"Status report."
Seungcheol entered the meeting room and went straight to the head chair. The officers rushed back and forth, and in and out of the room. Phones ringing from left to right and papers flying everywhere. Everyone and everything is in frantic.
Baekho noticed the arrival of his superior first and scrambled to do a salute before fumbling with the folders in his hands. The officer next to him, Minhyun, only rolled his eyes and decided to take over before his friend make a complete fool of himself.
"At exactly 4 pm this afternoon. A black van has been spotted lurking around a school property. CCTV footages soon showed three armed men entering the building. One disguised themselves as a janitor." Minhyun gestured to the big flat screen mounted on the wall and several CCTV footages began to play.
"Has anyone run the plates on the van." Seungcheol asked watching the video intently.
"Affirmative sir. The plates are fake. Which lead us to a conclusion that the vehicle is stolen. Running diagnostics for missing cars reported in the area." One computer tech, Lisa, answered without looking up from her laptop.
"How about facial recognition?" Seungcheol could feel himself start to lose patience. It may just be his temper but it could be something else. Something about the case was making him feel unsettled.
Lisa finally looked up from her laptop, blowing on her gum before making it pop, "facial recognition is a no go. The men are wearing masks. But I can however use the serial no.s on their guns to trace their identities."
"Really? You can do that?" Baekho asked in aww. The female com tech only snorted and shakes her head.
Aron chuckled next to him. "She's a black hat. She can do anything."
"Was there anyone else in the building during the break in?" Seungcheol asked as a sinking feeling came over him.
Minhyun types something on own his laptop and seconds later a picture appeared on the screen. And Seungcheol felt the color drained out of his face and his heart racing when he recognized the person in the picture.
"His name is Yoon Jeonghan. 25 years old. He works at the preschool as a teacher. He also has a sideline working as an online accountant. Graduated top of his class and now lives in an apartment complex in Seoul. No Criminal records either." Lisa finished reading the brief profile she gathered from the city database.
"What happened to him?" Aron asked, staring at Jeonghan's picture. He has never seen someone so beautiful.
Lisa glanced at her superior for permission to continue but Seungcheol only ignored her. The man was still in disbelief and shortly after has fallen into shock. His mind clouded with worry and panic as he continues to stare at Jeonghan's picture on the screen.
The officers shared worried looks with each other. It's not everyday that they see their superior react like this. Which lead them to assume that the case Hit a personal spot in their superior.
Vernon, being the second in command, gave the com tech the permission to continue. She warily glanced at where her superior quietly sat before letting out a sigh. She continues,
"Based on the school CCTV's. Teacher Yoon was last seen walking down the hallway toward the building exit. Shortly after that the disguised janitor was seen following after him. They were about to make a turn to the last hall that leads straight to the exit when the disguised janitor hilariously tripped on his own foot and caught their attention."
Lisa gestures to the screen where a new footage is being played. They could see Jeonghan walking down the hallway but he was not alone.
"Who's that with him?" Baekho asked and Vernon glued his eyes on the screen. A sinking feeling coming over him.
Lisa pressed a couple buttons on her laptop and the video instantly zoomed in. "Other than the disguised janitor, there was indeed someone else there. Jeonghan had a friend with him the time of the break in. But oddly enough, this friend of his disappeared first before Jeonghan did. I checked all CCTV from the outside but there are no sign of the friend leaving the building as well."
"We have hostages." Aron confirmed, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he types in the new information.
Lisa nodded her head, her own fingers flying across her keyboards and seconds later a new picture appeared on the screen and it was Vernon's turn to be rendered speechless due to shock.
"Meet Teacher Boo. Real name is Boo Seungkwan. 21 years old. He also works at the same preschool and lives at the same apartment block as Jeonghan. No criminal records either." Lisa blows on her bubble gum again before letting it pop again. Her newly polished black nails tapping on the table.
Minhyun, who sat next to her, started to get annoyed with the sounds she was making. It was making him lose focus. He gave the girl a pointed look but Lisa only shrugged him off with a smirk on her face. She was clearly enjoying annoying the life out of her officemate.
"Lisa." Seungcheol sent the girl a warning look as he too was starting to get tick off with her noise. The girl didn't need to be told twice and stop her ruckus all at once, much to Minhyun's relief.
"So what's our next move Boss? How are we going to go move forward with this?" Aron glanced around the room before his gaze landed on Seungcheol who had nothing but a troubled look on his face.
Vernon has gone terribly silent as well, still in disbelief of what happened to his boo. Sure they weren't official yet but he loves the boy more than anything. He'd risk everything for his Boo.
Vernon's gaze moved to where his best friend sat. He could only wonder what is going through his mind right now. But he is sure that Seungcheol is also worried for Jeonghan as much as he is worried for his Boo.
"This is going to be a tough one." Minhyun sighed, leaning back on his seat.
Everyone in the room couldn't help but agree. Break ins are tough enough but with potential hostages at risk, the case went from tough to complicated. Not only do they have a limited time to solve it, a human life is also at stake. The more time they lose, the lesser the chance of the hostages to survive. It's a race against time.
"We know teacher Yoon and teacher Boo could still be at the school but we need to pinpoint their exact location in the school so we can generate a solid plan of extraction." Aron explained, eyes glued to his laptop where the blue print of the school is now displayed on the screen.
"Mr. White hat here has a point. We need their exact location. Problem now is how do we do that?" Lisa leans back on her seat, blowing and popping her gum. Aron lightly glares at her for the stupid nickname she gave him.
Just then Vernon remembered something, a very crucial information he should've remembered sooner. He slammed both hands on the table, startling his workmates. He rushes out of the room leaving everyone confused. Seconds later he rushed back with his phone in hand.
"Yah Vernon what are you up to." Aron playfully scolded the younger but only got ignored in return.
Vernon went to Lisa while furiously tapping on his phone. Lisa watch him with concern but did not make any comment about it.
"Boo wears this necklace all the time. I gifted it to him on one of our dates." Vernon started, eyes still glued on his phone.
Minhyun raised an eyebrow, "and you're telling us this because.....?"
Vernon finally looks up from his phone, a determined look on his face. He turned to Lisa and hands her the phone. Still confused, Lisa accepted the phone. Her eyes lit up in recognition and she immediately connected the phone to her laptop with a cable.
Vernon turned to his workmate to answer his question, "There's a tracker on that necklace. I had it specially installed. With my line work, I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. Now I just need Lisa to amplify the signal. My phone can only track Boo within a limited range. But with Lisa's laptop, she can cover a wider range. Hopefully he still has it on."
Vernon's workmates stared at him in awe. Seungcheol looked proud and hid a smile behind his hand. Secretly grateful for his best friend's smart moves. Putting a tracker on his boyfriend's necklace, Seungcheol didn't expect any less from Vernon. Now he could only wonder what other stuffs of Seungkwan did he put a tracker on.
While Lisa worked on the tracker, the other workmates went and praised Vernon for his smart moves. The caucasian only thanked them but his mind is still focused on finding his Boo and Jeonghan. Silently hoping that the tracker was enough to do just that.
Lisa glanced at the big screen for a second before turning to her own laptop with a frown on her face. Then she turned on the screen again and her frown only deepens.
"That's odd." Lisa wondered.
"What? What's odd?" Aron asked noticing the expression on her face.
"I found the signal of the necklace but there's..............two?" Lisa stared at her computer screen, unsure if she pressed a wrong button or if her computer was just messing with her. She retraced the signal a couple more times and only got the same result at the end.
"Where is the signal strongest? We have to assume that's where he and teacher Yoon is." Baekho said as he now stood behind Lisa's chair.
Lisa continued to work on the signals as she finally traced the stronger source. "It traced back to the Teachers lounge room. But I think we have another problem."
"What? What is it?" Minhyun now also stood behind the girl's chair, taking a peek on her laptop where the once bright green dot that signifies the location of the teachers, started to fade.
"Something must have happened. The signal is dying."
"Then we need to move fast. Boss what's your call." Baekho turned to Seungcheol who finally came back to his senses, a dead serious look on his face.
"Send the extraction team on the school. Minhyun take the lead and take a sniper with you. Where's Soonyoung? Call him over." Seungcheol commanded, getting up from his seat. The dark aura around him effectively scaring the people in the room.
"Soonyoung's on leave sir." Aron answered, avoiding eye contact with his superior while Baekho childishly protested next to him.
"Where did that tiger ran off to this time?" Baekho half whined but before anyone had the chance to answer, Seungcheol's voice boomed in the room.
"No time for chit chat. Time is at the essence here. Now get a move on and start gearing up!. Manoban gear up. You're coming with us."
Seungcheol stood at the door, still looking scarily and intimidatingly serious as he watch his workmates scramble to their feet and rushed out of the room. Some patting Lisa on the shoulder to congratulate her. Aside from Soonyoung, Lisa is the only other top grade sniper in the task force but rarely goes into field work and mainly stays behind her computer screens.
So for her superior to tell her to gear up and join them on the mission is a pretty big deal for Lisa. She knew she can never be as great as the other sniper, Soonyoung who had the sharpest eyes and fastest reflexes, but she will take the chance to finally show off her skills.
The two left the room together and went straight to the locker rooms to gear up. Everyone slipped in their bullet proof vests and loaded their guns. Lisa still had her laptop with her as she continues to monitor the signal. She was basically multitasking but she's too excited to care.
Seungcheol made a stop to his office where he found Hwasa on his desk and Chan asleep on the couch. Upon noticing him all geared up, Hwasa already knew what her friend was going to ask.
Hwasa simply nodded her before Seungcheol could utter a word. "Yes, I'll take care of Chan. He can stay at my apartment tonight."
Seungcheol shot her a grateful look and quietly left the room. He rushes to the basement where his team are already waiting for him. He arrived and saw the cars ready to leave, and the team stood on one straight line, waiting for their superior's next orders.
"Minhyun and his team will penetrate the building first. The rest of us will be standing by in case they need a back up. This mission is critical and our top priority is the safety of the hostages. Am I clear?" Seungcheol's voice held nothing but strictness and authority.
"Sir. Yes Sir!" The team chorused together with hands behind their backs.
Seungcheol then turned to Lisa who was blowing on another chewing gum with a bored look on her face.
"Manoban find a perfect spot, make sure you have a perfect view and clear shots. This is your chance to prove yourself to the team. So don't disappoint me." And Seungcheol walked pass Lisa before she could say a word.
The team followed their superior and got on their respective vehicles. Vernon fall into steps with Lisa.
"Good luck out there."