Groaning loudly, Youngjae rubbed his face as the morning sun shone directly on him, disturbing him from his sleep. Blinking slowly while pushing himself up, the exhausted detective shook his head to clear the haziness crushing over him. That turned out to be a bad idea because the sudden motion triggered a series of jabs in the back of his head — courtesy of the soju from last night. The male momentarily tensed, realising that he was not at home. However upon seeing the familiar cactus sitting on the coffee table in front of him bathing under the sun, he relaxed, letting out a loud yawn instead.

“You’re awake,” Baram mused from the bathroom door, her hair damp from having just taken a shower.

“I feel like I’ve been ran over by a tractor or something,” Youngjae grunted, massaging his temples.

“I may have dropped you on the ground a couple of times on our way here.”

Giving him a toothy grin, Baram threw herself on her bed face first. She then rolled over and listlessly stared at Youngjae.

“That would explain the bruise I feel forming on the back of my head. Urgh, I’m never drinking that much again,” Youngjae groaned into his hands.

“I highly doubt that,” Baram quipped, swinging her legs in the air before pushing herself up and heading onto the balcony.

Stretching out her arms, Baram smiled at the tender kiss of the morning breeze caressing her hair. Sitting on the bench that she had found abandoned outside and decided it would make a great addition to her balcony, Baram hugged one leg while the other was stretched out before her. Lighting up a cigarette, Baram raised a brow of nonchalance upon seeing Youngjae’s look of disapproval.

“It’s a lovely morning today, please don’t ruin it for me with your scrawly face,” Baram hummed, leaning her head back to face the sky.

“You should quit. It’s not good for you.”

“Neither is drinking until you drop,” Baram grumbled, extending her hand towards the sky to trace the movement of the clouds.

Poking his tongue out at her, Youngjae patted his pockets before searching around the sofa.

“Where’s my phone?”

“It’s next to the shelf. I put it to charge last night,” Baram replied, pointing her toes in the location of his phone.

Too lazy to stand up, Youngjae rolled off the sofa and crawled towards his phone. Upon switching it on, a string of curses escaped his mouth as he harshly unplugged the phone and jolted up, jabbing his toes against the coffee table in the process, thus inducing yet another chain of blasphemies.

“Crap I’m gonna be so late. The captain’s going to skin me alive.”

“I was gonna offer you coffee but I suppose you don’t have time,” Baram chuckled softly, utterly enjoying her current carefree state that contrasted with Youngjae’s franticness.

“Let’s have a proper meal next time,” Youngjae yelled from the door as he rushed out of Baram’s flat, his shoes barely slipped on.

Shifting around, Baram turned her torso to stare down her balcony through the railing, an amused expression on her face as she watched Youngjae scramble away in a hurry, his hair bopping up and down with each step that he took. Baram did actually try to wake the male earlier, however the accumulation of sleepless nights had clearly taken a toll on him. No matter how hard Baram shook the male, he remained unmoving. Had it not been for the fact that his chest was moving up and down with each breath that he took, Baram would have called an ambulance or worse, the police, in fear that Youngjae had become a goner.

Squinting her eyes, Baram saw a wave of red hair steadily approaching her building, slipping through the entrance just before the glass door closed again following Youngjae’s departure. Sighing loudly, Baram stubbed the cigarette in the ashtray and shuffled towards the kitchen to turn on the coffee machine.  Running a hand through her almost dry hair, Baram swung open her door, taking Mark by surprise. Baram turned around, heading towards her kitchen while Mark lowered his hand from the doorbell, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, suddenly feeling very conscious of his actions.

“Took you longer than I expected to pay me a visit.”

“I had some stuff to take care of,” Mark responded, closing the door behind him and following Baram’s voice to find her in the kitchen, putting on a herbal medicine patch.

“Coffee?” The girl offered once the coffee machine beeped.

Seeing him nod, Baram took out two mugs and poured the brown liquid in them. Picking up her mug, she headed straight for the balcony.

“Milk is in the fridge if you need it.”

"Nice place you've go