At a roof top that oversaw the lively and cramped market place, a group of strong, intellectual people supervised the activities down below. It was minutes before sun down which meant the night attractions of delicious food being sold will gather more people within the market. Quick footsteps stomped up the stairs and stopped abruptly in place.

“Yoon Doojoon, reporting for duty!” An ambitious young man dressed in a crisp black suit greeted his seniors and juniors loudly. He slowly straightened his back and glanced at the people who stared at him with disappointment. Only two still had their back facing him.

“New guy, you're late.” An older man with a mechanical hand said and pointed to the Chief.

“I apologize for being late. I wasn't sure where to meet.” Doojoon bowed once more and cautiously approached the intimidating presence of his Chief. He stared at the broad shoulders and the defined back muscles underneath the suit. A thought that he'll get a definite scolding appeared in the back of his mind, but he kept calm. He walked to the side of his Chief and introduced himself once again. The Chief had a young, handsome and charming facial features, but the designer stubble made his age questionable. He waited for the Chief to speak to him, but the man only had his eyes on a certain man.

“Zero. Head out.” The Chief ordered just as Doojoon looked down. A shadow leaped off from the other side of the roof and landed on a tent. Doojoon gasped and leaned over the edge with pure fascination.

“That guy is crazy!” He continued to stare at the chase scene unfold beneath him. He was in awe to see how exciting the chase had become. “Where did the department hire a guy like him? Is he a new addition, Chief Le – ”

“Let's follow Zero in case she needs back up.” Chief Lee interrupted and went ahead. The others stayed behind to pack up equipment while Doojoon was lost and confused. He was embarrassed to have openly thought that Zero was a male.

“Come on, kid. We have to catch up.” The older man said, flashing him his badge of identification. Doojoon paid his respects to the senior detective and followed him obediently.“You'll get use to the Chief very soon. Just don't ask any questions and only answer when he's speaking to you. Don't bring up Zero unless we're talking about her as a group. He's sensitive when strangers talk about our most valuable member.”

-~-

“Zero, where are you?” Chief Lee asked into his ear piece and weaved through the crowd of people without alarming them. He turned down the corner of the vegetable store and went down an empty alley. “Zero, do you have him? Can you hear me?”

“Shut it, you're too noisy.” Her static voice ringed in his ear. He adjusted the volume and listened closely to the background sounds of her struggling with the suspect. The sound of a singing toy was brief and being the fast thinking person he was, he concluded that she had just passed by the only toy store within the market.

“Where are you now?” He asked and climbed up the side of the building he was next to so that he could make a quick short cut to where she was.

“I'm hanging up. I can't concentrate with you calling me.” She panted and kicked over a stack of wooden planks to cut off the suspect's other escape route. All she had to do was to play her moves right and she'll catch him at a dead end. “I want to finish this as soon as possible. There's too many people here.”

“Hey, Zero!” Inspector Choi called out and quickly ran after her. She found it annoying to have her team back her up when it's not needed. She picked up her speed to close in the gap between her and the suspect as well as leave space between her and Inspector Choi.

“Inspector Choi, where are you heading?” Chief Lee asked after hearing his voice from Zero's mic.

“We're heading down the alley by the garbage disposal. At this time, the route should be sealed off because of the busy market – AH! That's where she's heading, Chief!”

“I'm on my way.” Chief Lee sprinted down the wider alley. If only she would let me know her plan before hand. He shook his head.

“There's no where for you to run, Shinjang. Just give up.” Zero panted and casually approached the flustered man who was searching for a way to run. He had only two options. It was to either climb the metal fence or cut through the second alley before she crossed it. She studied the man's face to recall his mug photo she was given the night before. She matched the short man with greasy hair who had a pot belly and scruffy goatee. The only source of identification to confirm it was truly him was a crescent tattoo on his nape.

“So you're Zero, huh?” Shinjang asked and slyly crept closer to the second alley way. He was careful to not make any quick movements with her watching. Little did he know was that she was already aware of his intentions and had a plan to block his way. “Rumour has it that no one has ever seen your face before. You steal and kill. Aren't you one of us? We know all about you so why? Why are you with those bastards?”

“Zero, did you catch him?” Doojoon came from the second alley. He was short of breath and seemed to have let his guard down. He made a face at the sight of seeing most of her face covered by her hat and mask.

“Who are you?!” She snapped at him and he flinched in surprise. Suddenly, Shinjang broke into a run and shoved passed Doojoon. He managed to shove Doojoon against the wall and make him rebound off into Zero's way. Doojoon tackled her by accident and went down with her. He immediately checked to see if she was okay, but once he saw her beautiful golden brown eyes, he was unable to look away. He just couldn't keep his eyes off of her. She looked at him with panic and realized her mask was slipping down. She kicked him off of her and glared at him. He didn't mind because he was still captivated by her eyes. He ignored her what she said under her breath and watched her go off to catch the runaway.

“Hey, new guy! What are you doing?” Inspector Choi scolded and pulled the man off the ground. “You better pray that Shinjang hasn't left the area or Zero will definitely kill you. She's been after that man for ages.”


Aish, first assignment and it's already looking like I'm going to get fired. Doojoon bit his lip and anxiously followed Inspector Choi. In the end, Chief Lee was able to intervene and catch Shinjang. It was a relief to the team to see that their suspect was caught, but to Zero, her pride was struck to have the Chief step in. Doojoon was wary of her and kept his distance when they were ordered to return to the office. They parked the police cars at the stations and walked a block to their actual office while Chief Lee drove himself and Zero into the office parking lot underground. The only difference between the average Police Station and the Investigating Department was the building structure. The station was more diverse in colour, but as for the department, it was grim and dark with black and gray tones. The building was also far more updated with security gadgets and gear. And because of that, many would question why the department needed such high security and why would the Chief limit the amount of people to be recruited on his team.

“How do you do? My name is Doojoon. I'm the new recruit and just recently promoted Inspector.” He greeted the tense office politely. “Please look after me.”

“So you're the new guy who almost let that bastard go free.” A handsome young man smirked and leaned on his desk. He waved Doojoon over to his desk and held out his hand.“No wonder Zero seemed mad when she walked in. Then again, you seem to be fun. Welcome newbie, the name's Minhyun. You may be older than me by a month, but I still have seniority over you.”

“Sure.” Doojoon shook his hand with a fake smile. He was fine as long as Minhyun won't cause him trouble.

“What do you mean that you have seniority?” Inspector Choi chuckled, “You do realize that Doojoonie has plenty of skills to surpass you in an instant. In his previous department, he was the most outstanding performer.”

“Says the one who nearly let a high risk criminal go.” Minhyun muttered under his breath and ran his fingers through his fiery red hair with black underneath. “Shut up, old man. I don't need you to be talking over me.”

“Kang Minhyun, twenty-five years old. Big time procrastinator, flirt and computer geek. He deals with all our electronic and cyber problems. Not to mention he's been trying to get at Zero for quite some time now.”

“GEEZER!” Minhyun exclaimed to much of Inspector Choi's amusement. “Anyway, that's Inspector Choi Insuk. He's Senior Inspector and had many times to be promoted, but he always declined his offer. Stupid reason really.”

“Hey, hey. I like to stay to teach the youngsters new things.” Inspector Choi defended himself. “Welcome to the Second Division, Doojoon.

“We had other members, but they couldn't take how difficult this line of work is. So some stayed with our regular office out front or the station in the other building. They usually do follow up or help us with equipment. We have two offices basically.” Minhyun said with a smirk. He eyed Chief Lee walking by and into his office where Zero was waiting patiently. “That was the all time nagger, Lee Dongwook. Thirty-three and has yet to date. He doesn't particularly like giving day offs.” He laughed, “He's been in this line of work for ten years and that made him the youngest person to be promoted Chief Inspector. “

“I have a question.” Doojoon raised his hand and simultaneously grabbed the chair next to Minhyun. “Why was there so many security procedures in this building? Also, I heard that no one's ever seen Zero's face before. Is that really true? Is she really ugly?”

“What are you talking about?” Minhyun smacked Doojoon's head with a ruler. “She's beautiful! A total cutey.”

“Then why?”

“Like I said, we have two buildings. The Police Station is where we do regular follow ups and meetings with other officers. The Investigating Department is where we usually have meetings with Zero. Out front is like a fake office while back here is the real deal. It's all for Zero's safety from the outside. This is the most secure when we meet to discuss missions or tasks that require her help. Since last year, Zero was making headlines for helping us crack plenty of drug smuggling cases so we have to be cautious. Ever since she worked with us five years ago, Chief Lee wanted her identity to continue to be a secret. It was only two years ago when we first laid eyes on her face.”

Doojoon gasped, “That is hard to believe. I actually haven't heard anything about Zero except when I heard some rumours through my department that this department caught the drug lord in Mukdong. Some of my superiors said that you guys requested 'underground' help.”

“Two years ago...It was love at first sight.” Minhyun sighed with a moan. The image of when Zero's face was first revealed appeared in his mind and brought him chills. He adored her short introduction when she pulled her mask down. The other two men looked at him weirdly until he realized his mistake. He cleared his throat and looked away with embarrassment.

“What does she do? Is she that amazing like how you describe?”

“She grew up on the streets. That's what makes her different from all of us.” Inspector Choi smiled and oiled his arm. “We're not even close to her level in perspective thinking.”

“What do you mean by that? How does that make her skills superior than us?” Doojoon asked with a confused face. “Wouldn't that just make her a criminal?”

“She understands and sympathizes with them without really acknowledging that she does. She's also able to think like them which helps us with moving our case further without actually having leads and she's able to think a few steps ahead of our suspects. An example would be today's case. She was the one that found out about Shinjang's frequent visits to the market and she was able to pin point where he would be heading.”

“Until I stepped in.” Doojoon whispered, feeling guilty for his poor work efforts today. He mentally vowed to get over the slump by working harder to prove that he's capable. “Since she's a member of our team, what rank is she?”

“She's technically not a part of the police force, but somehow, the Chief got her to join forces with us. She should be Senior Inspector like the old man by now.”

“Don't worry, you'll be able to fit in soon. Maybe when you get the chance to warm up to Zero, you'll find out more about her. She's a interesting girl.”Inspector Choi patted the man's back. “You'll do fine.”

The door to Chief Lee's door opened and Zero walked out with her face still concealed by her half face mask. She wore an all black outfit of different shades and layers. The first layer consisted of her mask shirt that was skin tight yet breathable. Her next two layers consisted of a sweater and a thin heather gray bullet vest over top. The vest had multiple pocket compartments to put her materials such as a flash light, hand cuffs, baton and other defensive weapons. Everything was made to be light weight and flexible considering how much she puts her body through each task. A gun holder was at her hip, but that was only used when something critical were to happen where she would be given a gun. Doojoon was once again captivated by the sparkling eyes of her. Even with the indoor lighting, her eyes were breath taking. Minhyun on the other hand, wasn't happy to see her face covered. He pointed to his own face violently to refer to her own.

“What's with that?” He asked, but she entirely ignored his action and looked straight at Doojoon. “Ah! It's you! Now Zero won't come by without her mask.” He whispered with a cry.

Doojoon held out his hand warmly and smiled at Zero. “I'm Doojoon.” He waited for her to take his hand, but in the end he took her's instead. “What's your name?”

Zero was caught off guard by his sudden intimate question. That very question she haven't heard in years. Name? She thought to herself repeatedly. She used to have a name. Ever since she took up the persona of Zero since she was eight, she abandoned the name her parents had given her. The very two people who left her to fend for herself. She didn't think she'll ever have someone ask her about her name. “Zero.” She answered, but he only laughed it off.

“No, your real name.”

“Doojoon, correct? May I have a word with you?” Chief Lee interrupted the light hearted conversation.

“Uhm, sure.” He answered and dropped his hand.
 

“Dongwook, make sure you explain to him how he should be if he's to work here.” She said and pulled her hood over her head,

“Leaving already?” Chief Lee asked, “Don't scare the workers too much when you turn off the lights.”

“I won't.”

-~-

Later that night, Zero returned home in her casual wear to her run down apartment. The building was close to being abandoned by how vacant it was. Water pipes leaked from each floor that caused the stairs to be slippery during the winter time and the lights that lit the stair cases flickered on and off frequently. The people that inhabited the suites were either low in finances or part of the underground life. Luckily for Zero, her suite was on the first floor and closest to the narrow alley way so she rarely saw her neighbours by going through there. She also took measures to pay for her rent through the bank instead of directly handing the money over to the landlord.

Her suite was one large room where her bedroom and kitchen was sectioned off with short walls while her bathroom was a separate smaller room. She took off her shoes and walked by her desk in the corner of the side of her bedroom. She tossed the snacks she had bought from the corner store onto the desk and went to the kitchen. She easily navigated her way around her house in the dark and made herself some instant noodles. Often times, she kept her house lights off except for two lamps in her kitchen and room. From where her suite was facing, the sun always brightened up her house entirely when morning came. She always saw the sun rise from how late she would return home. She slurped down her dinner and left her dishes to wash the next morning. She prepared herself for bed, but lingering thoughts of checking the police files laying on her desk stopped her. She her room lap and glanced at all the criminal information files. She looked back and forth from her files and her wall. Unlike usual girls who decorated their walls with decorations and stickers, twenty faces of intimidating men stared back at her. Each charged with counts of felony to extremes plastered on her wall. Some of the pictures had red pen marked in circles and some in exes.

The game is starting soon. She thought, sinisterly with a smirk on her face. 

My spacing is really off and I'm not sure why. I hope this story will be more interesting in the next few chapters!