“Ah. I definitely missed this.” You whispered at Seungkwan.

You stepped down the vehicle and closed the car door, walking a few blocks towards your target. Your team lead signaled for you and your partner Seungkwan to guard the right side of the house while they circle around and secure the perimeter. Even in the dark, you could see the disapproving scowl on him. He hated it when people talked about other things during an assignment. It was a distraction.

He was right of course. But really, how could you not get happy? Class just ended and you were on your way home when your phone rang.

“Y/N!” Seungkwan’s voice filtered in. “Have you heard from Junhui?”

“Jun? Isn’t he supposed to be on his way back from Morocco now?”

“I know. But he hasn’t updated us on anything in the past few days,” he sighed, “just when we needed someone.”

You walked outside the hall, away from the other students. “Why? What’s the situation?”

“We finally got information from the guy you caught, Junyeong, and we’re on our way there now. Only problem is we don’t have enough people back in the headquarters so we’re picking up everyone who’s available.”

“Then why are you going there now if there’s not enough people?”

“You know Tiger, Y/N. He’s always one step ahead of us. We have no choice. And that guy Junyeong only told us a couple of hours ago and the place is hours away! We had to drop everything we were working on and call everyone we know that could help check if it was legit.”

“I’m going.” You moved back to the room and started packing your stuff.

“What??”

“Class just ended, Seungkwan. I’m available and I don’t think you guys have any other options now.”

“…you’re right. I’ll talk to them. We’ll be there in 5 minutes. 8 minutes tops.”

“Copy that.”

You hung up and turned to see Seungcheol blocking the way. Right. You were supposed to wait until he’s home before your shift ends.

“Is your driver here yet?”

“Uh…yes? I was just on my way. Why?”

“Nothing. Go straight home. I need to go.” You ran past him before he can even respond. “Oh. And don’t get yourself in trouble” you pointed at him before racing back to the gates, leaving him with a look of confusion on his face.

You checked your watch when a car skidded to a stop beside you. The car door slid open and there was Seungkwan, hurrying you to get in the car. Handing you your protective gear, he explained that the guy you caught finally spilled the beans on Tiger.

“He claims he was supposed to rendezvous with Tiger after his assignment in a safe house today” he said before leaning in to whisper. “The chief wasn’t happy. But you were the next best person available for this case so he agreed in the end.”

You sighed. “He’s probably being stubborn with the bodyguard thing again. Why can’t he just grant me temporary re-assignment?”

“Hope you still have your skills on this one, Y/N.” You turned to see the new team leader smiling at you from the seat in front.

“Please. It’s only been what? A week?” You smirked.

Browsing through the folder, your team leader debriefed you on any updates you might’ve missed, which, to be honest, wasn’t much. It was an old and long-running case about a guy nicknamed Tiger. Information about him was scarce but his deeds weren’t. He’s been making a name for himself starting 2 years ago and was slick enough to avoid being caught because (1) no one’s ever saw him before. None of the people he has worked with had any idea how he looks like. And (2) he’s always managed to cover up his tracks after every operation. That was until a week ago when you caught one of his ex-accomplice. Thankfully, he was dumb enough to get caught in the trap that your team set up for him. He was interrogated and after a week of not saying anything, he finally gave the only information he had on who and where Tiger might be.

“We’re in position.” The team lead’s voice came in through the earpiece.

“Copy that.”

You assessed the surrounding, taking in the appearance of the house, remembering its details from the folder they gave you. It was a small, plain house with attic space, a front porch and a small backyard. There were 2 doors, the main one and one at the back. You also located 4 windows on each side of the house, and another 4 each at the front and back. Your eyes landed on the attic, trying to see if there were any other possible escape routes from there. Except for its lone window in front (which was really small, even a child can’t fit in it), there was nothing else. 

The house was still, with no movements nor lights except for a lone room at the back of the house with a lamplight on. “Who even sleeps this early?” Seungkwan whispered, covering his mouthpiece. You smiled, glancing at your watch. It’s precisely 9:10 in the evening.

Scanning the neighborhood, you felt a cold shiver run down your spine. It was quiet. Too quiet. Not even the next door houses stirred in the night. Training your gun towards the house, you caught sight of a shadow in the room with the lamplight. It seemed to be the shape of a seated man.

Breaking the deafening silence of the night, there came a sound of a gunshot and of breaking glass.

“No!!!” you ran desperately towards the house.

Before anyone could even process what happened, a blinding flash blasts from across the house, shattering every window in it. You felt an invisible force hurling you with such strength backwards and to the ground. You felt your skin burning, hot as fire, as you groaned in pain. A deafening silence rang in your ears and for a moment, you thought you’ve gone deaf. But there was a faint voice, a low maniacal laughter that sent you shivers down your spine despite the blazing hot feeling on your arm. You took a breath but felt like your lungs were being sliced open with a knife. Ignoring the sting you felt, you struggled to open your eyes. Hues of red, orange and yellow were dancing in a blur, as if taunting you to get nearer and be burned some more. Something cool touched your cheek and a blurry face hovered in front of you before crouching at your side. Its mouth moved with a smile but it was muffled, as if there was soundproof glass between you and that person. The cool blade was lifted and the face moved away, leaving you alone to watch the colors dance in the air until it was replaced with cold darkness.

…meet again…meet again

“y/n?”

Who was that?

“y/n!”

…we will meet again…

“Y/N!”

Your eyes shot open, sitting up in shock. “He’s here! He’s here!” you shouted despite the fact that you had almost no voice at all. Your eyes swept the area, searching for the man from before. Instead, you saw Seungkwan standing beside you and a few others huddled around you with great concern visible on their faces.

“Calm down.” Seungkwan coaxed, helping you lie back down on the bed. “You’re in the hospital. We need you to rest first.” He motioned at one of them to notify the doctor that you were awake.

“Seungkwan…” He was there. Tiger was there. You wanted to tell Seungkwan that the man you were after was there and you weren’t able to catch him. But you became aware of how heavy your lungs felt and that breathing was incredibly painful.

After assuring you that everyone else survived with just a few cuts and scratches from the debris, you allowed the doctors to do their work on you. They checked for any difficulty in sight and hearing. They tested your breathing and looked through your wounds. Apparently, you suffered the most damage from the team with a slight concussion and a first degree burn. If it weren’t for your gear, there would’ve been more serious problems. Nothing serious. At least, not in your experience. In a way, it felt great knowing that nobody else was harmed seriously. However, that also meant resting and fully recuperating which you hated since it felt like wasting time.

You took a deep breath, wincing at the slight pain. “What happened?”

“Someone set off a bomb in the house last night with that gunshot. It exploded and next thing we know, the house was on fire, and everyone was somehow unharmed…except you. Thankfully, your jacket protected you from serious burns and you were only unconscious due to the shock of the blast.”

“The house?”

Seungkwan shook his head. “The house was burnt to a crisp. The guys from forensics are looking at it now. Trying to salvage whatever information we could get.”

You remembered the shadow in the house. It definitely looked like a man. “There was…a shadow…in the house” you said slowly.

“A shadow? Is that why you ran towards the house?”

You shook your head. You didn’t know why. You just felt like you had to save that person and before you knew it, you were running towards the house. You tried to remember what happened that night. There was the gunshot, breaking glass, and then the explosion. Then there was the face you saw after.

“I saw him.”

“Huh?”

“Tiger. I…It was blurry but I know it’s him. He was standing next to me after the explosion and he said something about meeting again.”

Seungkwan pulled out a pad and pen and started writing. “And he just left?”

You nodded. Seungkwan turned to the other agents in the room. “All of you. You can go back now and rest. But stop by the office first and report everything to the chief. Give this note to him. And tell him Y/N’s awake. I’ll stay here.” You watched the agents nod and leave the room.

“You know, sometimes I forget that you’re a senior officer now.” You smiled, earning an eye roll from Seungkwan.

“How long was I out?” your voice came out raspy and you coughed.

Seungkwan winced, not used to this sight of you. “Enough for you to miss class today. The doctor said you being too close to the house, being knocked over really hard and catching fire almost took a toll on you. Nothing a day’s rest can’t cure he said. Still…”

Remembering about the other job, you sat up, wincing at every move you make. “I need to go. I could still make it if I drive back now.”

Seungkwan moved closer and stopped you. “And what? Get yourself questioned why you look like you just got back from the dead? And what if something happens and you can’t protect him huh?” Seungkwan’s pushed a finger against your forehead, making you plop down back on the hospital bed.

“Exactly why I need to be there!” you argued.

“Don’t bother. The chief already sent someone. Of course, he can only stand guard from outside. So get plenty of rest, okay?” Seungkwan shook his head before going back to his seat. He was always like that. Whenever anyone in the team gets injured, you could count on him to scold them first before anyone could. But everyone knew it was his own way of showing his concern and that definitely made you feel better.

“So, what now?”

“You rest, you recover, and we’ll pick up your favorite food on the way back. Your treat though.” He grinned, picking up a few papers and started browsing through it.

You thought back to what happened last night, trying to remember anything that could help with identifying Tiger. But it was no use. You were too out of it.

Seungkwan sighed, a solemn expression visible on his face. “Looks like we need more help with this one. Tiger’s finally making his move.”

You nodded, understanding the situation. Things are definitely getting messier.

It’s been two days after the incident. Supposedly, you were only going to be away for a day to recover. The burn wasn’t so bad and only required to be cleaned and massaged with a cooling lotion of some sort every now and then. However, being a witness to Tiger’s appearance, you felt that you had to help with the investigation somehow. So after informing CEO Choi and getting his permission, you had someone else watch Seungcheol for another day.

You went back to the crime scene as soon as you were allowed by the doctor. The rest of the team finished investigating yesterday with little success. Unfortunately, the explosion and the fire destroyed everything: the house, the potential evidences in it, and your only lead. From what they found, the shadow that you saw seated in the house was the man that you caught. And he was dead.

They found him, pieces of him rather, after they searched the scene.

“It would appear that he was already dead.” The medical examiner pointed at what is supposed to be, the guy’s upper half body. “There’s a gunshot wound here, just above his heart and was left to bleed to death.”

The doctor moved to the shoulder part and traced a line across his chest. “There are also signs of restraint here, probably from being tied up.” The doctor shifted his gaze on you, a disturbed look on his face. “Then the bomb and the fire took care of his other…selves.”

You shuddered at the thought…and at the sight…and at the burnt smell. Poor guy.

“Hold on. You said he was left here to bleed. But there was a gunshot just before the explosion.”

“Ah.” The doctor stood up, taking his gloves off. “It is true. I would say he’s been bleeding for an hour. I believe the gunshot you’re talking about is something else. Maybe the forensics team could help you.”

You sighed. Not being team lead was difficult. None of the new information were being directed towards you. “So why was he here?”

“To tie up loose ends.” You turned to see your father, walking towards the ‘room’ or what’s left of it. He eyed you for what seemed to be an eternity before holding out a Ziploc bag containing a phone. “This was found in a corner untouched by the fire. They identified it as his and found a text message telling him to go here.”

“Well, that would make sense. He did say that he was supposed to meet Tiger. But why was he out here? Isn’t he supposed to be at the headquarters?”

“That’s the thing. That very day he confessed, he went missing. There was nothing in the surveillance cameras and no one saw him or anyone go in or out of his detention cell either.” Your father turned his gaze on the corpse. “And now, he’s here. Dead.”

“Well, that’s not the least bit suspicious,” you said, shaking your head. “I’ll look into it, chief. Any luck with the number?“

“They are currently running it in the system back in the lab. Although, we’d have to be patient. It might take some time.”

You sighed. He was the only lead you got after months of chasing after Tiger and now, everything’s gone to ashes. Literally. And as frustrating it is, it’s also scary. The gunshot and the explosives were explainable. Tiger definitely knew. Like always.

You sighed as you resumed updating the report. You just got back from the site after checking everything else that could be checked but to no avail. Whoever Tiger is, he certainly knew how to orchestrate a scene. The house was clean of any evidences the police was hoping for except for the phone and his now dead accomplice. If only you can remember what he looked like that night. At least, you could get an inkling of how he looks. You sighed in frustration, feeling a headache coming when you heard your name.

“Y/N.”

You turned your eyes to the chief, standing in front of the door of his office, motioning you to come in.

“Yes?” you walked in, closing the door.

He sat down on his seat, offering you to do the same.

“What did I do this time?” you sighed, sitting on the chair in front of his desk.

Your father’s eyes locked on yours. “I’m just glad that you’re alright.”

You leaned back slowly, confused at his words. He doesn’t usually show any father-daughter signs at work.

“Y/N, I’m forbidding you to have anything to do with the Tiger case.”

“What?”

The chief closed his eyes and shook his head, his face looking grim. “It’s getting too dangerous.”

“Chief, it’s my job! I’ve been doing this for so long. Why now?” you glared at him, not believing what’s happening.

“Y/N, I almost lost you. If you’ve been any nearer to that house…” your dad sighed, sitting down, his finger laced together. At this moment, you realized how old your father looked. His graying hair getting thinner, the bags under his eyes becoming more and more evident, and the wrinkles on his skin looked deeper. This was the look of a man who’s been through a lot but never showed it. Not when his wife died. Not when he realized he’d have to raise his only daughter alone. Not when his daughter stubbornly refused to live a normal life. Not until now.

“Just focus on Seungcheol. That’s your job now. End of discussion.”