Ricky and Changjo are just sitting on the sofa, relaxing after Ricky’s tired day in the library and Changjo’s busy day finding a missing boy. Luckily the boy had only lost his way around and they found them after 3 hours his parent made the police report. Apparently, the boy didn’t know his way back home, so he slept in the slide of a neighborhood playground. If the case turns into a kidnaping case, then he wouldn’t be here snuggling with Ricky on the comfortable sofa in his hyung’s house. A relieved sigh escapes Changjo’s lips.

“Tiring day?” Ricky turns his head a bit to observe the young police’s face.

“A bit,” Changjo grins tiredly.

Just then, they hear the door harshly opens, and being slammed closed. They look at each other, then to the front door of the apartment. Suddenly a hasty Ljoe running straight to his bedroom.

Not a second after that, the elder goes back out and stare at the two of his unwanted guess.

“What are you guys doing here?” he lifts his eyebrow with his finger pointing to the two.

“Enjoying the evening by watching some funny variety show,” Changjo says indifferently.

“In my house? Don’t you have your own home?” Ljoe makes an annoyed face.

“We do, but yours is more convenient and comfortable,” Ricky shrugs. “Besides, if you don’t want us to come in, then don’t tell us where you hide your spare key then.”

Ljoe lets out a groan.

“That is for emergency,” Ljoe rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah,” Changjo waves his hands dismissively. “Why are you slamming and running anyway?”

“Oh yeah. I am actually late for… wait,” Ljoe takes a quick glance at the clock on his red wall. His eyes widen. “. I’m late.”

He runs back to his bedroom and slams the door.

Ricky takes a peek at the clock on the wall behind him.

“6.45 pm. What can he be late for? Meeting?” Ricky turns to Changjo.

“No, definitely not meeting. Our Chief Superintendent is away for a meeting with the Minister of Defense. If there is a meeting now, Ljoe hyung is the one conducting it. And he is always, always punctual when he leads a meeting,” Changjo stresses on the always, twice.

“Okay. Then he must have found himself a girlfriend.”

They both look at each other again, and burst out laughing.

“After that two awkward dates with his 5 days-only-girlfriend three years ago? No way,” Changjo’s face red from laughing.

“No way is our Ljoe hyung having a girlfriend,” Ricky muffles his laugh on Changjo’s chest.

The door to Ljoe’s room once again being slammed closed.

“Keep the rate pg 13. This is my house,” Ljoe says while walking and wearing his socks at the same time.

“So hyung, want to share the excitement with us?” Changjo asks cheekily.

“Did you get yourself a girl?” Ricky wiggles his eyebrow.

“What?!”

Ljoe spins towards the two with the intention to glare at them. But doing that while walking and wearing his stoking at the same time are not exactly a good combination. So of course, he falls.

“Owww,” he rubs his sore back. The glare is automatically set on his two dongsaeng. “Not a girlfriend. Now, if you two want to keep snuggling, go back to your own house.”

He wears his stoking and jogs to the door.

“No girlfriend? It must be a boyfriend then.”

“Shut up!”

The door is slammed shut.

A black sedan stops in front of his lawn, and Chunji quickly sets his face to an annoyed expression. He gets out of the car, and coolly walks to where Chunji is sitting.

“Late,” is all Chunji says. He is glaring now.

“Sorry. Really. You know the road, with the traffic.”

“It takes less than ten minutes to reach my house from yours. Unless, you are from Niel’s house,” Chunji states.

He sighs knowingly when the elder smiles sheepishly. He fishes the keys out from his pocket and throws it to the elder.

“Just don’t blow up my bike. It is worth more than a year payment of your rent house,” Chunji says with some serious tone.

“I won’t,” Cap grins.

“I hardly believes you. Now move, go to your date, I’m late already,” Chunji pushes Cap with both of his hands. The elder takes hold of Chunji's hands, and looks straight at him.

“How did you know?”

“You are predictable,” Chunji rolls his eyes.

Cap makes an apologetic face.

“But why are you late?”

A pause.

Then a grin breaks on Chunji’s face. Before Cap had the time to figure it out, a white compact has parked in front of Chunji’s lawn, just beside Cap’s car.

“That is my ride. See ya,” Chunji pulls his hands away and walks to the parked car.

“What? Wait. Chunji. Yah! Lee Chanhee!”

The car drives away, leaving a very puzzled Cap behind.

“So, I’m guessing that is Cap?”

Ljoe asks while keeping his eyes on the road. He stops at the junction, and drives out of Chunji’s neighborhood as the road is clear.

“Is it that obvious?” Chunji looks at Ljoe.

“Depends, considering I only know one of your best friends.”

“He is the only best friend I have,” Chunji says.

Ljoe steals a glance at the male besides him. Chunji is now smiling at him. He can’t help but smile back. Chunji just has this kinds of effect on him. He feels really comfortable it’s weird. He is usually an awkward person, unless to a person he has known long enough.

“What’s the story with Cap just now?”

Chunji rolls his eyes for the uncountable times.

“The usual, Niel. Those two are like Tom and Jerry. Fighting, yet inseparable. Sometimes it gets on my nerve.”

Ljoe nods. He really needs to meet both Cap and Niel.

“So Mr. Police officer, where are you taking me?”

Ljoe looks at Chunji’s amuse face from the corner of his eyes. He grins.

“Secret.”

The head manager snorts and turn his body to the window. Ljoe chuckles silently at the childish act. He makes another turn as he drive through the city. A sudden shout from Chunji almost made him lost grip of his wheel. Luckily he manage to get his car in control.

“WHAT?” he glances at his companion worriedly.

“Look Ljoe!”

Chanhee points to the side of the road eagerly. Although Chunji looks exceptionally adorable right now, he can’t help but raises his eyebrow for what is been pointed by Chunji.

“A night market.”

Chunji’s image of a carefree yet mature head manager vanishes as he nods like a three year old child. Ljoe slows down the car, trying to grasp the situation.

“What is with the night market?” Ljoe asks slowly.

Chunji turns to Ljoe with hopeful smile and sparkling eyes. At that time, there is this gooey stuff tickling his insides trying to break a grin on his face. Although there is something unsettling with the way the head manager’s face lit brightly.

“Can’t we go there?”

The police officer’s eyebrow set to a frown. He take a glimpse at the night market, back to Chunji, then focuses back on the road.

“But, I want to bring you to th-,”

Ljoe tries to reason but Chunji has already unbuckles his seatbelt.

“Chunji?”

“Oh please, Ljoe. I haven’t been to a night market since I was ten,” Chunji has his hands on the door handle, ready to go out the second Ljoe park the car.

Ljoe tries to contemplate on the situation. He has already pick a nice 3 star restaurant to bring Chunji to but with those Puss and Boot’s eyes he just can’t say no. He shakes his head and shift his car to the left to park.

The moment the car stops, Chunji opens the door and in a flash he is already at the nearest stall selling rice cake. When he sees Ljoe walks to him after he locks the car, Chunji waves to him excitedly, telling him to hurry.

“Look Ljoe, rice cake!” Chunji smiles reaches his ears while pulling Ljoe’s arm to the stall. He bites his lips while eyes browsing through the many rice cake. If he feels a bit regret earlier for not taking Chunji to the restaurant, he sure isn’t now. The look on Chunji’s face tells him that the night market is three times better than his original plan.

“How much is this?” Ljoe asks the ahjumma.

She smiles at both of them. She carefully puts ten rice cake in a packet and hands it to Chunji who gladly takes it.

“Ten for the price of six,” she winks.

Ljoe is about to protest as he didn’t want to trouble the ahjumma. She is trying to earn money for living and Ljoe didn’t want to take her kindness for granted but she pat Ljoe’s hands. After saying his thanks, Ljoe goes to Chunji who is unaware of the ahjumma’s kindness, enjoying his spicy rice cake.

They walks to another store, and Chunji is again pointing to the foods excitedly. After the third stall, their hands are full of foods. They take their time strolling through the night market.

“Do night market fascinate you this much?” Ljoe asks after a while.

Chunji swallows his fried squid and nods.

“My mom used to take me to the night market. We had lots of fun,” he flips his fried squid stick as he answers. His eyes reminiscent on the past Ljoe had no knowledge of.

“Used to?”

“Yeah,” Chunji nods again. “She’s not here anymore though,” he says softly.

Ljoe’s heart crunches seconds after. He glances at the male besides him happily alternating between munching on a rice cake and then eating the fried squid while saying something so sad.

“Is she… dead?”

“WHUDF?”

Chunji quickly consumed his spicy rice cake away and repeat his question, clearer this time.

“What? Oh no, no. She is still breathing, and very much alive,” Chunji laughs a bit at Ljoe’s shock face. “My parent divorced when I was ten, and my mom move to Paris. So yeah, I basically lives without a mom after ten. She did sent me and my brother a few letters and sometimes call us but yeah… that’s about it.”

Ljoe wants to burry himself in a hole for being so insensitive. He could have just ask ‘What happen to your mom?’ instead of a harsh ‘Is she dead?’

“I’m sorry,” he says sincerely.

“Ah, don’t worry. I tend not to dwell on it anyway,” Chunji smiles, taking another stick of fried squid and places it in front of Ljoe’s mouth, which he gladly eats. Chunji grins and eat the last piece of squid on the stick.

“Well, why didn’t you go here on your own? With your friends?” Ljoe asks while pulling Chunji closer to him to avoid the masses of people roaming the night market. The male besides him shrugs while shoving another piece of fried squid into his mouth.

“Never had the time.”

“Not even a while?”

“Trust me when I say I’m poor when it comes to time. My groceries is even done by Cap. Well, he should be since he and Niel make my house like their favorite restaurant for an indoor date,” he scrunches his face annoyingly, earning a laugh from the police officer. “Consider yourself lucky my meeting tonight got cancel at the last minute,” his purposely-made-serious-expression is set on his face.

“Why didn’t you hire a butler?” Ljoe blurts out another confusion.

“I have two butlers at my dad’s house, and I feel like a baby being taken care of 24/7 since I was little. So I decides not to hire one at my own house,” Chunji says. He then catches a glimpse of dumpling and stops abruptly, eyes on the dumpling store.

“Dumpling!”

Once again Ljoe is being pulled to a food stall.

He can never plan with Chunji. Everything is spontaneous. He can never guess what will happen next. He smiles, feeling he could get use to this.

------------

a/n: i was planning on updating this after my finals but suddenly inspiration and mood to write came when i was studying for my ocean biology course, as weird as it sounds. but that is what happended. also i won't be around for a month because of my finals and study week so better i put this chapter up first and the next chapter after my finals. i wasn't satisfy with this chapter for a lot of reason but i hope this is decent enough for you guys to read ^^

now, appreciation list time. GAZILLION THANK YOU to my 14 suscribers and also ILoveYou_Forever, aerin01, sweetestming, Ya-Jie, Sweet_Joongie, -boradori, MyungHee, and hcheartjkpop for the sweet encouragement. ♥

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