case 143 | minsung

30

jisung held his hand over his mouth, he accidentally tripped while moving around behind the crates due to the darkness of the place.

when he arrived at the warehouse, the people the drug lord was supposed to meet were already present.

he managed to sneakily navigate his way to the warehouse, using the darkness to his advantage.

jisung soon realized that the people the drug lord was meeting were members of the SKZ mafia.

however, he hadn't anticipated that the mafia would proceed to eliminate everyone present.

now, he remained still in his hiding place, praying to every gods out there that he would make it out of this situation alive.

aware that the mafia's leader, lee know, was present, this gave him more reason to stay hidden.

from his hidden position, jisung could hear hushed voices and murmurs. it seemed the attention of the mafia members was drawn to the noise he had accidentally made earlier.

his heart raced within his chest, his forehead slick with sweat. his hands were pressed tightly against his mouth, attempting to cover any sound that might escape.

through the gaps, he observed the members of the mafia beginning to search the area.

the sound of footsteps grew closer to his hiding place, their voices growing more audible.

"it seems like the noise came from around here," one of the men said.

jisung closed his eyes, desperately hoping for some form of miracle.

the footsteps drew nearer and nearer, but before the man could even inspect the crates, someone intervened, halting him.

"let's go," minho interjected, blocking the man's path.

"but boss, the noise came from here," the man insisted.

"that's not important right now. it was probably just a rat or something. we're wasting time here," minho retorted to the man.

with that, the man departed, and minho glanced at the crates before making his exit.

jisung waited before they left, letting out sigh of relief as they did. it had been one of the most nerve-wracking situations he had ever been in his life as a detective.

as soon as he heard the sounds of the cars leaving, jisung also left the warehouse, contacting his superiors to report the recent events.

while doing so, jisung reflected on the earlier events.

lee know had been right in front of him, yet the darkness of the place prevented him from seeing the man's face clearly. he yearned to take action in that moment, recognizing it might be his sole opportunity to catch and identify lee know, but he was aware of the impossibility of such an endeavor.

he also reflected the incident where lee know had stop the man's attempt to discover him.

jisung was certain it was lee know due to the way the man addressed him.

he found himself torn by conflicting thoughts, utterly puzzled by why lee know had shielded him, even though he was fully aware of jisung's presence in the warehouse.

-----

minho took a deep breath, realizing that jisung had come dangerously close to being caught by his own members.

the older knew it was jisung as the younger sent him a message about his undercover operation. minho was already on his way to warehouse the time jisung sent the message. he just hoped the younger wouldn't be able recognize him since he hadn't brought his mask. he also changed his voice as a precaution.