~_____~

Wide awake, Chorong's fingers flexed while staring around the darkness. Not a glint of light was apparent in the room she lay in. Her head felt heavy as if all her body's weight had flown up. Under a dizzy spell she nearly stumbled backward upon getting to her feet.  

In all her life she hadn't recalled feeling so lightheaded. Her fingers nearly trembled as she reached them ou reached them out. The only image piercing her mind was of Suho's wide eyes.  

"Suho?" She called out, taking a step forward. "Are you there?"  

The cold touch of a wall penetrated her fingers. Patting the area told her it was a wall she was touching. Was she locked in a cell?  

"Anybody out there?!" She shouted, pounding her fists against the wall. 

Chorong was confused about what had happened, where she was, and why she was alone. The chills swept up her spine tauntingly and she tried to repress the panic coming with it. 

"Someone!" 

Her heart was high in , heavy and swelling. She was really scared now. There was an awful throbbing in her head and that was when she realized a thick, smooth liquid was sliding down the back of her neck. Her shirt felt drenched as if she'd been plunged into a pool of water, maybe sweat?

"Suho!" She screamed, the only person she could think of. 

The panic was slowly overriding her. It was even worse because she couldn't see anything.  

Accepting that no one would come she slid down onto her knees, hugging herself.  

No one had forgotten her, right? The others would come for her, wouldn't they? 

~_____~ 

Every room Tao had gone through thus far was empty and void of any useful evidence. Even while everyone seemed to know what they were after, he was still as confused after. What kind of information could they get from the brothel? He doubted that these girls would know anything, despite all the fluctuating troubles they've found here already.

Would it make sense that the employees would be in on a crime the employer was committing?

Everyone seemed to be leaning toward that assumption, but Tao couldn't agree with it. To risk the entirety of the business just to have it collapse and let all the money go to waste? No one did that. 

Closing the door to a room he deemed useless he turned when the sound of a crying girl hit his ears. The hallway loomed long ahead of it and at the end a door had been left a crack open. There was a quiet voice trying to hush the crying one. Curious about what was going on Tao slowly stepped toward them, but after three steps a door abruptly opened in front of him and he was pulled in. 

His back hit the door once it closed and he was barely face to face with a woman, who had a finger at her lips to shush him. Long hair trailed over her shoulders smoothly and he smelled a sweet kind of perfume exuding off her body. Feminine lines deeply cut into her long face like a china tea cup, pronouncing the beauty possessed by her delicate features.  

The woman pulled a drawer open and set a mobile phone onto the desktop. Tao's eyes specially followed the phone.  

"What's that?"  

"A phone, duh."  

Tao wanted to roll his eyes, "I know, I mean, why'd you put it there."  

"You might think it to save your life if you lower your voice here."
 
Tao frowned. What the hell was going on? Wasn't she the one who'd pulled him in, so why was it he who had to be cautious? 

In response, she raised her brow, "I didn't lure you in to do business."

The corner of his mouth slid up in spite at her comment, "Do I look very interested?" 

He felt intimidated when she ran her eyes over him. 

"I've seen your people here before," she spoke walking toward the bed where she picked up a backpack and hooked it over her shoulder. "You're after those missing girls, aren't you?" 

The silence intensified as he continued to stare on. Maybe the others were right, everyone here was onto something. 

"A rumor has started that the madam is selling off people here," she went on. "No one under her contract is immune to it." 

"That why you're running?" Tao eyed her backpack. 

"I'm worth more than a cow to sell," she remarked intelligently. "Phone's mine, but you might want to track a Jin Kyung down. Name belongs to a girl gone missing two days ago. They probably made off with her, but if chance is in she'll still have her phone on her. Maybe try to call and find her." 

Tao glanced again at the phone before turning to see the woman opening the window. She had to be kidding. Was she really going to jump out? 

He hesitated to intervene since it wasn't his place to, besides; she was leaving the brothel. 

Sitting on the ledge of the window she turned around, "Maybe keep the phone. I'll call you some time."

Then with a smirk, "Bye handsome." 

Within a split second she disappeared from sight and Tao stared at the empty view before walking toward it. Poking his head out, he saw the woman running down the road without injury. A loud noise from downstairs made him jump in surprise and he turned to stare at the closed door, wondering what had happened. 

Was someone in trouble? 

Namjoo?

Tao about started toward the door, but stopped on instinct and stared out the window. From the intersection a few stops down he noticed two police cars driving up to the side of the road. They were far from the brothel, but intuition told him they were on their way here. 

Turning around Tao grabbed the phone off the desk, flung the door open, and started down the stairs. 

~_____~

The headmistress' breakdown was one of the best things Suho had ever achieved during his whole career. After sliding all the metal bullets into his pocket he and Lay were out the door in no less than a second later. 

"You call that a game?" Lay questioned as they walked out. 

"At least I didn't have to pull the trigger again," Suho replied, hurrying alongside him down the hall. 

After gathering with the others they would leave and assemble another plan to start tracking Chorong down. 

"Just wait a little longer, and we'll come for you," Suho silently prayed. 

Tao shot down the staircase as they finally exited the hallway. The very moment they gathered, the front doors burst open and four cops walked in. Their shiny badges reflected the light from above and Suho caught sight of the holsters sitting on each of their hips, where their gun sat. 

"They're Head Chiefs," Lay whispered to him. "Let me handle it."

"Why, hello there," the man standing in the front with brown hair and a beer belly greeted.

He looked like the leader of the four musketeers, exuding a heavy set of authority as he clutched onto his belt. Suho built inside his head an image of a stereotyped cop sitting in a café chewing on a donut while checking out the street.  

"I'm Police Commander of Seoul Division, Lay," he introduced himself. 

"Sure," the man brushed him off and held his hand out, "Chief Lee." 

Lay shook his hand respectfully. 

"We received an emergency call about a government intrusion," he explained. 

"Yes," Lay replied. "We're currently on duty and the brothel has come under our suspicion, so we're making a stop here to check things out." 

"Do you have a warrant I can see?" The man politely stared Lay down. 

Warrant...Suho felt his heart race. They hadn't come with a warrant. It would cause trouble for them since they'd avoided court procedures and they couldn't afford a situation right now.

Footsteps cluttered against the stairs and he turned to find Namjoo and Kris appearing. 

"What's going on?" Kris questioned looking at the lobby crowded with persons of authority. 

Suho couldn't speak because Lay and the Head Chief's voices were starting to get heavier with emphasis on whose territory this was. 

"We didn't come with one." Lay honestly replied. 

"Well then," there was almost a lazy sigh from the big man, "you're going to have to come with us." 

Suho's lips opened in protest when the Chief turned his head back to order, "Cuff them." 

"No, this is a misunderstanding," Suho tried to plead for more time, "you can't take us in right now. We're on an important job." 

"Oh yea...I'm sure you are," the police approaching him monotonously sympathized. "You can tell that to the D.A."  

Confusion swept through the room when the police pulled out more handcuffs to cuff the others. Panic arose in Suho's mind.  

What were they going to do?! 

The doors opened loudly as if on purpose and Donghae's heavy foot landed on the floor of the lobby, Victoria after him. Suho's eyes widened, screaming in joy at their savior; everyone turning to stare at the abrupt entrance.  

"Lee Donghae from Military Intelligence," Donghae immediately introduced his I.D. as if he'd been expecting the situation, then nodded toward Victoria, "SWAT Team Leader, Victoria Song. I'd like you uncuff my men."  

"No can do," Chief Lee shook his head. "Your men violated my jurisdiction, coming without court approval."

"This is a government order," Donghae stared the Chief down. "We're on a very important case and realize that your intervention will limit our capability to complete our duties as assigned under law. I will not permit you to take my men in while the case is still ongoing. I won't repeat myself, Chief, uncuff my men." 

The two authorities stared at each other with fiery eyes. Suho swore he saw sparks brewing in the width of Donghae's narrow slits. 

"Uncuff them," Chief Lee commanded. 

Silently, the man released the handcuffs on them. 

"If this happens one more time, I won't let it slide." He warned before treading out with his men sullenly following, bored now that the excitement was over. 

Once the doors were closed Donghae turned back to him and Lay. 

"How'd it go?" Donghae questioned, neverminding the fact that they'd come without a warrant. 

"Got it," Suho nodded. 

"All right, lets go back to headquarters and figure this out," Donghae ordered, leading them all out of the brothel. 

When they were outside, a deep sigh elapsed from Suho's lips. He realized then, he'd been holding his breath the entire time. 

"Where've you been?" Suho asked, catching up to Donghae outside. 

The sky was starting to clear, the gray clouds slowly dispersing to let the sun shine through. The roar of traffic from the other side could be heard from where Suho stood on the cracked walk. 

"Making a truce." 

Suho's brows shot up in unexpected surprise and laugh baffled, "Really?! How'd you know we were here?"

Donghae seemed to peer past him, "Called Tao." 

Now with even more surprise, "Really?!" 

Donghae nodded and Suho leaned back on his heel to search for Tao among their pack. Once he caught sight of the tall man Suho laughed loudly. 

"Get in the car," Donghae urged, "it's going to be a long day. Victoria and I are taking over."  

"What?" Suho questioned, confused. "I thought you two were having the day off."  

"Says who?"  

Gesturing his head toward the side, "Lay."  

"Well it's over for him. Get in."  

Suho watched Donghae get into the car he and Victoria had arrived in before hurrying toward Lay's car. No less than a slow hour later they were at headquarters. With Donghae and Victoria back as usual, Suho suddenly thought this was how it should be. He couldn't do without them, because without their leadership he felt pressured and scared at all times.  

"What have you got?" Donghae started.  

"She's still in Yeongwol," Suho explained. "There should be an abandoned mill near the highway surrounded by a forest. Hyukjae said he'd be there."  

He took note of how Donghae's eyes traced the room a little while trying to keep his motions in check. Victoria, too, seemed to eye him closely.  

"She's injured," Lay jumped in, "I don't know how heavily, but if we delay any longer her life could be in danger."

"I know," Donghae nodded, assuring Lay they would get to her in time to calm down his anxiety. "Namjoo, I'm going to need you to get orders down. Ear pieces; if you're uncomfortable with it you're going to have to deal with it because we don't have time to spare your comfort, and tracking devices. You're going to be in the van this time; the rest of us, in the field." 

She nodded perceptively, but something rang in Suho's head.

"Are all of you armed?" Donghae questioned, glancing at them one by one. 

"Yes." 

"You think you can join us out there?" Donghae turned to Victoria.  

"'Course I'll go." She determinately nodded. 

"Now here's what we'll be doing," Donghae straightforwadly continued, "we're going to start off by surrounding them, all the while splitting and searching. Remember, we don't know exactly where Chorong is being kept and we don't have time to look for a blueprint. We're going to have to do an onsite search the very moment we get there. The moment they catch on, we move in as soon as possible; oust as many as you can, assuming they have more numbers than we do. Is that clear?" 

"Yes." The rest seemed to answer in unison. 

"No, wait," Suho spoke up only to have Donghae impatiently stare his way. "Tao can't go out there." 

Victoria narrowed her eyes in confusion. 

"They don't know about Tao." 

Namjoo's eyes seemed to light up at this. 

"Let Tao go with Namjoo," Suho suggested. "When situation calls for it, we'll send Tao out, but not now."

"Are you singling me out?" Tao questioned. 

"That's not it," Suho turned to him before turning back to Donghae and his lips nervous, because he was leaking information promised between them.  

He quickly glanced at Victoria and forced himself to go on, "Namjoo and I found documents they have. They're background checks on all of us," then looking at Tao, "but Tao. Tao, you don't have a legitimate history recorded and you aren't officially registered in the bureau, so they don't know about you. This means Tao's our last resort if all else fails at the end, so we can't send him out there."   

***Whoot!! Donghae to the rescue! He was pretty cool there

***Lay's always going on about how Chorong is injured and hwo her life could be hanging on the line, but she's only thinking about Suho :/

***And that's it. Tao's most important role in this story.

***But OMG this is the first time in history I've ever reached 100 Chapters