“These night shifts are killing me,” Yugyeom complained, stretching his back.

“At least it’s over now,” Youngae yawned, patting the younger male on the back. “Time to grab some breakfast and head home.”

Dragging their feet out of the police station, both males took a double take, vigorously rubbing their eyes when they saw Baram sitting on a bench in the park just across the road from the police station. Noticing the two males, Baram lifted her sunglasses and waved at them, pointing at the takeaway paper bag next to her.

“Ryu Baram, my lord and saviour~” Yugyeom exclaimed in a sing-song voice, skipping towards the girl.

Youngjae hid his face in his hands as people passing by stared at them weirdly. Dropping to his knees in front of Baram, Yugyeom clapped his hands together, his eyes scrunched shut as his lips curled up, pushing his cheeks up, earning a soft giggle from the girl.

“Yah stop embarrassing me,” Youngjae groaned, sitting down next to Baram and throwing the kneeled male a light kick. “How did you know we had a night shift?”

“This one over here kept sending me sad memes,” Baram rolled her eyes, using her boots to nudge at Yugyeom. “You detectives are sure lax when on duty.”

Youngjae widened his eyes, raising his arms ready to smack Yugyeom on the head. The younger male however was faster and immediately sat on the other side of Baram, successfully using her as a human shield. Youngjae cracked his jaw but jolted in shock when Baram placed an iced latte next to his face.

“Two shots of coffee and plenty of sugar,” The girl hummed, handing him the drink. “And for Yugyeom a chocolate shake, whipped cream on top.”

“Please marry me,” Yugyeom cooed as he sipped on the decadent treat.

In contrast to the two detectives’ high sugar content drinks, Baram was sipping on an iced americano, black, no milk and no sugar, just the pure bitter taste of the coffee. Yugyeom would always scrunch his nose whenever they ordered coffee, for he could not find the appeal of the bitter drinks that Baram seemed to prefer.

“You wouldn’t be able to handle me Kim Yugyeom.”

“Agreed，” Youngjae hummed, taking out a breakfast sandwich from the paper bag Baram was holding. “Also weren’t you seeing someone Baram? What happened to the guy?”

Baram inhaled sharply, almost choking on her coffee. Not having the confidence to maintain a poker face in front of experienced detectives, Baram slid her sunglasses back on to mask her eyes and then pushed her hand against Youngjae’s mouth just as he was about to bite into the sandwich.

“That one has cucumbers in it.”

At the mention of the detestable vegetable, Youngjae let out a yelp of disgust and threw the sandwich towards Yugyeom who barely managed to catch it.

“Say,” Baram mused. “Would you rather face a serial murderer without a weapon or eat a whole cucumber?”

“Neither,” The detective grumbled.

Baram and Yugyeom exchanged a silent snigger, forever amused by Youngjae’s irrational distaste and fear of cucumbers. Feeling his phone buzz, Youngjae answered it immediately, standing up and turning away from Baram, his expression serious. Once he was done with the call, the detective motioned for Yugyeom to join him and the two immersed themselves in a hushed conversation while Baram chewed on the straw of her drink, looking at another direction and pretending to be minding her own business when she was really straining her ears to hear what they were discussing.

“There’s been some unusual movement at Eclipse,” Youngjae informed Yugyeom. “Our informant has told us that a special exchange with a VIP guest will take place tonight, so we’ll be conducting a raid.”

“What time?”

“The client is supposed to arrive at midnight. Peak time for club goers, so it will get messy,” Youngjae exhaled. “They probably plan to use the crowd to sneak the client out in case anything goes wrong.”

After confirming some further details, Youngjae and Yugyeom returned to the bench while Baram played around with her now empty cup. Chewing on a cube of ice, her large sunglasses covered the fact that she had her eyes pointed towards them the whole time.

“Something cropped up so we need to return to the station,” Youngjae sighed loudly. “Thanks for the food and coffee.”

“You are truly an angel Baram,” Yugyeom squealed, stuffing the sandwich into his mouth.

“Don’t overwork yourselves,” Baram whispered.

Lowering her sunglasses, she gave the two detectives a careful stare. Once Yugyeom and Youngjae were back inside the police station, Baram stood up as well, throwing the paper bag in a nearby bin. Strolling back to her flat, the conversation about the raid kept repeating in her mind, refusing to leave the girl alone.

Even once she got home and was in full work mode and the sun was setting, Baram’s eyes kept shifting towards the balcony, in the direction of the club. Stepping out into the balcony, Baram lit a cigarette and leaned against the railing. Squinting her eyes, she noticed Mark’s unmistakable red hair heading towards Eclipse. Biting on her lower lip, Baram grabbed her phone and dialled his number, holding her breath waiting for him to answer.

“Ryu?” Mark’s raspy voice echoed through the device.

Baram kept her eyes on the male who had now stopped walking.

“Is something wrong?”

“Just bored,” Baram mumbled into the phone. “Procrastinating from work.”

“So you thought you could bother me on my way to work?” Mark mused, his tone light.

“Do you even work? Feels like you just need to sit in a fancy room and sip on cocktails.”

“Please Ryu, give me some credit will you?” Mark snorted. “As a matter of fact I have a meeting with an important client later tonight that I need to prepare for.”

“A wealthy patron?”

“Something of the sort.”

“Nothing illegal I hope,” Baram hummed. “I wouldn’t want to get inadvertently dragged into some drug ring or something. Though it would be quite good research material for a potential script.”

“No secret drug rings,” Mark chuckled. “No ion rings either in case you’re wondering.”

Still staring at Mark’s distant figure, Baram observed at his relaxed stance and listened carefully to the carefree voice he was talking in. Could she really trust what he said? Was he worth her exposing the raid to?

“You still there Ryu?”

“Huh? Yeah.” Baram coughed slightly, clearing . “Just keep yourself out of trouble Tuan.”

Without waiting for his response, Baram hang up the phone, returning indoors and attempting to concentrate on her work again.

・・・

Glancing at her watch, Baram noticed that it was already past 10 pm, only two hours before the arrival of Eclipse’s important client and the raid. Letting out a frustrated grunt, Baram fumbled through her closet, slipping on a figure hugging black dress that she rarely ever wore. Applying smokey