case 143 | lee felix

14. ambush

HWAYOUNG

"Are you sure? I could drop you home," Felix says. I was about to leave his apartment after having a hearty meal.

"It's fine Lix, don't worry. My place is close by and I could use those steps to let the food digest," I say, waving off his concern.

"I know, I'm just kind of paranoid because there's a killer on the loose and going out on your own at night sounds like the worst thing you could do," he says, scratching the back of his neck. After what happened with Jake, I could understand why he was so worried.

"I'll be fine. If a cop can't deal with a criminal, who will?"

"Alright. Text me when you reach home," he agrees reluctantly, raising his hands to wave. I start walking away, but I turn around again to quickly peck him on the cheek before running off like a little kid. I hear Felix chuckle from the back.

I walk down the empty streets, looking at the leafless trees coated in snow and admiring their beauty. It's been a while since I got to look around the town like this. The breeze was just cool enough and I felt refreshed.

Until someone grabs me from the corner of an alley and pins me against the wall. I instinctively knee him in the crotch and attempt to punch his face, but he retaliates with a swift blow to my jaw and cuts my arm with a pocket knife. I stumble in pain and he takes that to his advantage to cuff my hand to a dumpster.

"Who are you?" I ask the masked figure who was covered from head to toe in black. This felt eerily similar to Jake's kidnapping. Something about his eyes were very familiar.

"You don't need to know who I am. All you need to know is that you messed with the wrong person and you're going to pay for it. I'm not going to let you have an easy death. I'll take my time and torture you slowly," he says, making little cuts on the skin of my wrists as if he was carving some decoration. It made me feel sick to the stomach.

"Goodbye Hwayoung. See you in hell." He runs away into the unknown, leaving me deserted in a strange alley on a cold night. I was stunned.

I needed to get out. And fast. I try to reach my pockets for anything I could use to get out of the handcuffs. I had no idea who he was but I could tell one thing for sure : that threat was very much real. From the email Changbin received to this sudden ambush, I knew this guy wouldn't stop at anything to get rid of me.

*

Next morning, I immediately go to the police station. My suspension wasn't over till the end of this week, but I needed to see Felix no matter what.

"Hwa, what are you do-"

I interrupt him by wrapping my arms tightly around his figure. He gets caught off guard at my sudden attack but hugs me back soothingly.

"Are you okay? What happened?" He asks in alarm, seeing tears spill out of my eyes. I wasn't intending to cry but I guess all my pent up frustration needed to be let out in some way.

"I...I was attacked last night," I say between sobs, burying my face in his chest. It wasn't the fact that I was attacked, it was that there was someone out there actually trying to kill me.

"WHAT? WHO? I knew I should've dropped you home yesterday," He says, panic written all over his face. His sudden outburst catches the attention of everyone in the room.

"What's going on here? What is Hwayoung doing here?" Hyunjin says, walking into the room with some files in hand.

"Hyunjin, do you remember the mail with the footage from Jisung's case? The one of the SNU professor who passed away in the accident?" I ask and he nods.