Dark Blue - 深蓝の魂 by 珊


Chapter 29

Li Ann stood still frozen with terror as Andy held still with his gun pointed to her neck. She knew he wouldn’t stop if he was going to shoot her the next second. Her eyes stared straight into his, looking at his clean-cut face, seeing Mike walk up behind Andy.

For a moment she forgot why he was there. She couldn’t speak as everything seemed to be like a dream. Her heart was pounding faster than she could think when Mike slowly put his hand around Andy’s gun and suddenly yanked it from him.

“What the...” Andy thought he had accidentally dropped the gun. Without warning, a kick from Mike was directed towards his abdomen, followed by a punch to the face.

The main door flushed open as Eric and his crew came storming in with their guns aimed straight ahead of them. The entire room was now confiscated with four different groups.

Hwanhee grabbed the laptop and pulled out his shiny black caliber while Hyesung slowly walked backwards behind his men, ducking for cover. The entire warehouse became a wild rampage of men running around with guns, shooting aimlessly at one another.

Dahye suddenly yanked her wrists from the rope that she was bound with and worked on Li Ann’s knot. She cursed out loud as she kept fumbling with the knot. Slowly, the knot began to loosen.

Junjin had managed to struggle to his feet. Ignoring the pain ripping in his arm, he grabbed the rope that tied Mary’s hands and quickly unworked them.

“This way!” Junjin shouted as he followed Li Ann, Dahye and Mary out the little exit nearby, trying to dodge the flying bullets.

Another unseen force struck Andy in the jaw, knocking him down. He picked up his gun and started to wildly shoot into the air, hoping to hit whatever was attacking him.

“Put your weapons down!” Eric shouted. Hyesung pulled out a gun from one of his men’s grasps and aimlessly shot at the group of cops, while Andy’s men fought for cover. The surroundings weren’t so easy to hide, due to the room that had been cleared out earlier.

The exit that Junjin led them through came to a dead end, stuck between a door that was jammed tightly and the other side full of danger.

“Shit!” Junjin cursed as he grabbed his arm, which was now more painful than ever. He searched desperately for a way to open the door that was still jammed tightly.

“Shit shit shit.” He looked back at the three other girls, then back to the door, unable to configure a way out.

“Move,damn it,” Dahye suddenly said with a slight shove to Junjin. She took a deep breath, then threw a hard kick at the door. It shuttered noises as the weak walls moved, but the door didn’t budge. Dahye kicked again, and didn’t stop until the knob of the door nearly fell out of its place.

Inside the large warehouse room, the conglomerated situation caused confusion between Andy and Hyesung’s men, whom were all dressed the same way in black suits. One didn’t know of the other, nor what side they were from.

Like a conflagration, Hyesung’s men stirred and turned on each other. More police force poured from outside as Eric’s backup arrived. They surrounded the building firmly, corresponding to the situation Eric was in.

Eric leaned against a wall where it blocked him out of view from Hyesung as he gave what was left of his men countenance to continue their shootings. He looked around the scene. Hwanhee was missing.

A shout tore from Andy as he lost all senses. Not know what or who was against him, an invisible force that rapidly beat him, he grew frustrated and scared. He was in destitution for anything to help him while he still had time.

Brian remained silently still in his crouched position as he stretched his hands and cracked his knuckles. At the right time which he knew, he turned to see Hwanhee making his way out of the warehouse through a secret passageway. Brian knew what his intentions were. Even if he had no reasons with Hwanhee, he couldn’t let the man get away. Brian found the man despicable.

Before Hwanhee could make it past Brian, something lurched at his knees, tripping him over. Hwanhee fell over his laptop, which cracked in half. Not caring much about it, he picked himself up, then reached for his gun.

A hand, obviously of a male, picked up the gun before Hwanhee could. He looked up to see the young man around his age holding the gun securely, pointing it towards him. Brian wondered why Hwanhee was looking at him like he was crazy. Reasonably because Brian was in a suit, and Hwanhee had never seen him before.

“Who the hell are you?” Hwanhee asked with a low growl in his voice as he stepped back from Brian.

“Nobody you should know of,” Brian returned.

“Put your hands up!” Tony appeared from the door as he pointed his gun at Hwanhee, who was standing alone. Hwanhee threw his hands above his head in equanimity and glanced back at Brian, but found nobody. It was just him and the cop.

Junjin helped Dahye push against the door. This time, it surprisingly gave way with Junjin nearly landing hard into the ground with the force he put in. Mary helped him to steady ground and towards the officers nearby.

Li Ann followed last, but suddenly remembered one thing. She turned around and ran back towards the warehouse room. She didn’t know what she was doing back there. It wasn’t an escapade she was playing, but the feeling that Mike was still back there led her into the room.

The firearms had been laid down with a bullet in Hyesung’s leg. Most of his men were either dead or caught, and Jae Won slightly injured. Andy remained in hand cuffs as he saw Li Ann from the far side of the wall. She only glared back with a merciless look.

“Mike?” Li Ann quietly called out, hoping he’d pop out of somewhere to surprise her.

“Miss,” a voice provoked her from behind. She spun around to see Eric.

“I’ll need you to go to town with me to testify as a witness,” Eric explained. Li Ann merely nodded as she worried about other things instead; she worried about where Mike was.


With less than a few minutes on Brian’s watch, he literally dragged Mike out. Holding a tight grasp on Mike’s shoulder, he didn’t know how Mike had suddenly pulled away.

“I have to go back!” Mike shouted in argument against Brian.

“No, we’ve done enough, and if you don’t hurry, you’re gonna end up–...”

“I know! Just let me go back to say goodbye,” Mike interrupted. His eyes were focused onto Brian’s with his jaws clenched, and for a second there, he could actually see that Brian’s eyes had a bit of green in them.

“Sorry, can’t.” Brian looked at his watch as the minute hand moved up a notch. “You can’t.”

Ignoring Brian, he broke away and ran back towards the warehouse. Anger and confusion erupted his mind as he was suddenly in a place unknown, a place he’d never seen.

Moving across an empty field, Mike shielded his eyes from a bright light that began to form around him. The wind picked up an increasing pace as the world around them spun, making him more transparent than ever. He could feel the wind goin through his body as it began to decrease. Then he could feel no more.

His head began to throb with an undeniable pain, wrecking his soul. Claustrophobia set in and his mind began to stir. Where was Brian?

Water rose up to his neck, pulling him in, drowning him. He could feel the cold steering wheel beneath him, and his belt pushing against his chest to hold him to his seat. Then the water stopped.

He cringed as the white particles surrounding him lessen its pace and started floating off. He was suddenly unaware and mesmerized by them. Oddly, they unknown particles began to focus into view. His upside down position had been switched to horizontal, and he could move his eyes to blink at the white light.

Where am I? Heaven?

The endless beeping from a machine and the intoxicating smell of a place familiar invaded him. He could tell he was still alive, or at least breathing.

A soft touch was felt on his hand. Immediately, he grabbed what it was. A warm hand, he felt. He opened his eyes to wait for the image in front of him to come into view. He wished he hadn’t.

“Mike, honey, wake up,” Ji Yun’s soft voice spoke to him, soothing and comforting.

“Ji Yun? Wh...where am I?” Mike found his voice weak and his throat dry, as if he hadn’t drank anything in years.

“Mr. Lee?” He looked to the other side to see a female dressed in white with a clipboard in her arm. “I’m Alena Lee, your doctor.” A wedding ring sparkled off her finger.

“Where am I?” Mike asked again as he looked around now as his vision became clearer.

“You were in a bad car accident, and you’ve just woken up from your coma. You’re very lucky for waking up after only three weeks. Most patients don’t wake up for years.”

“What?” Mike found himself shocked to hear what had just came out of the doctor’s mouth. What struck him the most was the word ‘coma.’ He half wished he really did die, and remained half thankful that it was over. Ji Yun smiled at him as she patted his arm.

At the foot of his bed was Junjin, grinning at him. It could only be as Junjin returning from work once again; his entire attire was usual, and his hair ruffed from a long day’s work. His thoughts returned to what the doctor had been saying.

“I was in a coma? Where’s Brian?”

“You remember Dr. Joo? He’ll be back shortly,” the doctor replied explained.

“Brian’s a doctor?” Mike asked, confused.

“Yes.” She gave Mike an odd look. She turned to Ji Yun, “Patients that just woke up tend to think of people they saw in their dreams.” Ji Yun nodded in response.

“Mike, what did you see in your dream?” Dr. Lee turned to him and asked as she picked up a black inked pen from her pocket.

“I...” Mike thought for a moment. “I died.”

Alena’s eyes shot up, and so did Ji Yun’s. They were a bit surprised by his answer. The look Alena gave Mike wanted him to continue explaining.

“I died...I really did.” Mike’s voice grew quiet. He said no more.

Not wanting to pursue her task in asking about his dream, Alena wished him goodness and left to tend her other patients. She passed by Brian, who was talking to a registered nurse by the counter. He nodded and took a clipboard from the nurse. Alena smiled at him as she walked up to him.

“Patient in room 204 woke up,” Alena reported. Brian remained stunned for a minute.

“Already? Wow.” He nodded with a smile. “That’s wonderful, I’ll check up on him later. Thanks hun.” With a kiss to her cheek, he proceeded onwards to the opposite direction.

“How are you feeling man?” Junjin asked as he shook Mike’s arm carefully.

“I don’t know. Okay, I guess,” Mike replied, choosing his words carefully.

“Glad you’re alive. I have to run now, so I’ll check on you again later. I got a date with this really pretty girl named Mary. I'll come back later.” Junjin patted Mike’s shoulder before heading out, glad that after a long three weeks wait, Mike had finally woken up.

He lay quietly still on the bed, his mind locked in recaps of what had just happened. The two and a half weeks he’d been with Li Ann was all faked? And some how he knew of all the other things that happened, wether or not he was involved. Did he really have a niece named Dahye?

It felt like watching a movie...only that it was a dream; a dream real enough to be true. A dream of his life...the past? Or the future? The thought scared him. The questions confused him. So many remained unanswered. He remained at lost. He was afraid of the truth.

Ji Yun’s hold on his hand tightened. He finally realized she was still in the room with him. He looked at her face, beautiful and charming as ever. Light blush streaked her cheeks and her lips shined from the gloss she wore. Mike found her different. She smiled and leaned in to kiss him on the forehead.

“I’m going home to cook dinner for you, okay?” she asked softly to his ear. Ji Yun leaned back, but Mike didn’t let go of her hand yet. He only squeezed lightly back.

“Stay with me,” Mike whispered. Ji Yun slowly lowered herself down to the seat next to him. He wondered if Ji Yun had, or would really betray him.

His thoughts slowly drifted off back to Li Ann. What happened? Where was she? He wanted to see her.