“God, why is it so confusing?” Doyoung groaned.

“I know. Five bodies… The killer messes up the date pattern with the last one,” Jaehyun mused.

“I feel like every time it feels like things are beginning to brighten up, the killer surprises us with something new. Geez, why?” Doyoung complained.

“He’s trying to mess with our mind, that’s why,” Youngho said grimly.

“And then there’s the whole… beef… with the prosecution office,” Jaehyun sighed loudly.

“It still puzzled me… The man you saw and the man in the CCTV… You sure they were different, Jay?” Doyoung asked curiously.

Jaehyun nodded resolutely, “I swear, those two were stark different. The man I saw was tall. The one in the CCTV wasn’t as tall as the one I saw.”

Youngho sighed, “And now we’re left being confused since the prosecution office decided to snatch the case away.”

“We could dig up infos by ourselves though. On the side,” Doyoung shrugged.

“Technically, we could… I think the Chief won’t mind it. He’s been on our side since Day 1. It’s just that if the Director found out, we’re dead meat,” Jaehyun said.

Youngho was about to open his mouth when the door to the Chief’s office opened. The three detectives watch the Director left the office and the Chief exhaling visibly.

“John? A minute,” Chief Kim hollered.

Youngho sighed, “I swear if this is related to Prosecutor Yoon, I’m going to flip tables. God, give me strength.”

His friends sent him sympathetic fist pumps as he dragged his tall figure into the Chief’s office. He knocked the door twice before entering the room.

“Yes, Chief?”

“Sit down,” the shorter man motioned him to sit. Youngho took a seat obediently on the chair across the Chief’s desk. “What’s wrong?”

“Prosecution office had begun to take this investigation quite seriously. They’re going everywhere to look for tips. Jongin told me that there’s nothing we can do since KNPA seemed on board with this. The bad publicity the Police Department got due to our inability to solve this quickly has begun to get into the superiors’ heads,” Chief Kim Junmyeon sighed.

Youngho exhaled roughly, unable to respond.

“And the director just called me. He wanted your team to be off from the medicine murder case, and now your team has been assigned to help Team 2 for their case. I texted Detective Lee about it, he’s still out for some tailing job. He said he’s okay and would appreciate help, but he said he’s more than okay if your team just stick to your case. The director was unhappy.”

“The old man is pretty set on getting our hands off the case,” Youngho snickered.

“You know Prosecutor Yoon and his connections. He’s been eyeing the DA position, you know it. He has more power and connection than the two of us combined. That’s because he has been playing dirty for years.”

Youngho nodded, “Well… There’s nothing that we could do, huh? I guess, we’ll take the offer to help Taeyong and Jungwoo. At least it’ll take our heads off this whole drama with the prosecution office. But we can… I mean, we can still do a little… you know… digging, right? Nothing too major. I feel antsy if I don’t know anything about the murder case. It’s related to me.”

The chief sighed, “God, I’m going to be bald from all the stress before I turn fifty. Just… Just promise me you’ll be discreet?”

“I promise! We promise!”

“But nothing too major, okay? Focus on helping Team 2. I’ll notify Detective Lee and Detective Kim. You may go for now.”

Youngho bowed before leaving the office. He walked back to his desk to see his sister lounging on his seat, joking with his two teammates.

“Oh, oppa!” Yerim waved her hand.

“Hey.”

“Why the long face?” Doyoung asked.

“We have no choice but to back off from the case for the time being,” Youngho sighed as he sat on his desk.

“I thought the Director had made it clear that day. The chief called you just to tell you that again?” Jaehyun furrowed his brows.

“The director was pretty adamant on keeping us still. The chief allowed us to, you know, do a little digging on the side. But he wanted us to keep our main focus on helping Team 2 first. He instructed us to help Team 2 with their current case so we might have to help them for a stakeout tomorrow,” Youngho explained.

“Well… At least we’re not jobless,” Doyoung shrugged.

Youngho nodded, “At least we’re not jobless.”

“Ugh, the mood is too somber. Shall we clock out early and eat dinner together?” Yerim piped in.

“Ooh, that sounds nice. Don’t you think seollongtang sounds great? It’s pretty chilly today,” Doyoung grinned.

“I’m in,” Jaehyun shrugged.

“Alright. Seollongtang it is,” Youngho smiled at his teammates.

___

“God, it’s so delicious,” Doyoung sighed as he took a sip of the broth.

“It is indeed delicious. Oppa, do you think eomma can make this? I’ll have to ask for a recipe,” Yerim grinned.

“I think eomma can cook basically anything,” Youngho answered cheekily.

The four people chatted the night away as they devoured the warm stew in front of them.

“Wow, we’ve been so caught up in the case that we haven’t got time to just… you know… relax, like this,” Doyoung mused.

“Maybe the ban from the case was what we badly needed,” Youngho chuckled.

“It does feel nice to end the day with good food and laughter instead of anxiety and headache,” Jaehyun joked.

“I think I’ll be having the best night sleep today,” Yerim laughed.

___

“Jay, take care of my sister, okay?” Youngho hollered as he entered the driver’s side of his car.

“Noted,” Jaehyun gave his friend a thumb’s up as he opened the passenger door of his car to let Yerim in. As usual, he’ll be driving Yerim home.

“I think the break from the case would be good for oppa’s sanity,” Yerim muttered as the car moved.

“Good for us too. God knew how many sleepless nights went by thinking about this case,” Jaehyun mused.

Yerim nodded and they were wrapped in a comfortable silence as Jaehyun’s car moved swiftly on the somehow clear road. It took less time to reach Yerim’s neighborhood and she didn’t feel like going home yet. She wanted some time to clear her head and absorb the fact that she’s unable to deal with the Medicine Murder case anymore.

“Uhm, oppa, you can stop the car here.”

Jaehyun furrowed his brows as he drove past the park nearby the Kim’s residence.

“Here?”

“I don’t feel like going home yet. It’s okay, thank you for driving me here, you can go home,” Yerim smiled as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

“W-wait! Where are you going? I’ll accompany you!” Jaehyun said quickly as he parked his car before turning off the engine.

“E-eh? It’s really okay! I like taking late night walks by myself!” Yerim assured the man.

“It’s late, and I promised your brother to take care of you. Wouldn’t want for Johnny to chop my head off, right?” Jaehyun sent her a playful shrug before exiting his car. Yerim sighed as she followed suit. She trailed behind the tall man as he entered the park.

“This park is nice. Too bad my neighborhood doesn’t have one,” he mused.

“But you have a rooftop space,” Yerim piped in.

“Ah, you’re right.”

“Are you really not going to move out of your oktabbang space?” Yerim asked curiously.

“People kept asking me that. I know I have the income to rent a better, more spacious, living place but I just love the rooftop,” Jaehyun grinned.

“Now that I think about it, you’re right. It must’ve felt nice to have a space for you to… I don’t know, drink at night and stargaze? Alone.”

Jaehyun laughed, “You’re not wrong. I don’t drink often, but when I do, the rooftop add a nice… I don’t know, ambience?”

“Speaking of drinks, I think I want to go to the convenience store for some beer. You up for some?” Yerim asked.

“I’ll go buy it. You just stay here,” Jaehyun said, pushing Yerim to sit down in the metal bench.

“Eh? I can—”

“Ssh!” Jaehyun playfully shut her down as he jogged backwards.

Yerim shook her head as she watched the older guy made his way into the 7-11 across the park. She moved from the bench to sit in the metal swing next to it. She loved the swing. Back then in Chicago, her father set up a swing set on their backyard and she always have fun swinging in it, with Johnny being the kind older brother to push her. For her tenth birthday and Johnny’s fourteenth’, their father built a small shed next to the swing set. It was her most favorite hiding place. Johnny’s too.

They were indeed very close; people won’t believe they’re only half-siblings. Yerim was used to sharing everything to her brother. All the secrets and pent up emotion regarding their parents, her friends, school… Johnny knew it all. Even her crushes! From the puppy love she had for that one boy in third grade, to her first boyfriend, Johnny knew everything and everyone.

Except her current crush slash infatuation situation because it happened to involve her brother’s best friend slash right hand man slash partner. She didn’t know how Johnny would react to this. Back then when she was on the second year of middle school, one of Johnny’s friend expressed his interest on her. Let’s just say it didn’t end prettily because she lost one admirer and Johnny lost a friend. Johnny is indeed quite protective of her.

They’re in the middle of a very big case, one that involved Johnny directly, and the last thing Yerim want was to inflict more problem on her beloved brother. Yerim couldn’t deny that the attraction to that one particular observant guy of their team was growing with each passing day. Well, it was easy for her to fall for Jung Jaehyun’s charms. He ticked every box of Yerim’s ideal type. He was tall, handsome, and most importantly, smart. Yerim had a thing for smart guy. Bonus points if they’re smoldering hot. Yerim was itching to tell her brother to ask about his opinions but Yerim knew Johnny probably would throw a tantrum and confront Jaehyun about it. It doesn’t help that her parents were actually actively encouraging her to get closer to Jaehyun. Something about him being a very nice Christian boy that fit all their dream son-in-law criteria. At least two people out of her family approved her choice of man. But let’s be real, Johnny’s validation was what she needed the most.

Yerim roughly wiped her face. She felt like she should give up entirely on her stupid crush on Jaehyun. She’s 30 for God’s sake! She should be focusing on the case and helping Team 2 on the side instead of fawning over a certain detective like a high school girl.

“What’s with the long face?”

Yerim jolted when Jaehyun came back with a pack of Cass beer. “You scared me!” Yerim sighed.

Jaehyun chuckled before sitting on the vacant swing next to her, “There was a line. Some students were raiding the snack section. Did you wait for long?”

Yerim shook her head as she received a can of beer from him, “Not really. I was… busy thinking.”

“A penny for your thought?” Jaehyun inquired as he popped open the can.

Yerim took a big gulp of her drink, sighing as she did so. “Just… about the whole thing. The whole case. My brother,” she smiled weakly.

“You were positive and happy just a few hours ago…” Jaehyun furrowed his brows.

“I’m a female. Our kind is known to be moody and quick in changing emotions,” Yerim deadpanned, causing Jaehyun to broke into laughter.

“Anything I can help, then?”

Yerim shrugged as she chugged down half of the can, “I don’t know…”

Well, it’s not like she could tell him that he was the center of her problems, right?

“Are you worried about Johnny?” He prodded carefully, assessing her expression. He knew she was hiding something.

“Ugh, I hate that you’re good at observing people’s emotions,” Yerim sulked.

Jaehyun chuckled, “I take it that I was correct?”

Yerim nodded as she sipped her drink, hoping it could mask her lie.

Well, Jaehyun is called a behavioral expert for a reason, so he wasn’t that easy to fool. He knew that Yerim wasn’t being entirely truthful but he’s not going to prod further. The girl must’ve had a reason for not telling the truth.

“Months had passed. The case is getting crazier. Our leads were leading us nowhere. Some… bastards… took the case from us. And also, other personal problems too… Aren’t you stressed?” Yerim asked, Jaehyun crushed his empty can before opening up his second can, and opening another one for Yerim who apparently had finished her too.

“Of course.”

“You masked it well,” Yerim smiled lightly.

“Not entirely. It’s just, none of you has seen my meltdown. And, your brother is probably more affected so it’s more natural for him to be in a more visibly… stressed out state.”

Yerim nodded as she reached for her second can, “You’re right. We’re all affected, but imagine my brother.”

“But at least, he has you, right?” Jaehyun smiled.

Yerim shrugged, “Not really. I don’t know how to help him outside the office. I want to help him beyond my role as a forensic doctor, but I don’t know how. Between the two of us, he’s more of a listener. He’s more comfortable of bottling things up instead of expressing them.”

“And you’re more of a talker?” Jaehyun raised a brow.

“Well, I’m pouring my heart’s content to you right now, aren’t I?” Yerim said playfully.

Jaehyun chuckled, “You’re right. Just know that I’ll be here to listen to your heart’s content if you’re worried of troubling your brother, okay?”

Yerim sighed, “You’re too nice, Jaehyun oppa.”

“What do you mean?”

Yerim shrugged, taking another big gulp of her drink, “You’ve been very nice to me since the first day.”

“But you’re going to be my work partner, of course I have to be nice. Is that a bad thing?” Jaehyun confusedly asked.

Yerim only smiled bitterly. It’s bad because it’s driving her insane.

“Well… You’re a nice girl too, Yerim.”

Yerim grinned, “I am, indeed.”

Jaehyun laughed, “We’re both nice people.”

“Ah... I can’t wait for the whole madness to end. Nice people like us deserved a break,” Yerim grinned as she stood up, bringing her still half-full can with her.

“What do you want to do after everything ended?” Jaehyun asked, following her as she walked away from the park, to the direction of her home.

“I don’t know… Relax, maybe? Up my dating game, probably. I’ve been single for too long.”

“So, you want to date around?” Jaehyun raised his brows.

Yerim shrugged, “Maybe? I want to move on from a certain someone.”

Jaehyun blinked curiously, not knowing how to respond as he chugged down the remaining content of his beer can.

Yerim chuckled, filling the silence. “Ah, it feels nice, being able to talk like this.”

Jaehyun nodded silently, watching the girl beside him smiled. She doesn’t look entirely drunk. Maybe a bit tipsy as she swayed slightly. He’s slightly curious—nope, scratch that. He’s really curious on who’s Yerim trying to move on from. A past ex? Who knows?

Yerim was humming to some song as they walked closer to her home. To be honest, Jaehyun doesn’t want the girl to go home yet. That girl is a box full of mystery in his eyes. He wanted to know more of Kim Yerim, to peel every layer of her walls and discover every single little thing about her.There’s something alluring about that one forensic doctor, and Jaehyun felt like he was constantly pulled to her. It’s something he never felt before. Kim Yerim is indeed a force to be reckoned with. Beautiful, smart, kind. And hot.

Jaehyun regretted drinking two cans of beer since his head is now filled with thought he should never have regarding his best friend’s precious little sister. Johnny would probably chop his head off if he knew Jaehyun was developing a crush or some sort on his precious Katie Kat.

“Wow, we’re almost—”

Jaehyun quickly pulled the girl aside as a big Range Rover whizzed by. Yerim gasped. She swore she almost see her life flashed before her eyes as she was nearly hit by a ginormous car with an unreasonable speed.

“Hey, you okay?”

Yerim closed her eyes, controlling her breath, but she couldn’t focus because her back is now pressed against the brick wall of her own home and the subject of her current stress only a few inches away from her. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes. Which was a big, BIG, mistake.

Jaehyun was peering down at her, his hand still curled against her arm, steadying her. It wasn’t entirely okay on Jaehyun’s part as well. He could feel Yerim’s deep exhale against his neck. He was so close he could practically count her lashes if he wanted to.

Yerim could feel herself heaving for breath, which was a mistake as well because she could smell the scent of his cologne filling her nose as she took deep breath. She parted her lips, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.

Jaehyun stared at the girl in front of him. Her round eyes were blinking, her plump lips opening slightly as she breathed shakily. He paused as he watched the twinkle on her eyes that reflected the light coming from the street lamp.

Goodness gracious.

Jaehyun blamed it on the alcohol because the next thing he did was dived in. Yerim gasped as she felt warm lips encasing her own. She clenched her eyes shut before melting into the kiss. She was scared, she was shocked, but also blaming it on the alcohol in her system, she decided to kiss him back. Her stomach twisted as she felt the butterflies inside it flapped their wings.

Jaehyun felt the girl reciprocating his action and the alarm inside his head blared immediately. He quickly pulled back, panting as he did so. “I…. . Yerim, I’m sorry. I must’ve been drunk… Yeah, I probably am…” Jaehyun was mumbling to himself incoherently as he stepped back.

“O-oppa..”

Jaehyun clenched his eyes shut before steering her towards her front door. “It’s getting late. You should go in. I… I’m sorry.”

Yerim gaped as she watched the tall man his heels, walking away without looking back. Yerim watched until Jaehyun’s figure disappeared from the corner of the street. Swallowing her tears, Yerim took a deep breath before entering her house.

“Oh, Yerim! You’re home!”

Yerim glanced to see her parents in front of the TV, drinking wine while probably watching some night drama.

“I... I’ll go upstairs,” she said weakly as she quickly climbed the stairs to her bedroom, leaving her parents confused.

She spent a good ten minutes under the shower crying, mostly in confusion, and then in anger. Why did she kiss him back? And why the hell would he kiss her in the first place? He’s drunk, he said? They were just drinking two cans of beer! Yerim’s a certified lightweight and she’s not even a slight bit drunk from those two ing cans of beer.

Yerim wanted to scream. She was embarrassed, she was sad, she was angry, and her stress level sky-rocketed immediately. Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the incoming message.

Jaehyun oppa

Yerim, I’m terribly sorry. It was a mistake. I didn’t mean to. I’m really sorry.

Yerim threw her cellphone away. It was just a mistake? So much for pining on him. She was hoping she could have a good night sleep today. Looks like she will be drowning in anger and sadness instead for being rejected indirectly by her crush. This is exactly why you shouldn’t have a crush on the age of 30.