Shrill. That’s the perfect word to describe the first sound Taecyeon heard this morning.

Shrill was the sound of his phone.

Immediately, the giant sat bolt upright on his bed.

“Ya, late riser Taecyeon-ah. Are you on your way?” The voice on the other end of the phone asked the sleepy nerd. Of course it was his best friend Nichkhun.

“Well Hyung, you know… There was beer. Last night…” He admitted. “Just three or four bot…”

“Are you ing KIDDING ME???!!! How many ING jobs will have to slip through your ING fingers?? How do you actually wanna pay your ING rent? Your ING bills? ! Anyway, I gotta work now. I’ll be at your place tonight. SO GET THE UP!!!”

…

Depressed. That’s the perfect word to describe the first mood of Taecyeon this morning.

Nichkhun was actually a really nice guy and he loved his dongsaeng. But there was this tiny little problem with him: After school Taecyeon started to laze. He kept afloat with several jobs, such as modeling, working in restaurants and bars or helping out students with Math and English. And that was pretty much nothing compared with Nichkhun, who successfully completed his police training. The Thai Prince, how Taec uses to call his hyung, survived three tough years of hard training such as exercising, criminology, psychology, law… Even the history of crime in the Republic of Korea and the history of the Korean National Police Agency, such as its biggest operations with the FBI, were part of his training.

Yes, Nichkhun was ambitious.

Though he shouted at Taecyeon about his lazyness, Nichkhun was in a hurry himself.

He got up right on time but he’s been held in the traffic jam was extra long today. To cap it all, he suddenly received a text message:

“URGENT! Meeting at the conference room A at 10 am!”

“Oh well, what’s just going on today?!” Nichkhun almost cried, driving insanely fast when possible. He got crazy from time to time.

“Why is he so lazy? Sometimes I really don’t understand that guy…”

With a delay of (only) 10 minutes, he finally arrived at the police department and rushed to the conference room, mentally prepared for anything. The atmosphere at the meeting was actually kind of strange. As the Inspector entered, every gaggle stopped immediately. All eyes were fixed at the grumpy but serious looking man as he raised his voice:

“This morning we received insider information about a drug deal which is said to happen this night at Ahyeong. It seems to be a group of petty criminals. As of yet, we don’t know how reliable our source is but this group might have, more or less, important connections to the Kkangpae. Since we don’t know anything about the group, we would like you to act carefully. That’s all for the moment, please form units. The remaining orders will be given by the team leaders. Thank you.”

Suddenly, Nichkhun’s excitement rose, he felt his heart beating faster. The last months weren’t really challenging at all and not what he has hoped for during the three hard years of training he had to absolve. His work mainly was made up of papers, papers and more papers. Even at the Lost and Found center, where he had to work in the very beginning, he felt more like a cop than at his office, handing out form papers and writing reports.

Now, he was sure, his time has come. Back at the office, his level of excitement was rising even more when he and his team planned tonight’s operation. Team leader Park instructed them, not as stern as Nichkhun expected him, in terms of the situation:

“Tonight, our unit is going to be part of the drug deal case.

Even though I think they’re not more than just a bunch of wanna-be mafiosi, we will have to handle this whole situation extra carefully since we don’t really know anything about that gang. To get more information, two volunteers gonna operate undercover. Officer Horvejkul! Officer Lee! This will be your honor. You’ll be two students that wanna try out something new.

Listen! You will have to lure these guys to a crowded place, in front of a club or such.

As soon as you got the junk, you will leave. Meanwhile, we will observe the whole operation. When you left, the uniformed cops are going to arrest the dealers. Unit F is going to help us. Got everything?”

“Yes, Team Leader Park!”, Khun and his colleague replied almost militarily synchronous.

“Any more questions? No? Good!”

Ever since he started to work at this police department, Nichkhun has been wondering about Team Leader Park’s easygoing attitude. Sometimes strict as hell, this time he obviously wasn’t taking this case seriously, maybe since drug dealing is not a big kind of crime. Or maybe he was actually overcautiously and humor was simply his way of encouraging his unit.

“Horvejkul, Lee! You two, come over!” The team leader ordered. “Since our job deals with the knowledge of human nature, the location of even the slightest signals of danger and of course improvisation, I want you to practice different situations that may occur during the operation! I know that you studied hard during your training, but there is something you cannot study – experience. So please, make sure to prepare as best as possible.”

He added in an unusually serious way. NOW Nichkhun was definitely over-excited.

The eight-hour training was anything but boring. Listening to the stories elder policemen had to tell when they were undercover for the first time, how excited they were, how unpredictable people can be. After studying and playing a couple of possible situations, Nichkhun felt this little bit of uncertainty crawling up his body. Like a parasite that nestled in his heart, spreading his poison through every single artery of his host. It was the first time for Nichkhun doing a job with such a high level of seriousness after all.

“It’s like being thrown in at the deep end…” he thought as he immediately shook his head as well as his doubts. “No, I didn’t study for ending up like this. I’m not gonna be a doubtful loser anymore.” He encouraged himself.

When the training was over and the teams set off to Ahyeong, the tension was almost sparkling. Nichkhun couldn’t prevent his heart from leaping up into his throat but there was no way back. It was his job, he chose it, he even passed the training with flying colors.

“Every good policeman started on shoestrings.” He thought before he kept totally quiet.

The ride took about half an hour, during which Nichkhun struggled against beginning and ending the inner fight over and over again… As they eventually arrived and got off the cars, there was no time to lose. Nichkhun and his colleague Lee immediately went like a Swiss watch. They were prepared for just anything, the crowded streets, the loud and partying people, and of course the obviously high young folks.

If there was a district in this city known for its parties and lightheaded junkies, it was definitely Hongdae. All the students could forget and probably relieve their stress here in more than just the usual ways – , drugs, parties, and all of that was easy to get here. Unsurprisingly, Nichkhun had his very own memories of this place. During his study terms, he and Taecyeon were here often, partying with all the joyful girls and boys, enjoying the youthful life to its fullest. However, this wasn’t the best moment for such nostalgia.

In front of a club, the plain-clothed policemen stopped to observe the area. Even though they wore usual clothes, Nichkhun still felt somehow like a flashy idiot. Probably he realized he was too mature for such an environment already.

“Taecyeon would hate me…” he thought, knowing that his attention-craving dongsaeng still enjoyed partying.

As he kept observing, it was then when he became witness of two inconspicuously chattering guys. Everyone was dancing on the streets, one being louder than the other. But these two were different, moving closely to each other and almost whispering.

“Lee, what do you think about these two?” Nichkhun nodded towards the two suspects.

“Let’s try it!”, his partner answered as he rushed to the guys’ direction.

They followed them for a few minutes, trying to be as unobtrusively as possible, until Nichkhun finally came to the conclusion that it was the right moment.

He approached the taller one. “Hey. Sorry, do you know where I can get some weed?” He suddenly brought up, perhaps even too amateurish.

The guys turned around, eying up Nichkhun and Lee with their almost stonily expressions.

The taller one had a boyish face, still his eyes were cold as ice. He kept a straight face and seemed to doesn’t even blink. He was really tall, casually clothed and obviously fit. The other one was shorter, probably older, his lips decorated with a very mischievous, almost psychopathically smile. Nichkhun suppressed every doubt – these two were definitely criminals.

“Well…” The shorter countered, “Follow us.”

And so they did as they were brought to a darker and steadier corner, somewhere away from the partying crowd. Obviously a poorer area, perfect for criminals and junkies.

Dim lights and the weak smell of food from the restaurants and open-air snack bars.

The two dealers turned around, facing Nichkhun and Lee.

“How much you need?”

“Two bags!” Lee replied firmly.

The shorter one nodded at the other who immediately took out two small plastic bags.

“Sure it’d be enough, it’s about 10mg?!” The tall guy asked, almost hypnotizing with his deep, empty eyes.

“Yes. How much?” Nichkhun’s voice had a stricter sound now.

“70,000 Won would do.”

The Thai handed over the money and received the junk.

“Don’t overdo it kiddies!” The taller one added, now gloatingly laughing.

“If you need some more, you know where to find us.” Still his expression was icy.

They were about to leave as the uniformed officers appeared in front of them.

“STOP. Seoul Metropolitan Police!” They shouted. It hadn’t even the slightest effect. Immediately the dealers ran away. Even though the policemen aimed their guns at them and eventually followed, they managed to escape as they ran straight into the crowd and literally disappeared. Angrily, Nichkhun ran after, he didn’t even think of giving up, not now.

Although it wasn’t according to plan, he and his colleague Lee seperated. They would stay in contact via phone and contact each other if they would see any suspect.

The later it was, the fuller became the streets. About an hour later he received a message from Officer Lee.

“I don’t think we’re gonna find them. Let’s get back to the department.”

Nichkhun was about to reply, typing the letters not watching where he went, when he suddenly collided with someone.

“Sor..” He was about to say when he realized it was tall one of the dealers.

“YOU? Wait, stop! Seoul Metropolitan Police!” He shouted. “You’re arrested -”

He couldn’t finish the sentence since he got pushed by the suspect who immediately rushed away, just like he did before.

But this time Nichkhun wouldn’t let him go. Still a bit wobbly in his legs, he ran after the guy, following him every street, every corner. This hunt took about fifteen minutes, when the dealer brought Nichkhun to a small back alley. It was dark here, and the tall guy disappeared again. Nichkhun took a deep breath before he checked the area.

He ended up completely alone.

“!!!” He shouted in anger. It was his first real operation and he messed it up. At least this was what he believed. His phone started to ring, a text message from Team Leader Park: “Everyone, come back!”

“ !!!” He shouted even angrier. “Next time I will get this bastard.”

As he was about to turn around and leave this dark, silent place, he suddenly felt a painful pressure as hard as steel plunging onto the back of his neck.

All he saw were these cold, callous almost dead eyes, it felt like they burned him.

He fainted…