Chapter Text
Inho was having the worst day ever. His shift was running late, and then Junho called him to pick up a strawberry cake.
To make matters worse, there were all these frilly heart-shaped balloons absolutely everywhere. People holding hands and giggling obnoxiously.
Seriously, what could have been so funny? It seemed like he was the only dutiful person left in this country.
He aggressively slammed the brakes and jolted forward as the car screeched to a halt abruptly.
“Oh for God’s sake! Seriously! Hey, watch where you’re going, kids!” , he barked out.
“Ohhh oppa, I was so scared…” the girl started shaking a little.
“Minseo! gwenchana?,” the guy hugged her close and pulled her out of the way. “Sorry, ahjussi, we were distracted talking about our plans.”
“You kids should pay more attention to the road! Ahh, what’s with this Valentine’s Day.”
Inho’s mood soured even more as he drove toward this hole-in-the-wall café to pick up his specifically strawberry-flavoured cake that he had preordered meticulously in advance for Junho’s birthday.
As he walked in, the cringey heart-shaped cutouts caught his attention. Seriously, what was the need for all these red and pink hearts everywhere? What was so lovely? Young people these days had no sense of responsibility.
He stepped up to the counter.
“Order pickup. Hwang.”
The cashier froze.
“Oh… um.”
Inho narrowed his eyes. He was a detective. He recognized hesitation instantly.
“What.”
“There’s just a small issue with the cake…”
His jaw tightened. Inho stared at her like she had just confessed to tax fraud. “Explain.”
“Well… someone already picked it up.”
Silence.
“Excuse me?”
Before she could elaborate—
“Hyung, I said we should double-check!”
Inho turned slowly.
Near the display fridge stood a man holding a pink cake box decorated with tiny printed strawberries. He looked far too pleased with himself.
Messy hair. Slightly rumpled baby pink sweater. Soft eyes. Absolutely no awareness of danger.
He looked up and froze like a hamster when he saw Inho’s expression.
“…Is that yours?”
Inho stepped closer. “Open it.”
“What? Why?” , He squeaked .
“Open. It.”
The man swallowed and lifted the lid.
Written across the top in elaborate pink icing:
I ❤️ YOU JUNHO
with two very dramatic hearts on either side.
The bakery went silent.
Inho stared at the cake.
Then at the man.
“You think I ordered that?”
The man blinked rapidly. “Oh. Oh. Oh no.”
“I ordered a birthday cake,” Inho said flatly. “For my brother.”
The man clutched the box defensively. “Okay but to be fair— they handed it to me!”
“You took a cake with another man’s name on it.”
“I thought it was romantic!”
“For my brother?”
The man paused.
“…That would be progressive.”
The cashier made a strangled sound trying not to laugh.
Inho pinched the bridge of his nose. “Your name.”
“Seong Gihun.”
Of course it was. Because, Who has a last name that literally means last name.
“And why,” Inho continued, voice dangerously calm, “did you take a pre-paid cake.”
Gihun shifted awkwardly. “I didn’t pre-order. I just came in because… well.” He gestured vaguely at the hearts everywhere. “It’s Valentine’s Day.”
“And?”
“And I like cake.”
Inho stared.
“You stole a cake because you were emotional.”
“I didn’t steal it! They said ‘Hwang,’ I said ‘that’s me,’ and then they gave it to me!”
There was a pause.
“…You didn’t think to question the giant ‘I love you Junho’ on top?”
“I thought maybe fate wanted Junho to feel loved.”
Inho’s eye twitched.
The cashier cleared her throat nervously. “We can remake the birthday cake, but it’ll take forty minutes…”
Forty minutes.
Inho checked the time. He did not have forty minutes.
He looked at the useless confession cake again.
Then at Gihun.
“You take this,” Inho said. “It is clearly meant for your delusions.”
Gihun gasped. “No! I can’t take your cake!”
“It is not my cake.”
“It has your brother’s name!”
“Which makes it unusable.”
They both looked at it.
The two pink icing hearts seemed to mock him.
Gihun bit his lip. “Okay. What if… we share it?”
Inho blinked slowly.
“No.”
“It’s a big cake.”
“No.”
“You don’t even like sweets, do you?”
Inho stiffened.
“…How would you know that.”
“You look like someone who drinks black coffee and judges people.”
“I am judging you.”
Gihun grinned.
“See? Accurate.”
There was something dangerously bright about that smile.
Inho found himself staring a second too long.
Ridiculous.
Unserious.
Irresponsible.
Annoyingly… warm.
“You will pay for half,” Inho said finally.
Gihun’s face lit up like he’d been proposed to. “Deal!”
They ended up sitting at one of the tiny heart-covered tables.
Inho refused to acknowledge the paper cupid taped to the wall behind him.
Gihun cut two slices.
“You first,” Gihun said, sliding one across. Inho absolutely did not notice his petite hand sporting a delicate bracelet.
“I am not celebrating Valentine’s.”
“You’re not. You’re preventing food waste.”
Inho sighed and took a bite.
Sweet.
Too sweet.
He grimaced slightly.
Gihun leaned forward immediately. “Is it bad?”
“It is excessive.”
Gihun laughed. “You’re excessive.”
Inho glared.
There was a small smudge of pink frosting at the corner of his mouth.
Gihun stared.
Before Inho could react, Gihun reached out and wiped it off with his thumb.
Time stopped.
Inho froze.
Gihun blinked down at his frosting-covered thumb. “…Oh.”
Inho’s brain short-circuited.
He was a homicide detective.
He had faced criminals.
He had interrogated suspects without blinking.
Why was his pulse racing because of frosting.
“You’re very tense,” Gihun observed softly.
“I am not.”
“You are. Your shoulders are up here.” Gihun gestured near his ears.
Inho lowered them immediately. “I am fine.”
Gihun smiled gently this time. Not teasing.
“Good.”
And that smile—
That was worse.
Because it wasn’t loud or ridiculous.
It was soft.
He glanced at Gihun's cute– out of place– sweater. Maybe pink wasn't that bad a color.
Inho looked away first.
Outside the bakery, another couple ran past laughing.
Earlier, he had mocked them.
Now—
Gihun nearly tripped over the door frame on the way out.
Inho reacted instantly, grabbing him firmly by his very small ahem– waist.
Gihun blinked up at him.
“ Gihun-ssi, Gwenchana? ”
Gihun burst into laughter. “Did you just—”
Inho released him immediately. “Watch where you’re going.”
“You sound like the girls from earlier.”
“I do not.”
“You do.”
They stood there a second too long.
The heart-shaped balloons outside floated gently in the evening air.
Inho exhaled slowly.
He hated Valentine’s Day.
He hated pink icing.
He hated impulsive strangers– with soft eyes and fluffy hair and nevermind– who stole cakes.
And yet—
He found himself saying, almost against his will,
“…Do you always come here for cake.”
Gihun tilted his head. “Are you asking me out, detective?”
Inho stiffened.
“…I am verifying a pattern.”
Gihun’s smile widened.
“Then I guess you’ll have to observe me again.”
And somehow—
Hwang Inho, who had walked in judging every heart in the building—
Walked out holding a cake box with “I ❤️ You Junho” written on it,
And thinking about Seong Gihun’s smile instead.