“I really just want to sleep for eight hours. Is that too much to ask for?” Haeun whined over the phone call in place of a greeting when Baekhyun answered her call. Baekhyun snorted as he tried to rein in a laugh. “Stop laughing at me, . It’s your fault I was up late anyways.” 

Baekhyun shifted on his bed, moving the pillow behind his back so his bed’s headboard wasn’t digging into his back, having just woken up twenty minutes ago despite it being almost 10AM. He and Haeun had spent a really long time simply watching movies together — which took them awhile to even start as they tried to figure out how to sync their videos as they spoke to one another over the phone —, and Baekhyun loved the new feeling of being in a relationship like this.

Although, if there was anything good coming out of his ty situation, it was the fact that he was catching up on sleep.

“Good morning to you, too, and well, I am unemployed.”

“Yes, and you have a rich aunt to fall back on now that you’re not working. I get it. Unlike you, I actually have to go to work. And leave work to do more work.” 

Baekhyun laughed as Haeun complained, but he let her continue anyway. Baekhyun could tell that she called him from her car, but she hadn’t elaborated on where she was going, and he didn’t want to push her to ask either. 

“Are you ever going to let that go?” Baekhyun asked.

“Nope. At least not until you get me into an AOMG concert.”

“You really just like me only for my money, don’t you?’

“I thought that was obvious by now,” she teased. Baekhyun tried to rein in his smile, but he couldn’t. “I did kiss you after you gifted that absolutely beautiful, but unnecessary, necklace.”

“Yes, I do have impeccable jewelry taste. Would you have kissed me otherwise?" he asked in a teasing voice. He was genuinely curious, though. He was well aware of the fact that Haeun was much more bold and upfront than he was. Baekhyun knew that he wouldn't have made the first move unless he positively knew that she reciprocated his feelings. 

"Yes," she responded, surprising Baekhyun with how serious she sounded. She didn't elaborate any further, so he decided to speak up. 

"I would've too."

"Would've taken you a while, but yeah, you would have kissed me,” Haeun agreed with a hum in her voice.

Baekhyun snorted. "Is this what our entire relationship is going to be like? You just constantly teasing me?”

"Yes. Better get used to it, Baek," she laughed. 

"Already am, love," he endearingly responded. When Haeun didn't respond, he paused and replayed what he said, freezing when he realized he called her love. His brain was working overtime to figure out a way to explain why he said that, but Haeun let out a soft laugh that made him pause again.

"That's really cute," she softly answered. "I like that."

"Is that going to be another thing for us?" he nervously asked, biting the inside of his cheek.

"I'd like that to be."

“Well, I suppose I should use it more often.”

“Yes, you should. And I suppose at this point, we’re kind of past taking it slow, huh?”

If only she knew just how far past he was “taking it slow.”

“Are you asking me to be your boyfriend?” he asked with a grin on his face.

Haeun let out a bright laugh. “Shouldn’t you be asking me to be your girlfriend?” He could hear the smile in her voice, could imagine that she’d be smiling just as wide as he was.

“Well, I suppose I should have something I can say I did first. Haeun, would you be my girlfriend?” 

“Such a proper gentleman,” she cooed, “but yes.”

“Why are we like this,” he laughed. 

“You tell me,” Haeun responded. There was a lull in their conversation as they simply enjoyed the silence, and the only sound was the occasional clicking sound coming from the car.

“So where are you headed?” Baekhyun asked, deciding to bite the bullet and just ask her. 

“I have to go meet up with Kim Heechul,” she elaborated. 

“Is that why you’re calling me right now?” he asked. “Not that I mind, you know, it’s just not a typical time for you to be calling.”

“Yeah I figured I’d call you while I was driving over to the precinct. It’ll give me something to do. I got into work and immediately went to speak to Wooyoung about the ring, and we ended up deciding to just try to speak to Chief Kim about somehow speeding up the processing of the ring.”

“Hm, if you can get a print off the ring that isn’t the victim’s that is pretty solid proof of someone else’s presence that could lead us to Junmyeon,” Baekhyun mused. “A word from the Chief will definitely speed up the process.”

“That’s the hope. I need to go in and update him, anyway. Then I'll head down to the ME office to drop off the ring.” 

“It’s Chanyeol’s first day back too,” Baekhyun pointed out, finally deciding to get out of bed. He put the call on speakerphone as he pushed back his covers and stood up. He put the phone down on the bedside table before stretching, getting rid of all the stiffness in his body. 

“Oh right, I should probably go bother him,” Haeun mused. He could hear rustling coming from her side of the call as she spoke. 

“Don’t torment him too much,” Baekhyun laughed. “He is still my best friend.”

“Let’s be honest, I’m just getting revenge for something he hasn’t done yet — it’s fine. I have to go, though.” She sounded a bit upset over having to hang up, and Baekhyun could relate. It had only been a few days since they saw each other in person, and yet he was already missing her quite a lot. 

“Alright,” he answered almost wistfully. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch?”

Baekhyun smiled at the reminder that he’d get to see her tomorrow. “Of course, love.”

Haeun let out something akin to a curse as he heard more rustles. Baekhyun’s eyebrows furrowed as he picked up his phone again, turned off the speakerphone, and held it close to his ear. He walked out of his room over to the kitchen to get a glass of water. 

“Haeun? You okay?”

“Yup. Totally fine. I just almost tripped while getting out of the car. Just forgot that was a thing you were doing.” Baekhyun tried not to laugh, he really did, but he couldn’t hold back the grin at the thought that she was affected by him as much as he was affected by her. 

“What was a thing?” he asked as he poured out a glass of water, just for the sake to .

“You know,” she glowered. “I can hear you smirking, .”

“Glad to see that you know me so well,” he responded, as he was, infact, smirking.

“I’m hanging up.”

“Alright, alright,” Baekhyun spoke up before she could actually hang up on him. “Stay safe, Haeun.” 

There was a pause before Haeun responded, so Baekhyun started drinking his water. 

Eventually, she spoke up with a smile in her voice, “Bye, babe.” 

Immediately Baekhyun began choking on the water, and he patted his chest as he tried to prevent the water from entering his lungs. The last thing he heard as Haeun hung up was her laughter, and as he set the phone down on his kitchen counter, he simply stared at it as he realized that Haeun might actually be the death of him.

~~~

Meeting with Chief Kim Heechul was always an experience in itself for Hauen. Just like the last time she saw the man, he was radiating pure elegance and regality along with authority and power. However, unlike last time, he looked much more well rested as he wore a white shirt with a velvet red tie and a black blazer over it. He was sitting down in his chair behind his desk when Haeun knocked on the door and walked in. 

Along the walls were awards and certificates that he and the precinct had been awarded along the years, and his desk was occupie