— police station.

@✽ junho l. "I just met my neighbors, I couldn't possibly trouble them. It's poor etiquette." Her eyes narrowed, impatience crossing her features for a brief second and then quickly formed a friendly smile. The main reason she even went through all this trouble looking for him was because of his family. They always treated her with kindness and offered support through all these years, it was a relationship she cherished dearly. Now that she was living near their brother, it was only right for her to check in on him, a well-known workaholic. "As for you though, I have known you for years, we are well past that phase."

With a small laugh, Dahyun accepted the candy and glanced through them with a curious smile. Does Junho see her like a child? She wondered, after all, she was friends with his younger sister. They had regular phone calls and meet-ups when she still lived in the city, offering her own notes from law school. When Junhee insisted for the second time, then a third, that she meet with her brother, it was not just for mischief but also out of concern for her brother. While a friendly face in town would help her own transition, it wasn't a necessity. This was a favor that the pair of siblings asked of her, and she was more than happy to oblige. After seeing him with her own eyes, it was clear he was long overdue a day off and with her own schedule empty for the day, it might as well be today. So, she was not going to take no for an answer, it was as simple as that.

"In my opinion, it doesn't look like your office or coworkers are all that busy. I'm sure they can spare you for the rest of the day at least." Dahyun pocketed away the candy and glanced around the office, noting the state of their desks. Her arrival as a young and wealthy woman looking for Junho personally was enough to get his coworkers talking and distracted from their own work. There was some well earned teasing in Junho's future which was her intended goal and it was a good way to gauge the state of his office environment. They were relaxed and comfortable enough to gossip, so it really was just Junho being a workaholic.

"Junho, let me save you the trouble. If someone can direct me to the chief, I can bring my complaints to them and get you the day off." Dahyun requested with a comforting grin, already on her feet and looking around for the office. She was from a powerful political family and working towards being a lawyer, it was easy for her to speak her mind in the face of authority figures. To her surprise, the chief was already in the room and likely present during their conversation. Dahyun approached with a smile, not too friendly to get her determination across and asked politely. "I apologize for not greeting you sooner, but it does save me a lot of trouble. What do you think about giving Junho the rest of the day off? I'm sure we can both agree he deserves the rest of the day off after all of his hard work."

@✽ gyuri p. glancing back at the coffee bar behind him, he spoke as he his computer, “before you leave, take another cup with you. at least it will keep you warm on the way back.” he started typing away on a few forms, but he would steal a biscuit once again to go with his already sweet drink. however, as he heard the store owner’s impatience through her voice, he shook his head, “as much as i would like to tell you it would take almost an hour, i also could see it easily taking more than that. it wouldn’t be fair to hold you in longer than what i promise. we still have to get the last of signatures from those kids’ parents. you’re right, they’re more lawsuit happy compared to our times.”

a soft snort escaped him when he thought back on the evening’s earlier events. it only took a few seconds for the printer to shoot out the forms from earlier, which he presented in front of gyuri with a pen ready. with his own pen, he pointed at a sheet that described the evening’s events, “look, gyujong messed up tonight. that fight especially did not work in his favor, considering we’re dealing with high schoolers, who are brats. however, he lucked out because we found some stuff on the kids, herbal products let’s call it that. don’t worry we didn’t find anything like that on him.” motioning his head out the door, he continued, “their parents don’t want that on the kids’ records, so they’re more than willing to settle this fight.”

he turned his computer screen to the young woman’s direction, showing some of the report too that listed who was there and their injuries. at the very bottom was her cousin’s name with the longest amount of injuries, but nothing major just scratches and bruises. “no one broke any bones. they’re all going to heal up. if anything, tell gyujong if he has a need to fight play some video games. he had the worst injuries from the bunch. if it’s fine with you, i’ll just need your permission agreeing that you won’t press any charges against the kids.”

@✽ junho l. gyuri perked up at the mention of coffee. if detective lee was offering, who was she to refuse? “thanks, i’d appreciate a cup.” she shook her head, hesitating a bit before answering. “actually i walked… i was basically on autopilot once i got the call. guess i know how my idiot cousin and i will be getting home after this...”

she was initially excited as she watched him prepare their mugs of coffee but that feeling left as soon as he pushed a chair toward her. between having to stay here longer and being called ma’am like she was some ahjumma, gyuri’s patience was wearing thin. “couldn’t you have filled out the paperwork /before/ i got here? this hardly feels like sufficient use of our time, /sir/,” she pointed out brusquely as she grabbed her mug and sat down. she made a face after taking a sip. it was a bit too bitter for her taste but it did its job of jolting her awake.

“gyujong wouldn’t be himself if he wasn’t pushing his luck all the damn time.” she frowned, disliking how vague the detective was. “what makes you say that? parents these days are trigger-happy when it comes to potential lawsuits involving their kids. you might as well clue me in so i’m prepared.” she eyed him suspiciously before shifting her gaze to the tin of biscuits. “yep, another late night as always.” she sighed as she grabbed a biscuit and took a small bite. “even longer now considering that i’m stuck here until you’re done. so precisely how long is filling all that out going to take?”

@✽ gyuri p. “you’re right, miss. park. if you want to find his silver lining, he was productive, but just not the most effective of evenings. had we found him an hour earlier he could had joined us for dinner, but i guess duty of the fists calls,” he agreed while receiving his tablet. it was in that moment, he noticed the way her eyes travelled to the fresh pot of brew. aside from him and the other officers in the town, she probably had the worst sleep schedule based on the various times of the day he spotted her. not too longer after, he made his way over to the counter. “before you go, let me get you a coffee. it’s not a good idea to fall asleep on your way back. did you drive or catch a bus here?”

only a minute later, he poured two heavy mugs that had a slight bitter burnt taste to them, but they still did the job of a quick jolt. in his pocket, he slipped a few sugar packets and mini cream cups. on his way, he pushed a chair out towards the woman that was not too far from his desk. he placed the drinks down, already starting on his cup with a pack of sugar and creamers that made the drink appear more like flavored milk, “mam, you should sit down while i fill out the paperwork. looks like gyujong wanted to add a few extra things on our plates tonight.”

a few more vigorous stirs with his chocolate biscuit from a tin on his desk, he took a bite from the extremely crumbly snack. he sighed before announcing, “your cousin got lucky tonight. one of the kids’ parents wanted to press charges, but i think they’ll change their mind. let’s just say that.” without a word said, he pushed his tin of biscuits towards her to soften the news, “another late night?"

@✽ nicole j. junho stared at the five pictures spread across his desk, just some of the children missing across the region in the past few months. three of them were from different orphanages, their parents long gone from the pictures despite all three being under the age of five. one from a foster home, a boy eight years old and already passed through how many families that would never leave a solid foundation that a child would need in those early years. the last was a little girl, different from the others from her picture alone. unlike the empty smile that etched the other four, at three years old she had the bright smile that every child should have, a tender age like that should not be exposed to the horrors of the world. she was dressed in a white laced dress and had a perfectly done bow in her hair, almost like a little doll, the treasure of her wealthy family’s eyes.

his own gaze was fixed on the last picture, wondering was it because of her wealthy background? or was it because she had a family that someone actually noticed she was taken? these questions and the potential theories running wild in his head, he gripped onto his pencil that was close to breaking had it not been for one of his junior officers calling out to him. a potential break.
not wasting a second, he ran over to table that he found agent jung at. she was only a year younger than him, not as experienced in undercover work like he was, but already known to be a sharp shooter amongst those he talked to. despite her reputation, he started firing his own questions, “i heard there’s a site. did you find anything? what else did that scum say?”

seeing the laptop on the table, he pushed his way through everyone to get as close to the screen as possible. however, he sighed to himself when he realized from the many faces staring back at them on the screen, none of them were the kids that he was looking for. instead he could just nod his head, mumbling as he continued to study the site, “looks like we hit the jackpot. does anyone have any information on the website? its owners?”

@✽ dahyun k. Junho sighed just at the slight glance over at his device, seeing another message from his younger sister, Junhee. The rather eager law school student along with their older brother, Minjun, constantly spammed him with texts throughout the past few weeks about a friend of theirs, help her settle into town. Even his nieces and nephews somehow knew about this, always nudging him during family get togethers about when he would help “the nice lady”. However, he did not have tour guide plastered across his forehead. Rather, he had a shiny badge, decent title, an old cramped station, and pile of cases waiting for him.

Reaching for the newest file that landed on his desk this morning, he started to skim through it first before truly deep diving through the case. However, just as he reached the second page, he already could sense something was different. From the corner of his eye he spotted a couple of his junior detectives gawking and getting rather giddy for no good reason, especially when they were late on the upcoming paperwork deadlines. That glance alone had him clicking his tongue softly, keeping his head hung low and deep into the file. However, it not too long for him to catch a floral whiff under this nose, definitely clashing against the old sweaty scents that stained the floors and walls of this aging building. Before he could ask, he heard he felt someone join him at his desk.

“You have got to be kidding me,” the annoyance was thick in his muttering as he pinched the bridge of his nose. This was the reason why the officers in the station were acting like high schoolers, already most of them blatantly ignoring their work so they could stare at these two. Glancing at the bag, a cautious look to him before eventually giving in and taking the gift, he set in his drawer that he locked up. “Thank you for this.” For a second, he could not say much as he closed the file in front of him before she could read it. He knew law students and lawyers, always nosy about potential cases that they could use their skills and comment on to showcase their intelligence as if their opinion was wanted. “I’ve been busy with work, it’s not exactly like I can take time off. I thought Junhee told you that. After all it seems like she’s always on her phone, using that app, Tik Tak Toe.”

He waved his hand away at the thought of his younger sister and she always had a knack putting sister in situations like this, the argument being that was the role of any good baby sibling. Turning his head slowly to the young woman’s direction, he saw how well dressed she was, an obvious answer as to why every cop here turned into some howling wolf from an old cartoon. On the other hand, Junho prided himself not being like many others, not easily distracted or captivated. He sighed before reaching into his jar of candy, handing some next to her as his payment, “Look, I don’t know when I’m going to be free for the next few weeks. So I can’t exactly promise you a time, even if I could I don’t know if I would. Besides, you had a housewarming party. Didn’t you meet any neighbors that could help you out?”

@✽ junho l. After the third failed phone call, Dahyun had exhausted all of her patience and decided to take matters into her own hands by showing up at the station. At best, Junho was an acquaintance and she met him through his family, who she was rather close to. His older brother was her mentor from her time as a law student and now, she considers him a close confidant, so it was only natural that he told her to reach out to Junho. A man, she remembers as a grumpy old detective with a questionable taste in clothing, and it was only at the insistence of his sister, a good friend, that she relented. It was just going to be an hour or two of lunch, quick and cleanly finished. Now it was clear that she was being outright ignored and that just won't do, given all the time she wasted to do this according to his time.

It was no secret what most people thought of her and when it suits her, she leaned into the persona carefully crafted for public social events. Dahyun arrived dolled up for a day that she spent a lot of effort to free up for this very occasion. At the front desk, Dahyun offered a friendly smile at the individual as she explained her arrival. "I'm so sorry to bother you, but I'm here for Junho. He's been so busy lately and I decided to surprise him on his break." She laughed with a shy smile, tucking a stray strand of hair while exposing her expensive wristwatch and settling on the handle of her bright red gift bag.

A first impression was everything and Dahyun's attire will keep the rumor mill turning for weeks, let alone her presence and cause some well earned trouble for Junho. An amused smile curled her lips as she looked at the very man from where she was seated beside his desk. "Junho, I missed you at my housewarming party. You are working too hard lately." Dahyun stood, examining him from head to toe with a teasing smile now. She needed a reason to come by and a designer shirt with his favored print was an easy gift to pick out on short notice. She closed their distance and held out the gift bag, asking directly to prevent any further avoidance. "I brought you a gift from the city to cheer you up but now I think you deserve a day off to show me around, of course. When is your next day off?"

@✽ junho l. "he didn't look like he'd budge. how'd you get him to cough up the site?"

the ends of yongju's lips curl up into a faint, lopsided smirk upon the question from her fellow agent, her arms crossing over her chest as the two take a glance at their suspect in custody through the one-way glass. the guy in question appears distraught, his head held in his hands — but yongju, quite literally, doesn't give a damn for child predators. "all he is is sleazy," she turns away from the mirror, motioning for an officer to keep watch on the entrance before she and her colleague tread their way back to the team's meeting room. "and plus, the good-cop, bad-cop bit always works with guys like him."

guys like him — those who are absolutely dedicated to nothing more than stealing the pure innocence from children, and all for the cost of what? a couple, few thousand bucks. the thought makes yongju's blood boil. unfortunately, she isn't a stranger to cases similar to the one at hand, but without a fail, it always leaves a disgusting taste in . if she could, she'd pluck her eyes out with the talons of an eagle, but to her great chagrin, the only thing close to that was a ball-point pen.

when the pair make their way back to the table, she flags down their technical analyst with the wave of her hand. "were you able to find the site, maybe even trace it?"

a few more moments pass with sweet, speedy clacks of the laptop's keyboard, before their analyst abruptly looks up. their lips part speechlessly and brows furrow in shock. yongju could feel herself holding her breath, recognizing that expression of surprisal upon their face, and that could only mean one thing; they're in.

"where's junho? he needs to see this."

@✽ thomas b. Yunho didn’t quite understand what the other said and could understand little words from the other male.
“Stop. Stay still-“ Yunho couldn’t state anymore words as he was caught off guard by the sudden slap to his face, causing a enraged face to appear but he kept his cool and sternly looked at the latter. Taking the mans hands and placing them behind his back and guiding him back to the gate, taking a second to reach for his handcuffs and placing them on gently. He removed his grip and reached for a phone to pull out a translator app and spoke into it to translate for him. “Chill out. What do you need? I can try to help. The cussing won’t get you far, boy.”

@✽ yunho j. He didn't recognize the voice at first. The toned arm obscuring his line of sight and forcing him to hault had his brows furrowing up into his hairline as his head swiveled to see who dared spoke to him in his outraged state. "what?" The thick drawl came, followed by confusion as he could barely understand the words being spoken to him despite the ten years spent locked up on the inside. The look of surprise was soon replaced with disgust, the hand once pressed to the door now flying in heated fury, landing a back handed strike upon the other's cheek. "Put your hands on me once, now you couldn't wait a second time again, is it? Pissant bastard. I spent nearly three bloody weeks recovering from those brusies you left and a bruised rib, ya e excuse for a pig"

@✽ thomas b. Feeling like the day had just kept dragging on and on, Yunho was ready to clock out and just be done with it. He had been working long hours and with that comes lack of sleep. He brought a hand to pinch the nose of his bridge as he tried to calm down the major migraine he had been dealing with until he heard foot steps and it causes him to look up and meet the eyes of the prisoner that was just released and he sighed to himself before placing a stern look on his face as he stood there in uniform all black, with a safety chest protection and his badge showing and a gun on his right hip, baton on the the left. “Hey” Yunho spoke an stretched out his arm to stop the other from going inside. “What do you want? You can’t just go back in there”

@✽ yunho j. Standing outside the station, idle fingers tapped the passport in hand, shielding himself from the sun beating down while scanning for a familiar face to retrieve him. Decade old designer clothing adorned his body from the day he was first incarcerated, admitted one thousand times more comfortable than the ghastly stripes that once covered his body, and yet, he still had quite a few complaints with how the fabric clung a little too snugly against him. He tugged on the collar, scowling as his gaze darted to every person that crossed his path, hoping it was his manager, family or even an eager fan. Yet as the sun began to set and his impatience grew, so did his temper as he his heel and barged back into the precinct to collect his one final phone call.

@✽ junho l. “there’s nowhere i’d be than at a police station on saturday night,” gyuri replied dryly. she rolled her eyes as she took the device from the detective's hands and began to scroll through the pictures. “you’re being too generous with that michelangelo comparison. this looks more like a sad attempt at pollack. those poor bushes…” if her baby cousin was so eager to trim shrubbery, maybe she would’ve let him take care of her parents’ yard with some explicit direction so he wouldn’t take too many liberties.

the squeak of the chair caused her to look up. a scowl began to form as the detective continued about her cousin’s nightly excursion. “you’re telling me that gyujong vandalized some bushes /and/ picked a fight with high school kids all in one night? how productive of him.” the remark was laced with sarcasm. “honestly i’m almost disappointed that he didn’t bite someone’s ear off.”

gyuri sighed as she handed the detective back the tablet. she couldn’t help but eye the piping hot cup of coffee on the counter. god she was /tired/. it was hard to tell if it was due to her cousin’s antics or the late-night shift she’d be heading back into after this. she tried to suppress a yawn with a tight-lipped smile. “i suppose i should thank you for preventing my baby cousin from making a bigger fool of himself, detective. why don’t i get him out of your hair so we can both be on our merry ways?”

@✽ gyuri p. he had three choices, well two in front of him. the first was a tall stack of cases in dire need of paperwork. his second and third choices were looking over his latest case while stealing an occasional glance some aloha shirts on ebay. before he could make a decision, his hand literally in the middle of his desk he heard a somewhat familiar voice. another decision he could save for the next hour, detective lee turned his head to the station’s new and reluctant regular, park gyuri.

“i see gyujong roped you in for another wonderful night at the town’s finest establishment,” he greeted her back in a deadpan tone. grabbing his ipad, he opened up the latest images sent over by the officers. as he scrolled through the pictures, a faint smirk could be seen for a split second while he explained, “well i think dandelion has an aspiring michelangelo on its hand. granted, i’m not too sure michelangelo ever worked on bushes.”

he handed the device over to her, letting the pictures speak for themself. in the middle of the park stood four freshly sheared shrubs, the shapes indescribable to say the least. maybe to the drunk or highly trained eye the figures could be made out to the teenage mutant ninja turtles or baby cupids shooting arrows, but questionable either way. leaning back into his green vinyl chair, a loud squeak could be heard as he continued, “we could also have a potential mike tyson without the ear biting that is. let’s just say when he found him a couple of hours later, he was having another round with those kids from dandelion high.”

@✽ junho l. “unbelievable…” gyuri grumbled as she rushed to the police station. this was the /fifth/ time that she received a call from her little cousin gyujong, begging her to pick him up. she had every right to hang up on his sorry but his dejected tone got her every time. so here she was yet again, pushing through the glass doors of the station and making her way to the front desk.

it was annoying how familiar she was becoming with the place, recognizing the faces of the cops working the saturday night shift. one face stood out in particular, detective lee junho. likely due to the patterned aloha shirts he typically sported. “detective,” she greeted him cooly, arms crossed. “so what did my punk of a baby cousin do this time?”

@✽ felix l. " Can you take care of this? I promised my wife I'll be home early today for our anniversary." Hyunjin's colleague handed him a complaint form addressed by the owner of a store. The word 'theft' caught his interest at first but then he sighed once he saw the name of the one accused. "Again? " he tossed the paper on his desk, rolling his eyes, unable to hide how he felt towards it. His colleague gave him an apologetic look as he gathered his things and headed towards the exit. "Have an easy night shift."
The situation pissed him off. Yet the frown on his face disappeared once Felix came into view, entering the station. All Hyunjin could feel was disappointment in himself for being unable to do more for the other. " Apparently you stole. I know you're innocent but sadly they demand we question you. That's the procedure." They both knew that, it happened many times before for people to accuse the younger of crimes he never committed. " Take a seat. I'll make you some tea." Hyunjin stepped away from his desk, heading in the next room, equipped with basic kitchen furniture. There was still leftover tea in a kettle and he poured them both a cup before returning to Felix. " Are you in a hurry? You came straight from work?" He placed a cup in front of the other before sitting back down on the other side of the desk. "It's getting dark already. You should stay here. I work the night shift so it's only you and I." Hyunjin suggested. It's not that they were friends but offering a place to sleep and maybe a warm meal was the least he could do as he felt like he was owning Felix for all the trouble these stupid accusations brought.

@✽ hyunjin h. Felix would lie if he said he was surprised to hear from the police station as soon as he found a temporary job to a local's farm that the rest of the villagers didn't seem to approve of. Whenever things got too boring for the old bastards they would always have the North Korean to blame just because of his nationality and his relation with another one of the village's outcasts, his late caretaker. At first it was entertaining to watch them try so hard to make a bad person out of him, especially when the convenience store ahjumma accused him, an illiterate person of stealing her letters. Even if he could read, there was not a single reason he would find it interesting to read her bills.
He didn't even get to finish tending the cows when he was informed by his boss that he had to go to the police station, the man looking suspiciously at him as if Felix would steal a goat or something. Still sweaty and reeking of cattle and straw, he walked in the police station with a defeated expression on his face. "What did I do this time?"