“Please don’t let Namjoon ever make cappuccino again. It’s bitter and cold”.

Right now, Hyeri was in the Starbucks coffee shop with Malika, Jungkook and Taehyung, “enjoying” her cappuccino. After taking a sip, Hyeri immediately placed the cup back on the table with a sour face. She really wondered how Namjoon even got this job, he’s definitely not good at making coffee and certainly not at using a cleaning mop, seeing how he’s mopping the floor right now.

“I’ll take a note of that”, Malika muttered underneath her breath while looking down at her intertwined fingers, still feeling a little bit awkward at the situation right now. She especially tried not to look in the eyes of a certain chief who was sitting in front of her. Taehyung however, seemed to be a bit amused about the barista’s awkwardness, seeing that little smirk on his face as he eyed Malika with those sparkly eyes.

Jungkook eyed the nervous coffee barista with raised brows, giving Taehyung a dead glare and a soft pore with his elbow, and he decided to clear up the tension by clearing his throat. Because if there was one thing that he absolutely hated, it would be an awkward situation.

“So miss Kiran”, Jungkook began to speak as he felt 3 pairs of eyes looking up to him. “You said you were a law graduate right? How come you’re working in the Starbucks then?”

“Ahh that…”, Malika nervously laughed, scratching the back of her head with a little smile on her face. “I’m actually doing this job because I need money. I’m planning to set up my own law company”, Malika answered Jungkook’s question, on which the latter just nodded while slightly furrowing his perfectly shaped eyebrows.

“Oh, that’s nice! I hope it will all work out well for you, miss”, Jungkook said with a sincere voice as he gave Malika the most beautiful smile Hyeri probably had ever seen in her whole life. Hyeri felt a little bit of jealousy boiling within her, but she quickly decided to ignore the feeling and shrugged it off.

“Thank you, Officier Jeon”, Malika thanked him as she slightly bowed her head in gratitude. “Your encouragement means a lot to me”.

“I also hope it will work out well for you”, Taehyung suddenly spoke as he leaned against the back of his chair, also eying the coffee barista with a sincere smile which could literally bright up this whole messed up world. His smile was even brighter than Jungkook’s. Malika soon found herself smiling back to the chief, muttering a little, but sincere ‘thank you’ as she slightly bowed her head in gratitude for the second time.

Taehyung noticed that his heart skipped two beats after seeing Malika smiling at him like that, and he suddenly had a loss for words.

“Oh by the way hyung”, Jungkook began to speak, turning around so that he could eye Taehyung directly. “Chief Bae called me when I was on my way to here. She asked me where I was and when I said that I was on my way to you, she wanted me to tell you that she already handed over the Jung Hoseok case to you”.

Hyeri suddenly choked on her drink as she heard the familiar name coming out of his lips. Jungkook immediately widened his eyes, bending over the table to give Hyeri a soft pat on her back, trying to sooth her heavy coughing. However, while Jungkook was looking at her with sincere empathy, the chief next to him could only look at the girl with suspicion.

“Nam Hyeri-ssi­”, Taehyung began to speak up, after clearing his throat and recomposing his posture in his seat. “Do you perhaps know Jung Hoseok personally?”, he asked Hyeri with a suspicious tone in his voice, making Hyeri shift uncomfortable in her seat. Jungkook sighed and turned back to his best friend with another deadly glare.

“Taehyung, please don’t be like-“

“Why would I want to know the bastard personally when he was a suspect in my parents’ ‘murder’ case? Although it wasn’t really cased as murder…”, Hyeri mumbled slightly underneath her breath, but it was loud enough for the other three people to hear.

Jungkook slowly turned his surprised face to Hyeri’s slightly embarrassed face, and he suddenly couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. It was now that he realized that the girl in front of him must have been going through a horrible t