Chapter 8

"What a disaster! I can't believe we got in between a gang cross-fire this early!" Amber shouted as she took cover behind a metal container.

"Thank god I brought extra ammos. How many do you have left?"

They were communicating through the ear-piece when they had been separated by the cross-fire earlier.

"Three magazines. You?"

"Lots of it. Cover me," Victoria said as she came out of hiding and ran across the streets.

Amber did as she was told and made sure Victoria safely reached the other end of the street. After Victoria was out of sight, Amber returned to take cover and reload her handgun in a beat. Taking a deep breath, she re-emerged from her hiding and shot at the gang members as she ran towards Victoria. She barely missed a shot to her shoulder when Victoria pulled her into safety.

"Thanks!"

"Here's some more. What a mess," Victoria handed her a few more magazines and peeked carefully to view the streets.

It was littered with debris and glasses wreck from the shop's window. The cars were left abandoned as the owners flee to save their lives and they were beeping loudly. No one can be seen wandering with exception of the ones causing the havoc: the rivaling gang members. Why they were fighting, the reason wasn’t known as of yet.

"Where do you think our back-up is? Didn't they keep watch of the house?"

"I have no idea. Rather than risking our lives, isn't it best to let them be and came back when they're done?"

"I would agree but what if the brother get involved and died?"

"That's true. Hey, there's a patrol car there!"

"Really? The detector must have caught the shot."

They carefully sneaked over to the parked car while ducking so they won't be seen by the gang members and saw that the inside was empty but unlocked. Amber opened the door and reached over to get the two-way radio to request for back-up. In the nearby store, Victoria could see two uniformed police officer were helping the people inside to stay down and made the store their temporary fort. Fearing that she might get confused for the gang members, she showed her batch to the officer that was pointing the gun at her. The officer immediately put down the gun and bowed in apology.

"Stay inside," Victoria mouthed and made a hand sign to make sure they understood her.

"Vic-unnie, I've called for back-up."

"Good. There are more civilians in the store and we don't want to risk them getting shot so you're up for it?"

"Sure. It'd be good for some exercise."

On the count of three, they braced themselves to be rained down by bullets as they sprinted away from the store. At times, they would exchange fires and one by one the gang members fall down but still they were out-numbered. All the two of them can do was to buy some time until the back-up arrived. A loud siren can be heard minutes later and the remaining gang members scampered to escape but they were cornered by the police.

"Put down your weapon and keep your hands behind your head!" A voice boomed from the megaphone.

With nowhere to escape, they obediently do as they were told and ten of them were arrested for destruction of government's property and potentially harming civilians. Amber and Victoria went out of hiding and reported to the leader of the squad team.

"Detective Song and Detective Liu, sir."

"I'm Commander Ahn. I believe the two of you are from Seoul HQ. I've sent my men to Han Taeil's residence and they informed me that he was at our safe house. Sorry for our late back-up."

"It's nothing, sir. It’s relieving to know that Han Taeil is safe. If there's nothing else, we would like to meet him in the safe house if it's possible."

"Of course, Detective Song. Officer Chae here will show you to the safe house."

"Greetings, Detectives. Would you like a ride or is your car fine after the shooting?"

"We parked at the next block so it should be fine. We'll just follow your car from behind if you don't mind."

"As you wish."

Amber and Victoria went to check the car and fortunately enough, it was unharmed. Not a dent was seen on the car's body and Victoria was thankful for that. They entered the car and waited until a dark blue Toyota flashed the headlight and the window scrolled down to reveal Officer Chae. With that, they followed him to the safe house.

D E F L E ( x ) T I O N

"Why am I here? What have I done for the police to be interested in me? I know there's someone out there so come, talk to me!"

Han Taeil was baffled when he heard his front door was kicked open after a gunshot pierced the silence. Normally, he would be ducking under his desk at his room and keep a good distance away from the window or doors whenever a cross-fire happened outside. He was out of his wits and prayed hard that he wasn't being targeted and he even grabbed a baseball bat to protect himself.

"Han Taeil-ssi! It's the police. Come out!"

"How can I trust you? Are you crazy to tell me to go out? There's a gang cross-fire outside!"

He smashed his baseball bat and hit whoever was in the house but he was stopped by a second person. He struggled against the hold and only calmed down when he was shown a badge by the man who he had hit earlier.

"We will protect you so when we counted to three, ran as fast as you can to that car over there."

He obeyed them and that's how he ended up in the safe house, still unsure why the police had brought him to the place.

Outside the room, a man was icing his bruised shoulder with a pack of frozen peas with his shirt long discarded. He was well-built but not unnecessarily muscular and he had garnered a lot of female attention with his nicely forming abs. However, he wasn’t the type to show off - much to his 'fans' disappointment. He was halfway wearing his tee shirt when his partner appeared from the kitchenette.

"Wow that bruise. Our man sure has a nice swing."

"Shut up! Damn it hurts so much," he replied as he massaged the hurting spot.

"So what are we gonna do with him?"

"We'll wait for the people from Seoul HQ to talk to him," the man replied as he wore his black t-shirt and topped it off with a vest.

"Too bad we missed all the action because of him."

"I don't mind though. It's nice to relax once in a while."

"Wow Snoopy, you're slacking."

"Wha.. Oh Amber, you're here."

"Hello, Henry. I see you've been made detective over the year. Congratulations," Victoria congratulated as she appeared behind the red-head.

"So you've met. Well, that makes things a lot easier. I'll leave everything to you and be on my way back," Officer Chae said as he excused himself.

"Hello? I'm still here," Henry's partner said as he felt forgotten.

"Sorry 'bout that buddy. This is Detective Song and Detective Liu from Seoul HQ. And this here is my partner, Detective KyuHyun."

"Nice to meet you, detective."

"Don't be so formal with me, please. Since you've known Henry, it would seem that you're my senior."

"That I am, KyuHyun-ssi."

"I'm his senior, even though he's older than me," Amber added.

"Stop with the age factor. Go ahead and talk to Han Taeil. He sounded so frustrated in there."

"Chill Snoopy, we're going."

When  Amber and Victoria disappeared behind the door, KyuHyun jabbed Henry slightly at his side and raised one eyebrow.

"So who was that?"

"What do you mean? I've introduced you already," he said, playing dumb as he prepared to leave.

"Come on, you know what I mean. Spill!"

"If you keep at it, I'm leaving you here. Get your own driving license!"

"Hyung~ I love you too!"

(Note: Yes, I know Kyuhyun is older than Henry and I also know Henry is the senior between him and Amber but the words just flow differently when I typed it. Sorry if anyone is annoyed by it)