Chapter Text
The first time it happened was after that day where Joowon had abandoned his cleanliness and jumped into the mud to help subdue that old man. Dongsik looked over at him as they fell into the cop car smelling of unspeakable substances and couldn't help but laugh at the way Joowon tried to wipe himself clean unsuccessfully.
“Rewarding isn't it?” Dongsik mused, starting the engine “getting a little dirty in order to help someone in need.”
Joowon caught the teasing tone that dripped off his voice and promptly turned his eyes to the vast road. If he knew he would be stuck working god awful jobs that pushed him out of his comfort zone like this then he would’ve considered carrying out his plan in a different way.
“Still,” Dongsik spoke aloud to his uninterested partner, “you did a good job.”
Immediately Joowon felt his fingers tingle as his body processed the other’s words.
“Shut up.” He said harshly, suddenly thankful that the amount of mud on his face probably covered his rising blush. Probably.
If Dongsik glanced over on the drive home and saw his partner’s pink ears, he didn’t mention it.
Originally Dongsik thought Joowon must just be furious to a point of turning red whenever he decided to tease his partner in the interrogation room, but what sort of anger causes someone to mess up their words?
When Joowon had insisted that they both be interrogated as they were the first ones at the crime scene after that fingerless corpse was found, Dongsik understood his reasoning but still made sure to have a little fun with it. And fun he had. In Between honest answers, Dongsik would slip in little remarks about the weather, his favourite type of ramen, or at one point how amazing Joowon always smelled.
“Seriously Joowon-ah,” he said casually, leaning over into the other’s personal space “what cologne do you use? Or do you just naturally smell this good?” He obnoxiously sniffed the air to exaggerate his point.
Joowon shivered at the attention and tried to pass it off as him recoiling his body in disgust. It would’ve worked too if Joowon hadn’t stuttered back a reply.
“W-we’re in an interrogation, can’t you behave.”
Dongsik looked over and seemed genuinely shocked at the slip up.
“Sorry, what was that Joowon-ah?” a smile crept it’s way onto his face as he looked closer at the other man’s heated face.
“Behave!” Joowon clenched and unclenched his fists trying to regain his composure with his eyes fixed on the interrogation room table.
“Okay okay, if I must!” Dongsik conceded, throwing up his hands and moving away. “Can’t believe a man so much younger than me is telling me to behave.”
The room fell into silence with only the occasional laugh from Dongsik breaking the atmosphere. Joowon had been the one who insisted on the interrogation, but he would give anything to get out of the small room at that moment. No matter how much he adjusted his collar or attempted to regulate his breathing, nothing got rid of that suffocating feeling that sat at the pit of his stomach from his senior’s remarks.
“Feeling a bit hot are we Joowo- ahh!” Joowon slapped the older man’s shoulder with the back of his hand, willing him to shut up already, but it seemed Dongsik was only just starting.
Joowon wondered if his partner had made it his goal to pay more attention to him wherever they went from then on. Supervising his movements and commenting on his actions had always been present but these days the comments were a little different.
“Wow great form!” Dongsik had called when Joowon right hooked one of Do Haewon’s bodyguards. The words rang through Joowon’s brain, rattling his thoughts and turning his punches into messy swings.
“Something about the coffees you make are just so much tastier than the coffees I make,” Dongsik laughed one day, sipping an awful instant coffee Joowon had made just out of spite that his senior had ordered him to make coffee in the first place.
“You know,” Dongsik said on another particularly busy day patrolling the neighbourhood, “you’re a pretty good driver after all. D’you think you’d ever take me for a drive in your fancy car sometime?”
At this point Joowon knew Dongsik was doing it on purpose. Being uncharacteristically kind and complimenting him about things even if they were obviously not true. At these times it felt natural for Joowon to fire back an insult or tell him to shut up, but as the compliments appeared daily now, the insults got trapped on the tip of his tongue and the only thing he could get out was a shake of the head or a half assed glare. Because as annoying as Dongsik’s teasing was, the words were sweet. The words made his stomach do flips and heart shiver against his skin.
Ever Since Jwoon was a child and his teachers would compliment his work, he had an awful habit of blushing down to his chest and stuttering his words. The habit he thought he would’ve kicked once he became an adult had instead returned in full force due to a certain someone.
‘I need to put an end to this,’ Joowon thought, but he never did.
It all came to a halt that night Joowon stormed into Dongsik’s basement and threatened him with a gun.
Joowon couldn’t think clearly, desperation and confusion drove him there that day. Deep down he knew that he would never be able to shoot his partner, but if threatening the other man with a gun would get him his answers, Joowon knew he had to try. So why did holding the cold metal object against the other man's forehead feel so wrong. This man was a suspected murderer for god’s sake!
Those chaotic eyes always looking for a reaction now bore straight into his soul and the gun pressing into the older man’s head left a terrifying mark on his aged skin.
“Go on, shoot me!” He smiled, nudging the weapon with his head.
“I-” Joowon didn’t know what to do. He couldn't do it, he realized. He could never actually shoot another man let alone his partner he’d unknowingly grown close to over his time at the station.
Dongsik’s smile faltered as if he was actually disappointed that Joowon was hesitating to end his life.
“Come one!” Dongsik raised his voice, “I bet you’re amazing with a gun!”
Joowon felt sick. There was no tingling spark that lit up his body like the praises usually did to him. Joowon was cold, scared, and possibly close to throwing up.
“You’re such an amazing cop! Stopping crime, keeping the streets safe!” Dongsik’s voice shifted into a register that made his words seem as sweet as honey, but they were so incredibly far from innocent.
“S-stop,” Joowon felt his lower lip tremble.
“Our handsome Inspector Han, so good at his job-”
“-Please no,’’ Joowon choked out.
“Always so put together and good.” Dongsik just kept going, never breaking eye contact even as tears started running down the other’s cheeks.
“Always so good.”
Joowon couldn’t take it anymore. His legs gave out underneath him and his body crashed onto the hard concrete floor. His body spasmed with hoarse breaths and sobs that he couldn't stop nor try to hide. The gun that was once held in his trembling hands had fallen somewhere on the basement floor completely forgotten.
Dongsik sighed and sat down next to the sobbing man, wrapping his arms around him protectively, “there there, it's alright now. I promise.”
Joowon pressed into his hands and crawled towards the warmth. He wished with everything in him that the words were the truth. That everything was alright and Dongsik could make it alright, but even thinking was too difficult on the basement floor. The two sat embracing each other for hours until Joowon eventually fell asleep to the sound of the other’s steady heartbeat and occasional praising words.
The next day Joowon woke up no longer in the dark basement but in a warm bed. Exhaustion took hold of his whole body and made it difficult for him to get up. The hand pressing his shoulder back into the mattress also made the task rather difficult.
“Dongsik?” he called in a raspy voice, blinking up at the man next to the bed.
“Mind if I sit down sleepyhead?” he replied, coming more into view.
Joowon nodded, shuffling over, “It’s your bed.”
“And you're in it,” Dongsik laughed, sitting down with his legs pressing lighting against Joowon’s side. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit,” he rubbed his eyes, adjusting to the morning light. “Aren’t we supposed to be at work by now?”
“Called in sick for the both of us.”
“Oh…” Joowon replied suddenly feeling very awkward. Memories of the prior night came flooding back and Joowon couldn't help but feel the returning nausea return as well. How was Dongsik so calm about what had happened? He sat there innocently as if he had simply offered his bed up to a close friend in need of a place to stay for the night. But in reality Joowon had done the unspeakable and still was too fragile to make it back to his own place, instead crashing in the bed of the person he almost killed.
“I'm sorry.”
“I'm sorry.”
The two looked at each other with wide eyes as they both uttered the same words at the same time.
“You fir-”
“You can sa-”
A small smile appeared on Dongsik’s face and Joowon swore his heart pounded a little faster.
“You… you can go first, if you want…” Joowon said, looking down at the crumpled sheets, feeling determined not to mess anything up anymore if he could help it. It was embarrassing enough that the man he had been accusing of murder for months had seen him at his worst moment. All exposed and helpless.
“Should I go first then?” Dongsik said, reaching over to squeeze the other’s hand which flinched out of shock at the intimate touch he would usually not allow.
“Mn,”
Dongsik sighed and gazed out the window for a couple seconds before turning back to his partner who was looking anywhere but his eyes.
“I’m sorry for last night.” He said slowly while giving Joowon’s hand another reassuring squeeze. “It was wrong of me to push you like that. I know how you react when I say… those things, and I used it against you for no good reason. I apologise.”
Joowon starred in surprise with his lips slightly parted.
“W-why are you apologising?” He sputtered, “I pulled a gun on you!”
“Good point.” Dongsik’s eyes crinkled as if he was amused at the idea of almost being killed mere hours earlier. Joowon threw off the other’s hand in defeat and made a show off rolling over in the bed to prove his point. This would’ve been awkward with anyone else, but Dongsik’s strange calmness defeated any lasting hesitation that Joowon’s vulnerable state had done any permanent damage. Joowon of all people didn't go about his life breaking down in front of others and exposing himself.
The bed shifted and Dongsik stood up suddenly, but then began leaning over the other.
“What are you doing!” Joowon asked sharply, pulling the covers up to his chin as if he were trying to shield himself with the thin layer.
Dongsik smirked, still towering over the other’s body while palming the mattress with his right hand and supporting his body with his left. He moved around for a few moments even dipping inside the blanket causing the younger to shiver at the intrusion, but the moving abruptly stopped as he finally pulled out a black phone from the bed.
“My phone!” Joowon cried, reaching for the object that was quickly stolen from his grasp. Dongsik seemed pleased with himself as he got off the bed and walked over to the other side of the room, placing the object down onto the windowsill.
“No phone for you sorry, not until our handsome Inspector Han gets his beauty sleep.” the older man laughed as a small but present blush painted the other’s cheeks.
“You can't do that.” Joowon almost whined.
“I just did.” Dongsik simply smiled while gesturing to the phone.
“N-not that,” He said, digging himself further under the covers. “You can't just say… that stuff.”
It dawned on Dongsik and he doubled over in an honest laugh.
“Stop it! Stop laughing!” Joowon yelled but it was too late. Maybe he should’ve just kept denying what the little compliments did to him, even if it was clear that his partner had already figured it out anyway. They don't call him an amazing detective for nothing.
“Not laughing, swear,” he wheezed, clearly finding it hilarious. “See look I’m going, I am.”
Joowon threw a pillow at him just for good measure and almost felt proud when it got him square in the face.
At the door Dongsik looked over at Joowon with something in his eye that the younger didn't know what to name. Whatever it was, it felt foreign but not unwelcome, like he would gladly see it again, especially if it were on his partner’s face.
“Sleep well cutie.” Dongsik said as he shut the door, leaving Joowon gaping at the place he once stood.
“Shut up.” Joowon mumbled to no one in particular as he tunneled himself deeper into the blankets breathing in the warm comforting scent of that one specific person he couldn’t get off his mind.