Hit after hit at the bag of sand. Fists impacting until they throbbed and ached and arms became numb.

He was thinking me a fool, assuming he'd be able to run from me forever.

I stopped my motions and leaned against the punching bag, wrapping my exhausted arms around it. Sweat dripped into my eyes. Lungs burned for oxygen.

He was thinking me a fool and he was right. What was I going to do? The guy was a ghost, a fugitive on the wind that couldn't be stopped. It was my duty to keep Seoul safe and I'd failed.

Giving up was my last option; it was something I would never consider. I'd die before forfeiting from the UKnow case. He had to have a weak spot. There was a flaw somewhere in his system, in his mechanics. The guy was a psychopath; they rarely lasted for long before they stumbled.

“There you are.”

I looked towards the door at the far end of the abandoned gym. “Here I am,” I answered, straightening from my slouched position against the punching bag and grabbing my bottle of water. “I was coming back.”

“You were gone for too long,” answered Changmin.

My eyes looked to the window high above. The golden rays signaled early evening. I'd left at noon for 'lunch'. Oops.

“Sorry,” I said and squirted a mouthful of water onto my parched tongue. My eyes traveled back to my partner. “You weren't worried about me were you, Lee Changmin?”

“There's an assassin following you around. Of course I'm worried.”

Walking towards him, I put my hands over my heart, feigning innocence. “Oh, my hero. You do care.”

Changmin rolled his eyes. “Go take a shower so we can leave.”

“Are you my now?”

“You bet. And we got another one,” he said, meaning a case. “Hurry up and shower. I can smell you from here.”



Crossing the yellow tape always brought on a sense of familiarity and excitement. I knew what I was doing and control was in my hands. There were things that I caught that no one else did. My mind functioned like those that committed the crimes sometimes. That's why this was my job.

“What do we have, Eun Jung?” I asked as I came to stand beside the coroner.

She was a tiny thing, barely over five feet and so light a breeze would blow her over. However, her personality was fierce and bold, much like my own. Changmin said that's why we got along. We couldn't push each other around, but had that mutual respect that was hard to find.

Eun Jung finished scribbling something on her clipboard before briskly leading me towards the body. “Lee Daeho. I think his name explains enough.”

“Ratted out on the Jung-Ho mob. He's been in hiding for five years.” I knelt beside the bloodied corpse. When I first started at the precinct, he'd been brought in for questioning. “Cause of death?”

“Four gunshots to the chest and one to the head,” the tiny coroner explained animatedly. “By the blood splatters around the head...” She gestured around the man's crown “he was shot there after he fell.”

“Overkill, anyone?” I replied.

“That's what's expected,” Eun Jung replied, writing down something else.

“Type of gun?”

“9mm Glock.”

“The usual.”

“Yes.”

“So its probably someone from the Jung-Ho cartel.”

Eun Jung looked up at me, large eyes dubious as she arched an eyebrow. “Do you really believe that, Detective?”



“The man was in hiding for five years...what would have drawn him out?”

I looked over the large board, notes and pictures pinned across it in a scattered mess that only I understood.

Changmin waltzed over and handed me a cup of coffee. “Maybe he was promised protection?”

“Protection? No, the guy already had that from us. What did he want most?”

“To be able to walk the streets of Seoul.”

“Right. And who was keeping that from him?”

“Jung Hyunki.”

“Exactly.”

“What are you getting at?” Changmin asked.

“What would draw him out?”

“I don't know...”

“Think, Changmin!” He started at my outburst. “If you knew the one person who was after you, what would you do?”

“I'd want to get rid of him.”

“Yes, and that's why he came out. Someone promised to get ride of Jung for him and he took the bait. But what if this person was actually going to kill him?”

“So...this stranger is asked by Lee to get Jung off his hands, but the stranger was actually working for Jung to kill Lee already.”

I nodded. “But who would Lee trust enough to come out of hiding?”

“Not someone from another gang...Definitely not someone from the Jung mob...”

“You're right,” I said. “When the Jung cartel kills someone, its messy. This is way too clean for them. You know their signature.”

“Dismembering, gutting, decapitating...”

“Exactly, which means it wasn't someone from their cartel. Or probably any other cartel. Its overkill, but its almost looks staged to look like a mob hit.”

“So it could be an independent contract killer.”

“And a double-sided one at that,” I said quietly.

“Its a long shot, but...” Changmin paused and I could feel his eyes studying my face. “You think its UKnow.”

“Maybe, but he usually leaves a sign that it was him.”

“Maybe he didn't this time.”

“Or maybe I missed it.” I stepped closer to the board, eyes scanning over the photos of the dead Lee Daeho, forcing my brain to work harder, find something that I had skipped over.

“Or maybe it wasn't UKnow. Jin Ae,” my partner sighed, “you're becoming a little...obsessed over this.”

“It was him,” I stated firmly. “I know it.” I tore my eyes from the photos to look at Changmin. “You think I'm wrong?” He shrugged and I scoffed. “Fine, do what you want.”

“I'm just saying look into other options instead of closing your mind down to that damn tunnel vision thing you always do.”

“Has that tunnel vision thing ever been wrong?”

“No.”

“So?”

“But it always could be.”

“Then, give me your theory,” I challenged, turning to Changmin and crossing my arms over my chest.

He looked over the evidence and bit at his lip. “I don't know,” he admitted. “It could just be a gang hit.”

“And you dismiss that like its nothing,” I snarled. “Even if he was a gang member, his killer needs to be found.”

“I'm not saying it didn't.”

“You sounded like it,” I spat.

“Okay, okay,” Changmin said, holding his hand in front of him as if to fend me off. “We need to step back from this for a little bit. Its four in the morning and you're tired. Let's go home and get some sleep, then come back later and look this over again.” I held my glare and he dropped his hand. “I'm not leaving you here by yourself. Let's go home.”

“I won't sleep,” I said, turning attention back to the board. “My mind functions better without it.”

“No, it functions a hundred times faster, in a thousand different directions to the point no one understands what the hell you're saying,” growled Changmin. “Give it up for tonight, Jin Ae.” His voice was pleading.

“No,” I said and kept my eyes glued to the board. “I never give up.”

“Yeah, and sometimes that's your biggest flaw.”

----

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