RETROUVAILLE, Cha Hyun-su

five

"Stay behind me, [Y/N]," Jung Jae-heon said in a soft, commanding voice as the two of you walked carefully down the dimly lit hallway, holding your weapons the strongly.

"You've said it ten times already. My ears are already hurting," you replied with a slight huff. Ji-su pressed her ear to the nearest door, listening carefully for any signs of movement or activity before relaying information to the two of you.

"Someone is in there," Ji-su whispered, his voice barely audible. Jae-heon stood by the door, his ears straining to catch the slight murmur of the person speaking in a smooth manner. You tiptoed and stood beside the other door.

"Do you think it's a person?" He asked. his voice barely above a whisper.

"It's a person." Ji-su insisted, nodding in agreement. "they're telling us the passcode."

"Two, one, three, two..." The voice in the room continued, prompting a knowing look between you and Jae-heon. He gripped the blade tightly, fixing everything on the other side of the door.

Jae-heon stood in front of the door, ready to pounce if he encountered a hovering threat. Ji-su looked at you, her face a mixture of caution and determination. "Get ready," she whispered quietly.

With a swift motion, Ji-Su entered the code and opened the door, revealing a disheveled man with his body bound tightly in green duct tape. The three of you exchanged glances, momentarily taken aback by the unexpected sight. There lay a man covered in green ducktapes.

You immediately began removing the green duct tape from the man's body, peeling it off carefully, while Jae-heon used scissors to release the lower half of his body Ji-soo handed man a bottle of water he readily accepted and drank it as if he never drank any for a week.

"Thank you. I thought I was going to die..." The man muttered softly, his bruised face and bloodied skin a testament to the pain he had endured.

"What happened-"

"A burglar... came in," he explained, his words punctuated by a mixture of sadness and fear. Jae-Heon sees the duct tape, He recalled a momentary sight of man with a green string plastic bag he bumped into near the elevator the other day.