“Wait…what?”

Soohyun tried to hide his smile. That definitely caught her attention. He shrugged. “I need to get out of your apartment.” He stood up but wasn’t even allowed to take one step when she grabbed his knee and his hand to forcibly pull him down. He landed on his knees with a loud thud and grunted in pain.

She grabbed both his shoulders and pulled him close. “What did you just say? Lee Jaesuk is Detective Kim’s friend and your secretary?”

“Y-yes,” he stammered, obviously bothered by their close proximity. She let him go and opened a Word document. “Tell me everything you know about it. Don’t you dare drop any small details.”

“If I do, you’ll work for me again. You’ll forgive me and forget everything that happened that day.”

“Fine!” she said without any hesitation.

After he gave her all the details he knew, he was allowed to leave. According to Soohyun, Jaesuk and Detective Kim were very close friends but from all the entries she read from Detective Woo’s notes, he didn’t mention him once. It was odd because if they were truly longtime friends, he should have said something about it in the notes. Also, the notes after 2004 were inconsistent. Detective Woo wrote an entry every day in that year but then he started to write his notes every couple days, which turned into weeks and then months. His longest gap was five months from the day he passed.

All the things Detective Woo had compiled were confusing so she decided to push all his findings away. She was going to start fresh with the investigation. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t have any access to his personal information so she had to make a call. She speed dialed number five and waited for him to pick up.

"Oh, who's this? The Kwon Jisu is calling me?"

She rolled her eyes. "I texted you a month ago, Zico. Don't over exaggerate."

"You texted me to wish me a Happy Birthday. That text was out of generosity. I bet your Calendar gave you a notification. You didn't even reply to my response afterwards, meany."

She rolled her eyes. "Act your age."

"Yes, ma'am," he grumbled. "So, why are you calling?"

"You still work in the same department, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I need you to search Lee Jaesuk for me. He works at KSH."

Zico frowned. "I heard that you quit the force. You shouldn't be doing this. What if you get caught?"

"It doesn't matter what I do from now on. I'll give you thirty minutes."

In two hours, the two met up at a nearby café. Zico called back and told her he needed more time. She had come first and ordered their drinks and snacks. He immediately saw her sitting in the far corner and waved with a happy smile. "Long time no see!" He spread his arms out, waiting for her to give him a hug.

"Sit down," she ordered, rolling her eyes.

"Sheesh, someone's grumpy," he pouted but sat down anyway. His grumpy mood was lifted when he saw his favorite drink and snack in front of him. His lips stretched wide and his eyes practically shined. "Pumpkin latte and chocolate cheesecake?! Jia, you really do love me!" He took a sip of the hot drink and sighed in satisfaction. "Nothing better than this on a cold day."

Jisu smiled, satisfied that she got on his good side again. He is really overdramatic at times but once he gets what he wants, he eventually calms down. "So, what about Lee Jaesuk?"

Zico opened his bag and handed her the folder. She skimmed through the papers he printed. "It seems like your man is no ordinary guy," said Zico. "He comes from a wealthy family, he owns many businesses, he has many - may I repeat - many wives, yet he works under KSH. I wonder if the person who hired him knew all of this."

"You're right," she said, still reading the information. "That's suspicious." She kept reading until she got to something interesting. "This guy used to be a detective?"

"Oh, yeah! Why didn't I tell you? He was a detective back in the days. It was hard trying to find more about him because his information was locked away."

"He quit in 2004..."

He nodded. "After that, he became more active. He started to own businesses, marry lots of women and such. But why did you want me to search him up?"

"Wait," she told him. Zico was kind enough to include his phone number in the report. She took out her phone and called her boss.

"Jisu, why are you calling?" Soohyun answered. "You better not go against your word because-"

"Send me Secretary Lee's number," she interrupted.

He was confused. "Why do you need his number?"

"Security reasons. Text me his number. Thanks." She hung up before he could say another word.

"Who was that?" Zico called.

"The CEO of KSH," she answered. She opened the Gallery of her phone and scrolled through her pictures. She had taken a photo of the call list of Detective Kim and Detective Woo. She zoomed in and checked the number on the report. It matched. Both detectives have called Lee Jaesuk. But why didn’t Detective Woo write that in his notes?

Her phone vibrated, telling her she got a text. She opened the text from Soohyun and compared it to the one on the report. She dropped her phone on the table and leaned back on her chair.

"What? What is it?" he asked. He took her phone and read the text. "It's different."

"Why would he change his number? Unless this is his business number?" she asked herself. "Even if it is, it should be in his records. Was there another phone number on his file?”

Zico shook his head. “This is the only number on his record. If this is the only number in his records that means the number he's using now isn't under his name. He's hiding something." She closed her eyes and let out a breath. He noticed her distress so to enlighten her, he called the number on his record.

To his surprise, a lady picked up the phone. “May I speak to Lee Jaesuk please?” Jisu straightened up and leaned forward when he heard him mention his name.

“Who is this?” the lady asked.

“My name is Kim Joon from Happy Ducts. May I speak to him or the houseowner?” Zico replied. Jisu almost laughed but he placed his index finger on his lips.

“We’re not interested in duct cleaning,” she responded.

“Is that so? Are you the houseowner?”

“Yes, I am.”

“But we have a special going on. If we clean your ducts, that will be 100 flat.”

“No, I’m not interested.”

“I understand. Have a nice day.” He disconnected the call. “Did you have the call longer than it had to?” Jisu asked.

He shrugged. “You know advertisement. You can’t get off the phone with them no matter how you decline. Anyway, I think this is wife. She didn’t say anything about not knowing a Lee Jaesuk. That means, he gave his number to his wife and the number he is using right now is under his wife’s name.” He grabbed the paper with the list of his spouses. “Yoo Seungyeon is the current wife.” Before she could even open , he said with a smile, “I will definitely send her number to you when I get it.”

She smiled. “You’re the best.”

“You noticed that now? I’m disappointed. If only you weren’t demoted, we would have been the perfect duo!” He only realized his mistake when her smile didn’t reach her eyes. The ringing of his phone saved him for an awkward apology. Then, he scowled after a short call. “I have to go. I forgot I had an appointment today. Let’s catch up another time.”

She smiled and nodded. "If it's something you want to talk about, I'm only a phone call away. Remember, even if you're not my partner anymore, you're still my friend." She nodded again, watching him leave the shop. Zico had been her partner for most of their career. When she started out, her partner was a senior detective who was on the force for many decades. Unfortunately, he died in a horrible accident. As for Zico, his partner constantly changed because he just wasn't compatible with them. His slack in the job was not appreciated by many. By chance, the two of them were partnered. For many, it was a weird pairing. The uninterested detective and the young, smart detective as partners was a topic many gossiped about. What no one expected was they had the most solved cases. At first, they didn't get along very well. Jisu was pretty serious about her job but on the other hand, Zico was playing cool. She didn't like the way he treated his job and he didn't like the way she judged him every minute.

Everything changed when they solved their first case together. Zico had his own way of solving cases but once she actually sat down and asked about his theory, her point of view changed. Since her point of view changed, Zico felt like he wasn't being judged every minute of the day and they got along pretty well.

Her phone vibrated as she received a call. It was Kai. "What is it, Kai?"

"You sound pretty tired. Didn't you have a nice trip?" he asked in concern. He wasn't calling to hear her tired voice.

"I'm alright. I guess I didn't get much sleep last night."

"You better sleep right, noona. You can't pass out in the middle of a job."

"What do you want?" she asked, annoyed.

"Come play with me. Let's have a date."

"I can't. What if your potential girlfriend sees me? What will happen? I don't want to get in between a couple's spat," she teased.

"Noona!" he whined. She laughed meekly. She couldn't help but cousin about his love life. "Okay, let's have a date. I'm at the cafe just down the corner."

"I'll be right there!"

In fifteen minutes, Kai arrived at the cafe. He sat down and stared at the half full cup of pumpkin latte and cheesecake. "This better not be your leftovers."

"Zico was here."

"He was here and you didn't even tell me?!" he exclaimed. "It's been so long since I last saw him!"

"I'll tell him to visit," she promised. "I just wanted to see him real quick, that's all."

Kai scrutinized her. "Are you sure you're alright? You seem kind of off."

She shook her head. "I'm fine. So, what did you want to do?"

He immediately brightened as he took out his phone. "I was bored in school one day and wrote the things I wanted to do with you."

She raised her brow. "You're so weird. Why are you writing a to-do list with your cousin? Shouldn't you be writing down your potential girlfriends? Or a list to do when you have a girlfriend? Wait, shouldn't you be studying in school?"

He shrugged. "I only have so much brain power to study. Anyway, you and mom are the only girls in my life."

She scoffed and stopped him. "Wait, does that mean you don't hang out with girls? You don't have a female friend?" He shook his head and she rolled her eyes. "You're unbelievable!"

"I'm kidding! Jeez, calm down!" he laughed. "I'm saying you and mom are my only family. I've got to take care of my family before my friends."

She crossed her arms together and smiled. "If only most boys your age thought like you."

Kai leaned forward. "Since I did well, will you praise me?" Jisu scoffed but ruffled his hair anyway. She laughed when he saw his messy hair. It looked like he just came right out of bed.

The two left the cafe to do whatever he had on his to do list. His first item was to skate in the outdoor rink. He didn't like the indoor rink because it was too echo-y and loud. They arrived at the skate rink and rented out their skates. The two put on their skates and stepped on the rink.

Well, at first Jisu thought Kai knew how to skate because he was the one who put it on his to do list but after a couple steps on the ice, she heard her name. She turned around to see Kai planted on one spot. "Hurry up!"

He smiled sheepishly. "I need to tell you something though." She sighed and skated over to him. He held her arm and whispered in her ear, "I don't know how to skate."

She closed her eyes and slowly let out an angry breath. She gritted her teeth and replied, "I didn't come here to teach you how to skate."

"Actually...my to-do list says, 'have Jisu noona teach me how to skate.'"

"Kai!"

For the next hour, Jisu took Kai around the rink. There were no rails around the rink so he couldn't use that to guide him so he had to hang on to her the entire time. Once he tripped, she came falling after. She felt bruised all over her body because Kai couldn't keep his balance. She was more bruised than she was back in the police force.

After an hour, they decided they had enough of skating. They got off the rink with sore feet and aching bodies. "Please remind me to never skate with you again," Jisu groaned.

"I got the hang of it, alright?" Kai said.

"Yes, falling every five minutes was one. Sticking right by my side like a leech was another. Trying to hold my hand is a third."

"Because I love you!"

"How many times do I have to remind you, no PDA in public!" she exclaimed. "In this city, there are many pretty females watching you. You're tall, dark and handsome. Someone might have had their eyes on you today but because you were being such a leech, they misunderstood."

Kai groaned. "Why do you always talk about this? I'll get a girlfriend when I'm ready. And that's not fair. You're supposed to be telling me not to date, like mom. So I can spend more time at home than out with my girlfriend."

"Well, obviously what I tell you doesn't work. You're still a mama's boy." Kai chuckled and swiftly kissed her cheek. She glared daggers at him. "Just so you know, a girl was staring at me in the corner over there. She left just now." Jisu groaned and chased after him as he ran away.

Since the night was still young, they went to a sauna to relieve their bodies from the aching pain and the freezing temperature. An hour later, they left the sauna and went to a restaurant. They sat down and waited for Kai's mom to arrive before they ordered. She arrived not too long after and they were ready to order.

"How's work?" she asked Jisu.

She shrugged. "Same old." She didn't tell her about quitting the police force. She didn't worry about the response because she knew her aunt didn't want her to be in such a dangerous job. On the other hand, she couldn't explain to her that she was a bodyguard. She would go through a questioning session with her and knowing that she's really protective, it would take hours. Kai never told his mom either because of the same reasons why Jisu never told her. "The chief is still being a hardheaded idiot."

"Now, now, don't be so vulgar. He's just doing his job."

Kai scoffed. "By insulting her and her past? I don't think so."

"If you're referring to that, then I agree he's an idiot. He doesn't know you, so don't let him get to you."

"Yeah!" Kai added. "Mom and I will come to his front door and throw eggs on him."

Jisu scoffed but smiled. "That'll just have you sent to jail."

"If that's what it takes to protect you, then mom and I will do it!" Jisu smiled. She's very thankful for having someone like Kai and his mom. They're the only two people in her life that has been with her through thick and thin and they were even willing to go even deeper. If her parents were to come back, she wouldn't even bat a lash.

She really loved them.

Whenever she was stressed out during her detective days, Kai would always try to relieve her stress by giving her a massage or tell her lame jokes while her mom would make something delicious. Whenever Jisu came home with a bruised body, Kai would cry and overreact since he was only a young boy back then and his mom would nag at her, asking why a detective was coming home with bruises.

She could truly never live without her aunt and the mama's boy, Kai.

---

Guys...sorry for not updating. You all probably forgot about this and had to read it again. But at least if you have nothing to do, you can spend the next 30 minutes or more reading through the chapters! Huh? Huh? :)

It's almost been a year since I last update and I'm sorry. It was truely a big brain fart/diaherria. That partially because no one was commenting so I'm like...no one's interested but decided to leave it here because I'm interested haha. Anyways, hope you forget and forgive, read it through and let me know what you think. 

PS. grammer errors