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"Attention, Officer 1406N and Officer 1807A: Please respond to the I-Land Complex 2 immediately. There is a large fire reported. Firefighters are en route, but your presence is needed for backup. Over."
“Copy,” Koko and Sarang replied in unison, their voices firm over the radio. Without hesitation, they jumped into their police cruiser. Koko took the wheel, accelerating swiftly through the streets with the siren blaring and lights flashing, as they sped toward I-Land Complex 2.
When the two arrived they saw the building completely engulfed in flames, the firefighters trying their best to tame the fire. Koko and Sarang quickly sprung into action as Sarang went over to help the firefighters while Koko quickly got to know more about the situation.
“Please help! My friend is still there. She lives on the top floor and I haven’t seen her come out yet!” A shorter girl practically clung onto Koko, pointing at the building. She quickly assured the distressed girl that they were going to save her friend and ran over to the firefighters.
“There’s still a girl inside. We need to get her out as soon as possible.” Koko screamed, her voice cutting through the chaos as firefighters and hoses battled the flames.
One of the firefighters shouted over the roar of the fire, "We've got two officers inside searching for the girl. They found her and are heading out now. She was on her way down, but a fallen beam blocked her exit."
Koko gave a brisk nod, her mind racing as she darted toward the building’s entrance. Through the smoky haze, she could barely make out the silhouettes of three figures. With urgency, she kicked aside the debris that had piled up against the door, the shards and splinters flying as she worked.
Without a second thought, Koko grabbed the girl, pulling her away from the dangerous wreckage. The two firefighters, faces streaked with soot, followed closely behind. Just as they cleared the threshold, the doorframe gave way with a deafening crash, collapsing in a cloud of dust and debris right behind them.
The girl was still conscious, coughing hysterically as her friend immediately tried to rush in and check on her. The firefighters were quick to push the friend out of the way as Koko immediately started checking the girl’s vitals. Sarang promptly brought over a bunch of cold towels and placed them all over the exposed parts of the girl’s body, making sure the girl doesn’t overheat.
After a while the girl stopped coughing and was able to sit up on her own. Sarang had whipped all of the debris off of the girl’s body and when she sat up Koko noticed that the girl was breathtakingly beautiful. She was pretty tall, only a tad bit shorter than Koko herself and had a lean build.
The firefighters and paramedics deemed the girl healthy and made sure that she would make a full recovery before the girl was released from their care.
“Jeemin? Are you feeling okay? You scared me! I turned around and you were just gone and I thought I lost you!” Her friend immediately flung herself towards her, making sure not to hug the girl too hard.
“I’m okay! Just a few minor burns and scratches here and there. The paramedics said I’ll make a full recovery.” The girl replied while hugging her friend.
Koko felt herself get dragged away by Sarang as she reluctantly teared her eyes away from the hugging friends, her mind replaying the scene of the girl smiling over and over again. Gosh that girl was pretty.
“You good Koko? You’ve been zoning out for a while now.” Sarang asked, knowing her partner like the back of her hand.
“All good. Nothing’s wrong. I’m 100% okay.” Koko panicked.
Sarang raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it as the two bid goodbye to the firefighters and made their way back to the station to submit a report.
“Sarang-ah what do I do! Saebi’s going to kill me!” Koko wailed as she threw her phone on the couch.
“It’s just a birthday present she won’t kill you. Plus even though she refuses to admit it, you’re her favourite and anything you get her will make her happy.”
“Last year I messed up so badly and I really want to make it up to her this year. I need to get her something good.”
“Well I do agree that showing up to her birthday party with a toy gun while also being covered in blood right after chasing down a criminal is not ideal and you should definitely do better, don’t stress about it too much.”
“Ugh what do I do!”
“I don’t know but I already got her my gift so it isn’t any of my problem! Now if you’re done sulking I’m going back to my apartment so I can get ready for our shift later today. You better not be late again.”
“Yes ma’am.” Koko playfully saluted, too lazy to get off her couch as she watched Sarang exit her apartment.
“Why is getting birthday gifts so hard!” Koko said to herself out loud. She still had 2 hours until her shift, maybe she could walk around and do some window shopping. That would be more productive than sitting around browsing thing’s online, right? Koko sure hoped so.
Koko sighed in defeat as she exited the mall sipping on her bubble tea. Why is it that not a single thing in the entire mall had caught her interest? If it was something that reminded her of Saebi it was something that Saebi already owned or something too similar to what the other girls had already bought.
“ I guess I’ll just go home and get ready for my shift. I still have around half an hour. ” Koko thought as she dejectedly walked back to her apartment.
Koko walked past some of the outdoor shops before a small shop caught her eye. " Maybe I’ll find some cute characters that I can give to Saebi? She would like that right? She’s been watching and reading a lot of animated things recently. ”
Koko walked into the shop, immediately taking in the sight of the wide variety the place had to offer. They had metal keychains which were more targeted towards tourists, leather keychains with logos, fobs and self defence keychains, bottle opener keychains, and the keychains that caught Koko’s attention the most, the 3D keychains and the charm keychains.
Koko soon got lost in her own world as she squatted down to look at the crafty and handmade keychains displayed. She also didn’t notice when one of the shop’s workers approached her from behind.
“Are you finding everything alright?” Came a distinct yet somewhat familiar voice.
Koko turned around and stood up abruptly, causing the worker to stumble back to avoid any collisions. Koko, being a police officer with fast reflexes, caught the girl before she could hit the back rack.
“Hey you’re the police officer who saved me from the fire last week! I never got the chance to thank you. You saved my life, really. I’m sure I’m not the first life you’ve saved but I’m still forever grateful. Thank you!”
Ahh so that’s why the girl’s voice sounded familiar. “Jeemin right? I heard your friend call you that before I left. My name’s Koko. Saving people is part of the job but it certainly doesn’t make any one less important than the other. One life saved is one life saved, no matter how hard it was to save the life.” Koko replied formally, prompting Jeemin to smile lightly.
“Anyways I saw you crouched over here for a while and I was wondering if you needed any help finding anything?”
Right. Jeemin was offering help because it was her job. Koko focus you’re going to be late if you don’t pick up the pace. “Uhh so one of my best friends from high school’s birthday is coming up and I really don't know what to get her. I also kinda bombed my present from last year so I need to give her something good this year.”
“Any specific shows she likes or characters?”
“There’s this baby fox looking thing and it’s like purple and pink and it floats around and types suspiciously fast. It’s kinda cute…?”
“Ohh NaSURI! We have a couple keychains over here.” Jeemin exclaimed as she led Koko over to a spinning rack. “We also have some stationary and some cute themed hats and beanies if you’re interested. Oh, we also have a limited edition special hand-crocheted one, only our owner Mai makes them.”
“Huh, I never thought of getting her a hat but that actually sounds like a good idea.” Koko nodded as she followed Jeemin to another corner of the store.
“We have customised beanies with patterns embroidered in them, we also have cute little hats and when you squeeze on the paw, the ear goes up.”
Koko immediately grabbed the rabbit shaped one off the rack and flushed a little when she saw Jeemin giggle. She also grabbed a themed beanie and looked over her purchase choices. She decided to buy 4 things, 3 were presents for Saebi and one was for her own enjoyment. She found a really cute bear keychain and couldn’t help but pick it up. She quickly paid and thanked Jeemin for her help before she reluctantly made her way back to her apartment, knowing that she still had to attend her shift in… Koko looked at her watch. Her shift starts in one minute. Sarang was going to kill her.
“What was the literal last thing I told you? Not to be late. Guess who showed up 15 minutes late. You better have a reasonable explanation to why I had to cover for you FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS WEEK. You can’t even say you slept through your alarm clock, it's 2pm.”
“Okay, hear me out, I went to the mall to buy Saebi some presents but I couldn’t find anything. On my way out I saw a small shop that was filled with cute things so I had to see if there was something she would like. So I went in and then I almost crashed into the cashier and it turns out she was the really really pretty girl we saved last week from the fire..? Well she was even prettier in person and then I got side tracked and ended up buying 3 things for Saebi and by the time I was done I realised I was late and I sprinted all the way here.”
“Side tracked because the girl was super pretty or because you were looking for a good gift for Saebi…?” Sarang questioned with a knowing smirk that caused Koko to groan and playfully smack her partner.
“Shut up.”
“Answer the question and I’ll stop pestering you.”
“Because I was looking for a gift.”
“Denial is going to bring you nowhere in life.”
Koko groaned again as she made her way to her desk and tried to bury herself in her paperwork. Just because the girl was stunning didn’t mean anything. Everyone looks at pretty girls, it’s just a given fact! God Koko was just a useless lesbian.
“Koko unnie I love it, thank you so much!! Where did you find this? It’s so adorable you HAVE to bring me to the store so I can buy more of these keychains. And OMG this beanie is adorable!” Saebi squealed as she hugged and thanked Koko for her birthday gift.
“Much better than last year, that's for sure.” Jungeun jokingly stated as Koko playfully smacked her.
“Hey I was super busy and it was the only thing I had on hand. You’re lucky I was even able to show up in one piece okay?”
“It’s okay Koko, this year’s present makes up for it. But seriously. Where did you get these keychains? They’re absolutely adorable!” Saebi asked excitedly.
“I didn’t catch the name because it was some random store I walked into but I can show you where it is next week.” Koko replied weakly, her mind started to become more occupied by a super smiley Jeemin.
Sarang noticed the change in attitude and started laughing, prompting Jungeun and Saebi to start questioning her, only to have Sarang wave them off. Only after Saebi had gone off to talk to some of her other friends did Jungeun decide to start prying.
“Okay…Why are you gatekeeping a keychain store so hard?”
“Huh what do you mean?”
“You know what I mean Koko. You were so reluctant to tell Saebi which store you got it all from and Sarang just burst out laughing in the middle of nowhere, meaning she also knows something that we don’t. I know you guys are police partners and all but we are all still high school friends! Don’t we deserve to know?”
Koko looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She was shocked that Junguen had picked up on the small things that she had done subconsciously. Sarang also gaped at Jungeun’s accurate analysis and Jungeun whined, not knowing if she was correct.
“Well I don’t know much either. Just that Koko and I saved a girl from a burning apartment last week and the girl was actually stunning. Like drop dead gorgeous. And Koko had it bad for the girl. Apparently that girl worked for the keychain store and Koko came back all flustered. She bought a couple keychains from the store herself and she has them everywhere.”
“Aww, that's adorable!! Maybe if we all go to the store together you might see her again.”
“Just don’t tell Saebi. If she finds out I’m done for. I love her and all but she’s just going to start blabbing away and forget that it’s supposed to be a secret anyways. Plus it’s just a small crush on a pretty girl, nothing unique.” Koko silently admitted as the other two cooed at her. Despite being the eldest out of their small group of four, Koko always felt like the two 07’s were more mature and knew that she could always count on them.
“She’s probably not even here! They probably have so many workers and the chances of her working at this hour is slim.” Koko tried to counter as Jungeun and Sarang dragged her towards the store’s doors. Saebi had excitedly dragged them all to the keychain shop a couple weeks later as she wanted to buy more cute characters.
When they walked into the store Koko didn’t know if she should be happy or sad that Jeemin had not been the one standing behind the counter. Instead she saw Jeemin’s friend who had practically begged her to go save Jeemin. Koko didn’t seem to be the only one who had recognized her as Sarang’s eyes also lit up in recognition.
“Omg you two are the ones that saved Jeemin from the fire! She was right, you are super pretty.” The girl approached the small group of four. “I’m Jiyoon! Jeemin isn’t here today, she’s just a part time worker so she drops by when she has time. I think she’s coming in about an hour if you're looking for her.”
“Nice to meet you Jiyoon! I’m Sarang and this is Koko. We love this little store of yours! Koko can’t seem to get enough of it so she comes back so often.” Sarang filled in as she and Jiyoon shared a mischievous look. Koko smiled awkwardly and walked over to Saebi as Sarang and Jungeun stayed back and continued to talk to Jiyoon at the counter.
“Koko!! How did you find this place? It's literal heaven!! These hats are so cute! I would buy literally everything here if I could, oh my god!!” Saebi squealed as she saw Koko join her.
Koko smiled at Saebi’s obliviousness at the whole scenario and walked around showing Saebi more of her favourites that she had picked up.
The door squeaked open and two other girls walked in. Jeemin, who was carrying huge boxes, walked in first as a shorter, really pretty girl held the door open for her.
“Mai! Oh Jeemin, you’re here early!”
“Yeah Jeemin said she had nothing to do and I needed help carrying all the boxes so she offered to help.” The shorter girl replied.
Jeemin let out a huff as she put down the boxes at the counter, not even realising that there were other people in the shop. “Jiyoon, remind me never to help Mai with the boxes…who knew keychains and materials could be so heavy?”
“I don’t even know why you agreed, you’re literally the weakest one out of all of us!”
“Hey shut up, you aren’t much stronger than me!” Jeemin whined, causing Koko to let out a chuckle.
Only then did Jeemin turn around and realise that there were 4 other girls standing there and watching the whole interaction. When she locked eyes with Koko she started turning an unnatural shade of red and tried to hide behind her hair as she ran behind the counter and started hitting Jiyoon for not telling her that there were customers in the store.
Mai, ever the professional, smiled and asked the four girls if there was anything that she could help them find in the store or if there was anything specific that they were looking for. Jungeun replied, saying that they had been to the store before and they were just checking out some other keychains that their other friend had expressed interest in.
“Fancy vocab, well put together, just my type! What’s next? Telling me you’re a good singer?” Jiyoon suddenly chimed in as Mai shot her a look before going into the back, pulling Jeemin with her.
“She’s actually a really good singer!” Sarang started, causing Jungeun to lose some of her cool girl composure at all the compliments Sarang started spewing about her voice.
“Oh my god that girl is so pretty!” Saebi finally said, causing all 4 of the other girls to look at her.
“You mean Jeemin?” Jiyoon asked.
“Yeah the tall one that just walked in with the boxes. I love her smile!”
“Looks like you’ve got competition Koko.” Jungeun teased.
“Huh Koko you like her? Why didn’t you tell me! You two would look so cute together! I’m cheering for you, you got this! Are you going to ask her out? Does she like you back?”
“Woah woah woah, calm down Saebi.”
“Jiyoon, do you think she has a chance?” Saebi directed her questions at someone else.
“A good chance to be honest. You’re tall, buff, good looking, charming personality…honestly quite the catch! Plus Jeemin already seems to be so smitten around you. She gets embarrassed a whole bunch but it’s been a while since I last saw her flush that deep a shade of red. Probably not since she broke up with her ex-girlfriend.”
“You’re lucky I kept her preoccupied back there. If it was her that walked out here I don’t even know if she would ever dare work here part time anymore. I would be short of manpower and I don’t have enough friends to ask favours of.” Mai suddenly walked in, catching all the girls off guard.
“Oh please, we know that Jeemin loves you too much to leave you short a part time worker.”
“Don’t push it too far. I know you two love teasing each other but you two are my only workers and I need you both to get along.” Mai laughed as she went to restock some of the hats.
“I can’t believe it! Two new ships in just one day? This is so much to take in!” Saebi suddenly yelled as they left the shop, Sarang quickly trying to calm her down.
“Two? I know Koko and Jeemin are one but who’s the other one?” Jungeun questioned.
“You and Jiyoon of course! Please don’t tell me you forgot about her whole ‘you’re just my type’ talk.”
“She was probably joking. She never said anything else about it after!”
“Would you consider dating her though?”
“Of course! I mean she’s pretty, she shares the same music taste as I do, has nice fashion and a cool aura surrounding her…what’s not to like?”
“You sound like Koko right now oh my god.” Sarang deadpanned as the three other girls invited themselves over to Koko’s apartment.
Ding
“Who’s phone was that?” Sarang asked.
“Oh that’s mine.”
“Huh Koko, who do you even text other than the 3 of us? I swear I never see you talk to anyone else”
“Oh it’s Jeemin. She said she's sorry that she couldn’t come out and talk to us because Mai put her on keychain assembly duty.”
“YOU HAVE JEEMIN”S NUMBER?” All three girls shouted simultaneously as Koko covered her ears from the sheer volume of her friends’ voices.
“She gave it to me the 3rd time I went to the store.”
“How many times have you gone now?” Saebi asked, bewildered.
“Today was my 11th…”
“ELEVENTH???” The three girls shouted again.
“She said she got flustered because she’s never met you three before and she got nervous.”
“Why would she be nervous?”
“Oh she said it felt a bit like meeting the in-laws.”
“The in-laws?”
“Yeah Jeemin and I are dating.”
“YOU’RE WHAT?”
💖 Jeeminie 🐻
I just told them we’re dating…I think they are broken lol
I mean if I were them I would be surprised too.
Oh can you give me Jungeun’s number
Jiyoon’s whining
Saying that girl is really pretty and is a good singer and she’s so her type
Of course
Ngl i ship it
Jungeun said she would date Jiyoon if she asked
cus shes pretty and like has good fashion or something
Operation get Jiyoon and Jungeun together?
Heck yeah