It was a night of action. He had called them again, even if he had not started his crime yet. They were all waiting for him in the dark. It was terribly frustrating.

She could hear the ringing of jewels being moved. Oh, sure, he was there, in the same room as all of them. All around her were wandering large plumes of smoke. She was moving through those, as if she were crossing through fog. The smoke had no odour. Rays of light from lamp torches were piercing the thickness. They looked like will-o’-the-wisps.

She was walking aimlessly, her weapon held out with her lamp under it. Her colleagues were doing the same. The more she was moving soundlessly, the more there seemed to be smoke. The ringing sound was getting closer. She was quite close.

She suddenly froze. He was right in front of her, maybe a little too much. She hadn’t time to react. He outstretched his arm and held out a necklace – green sparkle under the lights – before her neck and he wrinkled his nose. He looked like he was evaluating something. Then he frowned and straightened up.

“Yep, this one suits you beautifully, agent Cho.”

She jumped and her heart skipped a beat, and she pointed out her weapon at him. But he had already disappeared into the smoke. That bloody smoke that was blurring her sight. There was a husky laugh ringing in her ears, and it looked like its owner was whirling around her. It was then unlikely to shoot at the air: she could risk to break an expensive object, or worse – hurt someone.

“Follow my voice, agent,” he was teasing her.

And she did it. Frustrated and irritated. Yet she had no other choice.

It was night, like the other times. He was always breaking in at night.

The sole light of the full moon was filtering through the barred windows. Step by step, moving forwards, all her senses were aware and body was alert, her arms still outstretched. She was so nervous that she almost forgot the most important rule: her arms were too much outstretched. That mistake turned out disastrous when something hit her in the hollow of her elbow; a brutal and violent hit that sent a jolt of pain and numbness up to her shoulder. Her fingers went loose, and her weapon fell from her grasp. The smoke swallowed it up.

The thief took a step forward and out of his smoke screen, and pushed her against the wall. He had two hands on her shoulders, forcing her to step back. She found herself pinned, palms against the stone wall; the thief’s face was close to hers.

She could have moved if she had wanted to. She could very well have that situation sorted: she had had a quite harsh training back at the police station. But… beyond this position of weakness she was into, curiosity won over. She was curious. Curious about his next moves – curious about Jung Hoseok, a wanted robber in the whole city, and a very peculiar robber.

She encountered him one year ago during a robbery of his own. It was her first assignment. Soon enough, her colleagues and she understood they were facing an unusual situation: he was the one who produced all this smoke that surrounded him each time. Infinite, malleable, odourless, harmless, it could blind all of his foes.

Jung Hoseok was a mutant.

He got interested in her quite soon. Every single time he called the police, he would ask her on the intervention. He would do anything to separate her from the others, isolate her so he could speak to her – teasing her.

His peculiarity fascinated her. But then came also frustration: he would mock them, and each time he would slip through the fingers of the police, and she was moved with the will to stop him no matter what.

 

In this very moment, she was at two inches from him, and if she were to decide to do any move, she would catch him. But curiosity won over the rest. She threw him a challenging look.

He had a mole right above the upper lip, which added to his charm. There was a sudden sparkle in his eyes when he noticed her staring.

“Do you enjoy the sight, agent?”

She sighed in her mind. So predictable.

“You should turn yourself over immediately, thief. It would do us a favour.”

He chuckled, clearly amused. “But it won’t be fun, then.”

His eyes looked up and down her whole body and his grin widened. “Well, you cannot really bargain in your current position.”

“You are a monster of arrogance. You should know we must not play with fire.”

“Unless you are the fire, agent? Hot like fire, if I may.”

“We don’t play any game, you and I. You are a thief, and you are going to end up in jail.”

He raised a sceptical brow, then stepped backwards and retorted: “You have to catch me first,” –the next moment he disappeared into the smoke.

The smoke engulfed him. He had vanished once again. The girl leaned against the wall, sighing slowly as she was taking control of her body. Before her, the room was submerged with smoke. The higher windows were the only ones the smoke could not reach and the moon was piercing through. Its beams gave a strange and milky shine to the vaporous tentacles, and they reflected on the crystals of the chandelier.

The clinging of gems came to her ears just before her eyes actually saw the silhouette of the thief, who reappeared through the smoke.

“But I want to play so badly,” he let out in a breath.

In a swift motion, he grabbed her neck and kissed her.

She became totally defenceless during a few seconds. She had been taken aback, but she knew she was not endangered. And to be true, some of her frustration got relieved. His hands were soft on her cheek, on her body, and his warmth was soothing.

Shouts entering the room broke the moment of euphoria. She snapped her eyes open. She looked over her thief’s shoulder, she noticed that the smoke had weakened. She did not know what it meant, but she knew that if her colleagues were to arrive at that very moment, she was in a rather embarrassing position.

They both stepped from each other. His eyes sparkled, and he winked at her. He started to run to the opposite direction. She put her palms against the wall behind her, to keep her balance, while she stared after him, and looked at her colleagues that were entering through the other entry. When the thief vanished, so did the smoke, giving a clearer view of the area. She could see distinctly the other policemen rushing towards the thief; one of them noticed her and turned around.

“What are you waiting for?! He’s going to run away!”

She nodded swiftly and picked up her arm she had just noticed on the floor.

She ran too. They ran across the whole ground floor and out in the backyard. Left behind, she shifted from the others and went to the left. There was a small wall half-covered by trees. If she were to hide, she would have chosen this side. She tightened her grip around the weapon and took wary steps.

A noise.

She whirled around to the source of it, and saw the thief – standing on the wall. His lips drew an amused smile and his arms were raised in a mocking mimicry of surrender. She took aim at him.

But seconds were slipping and she still was not shooting. She thought about the kiss and she did not know what to do. She did not have a particular need to hurt him, less kill him. If she did not do any movement though, he would once again slip through their nets.

His grin widened. Screams and shouts came from behind her. Startled, she jumped and turned round, her weapon still in hand and aiming at air, to face the other policemen.

“Agent Cho,” his superior yelled. “What the hell are you doing?! He got away!”

The thief had enjoyed the small moment of distraction to flee into the shadows of the night. She felt a mix of relief and frustration twist her insides.

“Why didn’t you shoot?! He was just right in front of you!”

“He had no weapon on him,” she snapped. “It’s not in the code to shoot at someone who is not armed. I was powerless.”

 

--

 

She went home at dawn, after a night rich with action, runs and remonstrance. She dropped her keys wearily on the small furniture by the door and started to take off her shoes and jacket. As she walked to her bedroom, she immediately saw the anomaly.

On her bed was an object. A jewel. A necklace. The emerald necklace that the thief held five hours ago. She rushed towards it. If she could bring it back at the police station, there might be some fingerprints to take. Then she saw a piece of paper next to it. She took it and unfolded it. Her lips drew a smile as she read the message. When she was finished, she threw it and her eyes fell on the necklace. She was not particularly fond of jewels, but this one was a beauty.

This necklace is made for you, I knew as soon as I laid my eyes on it. Please, keep it, I would be delighted if you did so.