skydive

f.o.u.r

When Hyemi got the call from Daehyun, she hadn't expected to hear what he had to say.

"It wasn't Himchan."

She'd been in the middle of eating a quick lunch, but that made her stop.

"What do you mean?" she placed her plate down, picking up her phone and taking it off speaker. "How do you know?"

Daehyun let out a long sigh. "His alibi checks out. I've looked at CCTV and asked people that were around him. All of the guys had gone out to eat around the same time I was at the bar. They were nowhere near my place. There's just no way it was Himchan." And paused. "Also, he caught me tailing him and told me himself."

Hyemi let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Okay, well that means you're back to square one." She had to admit she felt relieved.

"Yeah, I guess so." She could hear how disappointed he was. Part of her felt a little guilty. She couldn't imagine what he was going through. "Did you already talk to your team about what I told you yesterday?"

Daehyun had called late the night before with information about a meeting B.A.P was planning on having with one of the bigger gangs in Incheon. From what Daehyun had said, there wasn't going to be much conversation going on. Just a lot of raiding and most likely killing.

"Yeah, I told my captain this morning." Hyemi was taken back by his question. She'd told him last night that that was what she was going to do. "Why? Did it change?"

"I just..." Daehyun let out a shaky breath. "Is there any way you can drop the case and just let them go?"

Hyemi was speechless for a long time. She couldn't wrap her mind around what he'd said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, they haven't done anything wrong—"

"Maybe not to you, but there's plenty of dead guys that would disagree." Hyemi shook her head despite knowing that Daehyun couldn't see her.

Daehyun stayed silent for a minute. "They won't just give in. They'll get themselves killed."

Hyemi wanted to disagree. She desperately wanted to say they'd make it out alive. But she had to be ready for the worst.

"You can go home." Hyemi said quietly. "You can leave now and be in Busan by tomorrow. You can forget all of this and live a better life. You don't have to be there when this happens."

He said he'd think about it. Hyemi hoped he'd make the right choice. At least one of them should survive this. One of them deserved some sort of redemption. She hung up with Daehyun, suddenly feeling unsure of the captain's plan. They were going to ambush B.A.P. They were going to do whatever it took to stop them. The captain had been excited to hear another gang would be there. It would be like hitting two birds with one stone, he'd said. Hyemi wondered if he pictured those birds falling to their death when he'd said it.

"Is there something wrong, detective?" the captain spotted her later that day in the precinct.

Hyemi sighed. "Sir, there's something I need to tell you." She took a deep breath. "I grew up with most of the members of B.A.P. They're family to me. And knowing that tonight I might lose my family is making me second guess everything."

The captain stared at her for a moment. "Are you asking me to not go after them?"

Hyemi tried to form a sentence, but her mind was blank. "I don't know, sir."

"We're this close to taking down one of Seoul's most powerful and dangerous gangs, and you're having second thoughts because of your childhood sentiments?" He shook his head. "That's not very convincing, detective. Now if you had something valid, like more information or some sort of bargain, I might reconsider."

There was no new information that would be effective enough for the captain. And B.A.P would never bargain with a cop. Not even for their lives.

"No, sir." Hyemi whispered, feeling dread wash over her.

"Then nothing changes." The captain stood up from his seat behind his desk, gathering papers together in his hand. When Hyemi didn't move, he glanced back up to her. "Detective, those thugs aren't the only lives that will be risked tonight. Members of your team are putting their lives on the line to bring justice and security to this country."

"I understand, sir."

"If you really understand, you will obey these orders: go home. Don't go anywhere near the location tonight. I will not have your hesitance causing any harm to this team."

Hyemi bowed her head. "Yes, sir."