"There's nothing to tell. I went on vacation, that's it. I have no  idea where you're getting this China thing from" She repeated.

He fixed her with a knowing look and she set her jaw.

"Do you remember when you worked the Kim Na Young case with me? I do, it was the first time I started training you with computers. You picked it up quiet easily and maybe I forgot to mention, but all those tips and tricks I taught you? They're specific to me" He emphasized and when she kept shut he decided to keep going.

"More specifically, if it was just tips and tricks I wouldn't have accused you. After all coincidences are possible, but the coding you used to bypass our security? It was the one I taught you. It's not a common code why? Because I came up with it on my own"

"You're arrogant aren't you? No one else could ever come up with it? You're kidding right? That's it?"

"Min Ah... Myungsoo is expecting a report on this soon" Woohyun started and he looked her in the eyes silently, "I'm going to tell him exactly who I think hacked into our databases and I'm going to show him the proof I have so if you want to deal with him instead then that's fine"

"What happened to being friends? You're just going to go ahead and accuse me of something like that?" She said trying not to panic.

"I'm not, I gave you a chance to explain yourself and you say there's nothing to explain so I'm going to turn in my impartial results and when Myungsoo confronts you and when there's a deeper investigation into your whereabouts then nothing will come up right?" He asked.

She stared at him, the blood rushed loudly in her body and she could hear it pumping in her ears. Woohyun stared back and she realized that their friendship might be over. She could see the suspicion and uncertainty in his eyes. She never thought she'd see that look in his eyes, but she couldn't tell him she just couldn't. He nodded dismissively as he turned and stepped back out into the hallways. She watched as he disappeared with the closing door. This wasn't happening though was it? This was all a nightmare right? She looked down at her hand and had to pry her palm away from the stair railing. It was stiff and it trembled slightly with nerves.

She bore a hole into the door with her gaze as she ran through her options in her mind. The truth was out of the question, but maybe not completely. She frowned as ran a hand through her hair and went over the details over what had happened. Letting out a small breath she pushed her arms in front of her and stared at them, breathing deeply until there was no signs of trembling or nerves. Her expression became calm, right down to the look in her eyes.

The best lies after all, had a bit of truth in them right?

Her smile gave of a false sense of peace as she walked back to their desks.

"Woohyun! Let's go have an early lunch and you can finish catching me up!" She said brightly as she walked over to him and grabbed a hold of his arm like they always did.

The muscles in his arm tensed, but she knew he wouldn't decline.

"Sure, but we have to hurry. I have a few reports to finish up" He said, returning her false smile with one of his own.

"That's fine, I'm starving anyways so I probably won't give you enough time" She joked as they grabbed their stuff.

"I'm hungry too..." Sunggyu commented as they headed for the door.

"We'll bring you something back! You've got paperwork to finish!" Min Ah yelled as they stepped out. As they walked past the glass doors, all smiles, she caught Myungsoo staring at them. He looked so serious that a chill went down her spine, she turned away quickly as she pretended Woohyun had said something. Did he know something was wrong?

The metal doors of the elevator closed shut on them and they disengaged. The smiled disappeared from their faces and they stepped away from each other. The atmosphere turned tense and they didn't speak a word. They both flashed their badges as they stepped outside and she walked ahead. She pulled out her key and the car lit to life as they climbed in.

"Should we get some smoothies? I don't really feel like anything heavy" She said casually, lowering her window so the wind blew freely into the car.

"I'm not really thirsty, or hungry for that matter" He said, his words clipped as he stared ahead at the road.

She drove around aimlessly before reaching a quiet park area. It was empty and it kind of made sense, the day was humid and cloudy. Not really the type of day to go to the park. She pulled the car into a parking spot and turned the engine off.

"I was in China" She started, staring at the steering wheel.

"What were you doing there?" He asked as he turned in his seat to face her and she looked at him in surprise. There was no accusation in his voice or anger, instead it was worry and fear that drowned his words out. She suddenly felt like a crappy person for not being able to trust him, no matter how sure she was that he would keep her secret.

"I went to investigate a man. That's the reason I hacked into our databases I needed more information and I knew Myungsoo was probably looking for me so I didn't want to be found" She started, the words flowing out far easier than she would have liked.

"A man? Who? How did you even decide to go?" Woohyun asked, his frown deepening as he tried to work things out.

"That kid Myungsoo beat the crap out of... I got him the lawyer, I got him out of jail, I told him to leave early so we couldn't follow him" She said, carefully measuring his expression as she allowed some of her very real guilt to show through.

"Why? That makes no sense you wouldn't betray us like that" He said fully convinced and it was the conviction in his tone that crushed her inside.

"I didn't betray you guys. When I was keeping an eye on him, he woke up earlier than expected. He was ready to talk, but he was terrified of Myungsoo with good reason honestly so I let him talk to me. He told me there was a man in China who was heavily invested in arms dealing and who was quickly taking over the drug trafficking businesses where EXO operates" Min Ah explained quietly, "I wanted more information on EXO itself, but he wouldn't budge on that. I was going to give up on him, I thought it was false information, but he kept insisting that this man was even bigger than they were and how he was Korean and probably had some ties here and... I trusted my gut. I just— something told me he was telling the truth"

Woohyun looked at her as he processed what she was telling him and she could see it in the way his eyes softened and the way his shoulders didn't stay firm, he was believing all of this.

"But why didn't you tell us? You broke at least a dozen rules by not informing your supervisor!" Woohyun said.

"I know... but he said he would never speak to Myungsoo, he was scared, he told me if I  kept it to myself and helped him get out of these charges he would help me track down that man and then I could come back and give you guys all the information I could"

"...Did you meet more EXO members?" He asked in a whisper.

"I met a few more, but they were careful around me, they didn't let me know anything. The point is Woohyun, this guy is named Park Min Guk and he is one the most dangerous people I've ever seen. He killed a girl while I was there and I wanted to call you guys, but we would have had to jump through so many hoops just to get our team into China officially and I had gone over Myungsoo's head and I got scared because suddenly it all crashed down on me. I had screwed up a case which if we started investigating would never hold up in court because of how we got information and what I... did"  She said with quiet gasp and it really only took a little loosening of her self control to make her eyes well up with tears and her hand shake.

Myungsoo had taught her once, while they were interrogating a suspect in the beginning of her career, that people don't realize that sometimes panic can seal the deal. If you use it right, it makes people think you've lost control of what was happening. It lets people think oh, there's no way she's hiding anything now.

"You should have called, why didn't you say anything when you got back? You know Myungsoo protects you the most, even if you did go over his head he would have shielded you. If we tell him now— Woohyun said hurriedly and she reached out quickly, gripping his arm tightly.

"N-no you can't tell Myungsoo" She whispered.

"Why?" Woohyun asked in confusion.

She didn't say that it was because he would be able to see right through her.

"Because that shoot out in China that you guys think EXO participated in? I was there. It's the reason why we need to be focused on Park Min Guk instead"

"What did you do Min Ah?"

"I was meeting him for the last time, I had almost worked out a deal to get him to inform on that man for us, but it was all screwed up in a second. That man... took an innocent kid and I had to help. They were on their way out and I went along. I didn't mean to get involved but they saved someone and they were going to get killed so I... I killed two of them. So if you tell Myungsoo, he might be able to protect me, but that crime scene that we're investigating will get me fired. No amount of protection can shield me from murder" She said as tears rolled down her face for more than a few reasons.

"M-Min Ah... You should have called me at least. I'm your friend you idiot!" He said as he pulled her closer and gave her a fierce hug and this time she felt something inside crack just a little more because she was lying to someone who deserved the truth more than anyone.

"Woohyun I'm sorry" She said quietly and she meant it.

"No one knows the code is mine except me. As far as anyone knows it's something completely new and... untraceable" Woohyun said quietly and she went still.

"I... you can't... I don't mean to force you to lie" She whispered.

"Just promise me you won't ever do anything like that on your own. Please" He begged silently, sure in his decision. He was protecting a friend that had made a mistake to save someone else.

"I promise" She said quiet seriously.

The drive back was normal. Woohyun joked around and even bought her food. She on the other hand, felt like there was cinderblock sitting on her chest. Every time he laughed and she joined him the cinderblock pressed tighter until she could have sworn it had become actual physical pain. There was no taste in the food he bought her, she felt like she was shoving pieces of foam down . Every once in a while she felt like she as choking... all with that stupid smile on her face.

As they went back up he placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at her encouragingly, effectively swearing  his promise to keep everything a secret. Instead of feeling the relief she should be feeling at not getting caught she could only feel guilt. There was so much going on inside of her that she felt like she was splitting apart at the seams. As she took a seat on her desk and worked away at meaningless paperwork they had her filling out the feeling that she was about to burst built up. Like a soda bottle shaking too much she felt like any second she would explode.

It was too much really  because whenever she thought about China, about what had happened there too many emotions came flooding in. Emotions that so far she been hell-bent on ignoring and bottling away as if they had never happened. Among all of them regret was the strongest... and pain. She couldn't forget the pain because even though she knew she was strong it was becoming nearly crippling. She hated the person she had idolized such a short time ago and it hurt to know he hated her jut as much. It hurt so badly because for a second she had begun to really think that he cared. It was the fall from reaching such a high that hurt. She hadn't just stepped off a step she was been sent hurtling to the harsh reality and she wasn't ok she realized suddenly.

Coming back to work and lying to people that actually cared about her... this wasn't ok. She glanced up and suddenly realized that she hadn't been doing any work. Oh, she had to do something though. She looked around, they were gathered around Hoya' s desk laughing about something, Woohyun and Dongwoo were off by the vending machine and she quietly stood up. She moved quietly so no one noticed and stepped out. She hesitated outside the doors, where could she go? She turned right and walked down some steps before freezing. She had nowhere to go, the world swayed for a second and she needed to leave., but somehow she couldn't figure her way out.

She felt a firm hand take her by the wrist and she looked up to see Myungsoo. She must've looked like a mess she thought as she saw a flash of worry pass by like lightning in his eyes. He was always so calm, but he was determined as he pulled her down the stairs and she followed along as the world began to clear up around her.

They broke out through a back door as Myungsoo slid his badge through it and they stepped outside. It led to the empty training field out back. He stepped up to her and let go of her wrist, instead holding onto the sides of her head making her look at him.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice steady.

"W-what? Um... Han Min Ah" She said quietly.

"Good. Han Min Ah doesn't' freak out. Han Min Ah does not break down do you understand?" He asked her, almost angrily as he unholstered the gun from his waist and put it in her hands, "Remember what I taught you? You work for me now. Which means as long as you have one of these you don't break do you understand? I didn't suggest this job so that you could back to the emotional mess you were when we first met" He snapped, his brows furrowed as her hands held the familiar metal in her hands and she wondered when the cinder block had disappeared.

"I know" She said her voice surprising herself at the level of steadiness it held. She stared up at him in wonder. How did he do that?

"No you obviously don't! What the hell is wrong with you?! You know I'm here and yet you start to have a freaking panic attack with me around?! What are you trying to do to me?!" He yelled angrily, his anger pushing away the calm Myungsoo she had just seen.

Her lips twitched as a smile tried to form. This Myungsoo was more normal she decided.

"No! You don't get to calm down this fast! I mean— yes obviously calm down, but don't think— damn it. What is happening to you? Who did... this to you?" He asked, his chest rising and falling with exasperation, fist clenched tight.

She looked at him silently and handed his gun back to him.

"You're not allowed to get mad about me simply being stressed. I had a good vacation and suddenly I'm back at work and there's a lot going on and it just got to me for some reason. I was thinking about the time before I came here and I don't know" She said lamely.

"Don't even try that" He said putting the gun away,.

"I don't know what happened ok? Lately I've just been like this, that's why I took the vacation in the first place" She tried again and knowing it wasn't working, she went on the defensive, "Now can you please stop following me I just needed some time alone!" She turned and headed for the door.

"No, we're going to talk about this right now whether you like it or not" He said, suddenly reaching out and slamming the door shut, "I'm sorry I'm not your dear old friend Woohyun who you probably explained everything to, but as your... as your boss, seeing you like this means you're not reliable on the field so I need an explanation too"

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Unnecessarily long chapter time! I was going to split it into two chapters but then... I didn't want to go back and look for a spot to break it in half and then transition from the two chapters so yeah... I mean it doesn't even really make a difference so here you go! Two for the price of one! :)  I'm probably not gonna update until late this weekend so just throwing that out there as a heads up!

Thanks for reading, commenting and thanks to my new subscribers for, well, subscribing! :D