Sliding into the elevator, I pushed the button for the doors to close and then the emergency stop.

“Alright, talk to me, K.”

“I ran into UKnow.” The words made me brace myself, but I didn't voice any concerns. Obviously, nothing too serious happened or else she wouldn't be talking to me, right? “We exchanged a few bullets; I was able to graze him in the shoulder.”

“Okay...” I wasn't exactly sure what was so significant about that.

K sighed. “The bullets I use are dosed with a special cocktail. If my timing's right, he should be starting to feel the affects now and—”

“Wait. You drug your bullet?”

“Yes, a mix of ketamine and phencyclidine along with anticoagulants and some other things. Which means he's going to have impaired judgment and senses, delirium, a whole lot of pain...He's going to become nearly helpless,” she explained. “And with the way he was running, it'll be going through his system. It won't be enough to kill him, but it'll leave him incapacitated for at least 24 hours.”

Invigoration spread through me and I couldn't help the smirk that formed on my face. “Fantastic,” I said. “Which means he'll be looking for a way to patch himself up.”

“Most likely,” answered K. “I also got one of his slugs. Its possibly custom-made, hollow point. You might be able to track it and get to his dealer.”

I winced. “That's some powerful ammunition.”

K hummed. “I got a burner phone too. I'll work on that.”

“I'll get to tracking him down,” I said, unable to hide the satisfaction from my voice.

“I'll send you the address from where I last saw him,” K said. “And Jin Ae...”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful. He's a slippery bastard.”

“I'll be fine. Thank you, K.”

I stepped back out of the elevator and made my way back to my desk. When I was seated, I pulled a map of Seoul up, typing in the address that K had sent. An old factory that hadn't be used in years. A wonderful place to meet a psychotic criminal, K. Well done. I began to search the area for the nearest clinics. It was past closing time, which meant he wouldn't be seen and he could break in to anything of his choosing. Calculating what K had filled me on with the distance, I figured the most likely place he would go.

“Found it,” I hissed.

“Found what?”

I started, realizing that I wasn't alone. Park was looking at me curiously. “Nothing,” I said shortly, typing the address to the nearest medical clinic into my phone.

“Is this about that UKnow case?”

I froze in action, but continued on innocently. “No.”

Park sat back in his seat. “Didn't Chief throw you off of that case?”
“This isn't your problem,” I said and got to my feet. He followed suit. “What are you doing?” I demanded.

“You're not following a lead by yourself,” he said.

“We're not on this case; I don't want to get you into trouble.”

“And you don't need to get killed,” said Park, slipping on his coat. “By your movements, I'm guessing we're on a time sensitive schedule...what are you we waiting for?”

I gave him an incredulous look before inhaling through my nose. “Alright,” I relinquished, “let's go.”

On the way, I filled Park in on everything I could without telling I was in cahoots with someone else who worked above the law. That might not have went over too well. I simply stated I'd gotten a line that UKnow had been injured and figured the radius he'd be in. Park asked few questions. I liked that; if that had been Changmin, he would have demanded who I'd heard it from and came to the immediate decision that it was K. Then, I'd get my chewed. However, Park kept his possible suspicions to himself.

The clinic's windows were dark and(seemed) deserted. We tread towards the back of the building quietly, guns in hand, eyes peeled for movement.

“I think we should have back up,” Park voiced quietly.

“No,” I said, “because Chief will call us back. We can handle it.”

I was being arrogant, ignorant of past experiences with the criminal. However, I was not about to let him slip through our fingers when we were so damn close. As we moved towards the rear, there was no signs of a break in until we reached the back.

The high-up window was broken, but by the lack of authorities, the alarm had been disengaged prior. I surveyed his path. From the ground, to the dumpster, to a crazy leap to the left for the window. My eyes traveled over a smear on the dumpster's service and a smirk formed when I assured it was his blood. Fresh. I wondered how “a graze” in the shoulder could cause such an amount, but then I remembered K's comment on her cocktail. Anticoagulants were included, kept the blood from clotting. It was perfect.

I hoped that bastard was in a world of hurt.

Then, there was the factor of getting inside without him knowing. I, once again, surveyed UKnow's path and decided that as the best course of action.

Holstering my gun, I told Park, “don't fall behind,” and climbed onto the dumpster before taking my leap for the window. My fingers curled around the windowsill, holding steady when my body was jarred from gravity. Pushing my feet against the wall, I pulled myself up. I looked into the dark room and below the window.

Seeing no threat, I jumped down, wincing when glass crunched under my feet. It was still, unbearably so, and I could almost hear my heart thumping. I began to wander farther into the dark building, gun held in front of me as I peered around the corner into the long hallway.

A thud sounded behind me and I whirled around. Park straightened and came to stand beside me. “I'll go straight, you go right,” he breathed.

I nodded and we parted ways. My footsteps were too loud and I tried to even my breathing. Nerves were too high and I tried to calm myself. I wasn't some damn rookie! I shouldn't be acting like this. I checked the rooms for any sign of life. When I reached the end of the hall, I saw the dark smear in the gloom. More blood.

Something suddenly crashed behind me and I heard a shout.

“Park!” I called, about ready to sprint back.

Just in a moment, I saw movement flash. A figure too easy to identify. UKnow was sprinting down the narrow hall. His strides were clumsy, awkward, ridiculously uneven. In one breath, I aimed, putting him right in my sights. My finger pulled the trigger and the blast ricocheted off the walls. Uknow's body lurched forward.

Go down, you son of a !

But he didn't, merely stumbled and kept pushing forward. His hand sliding across the wall for support as he ducked around a corner. I shot after him, hunting instincts taking over, blood and adrenaline coursing. I planted my foot and rounded the corner. Another gun shot bounced off the walls and was almost instantly met with a bone-crunching slam to the leg. The next thing I knew I was lying on the floor, pain flaming in my thigh. I looked up at UKnow's once again retreating back and tried to move, but my leg protested with a sense of agony that made lights explode in front of my eyes. Blood was smeared across the white floor; it scared me at the amount of red I was seeing.

Hurried footsteps.

“Kim—”

“I'm fine!” My voice was far more shrill than I wanted it to be. “He went that way!” I gestured down the hall. “Go!” I commanded when Park hesitated. The last sentence came through gritted teeth as the pain increased. “I'm fine...”

Park reluctantly ran after UKnow. I wrapped my hands around the wound and bit into the soft tissue of my lip until I tasted iron. Blood was steadily seeping through my fingers, My whole leg was afire, pulsing from the bullet hole. And I knew from the lack of movement that a bone was broken. At first it seemed impossible, but K's comment about his ing hollow pointed bullets came to mind and it became obvious she was right.

I laid there for five minutes, writhing in pain and shedding tears that I was ashamed of. I'd tore part of my shirt and tied it around my thigh. It burned. God, it burned like a motherer to the point a scream tore from my throat.

I heard Park's voice, talking hurriedly into his cell phone, and opened my eyes. He bent down next to me, examined my leg. I saw the blood running down his face and realized he hadn't gone unscathed either. His usual grim expression turned darker and I knew he was thinking the same thing.

“Femur's broken,” I groaned out.

He nodded. “Probably.”

“Mothering piece of bastard!” I shrieked. “I'm going to ing KILL HIM!” And another long string of profanities left my mouth, most of which probably made little sense. After I was finished ranting, I motioned to my partner. “Help me up.”

Park shook his head. “No.”

“Help me up! We need to track him down!”

“He's gone, Kim. Calm down. The ambulance is coming and...”

“No!” I growled. “No hospitals...” Another wave set in and muscles clenched up, including my jaw. I let out a whimper.

“No.” His composure was seriously starting to piss me off.

“Dammit, Park!” I snapped. Sirens wailed in the distance.

.



Paramedics were rattling off my stats to the nurses, while I laid there in humiliation and drugged, flaming misery. The lights overhead flashed by and I closed my eyes against the growing nausea.

“Ms. Kim, can you tell me the level of pain you're in?”

“Its Detective Kim, ,” I growled, prying an eye open. “And the level of pain is ing huge. Any more questions?” The nurse gave me a glare which I returned as they wheeled me into the ER.

“Alright, we need to get her prepped for surgery—”

I shot up, throwing my arms to the side. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What surgery?”

“Ms—”

“Detective!”

“Detective Kim, if you don't have surgery on that leg, it'll be useless. Am I clear?” It was the same nurse I'd called '' and she obviously was going to show some attitude.

“I don't do anesthesia and things that leave me unaware for long periods of time,” I said. “I just—I don't{C}.”

“Fine. You deny treatment and try walking out of this hospital,” the nurse said, looking me in the eye.

I returned the glare before glancing around. “Fine,” and I laid back down on the gurney. “Just don't let me die.”

“You're going to be fine, hon.” The nurse had adopted a sweeter tone to voice and looked down at me with a reassuring glint in her eye. “Anyone you need called?”

“Kim Junsu,” was all I said before I closed my eyes and tried my best not to think of the ways UKnow could take advantage of my incapacitation in the next couple of hours. “Just tell him to get his down here.”

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