Chapter Text
Kang Eun Hyuk sat cross-legged on the hard floor of Detective Son’s spare room, bare-chested, a towel over his wet hair. Before him he had spread out the apartment listings for several of the major Seoul newspapers and he was perusing them intensely, a sinking feeling in his stomach as he contemplated rent and deposit. He’d taken a cold shower to try to ease the discomfort of the stifling summer heat in that poorly ventilated room, but the relief had been only temporary.
In the 2 weeks since Lee Hyeon had disappeared and moreso in the wake of the corruption investigation that had been leveled against Eun Hyuk’s father and his staff, Detective Son’s cramped and somewhat ill-kept apartment had become a sort of sanctuary. A place where he couldn’t feel that heavy sense of responsibility that settled on him any time he entered the station, or when his father tried to call him—calls he ignored—or when he met Detective Cha putting on her brave face.
But that sanctuary came with certain unfortunate drawbacks. Like the precious little space he had found in the spare room Detective Son was previously using for storage, oppressive with preposterous stacks of boxes that always seemed on the cusp of collapse.
Detective Son—no, it was Myeong Woo when they weren’t on duty—never pressured him to talk about the things that bothered him. Would sit with him in silence, or share soju and bachelor food with him until the crease between his brows smoothed and he was able to laugh again. Myeong Woo’s silence was as firm, as comforting as someone else loudly affirming that, “Everything is going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.” Because that’s what Myeong Woo’s silence or alternately teasing really meant.
He rubbed his abdomen with one hand, as though he could sooth away that queasy flutter that had been troubling him ever since he had started looking for alternative living arrangements. His fingers found the line of scar tissue from his stab wound and lingered there.
Eun Hyuk heard the muffled beep of the door code being entered incorrectly.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Then cursing.
He quickly tugged on a pair of jeans and went to the door to let his temporary roommate in, towel still draped over his head.
Detective Son sloshed, rather than stepped into the entryway bracing himself between either wall and making several attempts to kick off his dress shoes. He was the picture of disheveled near-respectability.
His slate gray tie had been removed and stuffed unceremoniously into his breast pocket. His jacket, which he had had draped over one shoulder, slipped despondently to the floor, and he did not bend down to get it.
“Why do you keep doing this to yourself? I never see you drunk except when you’re dating.”
“Don’t question my decisions. I could ask my own questions. Like why are you always running around my house without a shirt?”
“That’s not…Well, I just got done washing and it’s intolerably hot in here and---Whoa, whoa.” Myeong Woo tipped suddenly forward and almost planted his head in the hardwood, but Eun Hyuk caught him and draped one arm over his shoulders, hooking him around the waist and hoisting him onto a kitchen stool.
Eun Hyuk broke into the ramyun and pulled his own chair on the other side of the kitchen counter, looking at his friend and subordinate curiously, “Here,” he said, “get something into your stomach.”
They sat in silence for a moment, other than the sound of Myeong Woo slurping his noodles, and Eun Hyuk asked, “Was it really so bad?”
Myeong Woo simply nodded and drank his broth.
“What happened this time?” Myeong Woo winced, and Eun Hyuk did too realizing that he’d put the question tactlessly.
“I took her to a pricey pasta place. I think she asked for one of everything on the menu. You should have seen the bill. I’ve never seen so much food one table.” He paused to slurp up the last of his instant ramyun and tossed the plastic bowl aside. “Making conversation was like walking a cat. But I was trying to be a gentleman. I called her a cab and as she was getting in she told me that she wouldn’t be seeing me again because I have, and I quote, 'a fish-face.’ Like I would have asked for a second date anyway.”
Eun Hyuk carefully hid his smile beneath his hand and muffled his laughter, trying to take on an appropriately commiserating posture. He had positioned himself by Myeong Woo side and employed the awkward pat of comfort that had become a sort of standardized shorthand between the two of them. He good a deep breath as thought to start some kind of encouraging speech, although his mind was completely blank looking for something appropriate to say.
Myeong Woo cut him off before he could even begin, “If you start one of those motivational Team Leader pep talks I have to take from you at the station all the time, I will actually punch you in the face.”
He delivered the line in such a complete deadpan, that Eun Hyuk froze with one hand hovering over Myeong Woo’s shoulder, “You have been warned. Beyond this point, I’m not responsible for my actions if you test me.”
It had been a long time since he’d seen Detective Son so completely disheartened. His energy and his humor buoyed Eun Hyuk up during the day when he found himself worrying about his father, about Ji An, or in general when he became too serious. It was strange for him to be in the position of comforter. The sinking feeling in his stomach had come back in full force.
Staring a hole into the kitchen counter he said, very quietly, “The next time you get the urge to go on a blind date, maybe you shouldn’t.”
“Because I’m hopeless?” Myeong Woo laughed, joylessly. "Maybe I should have gone for the pep talk after all."
“Next time, just talk to me. Just ask me. I’ll let you buy me dinner.”
Their eyes met, and Myeong Woo held his gaze, brow furrowed. They sat silently like that, just looking at each other for a long time.
Eun Hyuk couldn’t tell what Myeong Woo was thinking, but suddenly he was sure he knew what that ball of uneasiness in his gut was. And it terrified him. Without a word Myeong Woo had reached up and slowly pulled the towel Eun Hyuk was still wearing off his wet hair.
“Maybe I’ll do that.” Myeong Woo said, breaking eye contact finally and standing unsteadily up. “I’m going to bed.”
Eun Hyuk stayed on his stool. Watched Detective Son sway and stagger his way to his room, and then remained in the kitchen alone for a long time. Somehow, in the suffocating heat of the cramped apartment, he shivered.