[Read A/N]

Himchan didn't even bother waiting for Sang Hee the next morning, after not sleeping a wink, nor did he check her room because as far as he was concerned, she was gone.

She didn't live with him.

Which was one battle down, but that didn't change the fact that he still had to see her at work and have to work side by side with her potentially the rest of his career.

So not only did that raise the chance of her spilling the truth, but it also meant he had to see her everyday and be reminded of what he didn't have.

What he couldn't have.

Yongguk let go of his friend and looked him in the eye, "If Sang Hee is good enough to get you this worked up over her, then she sure as hell is good enough to stay with you through all the in your past. She's strong but if you're willing to throw away a future with her just because of your past, then your job, your hard work and everything you've built up until now is worthless, because if you're letting your past still dictate your life, then you're no better than me, when I broke Eun Ah and made her think I died."

"You're here!" Dong Chul cheered when Himchan strolled into the precinct.

He nodded at him and Chin Hwae before noticing another detective's absence, "Where is she?"

"You were late so Woon asked her to help on some undercover sting for SVU." Chin Hwae said plainly.

Himchan stilled nervously, "SVU? She's going undercover for a ual Victims Unit's case?"

"Yup." Dong Chul said casually while waving a brown bag, "Breakfast?"

Himchan shook his head, "I'm not hungry. Those cases are brutal. What is she working on?"

"You haven't been eating for the last two days, since the retreat. Are you okay? You look tired too. Have you been sleeping? Actually, you look like death…no offense." Chin Hwae pointed out.

Himchan grit his teeth and glared at his friend, yeah, eating and sleeping had been lower on his list of priorities but he didn't need the third degree now.

"What is she working on?" He repeated, hissing his question through his teeth.

Chin Hwae raised his hands up in defence, " The dossier is on her desk."

Himchan spotted the blue file and grabbed it off Sang Hee's desk before scanning it. "This…this is a serial case."

"." Dong Chul said while shivering, "Those are brutal. I don't know how anyone manages to work in that unit, it must be traumatizing."

"Imagine how it feels for the victims." Chin Hwae muttered while shaking his head.

Himchan's eyes ran over Sang Hee's role and his hands stared to shake, "Where's Woon?"

"At the sting sight." Chin Hwae picked up a small piece of paper and squinted at the messy writing, "Golden Rise Park."

"Whoa." Dong Chul said.

Chin Hwae looked up and blinked in surprise when Himchan was gone, the only proof that he was ever there was his chair still spinning.

------

Himchan changed into his gym clothes and raced through the park until he spotted Woon talking to two other officers dressed in civilian clothing near the exit.

"You." He barked when he got close enough, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Woon glared at him, "I should be asking you that. What are you doing here?"

"How could you use her as bait?" Himchan hissed, ignoring the looks that the other detectives were shooting him.

Woon closed his eyes, "She fit the unsub's MO. Long brown hair, thin, light skin, big eyes an--"

"You mean literally any woman in SVU? Any woman  from the unit that's actually trained for this stuff? Why her? Why the would  you risk her life like that?" Himchan's voice curled with a growl but Woon didn't back down.

"You were late. No one else opposed." Woon said simply

"I'm not her master for 's sake. She's a human, how could you throw someone who's never worked with SVU into an undercover sting? DSU wasn't enough? Are you trying to impress SVU so they offer her a job too?" He snapped.

Woon looked at him incredulously, "Why are you so worked up over this? You said so yourself, she's human. If she's not freaking out about this, why are you?"

Himchan felt his lip twitch, "Because I know you didn't tell her all the risks about an open sting operation like this, especially on a . You just wanted to show off or do whatever the you think will make you look good and you risk people's lives. It's what you do."

"Shut up. Just shut up." Woon hissed. "Your partner offered to go undercover, she saw the file, realized she fit the description and offered to go. I didn't make her do anything. She doesn't need to be told the risks because she recognized them right away but still wanted to do it. Now go back to the office and let everyone here do their ing jobs."

Himchan snarled at him, "Where is she?"

"She's getting wired up and debriefed and don't you dare go anywhere near her." Woon warned, "She's doing this and there's no going back."

"Why is it so easy for you to play with people's lives like this?" Himchan asked disbelievingly, "She was right, you could be capable of doing it."

Woon shot him a distracted look as he scanned the papers in front of him, "What are you talking about? Who? Capable of what?"

"Never mind." He huffed, "Just get me in there."

Woon scoffed as he looked at him, "Excuse me?"

"I'm her partner. She's not doing this alone. Get me wired up, tell me what I need to know about this case." Himchan said giving Woon a dirty look.

"There are at least 2 dozen experienced undercover detectives who will always have eyes on her. She's safe."

"That's not what I asked." Himchan said, tilting his head up.

Woon and Himchan stared each other down and when the young detective made no attempt to look away, Woon sighed in defeat and looked at one of the officers standing by.

"Get Officer Kim wired. He'll be on a bike, tracking Detective Bae. We're following a serial assaulter who targets women who go jogging in different parks, this one is where he's been seen recently. They'll fill you in on the rest and what you need to do."

Himchan shot Woon a dirty look but still walked away with the other detective. Woon watched him move away and frowned, his mind thinking back to when Sang Hee was wearing Himchan's shirt.

He had never seen Himchan this worked up over Sang Hee's safety and yes, this was more serious to her safety that her past cases, but his level headed behaviour was slipping.

"Woon!"

He rolled her eyes and turned to see the Chief of SVU storming up to him, "Why am I just now being informed that you're throwing another one of your officers into the investigation last minute? We don't need any more people and we sure as hell don't need people on that I haven't signed off on. I know I asked you for one officer but that doesn't give you the right to do whatever you want."

"It's fine, it's Detective Kim."

"I don't give a if it's Kim Taeyeon who will sing every SNSD song ever released. The only Kim that I would remotely allow near this case is Kim Hi--wait."

"Yeah," Woon deadpanned, "That Detective Kim. He's Detective Bae's partner. He didn't feel comfortable having her on her own."

The Chief rubbed her face tiredly, "When Hong came in this morning he made some snide remark about not letting you near my cases."

"That's not surprising." Woon mumbled while reading something.

The Chief looked at him, "Woon, this isn't a joke. You need to understand the risks. This guy we're going after is crafty. He has managed to abduct and assault 20 women in broad daylight last year without as much as a witness. If we're not careful, Detective Bae's safety could be jeopardized. I don't hold it against Kim Himchan for barging in here, nervous about her. She's not trained."

"She's done this before." Woon countered.

The Chief nodded, "I read on her but going undercover just to overhear information in a club and going undercover as bait hopes of someone attacking you are two very different things."

"Daena-"

"I know, Woon," Her voice softening, "You trust your officers and believe that they're capable of anything but a rookie was a risky choice."

Woon sighed, "Himchan seems to respect her as an officer."

"That's the only reason that I'm going with this. Not because of you, but because anyone that's Kim Himchan's partner must be no joke."

-----

Sang Hee was standing crouched behind a van, dressed in tight jogging clothes, waiting for the confirmation of the suspect entering the park, when she noticed someone familiar fiddling with the chains of a bicycle.

She pressed the ear piece deeper into her ear, "Kim Himchan?"

"Since when do you use my full name, tiger?" The gruff voice muttered crackly through her ear piece.

She gaped at him from across the park but he didn't lift his head, "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you don't get killed." His voice was serious, without a hint of joking or teasing.

She looked down and tightened her shoelaces, "I'll be fine."

"Whatever." He muttered, "I'll be right behind you. Always. He won't get close enough to touch you. I'll always have my eyes on you."

She rolled her eyes, "For someone who cares so much about my wellbeing you're real quick to make me homeless. You like cherry picking what you care about, don't you?"

"Um…guys? We can hear you." One of the tech guys mumbled through the frequency.