“It’s your day off,” said Chen, staring at the man hunched over his computer.  “What are you doing?”

“Work,” Lay replied without looking up.

“You never work on your day off.”

“Then you can celebrate witnessing a miracle.”

Chen snorted and sat down at his desk.  “By the way, some person called Hwasa is down in the lobby asking for you.  Said she was a criminal psychologist or something.”

Lay jolted away from his computer.  “She’s already here?  Great.”

“Is she here to test your mental stability?  Just out of curiosity.”

“No – Kyungsoo and I have been talking to her all week about the Xiumin-Semi case and she asked if she could see some footage of their interactions when she wasn’t working.  Today was the first day she had free.”

“How come?”

“Because there’s something undeniably fishy going on.”  Lay swung his suit jacket around his shoulders.  “I’m not a psychologist of any kind, but I’ve been monitoring Xiumin fairly closely.  Something pretty big is likely to happen – or maybe is already happening – and I don’t want Xiumin even thinking he can try to disappear in the mess.”

“He has been a bit weird this past week,” Chen admitted.  “He’s just suddenly being really… romantic out of nowhere.  What is it, like, the third date he’s asked her on?  Plus flowers, plus learning the piano… I mean, he’s almost always been pretty nice to her, but yeah, I get what you mean.  It’s almost like he’s… I don’t know, making a last ditch attempt or saying goodbye or something.”

“Exactly.  And since he’s probably as intelligent as I am, I thought it would be a good idea to get a criminal psychologist in to see if they can shed any light on the matter.”

“Good luck,” Chen told him as he headed for the door.  “Also, you’re being boastful.”

Lay pulled a face at him and disappeared.

Semi didn’t think she’d ever faced such a big dilemma trying to pick out something to wear.  Minseok had insisted on keeping where they were going a surprise, so she didn’t know whether to opt for something smart or formal.

“It has to be flattering,” she murmured to herself, holding up a day dress in one hand and a thick woolly sweater in the other.  “And practical.”

Half an hour later, she wasn’t much further on, though the remembrance that it was cold outside had prevented her from choosing a dress, and she’d instead gone for a warm woollen skirt.  The thing about that was it meant she had to go more casual than she would have liked, and she got very stuck trying to choose something to go with it.

Eventually opting for a light blue polar neck, she picked out a pair of heels to go with the outfit and then made her way into the kitchen, checking her watch as she did.  It was nearly quarter past ten.

Minseok was busy packing things into a rucksack as she shuffled over to the cereal cupboard and nearly tripped.  There was the snap of buckles clipping as she got the cheerios out of the cupboard and made her way over to the table.

“Morning,” Minseok greeted her with a smile.  “Sleep well?”

“Yes,” Semi lied.  She’d been far too nervous to get a decent night’s rest.

“I didn’t want to spoil what we’re doing today,” he told her, “but you’re going to have difficulty hiking in heels and I recommend walking trousers if you have any.  Or just trousers.”

“Would have helped if you’d told me earlier,” Semi retorted, pouring milk into her cereal and beginning to spoon it down.

“I think it’s much more romantic to keep pleasant surprises secret.”

“How do you know I’m going to like hiking or whatever it is we’re doing today?”

“I know you pretty well now.  And you said once you like the countryside.”

“You have a long memory,” Semi told him.  Chuckling, he sat down opposite her.

“It’s natural to pay attention to people you’re interested in.”

Semi practically stuck her face in her cereal bowl, blushing furiously.

“I’m just going to check I have permission to leave Seoul,” Minseok added, “though I’m pretty sure they’ll let me, and once you’ve finished eating and changed into something else, we can go.”

It was much quicker choosing clothes to wear this time round, though Semi still fretted between choosing something practical or something that looked good.  She came out of her room again to meet a slightly bewildered Minseok hanging up the phone.

“Kyungsoo said they removed the bombs ages ago,” he explained, catching sight of her inquisitive expression.  “I can’t tell if they’re being idiots or if they’re playing me.”

“Or maybe they trust you?” Semi said.  He shot her a disparaging look.

“If I were the police, I definitely wouldn’t trust me.  Well, maybe in some areas, but not to leave the city.  Not without precautions.”

“Then how come you’re taking me out of the city?”

“I guess they have precautions in place.”

They discovered pretty quickly that the precaution was a helicopter that followed them out of the city.  Minseok spotted it first as he was sitting in the front of the car and Semi had her eyes squeezed shut in the back, trying to prete