Earlier, a passerby had called the police station after witnessing the flowerpot incident. At the mention of a “young lady with wavy hair and a robust young man from Jeongsan high”, Chief Wu was quite certain that they were referring to Im Yoona and Lee Donghae. He instantly gave the NPA a call before rushing to the scene of the incident himself.

Officer Lee immediately came to pick up his son and Yoona. The officer hadn’t said a word throughout the trip, not even to Chief Wu who decided to ride along in the Land Cruiser’s passenger’s seat instead of trailing behind in his police car.

“I think it’s better to leave the vehicle behind with one of my men,” Chief Wu had said, fumbling for an excuse to ride with a big time NPA officer. Lee Myungdae had just nodded and opened the passenger door for him.

All throughout the ride, Donghae and Yoona sat silently at the back, trying hard to keep a straight face under the tense atmosphere.

Upon arrival at the National Police Agency Headquarters in Seoul, Donghae was led into a conference room and was told to wait while Officer Lee accompanied Yoona to the clinic for medical assessment. It didn’t even take five minutes before Eunhyuk strode in, his eyes spilling with curiosity.

“What the hell happened?” he demanded.

~~~~

“You said what?” Eunhyuk almost dropped the bag of chocolate malted milk balls he was holding.

“I already told you what I said,” Donghae sighed and looked away, annoyed. He didn’t want to repeat what he’d told Yoona earlier.

Pushover.

He couldn’t get over the look she gave him before she ran away. This wasn’t the first time he had unintentionally hurt someone’s feelings. He couldn’t keep count of all the fights he’d gotten into at the academy because of some insensitive word that blurted out from his mouth.

“See? That’s your problem,” Eunhyuk said as he popped another milk ball into his mouth. “You’re too straightforward. If you hadn’t told her that, she wouldn’t have run away, she wouldn’t have been alone, the killer couldn’t have had the chance to drop a flowerpot and –“

The sound of heavy footsteps interrupted him. Eunhyuk hastily ate one more malted milk ball before stuffing the candy bag in his pocket. The two Junior Agents sat up as the door creaked open.

Lee Myungdae stormed in and, upon seeing Eunhyuk, motioned for him to leave.

Reluctantly, the older agent stood up and gave his friend one a pitiful look before leaving the room. However, once he reached the door, Eunhyuk dropped the candy bag on the floor, stopping the door from closing completely.

He positioned himself against the hallway wall and listened in.

“The passerby reported that Im Yoona had been alone at first. You only arrived in time to pull her away. Why weren’t you with her in the first place?!” Lee Myungdae’s voice boomed throughout the whole institution. “Why did you let her out of your sight?!”

Through the small slit in the door, Eunhyuk saw Donghae bow his head, his hair covering his eyes. He was muttering an answer.

Myungdae took a white porcelain paperweight from a nearby desk and threw it at his son. “WHY DID YOU?!”

Amazingly, Donghae looked up in time and caught the paperweight in his hands.

“Yes!” Eunhyuk quietly cheered, making a fist and pulling it down. He was thankful that Junior Agents’ reflex training proved to be helpful.

“It’s your first day on the job and you had already failed!” Myungdae continued his outburst. “I gave you a level one assignment but you still managed to screw up! Why can’t you be like your brother, Donghae? If Donghwa were alive now, he would’ve made me proud, instead of putting me to shame!”

Except for the rhythmic pitter patter of rain, a cold, icy silence hung in the air.

Then without another word, Lee Myungdae rushed out of the conference room. He almost tripped on the candy bag.  After giving Eunhyuk a quick glance of annoyance, Officer Lee proceeded down the hallway and out the double doors.

Eunhyuk dashed into the conference room where he found Donghae sitting as still as stone, his head buried in his hands. At his feet was the white porcelain paperweight. It was a dove.

How ironic.

“Clownfish, you okay?” Eunhyuk asked even though he knew pretty well that Donghae was far from okay. He reached out his hand towards his friend, but Donghae shoved it away and stood up.

With one hand partly covering his face, Donghae pushed past Eunhyuk and darted out the door.  

“Hey, what’s up with you?!” Eunhyuk called out after him. He hurried after his friend.  

Donghae was a fast runner and Eunhyuk had a hard time catching up. The latter knew that Donghae’s speed was fueled by his painful emotions and the fear of having other people see him cry. Shaking his head in defeat, Eunhyuk slowed down and watched as Donghae push the entrance door and run outside into the pouring rain.

“Oppa!” a soft voice called out from behind. Eunhyuk turned to see a slender, beautiful young lady with long wavy hair running towards him.

That lucky bastard, he thought.

“W-what happened?” Yoona asked anxiously as she approached him. Her gaze automatically flew to the entrance door swinging back and forth.

~~~

Donghae didn’t know where he was going. He just kept running and running, avoiding cars and puddles. By the time he reached the middle of the broad parking lot, he was tired, out of breath and soaking wet. He didn’t notice that the drizzle earlier had turned into a downpour. A sarcastic smile formed on his lips as he slowed down into a walk. At least the sky was nice enough to sympathize with him.

Before he knew it, tears were strolling down his cheeks, joining the raindrops.

“Donghae, you’re such a crybaby”, his brother would tell him.

At the thought, his arms went limp and his knees began to shake. The sadness, the frustration, the anger, the pain – these had been building up inside of him for a while. But now, out in the rain, they escaped - like bubbles in a champagne bottle.

Soon enough, Donghae was crouching in the middle of the parking lot – in the middle of a storm – and sobbing into his hands. The rain drowned out his voice and camouflaged his tears while the fog embraced him, forming a fragile veil around him, as if shielding him from the world.

Suddenly, Donghae felt the rain cease from falling. He looked up. The first thing he saw was a big fat yellow umbrella hovering over him.

The next thing he saw was Yoona.