Catch him! That was the very basic idea of mine and Hyukjae´s relationship. I was the best at catching chimeras, while Hyukjae must have been definitely the very best at running away. But against all odds and Hyukjae´s luck, I´ve always been able to catch him.

“Shoot!” Hyukjae screamed.

I saw him grab the hem of his loose blue shirt and immediately put to use all my detective senses. I looked deeply into those chocolate brown eyes for the last time and then focused back at my gun and the person behind Hyukjae. I knew what was on Hyukjae´s mind. He trusted me completely and I couldn´t disappoint him. If I did, he would die.

As if it was in slow motion, I took in everything that was happening in front of me. My arms were straightened and aiming at Hyukjae´s torso. Then the boy pulled the shirt over his head and jumped forward. The man standing behind him, I guessed he was the leader as he was the closest to Hyukjae, didn´t have enough time to understand the situation. Hyukjae was still covering the trajectory of the bullet, if I pulled the trigger, I would kill him. But I knew why he threw away his shirt and so I risked it and shot before the other guy would do it. At the same time Hyukjae suddenly raised higher into the air to everyone´s surprise. His revealed his transparent wings that started moving as fast as they could to pull their beautiful owner out of my aim. The most surprised of all must have been the Likya leader, who wasn´t even given enough time to see Hyukjae flying. My gun echoed loudly in the quiet forest and the shocked man got hit right into his chest. I didn´t watch him scramble down from the hard rock, though.

I threw my gun to the grass and rushed forward with my arms open. Hyukjae couldn´t exactly fly, his wings were too small and weak to hold him up in the air for too long. He was bound to meet the ground with his bare body. I wouldn´t let that happen of course. Hyukjae whined and the wings stopped moving, he was now falling down towards me. His eyes were closed tightly and he was instinctively baring himself against the hard landing.

I caught Hyukjae precisely but still landed backwards on the ground with the force. Hyukjae was light but the height was too big. I fell down on my lower back and the Fairy safely on my lap. I was gripping him possessively because I still couldn´t get rid of the anxiousness I felt for the past few minutes. It was the same for Hyukjae who was trying to catch his breath after the vigorous waving of his invisible wings. The transparent wings were once more folded on his back and I slipped my hand beneath them. Hyukjae shivered although his skin was warm but didn´t ask me to move it away.

“I knew you were alive, I just knew it!” Hyukjae suddenly raised his voice and eagerly looked at me.

Then as if possessed by something he started wiggling and moving until he was sitting on my lap and facing me. He put his arms around my neck and plastered himself against me. I was slightly surprised by this intimate act but of course didn´t fight him. I accepted the hug and with the hand that wasn´t beneath the wings started playing with his brown hair.

“And I knew you would wait for me, Hyukjae,” I whispered into his ear and the younger sighed in contentment.

It was strange how absolutely blissful it felt to have Hyukjae in my arms like that. I didn´t even care about the Likya leader being dead. All I had on my mind was Hyukjae´s warm skin, sweet smell and slow breathing. An agent came to me and handed me his jacket. I thanked him and made Hyukjae wear it over his bare torso and frail wings. Then we stood up, both on shaky legs. Two other policemen had to help us walk back through the forest. We had to return to the base so we could get out because there was no space for a car nor helicopter to pick us up.

They brought us to the office in Sokcho where Leeteuk was awaiting us eagerly. He threw himself on Hyukjae the moment the youngest detective walked out of the elevator and refused to let go of him. He kept apologising for taking too long to save him but Hyukjae had to understand that he was the police director and was bound to act according to the rules. Hyukjae of course understood.

Special ASC doctor was already waiting to tend to Hyukjae´s minor injuries. Hyukjae asked for a hot chocolate and I for a sandwich. We stayed in the office for three hours because we needed to give our testimonies. I was once again surprised at how much Hyukjae actually knew about Likya. He wasn´t confused at all about who kidnapped him and for what reason. He even knew the name of the Likya leader, unfortunately I apparently shot dead this Primary guy.

After the long time spent on the police station in Sokcho, we were finally allowed to go back to Seoul. But we both decided to make another stop by the police hospital first. The driver stopped in front of the huge building with red cross above the entrance. We climbed out of the car and went to the information desk to ask for the number of the room.

“Open it, Hyukjae,” I said once we were facing the door.

“No, you open it,” Hyukjae hissed back.

“It was you, who they risked their lives for,” I stated and crossed my arms over my chest childishly.

“Yeah, but it was under your careless command,” Hyukjae argued and turned away offended.

“And you were-“

“Are you going to enter or not?” The door opened in the middle of my sentence. Zhoumi was holding the doorknob with his uninjured hand and looking at us amused.

“Good evening!” Hyukjae called politely with a smile on his lips. Zhoumi immediately melted and let the chirpy chimera inside the room.

The hospital room had four beds and sadly three of them were occupied by the members of my team. Zhoumi, who had injured his arm during the final spur and was now climbing back into his bed. Minho with his leg up in the air that became the victim of my carelessness and commander´s Ok´s brutality. And finally there was Donghee to whom I felt sorry the most. He would often say that Hyukjae was the same age as his deceased daughter and that he would do anything to protect him. Instead he was lying in bed and being glad to be still alive.

“I wanted to bring something delicious but we didn´t have time to stop by any shop, I will make sure to do it next time,” Hyukjae said, sitting on Minho´s bed. Why was he sitting on Minho´s when there was an empty one next to Donghee´s?

“Never mind, Hyukjae,” Minho said and reached for Hyukjae´s hand. I quickly walked to the bed and sat on Minho´s arm so he wouldn´t touch Hyukjae. Minho grumbled and I gave him a hard stare, the Fairy didn´t notice anything.

“We already received a call from Leeteuk, good job,” Donghee managed to say with the oxygen mask on his face.

“As long as we´re all alive,” I said and the room fell into comfortable silence. Everybody pondering about our good luck. Donghee´s machines sometimes letting out a quiet huff or beep and the muted sounds of the hospital ruckus were invading the room from behind the door. The room was quiet and still as if frozen until Donghee spoke up again through the mask.

“So, are you two going out or what?”

Asa! I got you there! Come one! Since when do I not make happy endings, huh? :D But I´m glad you were surprised, that means I managed to keep you antsy until the end. Ah, but there´s still one mystery left... Wait for the last chapter! Thank you for reading! - PandaHero