The Reunion

♣ Chapter 4

Joowon barely managed to get through the crowd, but it grew even more chaotic as people got on and off the subway.

She didn’t have much time. She had to decide whether to board the train before the door closed. In the worst-case scenario, she’d leave her unit to cover the whole station, giving her two or three minutes to find the suspect. If they missed this opportunity, they might lose him for good.

“I didn’t see him,” said Yonghyeon. He had run across from the other side without luck.

Joowon bit her lower lip in frustration.

The suspect was a man, about 175 cm, wearing a black cap with a short brim and a black padded jacket. She started scanning the crowd, but there were too many people who matched that description. The suspect might’ve taken off his cap and jacket, so she couldn’t rely solely on that description either. Well, that was what she’d been taught. And fugitives check at least once to see whether someone is following them—

[The doors are now closing.]

“Yonghyeon, over there!”

The moment she spotted the man in the train, Joowon shouted for Yonghyeon. They both dashed inside just as the doors were about to shut.

“Agh, sh*t!”

Gwangsoo Choi locked eyes with Joowon before the doors closed. He started sprinting through the crowd, shoving anyone in his path, Joowon and Yonghyeon in pursuit. As they crossed one compartment to another, passengers began screaming, and things descended into chaos.

Still, they were in a confined space until the next stop, so there was hope. The tables had turned.

The fugitive realized he couldn’t run anywhere, so he pulled a knife from his pocket.

Classic, Joowon thought, but given the circumstances, it was far from ideal. As she saw the blade flash, Joowon felt a cold shiver creeping down her spine. She heaved a sigh.

“Mr. Choi, don’t make this any harder and—”

“Joowon Kang?”

Joowon heard someone say her name. She blinked.

It wasn’t the fugitive who’d spoken. In fact, Joowon recognized that voice as soon as she heard it. She just couldn’t believe it at first.

As she looked beside Gwangsoo Choi, she saw a woman taking out her earphones.

It’s Hayoon, was what floated to Joowon’s mind. It really is Hayoon Son. What the heck is she doing here?

There was no way Joowon could have prepared for a situation like this. For a brief moment, she was in complete shock. She almost forgot she was chasing a criminal. The only thing she could see or hear was Hayoon.

This was far, far from the reunion she’d imagined.

What the heck? Joowon was flustered. She would have been just as flabbergasted running into Hayoon in the street, so to see her at that very moment, Joowon couldn’t process it.

For all the times Joowon wished their paths would cross, it had never happened. She didn’t even know Hayoon took this subway line until this very moment. She’d always believed they might meet again at least once before they died, but not like this.

Joowon felt like someone was playing a cruel trick on her life. “Absurd” was the only word Joowon could find to describe this whole thing.

As Joowon was frozen at the spot, trying to process all this, Hayoon was equally shocked to have called out Joowon’s name. While everyone else in the train had fled to the other compartment, Hayoon was sitting there alone.

She must’ve dozed off like she always used to.

Before Hayoon could even grasp what was going on, the fugitive wrapped his arm around her and put his flashing knife to her neck. Yonghyeon pulled out his gun almost at the same time.

The situation had just gone from bad to worse.

“Gwangsoo, calm down. We can’t help you if you do this.”

“Don’t come any closer! I swear I’ll slit her throat if you take one more step!”

Joowon closed her eyes for a second. Things had escalated before she could even process her feelings. Her head started to pound.

What a mess this is.

It was the worst possible scenario she could ever think of, but she had to come up with a plan as fast as possible. It was only natural to feel a cold sweat trickle down her spine.

Joowon raised one hand and showed the criminal that she had nothing. Get a grip. Think, Joowon, think! You gotta figure out what to do next!

“I said don’t move!”

“Sure, but if you hurt her, I swear... I’ll kill you.”

The f*ck should I do?! Maybe I should really just kill him. As the thought came to Joowon, she realized she meant it. The blade had already nicked Hayoon’s skin and a thin line of blood was trickling down. Joowon felt a sharp sting, as if the blade was on her own throat.

Joowon deliberately avoided making eye contact with Hayoon. It was evident that Joowon wouldn’t be able to do anything if she did. Saving Hayoon was her priority. She wouldn’t put anyone’s safety below capturing the suspect, but it was Hayoon’s safety that mattered the most to Joowon now.

As they were having a standoff, the announcement came through the speakers that the train was about to reach the next stop. Time was running out.

Yonghyeon and Joowon exchanged a glance. Yonghyeon started to loosen his grip on his gun and raised his hands like Joowon to show he had no intention to harm Gwangsoo.

“When the doors open, you let her go. We won’t go after you from here, so let’s not make things worse now.”

“Ha, bullsh*t. Like I’d listen to f*cking pigs!”

“Keeping hostages safe is our priority. No one needs to get hurt, and hurting someone here will be no good for you. We can’t help you if you do this.”

“Shut the f*ck up. I’m screwed anyway.”

While Gwangsoo Choi and Yonghyeon argued, Joowon slowly moved one hand behind her back.

Joowon had a bad feeling that this would not end well. Of course, the fugitive could just leave without hurting Hayoon, but she was in danger so long as he could hurt her to buy time to flee.

Joowon had been in a similar position a few years back. It left her with a scar that reminded her of the incident every time she looked in the mirror. She had survived because the blade narrowly missed her windpipe. She could still remember the sight of her own blood gushing from her throat, and her disbelief.

She had to do something. She couldn’t stand the idea of Hayoon getting hurt.

Joowon felt her phone at her fingertips. She slowly took it out of her pocket and tried to remain calm. Without a plan, a move of any kind could escalate things.

The subway was slowing. As the train rattled into the platform, the fugitive glanced outside. If Joowon ever had a chance, this was it.

She hurled her phone straight at his face like it was a shuriken. The flat, square phone spun through the air. When Gwangsoo Choi looked back, the phone struck him right in the nose.

“Ack!”

The sudden blow threw his head backward, and he was robbed of balance as the train jerked to a complete stop. That was when he lost the grip on Hayoon’s neck. As Joowon leaped forward to ensure her safety, the man just shoved Hayoon toward her and took off. Joowon caught Hayoon as she stumbled into her.

Yonghyeon took off in pursuit of Gwangsoo.

Hayoon collapsed weakly into Joowon’s arms.

“Hayoon.”

Joowon checked her neck first. Though she was bleeding, it didn’t look like a deep cut. Joowon sighed with relief.

“Are you alright?”

Of course not, but Joowon had to ask.

Hayoon nodded, but her shaky breath told Joowon she was still in shock.

“Can you get up?”

Joowon helped Hayoon from the train and made her sit on a nearby bench. She took her jacket off and draped it on Hayoon’s lap.

Hayoon looked even paler than Joowon remembered. It looked like she needed some time to calm down.

Joowon pulled out her handkerchief and carefully pressed it against the cut on Hayoon’s neck to stop the bleeding. She felt something flutter in her stomach when Hayoon took the handkerchief and their fingers brushed together.

Joowon still had a criminal to catch.

The commotion around them hadn’t settled yet. A crowd had gathered near the stairs leading above ground, and some people even screamed. It sounded like Yonghyeon had caught the fugitive, but they were still quarreling. Joowon, observing the scene from where she crouched in front of Hayoon, stood up.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, looking into Hayoon’s eyes. “Stay here for a moment.”

Hayoon nodded.

Joowon scurried to the scene. After a few steps, she broke into a run toward the crowd, then pushed through the throng of civilians. They were all holding their cellphones to record the whole thing.

Gwangsoo Choi was already on the ground, shouting and thrashing to escape from Yonghyeon. Yonghyeon was on top of him, pinning him to the ground. With a click, he secured their target.