Lucid

Chapter 33

POV: none
Officer Han Woo Tak sat in his car, waiting. There hadn't been anything interesting recently, after that robbery a few days ago. A few people speeding, and a few complains about noise, nothing worth any memory. It had been quiet in this area of Seoul. Suddenly, breaking that quiet, the radio blares to life, waking up his sleeping partner.
"All units nearby, respond to 61 Saemjae-ro, 104 Beom-Gil. Reported kidnapping currently active." A kidnapping is much more interesting! And more serous, a person could be hurt, he thinks to himself. He flips the sirens to full, and blares towards the location sent to him. His partner awakens and responds, informing that they are on their way.

Arriving outside the small building, it's quiet- for a moment. But as Woo Tak steps out of the car, suddenly gunshots resound. Although he feels tempted to run in, there's too many gunshots for it to be safe, without backup. Instead, he and his partner shelter behind their car doors, while the other grabs the radio to announce the shooting. Woo Tak reaches in, and uses the car's megaphone to call out,
"This is Seoul Police! Come out with your hands up, and no weapons." There's no response from inside, but the gunshots rapidly slow, until within minutes there's none left. After a moment, the door opens. By that point, other police had arrived, and were surrounding the area, service weapons drawn. Walking out- stumbling, more- come five figures- two first, one leaning against another while limping. The next walks solo. The last two is one helping the other down the stairs.
"Hands in the air!" Shouts an officer, and most of them raise their free hands. These aren't kidnappers, though- these look like the ones who were kidnapped! The one in the back is different. Instead of damaged and scuffed casual clothes, he's dressed all in back, with a long trench coat and a mask.
"You, in the back! Hands up!" Woo Tak shouts. The figure glances up then gestures for the solo girl to come and assist the one in need. Turning away, he suddenly disappears inside the dark interior of the building. Unwilling to shoot with people obviously in need, he holsters his gun and walks up, taking the arm of a girl with blonde hair, who's limping.
"Thank you." She says, as he helps her walk to the car. Another officer is already calling for an ambulance.
"Here to help, ma'am." She nods. The other three are checked out, but all are clear of weapons. After another few odd minutes, a team of police arrive, armed and armored in a large truck. Emptying out the back, the strike team moves towards the door carefully. They burst inside, and see- nothing. The first room is empty of people. Pushing deeper, they walk into the second room, where a scene of carnage unfolds before them.

Eleven bodies are scattered across the floor. Some are alive, some not. There's multiple guns and other weapons across the floor, along with broken pieces of furniture. Examining a body, it's been slashed deep across the chest, almost half way through. The cuts are burnt at the edges, and there's other ones on the body's arms and legs. Most of them are in pairs, one slash near another and at a similar angle. A few of them are groaning and gasping, and a few officers start tending to them. One of them is badly burned up one arm. A few of them have bullet wounds as well. Some are even missing limbs. Every one of them is unlikely to live, based on cursory examination. The team starts to carry them out, to get treated or examined.

Timeskip- the next day.

POV: Gaeul.
We're at our company, doing some dance practice. Technically we have time off, but nobody really wants to stop for too long or else it'll be hard to get back into it. We'd just finished off our main practice, and Rei hits the TV remote to put something on in the background while we stretch and do some solo stuff. A news channel comes on, mid-sentence. Rei starts to connect her phone, but I see her stop and look at the TV, seeming concerned. Looking back, I check out what she's looking at. On the TV, a news anchor is talking, and there's a picture of a small building on the side.
"Last night, the four members of the major girl group Aespa were rescued from a kidnapping. They had been missing for roughly a day, before Seoul police received a tip-off of a kidnapping with a location. They had not previously been reported missing, but SM entertainment confirmed that they had been taken two days ago."
By now, everyone is watching the TV.
"They were found by Seoul police early last night. However, there is one person remaining at large- when the police arrived at the scene, the hostages had already been freed, by this person." An image comes on the screen, showing a figure in a long black trench coat and a black mask. He's standing beside Giselle, and looking out at the police. The picture is blurry, though, and not much detail is visible.
"This man isn't currently facing legal charges, however Seoul police are looking for him as a crucial part of what has happened. SM entertainment has denied any knowledge of the person. What we do know is that it's believed to be a man, and according to testimony, this man rescued the four girls and killed or badly wounded eleven kidnappers, all of whom were armed with guns. We've heard from an anonymous source that the hostage-takers were in fact former police, and that they were unlikely to have been found until they received the tip off." He pauses for a moment, and they show the photo again. It sort of looks like Fixer, to be honest, but it's very blurry. A lot of people wear black trench coats and masks.

"Do you think that's..." Rei trails off, not quite wanting to say it.
"It looks like him. And it does seem like something he'd do." Replied Yujin.
"But why Aespa?" Asks Wonyoung.
"Probably because they got kidnapped?" Hyunseo answers. I agree with her. It seems like something he'd do. I walk over and grab the clicker, and shut off the TV.
"Let's focus. We can talk about that later." Everyone nods, and goes about their business, a little quieter than before. I guess I'll have to talk to them about it again later. But for now, I need to stretch.

When we get home, everyone is tired. I can see it in how they stand, and how nobody's talking much. It makes sense. Everyone splits up, a few asking about who showers first and who's going to cook. I just head to my room and collect my clothes, and wait until it's my turn to shower. I usually go third into the master bathroom, because I'm oldest. It's my job to put the others before myself, and to help take care of them. Yujin is the leader, but this is different- she leads, I care. Like two parents, to four children. Liz doesn't take much work though. It's mainly the other three that require effort. From Rei's constant energy, to Hyunseo's chaotic mix of wisdom and foolishness, and Wonyoung's distractibility and impatience. They're all lovable idiots. Liz is patient, but can be stubborn. And Yujin is mostly great, but every now and then gets distracted and seems to loose all sense of seriousness. By now, it's my turn. A shower sounds nice right now.

POV: Yujin
Once I get out of the shower, I head over and turn on the TV again. Normally I don't watch actual TV programs, but I want to see if there's anything more about the kidnapping. Both about the mysterious rescuer, and also the kidnapping. I'm glad Fixer is here to protect us, because it seems like it's been much more dangerous around recently, with all the different crazy events, everything from bombings to kidnappings to stalkers and crazy fans breaking in. It makes me nervous sometimes for our fellow bands. Currently it's just the weather, so I walk back, and start to make some dinner. Rei and Liz are talking in the kitchen, something about choreography. I can hear Hyunseo singing in her room, she likes to do that sometimes while she's doing other things. Once I've gotten my food, I go back and sit on the couch. Wonyoung is here with me, and she curls up against me. She feels really warm there. I'm relaxing with my food, scrolling through Instagram when Wonyoung says,
"Look!" Glancing up, they're talking about the kidnapping again. I lean in, and hear the news anchor first discuss about the kidnapping. She covers that, then moves on to discuss how this mysterious person was spotted. Then, she moves onto something even more interesting-
"Now, this is speculation, but we believe this man has been seen multiple other times previously." She turns to a screen, and points to it. It shows a video from a concert, of a similarly dressed man rapidly taking down four people carrying bags.
"This was almost two weeks ago, at a music show. The people were found to be carrying smoke bombs. One other person was later found backstage, all of them unconscious." Turnings again, she shows another video.
"Here, you can see someone take out four more people, some of whom were armed." She pauses, as the man takes down these four in a blitz of fists. "These four were taken into custody for assaulting a security member, and two were found to be armed. Backstage, four more people were found, and we have another video here." The next video is a camera of a person watching- its's blurry for a moment, but shows the man tackled by one assailant, before getting into a close quarters duel with the next four people. "You may have noticed the person here was armed, although none of the people he shot have died. He was injured by an assailant's knife during this skirmish, but managed to disappear from camera coverage before being effected by it. There are multiple other places people believe to have seen this man, we've received numerous submissions. If you have seen this man, and especially if you have any video footage or photograph of him, please contact us, or the Seoul police. We'd like to remind you that currently the man is not wanted for arrest, but is needed as a crucial part of multiple criminal investigations. Any information can be sent to us, or the Seoul Police. For our next story, the global Tennis community is mourning the death of legendary tennis coach Stan Noland..." She moves on to the next story, and I mute the TV.
"If they're right, then that's him." Says Liz. When did she get here?
"How do you know?"
"I was in one of those videos. That last one was the Monsta X concert we were at. I saw him there, taking out those four men." Everyone digests that information for a minute.
"So the police are looking for him. But, I mean, didn't he say they were already? He's a spy or something, obviously people are looking for him." Says Rei, sounding like she's trying to reassure herself. Everyone stands around, trying to decide on what to do with this new information.
Wonyoung sighs to herself. "Be safe out there, Y/N."

A/N- and so, it begins to end.

Told you I'd post to soon