“Ow, ow, it hurts…..” Jimin hissed.

“It will sir” the intern doctor assured him as she dressed the bullet wound, ‘You are lucky that it only hit your shoulder and not anywhere else. It was a close call….. There. See? All done.”

“Doctor” I asked her, scrutinising the bandages, “Do you think he can report back to duty soon?”

“I think he can go back” she said thoughtfully as she packed up, “However I am afraid he will have to be off ground duty for some weeks. He just had a surgery on his shoulder and we don’t want to put any strain there till it shows at least some signs of scar formation. For now, it’s all good. I’ll prescribe some pain relievers in the meantime and ask my senior about his discharge.”

She then stood up and left along with her stuff, leaving the two of us alone in the room. Jimin weakly smiled and motioned me to sit closer to his bed.

“Change your expression” he drawled out in an annoyed tone, “It’s been three days since that happened and you are still carrying that hurt puppy expression.”

“But hyung~” I whined, now sitting near the head end of his bed, “I got so scared seeing you like that. I know it was nothing but still……”

“Dumbo” Jimin scolded me, “Are you going to get scared like this every time one of us gets hit in action? We are police officers for heaven’s sake. Life ain’t no bed of roses for us……”

“It wasn’t just me” I tried to justify myself, “the other sunbaes were worried too. Namjoon sunbae and Seokjin sunbae came to see you when you were still unconscious. Hoseok hyung has been asking me about your condition in spite of coming here at least twice since the surgery. They all are quite nice people. Even when the case is so full of , they still took time to see you….”

“Oh that reminds me” Jimin interrupted, “What about that mark on that man?”

“Huh?” I sighed, leaning back on my chair, “Don’t even get me started on that.”

“Why?” Jimin raised an eyebrow at me.

“Well you see” I started carefully, “They still don’t know exactly what it is. However….. they believe it’s some sort of a drug reaction. Because they extracted a molecule akin to a steroid from the wound…..”

“Steroid?” Jimin was confused, “What does that even mean? All the victims that we found were severely wasted. They should have at least some bulk if it was a steroid.”

“I don’t know” I raised my hand in surrender, “Maybe what they meant was that it’s some sort of performance enhancer or something. Basically, it’s not your typical dope .”

“What about the guy?” Jimin asked thoughtfully.

“Same” I shrugged my shoulders, “Homeless chap with a missing report filed a year back at Ilsan. But here’s the fun part- he was no gang member. And the gun that he had……….. was STOLEN.”

“Stolen?” Jimin was curious now, “Whose gun was it? Could you trace the owner?”

“Of course” I said, “It was of some director of this NGO for the homeless druggies…… Rings a bell with you?”

Jimin silently nodded, motioning me to continue, “This person that got killed, he was apparently an inmate- what was his name again? Bobby, I think? Yeah, so apparently, Bobby had escaped their rehab facility near Mapogu after somehow stealing the director’s gun from his cabin and was loitering around in Itaewon before he was hit by a car and was later, saved by that fire fighter…..”

“Hey don’t call him that” Jimin scolded me lightly, “Taetae was just doing his job……”

“Seriously hyung? Taetae?” it was my turn to be baffled, “It’s only been three days and you are already buddy-buddy with him. Ain’t that a bit too fast and unhealthy?”

“What are you? A jealous husband?” Jimin teased me in a mocking tone, “At least he held his together when they were bringing me here. You mister” he flicked his finger on my forehead, “on the other hand totally lost it. I don’t know what you would have done if he weren’t there……..”

“Shut up” I cut him off sharply clearly embarrassed at myself as I rubbed my forehead where he hit me while he laughed at my expense.

“What about that delivery truck?” Jimin asked some time after calming down.

“It was stolen just as you thought. And later abandoned on the outskirts near the airport. But don’t worry. From what I heard, Namjoon sunbae has a hunch regarding who those shooters might be and Seokjin sunbae is already looking into it……..”

Suddenly, we were interrupted by a firm knock on the door. Both of us turned our head in unison to look at our guest. Immediately, my expectant smile became a frown.

“Taehyung, hi!” Jimin squealed as the fire fighter entered the room in confident strides with a boxy grin which was so typical of him.  Honestly, he was already annoying me.

“I think I am not welcome” he said as he pointedly looked towards me while he took off his coat.

“What?” Jimin traced his gaze towards me, “Oh no! Just ignore him. He’s a bit jealous…..”

“I’m not” I countered, my eyes widening, surprised by the aggression in my voice.

“Right” Jimin just dumbly nodded his head and ignored me.

“How are you doing?” Taehyung asked him as he pulled a stool and sat on the other side of the bed.

“Oh all good” Jimin assured him, throwing his eye smile at him, “doctors said that I might be discharged today.”

“Oh great” he cooed (if that was even possible in his bass voice), “I just thought of dropping by before I head back home.”

“Home?” Jimin tilted his head, “You don’t live in Seoul?”

“Here is the fun part” I interjected in their moment, “Your friend here, is actually very well connected with our case.”

Jimin raised an eyebrow at me. “You see” I started, “He is the fire fighter who found that 4^th body in Gwacheon.”

“Really?” Jimin literally yelled and looked at Taehyung expectantly.

“Oh no please don’t start again” he shook his head, “I am sick of answering all those questions. I swear to God I am not going near a dead body ever again…..”

“But Tae?” Jimin asked him, “How did you even find that body?”

“Oh it was nothing” he said nonchalantly, “We had actually gone to administer emergency medical care to an injured couple who had met with a road accident because apparently, all ambulances and police force were busy at other places because of the typhoon. So, as I was going to my truck, I found this weird bundle totally drenched in rain lying near the trees, just beside the road. Turns out it was a hunched up dead body. God only knows how old it must have been…..”

“Two days” I blurted out, “Seokjin sunbae told me.” Jimin looked at me with confusion, “Oh! He knows him as well. He interrogated him when he was still in Gwacheon so…...”

Jimin nodded and then turned to face Taehyung. “So how come you were in Itaewon?”

Taehyung hummed a bit and then answered, “Let’s just say I was really tired after all the work we did because of the typhoon. And I came here to take a break. I was just roaming about looking for this awesome bakery everyone had recommended to me back at home when I saw this man.…..” and he dramatically sighed.

There was an awkward silence as the three of us just sat there staring at each other. Then suddenly, Taehyung burst out laughing and the two of us followed him,

“Ouch!” suddenly Jimin winced, holding his shoulder, “Maybe I should not laugh so much.” “Yeah” I said, controlling my laughter, “Rest a bit.” Taehyung silently nodded in assent. “Anyways…..” Jimin straightened up, “So Tae, when will you come back? Whenever you do, visit us, okay? We live in XXX apartments in Yeouido area…..”

“Wait hyung” I interrupted him again, “Why do you call him by nickname? And shouldn’t you ask me before inviting people to our house?”

“No. And we are of the same age, duh” Jimin said nonchalantly.

I stared at them blankly. “!” I blurted out.

Jimin started laughing out loudly again, “Kookie! Meet your new hyung here.”

“I’m not calling this guy “hyung’ after he almost got us killed by giving CPR to that guy……” I cried out.

“Oh god!” Taehyung groaned, “You are still stuck there? Dude, in what language should I explain now? I-HAD-NO-ING-CLUE-THAT-HE-HAD-A-GUN, okay? Drill it into your thick skull if you can……”

“Oh yeah?” I argued back, “If I were you, I wouldn’t have hung around in a shady place in the first place.”

“Are you accusing me of some illegal ?” he said angrily now, “Because if you are, police officer or not, I will kick your right here kiddo.”

“That’s it you……”

“Jeon Jungkook!” Jimin said sternly, his expression serious now, “Behave. It’s a hospital, not a boxing ring. Or I will throw you both out, understood?”

“Yes mom” we both mumbled sheepishly at the same time, looking away from each other.

This was going to be such a long day, I sighed.

At this time, Namjoon was sitting at his table in a café in Daegu, waiting patiently for his guest to show up. He prayed his travel to all the way here at such an important time would be worth all the trouble.

“Waited for long eh?” A raspy voice latched with Daegu accent spoke out from his behind.

Namjoon smiled brightly on hearing the familiar voice of his best friend in so many days, his dimples showing up. “Nope” he replied, turning back to regard his friend. Strangely enough, Yoongi still looked the same- rough, tough, gruff but with a sweet gummy smile.

“So what brings our Monie to this humble place?” Yoongi asked affectionately as he occupied the seat before him.

“Nothing much” Namjoon said, still smiling, “Just missed you.”

“Liar” Yoongi dismissed him, as he motioned a waiter to take their order. After he was done, he turned to look back at him, “Tell me why you REALLY came.”

“I told you” Namjoon raised his hands in defence, “I really wanted to see you. Unlike you, who didn’t even have the decency to tell that you had got a new number……..”

“Watch your mouth kiddo” Yoongi said jokingly, “I might not be your direct senior now. But I am still older than you.”

Namjoon just scoffed at his remark. Soon enough, they both started talking nine to a dozen about old times, when they were still part of SWAT-I in Seoul.

“And you remember the time…..” Namjoon reminisced, laughing at his own story, “when Seunghyun hyung got drunk and took his shirt off in front of a woman and we had to literally knock him out before……..?”

Suddenly, Yoongi’s entire demeanour changed as he stiffened up, his mouth drawn into a frown. Namjoon didn’t miss the change in mood as he too became silent, sipping on his latte.

“Hyung” he asked with a tone of finality, keeping his mug down, “Please come back.….”

“I think I made myself amply clear Namjoon” Yoongi said coldly, “I am not coming back. I think I’ve had enough adventure worth a lifetime…..”

“But hyung” Namjoon tried to reason, “What happened to Seunghyun hyung wasn’t your fault. Please stop blaming yourself and moping around…… Look. This case is worth more than any trouble we have faced together in the past. I am afraid I will have to go against some really high powers and for that, I want you to be by my side hyung. As a Senior Inspector……… ”

“I am not moping around, Namjoon” Yoongi scolded him harshly, “I am content enough being in my hometown. Senior Inspector or not, you can’t drag me against my wish. So if you are done here, go back. And don’t show up ever.”

Namjoon silently observed Yoongi from his place. He was affected by the hurtful words but his pride didn’t let him show it. He sighed, picking up his coat and stood up, “I will take your leave then sir. It was nice meeting you after all these years.” Just when he was about to leave, he suddenly turned back to address Yoongi. “You know hyung” he calmly said, “You act like you don’t care. But I know you are still dying inside. Please. At least for your sake, start being true to yourself and your feelings. And just so you know, I will wait for you in Seoul. However long you take to come, I will wait.” He gave a curt nod to him, smiling a bit, before he left the café.

Yoongi sat silently in his place, watching the retreating back of his best friend, till he disappeared. He then exhaled the deep breath that he was holding unknowingly.

“I wish I could Monie” he lamented to himself, “I wish I could.”