The morning bustle of the Ravenhurst precinct was a symphony of ringing phones, hurried footsteps, and clattering keyboards.
Ava walked in, her polished boots echoing against the linoleum floor. She had spent her first week trying to understand the rhythm of this fractured city, but Ravenhurst seemed determined to push back at every turn.
Detective Minjun Kim leaned against his desk at the far corner of the bullpen, his sharp eyes tracking Ava's movements like a hawk. He was casually dressed—dark jeans, a leather jacket, and a scuffed pair of boots that told stories of countless foot chases.
Minjun was street-smart and sharp, the kind of officer who thrived in chaos but harbored a deep distrust of outsiders, especially ones with high-profile failures attached to their names.
Ava approached her desk, setting her files down with a sigh. She had barely settled when Minjun's voice cut through the air.
"So, Vancé, tell me—what's it like being shipped off here as a punishment?"
The bullpen fell silent, the hum of conversation stilled as heads turned to watch the brewing confrontation. Ava glanced up, her eyes meeting Minjun's. His tone was mocking, but his gaze was piercing, as if he was dissecting her every move.
She forced a neutral smile. "Well, I could ask you the same. This precinct doesn't exactly scream 'promotion.'"
A few muffled chuckles rippled through the room, but Minjun's smirk only widened. "Touché. But I wasn't shipped here after getting people killed."
The air thickened, the unspoken tension snapping into sharp focus. Ava's jaw tightened, but she refused to rise to the bait. Instead, she leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. "You seem to know a lot about my history. Maybe focus some of that energy on solving your cases."
Minjun straightened, his smirk fading. "Let me make one thing clear, Vancé. I don't trust you. You waltz in here with your big-city credentials, thinking you'll fix this place? This isn't some chessboard you can outsmart. Out here, the rules are different."
Ava met his glare, her voice calm but steely. "And let me make one thing clear, Kim. I'm not here to earn your trust. I'm here to do my job, whether you like it or not."
Their standoff lingered for a moment, a silent clash of wills that seemed to command the entire room's attention.
Eventually, Minjun gave a dismissive shrug, grabbing a folder from his desk. "We'll see how long you last," he muttered before walking away.
Ava exhaled slowly, her composure intact, though her pulse raced beneath the surface. She wasn't here to make friends, but she also wasn't about to let someone like Minjun undermine her.
The tension between them would only grow, fueled by their clashing approaches to the law.
But beneath the animosity, Ava couldn't shake the feeling that Minjun's skepticism was born of something deeper—something that might reveal itself in time. For now, she resolved to prove her worth, not just to Minjun but to the entire precinct.
Caspian leaned closer to Ava, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "He finally snapped," he chuckled, his eyes glinting with mischief.
"I've been noticing him watching you—I mean, not in a creepy way or anything. But you know, Minjun's basically the unofficial leader around here since Captain Mason's 'illness' seems to flare up whenever responsibility knocks. My guess? He's probably seeing you as a threat."
Ava gave him a sideways glance, unimpressed by his analysis. "A threat? To what? His throne of sarcasm and skepticism?" she muttered, leaning back in her chair. "Be serious, Cas. You and I both know he's got every reason to hate me."
Caspian raised an eyebrow. "Oh, don't go full self-pity on me, Vancé. The guy's a jerk to everyone. Sure, he's got some street cred, but that doesn't mean he gets to treat you like dirt."
Ava sighed deeply and turned her chair slightly to face him. "It's not just about how he treats me, you treated me the same when I just got in here."
"O-Oh, let's not go back to that," Caspian faked a laugh, scratching the back of his head.
Ava sighed. "You might've already known, I've got a lot of blood on my hands. People died because of my miscalculations. That's not something you just shake off—or something someone like Minjun would ignore."
Caspian tilted his head, his teasing demeanor softening slightly. "Yeah, I've heard the whispers. But come on, Ava. One bad mission doesn't erase the rest of your career. He's probably more mad about the attention you're getting. Maybe he's scared you'll do something amazing and overshadow him."
Ava snorted bitterly. "Overshadow him? Seriously? I was sent here to atone for my mistakes, Cas. I'm the fallen star trying to scrape her way out of infamy. There's no way he feels threatened by me. If anything, he's probably waiting for me to screw up so he can rub it in."
Caspian studied her for a moment, his sharp features softening into something almost sympathetic. "You don't give yourself enough credit, you know that? Yeah, you've got a past, but you've also got skills most of us can only dream of. Maybe Minjun knows that too. Maybe that's why he's got such a chip on his shoulder about you being here."
Ava shrugged, her gaze drifting to the far side of the room where Minjun was immersed in a case file. "Whatever his reasons, I'm not here to win him over. I'll do my job, and he can do his. If he wants to keep throwing punches, I'll keep dodging them."
Caspian grinned, leaning back in his chair. "That's the spirit. But just so you know, if this turns into a full-blown rivalry, I'm betting on you. You've got that fire in your eyes—makes people nervous."
Ava rolled her eyes but couldn't help the small smirk tugging at her lips. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cas. Let's just hope I don't burn the whole place down in the process."
As Caspian chuckled and leaned back into his chair, Ava allowed herself a brief moment of levity. The tension with Minjun wasn't going away anytime soon, but for now, she could at least count on Caspian's unfiltered commentary to keep her grounded.
Despite the urge to shrug off Minjun's actions, Ava couldn't help but wonder where his attitude came from. Sure, nearly everyone in the precinct had the social grace of a wrecking ball, but there was something about Minjun's hostility that felt... personal.
Her gaze drifted to him as he sat at his desk, flipping through freshly printed case files with a laser focus that would make a surgeon jealous.
Ava frowned slightly. She didn't know anything about him—not his background, not his motivations, not even his favorite coffee order. Caspian, who'd been working with him for years, wasn't much help either.
"Minjun? Yeah, he's got the personality of a broken vending machine," Caspian had said once. "You don't know if you're gonna get anything out of him, but if you try too hard, he might just eat your dollar and give you a glare for free."
That summed it up perfectly. Minjun was a mystery wrapped in an attitude and sealed with a "mind your own business" sticker. He was either secretive by nature, laid-back to the point of invisibility, or just deeply committed to being an enigma no one wanted to solve.
Ava's thoughts were interrupted when Minjun suddenly looked up, his sharp eyes locking onto hers. She froze mid-stare like a deer caught in headlights.
He raised an eyebrow, his expression somewhere between curious and annoyed. "Need something, or are you just memorizing my face for a sketch artist?"
Ava's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. She felt her face flush as she scrambled for a response. "Uh... I was just wondering if you always frown like that while reading. Looks intense. Is it a drama, or are you just not a fan of punctuation?"
Caspian, who was passing by with a cup of coffee, nearly choked on his laughter.
Minjun didn't miss a beat. He smirked faintly, leaning back in his chair. "I frown when I'm reading nonsense. Like, for example, whatever report you wrote last week."
Ava narrowed her eyes, trying to fight the grin threatening to break through. "Ah, I see. A critic and a mystery. How charming."
Minjun shook his head and went back to his file without another word, but Ava didn't miss the slight twitch of amusement in the corner of his mouth.
Caspian leaned in and whispered as he walked by, "Careful, Vancé. That's the most interaction anyone's gotten out of him this week. You're either special, or he's plotting your demise."
Ava sighed, shaking her head. "Good to know. I'll add it to my list of reasons to sleep with one eye open."