Haerin's POV

I was sitting in the auditorium, surrounded by a bunch of people who were my colleagues. Everyone had gathered here to pay tribute to Jimin for his service to the company.

 The air was thick around me with fake sympathy and empty words. Namjoon, who was the head of our department, stood at the podium and started giving his practiced speech.

I doubted him initially. I doubted if he faked the whole leave thing but then I realized I had no reason to. He was one of the few genuine people. At least that's what I have seen in the past few years.

After Namjoon, many of the employees started taking the stage. People, who might have talked to Jimin once or twice, were giving long speeches. But I decided to not move from my seat. There were two reasons for that. One, I had stage fear and two, there's no point in talking about him infront of people, who didn't care a bit. The only reason they were here was that this event was initiated by the CEO and no one would try to displease the CEO.

Speaking of him, Mr Choi, our CEO, took the stage.

"I really feel bad to lose someone as important as Mr. Park Jimin," he said with a poker face. "He was a dedicated man. I always used to give him as an example for my son, Choi Yeonjun."

Choi Yeonjun was from the HR department. I turned my head to look at Yoongi and he did the same. We exchanged a look. A look which made it clear how ridiculous this was.

After sitting there and going through at least 30 speeches of which I barely heard 2, the event ended.

Yoongi and I made our way to the cafeteria for lunch. Me and Yoongi didn't talk much. We just shared a few words between our bites. And that few words didn't include mentioning anything about the fingerprints. I didn't want him to be occupied with this when he was leaving for Paris tonight. This is important for him and the last thing I wanted was to weigh his mind down with something else. He needed to focus on his work for the event.

It was the time to handle this alone. Without Yoongi.

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I was in my office, working on....I didn't know what I was working on. I absentmindedly stared at the pile of paperwork which was visible under the desk lamp, the only source of light in the room.

It was seven in the evening. I didn't feel like doing anything. I didn't feel like doing my work nor going back home. My attention came back to earth when I heard a knock on the door.

Yoongi stepped in with his luggage bags. He switched on the lights without caring about my poor eyes, which made me squint my eyes.

"Yoongi, my eyes will go blind with that much light," I muttered.

He rolled his eyes. "I don't want to fall and hurt my pretty face," he remarked as if he was the only handsome man alive on the earth. " Anyways I have to go to the airport. You promised to drop me. Right?"

I nodded without hesitation and stood up. "Yeah, Let's go."

We walked out together to the parking lot. I helped him with his luggage. I felt sad. That was one simple sentence but it was the truth. Something about Yoongi leaving in this situation for 2 months made me upset .

We got into the car and started our journey to the airport. It was completely silent in the car except for the news buzzing out of the radio about the upcoming films.

The last thing I wanted in this chaos was to be away from Yoongi. He was the only person who made me feel like things will be okay. I was sane only because of him. I didn't know how I would handle the next 2 months without him by my side.

I finally broke the silence. "So in these two month if you ever miss-"

"I won't miss you," Yoongi interrupted me.

His words didn't hurt me but weirdly brought a smile to my face. I didn't know how much I needed his cold personality. It made me feel like everything was like before. Like everything between us was the same despite the whole chaos.

Soon we arrived at the airport. The lights above in the terminals were casting shadows on the pavement.

The cool air was the first thing that hit me as I got out of the car. I helped Yoongi take out his luggage. The moment my eyes met Yoongi's, my throat tightened. My eyes started watering. I didn't expect that I would react this way. But here I was ready to spill my overwhelming sadness.

Yoongi sensed my emotional shift. He came closer and wrapped me into a tight hug. I didn't care about the tears streaming down my face. I let myself feel his warmth.

"Haerin, I'll be back," he whispered while chuckling. "I am not going forever."

I nodded and tried to give a smile which I failed at. I started breaking down. I felt pathetic. I felt weak. I felt ashamed. I felt like I was all alone to deal with Jimin's death.

"Seriously, Haerin, People will think we are a couple and doing long distance relationship" Yoongi mocked me in hope of lightening the mood.

I laughed and nudged him with my leg. "You're ridiculous."

He ruffled my hair while sighing. "Would you mind me saying that you look like SpongeBob while crying?"

That made me laugh for real. Yoongi joined me too. But the laughter died down soon. Yoongi again became serious and stared at me for a long time as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"I trust you will bring justice to Jimin," he said. He suddenly became serious.

I nodded. I felt a lump forming in my throat but I held it together this time. I watched as he started walking away and after a few minutes he disappeared out of my sight. I stayed there for a while even after he disappeared.

With a sigh I turned and made my way to my car. I tightened my jacket around me as the wind started blowing.

I was about to open my car door but stopped when my phone started ringing. I pulled it out only to see 'Mr jeon' written on it. I sighed as I wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone but the possibility of it being important was very high. Hence, I lifted the call.

"Hello, Mr. Jeon," I greeted with exhaustion evident in my voice.

"Hello, Miss Jung," he replied in his low yet soft voice. "I kind of have some news to share. Would you like to join us for dinner? We're at a local ramen restaurant."

I frowned slightly. "Us?"

"Yeah, Taehyung's here too," he said casually.

I leaned back on my car's door. I was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted and a dinner wasn't an ideal way to relax myself. But I knew Jungkook wouldn't call me if it wasn't something important. I believed whatever news he had was really important.

"Okay," I replied while rubbing my face in hope of washing away the exhaustion. "Send me the address."

Saying that I got into the car. A few seconds after ending the call, I received a message from Jungkook. It was the location of the ramen place. I started my engine and drove off to the place hoping that the night would end soon.

After a 10 minute drive, I reached the restaurant. I got out of the car and made my way to the restaurant. The atmosphere there was very chaotic. The loud clinking sounds of glass and laughter made it really irritating for me.

The air was filled with the smells of ramen, soju, grilled meat and not to forget sweaty people. I scanned the whole room, searching for Jungkook and Taheyung.

The longer I scanned the room the realization hit me harder that there wasn't a single woman in my sight. Not even a woman staff. The customers were all men, having drinks with their friends. Okay..so I was the only woman? Nothing to worry about. Right?

I spotted them and reached their table. I was anxious to be here. No, I wasn't being dramatic, but it's been just a few days since I met them. I didn't trust them completely yet. Not even the intoxicated men around me.

They had already ordered ramen and a bottle of soju for me.

"Hey," Jungkook greeted with a warm smile looking all cute. And it would be a lie if I said I didn't want to pinch his cheeks.

On the other hand, Taheyung showed me his fist, while slurping the long noodles. I fist bumped and sat beside Taehyung.

"Did you really think it was a good idea to invite a woman to a place filled with drunk men?"

Both of them looked confused and took a look around the room. " Aren't we supposed to?" Taehyung asked innocently. 

Jungkook sighed. "We've been coming here for years, and trust me, the men here aren't what you think. They're just bachelors enjoying a drink with their friends. You don't have to worry as we know almost everyone here."

If he thinks it made me feel better, then it didn't. The harsh truth was that even men with clean histories can't be trusted. I wasn't going to trust a drunk crowd just because someone said they were good people." But I had no energy to argue. I wanted this to end soon.

"What's the news?" I asked eagerly so that I can leave soon after being updated about the news.

Jungkook leaned back. " I have a good one and a bad one. What do you want me to go with first?"

"Bad."

He sighed. "The fingerprints aren't in the government's database. So it might take us a lot more time than we actually thought."

I nodded. It was not surprising but still frustrating. "And the good news?"

Jungkook smirked. "Since the fingerprints aren't registered in the database, we can confirm they don't belong to you nor Yoongi."

I stared at him blankly.

Then they both burst out in laughter. I didn't understand what was so funny. I guess it was just them being tipsy.

I rolled my eyes. "Is this what you called me here for?"

Taehyung grinned. "Actually, it's fun to hangout with you. So we thought why not invite you over for dinner?"

I sighed and picked up my chopsticks. I started eating the ramen which was surprisingly very tasty. I decided not to touch the soju bottle as I wasn't in the mood.

They continued with their conversation in a drunk state which hardly made any sense. I wondered if they themselves understood what they were talking about.

I turned to Jungkook. "Did you meet Hoseok today for another case you were being assigned to?"

He shook his head. "Hoseok didn't come today."

I frowned. Hoseok taking a leave out of nowhere? That was new.But I was too exhausted to make anything out of it. 

After finishing my meal, I stood up and pushed my chair back.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I know it's rude to leave midway but I am really tired and I need sleep."

They both nodded in understanding which I was grateful for.

"Goodnight," Taehyung mumbled, raising his soju glass.

Jungkook gave a small nod. "Get home safe."

Him being concerned about my safety was making it hard for me to stop myself from screaming. But before I can really do that, I bid my farewell and left the place, ready to meet my love. I mean my bed.

To be continued

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Author's note: I know many of you might want to drop the book but trust me the next chapter is something you wouldn't want to miss out. So stay tuned for the next chapter!

Love you <3!