The harbor was a ghost town, but the storm inside me was just beginning. Rage didn't just flicker in my eyes; it burned like a forest fire. This girl... I won't let her get away with this.
The precinct was buzzing with the usual noise—the hum of printers, the chatter of officers—but my ears only heard the haunting melody from the radio in my hand. Her playful, taunting voice echoed in my skull: "What a sweet voice you have, Detective Ming."
"SHIBAL!" I roared, slamming the music player against the wall until it shattered into a thousand plastic shards.
"Detective Ming, Chief Kim wants to see you. Now," a colleague muttered, eyes averted. I didn't know how I was going to face him.
I walked into the office, my pride trailing behind me like a broken shadow. "Yes, Chief. You summoned me?" Chief Kim didn't even look up at first. Then, he let out a dry, biting laugh. "Well, Ming? Where is the Dragon? Did she grow wings and fly away, or were you too busy listening to her songs?"
The blood rushed to my head so fast I thought my veins would burst. I was the laughingstock of the entire department. Tricked by a twenty-year-old girl. I turned and walked out without a single word. I needed her head on a platter.
Meanwhile, in a dimly lit hideout in Gangnam, the air was thick with cigarette smoke and the smell of expensive whiskey. Typhon burst into laughter, leaning back against the cold concrete wall. "You're a wicked one, S. He fell for it like a hungry fish." He chuckled again. "Why do they call him a Hunter? Does he catch flies for a living?"
I sat in the corner, my fingers tracing the cold silk of my dress. I ignored him. The pain in my chest was dull but constant. A part of my life—the only part that felt real—had just been extinguished. Ming was a beautiful dream I never wanted to wake up from. Now, he's my worst nightmare.
"You'll pay for this, Ming," I whispered to the shadows. "I am not your prey."
Typhon's face suddenly turned serious. "I almost forgot. Mr. Tian Long wants you to disappear. Completely."
I looked at him, my eyes cold. "How? Should I return to China before the deal is done?"
Typhon leaned in, the smoke from his cigarette curling around his face like a snake. "The Detective won't let go. S... you need to die."
"Are you going to kill me?" I challenged, tilting my head. "Do it then. What are you waiting for?"
By evening, I was alone in my office. The lights were out, and a heavy, suffocating silence filled the room. My breaths were heavy, the veins on my hands bulging like they wanted to escape my skin. How did she beat me? Was I blinded by her eyes? How could I think the daughter of Tian Long would be stupid enough to leak the deal's location?
The silence was shattered by the ping of a message. My heart skipped a beat. I knew it was her. I opened the video. There she was, dressed in a red Cheongsam, dancing with a grace that felt like a slap to my face. She began to sing, her eyes staring directly into the camera—directly into me.
"I have a song for you, Detective Ming. Listen carefully: 'The Deceived Hunter'."
In the mist where the dragons hide, A hunter walked with foolish pride. He tuned his bow, he hummed a song, Never knowing he was wrong.
Oh, sweet hunter, the silk is thin, You lost the game before you begin. The shadow danced, the echo stayed, On the stage of the trap you laid.
The cage is empty, the bird has flown, And the hunter sits on a broken throne. Like a forest pierced by a single bullet... You stand still, while the birds rise from your chest.
I stared at the screen long after the video ended, her voice ringing in the darkness.