The Wolf and The Fox

16

Beijing, China. 2035

Yuqi was sleeping in her room after a long day at school, exams were over and now she could enjoy her free days of school; However, her mother had different plans that night, She was wakened by the hands grabbing her shoulders and shaking her until her eyes finally snapped open and she saw her mother sitting by her bed.

"Mama?"

"Get up." The woman told her as she stands up and walks towards Yuqi's closet, taking some clothes from there. "Quick!"

"What is going on?" The girl asked, finally standing up and following the woman around the room. "Why are you taking my clothes?"

"You'll need to leave earlier." She said as she reached under Yuqi's bed, grabbing the girl's luggage from there. "Come on, Yuqi!" She said and the girl finally started to move around the room.

She picked some clothes from the closet and put them on top of her bed as her mother folded them as quickly as possible, before placing them inside the luggage. Yuqi still had no idea why she had to leave a month before planned, but her mother seemed worried.

"What is going on?" She asked again, Picking some of her favorite books and placing them inside her backpack, The woman seemed to struggle to come up with an answer like she was pondering between telling the truth or not.

"Your father has been arrested." Yuqi's eyes widened and before she could say something, her mother continued. "and you need to leave as soon as possible before they come to get you."

"Mama, come with me please," Yuqi begged. "I can't leave you alone here."

"I can't... You'll have to go on your own."

"I'm scared-"

"I know..." She hugged the girl tight. "I'm scared too, but you need to be strong now."

Yuqi stared at the picture in her hands, the edges started to crumble as the lines across the photograph showed how many times she folded and unfolded it over the years; Her mother had a big smile on the picture, and so did Yuqi as they had enjoyed the festival as much as they could back then.

Now Yuqi has no idea if she can even go back home.

"Soojin is with that Sophie woman, taking her statement." She heard Soyeon say as she walked into the office, the Chinese woman folded the photo again and placed it inside her wallet as she stared at the other; Soyeon grabbed a nearby chair and dragged it with her, sitting next to Yuqi.

"YSH is mocking us," Yuqi said. "This last message just proves it, He's following Soojin just to play games."

Soyeon frowned.

"What worries me is that he might have a new target," Soyeon said. "If he knows Soojin is somewhat closer to this woman." She points towards the door. "and wants to get to her-"

"You think she's in danger?" Yuqi asked; Before Soyeon could answer Soojin walked in with some papers and files under her arm, looking stressed as always, She slammed the files on top of her desk, causing Soyeon and Yuqi to exchange looks. "So how are things?"

"Nothing!" She said, rubbing her eyes as she took a deep breath. "It's like trying to catch smoke with my bare hands."

"And how is the dog?" Soyeon asked. they took him to the vet right away and after some exams, turns out his injury wasn't that bad after some medication and bandages wrapped around his injury, the little guy was sent to a shelter.

"Ah, the dog is okay actually." She replied. "Healthy, little fat, but healthy; His name is Haku by the way; There was a name tag under his bandana, he's adorable but looks like a little demon in photos." She groaned again. "Wait, I shouldn't be thinking about dogs, I have a serial killer to find!"