Chapter Twenty

“What’s this urgent meeting about?”

Ji Yoon turned around in her seat so that she could face her partner properly. Eun Jung was flipping through the papers thoroughly; reading over the case file which had been handed out to them.

Aside from the two of them, their other team-mates were in the room too; all of them waiting patiently for Junsu to come in and commemorate the meeting. Henry, Dong Hae and Tae Min were seated on the opposite sides of them, with the youngest sitting in the middle. All of them had their faces buried in the papers, unaware of Ji Yoon’s restlessness.

She had already gone through the file and she was panicking. Just when she thought everything had died down with the passing time, Junsu was suddenly re-opening Sang Hyun’s case. And to make matters worst...

“He already has a suspect?!” Eun Jung exclaimed beside her.

Ji Yoon let out a huge frustrated sigh and grabbed hold of the other girl’s wrist roughly. Eun Jung looked up at her with a shock expression on her face.

“You. And. I. Outside, now.”

Both of them stood up abruptly, almost knocking over their chairs in the process. Their other three team-mates just watched them curiously but not saying anything in protest. Ji Yoon started to drag Eun Jung out of the room but the door suddenly flew open, revealing Junsu’s grim-stricken face.

Both of the female detectives froze in their tracks.

“Where are both of you going?” Junsu eyed them suspiciously. “Get back to your seats. The meeting is starting now.”

“We’ve just received a tip-off a few hours ago,” Byung Hee stated when all 9 of them had gathered at the Chinese restaurant that night. They were all sitting around a huge circle table and each of them leaned forward in their seats when the MBLAQ member started to talk.

“Apparently, this thing, whatever they are holding against us, is not over yet.”

“What do you mean?” Doo Joon asked, an uneasy feeling waving over his empty stomach.

“2PM, those guys...they are planning a surprise attack on us a few days from now.”

A moment of defeaning silence filled the room as the news started to sink in bit by bit. One by one, their faces fell with disappointment. Although they’ve somehow anticipated this, a small part of them still hoped that this was all just a temporary nightmare.

“But wait...” Gi Kwang broke the silence. “How do you know...? If it’s supposed to be a surprise attack?”

Doo Joon turned to look at the two elder MBLAQ members curiously. He hadn’t thought about that but Gi Kwang was right. Byung Hee had said it so himself; 2PM wasn’t exactly giving them a warning beforehand. How did he know?

Both Seung Ho and Byung Hee exchanged knowing glances. Chang Sun, who was sitting beside their leader, still chose to remain quiet. The same thing could be said for their maknae. Both of them seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, their expressions unreadable.

“I can’t exactly tell you how...” Byung Hee exhaled loudly. “But we do have an inside informer.”

“Park Sang Hyun, aged 21, was found murdered on 8^th of May 2011.”

All eyes were now focused on the huge LCD screen as Junsu loaded the deceased profile picture with his particulars next to it. Ji Yoon stiffened up in her seat at the sight of her dead friend’s face staring back at her. She was still having a hard time adjusting to his death.

Come to think about it, it’s been quite some time since she last talked to Ga Yoon. Ji Yoon gave herself a mental slap. She was going to call her best friend after all this craziness is over and spend more time with her.

“This case...has been put off for months. But, I’ve done some investigation on my own while we were working on other cases.”

Ji Yoon’s fingers started moving underneath the table, pressing the buttons on her phone expertly.

A few seconds later, Eun Jung took out her iPhone from her blazer side pocket and glanced down at the text message carefully.

“What should we do now? Junsu is up to something. I just have this feeling.”

She quickly typed in her reply and pressed the send button.

“Should we tell the guys that the police are on to them?”

“And from my investigations, I’ve managed to track down the names of the other members. Their group is called MBLAQ and it is made up of five guys; aged between 20 to 24 years old.”

Ji Yoon held her breath as Junsu hit a button on his laptop and five different, familiar faces filled the screen.

“This group is led by Yang Seung Ho, age 24 and he’s the oldest out of them. He has a record of robbery a couple of years ago but other than that, he’s steered clear of troubles. Or at least, none that we know of.”

Junsu then proceed on to the picture on the top right hand corner of the screen.

“Next, his right hand man is Jung Byung Hee. Or better known as G.O. He’s second in command, after Seung Ho. So far, we’ve got nothing on him. I heard that he’s slick in covering up his tracks.”

Ji Yoon averted her eyes away when Junsu moved on towards the third member of the group.

“Next, we have the mastermind of the group, Lee Chang Sun. Known as Lee Joon among the members; he’s the one who controls their activities and also the one who plans out their next moves, even though he’s not the leader. He’s also...the fighter of the group, the one who goes head-first into gang fights.”

Junsu doesn’t know. He doesn’t have a clue that Chang Sun was actually her brother.

But the worst was yet to come. Ji Yoon shifted uncomfortably in the seat as Junsu skipped Sang Hyun’s profile and jumped on to the last member of MBLAQ.

“Lastly, we have the youngest member of the group – Bang Chul Yong or Mir, as stated in his alias. Now, don’t be fooled by his young age. He’s skilled in many things. One of them is...” Junsu paused for awhile as his eyes searched around the room and finally resting on Ji Yoon’s. He stared at her directly before continuing, “...long-range shooting. In other words, he’s a trained sniper.”

Ji Yoon heard a small gasp escaping Eun Jung’s lips and soft murmurs coming from her other team-mates. They were probably wondering how dangerous this bunch of guys actually were.

“Now, we have already suspected this is a gang-related case all along. We’ve also suspected the culprit to be from another gang. But what are the odds...of the killer being a member of the same gang?”

“We have to prepare ourselves for the attack. And to that, we have to get together to revise the plan and put it in action,” Seung Ho explained calmly, looking around at the different expressions in the room.

While Gi Kwang and Jun Hyung looked eager about the whole ambush thing, the same couldn’t be said about Dong Woon and Hyun Seung. They both have a distant look on their faces – as if thinking of another clean way to deal with everything.

Doo Joon had his poker face on though. He was neither smiling nor frowning in disapproval. But he was listening intently to what Seung Ho has to say.

“They’ll probably attack our hideout place,” Byung Hee told them as he passed around a stack of papers around the table. “This is the layout we have come up with. We don’t think they will send in every member to the battleground. So since there 9 of us, four of us will be in the fighting scene while the rest of us will lie down as back-ups.”

“So, who’s going to be fighting?” Gi Kwang asked eagerly, no doubt his fresh blood already raring to go.

“From our side, Joon and G.O will be going front up and centre,” Seung Ho informed them. “Doo Joon, you can choose your own two guys.”

Doo Joon his lips nervously as he eyed each one of his guys carefully. He’s already made his choice but he doesn’t know if he wanted to risk it, risk their lives.

“Even if you don’t join us in this, they are going to hunt you down after they are done with us,” Seung Ho said suddenly, as if reading his uncertain thoughts.

“I don’t have much choice, do I?” Doo Joon sighed regretfully. “Okay fine. Gi Kwang, you and Jun Hyung will be going alongside G.O and Joon.”

“Alright. Seung Ho and Doo Joon will be watching from outside then. Both of you will monitor their movements and alert us when they have arrived so that we will be prepared for them,” Byung Hee continued in a serious tone. “If we need help, both of you will then come in.”

 “As much as we can help it, please try to refrain from asking Hyun Seung and Dong Woon to join in the fight, especially Woonie. We don’t want to risk too many people in the battleground. They’ll only come in desperate time of needs, okay? This is important. You have to remember this.”

“Then, what is Mir going to do?” Dong Woon wondered out loud, nudging his friend in the ribs.

“He’s going to be positioned at the rooftop of the opposite building. If he can get a clear shot, he’ll shoot. Makes things easier for us if they’re outnumbered,” Seung Ho explained thoroughly. “But it’s risky for us too. In the midst of the fight, anything can happen. If Mir misses a target just by an inch...let’s not go there okay?”

“I’m skipping this out guys,” Hyun Seung spoke up quietly, putting the discussion to an abrupt stop. All heads turned towards him immediately.

“Seungie-yah, is anything the matter?” Jun Hyung asked him concernedly.

“I...can’t do this okay? And anyway, I think it’s better for me to be there with Yo Seob. Just in case...you know...” Hyun Seung shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and turned away from their stares awkwardly.

After a few silence minutes, Doo Joon cleared his throat loudly and broke the stillness.

“I understand Seungie. And I respect your decision. I won’t force you, alright?”

Hyun Seung lifted up his head and gave his leader a small, relieved smile.

“Thanks Doo Joon.”

“Then...can I just stay with Mir at the rooftop?” Dong Woon asked, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “I won’t mess things up though, I promise.”

“Well, that’s up to our maknae. If he gives you the green light, then we’re okay with it.”

Chul Yong, who had been keeping quiet since the start of the conversation, gave his friend one long look. The corner of his lips finally curved up into a slight smirk and he nodded his head in approval.

“Sure Woonie. We’ll have fun, just like the old times.”

“Joon?” Byung Hee nudged his group member lightly by the sides. “Do you have anything to say?”

All of them looked at Lee Joon expectantly, waiting for him to say something, anything. But he just kept that blank, expressionless face as he said the next few words in a low voice.

“Do what you’re supposed to do right. Just...leave their leader to me.”