“Tada! I bought this for you, Junghwa.” Solji took out a fluffy teddy bear from her back and placed it on Junghwa’s stomach.

“Oh my goodness! This is so cute!!!!” Junghwa hugged the bear tightly right away. “Thank you soooooo much, Solji.”

“That’s the least I can do after you helped me escape from Hyerin.” Solji smiled brightly.

“Your braces are reflecting the light, Solji.” Junghwa giggled.

Solji immediately closed . “Oops sorry.”

“This bear will replace the one that Hani tore apart the other day.” Junghwa then shivered a little. “My god. I shouldn’t remember the scene. It’s bad for my health.”

“Well speaking of health, you’ve been in the hospital for 2 days. So when do you get to go home?”

“Me? Oh, I’m still in a lot of pain so I’m going to stay here for a few more days.” Junghwa said while resting comfortably.

Solji squinted a little. “I think you’re just lazy. You look perfectly fine to me.”

“Hey, I’m not lazy. I’m just…you know…taking a break from life.”

“Sounds more like an excuse.” Solji said.

“Give me all your Harry Potter novels and then I’ll consider leaving this place.”

Solji was shocked. “No way in hell I’m giving out my books to you, Junghwa.”

Junghwa then pulled the comforter over her head. “Well if that’s the case then let me just go to sleep.”

“Oh then I’ll just take this back.” Solji casually grabbed the bear from Junghwa’s bed.

“Hey that’s mine!” Junghwa sprung out of her comforter and grabbed onto the bear as well.

“That’s not yours! I bought it!”

“But you gave it to me. So it’s mine! That’s my little baby oo!”

“Then don’t be so lazy! You have to leave the hospital!”

And then another voice called out to them. “And the both of you need to be quiet in the hospital.”

Both of them looked over and saw Hani standing at the door. “Hani?”

“Junghwa, it’s time to leave. I’ve already checked you out. Pack your things and let’s get moving.” Hani told.

“Hah! Told you.” Solji finally let go of the bear.

Junghwa pouted. “Aww… But-”

“Oh, there’s a ‘but’ now? But what?” The look on Hani’s face was serious.

“Nothing! I’ll pack my things now.” Junghwa obediently packed her things and hugged her bear tightly. “Thanks once again for Mr. Fuzzypaw, Solji. I really love it.”

“Mr. Fuzzypaw?” Solji giggled. “Don’t worry about it.”

Junghwa suddenly hugged Solji. “You’re my new best friend, Solji,”

Solji wasn’t expecting this at all but she returned the hug anyway. “Sure.”

Junghwa pulled away and moved the bear’s hand. “Say goodbye to Solji, Mr. Fluffbutt.”

“Fluffbutt?”

“Yeah. That’s the name I gave him.” Junghwa then rubbed her nose on the bear’s nose and said in a cute voice. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Fuzzywuzzy?”

“Stop changing his name.” Solji giggled.

“Better yet, stop naming inanimate objects. Let’s go” Hani said and dragged Junghwa out.

“Let’s hang out soon, Solji!” Junghwa called out before disappearing with Hani.

In class

“Before I start the class, we have a new student today.” The lecturer looked at the door and smiled. “You can come in.”

“???” Everybody was curious with the new student when she stepped into the classroom.

Solji was shocked when she saw the new student’s face. “Wait… Isn’t that…”

LE’s eyes immediately shot wide open from the sight of the girl. “It’s her…”

“Everyone, I would like you all to meet Seo Hyerin.” The lecturer introduced. “She’s an orphan so you all be nice to her, alright?”

“An orphan?” LE questioned herself. “What a load of bull.”

Hyerin’s eyes scanned the entire classroom and paused at Solji’s direction. After locking eyes with her, she gave out a smirk. “Nice to meet you all.”

The lecturer then pointed at LE. “There’s an empty spot beside Hyo Jin. You can have a seat there.”

Hyerin smirked. “Gladly.”

LE only glared silently at Hyerin as she made her way towards her seat and sat down with a smug look on her face. LE then started with a soft tone. “I’m only going to warn you one time, Hyerin. You better leave Solji and this university alone.”

Hyerin too whispered. “Really? What are you gonna do to me? Arrest me in front of everyone here?”

“You think I’m afraid of exposing myself? My only task was to be an undercover in this university to catch the Phantom. I could do that right now and end this whole undercover thing. I already know you’re the Phantom so there’s no point being an undercover anymore.”

“Ooo… Really? And… You have what proof again to arrest me? Use that tiny brain of yours to figure out just how many people in the class would actually believe that I’m the Phantom?” Hyerin was wearing a smug look on her face. “Well I’m just an innocent new student coming into this university. If you’re really firm on your decision to arrest me then go ahead. Tell everyone that I’m the Phantom.”

“Shut up. You’re not a student, Hyerin. You’re a wanted criminal.”

“Well neither are you, LE. But you as a cop should know that you’ll need to show proof that I’m the Phantom before you can act. I mean what if I’m not the Phantom? You’ll simply be chasing the wrong person the whole time, you know that?”

“Stop your act. I know you’re the Phantom and I haven’t even had revenge on you for hurting Junghwa yet.” LE glared.

“That girl was in my way. I did give her a chance to leave and she didn’t. So I was left with only one way to get past her. It’s her own fault.” Hyerin told.

LE was literally fuming. She couldn’t believe Hyerin said this casually like it was nothing. She was so angry that no words could escape from . Only heavy breaths. “…”

“Ahn Hyo Jin. One of the finest cop they have in town. And you couldn’t even stop the Phantom even with the help of your enthusiastic friend Hani. What a bunch of useless cops.”

Solji couldn’t help but kept looking back at where LE was sitting, worrying about what LE and Hyerin were talking about. “…”

LE knew Hyerin was taunting her to make a move. She had to hold it in. She’s better than this. She didn’t want to let Hyerin win this mind battle. She then calmed herself down and continued. “Why are you here? What are you trying to accomplish?”

Hyerin sighed. “How many times do you want to ask this question? You know this already, LE. I’m here for Solji. You have to keep your target close.”

“Then why did you hurt so many people in the process and rob their money?” LE asked.

“Like I said earlier, do you have proof that I hurt someone else? If you don’t then I suggest you stop with this useless interrogation. You know nothing at all, LE. So don’t try to act smart in front of me.”

“What the hell are you talking about now?”

“That’s why I’ve been saying that you cops are a little dumb sometimes.” Hyerin looked over and smiled. “You’ll get what I’m talking about if you were a little smarter. All I’m trying to say is that I’m here for Solji. That’s it.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Then over your dead body it is. You actually think I care if you die in the process or not. Just in case you don’t know, LE. I don’t. You can die for all I care and even drag Hani into one of your stupid schemes, but let me remind you of this. There’s nothing in this world that will stop me from getting Solji.” Hyerin poked LE’s shoulder and provoked. “Not even you, LE.”

“Gaahhhh!!!!” LE pounced on Hyerin and started attacking her, shocking everyone in the class.

Hyerin didn’t fight back and acted as if she was defenseless despite being really good at fighting. “Help me, someone!”

“LE, stop right now!” The lecturer shouted as a few classmates pulled LE away from Hyerin.

Only then, LE realized that the whole class was staring at her with horror. She fell right into Hyerin’s taunt. “…”

Hyerin’s eyes were full of tears and covered her cheek in ‘pain’. “W-What’s wrong with you, LE? What did I do to you?”

LE’s eyes widened at Hyerin’s flawless act. “You… You provoked me on purpose…”

Hyerin whispered. “Don’t like it? Arrest me then.” And then she shot a wink.

The lecturer came and pulled LE up before she could land another hit on Hyerin. “LE, you’re coming into my office now!”

While the whole class started gossiping about what just happened, Solji slowly walked towards Hyerin and confronted her. “W-What did you say to LE just now?”

Hyerin seemed surprised. “Well well, that’s surprising. You should know by now who I really am, Solji. You’re confronting me instead of running away? That’s a new one. Well since you’re this brave and class has just ended, why don’t we take a walk outside alone. Then I’ll tell you.” Hyerin smirked.

Solji pushed her glasses up. “I’m comfortable with more people around me.”

“Of course you would want more people around you. So I can’t do anything to you. Don’t you worry. I’ll have my chance.” Hyerin then moved her lips closer to Solji’s ear and whispered. “You won’t be lucky forever. You better watch your back from now on, Solji. Otherwise you might end up dead before you know it.”

“…” Solji merely remained silent.

Hyerin then pulled away and smiled at Solji brightly. “It’s nice meeting you, Solji. I’m looking forward to see you in class again tomorrow. Bye!”

“…” Solji was still silent as she looked upon Hyerin leaving the classroom. She then sighed. “Why am I always stuck in weird situations…”

Solji then waited outside the lecturer’s office for LE. After about an hour, LE came out with a pissed off face. Solji seemingly concerned, attended to her immediately. “Are you alright, LE?”

“Tch… That Hyerin doesn’t know when to quit.” LE cursed.

“Uhm… What did she tell you that made you so angry?” Solji asked.

“What do you mean what did she tell me? She’s the freaking Phantom. The fact that I know she’s a wanted criminal and yet cannot do anything to her makes me so pissed off!”

“Calm down. We’ll call the cops on her, okay?” Solji said.

“There’s no use calling the cops, Solji. What she said was right. We have no proof that she’s a criminal at all. If we called the cops on her, we’ll be the ones to get into trouble for making a fake police report.” LE explained.

“So, what are we going to do now?”

“There’s nothing we can do for now except switch universities. It’s too dangerous hanging around in the same university as the Phantom.” LE said. “I swear to god I will catch her on the act one day.”

Solji grabbed LE’s arm. “LE, why can’t you just let it go? Please. Don’t go after the Phantom. It’s not your job anyway. Don’t risk your life for something like this.”

“I once made a promise to keep you safe no matter what. I’m not going to break that promise, Solji. Not until I’m dead.”

“Don’t say things like that!” Solji raised her voice. “You’re not going to die for me or anybody, LE. You hear me?”

“...” LE noticed how concerned Solji was.

“Promise me that you’ll not lose your life for something like this.” Solji seemed very serious. It was very unlike her usual speech.

After being stunned for a few seconds, LE pulled her hands away and walked off. “Thanks for caring, Solji but I’ll handle my own business.”

In a dark alley at night

“Argh!!” A man rolled on the ground and smashed onto a few trash cans. He was completely bruised up and was bleeding from his nose.

“Help!!” The man screamed.

“Nobody will save you.” A lady wearing a mask stood before him. It was the infamous Phantom.

He desperately attempted to crawl away from the Phantom but to no avail. He was simply too weak. “H-Help!”

The Phantom placed her foot on top of the man’s face. “Where are you trying to go? There’s no escape for people like you.”

“Please let me go…” The man begged from underneath the Phantom’s foot. “H-Have mercy…”

“Let you go?” The Phantom then pulled the man’s hair and dragged him up from the floor. “Did you let her go when she begged?”

“W-What? What’re you talking about?”

Seemingly enraged, the Phantom pulled the man by the collar and slammed him onto the wall hard. “You know what I’m talking about!”

“!!!” Before the Phantom could land another punch, someone caught her wrist. As soon as she turned her head, she was met with a punch on her face. The punch caused the Phantom to let go of her victim and totter back a little as she held onto her mask tightly. A little more strength exerted to the punch and her mask would have came right off her face. Only now, the Phantom got a good look at the person who just landed a punch on her face. It was none other than Hani who was patrolling the area at that time. “It’s you…”

“Uhuh. It’s me.”

“Uhm… Who’re you again?”

“You piece of !” Hani continued with a series of punches and kicks which got defended successfully by the Phantom.

The Phantom them hopped back a little. “Ah yes. LE’s sidekick friend, Hani.”

“Don’t call me LE’s sidekick.” Hani felt a little offended being belittled and ran straight towards the Phantom without second thoughts and attempted a punch once again.

The Phantom caught Hani’s fist successfully. “So they’re not joking when they said that you stick to her motto ‘Action speaks louder than words’. You have no interest in negotiating at all, don’t you? You just go straight in for the catch.”

“Sorry to disappoint but I have no intentions of negotiating with criminals like you, Seo Hyerin.”

“Seo Hyerin?” The Phantom questioned and pushed Hani away. “Where’s your proof that the one behind this mask is Hyerin?”

“Don’t act dumb with me. I know who you are already. There’s no doubt you’re the one behind that Phantom mask, Hyerin. The daughter of the biggest mafia boss in town. Siphoning money out of people’s account and beating innocent people up. Sounds like something that a member of the mafia would do. Your dad was captured five months ago and the Phantom started appearing at that time. There’s too much of a coincidence.”

The Phantom chuckled a little. “You cops are just so funny at times.”

Hani raised her right brow. “What are you laughing at?”

“At you, of course. You cops always think that you know everything. And then you jump straight into conclusion without showing me any proof. Whatever you’re telling me are nothing but your own speculations and they’re nowhere written on the paper. If non-proven theories are how you people decide on who’s the criminal then I am absolutely sure of one thing. Justice is dead. You cops are nothing but mere props that give the people false hope that they’re safe with you guys around when they’re actually not.”

“Do not mock us!” Hani retorted loudly. “You’re a criminal, Phantom and the whole world knows about you. There’s enough witnesses and proofs for whatever you did. I don’t have to show you anything.”

“Really now? Well then, ‘Mrs. There’s Enough Proof To Catch Me’. Why don’t you just interrogate me already?” Phantom said in a sarcastic tone.

Hani scoffed. “Let me remind you of something. Unlike LE, I don’t like mercy. I’m not the kind of cop who will try to negotiate with you or try to understand what situation you’re in before beating you up. I’m actually the complete opposite. If I get my hands on you, I will actually beat you up first and make sure you can no longer run. Only then, I will interrogate you. Guilty until proven innocent. That’s how I work.”

The Phantom laughed from beneath her mask. “You’re funny. Are you actually giving me a lesson on how to catch a criminal?”

“Oh, you won’t be laughing once I have my fist on your face, Phantom.”

“Is that supposed to threaten me?” The Phantom said in a sarcastic manner. “If it is, then it’s not really effective.”

“Eat this!” Hani threw a punch that got blocked successfully by the Phantom.

They both exchanged punches and kicks for a short moment before the Phantom managed to shove Hani to the wall and pressed her arm on Hani’s neck, choking her. “You’re ten years too early to try and take me down with this level of capability, Hani.”

“Grr…” Hani was desperately trying to release herself from the choke but it wasn’t easy at all. The Phantom really had a great amount of strength despite her slightly skinny body.

“I hate people like you the most.” The Phantom clenched her fist and threw it at Hani’s face hard. That punch was definitely meant to knock Hani out for good because the speed exerted to the punch was incredible. Good thing Hani’s reflex was fast enough to move her head to the side, causing the Phantom’s punch to hit the wall instead.

“Take this!” Hani took this chance to land a punch on the Phantom’s face and shoved her back.

“Ugh!” The Phantom stumbled back a little and finally released Hani from the choke.

“I’ll make you pay for what you did to Junghwa the other day too, Hyerin…” Hani released another punch but got dodged by the Phantom.

“Junghwa? What proof do you have that I even touched her?”

“You knocked her out while trying to capture Solji. Don’t think I don’t know anything, Hyerin.”

“So, Hyerin knocked Junghwa out and chased after Solji… What does that got to do with the Phantom?”

Hani rolled her eyes. “I’ve had enough of your idiotic sarcasm. You’re going down today!”

“You’re the one who’s going down today.” The Phantom took out her gun and started firing at Hani.

Alerted, Hani immediately pulled back and hid behind a wall. She too took out her gun and returned fire. The both of them kept on shooting in hopes that it will hit their target, but so far none of the bullets were successful yet. Then it became silent, way too silent. Hani took a peek at the alley and saw that the Phantom wasn’t there anymore. Despite that, Hani was still alert. She firmly held on to her gun and slowly stepped out from behind the wall.

And then from the side, the Phantom appeared and grab hold of Hani’s wrist. The Phantom was so good at stealth that even Hani couldn’t hear her coming despite the alley being so quiet. With a little strength, she was able to disarm Hani as the gun fell onto the ground. Then the Phantom aimed her gun at Hani’s face.

Good thing Hani’s reaction was fast enough. She twisted the Phantom’s wrist and managed to disarm the Phantom. Right after that, Hani attempted to judo-toss her onto the ground but failed. Just as Hani was about to throw, the Phantom countered it by pushing her arm on Hani’s back to halt her action. The Phantom then pulled Hani and in turn, tossed her onto the ground instead. The Phantom is now sitting on top of Hani. She was at an advantage. Every single one of the Phantom’s punches were aimed on Hani’s face in attempt to knock her out cold or probably kill her. Luckily Hani was tough enough to stand the punches and looked for an opening. She then swung her leg up and kicked the Phantom at the back of her head and caused her to fall over.

Hani then took this chance to quickly crawl towards her gun to end this once and for all. The gun was already within her reach but before she could grab it, the Phantom pulled her leg and dragged her away from the gun. She then attempted to break Hani’s arm by twisting it but Hani resisted like a mad woman. The hands are very important for a cop so she will never allow anybody to break her arm even if she dies. Hani forcefully twisted her arm in the opposite direction and headbutted the Phantom away.

The heabutt must have been really hard because the Phantom seemed to be a little groggy and Hani’s forehead was bruised. After shaking her dizziness off, the Phantom saw that her gun was just a few feet away from her. She rolled over and grabbed the gun simultaneously before aiming it at Hani. Before she could open fire, Hani managed to grab her wrist and moved the gun away. “Grr!!!!”

The Phantom increased her strength and slowly moved the gun back towards Hani’s head. The Phantom was clearly stronger than Hani. Right when the Phantom clicked the trigger, Hani smacked her wrist down.

*BANG*

The bullet pierced right into Hani’s thigh and caused her to fall onto the ground.

“Gaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! !!” Hani grabbed her thigh and screamed in pain. She managed to divert the Phantom’s shot away from her head and she got injured in her thigh instead. She could only lay on the floor and glare at the Phantom who was closing in. She had lost all her strength from the gunshot on her thigh and it was bleeding profusely.

The Phantom chuckled a little. “Phew… You almost got me panic for a short while there. I’ll give you that.”

“To tell you the truth, Hani… I don’t really hate cops in general. What I despise is the lack of justice that was served. Which is why the Phantom’s sole purpose is to serve REAL justice to those who deserve them since you guys don’t seem to be doing an efficient job in it.”

Hani growled. “I don’t give a what your purpose is. You already killed a number of people and injure a few to the brink of death and even robbing them off their money! That’s already crime by default!”

“Of course we both have completely opposite mindsets. Our definition of justice is completely different than one another. You see, I don’t particularly like your way of thinking. Guilty until proven innocent? You make me sick to my stomach, Hani. You dumb cops have no idea who’s guilty and innocent. You just grab someone and make them plead guilty just to get the job done quick. I will be the one to decide the guilty and the innocent from now on.”

“Grr…” Despite Hani being so worn out, she still tried to reach for her gun which was just a few feet away. As Hani was stretching her hand out, the Phantom just raised her foot and stomped it on Hani’s hand hard. “Argh!!!”

“I gave you a chance to leave me be and you didn’t. You end up being another one of the little pest and try to stop me. Just so you know, I hate pests. Do you wanna know what I do with annoying pests?”

“...” Hani started panting heavily from the blood loss.

“I get rid of them. Especially people like you.” The Phantom casually said, as if it was something normal to say. “You giving me a chase is already annoying enough for me. And then you wanna lecture me about what true justice is and get all tough with me.” The Phantom squatted down and placed the tip of her gun on Hani’s forehead. She then smirked a little. “Not very tough now, aren’t you?”

Hani’s heart was beating miles. She was breathing heavily and her face turned pale. She had no strength at all to fight back. She thought that this was it. The end of her career. The end of her life. “…”

“You know… My dad once told me that everyone will have a happy ending. His wasn’t so happy all thanks to you people…” The Phantom then pulled the hammer down and continued. “Apparently yours won’t be a happy one either. Goodbye, Hani.” and the trigger was released.

Chapter 3

END