~Chapter 18~

“Okay, I wasn’t expecting this at all. This place is so… clean. Honestly I was expecting this place to be a mess since he is such a busy person. But now that I think about it, Detective Kim is also a really busy person and his place is always nice and clean.”

“Yah! I’m still here, you know? You really have to stop talking about me as if I’m not here. It’s starting to annoy me and I’m pretty sure you want to stay on my good side.”

Chanyeol was stunned by the other’s threat and tone. Call him annoying but he really liked to get these reactions out of him. In those moments, when the detective was angry, it’s when you could know exactly what he was thinking since he was so honest.

“My apologies, Detective Kim. I didn’t mean to anger you.”

By his expression, it was obvious the blond didn’t believe him.

“Detective Kim, tell me. Are you so moody today because of what happened earlier?”

“Who said I’m moody?! And you should forget about before. Don’t you dare say a word about it to anyone!”

The raven only raised his hands in surrender and stepped away from him.

If anyone would see the King of Hell like this, they would definitely make fun of him.

Chanyeol might be shameless but even he would feel embarrassed in a situation like that.

Giving up on arguing any further, Sehun stepped in and went looking for the office. If his theory was right and their victim really got kidnapped because of a case he worked on, then there are high chances that they could find something there.

After yelling at Chanyeol to take the bedroom, the blond looked over every paper he could find and over all the files. He almost gave up after hours of reading and searching when suddenly he found a small box on the ground on top of which was written ‘solved’.

Without giving it a second thought, Sehun quickly put down the files in his hand and took the box and opened it in hope to find something useful. And looks like luck was by his side since there was a really thick document with reports, proofs, pictures and names.

Suddenly he felt a hot breath on the side of his neck and turned around only to see Chanyeol , whom he didn´t know when he got in the office. He couldn´t help noticing how close their faces were and how their lips were almost touching.

Without realizing, he found himself wondering how it would feel kissing the raven. How would his lips feel on his? Were his lips cold or warm? Maybe they even were sweet. And soft… They looked so soft and slightly pink.

They looked so… kissable.

After staring at his lips for what felt like forever, Sehun finally looked up at those dark and hypnotizing eyes. Why did it feel like they were hiding a big secret?

“Is there something wrong?”

Even though the question barely came out as a whisper, the blond got startled and leaned back. And maybe he leaned back too much because he lost his balance and almost fell.

Fortunately for him, Chanyeol’s reflexes were good and quickly wrapped his right arm around his small waist, pulling him in as close as they were before. Surprised, Sehun grabbed onto his shirt and stayed still, his eyes blinking repeatedly while his cheeks were now colored in pink.

Of course, the raven couldn’t hold back his smirk and slightly raised one of his eyebrows.

“Are you okay, Detective Kim?”

The younger cleared his throat and stepped away only to be pulled back in. The raven was obviously waiting for an answer so he opened his mouth to answer but his voice just wouldn’t come out.

He gave up on speaking after several attempts and to the other’s amusement, he nodded his head and looked away. He wouldn’t dare to look at him too soon.

Honestly, he felt like a prey cornered by a predator he couldnțt escape as much as he wanted.

But…

…Did he want to escape?

He did promise himself he would never let anyone else get close to him, yet there was something… there was a part of him that missed having someone close to him. There was still a part of him that wanted to have someone to greet him when he woke up, when he was about to fall asleep, when he got home… But he was still too scared to give in to that part of him.

He wasn't prepared to let someone in.

At least not yet.

His thoughts got interrupted by a giggle and a long and warm finger poking his cheek.

”What's so funny?”

The frown on the detective’s face was supposed to make him look upset but in Chanyeol’s eyes it only made him look cuter.

Of course, that was a thought that had to be kept to himself.

“Detective Kim, you are blushing.”

“What?! No, I’m not! Let me go!!”

That was exactly the reaction the raven was expecting.

Not wanting to embarrass him even more, Chanyeol spared him and let go of him slowly, making sure the blond was not going to lose his balance again.

As soon as Chanyeol removed his arm from around his waist, Sehun already missed the warmth that was embracing him before as he was hit by cold air the second the other stepped away from him.

“We have to go back to the station. I’ve got something.”

That being said, Sehun quickly put on his jacket and walked to the front door, his desire of getting out of that apartment only growing bigger with every step Chanyeol took to reach him.

“Detective Kim~Why are you walking so fast?”

“We don't have time to lose. The faster we move, the bigger chances to find this man alive.”

— —

It was dark and cold outside.

A cup of steaming hot coffee was placed on his desk. Him staying awake depended entirely on that cup’s content. It was already too late and he was definitely supposed to be sleeping but he couldn’t. Not when he knew that there was a man out there whose fate is still unknown.

It wasn’t even sure that he was still alive.

His eyes were watery and they definitely were tired after reading for hours without taking even a five minutes break. At some point he was so concentrated that he totally forgot about his surroundings.

Sehun absently took the cup while still reading one of the files, allowing the liquid with a bittersweet taste to warm him up. Before taking his pen to circle some important information that could possibly help him, he slowly rubbed his temples, his headache only getting worse with every passing minute.

As he was still so focused he didn’t even notice the man on the other side of the room that was staring at him. Actually, that had been staring at him for the past 2 hours.

Chanyeol could bet the blond didn’t even realize he was there. The other was so concentrated on his work that he forgot about everyone and everything about him. He was so determined.

And the raven hated that.

He hated it because in moments when he was so determined was when he completely neglected his well being.

So he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Walking up silently, Chanyeol suddenly took the files from Sehun and closed it, but not before putting a book mark on the page he left off at.

“What are you doing?! Yah! Chanyeol…”

“Detective Kim, I don’t mean to be disrespectful but you’ve been studying that case for the past 7 hours. It’s already past 11 pm and you were supposed to leave at 19:30. I know that you want to save this man and make sure he gets back with his family and loved ones but that’s not an excuse for you to not take care of yourself.”

Sehun blinked several times before leaning back into his seat and sighting. There was no point in arguing with Chnayeol when he’s so serious.

“Fine, whatever. I’ll go home but you go first.”

“No, no, no. We are leaving at the same time and I’ll follow your car to make sure you go home and not somewhere else. And before you say anything, I already know that you don’t agree but you don’t have a choice. You are not in a position to argue.”

The blond looked at his assistant and scoffed.

Since when did he dare talk to him like that?