Miracle.

Byung had arrived at the location where Jinwoo was last seen but he saw nothing. This brought about two possibilities. Either he escaped or he was captured, with the latter looking like the more probable scenario. Judging from the way they left the corpse of Jin, they were not concerned about making a mess.

He looked around for Hayoon but saw no one. He expected to see at least one patrol unit but he saw none. The chilly weather finally kicked in and with it, Byung would shiver.

"Sorry I am late, I got here as soon as I could." A voice said, clearly out of breath. It was Hayoon but why was she was running? This was the singular question he wanted to ask her as he turned but froze in place upon laying eyes on her. She had on a light brown chunky turtleneck, with black sculpting skinny jeans that did well to bring out her alluring shape and a pair flip flops. She had a beautiful leather designer bag hanging off one arm.

"Is there something on my clothes?" She asked Byung, who kept staring at her but he immediately cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed.

"W-Why are you wearing that?" Byung would ask, breaking eye contact.

"I figured wearing my uniform would attract unneeded attention, is there something wrong with this?" Hayoon would ask, looking self-conscious.

"No! I mean, whatever." Byung responded, trying to hide his blushing face but Hayoon would see right through this and laugh. Now, it was time to attend to the matter at hand.

She observed the environment to find clues that might tell her just what happened here but the rain had washed most of the blood away. She, however, noticed the splattered blood on the wall and the imprint of what seemed like a female body on the nearby wall.

"Whatever happened here, it does not seem like much of a fight occurred." Hayoon would say, putting on white latex gloves and extracted the blood with a swab, storing it inside the tube she had on her, all retrieved from her bag. Pointing to the imprint on the wall, she would tell Byung. "Without a doubt, the imprint is that of a lady. Mind telling me what I am looking for?" She would ask. Byung, who had called her to request her help did not give an accurate assessment of the situation.

"First, I want to ask you something but I need you to promise to answer honestly." Byung's tone would sound far more serious than she was used to. She knew whatever he wanted to ask was important and could answer her question indirectly.

"Go on. I promise to answer honestly." Hayoon said, her tone matching that of Byung.

"Did you know I was being targeted by the group that killed that old man?"

Byung would notice the indifference on her face and instantly knew, she was aware. This was confirmed by her nodding her head in compliance.

"That is right, I knew about it. Why I did not tell you? If you knew, what would you have done?" Hayoon said, not a hint of remorse in her voice.

"I could have braced myself for the attack! You have no idea what you have done!" Byung shouted, looking distraught but this was when confusion replaced the neutral face of Hayoon.

"Attack? What do you mean by the attack? Byung, you better start talking." Hayoon would ask, she was much more concerned that she let on. Byung took a deep breath, trying to compose himself to explain the situation as well as he could.

"I was ambushed by a lady, she did not seem interested in anyone but me," Byung said. As if just coming to that realization.

"This is a good lead, what else can you tell me about this lady?" She asked, taking out a jotter and a pen to jot down possible information that would be invaluable to catching the culprit.

"She seemed to be looking for something and for some reason, assumed I had it. I mean, why else was I targeted?" Byung would respond.

"Do you know what she was after?" Hayoon said, jotting down a few things.

"No, I do not," Byung replied. Closing her jotter and stowing away both carefully in her leather bag.

"Well, judging from this. There is a very high chance the friend you told me about on the phone escaped but we cannot rule out the possibility that he was abducted as well. But that is highly unlikely seeing as you are the primary target but then again, they could take him to lure you into a potential trap. Stay alert for any attempt at communication. I will take this blood sample to the lab and see if I can identify the person." Hayoon said.

"I see, I am surprised you came as fast as you did. It was almost as if you were eager to see me. Oh! you also look really good in.... civilian clothing, Officer Hayoon." Byung would compliment awkwardly, walking away.

Just then, he realized what he had just said and was flushed with embarrassment, he did not know when it escaped his lips but he decided to own it. Sneaking a peek over his shoulder, he would see Hayoon just standing there, looking just as flustered before repositioning his head to face his front.

"What the hell…" He thought to himself, clearly confused. He expected to be insulted or refuted, he expected anything but this.

"H-Hey! Don't get too full of yourself. B-By the way, t-thank you." She said the last sentence in a hushed voice but just loud enough for Byung to hear. A content smile was seen across his face as he could feel his soul dance. This has to be the first time something like this has happened to him and Byung, this was a huge confidence booster.

Jinwoo, who was heavily bandaged, could not move freely but he noticed the kid playing around the corner and gestured for her to come closer but she was hesitant for some reason.

"Oh! right, stranger danger." He thought to himself as he struggled to get on his feet.

Despite being so banged up, he hated feeling so vulnerable. Walking slowly, he was wobbly, like a toddler taking its first steps. It didn't take long for him to come tumbling down, crashing headfirst into the ground but luckily, it was not enough to worsen his injuries.

He expected the elderly man to come and inspect the noise but absolutely nothing.

"Did he go out?" Thought Jinwoo. If this was the case, it was extremely careless to leave a kid with a stranger. For all he knew, Jinwoo could be a serial killer. This silence went on for approximately 10 minutes.

"Hey kid, where is your old man?" Jinwoo asked the child but she was unresponsive. Soon, he heard the creaking of old wood coming from within the house, he initially thought this was the front door opening but had his doubt, this sound was more fitting of a cellar door.

"Young one. Why are you out of your bed? I thought I told you to stay in bed." He said, sounding slightly vexed, he was sweating profusely in which Jinwoo would ask him.

"You okay old-timer, you are sweating quite a lot." While the man got down to assist him to get on his feet. But despite his frail-looking body, he was deceptively strong as one could tell by his firm grip.

"I am alright, young one. I was simply resting in my room. Once you get to my age, we sleep more than we are awake." He said with a burst of laughter accompanying the completion of his sentence, his breath felt labored as if he was engaged in strenuous physical activity.

Guiding him to his bed, he would lay him down gently, before stretching.

"You best stay in bed, young one. If your wounds open up, I am afraid you might bleed out." The elderly man warned as he exited the room.

Jinwoo felt something was off but it could be related to something he could only comprehend at old age but then again, who is out of breath right after waking up? Even if one had a nightmare, it would not have such an adverse effect. What he found strange was the child that just kept playing in the corner, ignoring her environment completely.

"Is she deaf?" Jinwoo would think, trying to find a logical explanation behind this strange kid but then again, she could just be so absorbed in her toys that she paid little attention to her environment. After-all, Kim Joon Gu was very similar when he was in one of his intense gaming sessions.

"Why am I overthinking this?" He thought to himself, before readjusting his body's position on the bed to a more comfortable one. Jinwoo could not help but be thankful to the universe for saving him, he was certain he would be dead if he was left alone for even a second later.

"What a day." He muttered to himself, he could feel reality slipping away as he dozed off.