Chapter 2

So Hyun’s POV

I pushed open the doors to the BAU headquarters, walking over to my empty desk.

“How are your guys’ wedding plans coming along?” I could only chuckle at the first question I received at the start of my day back.

Three months ago I decided to take advantage of my vacation days to spend more time with my then boyfriend after he came back from his assignment with a gunshot wound that fortunately didn’t kill him. After the close life-threatening event Sungjae didn’t want to wait anymore, and so he proposed to me. And now my colleagues were pestering me with questions about the engagement, and future wedding plans. I was really going through with a wedding. If someone told me that I would be getting married a couple years later I would have judged them as tactless. Marriage was never on my mind. But, look how things turned out. 

“We’re putting the planning on hold, since we expected that we would be busy coming back to work.” I smiled at Seo Woo, who was too busy staring at the engagement ring that donned my left hand. The ring felt heavy... 

“Man you are one lucky girl. While, I on the other hand am too busy working to even get a date. How lonely would I be at your wedding all alone without a date?” Seo Woo’s pouted at me until she instantly retained her professional composure when the section chief announced that we had a case.

“It’s good to be back.” I smirked as MinHyuk joined us in the conference room with two cups of coffee in hand. His dark circles made it evident that he was up all night, writing the reports for our section chief. We exchanged a glance before our Section Chief Seo Eun Kwang came into the room alongside Hyun Woo, our soft-hearted tech analyst who was too soft to even fire a shot.

“It’s nice to have you back, So Hyun.” Hye Jung smiled at me as she took her seat at the conference table. My grin was gone the second I viewed the gruesome images appear on the tablets. Hyun Woo stood in front of the flat screen with his back to it as he explained the pictures to us.

“Yesterday seven people were killed, including an ambassador and his entire security team. So the Blue House requested our expertise to catch the team behind this mass murder. Also given the political nature of the incident, they directed this case to be withheld from the media’s attention. I’m working with the other tech analysts in diverting reporters and making sure any knowledge of this is inaccessible as in triple amount of firewalls in case anyone tries to hack into it.”

“From the photos, these group of attackers are unorganized and messy, which tells me that they aren’t trained professionals. We can rule out any military or rogue agents that have experience.” MinHyuk pointed out, leading the discussion as he gulped down his black coffee.

“We can find out more at the scene, right sir?” Seo Woo asked, causing our section chief to step forward.

“Actually, the scene has been cleared. The executives didn’t want to draw any attention with our presence, so she ordered the bodies to be delivered to the in house morgue and the scene to be fully documented through the pictures on your tablet.” Quietly, I swiped through the images on my tablet.

“So we have no scene to actually study and only these pictures. Okay then. Hyun Woo can you blow up each of these images on the screen?” I requested to Hyun Woo.

“Is that even a question?” He chuckled, pressing away on his tablet as the images appeared on the screen. The team and I scanned through all of the pictures until one caught my eye.

“Zoom in on the left corner. Do you guys see that? They left their mark. They’re boldly claiming this kill as theirs.”

“Alright, So Hyun and MinHyuk analyze the photographs. Seo Woo and Hye Jung will head to the morgue and check the bodies.” Seo Woo and Hye Jung left the room while Hyun Woo, MinHyuk, and I remained in the conference room viewing the blown up images on the screen.

“Maximum blood loss, a hit on a political figure, messy, and chaotic. What was the location of the kill?” I asked, directing my question to Hyun Woo, prompting him to bring up additional information of the incident.

“A public place near the Blue House. This is definitely a team, whose goal is to spread pandemonium through Seoul.” MinHyuk mumbled, studying the images with a close eye. “The physical mark this group left behind and the reckless overkill could imply the intention to scare the public. This type of a group must have the need to claim this attack as theirs. Hyun Woo, check any inputs to local newspapers and broadcasting agencies that have received any information about this attack.”

“I’m on it.” Hyun Woo commented, typing away on his laptop with his back to the screen.

“The team can finally function normally now that you’re back. How were your days off with Sungjae?” MinHyuk turned toward me while sipping his second cup of coffee.

“It was a well deserved break for the both of us. He's gotten a lot better.”

“That's a relief. I still can’t believe that you turned the offer  to join Counter Intelligence down twice already.”

“How could I ever leave my team behind?” I remarked before turning my attention back to the screen. Fortunately me being a profiler in the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the NIS hasn’t calloused me yet. In this line of work, I see gruesome things that were committed by human beings to other human beings, which made me vomit several times on cases.

“Cross reference any mob groups with the ambassador and his security team members.” I directed Hyun Woo, concluding that this team had to be a mob group with this level of brutality and