He's Only 4 Me: A Sunoo x Enhypen Story

(III)

"Ok ok ok ok but...wait...just let me tell him about it!"

"Seo. No. We aren't here to badmouth Nishimura."

"I'm not badmouthing! Jungwon asked a question and I'm trying to answer him."

Taehyun rolled his eyes. He knew this was a bad idea from the start. But. He also knew that the things they could share with Jungwon were not the same things he could share with Jungwon. Because Nishimura was his partner.

To be clear, Taehyun had meant what he said to Jungwon -he is a brilliant detective. But also, they absolutely were not friends. He liked him...NOW...but he didn't really know him. Even after being partners since the beginning. He often felt as though Nishimura didn't really need a partner, and he was pretty sure that he didn't want a partner, either.

Jungwon, on the other hand, was completely engaged in the conversation.

The question he had asked was this: "so how did NiKi become the youngest detective in the history of Seoul?"

Seems simple and it is simple. But Taehyun knew that Jungwon would want all of the specifics that a storyteller like Changbin could provide, and not the short and sweet answer that he himself would have given.

Changbin looked to Taehyun, waiting for approval.

"Fine.  Just...keep to the facts, yeah?  No colorful commentary or personal opinion."

"Let's see how this goes," Han laughed.

Changbin gave Han a side eye and a smirk but leaned in to tell Jungwon the story.

"So, Nishimura was just a regular beat cop. Just barely out of the academy, clearly someone who read a lot of detective novels or watched a lot of CSI and shit.  There's lots of reasons why people want to be detectives.  And for lots of those people it's stuff they've seen or read. If someone figures it out before the main character, they think this is the career for them.  Nishimura was definitely one of those people.

"From the very beginning, he was hyper-focused on us.  He wouldn't even talk to the other officers who were out in the street every day.  He wasn't one of those guys who wants to fit in. He didn't care about being cool with guys in his rank. He wanted to be a detective and he didn't care who liked him or who he was friends with or any of that."

"But the thing with any career is  - it's ALL about who you know," Hyunjin interjected.

"That's true," Jungwon nodded, thinking about how he knew TOO many people.  At this point in his own career he knew enough that it was harmful and not helpful for future employment.

"Nishimura didn't realize that at all. He very quickly earned a reputation for thinking he was better or that he was in the wrong place. Just waiting for promotion.

"At least that's how it seemed.  Even to supervisors. People are expected to pay their dues, ya know? I don't know, though.  Kang? You were a beat cop at the same time.  What did you think of Nishimura then?"

Changbin smirked as he turned to Taehyun. It seemed as though this thought had never occurred to him.

"OH!!! Good point!" Hyunjin nodded in support of his partner, "and you'd already been with the department for a while."

"It's not really a mystery. Like you said, no one really liked him. He didn't speak to any of us. Anyway, finish your story." Taehyun said.

"I feel like there's more there..." Changbin laughed, raising an eyebrow at Taehyun before turning back to Jungwon.

"But anyway. He used to drive us crazy. He would just come stand around our offices. Listen to us talk about our cases. Just listen in general. It was kinda creepy. One time he even jumped in with his opinion on one of Han's cases and I thought his partner was going to beat him up."