In The Dark (SNOWDROP)

"stay here"

❄︎ — chapter 20 — ❄︎

"Don't go anywhere while I'm gone," Jang Hanna told Lee Kangmu that evening as she shoved equipment into a small pack. "Gyeokchan will pick me up soon. Just stay here until I get back. I won't be later than midnight."

Kangmu frowned as he sat on the couch, flipping through various news channels on the small television. "I still don't understand why I can't come with you to find Kim Mandong. I'm an expert at this sort of thing."

"But he's targeting you as well," Hanna pointed out. "If you go actively looking for him... I don't think it'll end well."

"I don't think it'll end well for him if I'm hunting him down," Kangmu said. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll stay here."

Hanna smiled at him and opened her mouth to say something, but her radio beeped and Joo Gyeokchan's voice came through.

"Galaxy, this is Olympus. I'm waiting outside. Over."

"Galaxy to Olympus," Hanna responded into the radio. "I'm on my way."

She slipped the radio into her pack and slung it over her shoulder.

"Remember, don't leave," she said. "Don't even unlock the door. I have a key, so I'll let myself back in. Okay?"

Kangmu chuckled. "You sound like my eomma. I promise, I'm not going anywhere."

"Good," she said. "I'll be back soon."

With that, she left the apartment, making sure the door was properly closed and locked before making her way down to the parking lot. Joo Gyeokchan was waiting for her in his black car by the door to the apartment block. He unlocked the doors, and she climbed into the shotgun seat.

"We're searching the south side, right?" Gyeokchan asked. Hanna nodded.

"How do we know he's even in Seoul anymore?" Gyeokchan asked. "What if he found out we're looking for him and fled?"

"I doubt he would, since he has a mission to finish here," Hanna said. "But he's probably in hiding until he can accomplish it."

"How are we going to find him, if he's hiding? We can't search every building."

"No, but we can look for traces of where he might have been," Hanna said. "Kim Seungjun already figured out that the orders we intercepted were reached by Haegeumseong 1's radio at the dorm. He's keeping a lookout for any more signals that we can hone in on."

"But until we get them, we're shooting in the dark," Gyeokchan pointed out. "There's no other way to track him."

"We'll just have to scout out where he could be hiding, then," Hanna said. "We can ask people if they've seen him."

The plan wasn't really definite, but it was the best they could do while lacking further intelligence. Gyeokchan reluctantly agreed and turned on the car's engine.

❄︎ — ❄︎ — ❄︎ — ❄︎ — ❄︎

With Hanna gone, Kangmu had an entire evening to kill by himself.