26. Ambrosia

Gambling With Death
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Hana was crowded by officers and her friends who were just about far enough that they didn’t accidentally set the bomb off. Since it was a pressure sensitive bomb and they had no idea how large the bomb was, going near Hana could potentially add more pressure which would set it off. It had been roughly ten minutes since the bomb squad had been called, and the rest of the building had been evacuated promptly without much information being passed onto the tenants about why. Before long, the building was taped off for civilians, and Hana could hear the faint chatter coming from the open windows. 

Hana desperately wanted to move, but she knew that if she did, there was no telling what would happen. At least her body was used to going through grueling situations; she had never been so thankful for the police academy's strict training.

“How did he even get his hands on a bomb?” Jongin questioned.

“How has he been avoiding us the entire time — questions we all want to have answered,” Jessica replied, snapping at her partner. He winced, and Jessica immediately apologized as she closed her eyes and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. This is just...terrifying. He’s never been so up front about hurting one of us.”

“I can deal with guns. I can deal with knifes, but how do I deal with a bomb out of all things,” Hana desperately spoke. Part of her wanted to get all of her friends out and just move to get this all over with, but she had to get justice for all of Baekhyun’s victims. She had to get Subin back, but she could already start feeling the tiredness seeping into her bones. It wasn't even a physical exhaustion, but rather the mental one, which could lead to something much worse for her.

“Maybe he’s bluffing?” Myungsoo wondered weakly. Hana shook her head.

“No. It felt like something gave way under my feet, and then I heard a metallic click, as though something had slid into place.”

“How far away is the bomb squad?” Jongin asked to no one in particular, just voicing the question out loud.

An officer responded. “Roughly five minutes, detective. They were stuck in gridlock.”

“Damn it, Baekhyun,” Myungsoo softly cursed. 

For the next seven minutes, Hana watched her friends and a few of the officers pace around her anxiously, and she couldn't take the visual for much longer and instead closed her eyes. She didn't even open them when she heard the bomb disposal unit enter the building, give instructions to everyone to stop pacing as they X-rayed the floor. They left the room to go to the apartment one floor below so they could scan the floor and make sure there were no other explosives.

She only opened her eyes when the captain of the unit came back to speak with her.

“Detective Park?” she asked.

Hana looked up at her. “Yes?”

“I’m afraid that you are stepping on an explosive. As the note said, it is pressure sensitive. There is a sensor plate underneath the floor, and when you stepped on it, you activated the sensor. If any pressure is added or taken away, you will trigger it. I advise you to stay strong and not move until we figure out how to disarm it.”

“How big is the bomb?” Kyungsoo asked.

“It seems that it’s roughly 61 cm by 61 cm,” she replied just as a member of the bomb disposal unit began to mark off the area with spray paint. “No one can cross that line,” the captain warned. “Now, all unnecessary personnel need to leave. And you detectives have a murder to go solve, no?”

Jongin began to protest, but Hana cut him off.

“Go. I’ll be okay. It’s just standing.” She sent them a weak smile.

“What about Yixing?” Myungsoo asked.

Hana glared at Myungsoo, making her voice hard as she replied. “Please, don’t tell him.”

“Hana-”

“No.”

“You need someone here with you. If not him, then one of us,” Myungsoo urged.

“It’s too dangerous! Now go. You have to make sure it was Baekhyun who killed that guy,” she whispered. Myungsoo looked pained at leaving his partner, but he nodded and walked out of the room, followed by the captain.

One by one, the rest of the officers left, leaving her all alone.

 

~~~

Yixing was at the press conference for his new movie, and even though he should’ve been excited and happy about the new movie, he was feeling restless instead. He kept having to stop himself from twitching his leg or wringing his hands together (clearly Hana was beginning to rub off on him). He kept feeling as though there was something bad happening. He couldn’t explain it — it was just a gut feeling.

He kept fidgeting in his seat as the cast continued to answer questions about the movie from the press, and he tried to keep the worry out of his expression. Eventually, his co-star noticed and nudged him.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “You look really uncomfortable.”

“It’s nothing,” he replied. He didn’t want to raise alarm for no reason. He was probably just feeling jittery due to the fact that it was his first public schedule since the press conference about him working with the cops.

“Are you sure?” He nodded.

The press conference couldn't have ended soon enough, and as soon as they were given the clear, he immediately walked away from his manager to call Hana. He waited for her to pick up, but the call went into voice-mail after about half a minute. He then called Myungsoo, who picked up within a few seconds. Yixing was pacing around in the hallway.

“Hello?”

“Is everything okay?” Yixing asked. Myungsoo began coughing as though he were choking on something. “Myungsoo? What’s going on?”

Myungsoo took a deep breath.

"Spit it out," Yixing warned.

“It’s Hana.” Myungsoo's tone and words caused Yixing to stumble over absolutely nothing, and he leaned against the wall as the worst possible scenarios passed through his mind.

“Is she okay?”

“For now.”

“What the hell does that mean?!”

“Look, Yixing, she didn’t want me to tell you…”

“You’ve already started, now finish,” Yixing ordered. It would be a lie if he said he wasn’t worried about what Myungsoo was going to say. What if Baekhyun had made a direct move on her, and she was gravely injured?

“Okay, don’t freak out. Where are you?”

“We just finished the press conference."

“Just head over to the precinct as soon as possible. This is not something I want anyone to overhear.” Myungsoo promptly hung up, and Yixing stared at his phone in surprise. He went over to the talk to his manager and convinced him to let him go to the precinct. After a minute of bickering, the manager finally let him leave, and Yixing made his way over to the precinct. He didn’t bother changing out of his black suit.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Yixing questioned as soon as he made his way over to the detectives, immediately noticing that Hana was missing.

“What’s he doing here?” asked Jongin, his index finger pointing at Yixing. Yixing supressed the urge to twist the finger, figuring that attacking a detective was probably not the best idea.

“I told him to come here,” Myungsoo resigned. “He called me asking if everything was okay.”

“The entire time I was at the press conference, I was feeling jittery. Now explain.”

“Baekhyun happened,” Jessica provided with a tired expression. Yixing raised an eyebrow. “Someone called in a found dead body. While searching the apartment, Hana stepped on a...bomb.”

Yixing felt his

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hamsterboo
[GWD] Withering Petals is officially completed, and with that, I'm saying goodbye to Hana, Yixing, and Baekhyun <3 I'll probably come back to edit this mess of a fic tho lmfao

Comments

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miladee__
#1
Chapter 38: I really love the dynamic of the first interaction between Yixing and Hana here. I totally can imagine the situation of how strong Hana's character is and how Yixing is feeling intimidated by her.

the sentences of who are speaking get me confused here and there but they don't change the fact that it's exceptional writing. I enjoy the story a lot and it's just the beginning <3
Hasnaa2
#2
back again to re-read this master piece !!
I am glad u fineshed editing it Ms Hamsterboo !!
chonanay
#3
Chapter 40: sebin could've been prepared to kill kris too, right? a close call
mi_nam92
#4
Chapter 66: Thank you for sharing this awesome story!
Serserexo
#5
Chapter 65: Omg if anything this is an absolute great awesome story and tar from trashy T_T it's worth the wait and read. Good on ya!
anitaklr24
#6
Chapter 64: It is so cute!
I had a great time reading it again.
davian
#7
Chapter 65: Oh my this is from Lay's point of view. I love it. Thanks