그곳은 비 온다고?

So is it raining over there?

이곳은 화창하다.

It's bright and sunny here.

그대 슬픔 조금, 조금씩 마른다.

Your sadness dries up little by little.

나는, 천천히 젖는다.

I am slowly getting drenched.

"Let me go," Sungjong snapped when the detective yanked him away from the entrance. "Stop trying to get in my way."

Myungsoo's grip on the younger man's wrist tightened. "Sungjong, just . . . just listen to me, okay?" he insisted. Sungjong stood rigid. He could see it, the desperation in Myungsoo's eyes that only reflected the world, his world, crumbling before him. From all the years he's known the detective, Sungjong has never heard him sound so vulnerable, like the strings in him had just snapped. Like his defenses were unraveling at the mere idea of losing something so dear to him. "If I hadn't let you leave three years ago, none of this would've happened. I realize that. But I couldn't say anything because I was a goddamn coward, because I didn't know I would lose you like I did. I just don't want that to happen again, and I'm afraid that the closer you are to this case, the closer I am to losing you. And if you step into that interrogation room . . . I can't even imagine what I'd do if something were to happen to you."

Sungjong looked at him, eyes indecipherable, and after a moment of heavy silence, he said, "You're a detective, Myungsoo. Not a child." A soundless sigh escaped his lips before he continued. "If you keep letting your emotions get in the way of your job, you'll never see the end to this case. Don't you understand? I need to remember what happened that night. I can't keep running away from the past, you and I both know that. And you know, maybe I just want to be of some use to you instead of sitting around, hoping that you'd figure everything out on your own. How can I let someone I like do something like that for me?"

Someone I like. "Sungjong, I-"

"Can't you trust me, Myungsoo?"

Can't you trust me, Myungsoo . . .

On graduation day, the last thing Kim Myungsoo could even think about was the fact that he was actually graduating. He'd woken up, dragged himself to the bathroom to wash up, and stepped into his school uniform before his mother had scolded him for not wearing his tie and gown. The only thing on his mind was that today is the day. The day he would confess to the number one student in the nation, his best friend, Lee Sungjong. After a month of half-assed planning and brief episodes of panic, Myungsoo somehow managed to come up with the greatest (yet most modest) confession ever -- a simple I like you and I'd like to go out with you. He figured he really had no choice but to wing it and even if things started to go downhill, he wouldn't have to suffer the utter humiliation of seeing Sungjong at school the next day, or any day. It's his self-proclaimed masterpiece.

But by the end of their graduation ceremony, he was starting to grow impatient.

After several attempts of trying to pull the younger boy aside, Myungsoo finally settled for asking him when they were taking a picture together, "Wanna go there with me later?" Sungjong only nodded and threw his arm around his best friend's shoulders as the cameras went off, beaming with his diploma proudly in the air.

A few months into their friendship, Myungsoo and Sungjong had rented a tiny rooftop home tucked away somewhere in the outskirts of their modest neighborhood. Sungjong needed a quiet place to study ("The school library is always so crowded," he complained once. "I can't even read a textbook without feeling like someone's breathing down my neck!"); Myungsoo just needed to get out of the house once in a while, maybe more. So they worked a few odd jobs before managing to scrape by with enough to buy their own place, their own safe haven. Two friends weighed down by their own busy worlds finally got the silence they craved under one roof.

And Myungsoo thought it was perfect, telling Sungjong there.

"You're acting weird today," the younger boy pointed out once they had polished off their takeout meal.

Myungsoo glanced up from his paper plate. "What." It was more of a statement than a question. "I'm not."

"Yeah, you are." Sungjong prodded the older boy's cheek with one of his chopsticks. "You're unusually quiet. Yesterday, you were so excited about graduating. What happened to that?"

"I am excited," said Myungsoo to which Sungjong burst out laughing at the older boy's lack of enthusiasm. "Seriously."

"This is what I like about you. You're a terrible liar."

The two sprawled themselves down on the floor, stretching out their legs to the best of their ability (which only made Myungsoo realize how much Sungjong had grown over the span of a year; it seemed like just yesterday that the younger boy was this skinny, pre-pubescent kid who only knew how to stick his face in a book, but now Sungjong's legs seemed to be a bit too long for their rooftop home and his voice had even lowered itself an octave). Sungjong used Myungsoo's stomach as his pillow, and they were quiet for a moment until the younger boy said, "You can't forget about me, okay?"

Myungsoo peered over at him, lips slightly parted. "It's not like I can, even if I wanted to."

Sungjong laughed. Myungsoo didn't. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I can't forget about you." He almost said this in a whisper.

"Neither can I." There was a slight pause. "But hey, the police academy isn't too far from Seoul. You can come visit, and we can grab a couple of drinks or something."

"You don't drink."

"I know." It was Myungsoo's turn to laugh. A stiff laugh, but still a laugh. There was silence. "I'm going to miss you. And all of this."

"Sungjong, there's something I need to-"

But Sungjong, letting out a small cry of shock, had already hastily scrambled up onto his feet. "Crap, Myungsoo, why didn't you tell me it's 11:30! If I don't get home before midnight, I'm screwed."

Taken aback, Myungsoo rose to his feet. "Oh, well, then I'll walk you home or something."

"It's fine. I can go by myself."

The older boy held onto Sungjong's hand. The younger boy turned partway to face him. "It's late."

"Can't you trust me, Myungsoo?"

Myungsoo froze.

Yes.

He withdrew his hand, his arm left swinging by his side.

Sungjong stepped into his shoes and smiled at the older boy. "Don't worry. I'll text you in the morning."

"Okay." Myungsoo felt numb all over.

"See you later," were Sungjong's last words before disappearing out the door . . .

The detective reached out and held onto Sungjong's hand firmly, with promise. "This time, we'll go together."

~

The crime unit stood huddled by the window, peering into the interrogation room just as Lee Sungjong took his seat underneath the dimly lit halo of light. Something was strange; the kid was too composed, too calm for someone who was about to interrogate a criminal. The others threw an uneasy glance at Myungsoo just as Dongwoo spoke up, "Hey, Myungsoo, you sure about this? I mean, we agreed to it, but I didn't think you would."

Arms folded, eyes fixated on the window, Myungsoo responded with a slight nod. "I trust him."

Just then, a patrol officer ushered Park Moonchul into the interrogation room, situating him into the chair across Sungjong's. The two remained silent for a moment until the imposter slammed his handcuffed wrists on the table. Sungjong remained still, completely unfazed. "Who the hell are you? Another cop?" Moonchul demanded. "How many damn times do I have to be called in?"

"So what you're saying is," Sungjong began coolly, "you have no idea who I am."

"How the hell am I supposed to-"

"I'm Lee Sungjong," the younger of the two interjected. Moonchul's face fell, lips parted from his inability to hide his shock. Sungjong, taking note of the man's expression, pressed on even further. "Why? Does that ring a bell?"

"Why should it?" Park Moonchul replied, flustered as he tried to regain his composure.

Sungjong grinned. "Just thought it might. Now, tell me," he slammed his fists onto the table, "everything you know about Min Kisuk."

"Nothing, damn bastard. I don't know about that guy or about the damn case from three years ago-"

The younger man leaned back into his seat, arms folded over his chest and a knowing smile playing on his lips. "I never said anything about the case from three years ago." The imposter gaped at him, fists tightly clenched. "You know, it's really easy to spot a liar. Wanna know how? Well, there's this thing called distancing language. It's when a liar will always subconsciously distance themselves from the subject. In this case, the liar is you, and your accomplice is the subject. Just now, you called Min Kisuk 'that guy,' which only makes it clear to me that you were lying."

Flustered, Park Moonchul remained silent.

"The kid's doing pretty well," Sunggyu pointed out from the other side of the window. "He's a natural, Myungsoo."

But Myungsoo wasn't listening. Only staring at the man sitting across from the criminal and thinking that he almost didn't seem like the cheerful, naive boy he fell in love with. He almost seemed like a stranger.

~

"Yah, Lee Sungjong, where'd you learn about all the distancing language stuff?" Nam Woohyun called out just as Sungjong entered the squadron's meeting room. He threw his arm around the younger man's shoulders, a rare act of praise. "That was pretty cool of you to bring that up. Have you ever thought of becoming a police officer?"

"No," Myungsoo and Sungjong answered simultaneously, Myungsoo being more aggressive than the latter.

"Never mind that," the team leader dismissed just as Myungsoo got up to pry off Woohyun's arm. "Did you find out anything?"

"He wouldn't tell me anything outright, but I'm sure he has nothing to do with the February 10th case," Sungjong reported. "He didn't recognize me until I told him who I was, which means he only knew me by name. Park Moonchul made me think that he wasn't actually part of the whole drug possession and assault case because of that, so I'm assuming that he's associated with Min Kisuk through a slightly larger corporation. Maybe involving people outside of the drug business. They're probably co-workers from the way our imposter was trying too hard to hide his accomplice."

"We found out that both of them work in the loan shark business so your answer makes sense," Woohyun agreed.

"Then shouldn't we start looking into the different loan shark companies in Seoul?" Myungsoo pointed out. "If we could narrow it down to one, we could probably end up finding Min Kisuk."

Sunggyu shifted his gaze to one of the team members. "Sungyeol-"

"Already on it," came Lee Sungyeol's immediate reply.

~

Myungsoo didn't know what to say. There was no doubt in his mind that Lee Sungjong was the one in the interrogation room, sitting opposite of the imposter just moments ago, but he wasn't the same as the Sungjong sitting beside him right now, in the passenger seat of his car. He couldn't help but think (and he hated himself for thinking that) maybe he didn't know who Sungjong was after all. That three years could change a person almost beyond recognition.

The detective braved a sidelong glance at the younger man only to find a pair of curious, almond eyes staring back at him. Eyes darting back to the road, Myungsoo tightened his grip on the steering wheel and mentally kicked himself in the face over and over again until Sungjong called his name, stopping him. "Hey, Myungsoo. Earth to Myungsoo."

"W-what?" the detective stuttered.

"Can you roll down the windows? I want to feel the breeze."

"S-sure." Myungsoo d around for the button. "Here . . ."

Sungjong leaned his shoulder against the door, hair ruffled by the wind. "You're acting strange today."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Sungjong, let's not-"

"Wait ohmygod, Myungsoo!" the younger of the two cried out. "Stop the car!"

The detective veered off the street and slammed his foot on the brake, lurching forward and hitting his head on the steering wheel. "Sungjong, what the hell were you thinking?! You can't just tell me to stop like that, dammit! Sungjong?"

Hair lightly tossed by the breeze and arm extended out the window, Sungjong had somehow occupied himself by admiring the view outside. The car was parked (haphazardly) underneath a cherry blossom tree, by the sidewalk, and the younger man reached for the falling pink petals with the tips of his fingers. It dawned on Myungsoo that it's been over a month since Sungjong had even taken a step outside. He fell back into his seat, hands falling to his lap, and he stared out Sungjong's window for a brief moment before turning his gaze back to the man beside him.

It wasn't Sungjong who had changed from these past three years.

It was just time.

~

"Myungsoo, you ran out of toothpaste!"

"Check the medicine cabinet or something."

"I am. It's not here!"

"Bottom shelf."

"Okay, hold on . . ."

Moments later, Sungjong came bursting out of the bathroom, clothed with a towel thrown around his neck. He held up a pack of cigarettes, a questioning expression about his face. Myungsoo, glancing up from his computer, blinked at him, confused. His gaze shifted to the cigarettes in Sungjong's hand, and he got up. "I don't smoke."

Not convinced, Sungjong shook the box. "It's sounds half-empty, Myungsoo."

"I don't smoke."

"Myungsoo."

"I bought that back when I was in the police academy." Sungjong narrowed his eyes at the older man, but remained silent nonetheless. "The training there was stressing me out, and my teachers put too much pressure on me since they wanted me to graduate early. My first cigarette was the night before exams during my second year. I stopped until I started working in the field. My second and third were because of the first case I had to work on, a case. I've been clean since then."

"I understand but . . ." The younger of the two lowered his gaze to the pack in his hand. "You know how I feel about smoking, Myungsoo."

"I know. I was gonna throw them away, but I completely forgot I even had those since you started living here." A shy smile eased onto his lips. "Figured I didn't need them anymore anyways."

Sungjong looked up, perplexed. "Why?"

"I found a better stress-reliever."

"Shut up," muttered the younger man, cheeks burning. "You're so damn corny."

Myungsoo grinned at him, extending his hand. "Give it here, now."

Sungjong froze.

Give it here . . .

Shaking, Sungjong held out the gun at arm's length, pointing frantically at the men closing in on him. One of them laughed, a biting, mocking laugh that only made him reach for the trigger with a quivering finger and flinch away until his back grazed the wall. He was afraid. "What're you planning on doing with that, kid?" someone sneered, his face partially hidden by darkness. "Give it here. Someone like you can't even shoot that thing anyways."

"Get away from me," Sungjong muttered. The air around him was growing thin, his chest was heaving, the world was moving too fast for him to grasp onto anything.

"I said, give it here." A hand swiped at him, grappling for the gun.

"Get away from me!"

There was a gunshot, the beginning and end to everything.

When Sungjong collapsed, Myungsoo doesn't remember overturning his chair to run over to him, doesn't remember hitting his hip against the sharp edge of his desk or feeling pain. He only knelt beside the younger man and gathered him into his arms, holding him so tightly against himself in fear that Sungjong just might break if he were to let go. A pair of tears marked his shirt, and Myungsoo found that Sungjong was crying, clinging onto him and trembling in an effort to hold all the hurt inside. The detective felt like withering and breaking and crumbling all at once. "Sungjong." He shook the younger man harder.

"Myungsoo, help me." Sungjong's voice was quivering. "Please."

"I-I'm here. Can you hear me?"

But Sungjong only shook his head frantically, breaking out of Myungsoo's grasp and withdrawing himself, terrified. "It wasn't me!"

"Sungjong, what-"

The younger man was sobbing now, knees folded up to his chest. "I didn't kill anyone. Myungsoo, please . . . I didn't do it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: brb while i chuck my laptop out the window for posting this so late....i apologize for that and my not-so-great update (to put it frankly, it's pretty bad :/) i also apologize in advance if i don't post again for a few weeks...maybe a month or so...school is taking over my life. oh, and there's only like two chapters left anyways so yay? thanks for being patient, guys^^