August 2023

"Hello, Jeju metropolitan police agency, how can I help you?" The dispatcher's shrill voice cuts through the loud unnecessary voices of the small room that served as their communication center. She waits for the person on the other side of the phone to speak up, already grabbing ahold of her vibrant pink notepad and a pen.

"Okay. I want you to calm down and stay with me. Can you tell me about your whereabouts, ma'am?" She manages to convey to the lady on the other side whose frantic breathing and hushed whispers are heard through the line.

"Trace the caller for me." She takes a pause and directs her comrade who sits next to her. The person in question nods and swirls around in his seat before starting to type into his keyboard like a madman, adjusting his earpiece. After several attempts, he glances at the dispatcher still trying to communicate with the distressed lady, she looks at him with expectant eyes and replies in negative making her curse internally.

"Hello? Ma'am? Are you still with me? Hello?" And with that, the connection is gone leaving an annoying beep that resonated in the room which has suddenly gotten cold despite the slightly warm weather. The dispatcher jumps out of her seat, grabs her coat that rests on the back of the chair and takes long strides to head to the squad room. "Ms. Choi!?" Her junior follows him soon after.

"It's an emergency! The victim is somewhere around Seogwipo Harbour. We couldn't locate the number. Human trafficking." She finishes in one breath, the officers sitting in the squad room diverting all their attention to the dispatcher. Jeongkook who had a friend in a tight, friendly chokehold, releases him, the usual smile getting wiped off his face, expression hardening as he waits for the lieutenant to give orders.

And it's no longer that he's seated among a few of the police officers, the k5 rifle heavy in his palm as he calmly waits for them to reach the destination in the crowded patrol car, its siren cutting through the silent night like a sharp knife. He can hear the lieutenant talking to Ms.Choi on the phone constantly, his frown deepening with every passing second.

"Off to your assigned places. Stay focused and be prepared for anything. Your training and experience will guide you well. Work well as a team!" The lieutenant's usual words bring him out of his daze, Jeongkook tucks the rifle in and hops out of the patrol car, cutting through the crowd of people huddling together for a night fare. Folks move out of the way as they see a bunch of young men all cladded in neat uniforms, firearms secured in their rough hands.

Jeongkook jogs around the area, looking for anything that could serve as a hint, he bumps into a few people and apologises before looking around hurriedly. The officers surround the harbour in no time, dispersed through the large space, rifles in hand, one hand on the ear as they listen to their seniors.

Jeongkook spots a black figure moving around located on the opposite end of where he was standing, he reports it to the senior by the two-way radio and gets a positive response. With a small nod directed to his fellow officer, he starts following the figure. By his peripheral vision, he could see the rest moving around the harbour, trying to locate the victim.

Jeongkook tucks his pistol back and starts sprinting at an inhumane speed to catch up with the suspicious man. The figure in black must've gotten a whiff of the police tailing him because he starts running even faster making Jeongkook let out a series of curses.
The night's dark as Jeongkook follows the man to a much less crowded area of the harbour. "What a fool!" Jeongkook manages to mutter out with a small smile as he keeps running after the others, dodging and avoiding the few people that come his way.

It is when the figure enters an alleyway that Jeongkook knows leads to a dead end, that he slows down, catching his breath and taking out his k5 rifle, he steadily enters the dark the only source of light, an old streetlight. Thanks to this Jeonggook could see the looming figure, the man raised his hand and the officer could vaguely make out a gun in his hand pointed at the street light. It dies out in the impact of the bullet. Jeongkook dunks his head at the gunshot, tightening his hold on his gun and moving further into the dark.

The shadow had moved around the corner and to the dead end making Jeongkook smile in victory. He is quick and light on his feet, reporting to the lieutenant all whilst moving closer and closer to his target. Jeongkook hears a gunshot followed by a scream, he sprints into the alleyway only to find a man against the wall, clutching his bleeding arm, the dark figure he had been following, nowhere in sight.

Jeongkook moves closer to the grunting male, hands not letting go of the trigger of his pistol. To say he is shocked would be an understatement at the familiar figure lying ahead of him, face scrunched in pain.

"Kim Taehyung? Why are you here?"

                                   *
A few days earlier:

Taehyung glances around, hand reaching out to cover his face further with the black cap he's wearing. He enters the alleyway, it's crowded by people during the day, at night is a whole different case. Slow strides and he is at the door of the shop he usually meets his comrades, the glass door allows him to see the inside of the small shop. He spots Hoseok at the opposite side, welcoming him with a small smile and a half hearted wave. Taehyung replies with a nod of his own and pushed the door to enter the book shop.

He passes by the book shelves filled with never ending books, the interesting covers with names written in cursive making Taehyung spare them a glance before reaching the small sitting area at the farthest end where he sees the owner's back facing him. Hoseok has already taken a seat, leaving space for Taehyung who follows soonafter.

Once he is settled next to the older male, a file is slid on the smooth surface of the table, Taehyung keels at the older before sighing and opening the file, going through its contents. "Human trafficking?" Taehyung voices out his surprise and Hoseok finally gives him a good look. "Hyung! I told you I won't do complicated stuff." He shoves the file back to his hyung who seems to have expected his response.

"Just this one time. It's an easy one. Tomorrow night around 2 am. The ship will depart, and this guy is to make sure all the people get on board." Hoseok points at the  man's photo, closing the file once again.

"I can't hyung." Taehyung sighs. "There would be too many people at Seogwipo. I'll mess up." He resists but a hard glance from the older makes him realize that he never had a choice to begin with. "You won't. Just bring him to me. I'll take over from there." Hoseok states with finality, standing up from the stool and getting back to stand at the counter welcoming the customers.

                                  *

"Noona! Hack into the surveillance cams for a while." Taehyung mutters into the ear device, pulling his turtle neck up and to cover his face, bringing the cap closer to his face. He runs a confident hand on his revolver and sets forward.

He spots the man after searching through people for a long while, the person looks agitated, screaming on his phone, eyes franctily looking around for someone. Taehyung follows the guy with long strides, cutting through people, hiding his gun in the long black coat he's wearing. He hears the woman on other side start telling him the current situation.

"Their plan's going downhill. One of them escaped and has already contacted the police. You need to be quick Taehyung, the police is probably on the way." She ended with a hurried tone and a small shriek to make Taehyung realise how dangerous of a situation they are in.

"What about the rest of the victims?" Taehyung speaks into the Bluetooth device, eyes following the man who has not once moved making Taehyung reduce the distance between them even more. "Already onboard. They are non of our concern Taehyung! Don't do anything stupid." He hears his noona speak up, he nods subconsciously although the other can't see while approaching their target who seems distressed as ever.

"Try to shout and I'll blow your brains up." Taehyung whispers in the shorter male's ears, the tip of his gun pressing hard against  the yet to be named's lower back. The man drops the phone out of pure horror, slowly turning his head to take a peek at the uninvited guest who's threatening him with a gun in open crowd. Taehyung rolls his eyes, turning his head back to the ship, away from his face with his free hand. The shorter gets the message and keeps boring holes in the scenery infront of him.

Taehyung pushes the gun against his lower back, hidden from the locals who are too busy in their little bubble to even bat an eye at the suspicious figure in all black pressed against an obviously older man, the guy walks with slow strides, pace quickening when he Taehyung presses the pistol even harder against his body.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?" The man gasps out in a croaked voice, now that they are a bit away from the crowd after a while of walking in absolute, horrendous silence.

"Keep walking till I tell you to stop. And don't talk unless you want me to discard your worthless body in the sea." Taehyung whispers again, quickening his strides, almost making the older male trip and fall. Taehyung glances unimpressed at the shivering man, almost limping infront of his hovering lean form.

"I am not even gonna bother asking why you don't have a gun on you." Taehyung speaks to break the silence and make the older's whimpers to stop. The shorter remains silent at the insult making Taehyung scoff and shake his head. Once they are near their destination, Taehyung tries connecting his ear device to the woman, speaking up when she responds in her usual cheerful tone.

"I've sent my men in a black SUV. They will be here in a minute. Hand him over." Taehyung replies a small okay and disconnects the call, pulling up the turtle neck to hide himself even further. His captive has not uttered a word since and it's giving Taehyung the creeps. "How can a pussy like you commit such crimes!? You look like you could piss your pants anytime now." He knows he shouldn't talk too much to keep his cover but he finds himself asking the older male.

"Save it for next time. They're here." The scared male is silenced as soon as he opens his mouth to respond. He is pushed into a big car with a few men, faces all covered. The last thing he sees before getting shut by a duct tape and a blow to the back of his head is the sliding door of the SUV getting closer and his captor waving him a farewell. And then his world all goes black.

"Taehyung! Run! The police's here." The male hears his noona shout into his ear, he mumbles profanities into the empty street as he spots Jeongkook running after him like a madman. Taehyung wonders as his frown deepens

Why the fuck is he here?

To be continued...