Choi Sooyoung lived by one rule: to be as professional as possible. However, that afternoon she was breaking her golden rule. Head resting on her desk, the long-legged doctor was napping in her office. The sound of the ringing phone pulled her away from her dreams and back to reality. She extended her hand in a lazy motion, searching for her desk phone, eyes still closed.

“Choi,” she grumbled, pulling her chair closer to the desk and resting her head on her hand.

“Dr. Choi, your 2:30 appointment is here,” announced her secretary.

“I have a 2:30 appointment?” she asked, trying not to rub her eyes and smudge her makeup.

“Yes, it’s Cho…”

“Let him come in,” cut Sooyoung, before hanging up. Suddenly fully awake, she eagerly scavenged her office drawers looking for a mirror to assess how much damage her little snooze had done to her makeup and hair. Sooyoung’s long fingers skilfully tapped around until they came in contact with the cold surface of the mirror. She gave herself a quick look, placed back some rebellious hair strands, and gave herself a wink. Just as she was putting down the mirror, the door of her office opened, revealing her guest.

“Took you long enough to answer your phone,” complained the visitor.

“Ahra?” exclaimed Sooyoung, bouncing off her chair to welcome her long-time friend. Ahra quickly embraced Sooyoung when she got at arms length.

“What are you doing here?” inquired Sooyoung, letting Ahra put back in place her rebellious hair, like a mother would do with her child.

“I came to check on you,” replied Ahra, sitting in the chair facing Sooyoung’s desk. Sooyoung looked at her friend and bit her tongue lightly. She knew well enough that when the elder Cho sat on that chair, she meant business. “I want to know how it went in Syria, you tanned and your hair is black again, something must have happened. Please sit,” she invited, motioning towards Sooyoung’s chair. Sooyoung nodded and sat in her chair, pushing it away from the desk to give her enough room to extend her legs and cross on over the other.

“It was good,” she replied, after she was settled. “We were just very busy, but I did my part and now the samples are off to some labs in Germany,” offered Sooyoung. She looked at her friend who nodded slowly at Sooyoung’s statement, but didn’t offer her anything in return. “Ahra,” continued Sooyoung. “Why are you here? I know you well enough to know that if you really wanted to know how I am doing, you would’ve called me for coffee.” Her partner’s sister gave her a weak smile, while she clutched onto her purse, and looked over at the office door.

“No one can hear us?” she asked, still looking at the door.

“No one,” repeated Sooyoung, anxious. Her friend turned around again and leaned in towards Sooyoung’s desk, looking like at little girl ready to tell a secret. Sooyoung followed and leaned in closer to her friend.

“Are you going to kiss me?” she asked, pulling away from Ahra. “Because you are the closest I’ll get at kissing a Cho again, but you know I kinda like knowing what is coming my way…”

“Sooyoung,” interrupted Ahra, closing her eyes in exasperation.  “I am not going to kiss you, can we be serious here for two minutes?”

“Yeah, sorry,” replied Sooyoung, getting closer again, waiting for her friend to speak.

“I think I am pregnant,” mumbled the elder Cho, playing with her fingers. Sooyoung’s eyes grew wide and she slowly sat back against her chair. She looked at her friend, who was still playing with her fingers, as a heavy silence took over the room.

“Are you sure?” breathed out Sooyoung.

“Well I don’t know,” retorted Ahra, showing her impatience. “That’s way I said I think,” she finished, looking towards her friend, who was looking at her also while thinking.

“Did you tell the father?”

“No, of course not,” countered Ahra with bewilderment. Sooyoung nodded slowly, with a expressionless look.

“How much behind are you?” asked the doctor, looking at her friend turned patient.    

“A week,” murmured Ahra, looking up at her friend with a sheepish look. Sooyoung looked back at her friend, trying to maintain a professional look, before bursting out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” questioned Ahra. “Hey, this isn’t funny Choi. This is serious!”

“A week? Ahra, that is normal,” exclaimed Sooyoung, placing her hair behind her ears and bringing the chair close to the desk again. “A week is normal.”

“Not when you have been on a twenty-nine day cycle for almost three years,” exclaimed the visitor.

“Just give it some time, with the change of seasons it’s normal. It might be stress. Let’s wait a few weeks before starting to do expensive tests and procedures. Okay?” reasoned Sooyoung, giving a warm smile to her frantic friend.

*                                 *                                 *

Kyuhyun starred at the doctor’s office door, with his arms crossed, file in one hand. His look was blank, but his mind was full of thoughts. The detective couldn’t decide on the way he would greet his co-worker. How could it be normal after the airport scene? Or after seeing her with the man on TV? How could it be normal if they didn’t even have normal? After long deliberations, he decided to use the casual tone that Luna always employed. Taking a big breath in, he opened the door bluntly.

“Welcome back Dr. C! It’s great to have you back with us. I have a case for us,” he said, shaking the file in his hand, looking at it proudly. His smirk swiftly disappeared when he saw the two young women looking at him with an inquisitive look, visibly annoyed at being interrupted.

“Oh my God Kyuhyun! How many times have mother and I told you to knock on doors before opening them,” exclaimed Ahra, looking at her little brother.

 “Noona?” asked Kyuhyun, with incredulity, eyes widening in surprise. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Same goes to you,” she countered, starring down her younger brother. “Now leave,” she said, motioning her hand towards the door.

Kyuhyun smirked and shook his head. “No, see I work with her. Work beats whatever you are doing, so you leave,” he ordered, pointing at the door.

“No, see friends beat co-workers. Go,” she answered in defiance, turning herself towards Sooyoung, marking the end of the debate.

“You are friends with her?” asked a baffled Kyuhyun.

“Yes,” answered Sooyoung, who had remained silent for the duration of the argument. “Ahra, I think he is right, we need to work,” she reasoned, reaching for her friend’s hand and squeezing it tightly. Ahra sighed loudly and nodded, giving a sad smile to the dark haired woman. “Give it a week and if nothing changes, give me a call,” instructed Sooyoung, giving a warm smile to her friend.

“Fine, but I’ll call you before that,” replied the elder Cho. “We need to go to that poop café,” she exclaimed, getting up from her sear and walking towards the door. When she arrived in front of her brother, she stuck out her tongue at him.

“I get to go to the poop café with her and you don’t,” she whispered. Kyuhyun was suddenly tempted to reach for her tongue and pull it, but decided to remain professional in front of the cold doctor. In the blink of an eye, his sister was gone and he was left alone with Sooyoung.

“You said we had a case,” she asked, crossing both her legs and arms, while looking at Kyuhyun.

“We do, well we did,” explained Kyuhyun; sitting in the same chair his sister was seated in moments before. “It arrived when you were away. Luna did the preliminary observations and she thinks she has cause of death, but she wants to talk to you first,” he said, giving her the file in his hand.  The coroner took the file and looked at it, carefully reading every note her intern had made. Kyuhyun looked at the doctor while she read the file. He couldn’t help but notice that her hair was pitch black and that her skin had tanned. Kyuhyun always considered himself to be the type of guy who preferred fair skinned women, but in front of Sooyoung his standards were changing. After a long silence, the doctor finally spoke.

“It looks like…”

“A case of domestic abuse?” interrupted Kyuhyun.

“I don’t like skipping to conclusions, but since Dr. Park has already analysed the body, yes,” she settled, looking up at him. Kyuhyun shook his head slowly.

“She’s single,” he announced, shifting his body weight slightly. Sooyoung nodded slowly and looked back at the file, looking for more clues.

“Maybe she lied? People lie all the time,” she offered. “I’d like to see Dr. Park’s complete report. Do you know where it is?”

“About that,” the detective replied, fidgeting on his chair. “The report is at Dr. Park’s apartment, with her....” he said, leaving the doctor in suspension.

“What is she doing there on a weekday, at almost 3PM?” reasoned Dr. Park’s supervisor.

“Well,” he began, scratching the back of his head. “She got sick, so I told her she could work from home,” Kyuhyun confessed in a mumble.  

“She got sick?” exclaimed Sooyoung. “You had one task and that was to take care of my daughter and you let her get sick?”

“Our daughter,” corrected Kyuhyun, trying to change the subject.

“This is why men can’t be trusted with anything,” grumbled Sooyoung, grabbing her purse, and stuffing the case file in it. Kyuhyun quickly caught on to what Sooyoung’s intentions were and followed her out of her office, while letting her rant on the unreliability of men.

*                                 *                                 *

A car ride later, full of arguments on the well being of Luna, the odd pair faced the door of Luna’s apartment in silence and were waiting for her boyfriend to let them in.

“I still can’t believe you let my daughter get sick,” muttered Sooyoung, under her breath.

“Our daughter,” corrected Kyuhyun, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Sooyoung shot him a deadly look. Kyuhyun tried to defend himself, but was interrupted by the door opening. They were greeted by a nicely tone young man, with a flawless skin complexion. His small eyes were wide open as he presented to them a small turtle lodged in his tiny little hands.

“It’s a boy,” he whispered, visibly amazed at the animal in his hands. “I always thought it was a girl, but I was just giving her…him a bath and he got really excited when I poured water on him and that’s how I figured it out,” he explained, lifting the turtle for Kyuhyun to see. Kyuhyun frowned in disgust and took a step back.

“I am not the doctor here, you might want to show it to her,” he flatly replied, shielding himself behind Sooyoung. The young man looked towards Sooyoung and brought the turtle towards her, offering her a shy smile. Sooyoung closely leaned in to look at the turtle, which was on his back, clearly uncomfortable.

“So?” asked the owner of the reptile.

“Yeah, uh from what I can remember from my animal classes, it does look like a boy,” she concluded. Luna’s boyfriend offered them a perfect eye smile and looked down at his turtle again, forgetting about his visitors. Kyuhyun cleared his throat, trying to get the man’s attention, but in vain. After a long silence, Kyuhyun leaned in over Sooyoung’s shoulder to ask the man a question, but before he could ask a question, he felt Sooyoung’s back against his chest. Sooyoung’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, when she felt Kyuhyun enter her personal space. She could feel his lean and toned chest against her back. She felt the vibration of his voice, when he asked to see Luna, against her back. She suddenly felt secure. The young doctor turned he eyes, to gaze at the young man, but little did she know that he was doing the same, and their eyes meet.  The detective looked into the dark brown eyes that were staring at him and read fear as well as insecurity in them. He wondered why the young woman in front of him feared him. Why couldn’t she trust him? Why did she look like she was hiding something? Why couldn’t she tell him? Kyuhyun felt a sudden urge to hold her in his arms and protect her. But protect her from what? The moment was quickly broken when the turtle lover showed them the way into the apartment.

“She is in the bedroom at the end of the hallway,” pointed the young man.

“Aren’t you going to come with us?” asked Sooyoung, feeling shy in the unknown apartment.

“No, I have to wash my other turtles,” answered the boyfriend, walking into the washroom. Sooyoung looked at him close the door with an inquisitive look, before keeping her walk down the corridor.

“I changed my mind,” whispered Kyuhyun into her ear, sending a second wave of emotions through her body. “I don’t want to be involved with this family, she can be your daughter.”

“Too late,” smirked Sooyoung, knocking on the door. “Like you said, she is our daughter.”  Kyuhyun pursed his lips in annoyance, cursing at himself for being so insistent on the term of their daughter. He followed his colleague into the bedroom, still pouting, when Luna gave them the okay. They found her in bed, surrounded by a sea of used Kleenexes. The detective scrunches his nose, making a mental note to wash his hands once he would leave the room. He strategically chose a seat far enough from the diseased doctor, trying to avoid any kind of contact with her.

“Oh my God, you got laid,” exclaimed Luna, between two coughing fits. Kyuhyun quickly looked up, ready to defend himself, but realized the comments weren’t directed towards him. He looked over at the tall doctor who suddenly started blushing and became very agitated, trying to negate the accusation. The exchange went on for a while, until the accused finally admitted. When he heard Sooyoung confess, Kyuhyun felt a sudden, and inexplicable, wave of anger and jealousy take over him. He tried to ignore the junior doctor, who kept asking for details, by looking at his phone and playing Anipang, but without success. After Sooyoung was asked how many times she had had and in which position, Kyuhyun couldn’t control his anger anymore and cleared his throat, reminding them of his presence. He looked over at Sooyoung, who was redder than ever, take her place at the end of Luna’s bed. 

“I looked at your observations,” debuted the older coroner, looking down at the file. “It does look a lot like a case of domestic abuse, but as Agent Cho pointed out, she wasn’t with anyone. Were you able to pinpoint cause of death?” she asked looking over at Luna.

“I think I did,” replied the youngster, giving her a second case file, this one with more details. “I think she was strangled to death.” Sooyoung looked over at the new information that was given to her and nodded.

“That seems consistent with the injuries we are seeing, but we still don’t know who did it, right?” she asked, looking towards Kyuhyun, who shook his head sombrely. “I want to go back to the lab,” declared Sooyoung, getting up. “There I’ll confirm cause of death and see if I can find something that can leads us to the killer. Thank you Dr. Park, I hope you get better soon. And it was nice, uh meeting your boyfriend,” offered Sooyoung, with an awkward smile.

“Oh, that’s true you meet Jongwoon,” exclaimed Luna, before sneezing into a Kleenex. “I am happy you finally did, I’ve told him so much about the two of you! I hope you liked him,” she chirped. Kyuhyun looked over at Sooyoung, who seemed at a lost of words, and decided to take the initiative.

“He’s an interesting fellow,” he concluded, before following Sooyoung out of the bedroom, hoping he wouldn’t have to meet the man again.

*                                 *                                 *

Back at the laboratory, the forensic pathologist was observing the body she had just took out of the mortuary refrigerator. She carefully looked at the injuries the body sustained. Some of the injuries looked fresh, while others were in the process of healing, indicating the abuse had debuted before the day of the murder. Sooyoung suddenly noticed with her peripheral vision her colleague fidgeting.

“Can I help you Agent Cho?” she asked, from behind her surgery mask. “You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to. I’ve told you already, we will only release the body when we are done with it.”

“I know, I know,” replied Kyuhyun, rolling his eyes at the statement of the bureaucratic doctor.  It’s just, do I really need to be wearing scrubs? I didn’t wear them last time I was here.”

“You didn’t, because you refused. Remember?” countered Sooyoung, writing notes on her note pad. Kyuhyun mumbled something in defeat, that didn’t reach the doctor’s ears. He looked at her as carefully turn the body and continue her analysis. The doctor then cautiously placed the body back on its back and directed her attention to the abdomen of the victim.

“Well ,” cursed Sooyoung, putting the clipboard down and taking off her mask, in frustration.

“What’s wrong?” inquired Kyuhyun, getting closer to the observation table.

“She doesn’t have belly button lint,” pouted Sooyoung, looking down at her victim.

“Belly button lint?” repeated the detective, trying to raise an eyebrow.

“Yes,” sighed Sooyoung. “I read this article in the American Journal of Medicine and it said that coroners in New York have been using belly button lint to find the culprits of various murders.”

“How?” inquired the detective, half disgusted, half curious.

“Well, DNA or fragments of the murder’s clothes can get caught in the belly button, especially if there is a struggle or . The fragments can then thus lead us to the killer,” finished off Sooyoung.

“And our victim doesn’t have some?” asked the detective.

“No,” pouted the doctor. “The killer either read the same article as me and cleaned her off or she took a shower not long before getting killed.”

“Did you find anything else?” asked Kyuhyun, trying to piece together the puzzle.

“She went through terrible pain before dying,” debuted the doctor. “Her sternum was rubbed with a lot of force. All her fingernails and toenails were crushed with a heavy object. And to finish off, the murder twisted her s,” grunted Sooyoung, trying not to imagine the pain the young victim would have gone through. “The poor girl probably begged for death before her killer strangled her.”

“It doesn’t make sense. She was found dead in her apartment. Someone would’ve have heard the screams,” thought Kyuhyun out loud. The doctor looked at him grimly and shook her head.

“See these lesions?” she said, pointing at two blue marks, which started on both sides of the mouth and went towards the jawline and the hairline. “These are stress marks. The killer tied something around , to prevent her from screaming. A pillow would have done a better job, but she would’ve died before the torture session debuted. This crime was done by someone who has medical knowledge,” concluded the specialist. Kyuhyun looked at the body grimly and wondered what he would say to the victim’s family.

“Would a Respiratory Therapist have access to the article you were talking about?” he asked, taking control over the investigation.

“I suppose so,” replied Sooyoung, troubled. “He might not understand everything, but definitely understand the body and conclusions of the research.” 

“Would a Respiratory Therapist know about all those painful places on the body?” the detective went on.

“Absolutely,” exclaimed Sooyoung. “They are the ones who administer pain tests to declare if a person is brain dead or not. Why?”

“Because her neighbour, the one who found her, is a Respiratory Therapist,” answered Kyuhyun, calculating his next move.

“But, that doesn’t make sense,” retorted the doctor. “Why would he report his own murder?”

“To avoid suspicion,” replied Kyuhyun running out of the observation room. “Summer you are the best,” he shouted, from the corridor. Sooyoung looked at him run away excited like a little kid and bite her inner lip.

“Why can you remember my nickname and not our story?” she asked, looking down at the dead body in front of her. She shook her head trying to shake the past away. When she had gained her energy back, she signalled at the technicians to take the body away, after she had signed off cause of death.

*                                 *                                 *

That same evening, after Kyuhyun had made the arrest, he was sitting topless on his bed. He slowly brought his head forward, trying to bring it closer to his navel, grunting in frustration when he realized he couldn’t breath in the position he was and there wasn’t enough light to find what he was looking for.

“What are you doing?” laughed Victoria, who had assisted to the whole scene from the bedroom door. “Are you a Pokémon trying to get in his Poké ball?”     

“Checking my belly button lint,” grumbled Kyuhyun, trying to attempt the excursion a second time. Victoria laughed again and took a seat next to him on the bed. She carefully helped him sit up straight and looked at his belly button.

“I can see some lint,” she said, reaching for a tissue. “I’ll clean it,” she declared, damping the tissue with her tongue.

“No, don’t,” exclaimed Kyuhyun, pushing her hand away. Victoria looked up at her boyfriend in surprise, a look of betrayal suddenly appearing on her usually composed complexion.

“Don’t touch my belly button lint,” he repeated, getting up, and walking away. Victoria looked at Kyuhyun walk away and lock himself in the washroom, hand still in midair. She scrunched the tissue in her hand and threw it into the garbage pail, in frustration. She felt a wave of panic at the thought of losing him. Her face suddenly took a serious tone. She had work too hard to get him, she thought. She wasn’t going to let him go without a fight.

*                                 *                                 *

Sooyoung opened the patio door of her apartment and walked onto the balcony. The fresh air of the evening hugged her figure and she shivered on contact. The accomplished doctor sat on a chair and looked at the evening skyline of Seoul. She closed her eyes and let herself be lulled by the sounds of the city. She thought of the young girl she had seen that afternoon, on her observation table. Kyuhyun had told her she had a big family and it would take time contacting them all, pushing back the press release. The young woman would definitely be missed. Sooyoung suddenly thought of her own situation. What would happen if she suddenly vanished? Would anyone notice? How long would it take Kyuhyun to contact her family? Probably less than an hour and nobody would miss her she thought with a gloom. She was alone and would probably die alone, that was her faith. Her phone suddenly rang and made the young woman jump on her seat. She reached for the phone and answered.

“Choi,” she announced, reaching for her glass of wine.

“It’s me,” announced her friend. “Tom is here,” she cheered joyfully.

“Tom?” asked Sooyoung, swallowing some wine with a frown.

“Time of the month,” explained Ahra. “That’s what they call them in the English world.” 

“Oh,” replied Sooyoung, trying to show interest. “That’s good! I told you not to worry.”  A silence took over the conversation and Sooyoung heard her friend sigh on the other side of the line. 

“Sooyoung?”

“Yes,” replied the doctor, feeling like a little girl being scolded.

“Are you okay?” inquired her friend.

“Of course I am,” lied Sooyoung. “It’s just been a long day and I am still a bit jetlagged.” 

“Okay,” Ahra, replied, deciding not to push the issue any longer. “How about we meet at the poop café, tomorrow? I think we need to catch up on some stuff.”

“That’s sounds like a good idea,” replied Sooyoung. “I’ll meet you downstairs at 10’oclock tomorrow morning.” 

“Okay, goodnight Soo,”

“Goodnight Ahra,” replied Sooyoung, ready to hang up.

“Sooyoung, before you go,” urged her friend. “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?” asked Sooyoung.

“I preferred it when it was you whom my brother dated,” confessed the elder Cho.  

“Really? Thank you Ahra,” answered Sooyoung, surprised at the revelation.

“You’re welcome Soo,” said her friend before hanging up. Sooyoung stayed on the line until she heard the beeping sound of her phone announcing her that the connexion was finished. She placed the phone of the table next to her and returned to her contemplation of the city. She thought about calling Andrew, but refrained herself. They had both agreed they would only call each other if they were visiting the other’s country or city. Sooyoung closed her eyes a second time. She was indeed alone – almost, at least she had Ahra and Tiffany.

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Disclaimer: The Belly Button Lint theory is pure fiction. It was NOT featured in the American Journal of Medicine.

A/N. Hello, hello! Another update? So quickly? What is happening?? To be honest, I don't know, maybe procrastination. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! As usual thank you to the old subscribers for sticking around and the new ones for joining us!! Nice to meet you! I have a couple of annoucements to make, so if you are not interested, you can stop reading...now!

Okay, here we go.

1. Did anyone notice Kyu trying to arch his eyebrow...yeah this might comeback...it might be his biggest worry for a while.

2. Thank you to everyone who voted on the last pole! I've seen the results, but I'll still keep it open for new sbscribers. I think I'll close it in a few more chapters and we'll deal with the results later. Let's procrastinate!

3. Uh, I discovered the blog feature! It is so cool! So I took the decision that my "blog" will be a place to actually share stuff with you guys. Like previews of upcoming chapters or maybe future fics. For those following 280 days, there will be a sneak peek of the first few lines of it in a few days/hours. So, if you are interested go check out the first post and the upcoming ones. You never know maybe a preview for chapter 7 will appear.

4. For  my lovely subscribers of 280 days. I have not forgotten you. I actually think an update is imminent. Like maybe within a week...

5. Exam period is coming up...so this might be my last update for a while...I'll be back soon though...chapter 7 is going to be epic~~