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partnered, again? — park sunghoon x reader

ft. detective park sunghoon x criminal analyst reader “park sunghoon, although only 25, is arguably korea's finest detective – a cold professional whose personal life remains the country's greatest enigma. y/n, an accomplished woman at korea's largest and most prestigious private firm, is her country's pride and joy, leaving no case unsolved. she has risen through the ranks to earn her title as the top criminal analyst. when another high-profile socialite is murdered and the korean authorities are left baffled, korea's finest pair are assigned to solve the case. y/n and sunghoon must work together to crack the case, without allowing their buried past– the unresolved tension and feelings– to interfere.”

byr (for the whole fic) : sfw (but implied suggestive content & mature themes), making out, mentions of sex, strong language, toxic dynamics, alcohol & drug use, murder, inaccurate depictions of crime scenes/investigations, detailed descriptions of crimes, drugging, stalking, harassment, slightly morally grey characters?, manipulation and blackmail, forced proximity, panic attacks/nightmares/guilt/spiraling, corruption, emotional misdirection, hidden motives, forced alliances, character deaths, exes to enemies to ??, somewhat slow burn, semi-proofread lol, lower case intended, possible grammatical errors. pt1 wc : 14k [14449]

masterlist

park sunghoon, the bane of your existence, who also happened to be your flame and constant during your shared university days. your relationship lasted relatively “long” for such a toxic dynamic, but perhaps, under different circumstances– when neither of you were as broken, stressed, or desperate to be at the top of your departments– it might have been different.

the relationship wasn't always so strained. it started off with what most people would call “perfect couple goals,” a label that later came to haunt both you and sunghoon.

Y/N — 2020, november 22nd, monday.

it began when you were paired as partners. to teachers and lecturers, it made sense– two of the department's most competent students working together would yield an outstanding project. they were right. you were the perfect team, finishing each other's sentences, sharing the same thought process and goals.

during one late night study session in your apartment— while you were working on the said project, which involved solving and discussing a multi-layered, well-concealed murder case set up by the teachers– you discovered that he wanted to be a detective, and he learnt of your passion to become a criminal intelligence analyst.

“we’d be perfect working together; every detective needs their criminal analyst,” he said, smirking and wriggling his eyebrows. you only giggled in response.

months of growing closer over study sessions, shared interests, and definitely not dates led up to that fateful night. over some pasta in the restaurant across from his apartment-- which you believed had the best pasta, he popped the question.

“y/n, you've only grown alongside me these past few months, laughing with me, stressing with me, going out with me, and you have become a constant i can't bear to be without. my dependence on you is growing slowly but surely. would you honour me by letting me be your boyfriend?”

of course, you had said yes without hesitation. both of you were glowing. the dinner went smoothly as you continued to argue over trivial matters, basking in each other's presence late into the night.

park jongseong and sim jaeyun— better known as jay and jake, who often had to deal with your constant underlying tension, enthusiastically congratulated the two of you, “about time. if you hadn't done it by next week, I would have gone and told y/n myself,” jay joked.

your best friends, lee soojin and kim joomi, were also ecstatic, knowing he made you happy and was genuine in his actions towards you. they said it was worth all the time you had waited for him to ask you out.

word spread around campus, and you became known as the “it” couple. the kind of couple that screamed “this is a movie scene” to everyone who happened to be in their presence. he always waited for you outside the classes you didn't share, took your bag, and brought you coffee. when you shared classes, he always made sure to sit next to you.

he was your everything, and you were his. your similar thoughts and behavior made you extremely easy to read for each other.

everything was going well; you were always replacing each other as rank one in the department, then playfully bickering about it in the café outside the university.

it all changed in your senior year, when every grade mattered most, and every lost top spot meant a significant setback to achieving that picture perfect step into success. it didn’t help that both of you were extremely career-driven, “emotionally constipated,” as jake would say, determined, and maybe slightly egoistic (even though neither of you admitted it). it also didn’t help that both of you were stressed and soon began to take it out on each other.

soon the study sessions became a hellhole of arguments, a battlefield. over time, with pride and stubbornness, when neither of you yielded or apologised, the cracks in the relationship began to run too deep to ignore.

people whispered, watching the “it couple” drift apart. they watched every time sunghoon sat away from you in your shared lectures, every time he let you carry your own bag, every time he pointed out your mistakes in class and vice versa.

every party, instead of drifting towards each other, you gravitated towards opposite corners.

then came the jealousy and the control. you’d purposely speak to guys you knew he didn’t get along with, and he would talk to the girls who had a thing for him.

obviously, you’d fight it out, drunk out of your minds, back at home. it would always begin with one of you screaming at the other, then it would dim down to a cold, detached voice to mask the hurt. then you would always end up in bed the next morning.

this was the new routine. get piss ass drunk, scream, fuck and pretend nothing happened when you woke up.

you knew this was toxic, and so did he. but on the days when you were fine, albeit rare, you would cuddle, go café hopping, eat a bunch of ice cream, and laugh and bicker with each other as if your lives weren’t falling apart and you weren't tearing each other down.

his friends and yours begged you both to fix your relationship, do anything, take a break, heal, and then go back to each other. they even sat you down and lectured you for an hour, trying to make you understand– not that you both didn’t know, you just chose to ignore it– that yelling at each other while drunk and then fucking out the tension wasn't healthy and was really toxic.

you and sunghoon humoured them, promising you would take a break and come back once you had healed.

neither of you realised how difficult it would be, though. the both of you managed to last three days before you always ended up at his place, crying because you were stressed, crying because you missed him, crying over your fucked up mental state or he ended up at yours, venting his stress, or just looking for comfort or solace that he only seemed to find in your arms.

yet, the past two week of the “break” had been healthier than before, reminding you of how your relationship with hoon was before everything went south.

maybe you should thank your friends. you’re slowly starting to believe that a break was all you needed. so you were planning to tell hoon that maybe you both could get “back” together, or at least bring up the idea of getting “back” together soon.

but, of course, the universe had other ideas.

Y/N — 2021, october 19th, monday 20:13.

you go to his apartment and knock as you always did, and he usually opens it immediately. you usually went around this time of night. but the door didn’t swing open. you call him, thinking he might be in the washroom or something.

you watched the phone ring until it went to voicemail. “maybe he went out,” you whispered, turning to walk back home.

you babe i went to your house and it was locked, wya? i miss you

you pressed send, then shove your phone back into the pocket of your jacket. you couldn’t help but wonder where he was. you missed him. you wanted to hug him, lie on his couch, sitting in between his legs, your head on his chest while you watch some drama you found.

when you reached home, you were still left on delivered. “maybe he’s just busy,” you whisper. you decide it wasn’t worth worrying about too much and head to bed.

you woke up the next morning, and still there was no reply from sunghoon. now you were starting to worry. you send another text.

you babe? are you coming to class?

whatever, he will probably come to class. you could talk about it there, so you grabbd your bag and your keys and walked to campus.

you walked into class and sat in your usual spot. you watched as people walked in. your face brightened as your eyes met sunghoon’s dark brown ones. you make a motion to clear the seat next to you, only for him to walk past and take a seat away from you.

“what the fuck,” you mumbled under your breath. you turn and see him chatting with haeun, who very obviously had a crush on him.

jealousy began to fill your veins. and apparently your tear ducts as well, because you felt your eyes sting. you were upset, heartbroken, angry and jealous.

you ran out of class as soon as the teacher left, rushing to your dorm. you cried for hours, or so it felt, until you could not cry any more. you were upset, you thought things were getting better. you promised to choose each other, you promised and he had promised.

why was he doing this now? why could he not let you, let you both, be happy? all you wanted back was the old you, the old sunghoon, when everything was simple. what happened to you both? what was wrong with you?

you were just exhausted and fell asleep without meaning to. you woke to banging on your door and shouts from your friends, joomi and soojin. you made your way to the door and unlocked it.

“you look a mess, are you okay?” was the first thing they asked when you let them in.

“no, my head hurts, i feel dehydrated, i think my eyes are all puffed up and sunghoon’s being a bitch. he hasn’t replied to my messages, sat next to haeun, even though he knows she likes him. he hasn’t been replying to my texts, and we were healing! we were going back to our non-toxic and healthy relationship ways.” you paused, wiping your eyes before continuing.

“i’m sorry but neither of us really followed your ‘stay away from each other’ rule. it lasted only three days before we were going back to each other. but this time, it was normal, it was like how we were before– cuddles on the sofa, watching dramas, and barely any sex, okay? i don’t know what went wrong. he’s suddenly ignoring me again. we were fine the day before yesterday but he’s been weird to me all yesterday and has been ignoring me.”

“oh, my poor baby, he’s a bitch who does,'t get to decide your worth. did you check if he replied?” soojin asked. you shook your head and went to get your phone. you unlocked it to find a message from him. you opened it, without much hope, praying he had at least apologised.

your friends grew concerned when you dropped your phone in shock, their eyes widening as they saw your eyes fill with tears.

“what’s wrong?” joomi asked, concerned, but you couldn’t reply, so you simply motioned to your phone. they picked it up to read the texts from him.

hoonie <3 stop texting me what i do is none of your business we’re done

they hugged you, comforting you as you cried, telling you he wasn’t worth it, that he didn’t deserve you. the three of you sat in your lounge, the only sounds that filled the house were your cries and their soft words of comfort.

they stayed with you until you stopped crying, then ordered take out, telling you that you needed a “girls’ night” to take your mind off things. they ordered chinese food from the place you liked, turned on the tv, and watched some sitcoms.

by the time they left, your heart felt a little lighter. but as the night wore on, you couldn’t escape your thoughts. you weren’t able to sleep, the way he had cut you off so easily made you uneasy and so fucking angry.

there was no explanation– he just left you, and had probably blocked you as well. you decided to throw out all evidence of him in your life, at least physically – emotionally, it would still take a while. you started by deleting his number. you then gathered all the gifts he had given you and put them in a bag to throw away.

when the clock showed 03:00, you had a bag filled with everything you needed to throw out. you dragged it near the door and left it there so you could dispose of it out at a more acceptable time of day. the last thing left for you to do was to delete the pictures of the two of you. and lord, there were so many.

another half an hour and 351 pictures later, you had successfully removed all physical traces of sunghoon from your life. the thought gave you a small sense of satisfaction, a small twisted kind of revenge, especially because you had thrown out the hoodies and clothes that belonged to him. exhausted, you fell asleep with your phone still in hand, your heart trying to heal.

you woke up to your alarm, deciding to go to class because he was not worth messing up your grades for. you waddled to your mirror, only to gape at the bags under your eyes and how puffy they had become. you did your best to cover them with some makeup, threw on an outfit that made you look more confident than you felt, and walked to class – not before tossing the bag of gifts he had given you into the bin.

thankfully, your shared lecture with sunghoon was the last class of the day. you managed to get through the whole day without seeing his face, and you were glad. it gave you time to prepare yourself, at least mentally, to see him.

Y/N — 2021, october 20th, tuesday 14:29.

when the fateful class arrived, you were– hopefully– prepared for what was to come. you had walked in with only a minute to spare, as you had been talking to your professor from the previous class, and took note of how sunghoon, once again, was seated next to kim haeun.

taking a deep breath, you settled into your seat just in time before the teacher entered and began the class.

“okay everybody, today we will be looking at a case. i want everyone to take note of possible evidence or leads that may be required to solve this case. i want a detailed note of the possible suspects, their motives, and when they could have committed the crime. the videotape will include an interview with albis and their statements. you have forty five minutes,” the woman instructed, before turning to play the video on the screen.

the video featured a murder case in a highly rated massage clinic. it began by showing the profile of a renowned fitness and wellness influencer and instructor, who was known to frequently spend her weekends at the clinic. it was revealed that she was receiving large amounts of hate from people hiding behind “bot” accounts.

the entire class fell silent, everyone focusing on trying to catch the details. by the end of forty minutes, you were pleased with your analysis and decided that these were possible answers to solving the case.

the teacher announced for everyone to stop the analysis at the end of the forty five minute time frame. “mr park, please come to the front and explain your analysis.”

he stood, made his way to the front of the class, and began to speak. he gave a pretty detailed analysis of the scene, his deep voice smooth and confident.

“...then the people who send her hate under ‘bot accounts’ are our first targets, finding information through sourcing the mail ids and verification methods set up. about ten of these bot accounts shown in the material have similar texting styles, the same way they punctuate their sentences and the same way they put forward their message with the language and tone conveyed–”

“wrong. the bot accounts aren’t the only ‘biggest suspect’. there is a more concerning one tied to the case, hidden in plain sight– and all the more dangerous, and is most likely the key to the case.”

sunghoon only rolled his eyes and huffed at the interruption, knowing that voice all too well. "of course, she could only make this a competition,” he muttered faintly, displeased at his work being criticised.

“if you think so, miss y/n, please continue,” her teacher stated, inviting her to the front as well. you stood, walked to the front of the class, and spoke.

“mrs. han was the top wellness influencer, yes, but she also had someone she had surpassed mrs jang, who has a daughter who idolises mrs. han. the pair are best friends.”

“exactly. there is no mention or indication of bad blood between them, so why does this information matter whatsoever?” sunghoon stated firmly.

“yes, but if you observe the texts that mrs jang’s daughter, jang seorin, sent mrs han, you’ll see the subtle irritation towards her mother. it's evident when she texted, 'when are you coming home again? mom plans on sending me away, she thinks i shouldn’t focus on your wellness plans, she said she would even draft her own for me, just stop using yours. i think she’s just mad because everyone is obsessed with you. my school friends love you too’” y/n quotes, stressing on a few words to draw the class’ attention.

“this could mean her mother may harbor not so friendly feelings towards mrs han. moreover, the clinic is owned by kim’s wellness and co., a company known for its affiliation with and close regard for mrs jang. furthermore, she herself owns a significant portion of the stakes of the company ‘kim’s wellness and co.’ and is one of the largest investors in the company. it doesn’t help that she is very influential, and so is her husband, which makes it easy to provide information and hush the company’s workers and managers.” you explained, earning a satisfied nod from the teacher.

“yes, that’s exactly what i was looking for. the case requires reading between the lines. yes, what miss y/n said is not the only lead we can find in this case, as identified by mr park, but it might be a crucial lead whose involvement in the company is hidden in plain sight. the bot accounts also have similar patterns, as identified by mr park, and need closer examination.” she praised them, nodding in approval at their analysis, before continuing, “we shall continue this case study in the next class. good work everybody.”

sunghoon pushed past you as he made his way to his desk and to kim haeun, who wore an obviously fake pout on her face. he flashed a quick smile at her, one which made your heart burn because that smile was the one he used to reserve for you.

“they probably might get together soon,” you muttered quietly while packing your things. they left together, her hand holding his elbow and his jacket draped around her shoulders, giggling at something shared between them.

you never thought your shattered heart could break even more, but you felt the shards splinter further. you didn’t want to break down in the classroom, you shouldered your bag and rushed out as well.

the tears were threatening to fall when you heard a muffled groan. you turned, only to see sunghoon pushing his tongue down haeun’s throat, and her body pressed against his. haeun noticed your stare, gave you a wink, and pressed herself closer onto him, deepening the kiss.

a devastated gasp escaped your lips before you slapped your hand over your mouth and sprinted out of sight.

Y/N — 2021, october 20th, tuesday 16:13

you slammed the door the moment you entered, so hard that it rattled in its frame. you dropped to your knees and cried. cursing him, you were so loud, the neighbours could probably hear you but you couldn’t find it in you to care.

you spent a long time crying, draining yourself of all the energy you had. your cries softened into hiccups, your chest heaving as you struggled to regain your breath, your heart racing with anger and sadness.

you sat in silence for about five minutes; the only sounds in the room were your heavy breathing and your heart beating in your ears, and the only thing to accompany you was the swirl of thoughts in your head. the quiet air buzzed with tension, broken only when there was a knock at your door.

you made your way to the door, wiping your eyes and trying to look at least somewhat presentable. outside your door stood a tall man with the most gorgeous blonde hair and sharp features.

his eyes were filled with concern as he looked down at you. “hey, i’m your neighbour, nishimura riki, or as many call me, ni-ki. i don’t think we have formally met, but are you okay? i may or may not have heard your, uh—” he trailed off.

“oh shit– im sorry you heard that– and yes, i’m fine,” you replied, your cheeks and neck flushing a deep shade of red. he raised an eyebrow, placed his hands on his hips, and gave you a look that made you feel like a child cornered by her mother.

“okay, maybe i’m not fine but i will be—” you began, before being interrupted by a soft tut.

“then i’m coming in and helping you feel better. think of it as a friend helping a heartbroken twin,” ni-ki said, inviting himself in. you shut the door and guided him to your couch, picking up your bag, which you had left at the entrance when you had originally thrown it there upon entering the house.

“nice place,” he said, humming in approval as he dropped himself onto your couch. he pulled out two chocolate bars and a bag of m&ms and handed them to you. “to make you feel better,” he said.

you tried to refuse, but the look he gave you made you close your mouth and simply accept it. you tore open the wrapper and took a small bite of the chocolate bar.

you sat in a silence that, surprisingly, wasn’t awkward. then when you had fully calmed down and regained some energy, he asked, “are you all right? you can talk to me about it, you know? i don’t go to your university, and i’m not going to spread anything you tell me. full confidentiality,” he said, his face straight, though his lips twitched as a smile threatened to break through. ni-ki’s childish demeanour made you giggle.

“but for real, you can tell me, you know. i’m your homeboy now, and you aren’t getting rid of me,” he said, sinking further into your couch to prove his point. the sight made your heart feel a little warmer.

“okay, you’re going to regret saying that now. you make me feel like an older sister– you're so fucked now, i don't do takebacks.” you replied, patting his head, only for him to swat your hand away.

“HEY! i did my hair so beautifully., you might be grieving, but that doesn’t mean you can ruin my hair,” he said sternly, causing a small smile to appear on your tear-stained face.

“speaking of grieving, want to talk about it?” he asked softly. you nodded slowly and began to speak.

you told him how the relationship began to blossom, how people talked about it, how amazing and beautiful it was, and how the teachers viewed the both of you. then you spoke about how the changes became more and more evident, how you both of you became toxic for each other, how the both of you fought constantly, and how you would make up.

you then told him about jay, jake, joomi and how soojin told you both to take a break, explaining why and how it went. then finally reached the part where he suddenly cut you off. you also spoke about how he had been making out with haeun, probably an hour earlier.

you spoke for what felt like hours, just taking the weight of the break-up off your chest. ni-ki for the most part, ni-ki did not say anything; he just hummed, nodded, and occasionally shifted to face you properly. his expression conveyed what he did not say. when you finished, he let the silence fill the room, noticing that you needed a moment to collect yourself.

“that’s a lot, and he sounds like a piece of shit. he sounds like an immature fuck who cannot respect women. he doesn’t deserve you, and he’s not worth fucking up your dreams for. show him that he left behind a better and amazing woman for a campus rich hoe,” ni-ki said.

“okay, that's it. you need a special ni-ki care package, filled with ramen– i know this amazing place, all right? has the best ramen ever. AND ITS CHEAP. like, sir or ma’am, i’m a broke college student; thank you for making me feel included in getting five-star michelin level ramen,” he continued, pulling out his phone and starting to add all sorts of food to the menu.

“do you want me to call my other friends over– also my roommates, by the way– they are, uh, more emotionally intelligent when it comes to relationship problems. also, they can fund all this–” he huffed, breaking into a smile when he saw you laugh and agree.

“OKAY, stay put. DON’T move. i will be right back. if you plan on moving, i will tape you to the sofa– dont play with me bro. what if you get lost when i go and call them, dude? what am i supposed to tell the police? like, 'sir, i do not know where the pocket-sized woman went, please forgive me,'” he said as he got up and ran towards the door, a slight smirk– successfully getting under your skin.

when he left the apartment, the previously sombre and agitated atmosphere was replaced by a light-hearted ambience, lifted by the younger boy’s attitude and attempts to cheer you up.

nishimura riki returned in under two minutes with two boys, both slightly shorter than him. the first had an air of confidence, broad shoulders, and a simple boyish style, with slightly sagged sweatpants and sharp, cat-like eyes.

the second guy looked as if he had just stepped out of high school, with full, round cheeks and had a distinctly foxy appearance. his bubbly personality instantly seemed to infect the atmosphere of the room.

he sauntered over and collapsed on your couch, waving his hand for his two friends to introduce themselves. “hii, i’m kim sunoo! and he’s jungwon!" the cat-eyed man, now identified as jungown, waved when mentioned.

“it’s nice to finally meet you. i’ve seen you in the hallways. i’ve always thought you were so cool," the fox-like man, sunoo, said. you thanked him and beckoned both of them to sit.

the four of you ate and talked about random things. by the end of the night, you learnt that ni-ki was a dance major and the youngest amongst the three, sunoo was a fashion major, and jungwon was a business major, aiming to start his own company.

you discovered that you were the oldest of the group, being a year older than the eldest– sunoo. you found out they were all childhood friends, and you heard about their dreams and about their horrible love lives, to make you feel slightly better.

they helped you tidy up before closing the door and wishing you goodnight. their boyish charm and liveliness filled the whole flat with joy. it made you forget about your broken heart and sunghoon. you went to sleep that night, your heart happy and doing its best to heal.

Y/N — 2022, january 12th, wednesday.

the days flew by, and slowly you were healing. you spent the following months, moving on– gathering the pieces of your heart and gluing them back together. you spent your days in classes, internships, events. the nights clubbing, movie nights, eating out, partying or going to dinner with your friends– joomi, soojin and ofcourse your noisy, and nosey, neighbours– jungwon, sunoo and ni-ki.

it hadn’t taken you long to grow closer to the three boys, doting over the boys like an older sister. it had become a common sight to see them huddled on your couch, eating take out or eating something homemade that someone had prepared.

you still saw sunghoon with haeun. the only difference now was that they had announced their relationship publicly. people talked, speaking of how he had “downgraded” from you to the rich hoe, which always made you smirk, despite your attempts of trying to maintain civility. the biggest problem being your heart was still unforgiving.

the mere sight of him made your blood boil and your mood turn sour. fortunately, the feeling looked mutual. though, his reasons for his hatred was absolute bullshit, because he was the one who ended everything without giving you an explanation. the audacity, honestly.

shocking how a person can go from your comfort and your everything, to the one person you cannot stand to be in the same room with.

Y/N — 2022, may 20th, friday.

graduation day arrived faster than you could have imagined. you were matching dresses with joomi and soojin. it was honestly one of the happiest days of your life. you were thriving, and your dress was a gorgeous, floor length dress. the satin dress, in a beautiful deep blue, was simple yet elegant, paired together with a shiny, simple pearl choker and white heels.

you graduated as one of the top students in the university's department. you couldn’t help but shed a few tears here and there, happy to have completed the journey and upset that you were now moving on to a much more serious part of your life.

Y/N — 2025, november 22nd, saturday 16:35 [the present]

you drove to the office after being called in for an emergency meeting by none other than your boss and friend, lee heeseung. the red haired man took you under his wing when you first joined the company. your friendship with him bloomed as a result of your late night convenience store runs, your love for ramen and– obviously– your work which often led you to stay late into the night.

a sibling-like relationship began to bloom between the two of you. hence why you met his girlfriend at the time and now wife– abby, a sweet, cheeky woman who also adored you and treated you as if you were her sister too.

of course, he would not call you in for an unimportant case, so you knew it was serious. it had been a few years since you graduated, and you had worked your way up the ranks within your company.

you landed an excellent opportunity to work for korea’s largest private firm and rose through the ranks quite quickly. you had also been given the chance to help solve a couple of cases for other countries as well.

you had become something of a sensation, also came to be known as a popular bachelorette whose instagram following had grown significantly, despite not being an influencer, thanks to your sleek, modern, and aesthetic content accessible to the general public on your account. your lifestyle and dedication made you quite the role model for the younger generation aspiring to pursue careers in challenging fields filled with crime and often gruesome scenes.

upon arriving, you settled into your usual seat in the meeting room. you nodded in greeting towards heeseung, who flashed a quick smile in response before turning to the room, which was beginning to fill.

“thank you for coming. i know today was supposed to be a day off, but urgent matters must be brought to attention. we shall begin shortly; i am waiting for—” he stopped as he heard the meeting room door push open.

the man who entered was none other than park sunghoon. although only 25, sunghoon had already gained a reputation as arguably being korea's finest detective – a cold professional whose personal life remains the country's greatest enigma.

it wasn’t uncommon to see comments such as “the modelling industry is lucky he chose a different path” or “korea’s finest man and we don’t even know if he’s off the market” under any post on his instagram, in articles about him, or in related news related to his latest case.

the knowledge of your mutual hatred wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t public knowledge either. only those who had witnessed it personally, or heard of it through others or yourself, knew about it. he did not acknowledge you in any way and neither did you.

“sorry, traffic was bad,” was the only explanation he gave before sitting down on the empty chair opposite to you. you had to restrain yourself from rolling your eyes. you shot heeseung a look, and he gave you a helpless, tight lipped smile.

“okay, since everybody is here, let us begin. as you can see, mr park has joined us today,” he paused before continuing to introduce your team– those who filled the meeting room. “and of course, ms kang,” he fniished.

“the reason we have called you here is because of a case the korean authorities themselves have placed upon us,” he began as he walked towards his laptop. he gestured towards the slides displayed on the screen.

there were pictures of five well respected socialites who are a part of korea’s elite. everyone in the room recognised the individuals.

“four of these five socialites– jang harin, choi eunwoo, yoon taeyang and kim donghyun– have been found dead in the last seven months, and the fifth– cho dasom– has been reported missing by her 29 year old son, cho doyun. she has been missing since attending the gala in gangnam-gu on thursday, 20th november, which was two days ago. now, the government is unable to solve the case. they have identified possible suspects but have made no progress without any proof or viable leads. we have received a case file, including detailed descriptions and photographs of the scenes, which we will examine later.” heeseung paused.

“are the cases connected? why are they all in one case file? last we heard, there was no connection. we know of the murders of the four and have been trying to figure it out. and to my knowledge, mr park has been working on jang harin’s case, where as miss kang was supposed to help the authorities with the cases of kim donghyun and choi eunwoo,” a man in the room said.

“yes, the entire case has been given to us by the authorities. and the pattern involves victims going missing from events they were attending, bouquets being left at their doors exactly a week prior, and each victim receiving calls from an unknown number in the nights before their disappearance. the number of calls from the unknown number coincided with the order in which they were murdered. in addition, the manner in which they were killed– no bloodshed, tactfully and cleanly done– suggests a particular method.

the styles seem similar yet different. of course, we may be wrong, but it is a possibility we cannot rule out. mr park, as for why you are here, the authorities have decided it is appropriate for you to work with miss kang.

they believe this is a case best solved by the most capable. you have one of the highest clearance rates, and so does she. you will have everything you need; meeting rooms and studies will be provided. you can work in either of your private studies– miss kang’s is in this building. but remember, you are in this together.” heeseung spoke, placing a subtle emphasis on the “work together,” warning you to maintain civility.

“that is all for today’s meeting. mr park and miss kang, you are welcome to stay. my office is on the top floor, room 18. If you require anything, call me. miss kang the case files have been placed in your study; you are welcome to go there. mr park, the rough details have been emailed to you. if you would like a copy of the case there is a printer opposite to miss kang’s study in the conference room.” he said before grabbing his files and laptop and walking out.

the room was quiet, an underlying tension began to fill the room. “miss kang, long time no see,” he spoke, voice calm, but a hint of venom laced his voice. “like-wise mr park.” you said, shooting him a glare.

“let’s not make this difficult shall we? i don’t have time for your bullshit. let’s get this straight, we need to work on this case, mr park. It’s dragging korea’s reputation down. don’t make everything harder than it needs to.”

he smirks, “of course not. i’ll be on my best behavior” his voice dripping with sarcasm. “well darling, lead the way. we’ve got a case on our hands. time is ticking.” he says, gesturing towards the door.

you scoffed and couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the nickname and walk towards the door. “keep up park, the case won’t wait for anyone.”

his smirk didn’t fade, only grew as he matched your stride, “oh i intend to, make sure you don’t give me a reason to slow down.” his voice low, amused but a hint of something sharper threaded through it.

“the case isn’t just about you darling,” a beat passed. “my reputation’s on the line and possibly the lives of the remaining elites. “and i’m not letting anyone ruin what i worked to build, hm?” he said as he entered the lift alongside you.

“wouldn’t dream of it, park.” you said, as the doors of the lift shut.

SUNGHOON — 2025, november 22nd, saturday 17:00

sunghoon walked behind y/n into her study, and was hit with a wave of warm air causing the stiffness in his shoulders to leave his body. the study was exactly like her, the y/n he knew. he lost the privilege of calling her his years ago, when he fucked it up by telling her to leave him alone.

he took a deep breath in, he didn’t want her guessing what he was thinking, she always could before, she knew what he wanted before he said it. she hated him now. of course she would. after everything he did. the click of her heels brought him out of his thoughts.

the study was clean and minimalistic, just how you– the both of you– liked things. dark colours, chic and minimal. black, tinted windows and black shutters for privacy– much needed for jobs like yours– and a large tv screen. bookshelves filled with books and files, and occasionally picture frames and potted plants were placed against the walls.

a large desk with a glass table top was placed in the center of the room, the black board you used to map out your thoughts– he assumed– was placed right behind it. a black file was placed right in the center.

sunghoon watched as you sat on your chair, watching as the wheels of the chair push y/n slightly further away from him as he dragged the chair opposite to her. she opened the file which contained the information about the case– a stack of papers lying inside.

she looks up, into his eyes with her eyes sharp and said, “you have the file of jang harin right? i have the files for kim donghyun and choi eunwoo,” as she got up and walked to one of the cabinets before picking up two files.

sunghoon hummed in response, pulling out a file from his prada handbag, along with the lab reports that were delivered to his office the morning before he reached the building. he placed the file down, and pulled out the file containing the details of the other victims towards him.

he flipped through the details before pushing his chair back and standing up with a heavy sigh, “i’m going to go get these printed out,” he said, “i want a copy of this. it’ll be helpful.”

swiftly turning on his heels, his shoes clicked against y/n’s wooden floor as he pulled the door open to exit her study.

Y/N — 2025, november 22nd, saturday 17:30

unghoon had been oddly quiet from the time he entered your study. you couldn’t place a finger on why. he looked deep in thought, but it most probably would have been the case. because what other matters could he be worried about. from what you heard, he’s single and has been for the past two years after he and haeun broke up in the summer of 2023.

you were curious, of course, because you did want to know why they broke up but you didn’t want to ask– not wanting to give sunghoon that satisfaction of having “kept up” with his life. you knew heeseung and sunghoon were friends, but you didn’t want to ask. you knew he wouldn’t tell you.

you brushed it off, and flipped through the cases. you picked up the file sunghoon had placed on the table, flipping it open. jang harin, cause of death was overdose. authorities first assumed it to be a suicide, but her daughter said she wouldn’t– and so did the general public believe– because jang harin, was a well know psychologist.

she was known for helping her patients. she was a very kind woman in the public’s eyes. she was very open about seeking help, if one had any mental concerns. so why would she take those pills? especially, at such high dosage? something wasn’t right.

you set her case file aside, and take a look at yoon taeyang’s file. a travel influencer, son of yoon boem-seok. still young, only thirty-three years old. his family were one of those with new money, but still powerful enough to have quite a few enemies.

he had quite a few haters, but it’s normal for any influencer and it wasn’t anything that caught the eye. maybe it was related to his fathers enemies? you made sure to note down all your suspicions, assumptions and thoughts.

“always one to write down everything, aren’t we y/n?” sunghoon’s voice comes from behind you in a low drawl. he was close enough for you to feel the warmth radiating from his skin. how had you not realized when he re-entered the room?

“miss y/n, i understand that i am a good-looking man, but it doesn’t mean you stare. it’s rude and unprofessional” he smirked mockingly, his voice filled with a cocky arrogance that made your fists clench.

“professionality? quite rich coming from you isn’t it, hm?” you replied, trying your best to not let the man he successfully got under your skin.

“did you get the printouts?” you asked as he pulled a chair to sit beside you. without waiting for his response, “i was looking at the file of jang harin. there is something more to it. i didn’t thoroughly examine everything, but she has no medical records of anxiety or depression so it doesn’t make sense why she would be taking it.” you said.

“yes, i’ve already sent an email to her husband asking for any medical history and i have scheduled an interview with him.” sunghoon spoke. he pulled out his laptop and opened the email, to show you. alongside it, he opened another folder beside the email and gestured for you to look into it.

pulling the device closer to you, you began to read the emails and files he had presented to you– making a mental note of things you would need to check-in on later. beside you, sunghoon opens kim dasom’s file and begins to flip through it. occasionally pausing at certain pages– as if mentally making a note of something– clicking his tongue before moving on. he pulled out a flash drive.

he turned to you, “where can i plug this in? it is the footage from the gala in gangnam-gu.”

you pointed at the desktop on you table, before muttering “it’s connected to the tv,” and continuing to look at the files on his laptop. he plugs it in, and plays the video. you turn your attention from the files to the video playing on the screen.

the video played footage of cho dasom’s last appearance. the video didn’t bring anything out of the ordinary. paparazzi, other people, her son surrounded her. she had a drink in her hand. that looked like wine. she walked around, spoke with many other influential people. her hands and neck were adorned with pearls. weird.

“wait, park, pause it.” you spoke as you moved to stand beside him, playing the clip back.

“one of her bracelets is missing here. after her m.i.a moment and her drink looks a little bit off, or is it just me?”

sunghoon put them side by side for comparison and zoomed in. “yeah, her bracelet is missing. i don’t think any brand miss cha wears would be so easily removable either so she might have removed it herself?” he spoke, “and as for the drink, i think it is a new one, but i’m we should try looking for pictures and videos of the night for closer evidence.”

you hum in approval. the two of you research and make notes and points of possible leads, those to question, who to search, what to look for and everything possible. you bring out the other case files, trying to look for something to connect them, you knew they were connected, a gut feeling as one would say. but a “gut feeling” means nothing without proof.

Y/N — 2025, november 22nd, saturday 18:15

the sky began to darken as the two of you worked. the quiet noise of the a/c in your study, pages of the case files flipping, the soft clicks of the laptop keyboard and mouse as the two of you worked were the sounds heard for hours, the silence only occasionally being interrupted by either of you to bring something to the others attention or the clearing your throats.

the quiet was interrupted by a call on sunghoon’s phone. he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the caller id, and his face hardened. he answered the call with a quiet urgency– pushing his chair back and making his way to the door, his shoes clicking against the wooden floor as he pulled open the door of your study and let it slam shut behind him.

“the fuck?” you mumbled under your breath before deciding he wasn’t worth your time and continued looking over your work. you got five minutes of alone time before the door burst open and sunghoon walked in. “what–” you began to say in shock, slightly jumping and the loud sound.

“i’m leaving,” was all the man offered, his brows furrowed, and the tips of his ears red as he packed his.

“okay. when and where are you meeting me tomorrow, and–” you tried telling him, much to vain as he sighed, “god, always such a pushover y/n. stop being so fucking irritating. i’ll email you.” he spat out, his eyes filled with anger, as he turned on his heel and walked out.

you couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the man’s attitude. he hadn’t even helped put away anything and just stormed out with a “i’ll email you” and how dare he call you a fucking pushover. you were seething. you were civil, all you did was fucking ask him a simple, simple, question and he had the audacity to call you a pushover.

you packed your bags, cleaned the study and made your way to mr lee, your boss and friend’s, office.

you knock on the door of his office, twisting the handle and pushing the door open with his approval to come in.

heeseung was on the phone when you entered and sank into his couch, dropping your bag beside your feet. you kicked off your heels and folded your legs beneath your body, opting to open your phone to keep yourself entertained.

“yes, mr kim, i understand. i shall call you back when i have more updates,” heeseung said, replying mr kim.

placing his phone down, he turned his chair to face you, “so? how was it?”

“bro, do not get me started. he is such a fucking prick. i still don’t understand how he is your best-fucking-friend. he makes my blood boil so fucking much.” you huffed out.

a smile threatened to form on the older man’s face, as he asked “that bad huh? and i thought you would get along fine”

“that’s rich. i think you overestimated him. he’s so fucking annoying bro. i’m genuinely going to beat his ass one day. if he’s dead, you know who it was. and don’t report me to the government.” you spoke in one continuous breath.

“woah, there tiger. slow down, now. deep breaths, yeah? don’t want you bursting a nerve in my office. it’ll be fine y/n, don’t stress it. you’ll warm up to each other soon enough.” he snickers.

tiger was something heeseung began to call you when the two of you started to become close. when you asked why, he just shrugged, tilted his head and said, “you’re like a tiger. brave, fierce, independent, and efficient.”

you were about to retort back when heeseung’s phone rang, he smiled, motuhing “abby” before answering.

you resort to using your phone, not wanting to listen into their conversations because you respected their privacy, you open a message from the groupchats with your friends.

you smiled, skating your head in slight disapproval. you could never really say no to them, they always had a soft spot in your heart.

“what’s the smile for, tiger?” he asked, leaning back in his chair.

“the kids convinced me to go out for dinner” you said, trying to sound annoyed but the shine in your eyes gave you away.

“you do know those three have you wrapped around their finger right?”

“oh shut up hee, you’re equally as compliant for your wife.”

the man only smirked, raising his hands up, “that’s my wife, bro. what did you even expect? what time do you have to go meet them”

you check the watch on your wrist, before saying “shit, i gotta leave now if i want to make it there by 7 30”

grabbing your bags, you wave a quick goodbye to your boss, texting your friends that you would be leaving now and would be slightly late.

Y/N — 2025, november 22nd, saturday 19:35

the door swung open to reveal a woman dressed in all black. she smiles, pulling you in for a hug. “y/n! it’s been so long, how are you? i can’t stay long though, sorry i have plans with the girls.”

you smiled. “navi, don’t worry about it. we’ll get coffee together sometime. busy schedules, i get it. don’t stress about it, yeah?”

jungwon got up from his spot on the couch, a can of beer in hand, walked over and greeted you, then turned towards his girlfriend. not wanting to third wheel, again, you decided to walk towards the couch, where your other two friends were.

shrugging off your coat, you draped it over the arm of the chair, placed your bag near the leg, and made yourself comfortable. “what’s on the menu, sun? ki? i'm absolutely fucking starving,” you asked, reaching forawrd to grab a can of beer for yourself as well.

“ramen, some chicken, corn, sushi and beer obviously,” sunoo replied, grabbing a piece of chicken from the plate ni-ki had just set down.

jungwon came and took the seat opposite you. “how come you were at work today? i thought you had the day off?”

“i did, but heeseung called us in for an important meeting, a new case. a large one” you said, sighing.

“and? what’s the problem? normally you’re really excited about this kind of thing– like bouncing off the walls kind of excited,” jungwon asked.

“they merged the case i was originally working with a few others. yeah, they are similar and there are chances they are connected, but we aren’t sure because it hasn’t been touched upon. and god, i’m cursed! they assigned me to work with park sunghoon out of all people, park sunghoon!” you spat out, as if the name was distasteful to you.

you rant a while to them, before finally calming down.

“maybe it’ll be good. you might sort things out, you know. it wouldn’t hurt? you’re really close with his best friend too,” jungwon, always one for peace, said.

you scoff, opting to finish off your drink instead of replying. a heaviness began to settle over the room.

“uhh, is this a good time to say that i accidentally followed my crush while stalking her—” ni-ki blurted out. and just like that, the heaviness disappeared, and made room for a more electrified atmosphere.

groans and a very noisy bunch of teasing filled the air.

“dude, how did you manage to do that?” sunoo asked, exasperation evident in his voice.

the younger man goes on a huge rant,with his hands flying everywhere, ears turning red defending himself and insisting on how it was a “slip of a thumb”.

and just like that, the topic of sunghoon was forgotten. the “kids” always made you feel at home. it reminded you of your university days, except now you were older, had stable careers. sunoo and jungwon had girlfriends, and ni-ki was flying out of the country every now and then for performances, creating choreographies that make you feel like a proud mom who’s watching.

SUNGHOON — 2025, november 22nd, saturday 21:04

he sat alone under the dim lights as he watched the woman move further away, after she excused herself to the restroom. the argument still replaying in his head. he grabs the glass of wine, and finishes the last bit.

why does she always have to appear at the worst times? he knew they had a deal, but it was beginning to interrupt him every time he started to feel better, happier, freer.

and it wasn’t just her, it was also the memories she dragged along with her. the money. the manipulation. and of course the obsession she always had with him.

god, even a second in her presence made him regret everything. made him remember and made the guilt he’s so carefully tried to hide come clawing back up.

but he couldn’t let slip, he wouldn't. he had to keep his word.

for her.

because it’ll always be her. even when she doesn’t know it. especially because she couldn't know it.

a notification from his pocket pulls him out of his daze.

it was heeseung, reminding him to text y/n about the details and making a snide comment about his abrupt leave from the office.

how does he know about that? he thought. the answer came almost immediately. y/n. they were friends, of course she would tell him.

how professional. complaining about him to her and– now technically– his superior.

he set his phone face down after replying with a quick thumbs up, as he saw the woman approach. he cursed slightly under his breath, before taking a deep breath to compose himself. he plastered on a smile, before refilling both the glasses of wine.

Y/N — 2025, november 24th, monday 09:27

your head was pounding. the lack of sleep from the night before was getting to you, your eyes burning as you tried to focus on the road ahead. you regretted letting joomi convince you to go clubbing with her. you had soup before leaving but, right now, all you so badly needed coffee.

the drive to sunghoon’s office wasn’t too bad. it was only an extra ten minutes or so. he had an appointment scheduled with jang kangdae, jang harin’s husband and then later her daughter.

parking your car, you rush towards the lift, knowing you’d get an earful from sunghoon if you were more than a minute late.

fiddling with the cuffs of your shirt, you’re greeted by the door of the lift sliding open. inside was none other than park sunghoon himself.

you step inside in silence, moving to stand beside him. silence filled the space, but it wasn’t awkward. neither of you made an effort to greet each other. your eyes scan his figure, a bag from a cafe in his hands. it smells good. like comfort and calming.

the door slides open, interrupting you. he walks out first, without sparing you a glance and you follow, because you don’t have a choice. it’s his office and you’ve never been. “talk about zero hospitality manners,” you mutter, rolling your eyes. he stops in front of a door, and pauses for a second before moving in.

he was waiting for you, you could tell, a hand in the pocket of his pants, shoulders wide. how he always waits.

when he sensed you beside him, he spoke without looking at you, busying himself in setting up his things. “this is my office, we’re going to interview mr jang there,” he gestured behind him without turning. “he shall be here in 15 minutes.”

he pulled out a coffee and placed it near your bag, before grabbing another one and walking outside.

you grab the coffee, a small smile spreading across your face without your consent.

taking a sip, you relish the feeling of warmth and comfort it brought you, the sleep in your eyes slowly fading. you move to unpack your bags, and remove your headphones.

on the fifth sip, you realised this was your regular order. the one you’ve drank since you were eighteen, fresh in college.

with five minutes to spare, you head out. a tiny notebook and pen in your coat pocket, coffee still in hand. you join sunghoon in the room, taking a seat beside him. you don’t thank him for the coffee and he doesn’t expect one.

instead, you ask “do you think he has any involvement in the case? it’s common knowledge they were never on the best of terms.”

“always a possibility, can’t put it past people. he should be here soon,” he spoke as he checked his watch.

a sharp knock interrupted the both of you. a woman, the receptionist– you recalled– peeps through, “mr. jang is here,” pushing the door in and moving away so the man could walk in.

mr jang, was a tall man with broad shoulders and a stern face dressed in a well-tailored black suit. from the looks of it, he looked like a man who knew no fun.

sunghoon stood, gesturing to him to take a seat across the table. meanwhile, you moved to take a seat slightly behind sunghoon, still present but not in the spotlight. after all, interviews were his speciality, you were here to listen and observe.

“i do not wish to take too much of your time, mr jang. i’d appreciate your cooperation. this is my partner, ms kang, she shall join us today,” you nod in greeting as sunghoon began, there was no warmth or hospitality in his voice– just cold and straightforward. ‘so this was how he earned his reputation’, you thought.

jang kangdae gave a short nod in your direction as he clasped his hands on the table, waiting for sunghoon to continue.

sunghoon folded his hands on the table, his gaze fixed on the man across from him. “this conversation will be recorded, and with your consent i’d like to begin with some basic questions.” jang kangdae gave a curt nod.

“how would you describe your relationship with your wife?”

kangdae paused, swallowed. “fine.”

you almost rolled your eyes, men and their lack of explanations pissed you off. sunghoon leaned slightly backwards, “fine?”

“we argued, then we made up. as one does.”

“what kind of arguments?” he pressed further.

he cracked his knuckles, “family matters and work,” kangdae replied, though it seemed like he wanted to add on, he remained silent.

sunghoon took a breath, “the public believes ms jang and yourself were not on good terms, why is that?”

“why do people talk the way they do?” he replied, though you noticed his fist clenched, ever so slightly– for a split second before they went back to its “relaxed position”. sunghoon noticed too.

he chose to not comment on it and instead moved ahead, “did you know your wife was receiving calls from an unknown number?”

“we do everyday, it’s not a shocking occurrence.” the silence stretched.

mr jang checked his watch, and shifted slightly.

“how would you describe your wife’s behavior the week before her death?”

“i was out of town when she was found dead, before i left she was fine.” he tapped his his foot on the ground. odd, you thought– not his statement. the reactions, the responses.

“did she seem anxious in any ways?”

“no.” sunghoon tilted his head slightly. studying the man across from him, he tapped his thumb once against his finger.

“no changes in sleeping habits? eating habits? stress levels?” his voice remained level.

“no.” he stopped.

“mr jang,” sunghoon repeated, leaning forwards clasping his hands again, “your wife was receiving repeated calls from an unknown number, and according to people, her co-workers, friends and your daughter, she had been acting differently in the days leading up to her death.”

kangdae's eyebrows furrowed. “i wasn’t home enough to recognise.”

“so you knew nothing of your wife’s behavior?”

a flash of irritation passed through mr jang’s face, before smoothening it over again. “i've already answered your questions.”

from beside sunghoon, you noticed it again– his fingers pressed into his palm. too hard.

“you have been answering your own questions mr jang, not mine.” sunghoon said, his voice dropping slightly.

for the first time since entering the room, kangdae shifted uncomfortably. “i've answered everything you've asked.”

“have you?” sunghoon asked calmly before continuing, “you say your relationship with your wife was fine, yet the public believed otherwise. you say she behaved normally, but you weren't home enough to notice changes. you say you knew nothing about the calls.” kangdae looked at him, eyes narrowing, foot tapping silently against the floor once before stopping abruptly.

“you seem to know very little about your wife, mr jang.” sunghoon spoke.

kangdae's expression hardened. “you don’t know what you’re talking about.” and from beside sunghoon, you sat a little straighter. because there it was again. fingers pressing into his palm, but this time, his shoulders tightened too.

he took a breath, unclenching his hand. “what do you want me to say,”

“i need you to answer my questions honestly. so i’ll repeat myself once more. was your wife anxious? or showing signs of depression? ”

he clenched his jaw, “i don’t think so, she was smiling at my daughter. i wouldn’t know why she was taking pills. hell, i don’t even know how they got there.” a slight pause. “she never even tol—” he paused, eyes widening a fraction, before he cleared his throat.

sunghoon’s eyes narrowed. you looked up from your notes. mr jang, shifted slightly and checked his watch, “i have a meeting to attend. let’s continue this later.”

“alright, i’ll be in touch with your secretary.” sunghoon said, pushing his chair back. you stand beside him as you watch mr jang walk out of the room.

the tension in the room does not ease. you turn on your heels and walk out, moving to sunghoon’s office.

you pull your laptop open. not bothering to sit, you start pulling files and the notes from her case. you do not turn as you hear the door open.

“i’ve asked mrs kim to send a request for the interview of ms jang to be pushed earlier.” he says, walking in front of you, taking a seat at his desk, loosening his tie.

you look up, your eyes locking with his. “we need to find out what he was going to say.” sunghoon leaned back in his chair, watching you for a moment. “you noticed it too, right?”

“i noticed a lot of things, park. be specific.” you say before moving your gaze back to your laptop. “his hand.” he said. “yeah, i did. he kept tensing whenever we mentioned mrs jang.”

humming, he loosened his watch and placed it on his desk. you could feel his gaze on you. “and?” he asked.

“and?” you ask. looking up to meet his gaze.

“people do strange things when they're nervous.” but he doesn’t sound confident. narrowing your eyes, you ask “you don't believe that?” the corner of his mouth twitched, he replied “no. not when they have things to hide.”

“what, so you’re saying he did it?”

the reply came quickly. “no,” you breathe in, rolling your eyes slightly. was he allergic to replying properly?

“do you think he had something to do with it?” you pressed further. “maybe. can’t be sure yet.” he replied. he was doing this on purpose. clipped responses when he knows you hate them.

“i emailed about the permit to look at her office.” he said, switching the topic.

“good. let me know when they get back.” you replied. a comfortable silence filled the room as the two of you worked.

SUNGHOON — 2025, november 24th, monday 11:33

sunghoon grabbed his watch from the table, staring at the arms move. he placed it down beside his laptop. running his hand through his hair, he watched the woman in front of him. she was working, reading the case files and statements from everyone who provided them and comparing them to the transcript of the interview with kangdae.

he didn’t like working with a partner, but this case forced him to work with her. she worked hard, he couldn’t deny that. y/n always worked till she was exhausted to her bones, she’d work no matter what condition she was in. she’d do anything to get the answers she thought she needed. and was very, very fucking infuriating.

his attention was drawn to his work by a ping on his laptop. it was his secretary forwarding an email of ms jang agreeing to meet at one instead of three.

“ms jang agreed to meet with us at one.”

y/n hummed, not sparing him a glance. he resisted the urge to scoff. “we should probably head for lunch.”

“you can go,” she replied, without really listening to him.

he rolled his eyes, “suit yourself,” he spoke. wearing his watch, he grabbed his wallet and phone, and walked out.

stubborn woman, he muttered under his breath. i hope she starves, he thought.

his phone buzzes in his pocket as he enters the lift. it’s a call. he answers without looking at the contact. only one person would call him at this time.

he brought the phone to his ear, and a sweet, sultry, “hey love,” greeted him.

Y/N— 2025, november 24th, monday 12:09

pushing your chair back, your stomach grumbled. you hadn’t eaten anything since– shit, you hadn’t had any real food since her pre-clubbing. that was like more than twelve hours ago.

you shut your laptop, and walked out of sunghoon’s office, shutting the door behind her. the queue wasn't too long. thankfully.

you stared up at the menu absentmindedly, still half focused on the case. jang kangdae's expression and, of course, the slip up.

“you've been standing here for two minutes.” you turned. park sunghoon, obviously. who else would it be? and why the fuck was he everywhere?

“i was thinking.” he smirks, “didn’t know you had it in you”

you narrowed your eyes and scoffed, you ask “aren't you supposed to be eating?”

“i am.” he replied. only then did you notice the tray in his hand. you blinked. then stared at it. placing the menu down, you turn towards him entirely.

“is that my order?” you asked, eyebrows raised. “no,” he replied immediately, casually. “one of them is.”

he turned around, walking to a table and setting the tray down. your feet followed before you willed them to.

“you've got twenty minutes before we leave,” he said flatly, as you took the chair in front of him

“i didn't ask you to buy me food.” you said, annoyed, but grateful nonetheless. he couldn’t know that though.

the reply didn’t come fast. he opened the ramen container, took a bite, chewed, then decided you were worth a reply. “i didn't ask you to starve.”

“you're acting weird.” you said as you pulled the pasta plate towards you, blowing on the steamy dish before taking a bite.

without looking at you, he replied, “eat.”

Y/N— 2025, november 24th, monday 12:32

the rest of lunch passed in a comfortable silence. comfortable enough that it irritated you. sunghoon scrolled through something on his phone between bites of ramen while you finished the pasta in front of you.

every now and then, you'd catch him glancing at his watch. exactly twenty minutes later, he stood.

“let's go.” you stared up at him. “wow. ever the gentleman, aren’t we?”

he grabbed his phone from the table and just walked away. you rolled your eyes, making your way out of the restaurant behind him. he was waiting for you at the lift. you narrowed your eyes. “you're so fucking irritating.”

“eat faster next time.” he said, smirking, not even sparing you a glance.

“how do girls even think you’re worth their time. if they met you they’d hate you”

“mhm.”

by the time the two of you returned to the office, mrs kim had already informed you that ms jang had arrived earlier than expected. you adjusted your blazer as you stepped out of the lift, eyes moving towards the waiting area.

she looked beautiful, despite her puffy eyes and anxious demeanor. she sat with both hands wrapped around a glass mug of coffee, leg bouncing slightly against the floor. dark circles sat beneath her eyes and despite being dressed neatly, she looked exhausted.

when she heard footsteps, she looked up immediately. hope. people always looked like that. and it pained you. she reminded you of you.

sunghoon stopped beside you, following your line of sight towards the woman. “ms jang?” he called.

she stood almost immediately, gripping the mug tighter before smiling slightly. “yes.” up close, she looked really exhausted. her eyes were drooping, as if sleep had abandoned her days ago.

“i’m detective park sunghoon, and this is kang y/n, a criminal analyst.” he introduced, gesturing briefly towards you. you offered her a small smile. “thank you for coming.”

“no, thank you,” she replied quickly, almost cutting you off. “i just– i want to know what happened to my mother.” there it was again. the hope. you hated it, made you feel responsible.

sunghoon opened the door to the interview room, letting her walk in first. she paused for a second, hesitating, before entering. you followed behind, taking your usual seat slightly behind sunghoon.

jang jisoo’s eyes landed on you. “you'll be here too, right?” the question caught you off gaurd, you gave her a small smile. “of course.”

sunghoon waited until she settled into her seat before speaking. “thank you again for coming, ms jang. i understand this isn't easy.” you could tell this was going to be different from the previous interview. he was gentler, not obviously, never obviously. his gaze became a little softer, his tone lost the coldness, instead developed a brotherly tone.

jisoo shook her head slightly, wrapping both hands around the paper cup in front of her. “it's okay.” it wasn't and you could tell.

sunghoon opened the file in front of him. “i'd like to ask a few questions regarding your mother and the week leading up to her death.” she only nodded. he let the silence fill before he spoke again.

“how would you describe your mother?”

for the first time, her expression softened. relaxed, as if she was recollecting happy memories.

jisoo’s eyes dropped to the table. “she was busy,” you looked up. busy wasn't the answer you had expected. “but she was kind,” she continued quietly. “really kind, you know? she always made time for people who needed her.” another pause. “sometimes too much of her time.”

sunghoon glanced up briefly. “too much?”

“she cared a lot about others.” she said simply. but her eyes, they implied something else. something heavier.

sunghoon didn't say anything immediately, he let her breathe, process and recollect. “can you explain what you mean by that?”

“my mother— she always wanted to help people. sometimes she'd come home really late because a patient needed her, or she'd answer calls during dinner because she thought it was important.” she smiled, but it wasn’t happy. “i used to complain about it when i was younger.”

the smile faded almost immediately. “but i guess i got used to it.”

your heart ached for her, both her parents being busy meant she got little to no time with them. you snuck a glance at sunghoon, his face remained impassive.

“did anything change during the week before her death?”

her fingers tightened around the mug, her jaw tightened. “yeah,” a simple answer. but very different from her husband’s.

“did she seem distracted?” sunghoon asked, lighty. jisoo nodded mutely.

“distracted how?” he asked.

jisoo frowned. “she'd look at her phone a lot,” she started, then hesitated. sunghoon waited for her to continue. “and, i don’t think she was sleeping properly either.”

sunghoon leaned back slightly in his chair. “was she worried about something?” she didn’t reply immediately. she shifted, her hand trembled slightly. “i thought it was work at first.” you looked up from your notes, watching her again.

“at first?” sunghoon asked, his tone shifting to something close to softness.

her eyes lifted breifly. “my mother was always busy, so stress wasn't really unusual.” she rubbed her thumb against the handle of the mug absentmindedly. “but she'd keep checking her phone, and whenever she did, she'd look–” she frowned slightly, breathing in.

silence filled the room. sunghoon gave her space, letting her compose herself before she continued.

“she looked scared. my mother is a lot of things. but she wasn’t scared. she is the bravest woman i know.” silence filled the room once more. jisoo sat straight, but she seemed to shrink into the chair. her eyes were staring into the now empty mug, her fingers lightly tapping against the cup.

you glanced at sunghoon, but he was already looking at you. his expression remained unreadable, but his fingers had begun to unclasp from its hold. “did your mother ever mention the calls?” he asked eventually.

jisoo looked up, “calls?” she asked, as if the concept was new, unheard of.

he continued, “from an unknown number.” she thought for a few moments before slowly shaking her head.

she tilted her head. “my mother never spoke of such things to me. but–” she stopped, setting her cup down. “but?” sunghoon pressed lightly.

“i remember hearing her phone ring a lot.” she shifted slightly in her seat, her shoulders dropping slightly.

“usually very late into the night. i don’t think i was supposed to have heard it. but i did. i think she’d think the whole house was asleep. she never realised i was awake.”

“how did she react to those calls?”

“at first she’d silence it. to not wake anyone. especially my father, if he was home. she’d go outside– to the balcony i mean– and she’d stare at her phone. watch it ring. sometimes she’d pick it up, bring it to her ear. it barely lasted for a minute. she’d end the call and walk to the wine cabinet, pour herself a glass and drink it. alone, in the dark.”

your pen had stopped moving long ago. sunghoon's expression didn't change, but you noticed the slight tightening of his jaw. “did your father know about this?” he asked.

jisoo blinked. “i'm not sure. they weren't exactly the type to tell each other everything.”

the room fell quiet. you glanced down at your notes. busy. phone. late night calls. fear. wine.

none of it matched what kangdae had said earlier. because according to him— his wife had been perfectly fine. was she “fine” according to him? or was he lying? or were they never close enough to realise. but that couldn’t be possible, you can’t be married to someone for twenty-three years and not know their regular behavior, not know when they were anxious.

you looked at sunghoon, silently asking him if you could speak. he nodded slightly. “would you say she was anxious?”

jisoo's brows furrowed slightly. “anxious?” she repeated quietly. you nodded. she stared down at the table for a few moments, her fingers flexing slightly.

“i don't know.” her fingers tapped once against the cup. “my mother always carried stress well.” she paused, but it was tense, and tired. tired in a way that it felt she had been carrying something heavy for a while. her eyes lifted again. “she started locking her study.” sunghoon looked up.

“locking it?” he repeated. jisoo nodded slowly. “she never used to. she—”

her phone began to ring. she looked at the caller id, confusion flickered across her face . “it’s my professor. it’s probably urgent. i should probably take this. is that okay with you?”

sunghoon nodded, “yes, we’ll take a fifteen minute break. miss kang and i will be in my office, you’re free to take the room,” he said, as he gathered the files and his notes as he walked out without sparing you a glance.

you shot her a quick glance, watching as she swiped her thumb against the screen, bringing the phone to her ear, you walked out behind the man. you followed him into his office, where he had already settled into his chair.

you shut the office door behind you. and for a moment, neither of you spoke. sunghoon dropped the files onto his desk before leaning back in his chair, stretching slightly. “thoughts?” he asked. the fire in his eyes had returned, the slight softness in them had disappeared in jisoo’s absence.

you stared at him, without replying. his eyebrow lifted slightly. “what? do you have nothing else to say? or did you forget it all looking at me. because—”

“stop.” you said, your eyes turning to steel. the corner of his mouth twitched.

“go on, then. speak.” he said, his voice dropping a little lower. if this was in another scenario and a different man, you might have considered it hot. the effortless dominance and cockiness he always managed to slip into his voice, it irritated you to no end.

“i think she’s telling the truth. but that means kangdae lied, because he said his wife was fine. or maybe he never realised for whatever reason. but then he was a shitty husband because you can’t be married to someone for over twenty years and not how they act. pathetic i tell you.”

“you couldn’t know that. people only see what they want to see. and kangdae is clearly that type of man. he saw her as a guest at his house. why would he want to know more? it was clear he never wanted her, and it was clear she never wanted him.” he countered, his posture stiffening. the sharpness in his eyes took you aback. why was he so sure?

sunghoon leaned back slightly in his chair, his eyes fixed on you. “or,” he said slowly, “you're assuming people tell each other everything.” you frowned.

“that's not what i'm saying.”

“isn't it?” you looked up from the files. “i'm saying you notice things.” he tilted his head slightly.

“do you?” he asked. his eyes, sharp and cold.

you stared at him. “what's that supposed to mean?”

his fingers tapped once against the arm of his chair. “people hide things all the time.” he said. like it was unimportant. like it was meaningless.

“not from people they love.” the words left your mouth before you could stop them. he blinked, clenching his fists. silence followed. sunghoon didn't move. nothing. and then his jaw tightened. “you'd be surprised.” his voice was quieter now, but it’s sharpness hadn’t disappeared. it only became bolder.

you stared at him for a moment. the argument had taken a personal turn, and you knew it. you balled your hands into fists, your nails digging into your palm.

“you can’t love someone and not realise. you can’t marry someone, live with them for years and not know the basics of their personality or behavior. hell—” you paused abruptly. sunghoon’s eyes bore into you, his head slightly tilted as if he was questioning your statement entirely.

“go on, darling. what was that?” he said, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly, but it didn't reach his eyes.. you shook your head, “nothing. we have better things to worry about. what else do we need to know?” you looked away first, still feeling his sharp eyes boring into your skull.

the tension sat heavily in the room, neither of you spoke. you busied yourself with rearranging the files in front of you despite them already being organised. a sharp knock cut through the silence. mrs kim peeked through the door. “ms jang is ready.”

you stood almost immediately. anything was better than sitting in that room any longer. you walked ahead, not bothering to check if sunghoon was following. but you were very conscious of the way his footsteps trailed behind you.

when the two of you entered the interview room again, jisoo had already placed her phone back into her bag. her eyes shot up as she heard the two of you enter. “sorry,” she said quietly, looking towards him. “my professor needed something.” sunghoon took his seat again. moving to sit beside him, you couldn’t help but notice how entirely different kangade and his daughter were.

“it's alright, may i pick up from where we left off?” he asked, opening the file once more. the softness was back in his eyes, his tone losing its sharp edge. he began to speak with her nod. her hands gripping the mug, that was now refilled with fresh coffee that was still steaming.

“you mentioned your mother started locking her study.” jisoo nodded slowly.

“she started around two weeks before,” she spoke, pausing as she glanced at the ceiling before her eyes flickered back to sunghoon again. “before everything.” sunghoon glanced down briefly at his notes. “did anyone go inside?”

she shook her head. “not me. and certainly not my father either.” sunghoon looked up slowly. “certainly? you’re sure?”

jisoo frowned slightly. “yeah.” her brows pulled together. “father hated going into her study. he never said why. he just didn’t.”

sunghoon hummed faintly, tilting his head tot he side. “not the maids? the housekeepers? no one?” sunghoon pressed further.

she didn’t reply immediately. she blew the coffee, and took a sip. “i believe they weren’t allowed to. i myself haven’t been there much.”

sunghoon glanced briefly at you before looking back at jisoo. “sometimes the smallest things matter,” he said. “even if they seem unimportant.” jisoo stared down at the coffee in her hands. you thought she'd shake her head, say nothing. but instead she started.

“she forgot things.”

“forgot?”

jisoo nodded slowly. “small things. my mom never forgets things. she has amazing memory.” she let out a quiet breath, something that could have been a laugh.

“she forgot to remind me to bring my umbrella one morning.” she smiled faintly. “it sounds stupid.” nobody interrupted her. “she forgot where she left her glasses once. and she burnt breakfast.”

you blinked. burning breakfast? jisoo looked up briefly, her eyes shifting between you and sunghoon.

“my mom didn't cook much, but whenever she did. she did it properly. like someone was grading her.” her eyes dropped again. she paused, breathing in. clenching her fists.

“i remember thinking she looked distracted. like she was somewhere else.” her grip tightened around the mug.

“i thought she was tired. now i don't know if she was.”

sunghoon tapped his pen lightly against the table. he was beginning to get a little frustrated. always the impatient man. “did your mother ever keep anything important there?”

“important? in what sense?”

“documents. files. letters.”

she thought for a few moments. “i wouldn’t know, i assume so. her job forced her to maintain patient confidentiality. she never really spoke about her clients or anything.”

sunghoon tapped his foot, opening his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by jisoo.

“but, um.” you looked up from your notes and sunghoon had shut his mouth again, waiting for her to continue.

“she did spend more time there.” his foot tapped once more, as if to say “bingo!”

“more time?” jisoo nodded slowly. “sometimes— sometimes when i'd wake up in the middle of the night and see the light under the door.” she looked down at the coffee in her hands. “and i thought she was working.”

“you think?” sunghoon asked.

“i do not know what i think anymore. but i know she was a little scared.”

nobody spoke, the low hum of the a/c filled the room. sunghoon lowered his pen onto the table. “one last thing.” jisoo looked up.

“the day your mother was found,” her fingers tightened around the mug. “did anything unusual happen?” she frowned, thinking.

“not really.” a pause. “father had left early for work, as usual. and i had left for my classes. i hadn’t seen my mother that morning. and i don’t know if father did.”

you looked down at your notes. “for work?” you asked absentmindedly. “yeah.”

sunghoon glanced down at the notes in front of him. “did he mention where he was going that day?”

jisoo shook her head. “no, father usually doesn't tell me those things.” you nodded absentmindedly, scribbling down the last few points from the interview. phone calls. fear. Study. late nights.

you looked up slightly. “mr jang mentioned he had a meeting today too.”

“yeah, it’s like that he’s always busy.” jisoo replied automatically. then her brows slowly pulled together, she straightened. setting her mug down. “meeting?” she asked.

“today?” she repeated, sounding confused now. the room went still. sunghoon shot a quick glance towards you. “my dad doesn't have meetings today.”

a pause. sunghoon looked up. and you stopped writing.

“it's his day off.”

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