The case was a clean-cut one; Taemin pleaded guilty to the charges of first degree murder and stalking, and he was put in prison not too long after that. Jonghyun and Minho only had to provide testimonies once, much to their relief, and all the detectives originally involved in the case showed up to all the trials. They would often look to Jinki to see how he reacted to some things - mostly Taemin's descriptions of things or the verdict - but Jinki was as stone-faced as ever. Maybe it was what everyone needed; seeing their leader so calm and collected inspired them to keep their wits about them, even if they were watching one of their very own colleagues (whom they also liked very much) crash and burn.

It was a week after the final trial, and Jinki agreed to drive Kibum to the prison to see Taemin for the first time after his conviction.

Jinki was a little concerned about letting Kibum go in alone, but what could Taemin really do in this instance? He was locked up, and Kibum was safely behind a thick plastic window. Nothing could really go wrong.

Kibum stepped in by the visiting station after being searched by security guards; nothing like the good old frisk search. Since he was a policeman, no one really did that to him anymore, but here, no one knew who he was, which comforted him somehow. No one could give him sympathetic looks or try to offer comforting words that only made him feel worse about it all. It was just him and Taemin and his thoughts about it all.

Taemin arrived only a few minutes after Kibum did, and they picked up the telephone in unison which they'd use to communicate through the glass with. Taemin still looked pretty much the same, except for the black strands peeking through his roots which he would've dyed over by now if he could've. Kibum expected the stress to show on the younger man's face, but he looked...calmer than expected. He didn't seem to think this was a big deal. Maybe he thought, for some crazy reason, that he'd still have a chance at freedom. It was very unlikely at this point, unless he somehow broke himself out of prison, which was nearly impossible.

“You came? I didn't think I'd have any visitors,” Taemin said, his voice low and bringing shivers to Kibum's spine. He hadn't heard this tone of voice from his friend before.
“I just came to say goodbye. You won't see me after this,” Kibum breathed out.
“What gives you that idea?” Taemin asked, a pompous smirk on his face. He seemed to know something his old partner didn't.
“What?” Kibum frowned, but Taemin deftly changed the subject, “has anyone said anything about me yet?”

Kibum couldn't ignore the thing the blonde had just glossed over, but at the same time, he felt more and more weirded out the longer he stayed in front of the other man.

“No, and I doubt they will. Everything about you has become very hush-hush,” Kibum answered truthfully.

No one had really breached the subject of Taemin. Maybe no one really knew how, or nobody wanted to, but either way, everybody went on with their business as if nothing had happened. Kibum received a few sympathetic glances, but no one dared to offer verbal support...not that he wanted it. He could handle himself just fine.

“Surprising. You know, I don't think anyone really ever liked me over there. Everybody seemed to think they were better than me. I don't think they realized I knew, but I couldn't ignore those patronizing stares. Especially from your beloved Jinki,” Taemin snorted sarcastically in the start, but his voice eventually took a venomous turn as he glared at the elder man in front of him.
Kibum felt himself inhale briefly and unintentionally at the mention of his superior's name.
“You know that's not true. You were friends with nearly everyone at the office, and you know they never hated you. Especially Jinki,” He said with a shake of his head. He hadn't meant to give away his true feelings about the captain, but the blonde seemed to know anyway from the smirk on his face. He had always been able to pick up on things no one wanted to admit to themselves or others.

“You haven't confessed to him yet?” Taemin perked up, ignoring the subject they were originally talking about. Kibum gave a grimace, and Taemin almost giggled.
“You've liked him for so long, though! Hasn't it been a few months already? How long are you going to wait? Until he's interested in someone else?” The blonde questioned as he tapped his index finger on the table with every end of a sentence. The elder one sighed out, a little aggravated that he was being interrogated like it was a crime to like a superior (which it kind of was), and he leaned back in his chair with a frown.
“I didn't come here to talk about my love life,” He snapped.
“Oh? Then what did you come to say to me, Kibum? That you'll miss me? The coffees we had together every day? Are you going to tell me that Jonghyun and Minho are living happily ever after? No. You just came to get closure, didn't you? To know that the one person that knows nearly all of your secrets won't expose them to someone else who comes along,” Taemin growled into the phone, and Kibum shook his head wildly like he was trying to get rid of a bad thought.
“No! I just came to say goodbye to an old friend. Why do you have to make things so complicated all the time?” He snapped again, feeling sour that he decided to come here today.

It seemed to be a waste of his time, with Taemin doing nothing more but getting under his skin. He thought they'd have a somewhat emotional reunion; the blonde would plead with the detective to get him out of here somehow, that he come visit  every weekend or month or year, and instead, it was almost as if Taemin was deliberately trying to push his friend away. Perhaps he didn't want anyone coming to him at all anymore. Perhaps this was the sort of punishment he was trying to put himself through just to make up for everything he had done.

Kibum wouldn't know, and Taemin would never admit it, so that thought was laid to rest nearly immediately.

“I wanted to wish you well somehow. I can't just ignore you, you know. We've been through a lot together, and I'll admit that at one point I did have feelings for you. I thought you were cute, and the admiration just grew from there. What do you think was keeping me back from telling Jinki how I felt about him? It was you. It's always been you,” Kibum sighed, somewhat relieved to have gotten all of that off of his chest. After so long, it should've felt like the ultimate release, but it didn't feel anything remotely like that.

Taemin was silent for a little bit, nodding for that time, then laughed and shook his head.

“I knew that. What, you think the little stares you sent me and the caring ways you looked out for me were things I didn't notice?” The blonde asked once he had calmed down, and Kibum felt his face turn red with embarrassment.
“But if it helps you feel better, I didn't like you back. I still don't. You were - and are - better off as a friend,” Taemin continued when Kibum didn't speak.
“You think?” He muttered after with a roll of his eyes, then looked back at the blonde. He'd try to remember Taemin in the prettiest possible light - as one of his closest friends rather than a murderer. Would it work? And for how long before Kibum was reminded of the type of person that the blonder really was? No one really knew the answer to that, not even Kibum himself.

“Try to stay well, okay? I won't come bother you again. Even though I wish you hadn't done something so terrible, staying in here for a long time is what you deserve. Goodbye, Taemin,”

Jinki looked up from his coffee cup when he saw the passenger side car door open, and he tilted his head at Kibum who climbed in.

“So? How did it go?” He asked.
Kibum stared out of the windshield for some time before he turned to Jinki who continued to look at him with curiosity burning in his eyes. Both pairs of brown eyes searched the other's, blinking once or twice, before Kibum suddenly leaned in with the speed of a wild cat on a hunt for prey.

Jinki stared at his friend with wide eyes when their lips met, unsure of how to react at first. Then, instinct kicked in, and his eyes fluttered closed as he began kissing back in a gentle way.

He didn't know when Kibum's feelings for him developed, or if they were as strong as his own for the younger one, but he didn't care - he just wanted to enjoy this moment for however long it lasted.

Jonghyun and Minho moved away a year or two after the trial. They relocated to Paris, a place they both loved during a shared vacation some months beforehand. A year after settling in by their new home in the new country, they got engaged, and started planning the wedding nearly immediately after. It wasn't long before they began considering adoption or a surrogate for children, but they hadn't made up their mind yet by the time they checked in with Kibum and Jinki, who had since become good friends with them.

The two policemen had a slow start to their relationship; they didn't want to rush anything, but that's what brought them comfort in being together. They were both often on the same page about things, which made communicating and expectations easy, so it wasn't too surprising when the two men proposed to one another on the same day; their fifth year anniversary. Needless to say, Minho and Jonghyun found the news about the proposals hilarious, but they were thrilled about the overall scheme of things. Jinki and Kibum were such a good fit for each other, that Minho and Jonghyun often wondered when they'd tie the knot.

“A toast,” Kibum said, raising his wine glass, “to engaged life,”
“And to finally convincing you to come to Paris to visit!” Jonghyun chirped with a little laugh.
“Yes. Let's make it a regular thing. Maybe every year?” Jinki hummed out with a grin, and the three other men nodded and hummed as well before they sipped their wine and continued eating their lunch Jonghyun had prepared for everyone when he got the news the other couple would come visit their home while in Paris.

Thus, that's what they did; every year after that, they met up in Paris or Korea for a vacation. This tradition continued on for so long, everyone had retired from their jobs, and they were still meeting for annual vacations together. And they never heard from Taemin again, even after the news of his release from prison a few years after they had all gotten married.

That's the story of how they all lived happily ever after, even through all the trials and tests, all the stress and frustration being worth it since it led them to one another in the end. They were happy, and they never looked back, just how it was supposed to be.