a detective.” A small chuckle escapes her lips and Taeyong smiles at the sound.

“Lucas was a playboy back then. Dumping girls left and right – a total bad boy that everyone couldn’t seem to resists. Some girls went crazy nuts, I think some of them were his hardcore fans and just hated me. You know, since I was his best friend and all. They wanted everyone to hate me as well so they did the next best thing,” she takes up another bottle of soju, “They made a fake tape.”

Taeyong spluttered out his drink and Haeun’s eyes widened at the sight. She grabs tissues and quickly hands it to him. “A tape?” he says while dabbing away the alc