The sound echoed again and quick footsteps across gravel.
Chae Min and Do Hyun exchanged a glance and rushed out of the apartment. The alley was dimly lit, the flickering security light barely illuminating the long, narrow path. A shadowy figure in a hoodie sprinted ahead, darting around a corner.
"This way!" Chae Min shouted.
But Do Hyun had already broken into a different path , a shortcut he noticed earlier while coming in to Chae Min basement. Moving swiftly and silently, he cut through the side alley and appeared just ahead of the fleeing figure.
In one quick motion, he lunged, tackling the person to the ground.
"Agh! That Hurts!" the figure cried out in pain a woman's voice.
Do Hyun's expression shifted. He quickly yanked back the hood and froze as a familiar face looked up at him, wincing from the fall.
A young woman with fierce eyes and disheveled hair , it was Ha Rin.
She blinked in confusion, then recognition dawned on her face.
"Oh…" she breathed, catching her breath. "It's the new student."
Do Hyun narrowed his eyes, confused.
"And who are you?" he asked, keeping her pinned.Just then, Chae Min came jogging up behind, breath ragged, eyes wide. He came to a halt as he saw the scene.
"Harin!" he called, stunned. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay put!."
Harin gave a cheeky smile despite the situation.
"Ha, Prof… you caught me."
"Prof! Ohh." Do Hyun said freeing Harin from his grip.
Chae Min sighed deeply, then crouched beside her.
"You followed me here?"
Do Hyun stood, brushing dust from his pants, eyeing Harin cautiously.
"You know her?"
Chae Min helped Harin to her feet and replied without hesitation, eyes still on her:
"She is one of my students and She's our next clue."
Do Hyun raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"You better start explaining."
"She is one of my students in class, you will know her well soon enough." Chae Min said as he started walking away to the location of the basement followed by Do Hyun and Harin.
As the three move in the dark alley, the city noise in the distance, it was clear .
The three of them started making there way to the basement and step into the dimly lit basement again. A single hanging bulb cast long shadows across the concrete floor. The air was tense laced with unspoken curiosity and cautious trust.
As they enter, Chae Min stop midway and turn,glares briefly at Do Hyun, then mutters:
"Wait you ask who is she when both of you were in my class together the whole time." Chae Min nodded in disapproval toward Do Hyun and Do Hyun stared at him wondering what he meant and then turned to Harin who was lost looking around her, then Chae Min said while looking away:"How would you not known when your eyes were glued to me the whole time?"
Do Hyun turn to Chae Min in surprise,traises an eyebrow with a half-smirk.
"I was watching your movements… not you."
"Watching my movement huh, I see" Chae Min said. Do Hyun replied :" What do you mean by that?"
Chae Min look by at Do Hyun :" What are you thinking?" Do Hyun smirks widely,then laugh :"You think am into a criminal! What a wild joke."
"You might be,you can never tell and then who would blame you? No one can resist my handsomeness." Chae Min said jokingly.
Do Hyun look at him in disgust :" In your dreams"
Harin, settling into the strange comfort of the moment, bursts into a laugh.
"You two…" she grins. "There's definitely something going on here."
"What?" both men snapped in unison.
"Are you… like, a couple?" she teased, biting her lip with amusement.
"NO!" they shout simultaneously. "Not in this life or the life to come" Do Hyun barked out.
Harin chuckles to herself, satisfied, and shrugs.
"Okay, okay. Chill. Just saying."
They make their way deeper into the room. Harin glances around, intrigued by the organized chaos , maps on walls, scattered notes, pins connected by red threads."Is this where you do your little secret killer operations, Professor? So Cool." she quips, walking slowly past a table stacked with old files.
Chae Min turned sharply, a darker tone in his voice.
"You remember what you promised me, Harin. I told you,do not get involved.You are not listening to me."
She doesn't reply. Instead, she flops onto a dusty chair like it's her own room and crosses her legs casually.
Do Hyun steps forward, arms folded.
"Alright, now we are all here. Now tell me how exactly is she the next clue?"
Chae Min sighs and begins to explain:
"Her father… runs a business front, but in truth, he was part of the underground a while ago. Kim Tae Won got hold of his criminal past. He's using the ledger to blackmail him into being his lapdog."
"And Harin wants the ledger to free her father," Do Hyun concludes, nodding in thought.
He paces for a moment, then turns to them with narrowed eyes.
"If Tae Won's power is rooted in these ledgers…, who knows how many he would have taken by then,if we can recover them, expose everything, he's done."
Chae Min slowly nods in agreement, jaw clenched.
Do Hyun then points directly at Harin, who was spinning lazily in the chair.
"Then we need her. Someone who can get us inside."
Harin's chair stops mid-spin.
"Me?" she asks, suddenly alert. "As in… I'm the plan?"
Chae Min immediately shakes his head."No. It is too risky for her and I don't want to get in trouble,we don't know how big this is and I can't do that,She's just a student. No ,I'm not dragging her deeper into this."
"She already is in it since she made her way to you," Do Hyun says firmly. "And she knows the players and their routines. The weaknesses. We'd be fools not to use that."
Chae Min hesitates.
Do Hyun walks to stand beside him. Their eyes meet silently debating.
Finally, both men turn to face Harin, their expressions now identical: oddly amused… and faintly sinister.
"Nope. I don't like that look," Harin mutters, scooting back in her chair.
"Seriously. Am I safe here? Or should I start running before you toss me in a spy outfit?"
They don't answer.
"I think It is best I better be leaving" . Harin said.
The camera pans in on their faces , two men planning a war and a woman caught in the middle.