ʜᴏᴠᴇʀʙᴏᴀʀᴅs ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴠᴏʀɪᴇs│ᴛᴋ [ongoing]

.8. ʜᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴡs

Stiffness comes in various shapes and sizes. The couple of suits presently crowding SSB's conference room - which Jungkook is seriously beginning to hate - are definitely made of that same rigidity all figures of authority love to cloak themselves in.

"There's a critter on the loose causing havoc by the Han River and we have strong suspicions it's yours," one of the anonymous suits says.

"A critter? We don't raise any. We're mostly a monitoring facility. Take a look around if you'd like." Namjoon's confidence does not fool the rest of his team who are sharing confused looks.

"Joonie?" Seokjin calls. "I believe our headquarters need a little bit of - cleaning up before we can offer a tour."

To distract from the low whispers Jin and Joon are now exchanging, Hoseok steps up. "Why would you think this critter has anything to do with us?"

Pulling out a portable flat screen, the agent shows them footage of something long and shiny rippling the waters of the river and causing strong waves to splash on the crowded shores. "This was caught on camera about fifteen minutes ago."

"This creature must be huge to generate such swells."

"We estimate its size to have reached about seven metres."

"There's no way we ever had the room to keep such a pet around."

"Well, footage collected from various locations around the city tells us otherwise. Besides, this beast was not seven metres long when it escaped your facility."

With the swipe of a finger, videos from street cams start playing. "We'll slow it down for you because it is impossible to catch at regular speed."

And sure enough, something silvery-blue snakes its way into the crowds, undetected. "This intersection right here is just a few blocks away. I trust you recognize your own neighbourhood."

They all gulp at the sight of this flying creature darting through traffic lights, its itinerary most chaotic.

"It was quite small at first but watch it hit this body of water."

Cheonggyecheon. The most popular canal in the city.

All hold their breath as the creature dives into it, witnessing the shock of nearby visitors trying to figure out where all the splashing came from, and fleeing the scene at the sight of the growing beast whose size doubles within minutes.

The cameras along the stream show the mysterious serpent swell as it jumps in and out of the billows it creates with a single flail of its long, sinuous tail. Following the current downstream, it soon reaches the wide shores of the river Han, plunging into its murky waters and disappearing out of sight.

The shiny scales are unmistakeable. Faces turn left and right, looking for Taehyung who is nowhere to be found.

"Where is it now?" Jungkook asks, cheeks as discoloured as ever - granted his complexion wasn't very colourful to begin with.

"Well, I'm sure every news outlet in the city has dispatched their best ground reporters by now." Yoongi grabs the remote control of the flat-screen TV on the wall. The live broadcast confirms the presence of helicopters circling the river, trying to catch sight of the beast that has police and military evacuate the shore parks.

By now, Jungkook is not the only one turning white.

"As you can see, this is a most dire situation which will require a large-scale intervention to get it all under control. Your full cooperation is expected."

"Yes. Of course." What else can Namjoon reply?

"Are all the members of your team present?"

The lie is tempting, which explains why it takes a whole second for their leader to answer. "We are missing two."