Min-Kyung opened his mouth, then closed it. Then he stuttered, “T-tonight?”

She nodded sheepishly. “Is that a problem?”

“I… Well, I mean, no, but what about you saying you didn’t want it to be a stress reliever?”

“Well, I realized that it never would be.” She looked away. “I mean, not with you.”

Babo! Min cursed himself. She’s asking you to make love to her! What the hell are you thinking, trying to find a way out of it?

But he had to ask questions. He had to make sure that she was serious because he didn’t want to be like almost everyone else who only seemed to hurt her.

Her arms loosened around his neck like she was preparing to take a step back. “But it’s okay if you don’t want to. I mean, it was a sudden request.”

“No.” His arms held her against him more tightly. “Sorry, babe. You didn’t say anything wrong; I just wanted to make sure you were serious.”

She relaxed. “Oh.”

“But you’re right, this is unexpected.” He said. “I’ve never had a girlfriend demand from me.”

She pulled back. “C’mon, Min, this is serious.”

“I know, I know.” He set her head against his chest. “Sorry.”

She was quiet as he rocked her back and forth.

“I want to take you out,” He said finally. “And make you feel special.”

“Where will we go?”

“I can’t tell you that. It’d spoil the surprise.”

“How can you already have a place?”’

“’Spontaneity is the key to any relationship’.” He quoted. “That and I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want to make love to you.”

She smiled and blushed. “Well, you could give me at least a little something—like what I should wear.”

He thought about it for a second, then he put his lips to her ear. “I want you in a dress.” He told her. “Something dark and y.”

Keiba bit her lip against a moan. Through the thick molasses his voice had turned her thoughts into she went through a mental rundown of her wardrobe. There was a dress she could think of that fit his criteria. She just hoped she could fit it because this would be her first time wearing it.

“You have to wear something y too.” She said, stuttering a bit.

“Deal.” He grinned. “But first, we should talk to Ruth and Ben about the recording.”

“Oh, right.” She blinked. She’d forgotten about that. “We have to let them hear it.”

He shook his head. “No need. I sent them a copy while you were in the bathroom.”

“Oh.”

“The police want to have the original to go over, so we have to talk to Ben about that too.”

“Okay. I’ll text Ruth to see when we should all get together.”

At that moment, her phone rang. When she went over to answer it, Ruth’s number was the one that popped up on her screen.

“Speak of the devil.” Keiba said. “Ruth always has good timing.” She pressed the phone to her ear. She nodded to herself and made small noises of agreement to Ruth. “Mmhm. Yeah, I mean, there isn’t a whole lot we have to really talk about… Yeah, mostly we need to tell Ben that the police will have his phone for a little bit… Okay, yeah. Sounds good. Bye.” She hung up.

“What’d she say?”

“She said she and Ben would be able to talk after class.”

He glanced at the time on his phone. “That’s in about an hour. We might as well—”

Keiba’s stomach growling interrupted whatever he’d been about to say. “Uh, sorry.” She blushed.

Min laughed. “Maybe we should get some breakfast first.”

She smiled sheepishly. “I’ll get Ben’s phone.”

They went into a local bakery to pick up a couple of chocolate covered croissants, then headed over to the store to get some fruit and something to drink. They ate their breakfast on a bench outside in the shade.

Keiba looked up at the cloudless sky. “You know, I heard it’s going to be really hot this afternoon.” She said, reaching for her pineapple-orange juice.

“Not as hot as it’ll get tonight.” Min countered, unable to help himself.

She choked immediately after taking a drink. He patted her back while she tried to clear her airways.

“Wh–what was that, Min-Kyung?”

He took on an innocent expression. “Mm? Nothing. I was just thinking out loud.”

“You’re really going to kill me one day. You know that, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said and wrapped an arm around her waist.

She sighed in mock-exasperation, and he kissed her cheek which made her smile.

They finished their breakfast just as class was ending. Keiba took Min’s hand and they walked to the music building. They found Ben and Ruth talking in front of the whiteboards. They stopped when they saw Min and Keiba coming toward them.

“Let’s go into my office to talk.” Ruth suggested.

They followed her in and Keiba shut the door behind them.

“So,” Ben leaned against the back of one of the chairs. “We know who the second person is now, and it looks like she’s just as crazy as Darcie.”

“Maybe crazier.” Keiba said, leaning against the wall next to Min.

“I heard about what happened to your cello, Keiba.” Ruth said. “Do you think Aina-Meaghan-whatever had anything to do with that?”

Keiba nodded. “Either her or Darcie. But I’m pretty sure it was her. Though I have no idea how she could’ve known which was mine.”

Ruth nodded. “That’s what I was wondering. Most all the cellists have a soft case, and you’re one of them.”

“She could’ve asked someone from your class.” Min pointed out.

“True.”

“I wonder how she got in, though.” Ben said. “I mean, Ruth always keeps that door locked and the keys to the school are locked in the principal’s desk.”

“Yeah, but Meaghan works in the main office.” Keiba told him. “All she’d need to do is wait for the principal to leave, slip in, get the key, and slip out.”

Ben sighed, shaking his head in disgust. There was a moment of silence as they listened to the chatter from the students filing into the building.

“Before we go,” Min started, “The police need your phone to review the recording, Ben. They want it by lunchtime.”

He shrugged. “I guess I don’t have a choice, then. Do you think it’ll take them a while to get what they need?”

“Probably not longer than a day.” Ruth told him. “They just need time to review the audio and make a copy of it.”

Ben frowned. “I guess I can live without it for the day.”

Ruth chuckled at him before turning to Keiba “I know this place downtown where you can get the strings.” She added. “It’s called Jingle. Their prices are pretty cheap in comparison to most other music stores.”

Keiba nodded. “I know. I looked it up this morning. Min and I are going by there today after I get Violoncelle back.”

“Good.”

Ben took Ruth’s hand and pecked her gently on the lips. “I’ll see you later, baby.”

“See you.” Ruth kissed him again before letting him go.

He followed Min and Keiba out of the back door of the office.

“I got class right now.” Ben told them. “I’ll see you two later, a’ight?”

They nodded, said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways.

Min pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Officer York and tell him we’re ready to give him the recording.”

“Mmkay. And could you ask them when they’ll be done with my cello?”

He nodded as he pressed the phone to his ear. They went back to the same bench that they’d had their breakfast on. Keiba leaned her head against his shoulder and his hand as she listened to him talk. The conversation was over in a couple of minutes.

“He said he’d send Officer Bank to meet us over here.” He told her. “He’ll bring your cello with him, so we’ll be able to go to that music store right after we get it—uh, her—back if you want.”

She giggled and kissed his neck. “I’d appreciate that, thanks.”

Bank only made them wait for a few minutes. When she saw him approaching, Keiba hopped up to meet him halfway, eager to take her cello back. Min followed a little more slowly behind.

“Here’s your cello, Keiba.” Bank said, handing it to her.

“Thank you.” She slung the strap over her shoulder. She felt better with its familiar weight against her back, although the cello felt the slightest ounce lighter without the strings in their places. But that was probably just psychological.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better.” He told her.

She smiled up at him. “Me too.”

“Did you two see Meaghan?” Min asked, handing Ben’s phone to Bank.

“York’s the one who went to talk to her; I went to review the security footage. Apparently, Meaghan has a solid alibi for where she was at the time of the incident, and the perp was wearing a mask, so we can’t prove it was her anyway.”

“Merde.” Keiba cursed.

Bank glanced at her, the hint of a smile on his mouth. “There weren’t any fingerprints on the cello, but we were able to obtain some DNA at the scene. Hopefully we’ll be able to figure out who vandalized your cello.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “But between you two and me, I don’t buy what that Meaghan chick is selling. From what York’s said, there’s definitely something weird going on with that one, and hopefully this tape will give us more to go on. Still, you two should be careful.”

Min nodded. “Of course. Thanks again, Officer.”

He nodded. “I’ll see you guys. Oh, and Keiba?”

“Hm?”

“Je parle français aussi.” 

She blinked at him. “Vraiment? Quand l’avez-vous pris?” 

“Quand j’était petit. Je suis né au Québec.” He winked. “But we’ll have to talk more some other time; York’s probably waiting for me.”

She grinned at him. “D’accord. Au revoir.”

As Bank jogged back to meet up with York, Min led Keiba to the parking lot. She noticed that he’d gotten a little quiet.

“What’s up, Min?” she asked.

“I think Officer Bank likes you a little too much.” He said, unlocking his truck.

She laughed at that. “What? No, he’s just nice.”

He rolled his eyes, but Keiba didn’t see it. “What’d he say to you?”

“He said he speaks French too and that he learned it when he was younger because he was born in Canada.” She put her cello into the backseat.

“Mm.”

Keiba laughed. “Mini, you’re worrying about nothing. Don’t you know he’s married?”

He looked at her in surprise. “He is?”

She nodded. “Mmhm. There’s a ring on his hand.”

His cheeks heated in embarrassment. “Oh.”

“Men,” she teased, “they only see what they want to.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” He growled good-naturedly.

“Oh nothing, nothing.” She teased. “Let’s just get Violoncelle her strings back.”

---

Je parle français aussi. I speak French too.

Vraiment? Really?

Quand l'avez-vous pris? When did you take it?

Sorry, guys, I have to get all of the boring parts out of the way so we can get to the fun stuff, which I assure you is going to be within the next couple chapters >;3 

Don't forget to comment, you guys!