our trail of gold ; jeongcheol

Chapter 5

The late evening sun was hot against the bare tan of his shoulders, the broad of his back taking the brunt of the heat. The vest he'd chosen to wear was comfortable in the little heat brimming in the late winter season. Fingers pressed themselves to the flat keypad and Seungcheol drummed the pads of his hand carelessly as his eyes searched far off into the northern part of the city.

He'd taken a day off – a day without a photo shoot or his presence amidst his employees back at the Choi Enterprise. Normally he would try to lie to himself and say that his day off was long needed, but he knew it was only because of his delayed – but pleasant – shock at seeing his ex-lover and husband.

A smile broke the tight expression, and Seungcheol reached for his glass of orange juice, the crescent shaped ice clanking within the hollow container. Ex-wife would be a more likely term to use, he mused, sipping at the slightly tart drink. The coolness caused him to sigh, and he resumed his staring towards the less populated region, free of the density of people and vehicles.

His mansion was strategically placed, private and broken off from most of the more populated places within the city. It was ironic that the place mirrored the one he used to live in with Jeonghan, only smaller and less crowded. His teeth closed around an ice cube and he looked back to his MacBook screen.

Or was empty a better choice of words?

"Oi Choi!"

The crescent shaped solid cracked between his teeth and Seungcheol reshuffled his legs so that his feet pressed to the stone covered terrace. He wanted to sigh at the voice and his own thoughts, because empty did seem to be the necessary word to sum his love life or lack thereof, as there was no need for love in petty sex.

"Are you ignoring me hyung?"

"I'm on the terrace Min!" he shouted back, closing his MacBook and picking up his glass from the stand. He poured from the jug into another, and as soon as the tall man came onto the beautifully decorated outside fixture, it was snatched from his long fingers.

"Hyung." Mingyu smiled and Seungcheol found himself smiling back. "You're taking a day off. 'Tis a shock. I went by your office and you weren't there. Your workers are in a frenzy. They think the apocalypse is upon them."

Seungcheol snorted as his glass was drained. "I would think that I deserve a day off."

"Oh you do." Mingyu settled onto the edge of the table, dark brown locks whipping around his temples as a draft of wind spurted. "But you've never taken one. Which means something happened, yeah?"

"Being the youngest chief detective doesn't mean you can stick your nose into everything Min." Seungcheol berated the younger man with a thin grin.

"Not everything." Mingyu poured himself some more juice before finishing his statement. "Just your shit. Very important shit." His legs swung from the table, touching stone as his shoes clanked together. "What happened?"

Seungcheol's look was wistful as his hands were freed, clutching around the banister and still facing his younger friend, the handsome detective with a sly mouth and never ending sarcasm.

"I met him, the other day." His grip tightened. "Yoon Jeonghan..."

—

Jeonghan would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy his job. It brought him pleasure to see others find love, relishing their couple status and the joys racked from it. Even if he knew that it was impossible for himself to find love, it was still nice to know that others had a chance to experience it.

He closed the office alone, Kim having left half day to go see her parents for their 28th year of having been married. She was weary to leave him, but he had confessed to spending the night at Junhui's flat, and it was then she was bound to leave him alone for the long weekend.