.to my dearest Kim Taeyeon
Given to you at the end of long dayâs work: a card and a present.
If you open them at home (wouldnât want to be rude), you find the following:
A red card decorated with a selfie taken by Sukjin on Taeyeonâs first day on the force. Sukjin is flashing his trademark good-natured, cheerful smile and a little V-sign as he angles the camera towards them. Taeyeon mostly looks wide-eyed and confused and awed, a dorky, bright smile on her face. Snowflakes are decorating the rest of the card.
To my dearest Kim Taeyeon,
It has been a true honor to work with you in 2016. You brighten up the work place every day and your skills are invaluable to all of us. Your kind smile, hard work and cheerful attitude are a blessing to all your co-workers. Letâs work hard together in 2017! Weâll make our city beautiful and safe for everyone.
Even more than calling you my colleague, I count myself lucky beyond words to call you my friend. I want to take this moment to thank you for all youâve done this year.
Thank you for all your coffee knowledge, thank you for all the cookies, thank you for the laughter. Thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for being you, Kim Taeyeon.
I will work hard to become a better commander and a better friend.
Letâs see what 2017 brings us! Fighting!
If you unwrap your present you will find a a brand new espresso machine, a collection of bottle with different flavors of coffee syrup (chocolate, caramel, pumpkin spice, amaretto, hazelnut) from Monin.
Taeyeon stared her letter in shock, her hands trembling. Slowly, she sank to her knees in front of her rickety little dining table, tears coming out her eyes like twin waterfalls.Â
Unabashedly, Taeyeon begun to cry in earnest, her tears fervently fueled by her happiness and gratitude. She hadnât expected to receive anything from Commander Sukjin - oh no he was simply way to busy for that - and just a âMerry Christmas, Taeyeon-ahâ from him would have made her day; and yet here, here in her hands she held a heartfelt letter from the best boss and Police Commander she ever had the pleasure to work with, and Taeyeon was touched beyond words. Â
It was safe to say that the letter alone had made her year, and the coffee machine too - Commander Sukjin had made her lifetime. Taeyeon clutched at the picture of them posing together fervently, though she was careful not to ruin it in any way. As she sniffled and gasped in between her sobs uncontrollably, Taeyeon carefully stuck the picture into her scrapbook, smiling genuinely at the sight the two made.
Taeyeon never really had an affectionate father, but sheâd like to think that if her father had paid more attention to her than mere head-pats and empty, meaningless conversations, she would feel this kind of happiness everyday. But now, Taeyeon thought that maybe she didnât really mind. After all, Commander Sukjin was her father in all but name and blood; and perhaps Taeyeon wouldnât have appreciated him as much if she had a caring father.Â
No, once she had a taste of it, Taeyeon couldnât let go of the Commanderâs fatherly affections. Taeyeon wanted to stay like this forever, her clutching at his leg and gazing up at him in awe; at her role model, her father, and her friend.Â
And as Taeyeon finally turned her gaze onto the beautiful, glorious coffee machine, she almost couldnât bring herself to touch it, let alone use it. It was a precious, precious gift from Commander Sukjin after all, and she would sooner build a shrine for the machine; rather than to use it to make coffee, however much she loved the dark, liquidy substance.Â
(Despite this, Taeyeon was Taeyeon, and so she eventually did open it and use it to make her coffee, mentally apologizing to Commander Sukjin all the while. But since it took her a good chunk of the year to do so, she decided that enough was enough of simply worshipping the coffee machine, and to enjoy it to the fullest before its warranty ended instead.)
After Taeyeon calmed down, she begun to panic. Due to her monetary difficulties, Taeyeon had resorted to knitting a Christmas jumper for Commander Sukjin as his gift, and now Taeyeon was regretting.
Oh no! She thought, worrying at her lip nervously, tears threatening to come out of her swollen, dry tear ducts. He gave me such an expensive gift - and I gave him a jumper.
Oh no... Taeyeon, you absolute idiot. Iâm such a bad, thoughtless daughter friend.