“Baby, are you sure you’ll be okay?” Seulgi pulled away from the hug and Irene’s head. “I won’t be able to call you except at night.”

            “Seulgi, I’ll be fine. Sunmi unnie offered to pick me up and drop me off until you get back.”

            “Maybe we should buy another car.”

            Irene pouted. “But I like when you drive.”

            “I’m never able to pick you up when I clock in early or leave work late.”

            Irene sighed. “The bus isn’t that bad.”

            Seulgi scrunched her nose. There were a lot of erted people on public transportation, and she hated the idea that one of them could be eyeing her girlfriend.

            “Seul, you should go now.” Irene pecked the corner of her lips. “Wouldn’t want to miss the orientation.”

            The detective pulled the smaller girl into another hug, cuddling her face into the crook of Irene’s neck. “I’m gonna miss you.”

            Irene wrapped her arms around Seulgi. “Me too, baby. Call me when you get there.”

            “I hate trainings.”

            “They’re for your safety.” Irene gently untangled herself and kissed Seulgi again. “Okay, head on out now.”

            Seulgi pouted and pressed her lips to Irene’s forehead briefly before heading out the door.

-------

            She should have known that something was off when she called Irene and the older girl didn’t pick up. Seulgi sighed, throwing her phone aside, and fell back on the bottom bunk, muscles groaning from the intense exercise she had to undergo that day. Being a detective was dangerous, and the higher ups made sure to keep them in perfect shape and mentality for the job.

            Jeongyeon, the detective from Jihoon’s station who Seulgi was to room with for the duration of the training, gave Seulgi a tired wave before climbing to the top bunk and collapsing with a thud onto the mattress. Seulgi gave a small laugh.

            “If I have to throw one more person over my shoulder onto that mat, I’m gonna vomit.”

            “Hey.” Seulgi lightly kicked the bed above her. “We signed up for this.”

            “I wouldn’t have if I knew we needed to do this every year.” There were some shuffling sounds then snoring.

            Seulgi to her side and picked up her phone, staring at the black screen. She clicked the power button on then off, frowning at the lack of notifications. The detective wondered if Irene was okay.

            When the phone started buzzing, Seulgi jumped but quickly recovered, answering the call from her girlfriend. She felt the corners of her lips tilt up in expectation, anticipating the airy, sweet voice to fill her ear. To say that she was surprised when someone else spoke was an understatement.

            “Jennie?”

            “Hi, Seulbaenim.” Seulgi could picture the sheepish look on the younger girl’s face even from across the country. “Um, we were wondering something.”

            Seulgi squinted as she got out of bed to head out into the hallway. She vaguely heard the thumping of a bass and loud shouting in the background, most of them murmurs from random people, one of them a familiar voice.

            “Where are you? Where’s Irene?”

            “Yeah, about that…”

            Seulgi heard a gasp before the voice changed. “Hi, Seulgi. Don’t worry, Irene is with us.”

            The detective’s eyebrows furrowed. “Sunmi unnie, where’s Irene?” Her voice was stern.

            “Well, you see. Jennie, Jisoo, and I thought it’s probably been a while since your girlfriend had a girls’ night out, so we may have kind of, uh, brought her to a club…”

            Seulgi sighed, dragging her hand down her face. “Seriously?”

            “I swear, we only gave her a few drinks…”

            “No, that’s not the problem.