flame - tenyang

1. to encounter

the night was cold and tense and there were a million stars in the sky forming a beautiful mosaic which would have soothed yangyang on any night except for tonight. the stars would have soothed yangyang on any night that he did not believe was going to be his last.

"up there!" a scream rang through the square, the source being his parter— xiao dejun.

sure enough, peeling his eyes away from the night sky— yangyang could spot a dark figure skirting around the roof of the musèe d'orsay, a huge museum in the team's base country, france. his team had been right about the time this suspect would strike next; they had compiled evidence from the suspect's past heists and discovered pattern after pattern hinting at his next move.

the square radiated a faint yellowish glow from the streetlights, and before the cry there had only been the sound of calm water.

but alas, yangyang's team was sprung into action as they silently advanced into the museum.

"let's move in." kun was beside yangyang now, and the team rushed through the doors and spread out through the building. "yangyang and xiaojun, you take the north wing."

the partners nodded and together they rushed to the other side of the vast museum, eyes peeled for any other disturbance in the serene space.

"let's split up." xiaojun suggested as the two neared their destination. "you take the left halls, i'll take the right." his voice was merely a whisper, but yangyang nodded and tapped his walkie— as a reminder to contact him if xiaojun was ever in need of help.

now alone, yangyang felt the cold tile underneath him and the cool, calm air surrounding his being. he loved museums, and he had always wanted to visit this one; but not on a night like tonight.

tonight he was not a spectator. tonight he was on a mission to catch the vandal that had been terrorizing museums all over the country for months, and this was the closest his team had ever been.

yangyang's footsteps echoed against the expensive, polished tile— you'd have to be floating to be silent here, he thought —and for a moment, he wished he was a feather. he wished he could move silently, seemingly levitating through the corridors as the thief had been.

it really was interesting, yangyang thought— and it sent a shiver down his spine— that other than the initial sighting, there was no trace of anyone else in this building.

it was too easy.

"north wing, left corridor, clear." yangyang whispered into his walkie, alerting the others of his status. his steps were creating a hollow echo along the walls of the corridor, and for a split second, he caught a sight of movement at the end of the hallway.

speeding up but paying attention to the amount of noise he was making, yangyang raced to the end of the corridor, where he stepped through a curtain only to be met by a huge round room, with a marble statue in the center, towering over the man.

the statue was beautiful. it was of a woman, delicately draped in cloth, holding a sword outstretched towards the viewer. and standing on the sword's blade was a small man, dressed in modern clothing, staring down at yangyang.

interesting design choice, yangyang thought.

but then the small man moved.

oh.

OH.

yangyang was face to face with the man that his team had been hunting for months. his hand leapt to his gun and in one swift movement, yangyang's gun was unlocked and aimed straight for the suspect's forehead.