Blaze

Persistence

~_____~

Lay raced ahead of the other two. It was a good thing passersby quickly dodged to the side upon his fast approach or else he would have blundered them over. He had his eyes glued onto the man's sun hat and promised himself not to let it out of his sight.

The streetlight of the road in front of him was just turning red and traffic ceased at once. Before Lay reached the end of the block he turned his head to watch the man dash across the street onto the opposite block and start running back the way he'd come. There wasn't really any time to see if Victoria and Chorong were still behind him, but with Victoria's speed he was sure she'd be at his back soon enough.

Without running any further he turned left and zipped through the crowd of cars before finally climbing onto the next block. The man in the sun hat wasn't too far off, but he was definitely at an advantage. Lay urged his feet to quicken his speed, but he was running out of breath. When he finally neared the end of the block the man was already halfway across the street toward the block he'd just left. If he was fast enough he'd be able to make it past the orange light. But before he made it into the street a car honked at him and he jumped back onto the walk surprised. His toes had been barely cut off.

A wild pant escaped him and he breathed exaggeratedly when he turned to see Victoria swarm after him. Chorong was slow on her tail. Lay watched the two of them disappear down the walk in front of him and leaned against the street pole to catch his breath.

~_____~

They were fast. Chorong felt her body grow weak when she tried to catch up to Victoria. It felt like she was chasing after Suho's car again. She was so tired and worn out already and the day wasn't even near its end yet. Her uneven breathing didn't help at all. Her kidney felt like it was going to explode from throbbing, but she couldn't stop. She didn't want to be told that she wasn't working as hard as the others. But the big fact was that she had no real experience in chasing the bad guys. She was just an assistant inspector called on site for observations.

She ran like that for a complete twenty minutes. Who was the man in the sun hat? Why was he so persistent in escaping them? Just what had happened between him and Victoria?

When Victoria turned around the corner again, Chorong finally stopped. She was suddenly sure she was experiencing some kind of heart attack as she sunk to the ground. The heart in her chest was palpitating so fast she thought she might die on spot. Chorong hated running. She finally remembered why she'd chosen to become an assistant inspector instead. Even though it required her to get up during the wee hours of the night, she didn't have to run.

Hanging her head back she felt her chest bounce up and down before footsteps approached her. An unintentional groan seeped through her lips when she saw Lay. She turned away as if hoping that he would just walk by without seeing her, but he eventually pulled her up to her feet against her will.

"Where's Victoria?" Lay questioned.

Still trying to catch her breath she refused to talk, so she shook her head furiously instead. Lay seemed to look around before he pulled her after him.

"Come on," he called.

Chorong made a face and whined quietly when he pulled her around the corner.

~_____~

"Where were you?" Suho shot up from the couch in the lounge when Donghae walked pass the entrance.

Donghae didn't turn to him, but the tension on his face was relevant. Suho chased him down the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Suho asked.

The door to the records room opened and Suho glanced up at the sign that read: Prohibited to highly authorized MIUs only. He hesitated before going in. Only those of such standard like Donghae's boss, Lee Suk Jin, entered the room stored with previous detailed records of missions. People like Lee Suk Jin were the ones who detailed completed assignments and passed them into government meetings to be officially declared as 'completed'. Then what was Donghae looking for in there?