“Who the gives CPR to a criminal? Were you seriously out of your mind?” I shouted at him, between the bullet rounds that were being intermittently exchanged from both sides.

“Hey! How the was I supposed to know that he was a criminal and carrying a gun on him?” he shouted back at me, equally loud, “He wasn’t wearing a label on his head now, was he?”

“Hello?” Jimin yelled from the opposite end, “In case you forgot, we are still in the middle of confronting a disoriented armed man. So shut your lovers’ quarrel and help me here……”

Confused, aren’t we?

Let’s rewind a little to the time before we ended up in this mother-effing situation……

3 days back……..

“All right, settle down. We will start the meeting once everybody comes” Chief Bang hollered at us, as we scurried around the room looking for places to sit.

We had come down to SMPA headquarters in Seoul to report for duty. So far, everything had been a freaking whirlwind and I had no clue other than to cling on to Jimin who had the experience of coming down to SMPA at least once before. It had barely been a few days since our arrival when we all were called for THE meeting……

“Hi!” I heard a cheerful voice greet Jimin. I bent down from my place to get a look at the man.

 “Assistant Inspector Jung Hoseok” he extended his hand towards Jimin, “I’m from Gwangju.”

Boy! He was a freaking piece of sunshine by the way he smiled, his high cheekbones going higher up displaying all his pearly whites to full glory. How is he even a police officer?

“Hello” Jimin replied with a handshake, returning his smile with his own, “I’m Assistant Inspector Park Jimin. And this is Officer Jeon Jungkook. We both are from Busan.”

“Rookie guy here?” He said thoughtfully as he bent forward to shake my hand, “They really are going all out, aren’t they?”

“No kidding” Jimin replied back politely as I shook hands with my new senior. I looked around the room as Jimin and Hoseok animatedly talked about something I wasn’t really interested in. There were just the five of us. My eyes landed on a broad shouldered man who sat opposite to Jimin.

He had a serious diva-like aura about him as he sat expressionless fiddling with his phone. I didn’t realize I was staring at him until he looked up at me with a raised eyebrow and an expression saying, “You got a problem mate?” I blushed furiously, avoiding his gaze, my eyes now fixed on my hands in my lap. What am I even doing here?

Just then, the door flew open and a tall blonde man entered the room. He was Korean alright. But by the way, he carried himself- he seemed to come straight out of a Hollywood action movie. Think about Die Hard.

“Ah Namjoon” Chief Bang fondly smiled at him as he bowed in greeting and took his seat, “Took you long enough…”

So this was Kim-freaking- Namjoon of Ilsan. I gasped as I looked up at him. I remembered Jimin’s words about him when we were coming to Seoul-

“He was the youngest trainee of his batch with excellent records in shooting. Just like you……. Moreover, he was part of the legendary SWAT squadron I of SMPA which comprised of men of top notch skills and bravery. They conducted several high risk operations for the government. They were really amazing guys….. Until one day, their leader was killed during an operation and later, the unit was disbanded. Nobody knows where they went after that……”

“Okay fellas” I heard Chief’s booming voice, breaking my reverie, “Let’s get down to business…….I am Chief Superintendent Bang Sihyuk. And you guys here……. have been chosen by your leader after much deliberation to be a part of this special team whose aim is to solve these recent series of homicides. I hope you guys know each other already but let’s just have a brief introduction for everyone’s sake- Assistant Inspector Jung Hoseok from Gwangju - he is basically our tech guy. Inspector Kim Seokjin from Gwacheon- he is a sharp shooter and is excellent on field. Assitant Inspector Park Jimin from Busan- he has exceptional crime deduction skills and Officer Jeon from Busan who, even though a rookie, is highly recommended by the NPA.” I gasped at the last remark. I didn’t know Namjoon had chosen the team and that my alma mater had recommended me. Damn!

“And lastly” Chief Bang pointed to the tall man on his left, “this is Senior Inspector Kim Namjoon from Ilsan. He is back from hiatus and will lead this team.”

“Wait” suddenly Namjoon interrupted him, confusedly looking around the room, “Where’s Yoongi?”

The room fell silent for a brief moment as we watched Chief Bang sigh deeply. “He refused to come…….” Before Namjoon could utter a word, the chief gestured at him to stop, “I know how you feel Namjoon”, he said in a serious tone, “but now is not the time to dwell over it.”

Namjoon sighed dejectedly, running his fingers through his hair, gritting his teeth. Obviously, he was upset but he had restraint.

The chief then addressed us, “Now, let me get this straight……… You are not here just to solve a curious case of murder, alright? We have strong reasons to believe that this is no ordinary psychotic .”

He paused for a moment as we briefly exchanged knowing glances with each other. The Chief looked towards Namjoon who then stood up from his place and went towards the whiteboard behind him, writing points with regard to the four murders that had occurred in the last month.

“In all these four murders”, Namjoon explained, “there were three common things- firstly, all the victims were drug addicts who were either homeless or had run away from home. Second- all the victims had a peculiar blue mark on their elbows which couldn’t be explained by autopsy. Lastly, they all were shot dead. Now why would somebody kill a helpless addict without any reason…...”

“…….Unless they were part of something illegal?” Seokjin completed his sentence, looking him straight in the eyes.

“What are you exactly thinking of, Seokjin?” Namjoon asked him back.

“I don’t know” Seokjin shrugged his shoulders, “drugs maybe? They recently had got hold of a Chinese consignment of drugs in Busan port. It might be related to that…….”

“That would make sense. However”, Jimin countered, “I don’t believe that any gang would be stupid enough to kill its own customers and come out in the open like this. It’s like asking for an open duel with the system….”

“I agree with him” Hoseok said, “The blue mark maybe a result of a drug use which we aren’t aware of but that doesn’t explain the gun wound.”

“Plus the murders have occurred so randomly, as in different places. I don’t think the whole theory is plausible….” Jimin commented.

“That’s why you guys were brought” Namjoon now interjected, “All of you here were involved in the investigation of these cases in some way or the other. By this time, all of you should have your own ideas about it and I want to hear them…..”

“May I say something?” I hesitantly raised my hand up.

All eyes fell on me. I gulped down my nervousness, “Are we sure that this is the first time it is happening? I mean…. Things like this do happen out of the blue but all of them in the end follow a common plotline….”

“And what you mean to say is….” Hoseok asked.

“… That this might be similar to some string of murders in the past. We might not know unless we go over the old cases. Even if it’s not some psycho thing, all the incidents do tend to follow a pattern” I concluded, hesitantly looking around.

“Valid point Jungkook” Namjoon commented, “But then things like this happen on a daily basis. How are we supposed to know which lead to follow?”

And so, this went on for almost an hour, as we wavered between various theories, only to come back to square one.

“This is so frustrating” I saw Namjoon cursing under his breath. Well, who could blame him? By this time, he was sitting on his chair with eyes closed and hands clasped, thinking deeply over something.

“Fine” he finally spoke after what seemed like an hour. “We don’t have a definite theory as of now, so let’s start with what we have. Hoseok, I want you to scan our digital records for unsolved serial murders similar to this in the past five years. Jimin and Jungkook, make an enquiry around for any suspicious gang activity which might pertain to this case. And Seokjin, you and I will look further into this Chinese consignment case that you were talking about. Any questions?”

When the room remained silent for some time, the chief stood up, “Well. Let’s get this cracking then….”

Fifteen minutes back……

“Are you sure hyung this is the place?” I asked Jimin, looking around at the buildings. We were in Itaewon walking through the main street towards a shady neighborhood, already adorned by hookers and hippies in the dark alleys that lead inside the concrete maze.

“Well this is the real Seoul for you” Jimin mumbled as he looked around for the given address, “Where else will you find gangs other than in the dark corners of the city?” “Valid point” I mumbled as I quietly followed him.

As we went ahead on the street, we saw a circle of people gathered in the center of the crossroad. Jimin looked back at me puzzled. “Should we check out hyung?” I asked him. He nodded as he paced towards the crowd while I went towards an onlooker who stood a little away from the street, gazing intently at the crowd before her.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know” she looked at me with confusion, “I think someone got run over by a car or something…..”

My eyes darted towards Jimin who was now standing inside the circle. I ran to him, forcibly cutting through the crowd.

Indeed, someone had met with an accident and was lying unconscious on the street. But what surprised me was the sight of a well-built but lean young man giving CPR to the injured man. Jimin was on his cellphone, probably calling the ambulance while I stood near them, blankly staring at the injured, waiting for Jimin to come.

The man who was giving CPR now turned to look at me. “Are you two just going to stand there officers?” He yelled at me, “This man is dying here. We need to take him to a hospital…..”

“Now listen here” I tried to calmly reason with him, “Number one ambulance is on its way. My partner is probably calling them right now. Number two….”

“Forget about your numbers dammit” he yelled again, making me flinch, “Just help me t…” suddenly, he paused his eyes widening, “I felt a pulse” he said, a relieved grin coming on his face, his long fingers deftly attached to the victim’s wrist, “I think he is alive officer. Now only if the ambulance comes….”

Suddenly, the man’s eyes opened. “What?” the other guy whispered as he stared at him with a blank expression, “How is this possible?”

“What?” I asked him curiously.

Before he could answer me, the man’s eyes widened as his gaze fell on me. Deftly the man jumped up from his place and started running in the opposite direction. “Wait” I yelled and chased after him.

“Jungkook?” I barely heard Jimin calling me from behind as I ran after the guy through several lanes and alleys until he abruptly came to a halt, fished out a gun from his pants and pointed it in my direction. “Stop right there” he screamed at me and fired.

And then….. All hell broke loose. The passersby started running in all directions away from us, screaming and crying for help. Luckily, I was swift enough to jump down as the bullet only grazed my arm. Or…. Was it me?

I looked behind to see the CPR guy who was holding my waist, lying on the ground with me. “What the hell?” I asked him.

“Is that your way to thank me officer?” he looked offended, “That bullet almost hit you in your chest…….” He was interrupted by a gun shot that came from behind us towards the man who was running again. And then I saw Jimin who came to a halt before us.

“You guys okay?” he asked as he helped the other guy stand up.

“Yeah it’s all peachy. Don’t worry” I replied sarcastically. I took out my gun eagerly, ready to empty my barrel. God, I’ve waited for this…..

The three of us ran behind the man with Jimin in the lead. “Why are you even following us? Go home” I scolded him.

“Hey that guy is not just your responsibility all right?” he argued back, “Besides I am fascinated at how an almost dead person is up and running like that?”

“You are fascinated?” I screamed at him, “You gave him CPR, duh?”

“Go down now” Jimin screamed as he ducked behind the parked vehicle on his left hand. I grabbed the stranger’s hand, who had decided to stick to me, and ran to the other side, ducking the bullets that the miscreant was shooting at us…….

So yeah, that happened. And here we were, still trying to apprehend the ‘dead man’…………

Jimin swiftly jumped up from his place and fired his gun at the offender. Luckily, this time he didn’t miss as the bullet hit the man’s hand, making the gun drop from his hand. He let out a sharp cry as Jimin ran towards him to thwart any further escape attempts. But then, I saw a speeding delivery truck coming behind the man.

“Hyung wait….” Before I could warn him, another hail of bullets came from the truck towards the man as it sped past us. I managed to get a couple of hits from my hideout before it disappeared from our sight.

It all had occurred too fast. I ran from my place towards Jimin who had been hit on his shoulder. “Hyung….” I almost cried.

“I’m okay” Jimin hissed through gritted teeth holding his shoulder, “Go check the man.” I nodded and ran towards the man while the CPR guy stayed behind with Jimin to tend to his wound.

All our efforts were in vain. Because the man we chased so much…… now lay dead in cold blood, his body riddled with bullets.

I bent down, frisking the body, looking for wallet or anything that could help me identify this person. Suddenly, my eyes fell on his arm that peeked through his torn shirt. I raised the sleeve to take a good look at what I thought it was. A sharp gasp escaped my mouth……..

It was the same blue mark.