Special Investigation Team BTS 2

EP 19. The Truth About Aquariums After Closing Time (3)

연여주

"……."

My knees hurt, my abdomen hurts, my thighs hurt, my shoulders hurt. Even though I've clearly opened my eyes, I can't see. Judging by the rough feeling on my wrists and ankles, I'm bound with rope.

프시케

"Are you awake?"

The sharp voice ringing in her ears made her frown. Had Psyche brought me here? Unable to speak due to the cloth tied around her mouth, the heroine simply raised her head in the direction of the sound.

Had he been injected with a hypnotic? My body, which had previously been able to withstand five days without sleep, now felt sluggish. Still, after a few minutes of shut-eye, I felt more alert than before.

I should've slept for at least 30 minutes before coming to the police station. Being held in this state is a dent in my pride.

프시케

"The special investigation team members were really looking for you. I guess you've developed quite a bond in a short period of time?"

연여주

"……."

프시케

"Well, we'll meet soon, so just wait. Just know that this is a warning of sorts."

연여주

"…!!!! yep…!!!"

As Psyche finished speaking, someone suddenly lifted the heroine's body. She flinched violently at the sudden lifting, then kicked her chin with her uninjured knee. She fell to the floor with a thud.

"this…!!!"

프시케

"Take it easy and take it quickly. I won't be able to make it on time."

"……yes."

I tried to wriggle out of reach, but my hands and legs were tied, making it impossible. My eyes and mouth were also blocked, so I had to rely solely on my ears.

And just like that, with a thud, I lost consciousness.

정호석

“…Hyung. Don’t you think this is a bit strange?”

민윤기

"What? Come on, come on."

정호석

"No, I mean this wall. I think I've been hearing a humming sound since a while ago."

Hoseok cautiously spoke, leaning against the wall that wasn't an aquarium. Yoongi roughly wiped the sweat running down his chin with the back of his hand and joined Hoseok in placing his hand on the wall.

민윤기

“…I see. What, should I break it?”

Indeed, as Hoseok had said, a humming sound was heard. It was too irregular to be the sound of machinery, and too quiet compared to the surrounding sounds to be the sound of water.

Anyway, this place wasn't even owned by any institution anymore, but simply by a citizen. I had to think about compensation later and do whatever I could for now.

Hoseok, who understood Yoongi's words, looked around and came back with a fire extinguisher in his hand, saying he found something good. "You bastard, you brought a big one." Yoongi snickered at the bright-eyed Hoseok.

민윤기

"Excuse me, I don't know what's in there, but just back away. I'll break the wall. One, two... three!!"

Kwaak–!!

I grabbed the fire extinguisher and rammed it into the wall with the recoil. Contrary to my worries about a real wall, this was a false wall and could be easily knocked down.

Thin wooden planks fluttered through the air. They were the material used to form the partition wall. Hoseok, wondering what it was, poked his face into the wall first. As if he'd discovered something within, he snatched the fire extinguisher from Yoongi's hand and hurled it against the wall again.

Kwaak–!!

민윤기

"Hey, hey, what's wrong! This is all falling apart!!"

정호석

"There's someone inside!!"

민윤기

"…what?"

People. Unbelievable, Yoongi stopped Hoseok's movements and peered into the large hole. There were six people, crouching, seemingly frightened.

민윤기

"Are you okay? Why are you here?!"

“Please… please save me….”

정호석

"Jungkook, Namjoon. I think you all should come here. The one with the wall on one side."

김남준

—Why? What's wrong?

정호석

“There are… people here. About six of them. They don’t look well.”

김남준

— What, man? Okay. I'll be there soon.

Leaving Ho-seok behind, who was on the radio, Yoon-gi stepped into the inner sanctum. Stepping into the dimly lit space, a pungent smell assaulted his nostrils.

Feeling uneasy, Yoongi immediately raised his arms and covered his nose and mouth, then looked around.

민윤기

"……."

As expected. A sandbag hung from the ceiling, moving at a steady pace, dripping white powder from inside. Judging by the smell coming from the sandbag, there must be something inside.

정호석

"Okay, lean on me. Watch your step."

Before anyone knew it, Hoseok was inside, helping people out, and Yoongi cut the strings on the sandbags and helped Hoseok get the people out.

I don't know how long they've been in here, but judging by the fact that everyone is wearing short sleeves despite the chilly weather, they must have been here for at least three months.

전정국

"Brother! We're here. People? What the... were you in here for?"

민윤기

"Uh. I think we should take these guys and go out together. Seokjin hyung, can you hear me?"

Yoongi took off his coat and draped it over the shoulders of the person closest to him. He couldn't keep all six of them warm, but he hoped it would at least warm one person.

김석진

— Hey. Listen. Can't you leave your earphones on? You only turn them on when you need them.

민윤기

"The sounds are overlapping. It's complicated. Send an ambulance here. Tell them to bring enough space, because it'll seat six people."

Watching Namjoon, Hoseok, and Jungkook take care of the people, Yoongi walked toward the aquarium. Perhaps he'd been in such a breezy place, he felt uneasy.

민윤기

"Oh, and please bring lots of padding and warm water."

김석진

—Padding and water? Isn't it a bit too early to wear padding? And you went out wearing a coat.

민윤기

"Because of the people found here, not just me. Judging by the cold sweat, I think you're a little dehydrated. If you have time, bring a small snack."

with a plop-

민윤기

"……."

김석진

—What? A small snack? Something like that. Bread? Rice? Noodles?

Yoongi couldn't answer Seokjin's question. Something had entered the aquarium, where he had been staring at the blue water and small fish swimming.

Beyond the transparent window, something is clearly visible. A person's eyes and mouth are covered with black cloth, and their hands and legs are tied with rope...

김석진

— Ah. Can't you hear me? Hello? Min Yoongi. Why aren't you answering?

민윤기

"...Yeon Yeo-ju."

김석진

— What? Why, suddenly, Ms. Yeoju,

정호석

"Huh? Hyung!!!!"

It's clear. The heroine was clear. Why was she in the aquarium? Why was she tied up like that?

As soon as Yoon-gi confirmed that the person inside the aquarium was Yeo-ju, he ran to the staff room he'd visited earlier while looking around the interior. Mannequins, red water, closed. If my guess was correct, Yeo-ju was...

민윤기

"……Yeon Yeo-ju!!!!!!"

It was dangerous.

with a plop-

The heroine, suddenly plunged into the water, struggled before even grasping the situation. Instinctively, she shut her mouth to keep the air in as much as possible, and shook her body as hard as she could to remove the cloth covering her eyes... but it wasn't enough.

연여주

"……."

The fish, which had been gently brushing against my body, moved strangely. They all seemed to be swimming in the same direction.

Regardless, the heroine struggled as best she could. Enduring the pain in her knees, she used her buoyancy to propel her legs back, and somehow managed to move her tied fingers to free the ropes that bound her legs.

연여주

“…Ugh!”

I had untied the ropes that bound my legs, and now I was trying to untie the ropes that bound my hands. My shoulder, where my high heels had just struck it, was aching terribly. It was hard to untie myself because it was tied behind me… Even as I did that, my body continued to sink.

Swish–

연여주

"…!!"

In an instant, a chill ran through my body. Its size was incomparable to that of any small fish. I could sense it even without seeing it. It was… a shark.

As Yoon-gi walked, looking at the map, he remembered the words he'd been muttering to himself: mannequins, red water, closing time. He'd probably said them knowing Yeo-ju wouldn't hear, but Yeo-ju, with her keen senses ever since she was little, heard them all.

Mannequin, red water, closing time, and shark. When I combined these four words, a scenario unfolded in my head. A shark would devour a human at closing time, its blood splattering to create a reddish water.

I don't know the details, but I get the gist of it. Yeah, I get it... but what's the point of knowing that now?

His legs were relaxed, but his hands, eyes, and mouth hadn't. He was breathing intermittently, and now he didn't have much time left.

Suffocate to death, or become shark food? Are there only two outcomes?

Swish–

연여주

"……."

The shark approached again, swiping past my body. Suddenly, I remembered something my boss had said in passing. It had something to do with sharks…

"Lady. When a shark spots its prey, it doesn't eat it right away. It circles around it, threatening it with terror. Finally, if the prey can't find a place to escape… ."

"Snap!! I'm getting bitten. From now on, Yeoju must become someone like that fearsome shark. That's how she can survive here."

연여주

"……."

Sharks, what the hell. I look like I'm about to be eaten.

The heroine bit her lip through the fabric and fiddled with her left hand, which was bound by rope. It was frustrating for a right-handed person to lose the use of her right arm, but she didn't give up.

He lifted the jackknife at his waist and held it vertically. Then, placing it between his left and right hands, he gently scraped the rope, swinging his wrist from side to side.

I felt a stab in my hand, perhaps because I'd misplaced the water, but I couldn't stop. As I focused my hearing and the flow of the water, the shark…was approaching.

연여주

"……Ugh."

I was cut not once, but twice. I braced myself against the rope, keeping my weight on my waist in case the shark got close enough to untie me. I could always kick back. This was the best I could do.

I felt myself sinking lower and lower as I hunched over, my center of gravity on my waist. Hurry… hurry, cut it off… I felt unnecessarily anxious.

The current shifted, the current shifted. I felt a shark approaching. It was a hunch. A hunch that had never been wrong before.

I stopped cutting the rope and hunched over even more. I was ready to kick him if I had to. Just then, I waited for the pain to come, biding my time.

with a plop-

Another person came into the aquarium.

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