It was half past twelve in the afternoon. Shadows of the jail cell bars leaned over Tao as he slept on his bed. A leg had been carefully tucked underneath his raised one with his knee upped toward the ceiling. An arm was shielding his eyes from the midday’s bright sunlight, but through his ears he could hear the echoes of his other jail mates making their rackets. Dreams would swift in and out of his mind before he would become conscious again and groan.

Spring had finally decided to penetrate Seoul’s prison and the days had become brighter. Deep within his head he could hear the wings of butterflies resonating through the air before he might have the urge to throw rocks at them. Tao didn’t know why. He just grew up that way.

His sentence was a max of 12 years for repeated harassment of the elderly, stealing from the handicapped, getting into gang fights, and beating a crippled until he almost died. Tao had his reasons, but surely the police wouldn’t sympathize with him. That crippled had tried stabbing him and Tao had just acted in defense. And well…he had no reason to support his faults with the other cases nailed against him. He had anger problems, but he wasn’t up to changing his ways. Not anymore.

A cling of metal turning against metal forced his cell door opened he listened to those footsteps. This person was wearing black boots, heavy boots of plastic and leather forged together. Tao detected a policeman. One with keys and a way out.

“I know you’re awake, Huang Zitao,” that low voiced echoed around his poor three walled prison.

“Mmm?”

“The government is here to see you.”

Ok, that was enough for Tao. He’d heard tantalizing stories of the government coming to beat criminals up for their offenses and he sure as heck didn’t want any business with them.

“Me?!” Tao sat up immediately with broad eyes, his face now stripped of pretension. “But I didn’t do anything, I swear!”

“Come along.” Was all the officer helped.

His face silently scorned the officer when he held his wrists out to be handcuffed before being led down the corridor. After some turns here and there Tao was led into a private meeting room where he would meet this Official. And when he got there, he was shoved into the room without a word.

Tao found himself staring at the back of a handsome young man with gleaming black hair that had been well cut and grown. He was wearing a very formal outfit and Tao discovered admiration in the deep blue shirt he was wearing. As if sensing his presence, the figure turned and Tao stared at the man as handsome as his back. This Official had very fine features and quite the smile. It was the smile of an actor, Tao supposed. Someone rich enough to be onscreen.

“Hello,” the Official stood up and held his hand out, which Tao stared at. The Official laughed a little awkwardly when he realized Tao was in handcuffs and pulled his hand back, “Have a seat first.”

Obediently making his way to the other side of the table he sat down and bitterly stared at this handsome man. What the heck was someone as good looking as he doing there? Tao felt resentment…probably because of the gap in their appearances that set them apart in society. Unfair.

“I’m Lee Donghae,” the Official introduced.

“And what else?” Tao asked uninterested. “I want to go back to sleep. So if you may…”

“Ah…yes,” Donghae nodded, “how should I address you?”

“Tao is fine.”

“Then Tao,” Donghae began, “do you want to get out of here?”

Tao loudly snorted, “Get out of here?! Are you insulting me? Anybody here would want to get out of here!”

This slick smile climbed across this Official’s face and Tao felt his burning strength die down. What was with him?

“I have an offer for you,” Donghae continued, “I heard that you have a history of martial arts skills.”

Tao was silent.

“Do you want to put it to use?”

“Haven’t I already?” Tao questioned sarcastically.

Donghae smirked again, “Come with me.”

“Excuse me?”

“I can pull you out of here and promise you freedom, in exchange for your cooperation.”

~_____~

“What!?” Namjoo screamed and turned away with a shake of her head. “No, I can’t do it. I don’t even have time to meet up with Kyungsoo for a game of starcraft!”

“Yah! Please,” Suho begged and grabbed onto her shoulder as they walked out of the large cafeteria and began walking down the wide hallway. “Please! Donghae’s already met the guy. You just need to pick him up at the police station!”

“Aish!” Namjoo shrugged his hand off. “I hate driving all the way down to the suburbs.”

“Dude, it’s on some 30-40 minute drive,” Suho tried.

“Then why don’t you go?” Namjoo halted and shot him a glare at why he was making her go when that was all that he was saying. Then she saw it in his eyes and let out a loud snort of disbelief before walking on. “Tsh! Oh my god! Another blind date? Why don’t you set yourself up with a blind marriage?!”

“Lower your voice!” Suho hushed. “It won’t take long. You just have to go down to the police department, pick him up, and bring him up here. Donghae will be back by then so you don’t have to worry about anything!”

And that was how Namjoo found herself grumbling to herself before climbing up those handsome concrete stairs.

~_____~

Kris tapped his fingers against the tabletop inside a meeting room and stared up at the circular clock on the wall. Inside his mind the seconds toward getting irritated and annoyed all at once were reaching an end. This person was late. He had people to meet and appointments to keep.

In the very rectangular room of the police station used for private meetings or for monthly progress reports, the sun was beating against the window endlessly. Kris could feel his back burning from it as if he were lying down on at a beach while the ocean lapped at the shore. He didn’t like the heat.

“Can you stop that?” a displeased voice entered his ears.

He turned to see the criminal, Huang Zitao, sitting behind him quietly seated at the very end of the room. The dark bags under his eyes looked like the worse scare Kris could receive at the moment. It made the guy look so much fiercer than he probably was in any sense. Yet, Kris withheld from any crucial remark in case he might get his own whipped by this prisoner.

Pulling his hand away from the tabletop he tucked it into his pants pocketsand turned when the door opened. A very messy Park Chorong entered the room with her seaweed hair.

“Ah…I’m sorry!” she apologized before she looked over at the two of them. “What…the military intelligence unit didn’t come for him yet?”

Kris lightly shrugged, “Half an hour late.”

Chorong rolled her eyes before setting a portfolio down.

“What’s that?” questioned Kris.

“Something I have to talk to you about,” Chorong shot Tao a glance then added, “in private.”

“Agh! Geez,” someone groaned while opening the door, “took me long enough to find this place.”

Kris straightened himself up from where he was standing and narrowed his eyes when a woman with short hair abruptly appeared. Her dress code told him she dressed casually for work and barely had enough time to fix up her face or her own style. A shirt half a size too big for her moved around with her as she walked around the room as if oblivious of their presence. She paused when she saw the handcuffs on Tao and immediately walked toward him.

“Tao?” she asked.

Tao raised an eyebrow.

“Lets go. I don’t have much time to waste.” She ordered.

He slightly rolled his eyes as he got up and followed her. This woman paused in front of the door and turned to the bewildered Chorong.

“Then…” she nodded and slightly bowed before walking out.

When the door closed after her Kris heard an offended snort escape Chorong.

“Half an hour late, don’t have time, and that’s all she says?” Chorong questioned. “Tsk…I don’t like her. Military intelligence unit or whatever…”

Ignoring whatever had just happened he asked, “So what’s up? What’s with that portfolio?”

“Ah…a new drug trafficking emergency.”

~_____~

“Red alert! We found it, Commander!”

“Empty? Any victims?”

Lay listened to some miscellaneous noises and heard a large metal door being opened. There were footsteps, a lot of them, running before there were rustling of garbage and mats. 

“Commander! It’s empty!”

“I’m coming out,” Lay spoke into the transmitter before setting it aside and grabbed a loaded pistol beside him.

Pushing open the door of the van he crossed the yard of tall grass. The moist dirt from that morning’s light shower glued themselves to his shoes before he reached a clear path of molted dirt and gravel where the shed stood. Discovered in the middle of the woods he and his team had raced there in the middle of the night to surround and infiltrate. If he couldn’t catch those thieves illegally passing around, boy, would he upset that he’d lost a whole night’s sleep.

Lay circled the building until he found a large metal door stained with graffiti pulled aside. Walking into the building he spotted an empty shed with mats and abandoned sleeping bags where those thieves had spent numerous nights packaging those drugs.

“Sir, it’s empty. No good.” His officer walked up to him.

Another night wasted.

“Lets head back.”

~_____~

Aim. Shoot. Bam!

The noise of birds fluttering high up into the sky made Victoria lower her rifle and pull down her goggles. She was at a range practicing site, one of her favorite places since she picked up shooting many years ago. Her eyes glued themselves onto the target board ahead of her. Those fiery bullets had correctly punctured the yellow and red rings to her satisfaction.

“Unnie!” a voice behind her screamed.

Her ponytail dashed against the wind when she turned around to see Yoona waving at her with a piece of paper in hand. The winds were slow that day and Victoria could see a horse run through the meadows from afar in her memory. It had been this kind of day when she had left home a long time ago. Without further reminiscing she pulled the goggles off her head and started toward Yoona.

“A fax for you,” Yoona explained, “from the government.”

Pulling her goggles into the hand with the gun she took the paper from her and read the information over.

“What’s this supposed to mean?” questioned Victoria glancing back into young Yoona’s face.

“Representative Jung is inside if you want to talk to him,” Yoona added.

Victoria paced down the white hall loudly. The thudding of her footsteps echoed off the walls and the yellow lights showered themselves onto her every fourth step of the way. Pausing in front of a two door office she grabbed the knob and opened it without bothering to knock.

Representative Jung was an aged man in his late 50’s with bald white hair and a skinny face that made one think if they didn’t feed him he’d end up with his bones his skin dry. The high cheekbones on his face were his most important features of his youth, but now that he was aging it made him look more skull-like.

“What’s this?” she threw the paper down in front of him.

Representative Jung very calmly set aside the pen in his hand before picking up the fax. Shifting his glasses further up his nose he read the paper in a quiet murmur with his lips enunciating each word. This slow man was Victoria’s boss.

“A new case has popped up,” Representative Jung summarized.

“You think I didn’t get that?” Victoria questioned.

“You’ve been waiting for something like this, haven’t you?” Representative Jung asked. “These are dangerous criminals.”

“I want to do this alone!” Victoria made sure to emphasize ‘alone’.

“They’ll be calling you in a short while.” Was all he said before ordering her to get out.

~_____~

Donghae nervously chewed on his nail while staring out of the window from the second floor which overlooked the interrogation room down below. It wasn’t important that those on the lower floor couldn’t see him from the screened window, but Donghae could hear each and every word being said from the interrogation room. An officer was seated beside him recording their discussion through a computerized device.

It was a dark lit room that offered very little light for their prisoner and the police working out the secrets from him. It was kind of like fishing. A person might throw his lure in, but never know what he might pull out and perhaps it was that that made Donghae’s heart race. What was this drug trafficker going to bust?

On a wild chase through the woods, a government unit had caught him after tackling him to the ground. According to the story, four officers had to hold him down before he was safely handcuffed. This drug trafficker was certainly a brutal one. Tattoo marks of a dragon had been inked over his neck all the way over his shoulder and down on his arms. Whether it was a code or a symbolic mark, Donghae had yet to find out later.

“I’m asking you who do you work for!” the police officer snapped and slammed his hand onto the table.

The drug trafficker stared at the officer resentfully. “Do you want to know? Ask your civilians. I can promise you 20% of them are involved in dirty business.”

“Are you going to answer me or not?” the officer questioned irritated.

Their prisoner tilted his head away and easily leaned back into his chair, “You didn’t think we’d run this business on our own, did you?”

“Yah, look here, you,” the officer shook his head while speaking, “who do think you are?”

He pressed his lips together and tired of listening to their argument Donghae walked out of the watch room. While groaning he pounded the stiff muscles in his shoulders and stretched his neck. Glad to be out of the dark shady room he started down the brightly lit hallway before the sound of running footsteps caught his ears.

“Sir!”

Donghae turned around to see a grimy faced man run toward him. “Ah…Ji Suk.”

Ji Suk had been hired to work as a spy for them. It was thanks to him that they’d been able to get one step closer to the drug traffickers. Ji Suk had successfully been able to enter the troop and had even moved from them from Daegu all the way to Cheongju.

“Here, pictures,” Ji Suk held out a small white packet for him to take.

Donghae took it from him without a word before pulling the pictures out. “Whoa! You took a lot. Good job!”

He grabbed Ji Suk’s shoulder and proudly shook him before flipping through the pictures. Faces and more faces appeared as well as the making of and various other drugs before Donghae’s eyes froze. A particular figure with a thin face line and thin eyes stood out amongst the crowd of the other drug traffickers. The eyebrows on his face curved, straightened, then deepened again.

“Yah…Ji Suk,” Donghae turned to him. “This man…this man…do you know him?”

Ji Suk leaned in to look at the figure and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know him! What he was doing there…you don’t know!?” Donghae raised his voice.

A frightened Ji Suk hesitantly shook his head, “He…he was just there.”

“Is he with them?” Donghae’s eyes grew wide.

“I didn’t…really see him around…”

Donghae turned and raced down the stairs to the interrogation room. Pushing the door open he interrupted the interrogation and slammed the picture down onto the table.

“Who is he?” Donghae asked breathlessly.

“Sir,” the officer called out, but Donghae ignored him.

The drug trafficker snorted at him before Donghae felt his patience break and he seized the collar of his shirt at once. “Listen, you will answer me here and now before I break your neck. This man, who is he?”

“I…I can’t see…”

Donghae grabbed the picture with one hand and shoved it into his face. Silence prevailed for a long while. Even the officer chose not to say anything.

“I…I don’t know. I’ve only see him a few times,” the prisoner squeaked when Donghae tightened his shirt around his neck, “he helps…he helps run a human trafficking ring. They pick little girls off the streets. That’s all I know!”

“How do you know that?” Donghae growled.

“Our…our ring leader…I’ve seen them together before…”

“Ring leader?” Donghae repeated as if devastated by the news. “So you guys are connected…”

The drug trafficker stared back at him silently and Donghae was surely confident before he slammed his head against the table.

“Who is he? What’s his name?” Donghae almost shouted. “I’m asking you who he IS!”

The drug trafficker poorly struggled underneath him. “Hyukjae! He goes by the name Hyukjae!”