Covert Chapter 14 

Song for this chapter// Blurry by Elli K (Watcher OST)

“Seized by fear that you left behind

Dazed and hurt but nobody’s fault

Time after time I disappear”

Sungjae~

“You abandoned an agent for what you deemed to be the greater good?” Disbelief overwhelmed  me at the Chief Advisor’s rationale. 

“I had a daughter, who was very ill and I needed that cure.” 

“Sir, that is a derelict of duty. How could you condone illegal human experimentation and abandon one of your own? Why are you even disclosing this to me?” The integral idea of the government system I put my faith in collapsed before my very own existence again. 

“Because you can put your job on the line or drag me down with me. What will you do?” Despite his inexcusable actions, his words conveyed some shame at what he had done. 

“Even if I lose my job, I will have you removed from your position and receive the disciplinary action you evaded years ago.” I forced out before marching out of the office. When SoHyun’s past team members warned me that this could ruin everything, they were not lying. This. Why does this keep happening? 

I balled my hands into fists and almost punched the nearest wall until I restrained myself. My phone beeped with an alert. It was SungHoon. I had HyunWoo hack his car GPS so that I would know where he went in case he was up to something. 

“He-he..lp me…” A hoarse voice echoed throughout the abandoned building. In the middle stood SungHoon, twirling a scalpel in between his fingers as he plunged the blade into a man’s neck. Blood pooled at the man’s feet. I pulled out my gun and aimed at SungHoon, demanding that he stop. But all he did was smirk at me like an arrogant devil. The man, who was bound to the portable chair with rope, convulsed in his seat with fear until his hands went limp. SungHoon threw the bloodied scalpel to the floor without a care and he turned toward me, waving. 

“When did you get here?” He asked as if I didn’t witness him murdering a man in cold blood just mere seconds prior. 

“How do you have no guilt?” Were the words that flew out of my mouth. I clutched him by the collar of his silk shirt, shoving him into the nearest pillar. It bewildered me how much remorse he lacked for his heinous actions. He was a criminal. He was a murderer. I should have been arresting him, but I had no jurisdiction to do so. 

“How do they have no guilt? They kept me in the hospital for a whole year, slicing me open, injecting me with unstable drugs, and confining me to a bed. He did that. But why does he get to live comfortably as a respected doctor when he ruined my life and so many others! Why didn’t you stop him?” He finally unraveled, shouting at me with such rage and hurt. I had to remind myself that he was the victim.

But he, who was a victim, was now a perpetrator. 

Why didn’t you stop him?

I wanted to stop him, but they wouldn’t let me.

Flashback~

“We have a couple hours before we head back. Let’s go to the gaming room, huh?” I suggested to my best friend from the police academy, Kim Minjae. We threw a couple crumbled wads of cash from our denim pockets onto the plastic portable table of the food stall before entering the cold night. 

“It that this will be our last time at school before we head off to the military. We’ll only be back for graduation.” MinJae sighed with his breath coming out like smoke in the night. 

“At least after we graduate, we’ll finally be police officers.” I in my breath sharply with my hands shoved into the pockets of my bomber jacket. Ever since I could remember I wanted to become a police officer. I wanted to help those in need and protect people from harm. It also didn't hurt that I admired how cool the uniforms looked. 

Minjae and I were twenty years old and enrolled in the police academy straight out of high school. All we knew was police investigative training, various forms of martial arts, defense mechanisms, and recitation of the Miranda code. Other than that we were like normal twenty year olds, pretty clueless and still immature. But one thing that differentiated us from other twenty year olds was our sense of justice. 

I halted in my tracks, doubting what I just heard. I tapped MinJae’s shoulder to get his attention. 

“Did you hear that?” I asked him, searching the unlit alleyways for the source of the screaming. 

“HELP ME!” MinJae and I immediately sprinted toward the sound of the coarse screaming and into the dark alleyway. I almost slipped on the snowy roads when I caught myself and continued running toward where we heard the shouts for help. Standing in the alleyway, Minjae and I witnessed with our own eyes two men dressed in all black knocking a man out before dragging him into a inconspicuous black van. 

“STOP!” I exclaimed, running toward the van. The van door shut closed and so I tackled one of the men, trying to prevent him from carrying out the crime. But he was stronger and oh man did his punches hurt. I could feel my skull rattling when he punched me in the head and my eye stung from the impact. Minjae struggled against his opponent and the sounds of his groans echoed hazily. The man lifted himself off me and headed back to the van. Using the little strength left in me, I dragged my body against the pavement and held onto his leg with the need to stop him in whatever way I could. But without even wasting a breath, the man kicked my hand away and stomped on it with the heavy sole of his boot. I recoiled my torn hand, wincing at the pain that overwhelmed my body. 

The van’s engine rubbled to ignition and I pulled myself off the ground. Knowing that we were already too late, I grabbed the sleeve of Minjae’s denim jacket and chased the vehicle while trying to memorize the license plate that appeared blurry. My heart was beating too fast after the intense sprinting and