chapter 3

Before the elevator doors could open to the ground floor you stood up, but the haze in your eyes didn’t clear. You walked out of the elevator and out the glass entrance door weaving yourself into the sea of passing people. The crowd took no mercy on you, the masses were on autopilot. Standing in the midst of the crowd shoulders knocked against yours repeatedly; your purse was pulled to the ground on accident when a business man on the phone carelessly ran into you. Still, you remained indifferent to everything. He kept going not bothering to apologize. Everyone kept moving, except you. You were frozen.

He was alive! However, meeting him again and finding out that he’s a well-known lawyer, your potential boss, was not the way you pictured the reunion. How could he be in such plain sight? It clicked so you rushed to pick up your purse and pulled out your cell phone. It was one of the first generations of smart phones, but it still worked and it didn’t have any scratches on it. You open a web browser and searched “Kim Taehyung Hybrid Welfare Legal Law Group, LLC,” and instantly over 10,000 results came up. The first article was of him walking from a courthouse with the title “Kim puts the notorious serial, hybrid killer behind bars”, another was “Lawyer Kim Taehyung gives statement on bringing the CEO of CJT Corps, who abused his hybrids, to light.” You were stunned, he’s been in plain sight this whole time. It was the twenty first century, why didn’t you use the internet? You already knew the answer to that though, you were just too busy and didn’t have any social media.

You kept scrolling and opened the company’s website moving past the other lawyer’s bios until you found his. This is why you should’ve done your research. You stopped when a photo of him working came into frame. They must’ve taken his picture without him knowing from the candid shot. He was looking down at some paperwork with his head propped at a 45-degree angle resting in his hand at his desk. It was weird seeing him grown up and so–manly looking, his deep voice rang in your head picturing him in the exact same way minutes ago. You shook yourself out of staring at the photo and read his short bio, “Kim Taehyung has been a brilliant lawyer for Hybrid Welfare Legal Law Group, LLC, since 2014. Kim graduated early from the national University at the age of twenty, opting to take honor and advance placement classes. He graduated with a degree in Linguistics and a minor in Philosophy. Kim entered the University’s Law program the following semester after graduation and left three years later ranking in the top 10% percentile of the Bar Exam takers. He’s worked for Free Will Legal Office, LLC, and Liberation Legal Advocacy Corporation, LLC, throughout Law school and interned afterwards. He started working for us at the age of twenty-four and worked his way up to being one of the four main lawyers of our office. A quote from Kim, ‘I will work hard until I can put an end to hybrid abuse and put those who abuse hybrids behind bars.’ We believe Kim Taehyung is the future in hybrid rights.”

Your jaw fell agape, you couldn’t believe this was the same Tae. The Tae you knew was a clumsy, happy-go lucky, carefree kit. Time has really changed things. You crossed your purse over your chest and put your phone back in its slot. You tucked your blazer closer to you when a breeze blew by and walked towards the nearest bus stop. You felt so ashamed of yourself, you wanted to see him again, but he didn’t even remember you. Were you that forgetful? Did your friendship mean nothing to him? You kept walking to the bus station and sat on the cracked, plastic bench and almost missed your bus when you were lost in thought. You ran after the bus, almost slipping on mud, smacking the side of the bus until it captured the driver’s attention and he stopped for you. Even on the ride on the bus you couldn’t stop thinking about him. The rest of the day was spent in this weird smog as if you were walking through a valley of smoke.

You walked up the steep hill to your apartment late at night after your closing shift. You deviated from your path and stopped at the living room converted into a convenient store tucked in one of the houses along the road and perused the short isles. You picked up a few beers from the fridge and chips on a stand. The auntie who sat on a loveseat watching old soap operas just asked for the money with an outheld hand without even paying you any mind. You’ve been here enough to know eachother by first name, “Thanks Lola.” She waved you off with her enclosed hand, you were interrupting the dialogue of her show. You walked up to your rooftop apartment and sat down on the low platform outside your apartment. You sat the crinkling plastic bag next to you along with your purse and just sighed. You dug inside and pulled out any one of the two beers. You pulled back the aluminum tab that released a satisfying hiss. You hoped that this little thing would release some of your pressure too. No, you weren’t a drinker only having drank a total of two times before; both times with your brother when you graduated college, then law school. You just wanted to indulge in this one time.

You took the can and cheered it to the sky before taking a hefty gulp of the stout and breathed a sigh of relief afterwards. You really didn’t understand why people like the taste of alcohol or the flavor of beer at this point, it tasted awful. However, you spent five dollars on all this you weren’t going to let it go to waste. You kept sipping with furrowed brows trying to catch a buzz to sleep better tonight. You laid back on your elbows supporting you looking up at the starry sky. Its been so long since you’ve looked up and taken in the world around you. The stars were so beautiful they twinkled and glimmered as if they were communicating with one another. You picked up your beer and took small sips. This reminded you of the old days when the four of you were laying on the same type of platform doing the same thing. You were starting to feel tipsy, maybe because you never drank or maybe the alcohol hit your system fast because you haven’t eaten in a while. Maybe. You took a deep inhale and then yelled out, “Yah! Taehyung! You’re alive! You’re– really alive and doing well! I’m so… proud of you! Wow, I saw you today and you didn’t—you didn’t even recognize me! Did I really change that much? Huh?” You had to catch your breath you were so worked up and somewhere along the line you started crying. “How could you—how could you do that to me?” You don’t know when but as some point exhaustion took over from crying so hard and yelling. You fell deep asleep on the platform.

A half hour later your brother walked up the side stairs, his black combat boots clinking against the metal staircase leading to the apartment. He hummed and blew a puff of smoke in the air from his hot breath hitting the icy air. He rubbed his gloved hands together and shoved them in his pocket for any warmth and dug for his keys. The yellow-green flood light dulled against the cement floor, but it caught his attention when it reflected against the plastic bag on the platform. He stepped closer to see exactly what was there only to find you sprawled out sleeping. Tired from his long day as well, he came up to you and smacked your cheek, “hey, hey wake up.” You just groaned and turned to your side landing on top of the plastic bag and knocking over your half full beer. “Hey!” Your brother went to grab the sticky drink before it leaked any further onto the wood and shook his hand in frustration when it coated his hands. He really took in your appearance redden nose, dirty clothes and sneakers haphazardly thrown. You had your “suit uniform” spilling out of your purse as if it was shoved in angrily. He hated seeing you work endlessly and keep going to job interviews tirelessly. He wanted to make your life easier, but he didn’t have a direct way fix that. He sat you up and slung you over his back and then hung your purse over his neck. The plastic bag was in his hand while the other held the house keys, “Yah, you feel too light. You’ve lost too much weight. Why aren’t you eating stupid?” He knew you couldn’t hear any of his complaints, but he still complained none the less. He flopped you onto your twin size bed and pulled the comforter over you. He sat next to you and flattened your wild hair down, it was the least he could do for you after all the things you do for him. Somewhere down the line the roles have changed, and you started taking care of him. He kissed your forehead and turned off the lights closing your bedroom door.

The next morning at seven thirty you woke up to your phone alarm blaring that repetitive noise and a fat headache. You were in pain, but you still had to turn off your insistent alarm. You looked at yourself and wondered how you got inside, it must’ve been your great instincts. You blindly made your way to the bathroom and took a shower. The hot water was so comforting easing the headache to a dull pain. You made it back to your bedroom to change into your day uniform, but were stopped by a surprising figure in the kitchen.

With eyebrows raise you looked at your brother who was diligently mixing something over the counter. He had something on his cheek when he turned around, “Morning sunshine, you look great!” You furrowed your brows and grumbled to him, “shut up.” He laughed, “be out soon to eat before you leave. You don’t have much time before you have to go.” Not about to argue with his comeback you went to change and ready your purse. You packed your only other set of skinny jeans and the same black t-shirt into your bag replacing your suit uniform. You made your way out of the room with light makeup on since it was more appropriate for your day job. You took a peek over your brother’s shoulder on your tippy toes and made a face pulling the sides of your lips down impressed with his makeshift breakfast sandwich. He smacked your creeping hand trying to grab extra pieces of packaged ham and said take some aspirins. “Yes, mom. Love you, mom!” He laughed at your annoyance and you followed through really needing it to carry on today. He let you slip your shoes on before handing you paper bag with a ham sandwich and a breakfast sandwich to carry tucked into a napkin. You were so touched your brother never did stuff like this. You looked at him suspiciously, “did you do something wrong?” He played up an expression of upset with a hand over his chest, “can’t a brother do something nice for a change?” You smiled not willing to have your sandwich revoked and hugged him tight, “thank you for everything.” You snatched the sandwich and placed it in your mouth as you ran out the door waving him goodbye.

You made your way into the diner and grabbed your apron from of your locker. You greeted the older auntie who ran the shop and your coworkers, it was back to the basics. You were working non-stop until you had a fifteen-minute break around noon. You went to your locker in the breakroom and pulled out your phone. There was a missed call from Mrs. Lee. You were panicking internally. What if it was something important? Why was she calling back so soon? For sure only early call backs were rejections, how could he decide overnight? With a shaky finger you hovered over the call button but pressed it and brought it up to your ear. You sat in a chair shaking your leg impatiently while chewing on your thumb in anticipation. There was no voicemail, so it was up in the air to what she needed. She picked up after the seventh ring, “Hello Mrs. Lee this is Y/N Y/L/N. I’m sorry I missed your call I wasn’t able to answer the call while on shift.” She waved it off bidding everything fine, “I understand. I wanted to call you with the results of the interview.” Your heart was racing and begging her to put you down gently. “Mr. Kim has decided that he wants to hire you. We would love it if you could start as soon as possible.”

You were frozen. You were hired! You were hired? “I’m sorry Mrs. Lee, can you please repeat that please?” She laughed at your confused state, “You’re hired Ms. Y/L/N. When can you start?” It took a few seconds, but you were smiling like and idiot and bowing in thanks even though she couldn’t see. “Are you sure Mr. Kim relayed the message right Mrs. Lee? I don’t mean to guess your work, I just can’t believe it,” you spoke at her rapidly and in disbelief. “I’m positive Ms. Y/L/N.” You promised that you would be able to start in the next few days since you had to let your current jobs know you would be resigning. She congratulated you and hung up. You were so excited with the news you stood up and danced, you absolutely couldn’t hold in your excitement. You stopped mid jig and the news really set in. You were going to be working with Taehyung. Would you tell him who you were? So many thoughts were running through your mind, but first things first you had to quite these part time jobs!

You spoke to all your employers who were happy for you, but they asked for a few days more until they could find a replacement. Your bosses from both places were more like long time friends now and they wished you luck and to keep the door open to use you for legal help. As soon as all things were set you called Mrs. Lee to let her know you could make it exactly in three days. She was glad to hear that you worked it all out and would see you very soon at eight a.m. sharp. You were so excited that that night you went home and told your brother you finally got the job! You even made a video call with your brother to your parents telling them the news. They couldn’t be happier for you, and it felt like things were finally working out. You spent that night sitting in bed scrolling again through the company’s website on Taehyung’s bio page. You reread the information over and over again. This was too important to pass up and if Taehyung didn’t recognize you, that was fine. You were going to start fresh again now anyways, so if he didn’t remember you it wouldn’t be the end of the world. You wondered if he still spoke to Hoseok. You wondered a million and one things, but it still didn’t change how hurt your heart felt. You plugged your phone in to your charger and set it on your bed side table. You stared out your window and thanked the stars for watching over you.

You adjusted the same blazer, button up and slacks you wore on your interview. The same flats were adorning your feet, ready for work. You pulled your hair up in a pony tail in the elevator. The smooth, long locks flicked side to side as you looped it in the hair tie. The elevator doors opened to the receptionist lobby. The receptionist, who now asked you to refer to her as Mrs. Smith, congratulated you on your employment. She looked left and right subtly then curled her index finger to beckon you in whispering distance. “Mr. Kim can be a bit…rude. He’s not the kindest, but he works very hard. You’re the only interviewee that made it out of the 150 that applied just this month. I don’t even…” Mrs. Lee came into the receptionist office and cleared her throat. You jumped back and bowed to greet her. She smiled politely at you and raised a brow to Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith began humming and went back to work like nothing happened. Mrs. Lee signaled for you to follow her down the hall. You trailed behind her into the open work space.

“This last row of desks in this open space in the far back is where we will be working. The other three rows are meant for the other lawyers.” She pointed along with her words as she lead you down the rows of already busy workers, some gave you a glance while other worked diligently. You were shown to the first desk at the beginning of the row where it was empty, “this is your spot. You can decorate it as much as you like.” You thanked her setting down your purse and she lead you to the other employees under Mr. Kim. The first employee she introduced you to a man who went by casually by the name Key, but his actual name was Kim Kibum. He was a paralegal and was Taehyung’s right-hand man. He looked you up and down, but welcomed you politely. Key carried this sassy carefree air about him that seemed to lack for a lawyer. The next employee was female employee younger than you who was there as a legal assistant. She was still in law school and working her way to becoming a lawyer. She was cold towards you and didn’t care to respond, but Mrs. Lee let you know her name was Jung Krystal. She was pretty, but her attitude made you want to take that statement back. That was the whole team. You could see why they needed you on the team. There weren’t enough members on the team, you wondered how they’ve won so many cases so far with so little people.

Mrs. Lee lead you to Mr. Kim’s office knocking getting the typical non-lingual response. She motioned for you to enter and followed behind closing the door. Your heart was racing seeing him again, in fact it’s been racing as you entered the ground level lobby. He was in a navy-blue suit that really brought out his orange fur on his ears. You tried to calm yourself knowing hybrids can sense your heart rate and anxiety levels. He was in the same position as the other day, but instead he had a cup of coffee in his hands taking sips of his black coffee delicately. You gulped and after Mrs. Lee called to you, you turned to him and reintroduced yourself with your self still bent in a bow thanked him for hiring you. You slowly raised yourself to standing position, but didn’t bring your eyes up immediately. You raised your eyes slowly and as if the world slowed his eyes locked on yours holding them in amusement. He held his gaze on yours silently with a raised brow. He was sizing you up, so you continued, “I will work hard under your team as a lawyer.” He laughed a little, “No, you won’t be working under me as a lawyer. At least not yet.” You looked at him wide eyes, but he continued, “You will be working alongside Ms. Jung, until you prove you can hold your own.” He took another sip of coffee looking for you to challenge him. You were going to have to start from the bottom, the literal bottom of the food chain. You were ready for the challenge though, you lived for the challenge. You smiled politely at him, “I’m willing to show you that I’m a worthy member of this team Mr. Kim.” He was curt and just hummed waving you both off to leave. You understood Mrs. Smith now.

Mrs. Lee escorted you back to your desk and Krystal and Key came over to your desk to drop four boxes full of paperwork that needed sorting and to be categorized by case. You sighed internally at the amount of work, but rolled up your sleeves went to work. Mrs. Lee patted your shoulder and wished you luck. Before you knew it the hands on the clocked turned and it was noon, you were barely a quarter of the way through with one box. Mrs. Lee tapped your shoulder interrupting your concentration, “Mr. Kim is calling for you in his office.” You got up dusting yourself off and made your way over to his office. You knocked lightly and wiped your dusty hands on your slacks and got the approval grunt. You stepped in and was only greeted by an outstretched sticky note in which you took in both hands. “What is this Mr. Kim?” You couldn’t make out the coding of what FR, OC and BrB meant. He looked up at you with a glare as if you’ve just insulted his mother. “My lunch, now go pick it up for me,” he looked at his watch, “and I want it by 1 p.m. Now hurry.” You looked at the clock on the wall and it read 12:15 p.m. How were you supposed to make it back to the office in 45 minutes?

You were going to prove him wrong for underestimating you, “Of course, Mr. Kim.” You stepped out of his office and power walked back to the open space, but was stopped by more sticky notes by your team; even the intern who should be doing all this. You were a little upset by the intern’s rudeness, but you weren’t going to let this shake you. You took them and asked them to decode Mr. Kim’s note first. “Its fried rice, orange chicken and broccoli beef from Panda Express.” Not caring to waste any more time you ran out of the office like lightening. You had to pick up coffees from Starbucks, sandwiches from Subway on top of Mr. Kim’s order. You were walking so fast with three bags swinging on your arms and four coffees in a carboard cup holder. You were adjusting a bag on your arm trying to reach the sticky notes your blazer pocket one last time when someone ran directly into you. The coffees in your hand down poured onto you soaking your white button up. A mix of hot and cold pungent liquid all over your white button up. You liked coffee, but not to this extent. You weren’t concerned about your shirt though, you were about the coffee. You checked the time and ran back to the coffee shop a few stores back. The man who was trying to apologize to you was left standing there in confusion.

You made it back to the office panting at 12:59 p.m. and set everything down on the round conference table of your section. The members at their desk all looked at you concerned with the blatant brown stain on your shirt, but you were in a rush. You only had a minute left! You grabbed his tray, fork and napkins along with his venti coffee. You knocked on his door with your elbow and got the grunt. You made your way into his office and set the food down on the cleared portion of his desk. You stepped back waiting for his response. He set his pen down and took his Ray-Ban Clubmaster glasses off. He looked at you judgingly and then took in the brown stain poured down your front. He chooses to not comment but went to grab the tray. He popped open the container and hummed, not in approval or disapproval just a throaty noise. You were sweating for more reason than one. He finally said something, “you’re late by two minutes Ms. Y/L/N. How do you expect me to depend on you with that kind of timing?” You were shocked you made it late but bit your tongue, “I’m sorry Sir, it won’t happen ever again.” He raised a brow, “better not Y/L/N.” You were surprised that he addressed you by your first name. It felt weird hearing it again. He grabbed at the plastic fork but tossed it in his small trash bin, “I don’t eat my Chinese food with a fork, go get me chopsticks.” You were panicking you didn’t grab any, so you tried to think of anything besides having to go all the way back. You remembered you had your own chopsticks for your lunch. You asked him for a second and ran to your desk and rummaged your purse until you found your chopsticks at the bottom of your lunch bag. The metal chopsticks would work perfectly. You knocked again and handed him the utensil with both hands. He took them from you and commented, “I prefer wooden ones, but I’ll settle.” You were holding your comeback in, you were glad you weren’t a dragon hybrid at this moment. You asked him if that was all he needed, and he waved you off again. You made it back to your desk where everyone was now eating and working at their own. Mrs. Lee and Kibum thanked you, but Krystal just ate quietly. She’s yet to say a word to you.

You got back to work and ate your food with an extra plastic fork left in one of the bags. Again, time has passed by quickly and before you knew it the rest of your team was leaving for the night and biding you good night. Mrs. Lee told you to, “go home soon, there’s always tomorrow.” You smiled and said you would, but in by the looks of your desk you knew it was going to be a long night. Your desk lamp was the last one on in the office and you were working on the last four case files from the third box. You sat up cracking your back then heard a voice next to you, “I’m not paying you for overtime.” Jolting at the sound you banged your knee on the desk but stood up with a click of your knees and replied, “Mr. Kim! I know, but I want to finish before I leave.” He looked over your shoulder to see the stack of different sorted casefiles. He looked back at you stoically with his tail swishing casually and just walked off. You called after him, “Good night Mr. Kim” and you whispered, “Good night Tae Tae” when he was around the corner while rubbing your knee.

Taehyung came home to an empty apartment. His roommates Hoseok, Jimin and Jungkook were still out. Jimin and Hoseok was out practicing choreography for an upcoming tour for a famous artist. Jungkook was probably working a late shift at the station. They’ve all made it into fields they’ve dreamt of. Taehyung pulled out a bottle of wine from the wine rack and popped open the cork. He used his better sense of smell and took in the fruity flavor of the vintage wine. He poured himself a glass and pulled out some ingredients from the fridge and went to prepare himself dinner. A few minutes later he heard the keycode being punched in and the scuffing of boots at the entrance. The heavy timberlands hit the floor with a thud near the shoe rack and a Bunny still in his police uniform set his phone on the island counter along with his badges and plopped himself in a bar stool across the stove. He greeted Taehyung, “Hyung, I’m home! You won’t believe the day I had!”

At home Taehyung could let loose and be himself, he didn’t have to put up a hard exterior that he did at the office. “Tell me about it then, Kookie.” He went on to say about a few weeks ago a drunk uncle was abusing his young hybrid but a heroine stepped in and saved the hybrid. She was a lawyer too! She beat the man into submission and pinned him to the floor. She went with the hybrid to the hospital and he found out she knows Jin too! He took the hybrid into his shelter according to the report and getting a phone call from the bear himself. “Anyways, she was really pretty hyung, and I wanted to ask her on a coffee date, you can’t let a cool woman like that just walk by. But that’s not the point, the point is the drunk man is suing the station for taking away his hybrid when he was in an inebriated state.” Taehyung turned to him to him with raised brows and tail swishing in interest, “did you ask her out?” The bunny’s ears went down in sadness, “No, she got into the ambulance before I could even say anything.” Taehyung and Jungkook always told eachother stories going on in their work since they both often shared cases.

More noise came from the front door and in came the last two roommates. Hoseok came into the kitchen first doing some gliding moves but Jimin kneed him in the butt to move out the way. Jimin greeted the two and did the secret handshake that only they would know. Hoseok came next to Taehyung at the stove, “Tae Tae, what are you making? Is there enough for all of us?” He didn’t plan on making enough for everyone, but wordlessly he was throwing more portions onto the skillet. Hoseok thanked Taehyung and the three sat down on the island next to Jungkook who retold his story of his day. Hoseok listened intently then said, “Hey, Tae, doesn’t that girl remind you of the girl from the country side where we used to live? She would do the same for us when we were kids. Her and her brother would always stand up for us!” Taehyung smiled remembering the face of that girl, she had choppy hair and rags for shoes, but she was always happy. He couldn’t remember her name and her facial features were blurry to him now, but he knew the person. He answered honestly, “I do Hobi, it’s was so long ago. Her face is blurry to me now, but I remember that choppy bowl cut flying squirrel.” They all laughed at him calling you a squirrel. Jimin turned to Hoseok, “is she that girl in that photo at Tae mom’s house?” Hoseok lit up remembering the photo,” Yeah! That exact girl!” They carried on chatting and joking. They ended the night with some video games. Taehyung was about to get into bed when he pulled out his phone and in the gallery, he took a picture of that photo in his mom’s house. There was water damage on the photo, so all the faces were blurry. He zoomed in on your face and smiled fondly, “Hey Firefly, it’s been a while. I hope you’re doing well. I hope your still kicking butt and saving foxes like you used to.” He stared at the photo a bit more then set it to charge for the night, “Good night Firefly.”

The next morning you came to the office with the same outfit. You didn’t have enough money to buy any new clothing, your last paycheck to pay utilities and rent. The coffee stain came out of your button up after soaking it in a concoction of home remedy stain remover. You were the first of your team in the office. You finished all the filing last night at 2:30 a.m. A few moments later Mrs. Lee made her way over to your row, “good morning Y/N!” You greeted her back, but she rushed to drop her bag off at her desk to go back to the receptionist area. You sat down at your desk and waited for her to return. Mr. Kim came around the corner with his briefcase adjusting his glasses. You stood up to greet him, but he stopped in his tracks, “You’re still here?” You raised your brows in question, “you hired me correct?” He nodded and carried on to his office closing the door behind him. You saw Mrs. Lee escorting the same family you saw the day you submitted your resume. This time the young man had bruises and a black eye. You looked worriedly at Mrs. Lee, but she just mouthed “later” to you. She sat them at the conference table and told them to wait for her. She came over to you asking for you to get some files for her to present to them. You nodded following her instruction.

When you returned with the case files she asked for, you to sit with her and the family. She introduced you to the woman, Mrs. Miller, and her son David. You shook their hands introducing yourself. She spoke to them about the new revisions and terms that were set by the recent lawyer meeting. You listened intently picking up that she was going through a lawsuit where the other party is suing for assault and defamation. It was hard to believe with David looking as if danger was waiting around the corner for him. Mrs. Lee directed them towards Mr. Kim’s office to discuss things further and Mrs. Lee returned to you. “Mrs. Miller and her son are in a civil lawsuit. A few rich kids at the private school assaulted him, and their parents are trying to turn it around on them. Claiming that David inflected the injuries on himself and are trying to ruin their image. They don’t want to settle out of court. With all evidence we have so far, it points towards hybrid discrimination.” You nodded silently, longingly looking at the office down the hall. Mrs. Lee went to get up but you stopped her before she went on to give you work, “what did Mr. Kim mean when he said ‘you’re still here’?” She looked at you with raised brows sitting down beside you again, “We’ve hired people before you to join the team, but they never stayed after the first day. We’ve gone through 15 people leaving after the first day. They complain that they don’t want to do bottom work with a lawyer’s license, they want to practice already. He always lets them leave. He purposely is a bit overbearing in the beginning to really see if people are made out to work here.” You slowly nodded finally understanding his words. You smiled at her and said, “please give me more work to do!” She laughed at your eagerness, but then went to hand you more boxes. You honestly were more motivated to work harder, this was your dream even if it was starting at the bottom. Nothing good is every handed out, it’s earned.

You went back and forth around the office and brought all cases up to date on filing. The next few weeks you worked endlessly proving yourself. You stayed late often re-doing reports and checking and rechecking paperwork. Taehyung would stop by your desk nightly before he left seeing you were the last one, but never said anything. He just stared at you then walked off, but you always wished him a good night and that he worked hard today. When he stepped away you always called him Tae Tae. It was hard to control your beating heart around the handsome fox.

Taehyung was impressed by your hard work, but he would never tell you. He was impressed the first day when you offered up your chopsticks. He knew he was being difficult, but he needed you to be flexible and adaptable. The things he’s been putting you through were test, not just miniscule task. You still had a long way to go before he trusted you to work on a major case.

But the day came, a month in working at the office. He finally asked you to do something else besides paper work and running small errands. You knocked on his door and stepped into his office. He asked you to sit down in the chair in front of his desk. You were slightly worried thinking you were in trouble, but he interrupted your thoughts, “I want you to go out tomorrow morning with Mr. Kim to David Miller’s private school to get a testimonial from the school and any evidence. We need some papers signed by their principal.” You were relieved you weren’t in trouble and the anxiety turned into happiness. You tried to hide your smile but failed miserably when your lips twitched and settled into a smile. “Thank you, Mr. Kim, I’ll do my best.” He just looked at you dully, “this is work Mrs. Y/L/N not something to thank me for.” You bowed and asked him if he needed anything else before you returned to your desk. He breathed in deeply looking you once over then tilted his head to the side, “is that the only clothes you have? That “uniform” of yours should be put away for a new one, don’t you think? Wear something else for tomorrow’s visit.” He looked down to his paperwork again and waved you off. You were excited with the given task, finally he trusted you enough to do actual work. However, his comment on your clothes sucked a bit off happiness out of it. You knew very well that you shouldn’t wear the same clothes every day, but it was the only thing you had. You bowed and left with a smile still on your face. You ran into Mrs. Lee who was about to knock on the door, you excused yourself and walked down the hall. Mrs. Lee was still staring at you walking down the hall, she overheard and was surprised you didn’t look phased. You were a strong woman indeed.

There was something about you to him. The sense of familiarity only got worse over time. Something in his gut was pulling him to you, maybe it was your pretty face? Maybe it was your persistent personality? Every time he looked at you he just felt like something was missing, but he didn’t know what it was. A mysterious nostalgia. He smiled to himself when you left the room and laughed quietly at your cute behavior. It was hard holding back and keeping a stone face when you were here. He felt comfortable with you. Every night when he passed by your desk he always wants to speak to you, to chat casually, but he doesn’t want to cross professional boundaries. In the end he just walks away leaving you to work. When Mrs. Lee walked in he corrects himself immediately, coughing and clearing his throat to cover his laugh.

The next morning you came in to work, again being the first of your team. You still had your “uniform” on, but you had no choice. None of your friends, even your ex-coworker, had any professional clothing they could lend you. You sat at your desk turning on your computer to get to work until Key came into the office. Mrs. Lee came into the work space humming and swinging three, large, unfamiliar bags. You didn’t pay any mind to her after you greeted her normally. She came up behind you and tapped on your shoulder. You turned to her holding up three bags in front of you blocking your vision. “What is this Mrs. Lee?” She lowered the bags and said, “I was going through my closet yesterday cleaning it out any of the pieces I had that were still in good condition, but I never used. I was wondering if you would want them? It’d be a shame to throw out such good pieces.” You looked at the bags and then back at her, “Oh, I can’t take something so nice.” She stopped you, “No, I won’t be using them anymore! We seem to wear the same size so please, take them. It’s my gift to you.” You reluctantly took the bag and then pulled out some gorgeous blouses, slacks and pencil skirts. The last bag had two pairs of heels, one was classic black, thin heel pump and an ankle strap, nude heel. You turned to her amazed at the beautiful clothing, “this is so expensive. I—!” She stopped you again, “Hush, take it and don’t let them go to waste on an old woman like me.” You pulled out a white, bell sleeve blouse, a black, knee length, tight fitting pencil skirt, and the black heels. You went into the women’s restroom and changed into your new outfit. It fit perfectly, even the shoes! You were a bit unstable at first but got used to it quickly. You looked in the mirror at yourself, you looked like a real professional. I guess fair feathers make a fair bird. You pulled your hair out of the ponytail and it cascaded down into romantic, tousled waves. You didn’t get a chance to dry it after showering last night tying it up wet. You smiled at the new you, ready to take on your mission today! You folded your old clothes and walked back to the work room. You got some stares from the other lanes as you walked by, but you kept going avoiding their gaze. You made it to your desk and stuffed your old “uniform” into one of the bags. You pushed them under your desk until your shift would end. Mrs. Lee came up to you and simply said, “wow, you clean up really well Y/N. These clothes were meant for you! You look great!” You were blushing folding your hands in front of you not sure how to receive compliments. Krystal even raised her eyebrows at you and nodded, but quickly returned to her work.

“Mrs. Lee, do we have a guest?” You heard Taehyung ask Mrs. Lee from behind you. You turned around to look at Mr. Kim, who was wide eyed when he realized it was you standing there. “Oh, Y/N. It’s you.” He was thrown off by the woman standing in front of him, it was you, but different. The way the pencil skirt hugged your hips and your collar bones showed through your blouse was captivating. You were a fresh Spring day, the warmth of the sun that came along with the season and freshness. Your scent filled him to the brim. The biggest note of yours was lavender, it calmed him the more he inhaled. It was like a crisp breeze came through him as he took in your scent. It was heavenly and soul soothing. He had to shake himself out of his spell realizing he was staring, and just casually said good morning. He walked to his office leave all three of you just staring at his disappearing figure. You shared a look with Mrs. Lee raising your eyebrows at his strange morning greeting. You never got those.

Key made it to the office ready to leave to visit David’s school for a statement. You walked down to the parking garage of the establishment and got in his Mercedes. The twenty-minute journey to the middle school was anything but boring. You found out more things about Key, he’s quite chatty and funny. You shared things about yourselves even obscure things. You were having too much for this to be professional. You arrived at the front of the school stepping outside the parked car. Key and you made your way to the front office and sat down waiting in the reception. Key went over with you that he would do a majority of the consultation, she can be a stick in the mud. The woman stood up at the secretarial desk and instructed you to follow her into an office. The woman in the office looked like a true private school principal. The gaudy jewelry, the stuffy suit, and botched plastic surgery showed off her wealth. You both sat down in front of her desk after introductions and she immediately began to defend herself. “I’m sorry Mr. Kim, we will not provide any assistance in that regard. The offenses happened off campus and it was not under school hours. This is a private personal matter.”

She was obviously using any legal loophole she could find to take the responsibility off the school. Key informed you on the way here that this school had records before of hybrid students being assaulted or discriminated. You were genuinely upset that the system that was supposed to be protecting all kids equally failed them. You tried interjecting, “Ma’am, we still need –,” but she held up her hand stopping you. Key and you exchanged a look knowing there wasn’t going to be any way to get her signature. You shook her hand and left with Kibum. He stopped you once you left the building and with a cat-like grin asked, “You know we should go find David. You know… observe the environment to get a feel for it.” He knew that this was probably crossing the line, but he was always up for gathering evidence. “This way we can find out and study if there are any other discriminations going on.” You nodded agreeing with your fist held up to his in a fist bump. You walked down the halls trying to observe the private school for any abnormalities. You kept walking until you made it to the gym area near the back of the school when you heard it. You heard the huffs and grunts of someone, and a gaggle of laughs. You and Kibum crept around the corner of the building peering over the edge of the gymnasium. David was on the floor surrounded by five, tall built boys who were obviously older than him. Two of the kids were smoking cigarettes passing it between them. The one who just kicked flicked the still lit stick onto the young bunny. Anger boiled within you and you made a step towards them when Key stopped you and hushed you. He brought out his phone and began recording the situation. You needed evidence.

“Little Bunny, who’s going to save you now, huh?” They continued to kick him in his fetal position, but when they got tired of it they pulled on his ears. He let out a large yelp in protest. They continued their ministrations, but you’ve had enough! You didn’t even spare a look back at Key who was whisper yelling at you. Your heels clicked as you paced over to the group of men surrounding David. You yelled out, “Hey, leave the kid alone!” You stood a few feet away with a hand on your hip the other pointing at them when the group of five stopped what they were doing and turned towards you. They raised an eyebrow at you, “who are you lady?” David was clearly scared, but limped behind you when he recognized you. He tugged on your shirt, “Mrs. Y/L/N, please, save me!” You bent down to his level and petted his ears, “It’s okay David. Go to Mr. Kim over there, okay? He’ll protect you. Don’t come out until I say so, okay?” He nodded and ran over to Key who was still recording.

You were going to handle this as rationally as possible, but the boy standing in the center just lit up another cigarette taking a drag. You supposed all of them were around seventeen years old, maybe seniors here. The leader, you assumed, approached you taking a few steps out of his group, “Look lady, do you know who I am? My dad could-.” You laughed, “Look kid, I don’t care who your dad is. I’m going to call the authorities to handle this okay?” You went to turn around, but the kid grabbed your wrist roughly. “No, were not lady. This is going to be kept quiet.” You’ve had enough turning halfway around to look at his firm grip on your wrist. You asked him calmly to release your arm. He refused to release it, but you asked once more, “let my wrist go, please.” He laughed and looked at his friends who were egging him on. “Fine,” he suddenly yanked of your wrist causing you to stumble onto the ground. Your knees scrapped against the hot, black asphalt and one heel fell off. You stabilized yourself on your aching wrist from breaking your fall. You noticed your one heel still on had broken! You just got them! His friends were laughing hysterically and so was he, he dropped his fag in front of you and stepped on it twisted his foot tauntingly. The laughing stopped when you flipped the switch on them. You stood up and tied your hair into a pony tail kicking your broken shoe off. It was game on.

You caught the leader’s hand, who was attempting to grab you in an outstretch reach, into your right hand and with your left on the boy’s collar of his button up shirt. Using the momentum of his weight charging towards you, you flipped him to the ground. These boys towered over you, but they didn’t have the same life experience as you. The boy was groaning on the ground and when realization struck his comrades they came rushing to you. They all began circling around you stepping back and forth trying to scare you. One of them even brought out a pocket knife and started waving it at you with a smirk. You were thanking the heavens that your brother taught you things in his free time.

Two boys came at you at once, but you ducked avoiding his right hook. You stood back up avoid his second attempt. You round house kicked the guy in the neck. He stumbled bent over and you took advantage of it bringing your knee to his face. The other guy came at you while you were distracted and grabbed your pony tail pulling you back. The one with the knife attempted to stab you while you were being restrained but avoided it losing the bell sleeve to the grazing. You wiggled yourself free of the pony tail grabber and pushed him away. The knife wielder came back at you, but you grabbed his wrist before he could do anything and twisted it past its normal extension. He wasn’t a knife wielder, it must be for show since he was coming at you sloppily. You heard his wrist pop and the knife clang to the floor. He backed away holding his wrist screaming, “She broke my wrist!” These boys looked stronger than they were. The last two stood there watching their friends and decided they should make a run for it. They were stopped though when two police officers intercepted them.

Key was running over to you, “Y/N! Are you alright?” You retightened your pony tail, “Yeah, that was nothing.” You dusted your hands off in a satisfied manner and key spoke again, “Your shoes–!” Before Key could finish authorities along with the principal came around the corner. The principal was yelling, “No, not these boys! They would’ve never done anything wrong! That Miller kid must’ve provoked them!” You were in complete shock, despite the clear evidence she still chooses to side with these kids. The police officers rounded the boys up and took the one with the broken hand to the ambulance. A familiar face came up to you, “M. Y/L/N, we meet again, in another unfortunate situation.” You look around squinting at his uniform and caught his name and it clicked, the same bunny hybrid officer from that night! “Officer Jeon,” you shake his hand, “Our lawyer, Mr. Kim, sent us here to get a testimony, but we caught our defense under attack by the same boys who are holding a lawsuit against him.” He wrote down your notes and testimony. He turned to Key and asked for his story, who basically repeated after you. Key whispered to you, “Y/N, I think you’re going to have to with them to the station. You’re a badass, but legally beating up minors doesn’t work out.” He was right, but you weren’t going to stand by watching someone get beat up. Another officer came up to Jeon and discussed things you couldn’t hear. He turned to you with an apologetic look, “I’m sorry Ms. Y/L/N, but we’re going to have to take you down to the station for further questions.” You weren’t surprised, the chances of you scathing by this with rich kid’s parents protecting them was unlikely. You told Key to go back to the office and report everything without you. You held your wrist out towards Officer Jeon with no words and he silently cuffed you walking you to his patrol car.

Key was impressed with you, he felt like he was watching a live super hero film the way you jumped in saved the kid and beat up those guys! He had to snap himself out of his giddy atmosphere and let reality sink in. He had to let Taehyung know and get you out! He had to get you out! He picked up your broken heels raced to his car slipping into the driver seat and peeled out of the parking lot. He made it back to the office in record breaking time, parking haphazardly in his spot in the parking garage of the office. He snatched the heels in the passenger seat and ran to the elevator. He pressed the up button of the elevator repeatedly as if his life depended on it. The door opened, and he stepped inside pressing the fifth floor and mashing the close door button. He was sweating at this point, it was supposed to be a simple task, but it escalated into something major fast. The elevator doors opened, and he zoomed past Mrs. Smith who called after him. He speed pass the work room not paying attention to his team who was eyeing him in wonder. He repeatedly knocked on Mr. Kim’s door not waiting for a come in, and he closing the door behind him. Mr. Kim was on the phone which gave Key time to catch his breath. He was tapping his foot impatiently on the floor. Mr. Kim finished his call and turned to his team member, “What is–?” Key interrupted holding up the shoes, “Taehyung, Y/N! Y/N, she was taken by the authorities—you know what just watch this!” He pulled out his phone and came around the desk and showed him the video of earlier. It began with the kids bullying David, but then you came in the picture. Everything was fine until the kid laid a hand on you. You were tossing the kid around and even dodge a knife. He was worried when he saw the shoes, but it got worse when he saw the video. When the video finished he turned to Key, “where is she?” Key looked down at the floor, “The police took her. They want to question her further.” Taehyung got up from his desk, “Fuck!” and without any other words put on his coat and took his keys and made his way out the office with Key behind him.

The longer it took them to get to the downtown station the angrier he got. How could you carelessly attack? You didn’t think ahead at all! They made it to the station and walked into the entrance. The phones were ringing, officers were running around, some hanging around at their desk. He recognized a familiar face who was standing next to his partner, Kim Yugyeom who was a friend of his as well. Wordlessly he walked up to Jungkook and grabbed his arm, “Where is she?” Jungkook was surprised to see Taehyung here, it wasn’t common he ever came down to the station. “Who hyung?” Taehyung looked around the office not seeing you anywhere. “Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N.” Jungkook eyes lit up, “Oh! She’s in a holding cell. Do you know her hyung?” He didn’t care to respond to him, but carried on, “Take me to her, I need to see her.” He was seething at this point; his tail was flicking, and his ears were down turned. Jungkook picked up on his anger with his ears standing straight up, he wondered what did Tae have anything to do with you? Jungkook tapped his partners arms then lead him and Key to the back hallway where the holding cells were. He unlocked the metal cage door revealing rows of cells along the hallway. He let them enter and directed them to the second to last cell on the right side. Taehyung came up to the cell, but held his tongue when he saw you curled up in the corner. Your knees have crusted blood dripping down your leg and your shirt was torn. He turned around running his hand through his hair calming himself down.

You looked up to the noise slowly and noticed the three of them staring at you. You went to sit back on your heels despite the pain and leaned forward in a bow, “I’m sorry Mr. Kim.” You stayed in that position even as he responded, “I can’t believe you. On your first errand…How–.” He walked back to the station’s main room with Jungkook following him. Key remained crouching down, “Y/N, get up. He’s gone.” You rose with a stoic face, you felt so guilty that may you had ruined the case. You wanted to bring justice to David, but you were just complicating things. In your heart you did the right thing, you stopped violence and the innocent from getting hurt. “It’s going to be okay Y/N. Taehyung may be upset right now, but he’ll get you out. He’s not one of the four famous lawyers at our firm for nothing,” Key explained. It made you feel a bit better and you offered him a small smile. He left you but offered his blazer to keep warm and you took it from him reluctantly.

Jungkook came up behind Taehyung who was staring at the Miller family situated at one of the desk. The mother was rocking her son back in forth in comfort. She had tears in her eyes and her bunny ears were flopped down in sadness. This hurt his heart. It reminded him of his own mother when she comforted him those nights realizing his father wouldn’t come back. He wasn’t going to let these kids get away with their bullying. Jungkook spoke up, “Who is Y/N to you hyung?” Taehyung turned to him, “she’s my newest employee.” Jungkook’s mouth formed the perfect “O” in realization. Jungkook lead Taehyung to the family and they discussed what actions would be taken further. Their discussion was interrupted by a few women coming in yelling at the top of their lungs. “My son is innocent! Where is the bitch that ruined his wrist!” the fancily dressed woman shouted into the room. Jungkook stood up addressing the women, “Ma’am, please sit down,” directly the woman to sit at the desk. “No, I want to see that women who beat up my son and his friends!” Taehyung stood up as well attempting to mediate the situation. Mrs. Miller was holding her son closer, protecting him in the best way she could. The woman struggled in Jungkook’s hold but everyone stopped when a tall man, with overly gelled back hair walked into the room. He has a uniform that was littered with badges on his left chest. The man spoke loudly, “Ma’am, we need to ask you to calm down and take a seat.” The woman turned in Jungkook’s hold, “and who are you to order me around?” Jungkook bowed to his senior, “Chief.” The man waved him off and took charge of the situation directing the woman to sit down at one of the conference tables.

Taehyung and the woman’s lawyer went at eachother for a while back and forth trying to come to a resolution, but they were stubborn. Taehyung was off in the corner trying to come up with a new statement when the lawyer asked for a break. Jungkook came up to him with a coffee in a Styrofoam cup which Taehyung took thanking him. Jungkook sat next to him, “Hyung, remember how I told you about that heroine?” Taehyung nodded after taking a sip of his dark coffee. “That’s her. Y/N is her.” Taehyung raised his brows not expecting the wonder woman of Jungkook’s story to be you. He laughed though, you were full of surprises today. Jungkook patted Tae’s back returning to his desk. Taehyung finished his coffee tossing it into the trash. Mrs. Miller, the rich wives were already gone, and Key went back to the office it was only him left. He sighed with a heavy heart and made his way back to the dimly lit cells. He walked slowly to your cell to find you in the same position as earlier. He crouched down to your level and called to you, “Hey, hey!” You looked up at him with sad eyes that he had to turn away. “You’re going to have to stay here for the night. There seems to be progress with the families, but this isn’t a simple lawsuit anymore.” You nodded knowing that there was no way going the easy route. He got up to walk away from the cell wordlessly like always. You spoke softly in whisper as always, “Good night Tae Tae.” The footsteps once moving down the hall stopped, turning around to you even faster. Taehyung grabbed the bars knocking on the cell door with a rattle looking at you with wide eyes, ears at attention, “What did you just say?”

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