It was after the Lee case that Jihyo’s life changed radically. Things had gotten better, she had her new house in a fancy neighborhood. Ppuyo was great company, her supposed friends were still pissed, and still not allowed access to her new place, and Dahyun had gone back home after staying for two weeks, it was the first time she was that pissed at her wife. And Jihyo’s family was coming back up to Seoul for another season, they often alternated between Seoul and Bucheon, her father asked her if she wanted to live at their penthouse, but Jihyo really didn’t feel like staying at the Korean Beverly Hills, it was too much appearance and too little peace.

Not to mention, her new house was the best thing ever, she had made all the changes she wanted and installed all the security equipment she always dreamed of, even got herself a mini car to go around and not need the big bathtub her father had insisted on. So, Chinsun, who Jihyo now considered her mother and called mom, decided to purchase another house in the same neighborhood, a few blocks away, for privacy for them all, and it had also just been finished. Grandma Gok wasn’t coming this time, the woman had a date and Jihyo was adamant she should totally go, despite her father’s protests. Life was great at that point and Jihyo had this uneasy feeling that something was lurking.

“Hey mom.” Jihyo greeted once she entered her parents’ new place. “This place looks gorgeous.”

 “Thank you, honey.” Chinsun smiles, hugging her daughter. “Your father had to fight me on each step, though.”

“He is like that, you know, the whole ‘I’m a man and will be stubborn’ thing.”

“I will not stand for this slander!” Jiyoo whines from the kitchen.

“It’s not slander if it’s true.” Chinsun taunts.

Jihyo just laughs and goes to greet her father. They spend the next moments talking, Jiyoo was finishing up with dinner, he had taken to cooking ever since he learned his daughter liked it. Jihyo was grateful, her father was trying and was actually a great guy, his wife was also a very good woman, both had taken to Jihyo very well. They became a real family, and Jihyo had been thinking about introducing them to Dahyun soon, she was her best friend and Jihyo hadn’t even told her about her family yet. 

“Jyo, I have something to talk to you about.” Jiyoo said as they sat in front of the fireplace.

“What is it, dad? You look too serious.”

“Well, I got a proposition for a marriage.”

“And I’m guessing you have been reluctant to bring it up with me.” Jihyo chuckled. “You both are too careful with me, just tell me about it and we’ll see if this is a good idea or not.”

“I forget you are the big bad detective and nothing gets past those eyes.” 

“I’m just observant, mom. Now you both stop stalling and tell me about this marriage!”

“Fine!” Jiyoo huffs.

The man launches into an explanation about the proposal. It was mostly a pr thing, Jihyo had become really famous among the high society after the Lee case. Nobody else would have been able to prove it was caused by the girl herself, involuntarily, she just had too many drugs, mixed them with the wrong alcohol and the just made everything faster. Jihyo theorized it and proved it, all out of the public eye and quickly. Sha became a big name and started being quoted as the new commissioner, something that was happening behind the scenes and Jihyo only knew about it because her family was powerful enough to be privy of these things.

Surprisingly, not so surprising, it was someone from the Lee family. A cousin of the girls, who was already in the politics career, congresswoman Lee was aiming to get into the Blue House and decided to get married, it would help her career. Park Jihyo happened to be a big enough name to boost her up, and it would be positive for both sides. It wasn’t like Jihyo had anything going for her, and she told her parents exactly that, only demanding a rock solid prenup that would protect everyone’s interests in case of a divorce. She mainly wanted to protect her family from any future losses, and it was common practice.

“So, just get mr Ko to draw a prenup to protect us all and I don’t see a problem with this marriage.”

“Jyo, I know you’ve had bad luck, but are you sure about this?” 

“I’m sure, mom. It’s good publicity and if mr Ko is as good as I believe him to be, we all come out unscathed on the other side. I don’t think it will last and I really want both families’ businesses to remain separated. Maybe just settle an indenization or something in case of cheating or disagreement in the divorce or something.”

“Fine, I’ll ask Sejeong to work on the prenup along with the Lees’ lawyer and we’ll go from there.” Jiyoo accepts. “I just didn’t want you to think you were being forced into this.”

“I know I’m not. Oh, I wanted to tell Dahyun about us and introduce her to you guys.”

“Bring her over any time, we’ve been waiting for you to introduce us. Are you ashamed of your parents?” 

“Anyway, I’ll see when she’s available. Do you guys know when you’ll be getting back to Bucheon?” Jihyo ignored her father.

“Not anytime soon.” Jiyoo decides to get a bit more serious. “We’ll probably stay for a while, with all the negotiations for the wedding and all. Sejeong should be arriving shortly as well, I’ll call him later for the prenup.”

“Why don’t you let him live a little and call him tomorrow?” Jihyo laughed.

The family spends a little more time talking and Jihyo leaves to sleep. Her parents wanted her to stay over, but she argued that she had to work in the morning and would be late if she stayed over. She was allowed to go under the condition that she would bring Dahyun over soon. Jihyo messaged her old friend, asking her out so they could talk. Dahyun, the little ball of worry she often became, said they would go for dinner that evening and Jihyo said she would pick her up at school once both were done with work for the day. 

Following her suspension and the Lee case, Mina had been reluctant to actually give Jihyo any cases. They weren’t really talking yet and she took the chance knowing Jihyo would be pissed about being forced into vacation. It had been mostly out of her hands, the commissioner himself had sent down the order to have her on leave. Sure, the man said for a week or two, Mina was the one to demand she take three months. And sure, she could have just shown Jihyo the email, but that would also prove she was the one pushing for a longer vacation because they, as a group, decided Jihyo should relax a bit, even if the woman herself didn’t want to.

Jihyo took the suspension time to move places, go down to Bucheon and spend some time with her family and with her father learning about the family business hands on. She had been studying about the business ever since she became the heir, but it was always more enlightening when her father explained things. Regardless, Jihyo chuckled from where she had been leaning against her bike as her worried best friend speed walked towards her. It was nice how Dahyun never failed to warm her heart, too bad when they met she had already gotten into her relationship with Jeongyeon and Jihyo wasn’t romantically attracted to her.

They make their way to the river and find themselves at one of their favorite places. A small barbecue restaurant Jihyo had been bringing her friend to for years. The old lady greets them and both take a seat without having to order at all. Jihyo serves the soda and Dahyun gets the cutlery, still looking worried.

“Are you going to tell me what’s up now?” Dahyun decides to ask once they get their food.

“Calm down, I told you that it wasn’t anything bad.”

“Yeah, and you also told me you were alright and then up and moved without telling anyone but me.”

“That was then and this is now. But I’m gonna need you to not shout.”

“Park Jihyo!” Dahyun is already raising her voice.

“See, that’s why I can’t take you anywhere! I told you not to shout.” Jihyo receives a zipping sign and continues. “So, remember how my long lost grandfather left me some money and whatnot?”

“Yeah, it was how you bought your fancy new house and all.”

“Well, turns out, my real father is also alive and kicking. I met my grandmother, my father and his wife, who has already treated me better than my ‘real mother’.”

“And why-” Dahyun is shushed and tones it down. “And why am I only hearing of this now?”

“Because I was getting to know them and they were getting to know me. But they are all really nice and I’d like you to meet them.”

“Park Ji-”

“Gok Jihyo, actually.”

“What?”

“As part of becoming their heir, my father asked if I would like to change my last name to his. I didn’t see why not, it took a while but now I’m Gok Jihyo. I still use Park as my social name, though.”

“That’s it, I’m sleeping over and you are telling me this in detail!” Dahyun declares, already looking dizzy.

“Alright, let’s eat and you call Jeong, then.”

Dahyun does call her wife, claiming she would be staying with Jihyo for the evening. There was some complaining the officer didn’t bother with and they finished eating fast. Dahyun was lovely, but she got really scary when she got angry. Jihyo found it adorable, but she understood that it was better to not poke that beast. As they arrived, Dahyun wasted no time in showering and slipping into one of Jihyo’s pajamas, she would just get her friend's clothes for work tomorrow and get it back to Jihyo at some point. Jihyo took the hint and showered as well, Dahyun did go for the guest bedroom after all.

They settled on Jihyo’s bed, with some tea, so they could talk more comfortably. The older woman explained everything that happened, she did get smacked a few times and scolded for not letting her friend know about this whole secret heir thing that was happening. To be fair, Jihyo was advised to remain silent until all legal procedures were done with. By the end, Dahyun had understood everything and agreed to meet Jihyo’s family that friday.

“Are you going to tell the others?” Dahyun asks.

“About that.” Jihyo sighs. “I was offered an arranged marriage. Looks like it’s more political than anything, and I agreed to it.”

“WHAT!”

“Be quiet. Now, as you well know, I haven’t had the best luck in the love department, so I didn’t see why not. I’d at least have a wife for a while. The family lawyer is working with their lawyer to draw up a good prenup for everyone and I should meet her as soon as the terms are agreed upon.”

“I’m guessing you are going to tell the others your dad showed up and now you are going to have an arranged marriage.”

“I mean, I will be showing up with a wife at some point, might as well give them the heads up and avoid the unpleasant questions being directed at her.”

“You are already a very loving wife, and you didn’t even meet the woman.”

“It’s the least I can do. Plus, I don’t even know what she will want to do for our marriage, if it’s going to be just for show or what.”

“Let’s hope for the best. For now, we’ll focus on meeting your family.”

“How about you bring Jeong along.”

“I thought-”

“I’ll show you my parents’ house tomorrow when we head out, and you can just meet us there. I’ll also message you their address so it doesn’t seem like you already know the area.”

“You just want to show off, don’t you?”

“Of course I do! Let me live a little!”

“Fine by me. I’ll be busy talking to your parents and eating that posh food they are certainly serving.”

They laugh but settle down quickly, it was still a weekday and both had to work the next morning. Jihyo did urge her friend to move a bit faster so they could pass by her father’s home, Dahyun was impressed, it was bigger and obviously more sophisticated than Jihyo’s. It looked like Jeongyeon had ranted to the group chat, because as soon as Jihyo arrived at the station, Mina called her into the office where Nayeon had already been waiting.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Jeongyeon complained that Dahyun was with me last night.” Is what Jihyo says as soon as she closes the door.

“Well, you did up and move without telling anyone, then you insist on still not telling us, and now this impromptu sleepover. We get worried.” Nayeon rants.

“And before you say anything, yes Jihyo, we really are worried about you.” Mina adds.

“If you respected me a bit more, maybe I’d be more willing to share.” Jihyo massages her temples. “Look, you tried to plant a tracker on my bike, can’t blame me for still not trusting you all. As for yesterday, I told Dahyun my real father reached out and she wanted to hear all about how the meeting happened.”

“What do you mean real father?” The eldest questions.

“Apparently, the man who was married to my mother wasn’t my real father. I was the result of a few wild nights that my mother fooled around with both, but a simple DNA test showed that I was, indeed, born out of wedlock.”

“Oh.” Mina offers and takes a seat, it was a bit much to digest.

“Yeah, so Dahyun was curious and excited and demanded to know the full story immediately, so she decided she would be staying over and that was that.” Jihyo shrugs. “Now, I’ll be on my cube while you both spread the news. As I’m sure you’ll do.”

Jihyo leaves and gets back to her cube, as Mina wasn’t really giving her anything, she had decided to catch up on paperwork and help Youngjae, he was already having his own cases to work on and Jihyo was just helping out with reviewing and bouncing theories off of each other. It could get a bit boring, but she was training him to the best of her abilities. Speaking of which, Jihyo remembered she should tell Youngjae about her family now as well, she liked him and had already put him under her wing. 

“Already in trouble, sunbae?” Youngjae asked when she entered one of the meeting rooms.

He had his own team working this case and she knew they should be more polite with each other in front of them. 

“What trouble? I don’t even have a case!” Jihyo feigns indignance.

“I’m sure chief Myoui will give you something soon, sunbae.” One of the juniors said.

“She is probably waiting for something big to show up so she can put me on that team. But I see what she’s doing, I’ll show her how I can get busy without her giving me anything.”

“Sunbae, just say you are bored and go. You are hanging out here because you finished all the paperwork.” Youngjae laughs.

Jihyo grumbles something about that not being entirely true but grabs a file and starts reading, the others laugh a little and continue with their work. In truth, she was bored, very bored, her saving grace was Youngjae allowing her to hang out with his team and peek at their work. Mina knew she would have to give Jihyo something at some point, but she was also told a big case was about to come in and had been stalling so she could give it to her best detective. No, it wasn’t a threat, it was a case being handled by the army at the moment, but it involved one single official and the other victims were all civilians, the army didn’t have any more leeway to keep the case in house.

It was all fine and dandy, but Mina, being the she is, didn’t tell Jihyo and now there was one more thing for the detective to be angry about. Nayeon, however, had been having fun. Sure, she was also under fire, but it was mostly about the forced vacation, and she intended to fix that soon. Seeing Mina struggle with the hole she dug herself was always fun, chief Myoui IS one of the big bad cops, after all.

By lunchtime, Jihyo had already helped with everything she could without actually giving Yugyeom and his kids the answer. She was just eating her lunch as slowly as possible, one noodle at a time, when Nayeon found her in the cafeteria. Jihyo would have left without a word, but by this time, she was just begging for anything to do, even if that thing was talking to Im Nayeon, not her favorite person at the moment…. Or ever, but that is something for another time.

“I’m surprised you didn’t just get up and walked away the moment I stepped into the cafeteria.”

“First, this isn’t a cafeteria, it’s a mass hall at best. Secondly, you know as well as I do that I’m bored out of my mind at this point. Even talking to you sounds appealing at this point.” Jihyo complains, but keeps on eating her lunch.

“Ouch.” Nayeon laughed. “I’ll let it slide because we were jerks and really shouldn’t have meddled. But is it really that bad talking to me?”

“You aren’t ‘letting it slide’, I’m right and everyone knows that.”

“Don’t point with your chopsticks.” Nayeon reprimands amusedly.

“And you know I’m pissed the most at you, it’s not even a question. Why are you here anyways?”

“I’m glad you asked!” The older shimmies a little. “I’m here because it's time you stop being mad at me.”

“Oh, is it now?” Jihyo raises an eyebrow.

“Okay, Chae is angry and said I have to get you to stop being mad at me before she stops being mad at me. But I also want you to stop being mad at me for me, I like you.”

“Oh, do you? I thought you had been clear from the beginning that I’m not that welcome.” The younger detective takes the chance to speak up a little. “Plus, if Chaeyoung is mad at you, maybe you should learn to listen to her when she tells you not to do something.”

“That was years ago and you made me insecure!” Nayeon whines. “You still make me insecure and I’m still waiting for the day Chae will wake up and realize she was better with you and leave me!”

Jihyo was definitely not expecting that admission, Nayeon neither, as both look very surprised at what was just revealed.

“That is something you should go over with a therapist.” Jihyo decided she was too tired to keep up being mad at this woman. “Also, you won’t have to worry about that for long.”

“What do you mean I won’t have to worry for long?”

“Well, I’ll have to say it at some point, and Dahyun did mention I should just come out with it. But I’m kind of going to have an arranged marriage soon.”

“What?”

“That thing where two people are introduced to each other by their families so they can get married? I’m going to have one of those soon.”

“What?” Nayeon is still out of words.

“I just explained? Anyways, it’s already happening, so you can rest assured that no, nothing will ever happen between Chaeyoung and I. Not that it would before, I don’t really do second chances, especially with cases like this. But now it’s really not even a possibility.” Jihyo keeps on her meticulous process of eating lunch.

“Why? How? When did you get yourself into an arranged marriage? Why would you get yourself into an arranged marriage? This isn’t the fifties!”

“Nayeon, you of all people should know perfectly well why I would accept an arranged marriage. Plus, just because you didn’t need one, doesn’t mean everyone else won’t need one either.”

“I a- Yeah.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I’m going ahead with the arranged marriage and that’s that. No point arguing this or that would be better or worse. I do advise you to look for a therapist again, though. Maybe work through this problem you have with me.”

Nayeon just nods, she didn’t have anything to say to all this. Plus, she did just reveal something she wasn’t supposed to. Jihyo was right, she should seek help, she’s been living with this insecurity for too long, and she knew Mina was the same, but she didn’t want to bring that up with the chief. Also, it’s like Jihyo said, she didn’t give second chances for anyone to leave her a second time, maybe that was the big reason why Dahyun was her favorite. The teacher has never given Jihyo a single reason to doubt her, never betrayed Jihyo’s trust, be it by revealing something or doing something the detective asked her not to. 

Hell, they have been trying for months and Dahyun hasn’t uttered a single word about Jihyo’s new address, going as far as using a signal jammer and turning off her car’s GPS so that they wouldn’t be able to investigate exactly where it was. Jeongyeon and Momo had tried to follow her once, but lost the woman somewhere around Hongdae, they got stuck behind a group of teenagers and by the time they got past it, Dahyun was already gone. It had been on purpose, the pale woman had seen them and wanted to have the idiots stop following her before heading to Jihyo’s.

“Are you ever going to let us into your new place?” Comes the timid question, after a while.

“Maybe. Are you going to acknowledge that you were wrong and apologize sincerely, then stop meddling in my life?”

“We worry about you!”

“You really don’t. I know it’s what you all tell yourselves, but this is just so you can keep ignoring what is really going on and feel like you are doing something good for me.”

“Is it really that hard to believe we all like you? It’s not just Dahyun!”

“I’ve never been shown otherwise. You are all Dahyun’s friends, as her friend myself, I accept you all because she brought you along.”

Nayeon sports a sad smile, she honestly thought of Jihyo as a friend, but maybe it wasn’t all ‘sunshine and rainbows, and the past was just an unfortunate time kind’ of deal as they had been treating it as. The whole friendship with Dahyun was a mystery to the whole group, especially when the woman was married to Yoo Jeongyeon, the one among them Jihyo clearly wanted the furthest from her. Maybe this was as good a time as any to ask.

“What’s the deal with you and Dahyun? I mean, technically she is the same as Mina, Sana and I.”

“Not at all?” Jihyo chose to explain a bit. “First off, she was suspicious of Jeongyeon two timing her as I used to try and reach that bastard during their dates, I was being stood up and all that. Then, Jeongyeon used to show up the next day like nothing was happening and eat my month’s worth of food without any consideration at all.”

“You did mention her making you starve because you didn’t have the money to buy more food back then.”

“Yeah, and she left me waiting at that damn restaurant, draining the rest of my savings. But Dahyun decided to get to the bottom of it herself. She got my number from Jeongyeon’s phone and asked to meet up. I chose a cafe because I really didn’t have the money for anything and if she bailed, I could just pretend I was waiting for someone outside and didn’t even have to go in.”

“Were you really that poor back then?”

“I thought Mina would have told you all already. I’ve been providing for myself since middle school, my mom and her husband were never home, and she stopped giving me money when she deemed I was big enough to handle things on my own. I was lucky that the old lady from the convenience store agreed to give me some for sweeping the floors and arranging the shelves.”

Nayeon looks teary eyed, but holds it in. She never knew any of this, just thought Jihyo was on the poorer side, but not like this.

“I managed to save some when I was in college, I got a full scholarship and was even given a bit of spending money. With my part times back then, and not really going out for anything, I saved enough so that when Jeong happened I didn’t go into debt. But it did drain my savings.”

“Oh, wow. Now I understand why you treat her like you do. But Dahyun?”

“Yes, Dahyun. She did show up and listened. Really listened to everything I had to say, it was the first time someone showed any kind of interest in whatever I had to say. She also broke up with Jeong that very day.”

“Wait, they broke up?”

“You didn’t know that either? They were broken up for months before Hyun decided to let Jeongyeon start groveling and earning her forgiveness. Hyun has been a true friend ever since then.”

“Can’t really say much after that.”

“Well, you never did ask anything. Had you asked before, I would have told you before.” Jihyo says, piling her plates. “Now, why don’t you go and talk to chief Myoui about handing me some work so I could, you know, do my job.”

Nayeon whines a bit more, but she had to agree that Mina was being very weird with this thing. It was impossible that there weren’t any cases, everyone was working, so why the hell was Jihyo in the fridge like this. She would talk to the boss later, for now, she was just happy that Jihyo was talking to her again. And she also learned a lot about the shorter detective, things she would have to ruminate a bit now. Jihyo made her way to the garage, she was decent at fixing cars and took to helping out the boys with checking the vehicles when they came back in. It wasn’t like she did have anything else to do.