The Cop From Busan || •PJM• ✔️

17.

☂ Chapter 17 ☂

Not to be rude, but Javi was a bitch.

Jimin groaned as he held an ice pack against his injured cheek. As much as he had to act cool, calm, and collected in the moment, Javi's punch had hurt like a bitch. He was a giant man with a frame as wide as Jungkook's, which meant the punch had hit like one of Jungkook's. If Jimin were being honest, when he had gotten hit, he had seen stars, and not in the fun way. He was sure he'd have a bruise for at least a week.

Jimin and Y/n were standing in the interrogation room on the dark side meant for observation. Kasper was the one with Javi, though they weren't speaking much. It was more of a staring contest. Kasper sat at the desk with Javi and tapped his fingers on the table, and that soft sound was the only thing that reminded Jimin the two were still alive.

"I don't get it," Jimin whispered as Y/n inspected his bruise. "Why not just interrogate him already? We're running out of time."

"We are?"

"The longer it takes to find who's behind this, the more kids suffer. That ship was our only real lead, but it's amounted to nothing. Javi at least gives us some hope."

"And then we do more fetch quests," Y/n said with a sigh. "It's not looking good, is it?"

Jimin didn't need to answer. They both knew the truth. The child trafficking case had gone nowhere. It was beyond frustrating; it was infuriating. All Jimin wanted was to find the "mastermind" behind the trafficking and get to the bottom of it before any other kids were hurt. Jimin, above all else, needed to know where those kids were heading and why they were heading the way they-

Wait. That was it.

They had been so focused on gaining names that they hadn't put much thought into the actual location of where the kids were going. Why were they on that boat to begin with? Granted, Jimin hadn't been at most of the interrogations, so it was possible they had been through that question a million times, but they hadn't been through it with Javi. Not yet, anyway.

"What? What's your idea?" Y/n asked as if she could read his mind.

"What if we focus less on the who and more on the where? Think about it—this whole time, we've gotten smaller leads like Javi's name, but what about where the kids were going? Instead of asking why they were on that ship, ask where they were going. There's a chance the person or group behind this doesn't even live in New York."

"We've been asking that, but no one answers. At this point, I'll take any lead, whether it's a name, location... anything, really."

Jimin felt the same way. However, he had countless pressing matters on his mind. June was in the forefront. If not because Jimin missed him, then because the trafficking situation reminded him that June could be at risk. It wasn't like the boy had anyone looking out for him anymore.

Second was Jungkook. There was no telling how much longer Jungkook had to prove himself a worthy captain, and Jimin made it his personal responsibility to keep Jungkook in charge. Yes, Jimin and Jungkook had their differences, but Jimin considered them brothers. Watching Jungkook drown himself in depression caused powerlessness to seep through Jimin's veins. He wished he could bite his skin and tear the emotion out of him, but for the time being, he had to stay strong. For Jungkook.

Third was all the other crimes NYPD went through on a daily basis. Hoseok and Seulgi were buried under their paperwork since the department had given much of it to the basement crew. With more violent crimes happening recently, the basement crew had to deal with the small stuff while the big leagues dealt with, well, the big stuff. Holidays brought out more crimes, and as they approached the core of the holiday season (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas), Jimin knew they'd have an abundance of violence on their hands.