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Jihoon had implicitly concluded that his plan for a few weeks of vacation time would have to be pushed back yet again, as the following day had him on a high-speed train, half-way through the two hour trip from Seoul to Busan. He was to spend the next three days in the Busan countryside, interviewing local police and residents and hoping to find any clues that he could about the kidnapping.

Having to get to work immediately upon arriving, Jihoon had spent an hour reviewing the questions that he intended to ask and going over their investigation strategy with the junior officer, Taeyeon, with whom he would be investigating. Jihoon was always highly organized and with Taeyeon clearly deserving of the top marks with which she had graduated when she completed her criminal investigation degree, it seemed that they would have an uneventful further hour.

With the remaining hour of the trip however, Jihoon intended to send a few messages to his family. He missed Joon and Cheolyong tremendously, especially given the nature of the case. He wanted to hold Joon and hug their son, but hundreds of kilometers away from home, he couldn't.

"Jung-ssi, how good of a chance do we have of finding the boy?" Taeyeon couldn't help but to ask.

She didn't want to seem as though she was giving up before they even began the investigation in earnest, but this being her first real case, she couldn't help but to wonder if they might fail.

Jihoon sighed not entirely sure, himself. He would like to find the boy with certainty, but he knew all too well that they might well fail.

"I don't know," Jihoon answered honestly.

He remembered well the hopeful feelings with which he had been filled in his early days as a detective and even earlier, as a police officer. Perhaps somewhat under the spell of youthful illusion, he had still believed that he did indeed have the ability to find justice for those whom disaster struck.

But he soon learned that he couldn't solve every case nor could he always solve them in time. He had yet to take on a case that he couldn't solve, but the sight of his superiors, some of whom alrady retired, still haunted by their careers' cold cases, reminded him all too emphatically of this inevitability and of his limitations. He figured that as Taeyeon's mentor, he had to teach her exactly what to expect and unfortunately, he had no idea whether they were too late.

Both now silent as they took in the gravity of the case, Jihoon sighed softly, sending a few messages to Joon and Cheolyong so as to withdraw for a few minutes from the seriousness of the case that he had to solve.

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Shortly after sending a few messages back to his husband, Joon had begun making breakfast for himself and his son and was feeling decidedly more light-hearted than he had for the past few days. He had chalked up all the unusual occurences that he had seemed to have experienced to the simply fact that he had been stressed out about the move and also worried about his husband. Given that he anticipated only having to devote one more day to unpacking, cleaning and arranging the house, he was feeling decidedly more relaxed.

"Sweetie, who are you talking to?" Joon asked, walking out to the now set up dining room with a plate of sliced apples and pancakes.

"Umma, this is Hyunseok," Cheolyong said excitedly to his mother, pointing to the empty seat beside him.

"Oh really?" Joon smiled, figuring that his son had made an imaginary friend.

Cheolyong nodded, taking his friend's existence with the utmost seriousness.

"He lives in the closet in my bedroom," Cheolyong went on to explain, through a mouthful of apples. "He says he's lived here for a long time."

Joon giggled as his son went on to describe his "friend."

"Well, would Hyunseok like to have some breakfast?" Joon asked, already prepared to set an extra place at the table.

After all, he had had to do so for the past few months, as Cheolyong was convinced that his stuffed dolphin required food.

Cheolyong nodded enthusiastically on behalf of his "friend."

"Why don't we go to the park after breakfast, hm?" Joon offered.

Every day, they would have a mother and son outing, usually to the park, the pool or the mall. Joon categorically refused to have his son placed in a daycare or to have a babysitter look after him. He had always wanted to be a mother and was thrilled to have a family with Jihoon. And now, especially as he and Cheolyong were missing Jihoon, Joon wanted to keep both of them occupied.

"Okay, Umma!" Cheolyong beamed. "Can Dolphin-ssi and Hyunseok come, too?" He asked hopefully.

"Of course," Joon smiled, making a note to himself to update Jihoon on the new friend that Cheolyong had added to their family.

Having heard from Jihoon, both Joon and Cheolyong were in decidedly higher spirits throughout breakfast.

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"Are your friends ready?" Joon asked with a smile, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he readied Cheolyong for their afternoon at the park later that afternoon.

Cheolyong nodded, bracing his dolphin.

"Hyunseok can't come though," he told his mother with a pout. "He says he can't leave the house."

"How come?" Joon asked, helping Cheolyong tie his shoes.

"He's too tired to go out," Cheolyong explained. "But he'll join us when he's had enough rest."

"Well, I'm looking forward to having him join us," Joon giggled, taking Cheolyong's hand. "Ready to go?"

Cheolyong nodded happily, but then turned to his mother a little more solemnly.

"Umma, will Appa be home tonight...?" He asked.

Joon smiled, kneeling down again so that he matched his son's stature.

"Not for a few days, sweetie," he explained patiently. "Appa has to stay in Busan for a few days."

"...I miss Appa..." Cheolyong said a little sadly.

No matter how many times his parents explained, it was still difficult for a three year old to understand why his father had to be away from home so often.

"I know," Joon hugged his little boy. "I do, too. But he'll be home in no time, I promise. And he'll call us tonight, okay?" He smiled.

"Why don't we have some shaved ice after the park, hm?" Joon then suggested. "And I'll make curry for supper...?"

"Okay, Umma!" Cheolyong beamed, the prospect of his favorite foods not taking his mind off his father's absence, but cheering him up a little.

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Thanks for reading! ^^

x Angela