Exception

XII. Today's the Day

"After this is all over... um, do, do you want... to go out with me?"

No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, the image from five days ago still haunted him, lurking in the shadows of his thoughts and coming to the front of his mind occasionally.

It didn't help that the catalyst—Minhyuk himself—was sitting right across from him, staring into his eyes endearingly.

Jooheon drained his cup of orange juice and forced himself to stare back. Minhyuk brought a piece of waffle to his mouth, and Jooheon was instantly reminded of the fact that he—as crazy as it sounded—actually kissed that mouth. He almost choked on his own food at that thought. Why, he asked himself, can Minhyuk be so calm about this?

"You okay?" To-be-boyfriend asked, obviously concerned.

"Y- Yeah..." Sweaty palms, stuttering words, palpitating heart. Even after spending his whole life with Minhyuk by his side, Jooheon still managed to feel nervous.

"Jooheonie, you barely touched your food."

Jooheon looked down sheepishly, slightly pouting. Minhyuk said nothing and took Jooheon's plate away, putting it in front of himself instead. Using his own fork and knife, he cut a small piece of sausage and held it in front of Jooheon's lips. Then, as if feeding a baby, he opened his mouth and said, "Ah~" until Jooheon obliged, parting his lips just wide enough to let the fork slip in.

Heat rushed from his neck all the way to the tip of his ears. "H-hyung... you don't have to—"

"What do you want me to do then? You weren't eating, so I decided to feed you myself." Minhyuk said with a humph, already in the process of bringing another piece of meat to Jooheon's mouth. "Don't forget, we have a mission to do today. You need all the energy you need, especially when you have to use your powers."

Right, today's the day.

Bringing that up gave Jooheon mixed feelings. He knew that this was going to be the last time, and after that he could live a normal, lovely life with Minhyuk. But ultimately, he was still acting against his conscience, and he just would never be able to fight off the guilt he felt whenever he walked into the vault, putting his hands on stacks upon stacks of filthy bills...

"...so no one will see you and... Hey, Jooheonie, are you listening?" Minhyuk waved his hand in front of Jooheon, snapping him out of his day dream. Minhyuk sighed. "I was briefing you about the routine, you really should've paid attention."

"Sorry..." Jooheon avoided his gaze, but thought better of it and decided to give his hyung full eye contact to show that he was listening.

"Starting from around six, Daehyun will create a small drizzle that will soon strengthen into a rainstorm, and—if needed—into a typhoon. Once the sun sets, we'll leave from here and head to Shinhan Bank at Yongsan-gu. As usual, you have max ten minutes. After that, when you come out, Daehyun will make thick fog to cover you up. It would be dark by then, but, you know, just in case."

Jooheon nodded half-heartedly, and glanced at the clock.

Just nine more hours to go...

-

Inseong rounded the last corner just in time to see another car leaving the cul-de-sac and turning out into the main road. Through the windshield he saw Chani waving, and then raising his right hand to the side of his head in a respectful salute. The young officer was given the early shift this morning, and now it was time for him to go home and rest while Inseong took over.

He returned the salute, chuckling at Chani's enthusiasm that he, too, once had when he was still a rookie. Jaeyoon, who volunteered to tag along, had taken shotgun next to him. "So you're telling me that you've been doing twenty-four-seven surveillance since Saturday night?"

"Mhm. That night, I followed Daehyun, remember? We ended up here, and I found out he went up to flat 31A. I had to pick you and Youngjae up from Lotte World, so I didn't have time to wait for him to come back down. My colleagues and I thought this is where he 'works', or at least meets his boss or something."

"So you just sit in the car, stare at the apartment building until something happens?" Jaeyoon had watched a number of crime movies in his days, but he never knew exactly how dull the reality might sound like.

Inseong's laughter bubbled up at the astonishment in Jaeyoon's tone. "There's no need to sound horrified; you'll only discover even more surprising things about my job as you go further down the road. Reality never really lives up to expectations."

"Do I even want to know what that's supposed to mean?" Jaeyoon shivered. "You gave me the goosebumps." Once again, laughter filled the car.

"I know I'm being out of the blue," said Inseong once they both calmed down. "but it's been almost a week since you, um, moved in with me, and I just want to know if you're comfortable. With the food, the environment. The neighbours, even. It's not the best, I know... and I'm sorry I can't give you anything better." He was aware of the fact that he had started to babble midway, and he knew it didn't go unnoticed for Jaeyoon, either.

Did I really just say move in with me? It sounded like we're some sort of couple or something—Great, I just embarrassed myself.

"Oh, you don't have to sound so nervous. Everything's perfect, all I could ask for. I should be the one feeling guilty, since I don't have a job and you were so generous to support my daily life up 'til now... I'm happy to clean up and cook while you work, as a way of paying back."

A few seconds of silence seemed to stretch on for minutes as Jaeyoon thought through the words he just said. It came out so weird, didn't it? Is it just me being paranoid, or did I really manage to make it sound like I'm a housewife and Inseong's the husband?

"I'm glad to hear that." There was no denying the awkwardness between them, but even if Inseong wanted to avert his eyes, those deep dimples around Jaeyoon's mouth didn't allow it. "Your- I mean, you are a great cook. I have nothing to complain about... Speaking of which, should we eat lunch?" He busied himself with the bag that sat in the compartment between the driver's seat and the shotgun seat, glad to find an excuse to tear his gaze away from Jaeyoon.

Only when he was halfway through his kimbap did he take a pause from stuffing his mouth full. "This is amazing; I really should've brought some drinks along. Should we call for takeaway..." He turned to look at Jaeyoon. "I know a place nearby, the coffee there is—"

"Hold on, there's rice on your mouth." Jaeyoon interrupted, pointing at his own face to show Inseong where it was stuck on. The detective was a little flustered, and had started to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. "No, not there, a little lower." Jaeyoon couldn't stop himself from giggling at Inseong's struggle.

Eventually, he unbuckled his own seatbelt and decided to help, leaning over to narrow the distance between them until their faces were merely inches apart. His left hand was on Inseong's armrest for support, while in his right hand he held a piece of tissue, which he planned to use to remove the rice.

Inseong's breath hitched at the sudden proximity, and his eyes were trained at Jaeyoon's, even though Jaeyoon was more focused on his mouth instead.

Jaeyoon was a second away from touching Inseong's face when suddenly Inseong reached out to grab Jaeyoon's wrist, stopping him. He turned his attention to the detective. "J- Jaeyoon..." His voice seemed an octave lower than usual, and if it weren't for the firm grip, Jaeyoon would've recoiled backwards in shock.

While waiting for Inseong to continue, all he could hear was his own erratic breathing and the sound of his pulsating heart drumming against his ribcage.

"I... I don't know what I'll do if you keep doing this—you're making my heart go crazy every time I look at you."