Haechi Kimaura

After hearing the man in the police uniform complain about his cigarette pack, Itaro Shunji smiled as he asked, "Shouldn't you be more concerned about whether you will leave here alive?"

"I would have been worried about staying too long without my cigarettes while dealing with you, but you already destroyed them. Come at me," the man in the police uniform said as he readied his katana.

"Haechi! Haechi!" came a voice screaming as the man in the police uniform looked behind him to see another man in a police uniform racing towards him.

"We will end this here for now. I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon enough," Itaro Shunji said as he darted to a corner after also seeing the approaching policeman.

"What were you doing here alone?" the new policeman asked the first policeman named Haechi.

"They are human traffickers. See that girl? She came running to me, saying they want to take her," Haechi said as he pointed to the girl who had been hiding in a corner all this time. He quickly mentioned they were human traffickers to avoid a long sermon about why he shouldn't kill but apprehend them.

"Even if they are traffickers, it is not right to kill them. You should apprehend them," the new policeman said with a frown.

"They were coming towards me. I protected myself," Haechi said.

"The police gun is given to you for a reason. You could have pulled the trigger and easily apprehended them. This won't go down well, but never mind. Hey girl, follow me. You can patrol a bit more, Haechi," the new policeman said as he turned to leave.

"I think it would be better if I take her home since she just witnessed a gory sight," Haechi said as he went forward and picked up his cigarette pack to inspect if there were any cigarettes still in good shape.

"No, I should take her home," the new policeman said.

"I want to take full responsibility for my actions. I don't want to involve you," Haechi said as he threw back the cigarette pack and walked toward the girl without letting the new policeman say more.

"You know, that a**hole really destroyed all my cigarettes," Haechi said as he walked forward, with the girl following behind him.

**********************************

After Haechi walked a bit with the girl, he asked, "Why didn't you run?"

"Hmm!" the girl answered.

"Why didn't you continue running when I told them they could come take you?"

"I placed every hope of escaping on you, so I lost all," the girl answered.

"Then why didn't you escape when I was battling them?" Haechi asked.

"I think it would be better to stay and see the outcome than escape and run into the remnants of their group. If they somehow killed you, then I would continue my attempt to escape. But if they didn't, I would naturally follow you out," the girl said.

"Isn't that a risky decision? Also, I thought you said you lost hope when I said they could take you?" Haechi asked.

"I lost hope because I made my plan on how to escape upon seeing you. Letting them take me was not part of the plan," the girl said, causing Haechi to give her a weird look.

"What was the plan?" Haechi asked.

"You decided to protect me, so I waited for the battle to finish to know whether I would keep escaping or follow you out. If I tried fleeing while you fought and got caught by the remnant of their group, while you survived, I would be taken back without anyone knowing. But if I stayed back and watched the outcome of the battle, I would have a better chance of survival because you would take me out if you survived. And if you didn't, it wouldn't be too late to continue escaping," the girl said.

"Why do you think it wouldn't be too late?" Haechi asked.

"You would at least kill one or two, even if you are weak. I trust myself to outrun the ones that remain as long as they are behind me. I am only afraid of running into them," the girl said.

"Hmm, I see. I really don't trust you that much, which is why I opted to send you home myself. If you really have other plans...well, I am not the righteous type who won't harm a lady," Haechi said with a sadistic smile.

The girl, seeing Haechi's countenance, immediately turned silent as she raised her footstep to walk before Haechi.

"I should walk at the forefront if you are really going to follow me until I get home," the girl said as she led the way.

**********************************

Back at the police station, the policeman who met up with Haechi was walking his way up to the chief office with an ugly countenance.

Tap! Tap! He gently knocked at the chief office before pushing it open.