I picked at the food on the grill in the center of the table, stabbing at the pieces of chicken with my chopsticks until they were in pieces. Growling to myself, I continued to mix it about until I'd nearly lost my appetite. One of the waiters was looking at me wearily. His look was returned with a glare that made him quickly turn away.

The place was practically empty and I considered just skipping the meal and going to some bar to get -faced. Why the was I treating this like some breakup? It was Changmin's choice if he wanted to abandon me like spoiled fish cake. It was his own choice if he thought he was in some mortal danger thanks to my rash brutality. him.

I hated him. I hated what was going on and that he was to blame. Why couldn't he have warned me? Let me change my ways, maybe mellow some more before he just up and left me? No, of course not. We couldn't do that. We just had to get up and abandon Jin Ae because she's a tough , she can handle herself. She isn't going to go on some violent rampage or become suicidal at all. Everything's hunky-dory.

And here I was referring to myself in the ing third person.

“What are you doing here?”

I ceased in my abuse of the poultry at the sound of a way too familiar voice. Glancing up gave me a full view of my brother. “What are you doing here, Jaejoong?”

“I just asked you the same thing.”

“I don't believe you called me 'Jaejoong' though.”

He simply arched an eyebrow. “You don't seem very...at peace.”

“Yeah, well, it hasn't been the greatest of days,” I said and went back to picking through my stir fry.

Without warning, Jaejoong pulls out the chair opposite and plopped down. “Want to talk about it?”

“Why. The . Would I want to. Talk. To you?” I asked, emphasizing each word with a viscous stab.

“I don't know,” Jaejoong shrugged. “A little closure?”

“Why do you ing care?”

“What is this with '' in every other sentence?”

“Shut the up.”

“Jin Ae, I'm serious right now.”

"And so am I. Get the out.”

“Look, I know your partner dumped you, alright? Junsu called, told me you were ignoring his calls and asked me to help find you. He called your partner, your partner told him everything, and Junsu told me,” he informed me when I gave him a questioning look.
“Little ers getting into—”

“Enough with the swear words, alright?. Can't you be grateful that I've searched all your haunts to find you.”

I stopped and looked up at him from underneath my eyelashes. “Thanks a f—bunch.”

“Come on,” he said, getting to his feet and throwing a couple bills on the table. “Let's go get some drinks.”

“Sure,” I said, grabbing my jacket and getting to my feet. “Not sure why you're being an angelical brother all of sudden, but I'll play along.”

Jaejoong and I exited the restaurant into the darkness. “I was scared.”

“Heh?”

“I was scared,” Jaejoong repeated. “I was scared you'd up and jumped off some frickin' bridge or something.”

I simply smirked and shoved him lightly. “So you do care.”

“Of course I care! You think I ever quit?”

“Well, you sure made me think it.”

Jaejoong's hand gripped my shoulder and pushed me so I had to face him. His eyes holding mine in a cold grasp. “This is your problem. You think everyone is out to get you, that its everyone else's fault. Its you that needs fixing, Jin Ae! I'm not saying that other people aren't at fault, but you made a lot of wrong turns in the past.”

My eyes glared a hole in his forehead. We stood there, a glare down for almost thirty seconds before I broke and looked down at his shoes. “I know,” was all I said.
 

Something tickled against my nose and I scrunched it up, trying to evade the sneeze trigger. However, the tickling continued and I summoned enough will to push it aside. I was met with an unpleasant yowl and realized it was Min's that I'd been inhaling. With a groan, my eyes pried open and immediately shut again.

The sun. So bright.

Why was the damned sun up?

“!” I hissed, scrambling out of bed, holding my throbbing head as I stumbled about my room. The glimpse at my clock revealed it was ten in the morning; four hours later than when I usually arrive for work.

I tripped into the living room to see Jaejoong passed out on the couch. Sighing, I turned back around and got ready for a shower. Muttering to myself, I hopped into the shower and got rid of the putrid smell of cigarette smoke and bar. Standing under the hot water jogged my memory enough to know that Jaejoong and I had thrown all caution to the wind and got completely -faced the previous night. I brushed my teeth, got into a decent change of clothes, pulled my wet hair back into a pony tail. Grabbing an apple and a bottle of water, I left a note for Jaejoong and hurried out the door.

When I arrived at the precinct, I felt like hell. My head was pounding so much worse, vision wouldn't clear up, and it felt like there were concrete blocks strapped to each shoe. I collapsed onto my chair and let out a long sigh.

“Hungover?”

I lifted my head to look groggily at Park, who was flipping through that day's newspaper. “Yes,” I answered slowly. “Any calls?”

“No, its been quiet.”

“Is Chief pissed?”

“He thinks you've been running around here all morning with one of the cases.”

I looked at him curiously. “You didn't tell him I was late?”

“No,” was all I got for an answer before silence stretched between us.

“Oh. Thanks.”

The rest of the day was unbelievably quiet, which left me too sneak in a half hour nap on my desk. I scanned over some cases, talked them over with Park, but nothing horribly interesting. I tried to keep my mind busy with the cases and solitaire on my computer so it would stay off why I was feeling the way I was. You would think not having Changmin by my side for a couple months would help aid in this new transition, but it didn't. Knowing he wasn't coming back and someone else had him as their partner was...painful.

But at least I had a man like Park, right? He was as smart as Changmin, if not smarter. Quieter. Not as nagging. It wasn't the same though. I had no one to pick on because it didn't feel right with Park. I didn't have anyone to nag at me for staying out late and getting drunk. He wasn't there to listen to my problems because—for once—he was the problem.

When I got back home at around ten, the apartment smelled like food.

“Jin?”

“Yeah...” I answered my brother's call. “What are you still doing in my apartment?”

“I went to work, but then I came back,” he said, appearing from the kitchen. “I made dinner.”

“Jaejoong...”

“Hm?”

“Why are you being like this?”

“Because you're going through a hard time.”

“I've went through other hard times and you were never there.”

“I'm trying to fix that,” he said and I was glad the wall was blocking my vision of his face. "Its time we grew up, don't you think?"

“Yeah,” was all I said as I dropped my coat on an empty chair and scooped Min up from her place on the table.

As I approached the entrance to the kitchen, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Holding Min with one arm, I produced my phone and checked the I.D.

Kim Junho

My eyebrows furrowed at the name Junsu's twin brother and answered. “Hey, Junho. How have you been?”

“Jin Ae, I—I hate to bother you, but...” Junho paused on the other end and I felt something clench in my gut. “Junsu never went to practice today.”

“Alright...”

“His teammates said he never showed up this afternoon and they couldn't get a hold of him. I tried to call him and it goes straight to voice mail.”

“Okay,” I said. Jaejoong peeked around the corner, looking at me curiously. “Do you know where he last was?”

“Looking for you.” My heart dropped into my feet. “He called last night to say he was going to look for you.”

I held my hand over the phone and looked up at Jaejoong. “Did you talk to Junsu after you found me last night?”

Jaejoong shook his head. “I tried to call him, but it went to his inbox.”

I swallowed the lump growing in my throat and turned my attention back to Junho. “Did you go to his apartment?”

“I did,” came the answer. “His car keys and phone were gone...” Worry was edging more and more into his voice. “Jin Ae, I don't think he came home last night. I know I shouldn't be worrying about this, but—”

“No, no,” I said. “You have every right to worry. He's your brother. Do you have any idea where he might be?”

“No. He just said he was going to look for you, look at the places you might be at.”

“Okay,” I said. “I'll look into it and call you back.”

“Thank you, Jin Ae. I'm sure he's fine. I'm just worried.”

I sat there in silence, thoughts gathering as I tried to snatch them up and put them in order. Jaejoong watched me before asking, “what's wrong?”

“Junsu didn't show up for practice today and he won't answer his phone...I don't like this, Jaejoong.” I got to my feet. “He was going to look at places where I might have been. Its been nearly twenty-four hours,” I noted, running a hand through my hair and shaking out the strands. “I need to go look for him.”

“I'll come with,” he said.

It was weird searching for someone who had just been trying to search for you. We mapped out all the places he may have thought I would be. Bars, gyms, parks. We drove, searching and asking questions. Some said that they had seen him the previous night, but he hadn't stayed that long. My stomach began to clench more and more with nerves, causing nausea and a supreme headache.

“Jaejoong, stop the car!” He slammed on the brakes and I peered past him into the dark alleyway. “That's Junsu's car.” Before Jaejoong could react, I'd flung the door opened and was approaching, pulling out my off-duty gun. “Stay by the car,” I told him, as he got out of the car.

Sure enough, as I approached, I saw it was Junsu's car. But no Junsu. Grabbing the door handle with the sleeve of my jacket, I opened it and looked about when the light on the top . No blood—that was a relief. I glanced around the alley, shining the tiny flashlight around for signs of something, anything, that would give me a clue. There was nothing.

My nerves were sparking alive, skin tingling and hands shaking as I forced my brain to think. Something was so wrong, something had happened to Junsu and it was my fault.

My phone buzzed and I started. I grabbed it from my pocket and peered at the glowing screen.

Unknown Caller

And there was that strong, undeniable feeling at those words on the screen. Even though I wasn't that religious, I prayed that I was wrong.

“Hello?”

His voice was the same it had always been. Haughty, confident, dark. “Hello, Detective. Its been a while.”

-----

Thank you for the constant support, everyone!