HIT

3: drunk

Their team had worked in shifts of two to monitor the Hawk. Jimin had the feeling of getting the worst of it, being of the lowest rank and single, but he did not complain. This being his first real job, he would do a damn asking for a break and making a bad impression. Even when it meant sleeping irregularly and following the man to the most mundane things such as grocery shopping and taking a walk, a truly tiring chore and frustrating whenever they lost the man in the traffic because of keeping a reasonable distance.

Every movement had to be noted to find patterns that refused to arise, and the only thing that stopped Jimin from dying of boredom (and of awkwardness when he was paired with Choi) was that the teacher of one of the seminars had told them that monitoring was mostly waiting. For days, for weeks, sometimes even for months.

Ms. Kim was still trying to emphasize the fact that they were the first to find the man's apartment what made them the most successful mission so far, but Choi had begun to turn her down with the fact that it was not so hard to be the best mission when you started because the target made a mistake. Any idiot could slip a tracker into a handbag when the owner was sleeping. Their morale had started sinking after that.

However, their perseverance had been rewarded in the end. Over the last three days Jimin had detected a pattern in the evenings. The Hawk would leave his apartment at eight to go to a bar and come back at around ten. This was damn suspicious for a man who normally did not show any patterns, not even for grocery shopping or eating out. Hence, Choi had decided to take surveillance a step further and had allowed them to follow the hitman inside the bar tonight should the opportunity arise. No interaction, just watching to see with whom he might be meeting.

Jimin and Ms. Kim jumped slightly when the pre-set phone alarm went off, and their heads snapped around to check the entrance of the apartment block. The taxi was already waiting, so the man should come out any minute now. When he did, Jimin turned the keys of the car and prepared to follow them.

As it turned out, the Hawk was visiting the bar again. They had their chance to make a move.

"Who should go?" Jimin asked Ms. Kim, hoping that she would offer because he suddenly felt scared at the prospect of being in the same room as a hitman.

"You should go," she surprised him.

"Me?" he choked out nervously. He was a rookie, practically knowing nothing about actual field work. What if he messed it up? Superintendent Choi and Chief Kim would skin him. "I don't know, Assistant Inspector. Don't you think I'm too inexperienced?" he tried to wiggle his way out.

But she would not let him. "Listen, Jimin," she said with a nervous urgency in her voice and would not meet his eyes. "I... I asked Superintendent Choi to let you on the team for a reason." Oh, so Ms. Kim had gotten him the spot. That explained a lot. Barely anyone would contradict the niece of the chief if she asked for something.

"I was part of the team the last time we had the chance to approach the Hawk. In fact... In fact, I was the bait," she revealed and Jimin was shocked. Shocked and impressed. To be exposed to a killer like that must have been nerve-wracking. They had basically expected those women to seduce the man! But it was no wonder they had chosen Ms. Kim; she was a beauty with her long straight hair and small face, and if she refrained from always being stiff and cold like her uncle, she could sure break a man's heart.

"But you see, he did not even show the slightest of interest," she told him what he already knew. "And after the others failed as well, it made me wonder." Now she looked at Jimin. "Did you not wonder why a young man such as the Hawk would turn down beautiful young ladies who talk him up at the bar?"

Jimin stared back at her baffled. No, he had not asked himself that because it appeared natural to him. Either the hitman had been too focused on getting a job done or he was simply not interested in hookups. Not every man was sex-crazed maniac lifting every willing skirt that walked in front of their face.