Sweetheart (Minsung)

48. Stabbed

TW: Fighting.

***

Detective Chan Yeol stepped through the broken door, careful not to let his clothes catch on any of the broken wood. He moved the gun around the dark building, eyes darting around for any sign of movement.

He stepped slowly on the creaky floorboards, heading towards the broken staircase. He grabbed the torch from his pocket and aimed it at the floor, lighting the dangerous path. He stepped up on the first step and reached up to lean against the fourth step.

He pushes off his foot and lifts to balance, fear filling his mind when it bends slightly under his weight. Chan Yeol quickly jogs the rest of the way up the intact stairs and turns to face it as the last pieces crash to the floor.

He shivers at the sight of the wood poking up, trying not to think of the fact he could've been a kebab if he wasn't careful. He shines the torch down the dark hallway and starts looking around, soon pushing on an open door.

Through it he finds a messy apartment like area. Broken plates and glasses scattered around the kitchen, pillows chucked everywhere, and the couch stabbed in what looks like a fit of anger. The TV was on the floor in front of what he assumed to be the cabinet it sat on.

Walking into another room, Chan Yeol was met with a bedroom. Bed sheets in disarray, lamps knocked over, clothes chucked all over the place. He sighs and exits the room, not finding any clues to where the two he was looking for could be.

As he starts to think of a way to safely get off of the second story, a door downstairs catches his eye. The wood had been hit until a visible dent was formed in the middle, but it appeared the lock had stayed strong. With no other ideas he carefully climbs over the banister and falls down, dropping and rolling when he hit the floor.

Chan Yeol stepped slowly to the door with his gun raised and pointed at it. When he reached it, he lifted a leg and started to repeatedly kick the dented spot in the door until it broke, and his foot fell through.

He pulled his leg back and stuck an arm in the hole, reaching around to unlock it from inside. He pushed it open and quickly returned both hands to his gun, holding it tightly as his torch showed the empty room.

All that filled it was a table in the corner and pieces of rubbish laying around. Chan Yeol walked through, doing a lap of the room to find any clues. He stopped moving when he heard a creak louder than the rest.

Below was a few normal wooden boards with slightly larger gaps between them. Curious, he squatted down and used his fingers to pry a board up slightly. To his surprise a chunk of three wooden panels on the floor flipped open, revealing the abyss below.

He smiled to himself, happy to finally find a clue. Without hesitation he dropped down.

The blackness surrounded him, intensifying the feeling of emptiness from the building above. In one a direction a very faint speck of light caught his eye. He started towards it, the light growing bigger as the minutes went by.

After what felt like hours for Chan Yeol, he reached the opening to a forest. He squinted at the sudden bright intrusion of light and breathed in the fresh air. Leaves broke beneath his boots as he walked further into the trees, not really sure where he was going.

He was just hoping to find something. Anything that would lead him closer to finding them. To finding revenge.

A laugh pulled him from his thoughts and he ducked behind a bush. Just meters away were the criminals he was looking for. Skipping through the trees as if everything was perfect and they weren't murderers.