He saw the silhouette of a man running out of the diner and he cursed as he saw him get into a car. His hands gripped the steering wheel as he followed the man attempting to run away from them. He sped up, driving through the large empty roads, trying to catch up with the thief.

“No one’s injured at the diner,” His partner said, holding his phone. “Apparently the guy is just a kid, around twenty. Black hair. Wears a leather jacket over a black hoodie and jeans. He wanted the cash.”

Jinki sighed. Another case of a desperate young man trying to rob a place in the middle of nowhere. He probably thought it was safer to pick an easy target. The Blue Night’s diner was very isolated, surrounded by trees and roads. It was not that particularly famous but the few people who knew the place went there often. Jinki was one of those people.

The place was robbed quite a lot - probably because of its location - and the police had advised the owner to put an alarm behind the counter, so that he could warn them just by pressing the button. It was a lot easier that way.

They followed the car to the city and Jinki decided to turn off the sirens and follow him from afar so they could see where the young man was headed. He didn’t want to start a speed-chase throughout the city and this tactic was a lot less time-consuming. He was waiting for the young man to get home so they could arrest him there. It didn’t always work, but Jinki knew by the description that he was just a kid. It was probably his first time robbing and he had seen this pattern before. The kid would probably try and search for a familiar place, a place he felt safe in. Most likely his home.

The car stopped on the parking-lot of an old apartment building, and Jinki knew he had been right. He parked his car one street away and got out of his car silently, making sure the kid didn’t notice him. He went to the building, followed by his partner and an officer, and pressed the interphone at a random apartment. He quickly explained the situation and someone let them into the building.

He talked to the caretaker and asked if he knew a young man with black hair living in the building, probably someone with money issues.

“Well, there is a young man named Lee Taemin, he lives on the eighth floor, he didn’t pay last month’s rent and I’m still waiting for the payment. He’s always been a bit weird, like he’s hiding something.”

“Did you see him leave this evening ?”

“Well yeah, around midnight.”

Jinki had always hated the fact that some people spied on other people for no other reason than to satisfy their curiosity. He had a neighbour like that, an old woman who was constantly watching her neighbours’ every moves, including Jinki’s. She always rushed to her window whenever she heard someone in the street, people chatting or a car passing by…

He should have been happy that there were people like that, though, because it was a lot easier for him to find people that way.

“Could you give us his apartment number ?”

They were not a hundred percent sure that this kid was the one he was looking for, but they had to give it a try. Without actual evidence, they could only talk to the said Taemin and see for themselves.

They went to the apartment and Jinki knocked on the door.

“Lee Taemin ? My name is Lee Jinki, I work for the police. Could you please open the door so we could talk ?” He said loudly so that the other could hear him.

He and his partner shared a look when they heard noise coming from the other side of the door. There was no answer, but it was clear that the young man was in there.

“I just want to talk, alright ? Open the door.”

He heard the distinct click of the door unlocking and it opened slightly.

“Can we come in ?” He asked.

He saw the young man nod and he went in, followed by his partner. The young man was slightly taller than Jinki, with black hair and an angelic face that had innocence written all over it. His eyes, however, told a different story. The young man had that look in his eyes, the look that said he had lost all hopes in the future and was only trying to survive. He looked tired and nervous, his hands shaking a bit and his eyes throwing scared looks at them.

His behaviour had guilt written all over it.

The description of the robber matched.

Jinki instantly felt bad for the young man. No one deserved to have his future taken away by something as stupid as the lack of money.

“What do you want ?” Taemin asked.

“There was a robbery half an hour ago in a small diner called ‘Blue Night’, on the outskirt of the city. Do you know anything about it ?”

“No.” The young man’s voice was shaking. “Why would I know something about it ?!”

“Hey, no need to be so aggressive kid. We’re just doing our jobs here.” His partner said.

“Is your car’s immatriculation number LT1-993 ?”

They saw the young man freeze. The tension was palpable.

“No.” He answered, his voice shaking.

“Are you lying to us ?” His partner asked.

Jinki and his partner shared a look and before he had time to react, the young man had grabbed a gun from the inside of his jacket. His partner was pointing his own gun at him and the young man was doing the same.

“Okay,” Jinki said softly, raising his hands over his head. “we’ll all calm down now. There’s no need for anybody to get hurt.”

“I’m not going in jail !” The young man shouted, his eyes throwing daggers at the both of them.

“Why don’t we all drop the guns, huh ?” He said, keeping his eyes on Taemin. “So we could talk ?”

“ you !” The young man said, glaring at him. “There’s nothing to talk about !”

Jinki turned to his partner.

“Let me handle this.”

His partner’s eyes went from Jinki to the young man and he sighed, putting his gun back in his holster and leaving the room. He stayed in the corridor in case anything happened, and Jinki saw the other man relax a bit by seeing the other leave.

“You can drop the gun now.”

“You’re still armed.” He said, wary.

Jinki grabbed his gun slowly and put it on the ground at his feet carefully.

“See ? Unarmed now.” JInki said, smiling. “You’re Taemin, right ?”

“Y-yeah…” He replied, his hands holding onto the gun tightly.

“You did it for the money didn’t you ?” He said in a soft voice, careful not to seem like a threat to the young man still aiming his gun at him. “I get it.”

“How could you ?” He shouted. “How could you understand ?!”

“It’s okay…” Jinki said, taking a step closer. “Hey, look at me.” The young man looked at him and Jinki smiled. “Everything is going to be alright. You didn’t hurt anyone.”

“I-I couldn’t... I couldn’t hurt people.” Taemin said, his body shaking and his eyes watering. “I’m not a murderer.”

He lowered his hands and dropped the gun on the floor. Tears started running down his cheeks and Jinki walked to him, taking the thin young man in his arms as he cried.

“It’s okay now.” Jinki whispered. “Come with us to the police station, if you don’t cause any trouble and give back what you stole, the sentence won’t be that harsh.”

He turned his head towards his partner and they both nodded. Thankfully, the young man seemed to be less desperate than hey had thought. He had already encountered a few young men and women who had lost all sense of morality.

He really hoped the young man would not turn like them one day.