Chapter 04

Right then, sirens moved in around the scene. Kyunghee should be relieved that help was coming, but she couldn't, not even in the slightest bit. Being in the arms of a cold-blooded, dangerous criminal was hardly anything to be blithe about. 

"Shit," Pil Jungshik cursed, his tone indicated rising panic and momentary distraction as he craned his neck to look behind him. Although she couldn't see, she was pretty sure the place was surrounded with police by now. The sirens sounded as if it was right next door and there were footsteps thudding against the ground and the slamming of car doors in the backdrop. 

"Pil Jungshik, you are surrounded and under arrest. Release the hostage and take a step back," a voice boomed loudly through a microphone. 

"I dare you to come closer!" Pil Jungshik roared thunderously. 

Kyunghee grimaced from the intensity. His fingers tightened around her neck. Her face turned purple as she gasped for air. Her hands immediately flew up, trying to claw his hands off but it only resulted in Pil Jungshik squeezing her throat tighter. 

"Bitch, stay still!" 

Her gaze collided with Detective Hothead's again. Kyunghee was sure he saw the fear in her eyes, the plea to be rescued. His hands clenched the pistol, but he made no move to pull the trigger. 

Kyunghee was beginning to feel light-headed and quaint. Bright dots made its way into her vision. Her gaze was forcefully wrenched away from Detective Hothead when Pil Jungshik manually wheeled her around to face the myriads of back-up cops that had surrounded the place instead. They had their hands on their holster and proceeding with caution. One of them, though, was holding a red microphone. 

"I have her! Don't you dare—" 

*BANG* 

"Aurgh!! Ahhh!" Pil Jungshik suddenly let out an agonizing cry before he dropped to the ground and released her, shoving her forward in the process. 

Kyunghee stumbled on her heels. Gravity reached out for her as she found herself falling face-first. Luckily, before she could kiss the ground, a female officer had swiftly stepped in to break her fall, catching her perfectly in a safe embrace. Instinctively Kyunghee grabbed the female officer's forearms to regain her balance. Kyunghee gasped, catching short breaths. Her fingers curled around the officer's arms, not wanting to let go. 

"You're fine now. I've got you. It's over, Miss. You're fine now," the female officer consoled, holding Kyunghee in her embrace. 

As Kyunghee slowly regained her equilibrium and some sense of safety, the shock faded away. 

It turns out Detective Hothead had shot Pil Jungshik's lower left leg when he stupidly turned around 180 degrees and exposed his back to the detective. Kyunghee wasn't sure if she should thank his stupid move or Detective Hothead for firing the shot. Wasn't he the one who got her into all of this mess in the first place? Her thoughts dispersed when Detective Hothead shoved his pistol back into its holster and marched furiously toward Pil Jungshik who was down on the ground, moaning from the bloody wound on his leg. 

He picked Pil Jungshik up from the ground by the collar. Without a warning, he delivered a punch right across Pil Jungshik's face. "You try pulling that shit in front of my face again and I'll personally see you to the doors of Hell! When I tell you to let the girl go, you let the damn girl go! You don't play dogs and cats with me, you son of a bitch!" He cracked his knuckles, but just as he was about to deliver another punch to Pil Jungshik's face, three police officers rushed over to pull the two of them apart. 

Instead of showing remorse or guilt, Pil Jungshik staggered back—restrained by an officer—and cackled evilly, "Did everyone see that? You morons saw that didn't you?! I got hit by a cop! Not only that but he threatened to kill me! Hahaha!" He spat dirtily onto the ground, his saliva landing right near Detective Hothead's shoes causing the cop's face to get redder. "You fucking mad dog!" 

Detective Hothead flared at the insult. "Let me at him!" 

As he was about to rush at Pil Jungshik again, two of his colleagues quickly grabbed his arms and held him back. 

"Let me go! I'm going to show the fucker who not to mess with! Let me go, damn it! You unrepentant motherfucker!" He attempted to kick Pil Jungshik to no avail, because the two officers pulled them even further apart. A third one joined in to pull Detective Hothead away. 

Pil Jungshik smirked provokingly. 

"Fuck!!" 

"You need to control your emotions right now! This is exactly what he wants!" One of the officers explained reasonably. "Don't let sadists like him have the upper hand! Don't make things worse, especially for yourself. The chief will be here any minute. Calm down, Detective Sergeant Choi Jintae!" 

While that was happening, the female officer who broke Kyunghee's fall earlier said, "Miss, let's get you somewhere safer and—uh—less noisy." It seemed she was a little embarrassed about her colleagues behavior. 

Tearing her eyes away from the chaotic scene, Kyunghee nodded her head as she followed the female officer toward a safer distance. She held on the officer's extended arm as her body was still trembling from the inside out. Suddenly she shoved the officer and moved to the side, bent over and vomited everything she had inside. 

The female officer let her be, occasionally patting her back for comfort. When she was done, the female officer had produced a water bottle and gave it Kyunghee to rehydrate. 

"Are you okay?" 

Kyunghee nodded meekly after chugging down half the bottled water. 

"Can I ask what were you doing here in the first place?" The officer inquired. 

"I—I was in my cab and then, he came out of nowhere," she replied, shifting her eyes over to the hotheaded cop who was surrounded by his colleagues right now. 

The female officer followed Kyunghee's gaze as realization dawned on her. The officer sighed in exasperation, as if this wasn't the first time it happened. 

"I apologize on behalf of Detective Choi," the officer said as she brought me over to one of the ambulances. "Sometimes he gets heated when he's chasing down criminals." 

"It's f—fine." But of course it wasn't fine, except Kyunghee couldn't tell the officer that. It was better to quickly conclude the incident. She didn't want to drag out her interactions with the police. It had never been a favorite past-time of hers anyway. 

"Why don't you take a seat here? The paramedics will give you a check-up." 

"Thank you," Kyunghee said as she was handed over to one of the paramedics. 

As Kyunghee sat on the edge of the ambulance, allowing the paramedic to do his job by checking her blood pressure and all that, a frustrated voice caught her attention. A stout man with a receding hairline walked toward the scene with an officer accompanying his side. She managed to catch bits and pieces of their conversation. 

"The son of a gun! I take my eyes off him for a few hours and he goes and tears down half the city! When will he ever learn? I can't keep covering for him like this! And what did you say? He struck the perp?! He's a damn cop! He needs to learn how to be one for fuck's sake!" 

"Clearly the anger management class didn't help," commented the other officer with dry humor. 

"Damnit, Choi Jintae!" The older officer hissed with helpless frustration as they both moved on toward the scene. She was no longer able to hear their conversation. 

Kyunghee slumped against the ambulance with a blanket wrapped around her shaking body. 

She wanted to go home to her bed.