Baram dug her teeth into her lower lip, eyes darting around the table wondering just how on earth she had gotten herself into the current situation. Rather, what had gotten over Jaebum when he proposed to have a dinner all together and what on earth possessed Youngjae to accept the proposal?

If there was one person other than herself whom Baram believed Jaebum would rather stay away from it would be Youngjae. After all the two did not exactly start off on the right note, with one being a cop and the other being the person being investigated for illegal dealings. Yet here they were; the core male employees from Eclipse sitting around the barbecue grill while Youngjae put himself in charge of grilling and Yugyeom was pouring soju for everyone because he was the youngest.

Face contorted in confusion, Baram found herself sandwiched between the two detectives while Jinyoung sat across from her, throwing her glances of amusement and curiosity. Next to him, Mark mirrored Baram’s facial expression which did not go unnoticed by Jackson.

“Why do you two look so constipated?”

Pausing from his grilling duties, Youngjae flicked Barma’s forehead, causing her to grunt in pain. Rubbing her sore forehead, Baram kicked the detective under the table, almost making him drop the tongs he as holding.

“Yah I’m in a good mood today, don’t ruin it.”

Frowning, Baram turned towards Yugyeom, tugging on his sleeve gently while giving Youngjae a weary glance.

“Did you spike his coffee this morning or something?”

“As if I would dare,” Yugyeom snorted, handing Baram a glass filled with soju. “Let’s just enjoy it while it lasts. Before we know it we’ll be dealing with grumpy Youngjae again.”

“He’s right, just enjoy the food and the company,” Jaebum quipped, throwing an arm around Mark and shaking him slightly.

“Did you get your coffee spiked as well?” Baram questioned, her eyes filled with suspicion shifting towards Jinyoung. “Is it your doing?”

“Please, I’m completely innocent,” Jinyoung exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “I’m just as puzzled as you are.”

“Was my coffee spiked then?” Baram whispered under her breath, still not believing the situation. “Is this just one messed up hallucination my brain made up from all those all-nighters?”

“No this is very much reality,” Youngjae replied while rolling his eyes. “Though you really should stop with the all-nighters.”

“Tell the broadcasters to stop giving me such tight deadlines then,” Baram snapped back. “Seriously though, what’s going on here?”

Youngjae and Jaebum exchanged a look, though neither bothered offering an explanation. In the end it was Yugyeom who spoke up first.

“Seems like Youngjae and Jaebum hit it off after the sting operation planning, something about finally finding someone with decent work ethic and gets stuff done.”

“So this is Youngjae’s convoluted way to make you work harder because you’re incompetent?” Baram exhaled in disbelief.

“Can you stop turning everything into some weirdass plot from your scripts?” Youngjae exclaimed in exasperation. “You really need to be more in touch with reality.”

“Choi Youngjae, are you dissing my precious work now?”

“Watch out, we’ve got the ultimate Baram fan here ready to lash out at any hater,” Jackson quipped while pointing at Bambam who playfully lifted his fists in a boxing position.

“Just shut up and eat,” Youngjae huffed, stuffing a piece of cooled down pork belly in Baram’s mouth.

“You should wrap it up in lettuce and all before feeding her!” Bambam protested before hurriedly making a wrap himself. “Here, a perfect pork belly wrap for the goddess of k-dramas.”

Bambam extended his hand while carefully holding onto the wrap, ready to feed it to Baram. To his horror however, Jackson intercepted and the wrap found its way inside the raven haired male’s mouth instead.

“Jackson Wang how dare you!”

Just like that, a series of playful yelps of annoyance and jokes filled the table, inundating the restaurant with the sound of obnoxious laughter.

Baram took a sip of her soju, her eyes locked on Youngjae who looked the most relaxed she had seen him in ages; so utterly at ease while being highly entertained by Jackson’s silly antics and Bambam’s dramatic reactions. Even Yugyeom was getting along unexpectedly well with Jaebum, a look of acceptance and admiration towards the older male in his eyes.

Feeling someone nudging at her feet, Baram looked across from her to find Jinyoung staring right back at her, leaning dangerously close to the grill in order to talk to the girl.

“This is quite a gathering isn’t it?”

“Tell me about it,” Baram exhaled, imitating Jinyoung’s actions in order to hear him over the loud chatter.

“It’s nice though isn’t it?” Jinyoung mused. “It almost feels like a casual and normal gathering amongst old friends.”

“Yeah, totally normal gathering,” Baram deadpanned while rolling her eyes, though her lips still curled into a smile.

Mark had remained quiet the whole time, silently observing Baram and the serene expression she wore while conversing with Jinyoung. Recalling her interactions with the two detectives earlier, the red haired male could not help but feel a tinge of jealousy crawling inside him. He had previously been complacent with how Baram simply allowed him to orbit around her — whether she realised that or not. Now he almost felt like he was being forced to remain in the margins, her previous distant behaviour still etched in his mind.

“Seriously though, you’ve outdone yourself with the two extended episodes of The Waves Will Bring Us Together!” Bambam exclaimed i