Sungyeol was furious when he heard that Youngjae had gone out. After a day of canvassing and searching the blocks around the crime scene for the place where Kris might have been murdered, he had walked into the precinct, exhausted, only to hear that his junior detective had walked out of the place, disregarding his direct orders.

Youngjae, you’re so dead.

As clever as he was, Youngjae had probably used Myungsoo or Woohyun to get himself out of the precinct, overriding his order.  He knew Youngjae was slippery, but he hadn’t known that he was this crafty. Fuming, he walked over to his desk, finding Hana, immersed in a file, sitting on his chair.

His mood improved the moment he saw Hana. She was his confidante, the only person in this precinct who wasn’t out to get him, except maybe Myungsoo. His boss was nice but at times, he loved laughing at Sungyeol’s expense and watched him worm out of sticky situations without offering to help. His attitude toward him was plain condescending.

Sungyeol would like to remind Myungsoo that he was a detective, and his associate, not someone hired for his personal amusement.

The way he smiles at me sometimes, like I’m some 5 year old messing up.

Woohyun was still a mystery to him. Everyone in the precinct thought him to be a kind, sweet, and jovial person with the exception of Sungyeol. To Sungyeol, he was cold and distant, for reasons unknown. The only crime he had committed knowingly was to develop a liking for this cold man, back when he hadn’t behaved like this with him. Sungyeol had watched ruefully as a wall erupted between them, from where he knew not, and despite all his endeavors, it was still here.

Damn Woohyun, does he think he’s too good for me?

It was a good thing though that Woohyun had suggested he wasn’t interested in him before he had asked him out. It would have been absolutely embarrassing to be turned down by your superior, your boss’ partner. Sungyeol would have quit his job and run away where he would never have to see Woohyun again.

 “Hey Sungyeol, how was your day? Found anything interesting?”

Hana greeted him with a warm smile, looking up from the file. Slipping off his coat he sat down on his chair and yawned lazily.

“No luck. No witnesses near the crime scene or the victim’s apartment. I was following a splattered trail from the crime scene, hoping to find the real murder site but no luck with that either. You?”

Hana shrugged, putting down the file on her desk.

“It’s been okay. Went to Kris’ apartment, found drugs.” She smiled when Sungyeol’s face changed.

He had been unaware that their victim was still in the business. According to what Youngjae had told him over phone, he had given it up.

“No leads, at least not yet. We might get finger prints on the packets though, find the main supplier or something.”

She sighed. Sungyeol knew it was a long shot but they had to try.

“I’ve been reading Dongwoo’s autopsy report.” She motioned toward the file she had been immersed in. “It’s interesting. Apparently he was clean. No drugs in his system whatsoever.”

That had not been anticipated. The moment Hana had told her they’d found drugs at Kris’ place, he had taken it for granted that he had been using again. But things didn’t add up. It was strange.

Maybe he just supplied the drugs, not take it.

In Sungyeol’s experience, that was near-to impossible but in their job, there were always exceptions and you just had to make way for them.

“Oh Sungyeol, you’re back.” It was Myungsoo. He and Woohyun had headed out of Myungsoo’s office where they had been, no doubt, reading and discussing the reports from all the sources.

He didn’t greet back cheerfully, only nodded at them grimly. He was sure they were responsible for Youngjae not following his orders and he was not about to forgive them for that. They might be his seniors, but he had a place in this office and that was above Youngjae; he couldn't just forget that the junior detective had not minded his words and had done exactly what he was told not to do.

Sure enough, Myungsoo said, “Oh and I sent Youngjae out at the Star Destiny Company to take statements from the employees. I wanted to get them today, while their memory was still fresh and I couldn’t send the new recruit alone, so…”

Myungsoo was waiting for him to reply. He glanced at Woohyun, who didn’t seem to be listening to their conversation.

Why does he have to treat me like this?

“It’s okay,” he managed.

Myungsoo smiled. He might have thought that it was all okay now, but Sungyeol wouldn’t let go of this so soon. Just because Myungsoo was his superior, he had to keep his mouth shut but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to express how angry he was in other ways.

As if to worsen his temper, Youngjae walked in, a woman in his tow. Sungyeol supposed she was the new detective they had been talking about. Despite her obvious nosejob, and Sungyeol was good at figuring out these things, she looked naturally pretty. There was something bare and plain about her face, but it wasn’t unappealing. Her eyes were bright and the way she stood made him think that she was tough on the inside, unlike Hana.

Youngjae looked embarrassed, having run into his senior immediately after he entered the precinct. He avoided eye contact with Sungyeol, whose rage was about to erupt. But intervention came in the form of Woohyun, who directed his question at the newcomers.

“So did you find anything?”

Woohyun’s low timber was so soothing, it got to him every time. It was becoming almost impossible to work with him, when the smallest of his actions made Sungyeol’s heart quake with renewed liking. He hated the man, as well as loved him.

He’s both a blessing and a curse.

“Jinwoon seems to have an alibi,” Youngjae said before Minji could open . “But we have yet to confirm his alibi.”

“Do you have any reasons to suspect Jinwoon?” Myungsoo asked curiously.

Youngjae looked momentarily embarrassed. Minji came to his rescue.

“He had a fight with our victim a week ago.”

“Apparently, Kris thought Jinwoon was threatening him,” Youngjae said, now recovered. A smile passed between him and Minji.

Sungyeol was surprised how quickly they seemed to have made a team. He found it laughable that anyone would be able to stand Youngjae, with his self-satisfaction and bloated head…

That stupid prick…

Woohyun raised a finger to his philtrum – it was a habit of his when he was thinking and Sungyeol found it absolutely endearing. He almost cracked a smile. Composing himself, he said in a grave voice, “But doesn’t that mean Kris was being threatened?”

“That seems likely,” Myungsoo said, matching his tone.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Woohyun nodding. His heart twitched a bit.

“I didn’t find any paper evidence of these threats. It couldn’t have been letters then,” Hana said.

“He might have gotten rid of the papers, or hidden them somewhere else,” Woohyun mused out loud. “Or it could have been texts or emails.”

“Texts seem likely in lieu with the mysterious absence of the cell phone,” Sungyeol piped in. he wanted Woohyun to look at him, to give him his approval personally.

Is it that difficult? Do you hate me?

“Well we can’t get out hands on the phone yet, but we can always check all the papers he had had and his laptop. Inform Tech that we’re looking for threat emails. They might have been deleted. Tell them to recover every bit of it.”

Woohyun had looked at each of them in turn, like he usually did and missed Sungyeol. He didn’t usually do that. Maybe the morning was still fresh in his mind. But Sungyeol hadn’t done anything to offend him, had he? He was merely seeking his appreciation, his affection – that wasn’t a crime.

And yet you treat me like a criminal rather than a co-worker.

“I’ll go inform Tech,” Youngjae said hurriedly and dashed through the spaces between the desks toward his table, where he picked up the phone. He definitely wanted to avoid any more scathing glares Sungyeol would have sent his way.

Woohyun now turned to face Minji.

“So how was your first day?” he asked with a smile.

His insides writhing, Sungyeol looked away from the warm smile she was offering him. Even Myungsoo looked amused, with his eyebrows raised.

“It was really amazing. Youngjae – he’s really good!” Sungyeol gagged at this point, but luckily his head was turned away. “It was interesting to speak all those people. I still have to call one of them, to confirm an alibi. Youngjae said I could do it.”

Sungyeol wanted to burst out – who did Youngjae think he was, giving out orders. But he didn’t want Woohyun to see his outbreak.

“Good work Minji!”

The familiarity in Woohyun’s voice was like a bullet to Sungyeol’s chest. He was about to say more when Myungsoo’s phone started to ring. He checked the screen and received the call, putting it on speaker for all of them to hear.

“Hello Dongwoo, we just got your autopsy report,” Myungsoo told the forensic pathologist. They could hear Dongwoo’s laughter on the other side. He really didn’t need any reason to laugh.

“Interesting case, isn’t it?” Dongwoo asked between guffaws. “Two injuries, both fatal – I can’t really tell which one was the cause of the death. But, I can definitely say that the blunt injury was before the gunshot.”

“So someone hit him on the head and then shot him? Wow,” Hana muttered but they all heard her. Dongwoo did as well, as he laughed.

“Maybe they wanted to make the murder more – permanent.”

The forensic pathologist went into a fit of laughter while the detectives exchanged looks. For someone who worked every day with dead bodies, Dongwoo was overly cheerful. Sungyeol found him amusing and easy to talk to, but his vivaciousness was sometimes burdensome.

“Dongwoo, do you have any idea what the blunt instrument could be?” Woohyun asked over his laughter.

There was a pause where Dongwoo tried to control his chuckle. Sungyeol had his eyes fixed on Woohyun. Even if it made the superior uncomfortable, he would still do it. Woohyun couldn’t ignore him forever.

I won’t let him.

“No, not really. It’s surface is smooth, and it’s quite heavy. I can’t really tell which material, the hit was clean.”

Hana asked something but Sungyeol wasn’t paying attention. He was boring holes with his eyes on the side profile of Woohyun – he should have reacted by now. But the Detective Inspector was absolutely immersed in whatever Dongwoo was saying.

“I couldn’t help but noticing,” Dongwoo continued, “that the ring on your victim’s finger is new. Recently bought, I’d say, and even though it was quite tight, there is no mark on his finger, so he hasn’t been wearing it for long. Even if it is an engagement ring, he just got engaged.”

And then it happened – Woohyun turned his head slightly, meeting Sungyeol’s eyes. It was probably less than one–tenth of a second but their eyes had definitely met. Before Sungyeol could read the expression in them, he had swiveled away, his attention now on the constable who was standing in front of them, forcing him to look her way. She worked as the Captains’ PA. She was addressing Myungsoo – something about the Captain summoning him. The next moment he saw Myungsoo, who had hung up on Dongwoo, moving toward the constable.

Woohyun said something to Hana and Minji and then looking at Sungyeol’s general direction but careful to avoid his eyes, he muttered, “Good work. See you tomorrow.”

Sungyeol’s heart leapt.

Thanks.