case 143 | lee felix

6. mr. & mrs. lee

FELIX

"If they left at about 12:08 then...they would have arrived at the airport between 1 and 1:15. There's not much traffic at that hour so they would have arrived within that time frame. Unless they made a stop somewhere else," Changbin says as he skims over the external footage of the airport till he reaches the required time frame. We had to get the airport authorities involved after tracking the vehicle and realizing that it was headed there.

"Let's hope it's there then. We need to skip some steps and make guesses if we want to find them quickly. It's been a week already," I say anxiously, tapping my feet on the cold tiles.

We sit in front of the monitor for another fifteen minutes till Hwayoung suddenly shouts "There it is!" I whip my head to where she was pointing at and see a drowsy Jake being pulled out of the car.

"Wait, where are they going?" Hwayoung questions. Our question is soon answered when we see them at the security check-in getting their boarding passes. Another man had taken over custody of Jake while the driver guy went to the restrooms. How much ever we searched, he just did not re-emerge from there. How did he just disappear into thin air?

We switch to tracking Jake's movements. It was clear that he was being treated with hostility, seeing the way he was dragged by the man. It was difficult to properly make out his face due to the sea of passengers swarming in the airport, so we had to send it for facial recognition.

"Are they going to...Bali?" I ask. The screen above read 'ICN—>DPS'. What were they doing all the way in Indonesia?

"We could check for the record of passengers who were on the flight that day, right?" Hwayoung suggests.

"That would be counterproductive. I'm sure they're not amateur enough to use their real names and passports. Plus, I checked Jake's place and his things including his passport are all intact. They definitely forged his travel documents."

"That's true."

"So, what's next?" Changbin asks.

"What's next? We're going to Bali," I say, getting up from my seat. I'm going to find my best friend as soon as I can.

"If we go to Bali, who's going to overlook the investigation here?" Hwayoung asks. As if on cue, we hear a voice behind us.

"I will." We turn around and see Hyunjin leaning on the doorframe with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"What are you doing here?" Changbin asks. I thought they were still in Paris dealing with the embezzlement case.

"Case closed, duh," he says, rolling his eyes. "If you haven't seen the news, Minister Cho was arrested."

"Well, no way am I giving my case to you," Hwayoung says, folding her arms. I nudge her.

"Come on Hwa, please be rational and set your differences aside for now," I whisper to her. "You know he's a good detective and more than capable of handling it."

"But he doesn't know shit about it!" She hisses. "And I don't trust him to not mess it up and put the blame on me."

"Hey! I'm not that childish, okay? And this isn't my first rodeo. I've picked up cases from in between before," he retorts. She shrugs and gives me a look as if to say "you decide".

"Take it," I sigh. I didn't want their antics to get in between solving the case. I could trust Hyunjin to be efficient and get the job done.

"Wait, if you're here it means Jisung is too, right?" She suddenly gets on her feet, making a realization.

"Yeah...?" He looks at her questioningly.

"BRB!" she gasps, fleeing the place. I laugh, knowing how much she had missed her best friend.

HWAYOUNG

"That's not fair, I won't let you go!" Jisung immaturely bangs his fists on the table. "Innie, one more slice of strawberry cheesecake here please," he momentarily switches back to his normal self to place his order. Jeongin shows him a thumbs up.

"Dude, that's your third serving," I say. I myself was having a celebratory slice of chocolate cake at his return. It feels like the only good thing that has happened in a while.

"I have a stomach for two, stop trying to change the topic," he says, giving me attitude.

"Our friend and colleague is kidnapped and most likely being held hostage there if not something worse. How could I not fly out?" I reason with him.

"Ugh, I know. It's just that we haven't seen each other in ages and the moment I reach here you're going out of station. Luck really isn't on our side," he groans. That was true.

"Enough chitchat guys, we have a flight to catch," Felix says as he walks out of the elevator.

"Already?" I ask. I wasn't expecting it to be so fast.

"I actually don't know. Changbin just said he booked our tickets."

"But what about my cheesecake~" Jisung whines. I look at him apologetically, wanting to stay back just as much as he did.

"I'm sorry Ji, we'll have to have it together next time," I say, going back upstairs with Felix.

"So good news guys, I got you both tickets on the next flight to Bali," Changbin tells us. "But it'll be in less than two hours so you really need to run home and pack just essentials. I'll arrange for clothes and other stuff there so take a hand carry only because we don't wanna waste time waiting for other luggage."

"You sounded like you were following this up with bad news," Felix remarks, suspiciously eyeing him when the corner of his lip tugs up in a smirk.

"The bad news is that the next flight was full except for a few seats reserved by a tour group. I somehow managed to shimmy your names into their guest list."

"Why is that bad news?" I ask.

"That tour group happens to be a honeymoon package so...happy married life Mr. And Mrs. Lee!" He cackles in glee and runs away.

"WHAT?" We yell in unison.

"COME BACK HERE YOU BRAT!" We chase him down the office, earning several confused looks and a reprimanding from the Captain.

"Hey, don't blame me! You wanted to get there as fast as you could!" He defends himself when Felix grabs him by the back of his shirt and stops him in his tracks.

"I...Ugh, I don't even have anything to say," I start, but end up at a loss for words. He looks at both of us for a moment and starts laughing again.

"What now?"

"It's just that...you two are so pink right now it's so cute," he says, pinching our cheeks. My eyes go wide.

"It's the running," Felix justifies and I agree with him, nodding hastily.

"Sure, I believe that two physically fit detectives go pink with exhaustion after running a few meters around the office," he sneers, earning a smack on the arm by both of us.

"Oh shit, I totally forgot the flight!" I suddenly realize, even though we were fighting about it right up till now. "We need to get our things."

"Hurry! You don't have much time. I'll arrange a driver by that time."

Bali, here we come.