It was from Kang Myeong Suk, who was able to free himself from the wreck. He stumbled as he walked away from the vehicle, hobbling on one good foot, in another desperate attempt to flee. However, the authorities were able to spot him amidst the mayhem right away.
“Kang Myeong Suk!” Tae Pyung yelled as he aimed his gun at the man, along with the rest of his team. “Put that gun down!”
Momentarily, Kang Myeong Suk stopped in his tracks. Then, with staggering steps, he turned to face Tae Pyung, who was standing just a few meters away from him.
“I said put that gun down!” Tae Pyung repeated.
Kang Myeong Suk slowly put his quivering hands up in the air, petrified and disconcerted, while his right one was still clutching the pistol.
“Stop now, Kang Myeong Suk,” Tae Pyung said in a calm voice. “Don’t make it any worse for you.”
As the man lowered his weapon in a long-drawn-out manner, Tae Pyung gave a subtle signal to his team to hold their fire. But instead of dropping the weapon, Kang Myeong Suk took advantage of the transitory calm between him and the police and grabbed someone as hostage: an eight-year old girl who — by some miracle — was able to get out of and was crouching beside a totaled sedan, weeping and begging for help for her mother who was still stuck in the upended car.
“Do you think I am stupid!?” Kang Myeong Suk screamed at Tae Pyung, distraught and obviously out of his mind, as he locked an arm around the girl’s neck while his other hand held the gun at her temple. “I’m not going to let you lock me up! If you try to take me, I’m going to blow this child’s head off!”
“Kang Myeong Suk!” Tae Pyung bellowed. “Let the girl go! This is between you and the authorities!”
The man let out a long, theatrical laugh, then yelled, “No! This will not be the end of me! I planned —”
Someone fired before he even finished talking.
It was Kyung Won, who hinted at the girl to duck while Kang Myeong Suk was preoccupied with his dialogue, therefore finding a good angle for him to take a shot at the man’s shoulder. One of Tae Pyung’s men immediately went to catch the girl as she ran away from the culprit, who stumbled backwards at the impact and eventually fell on his behind.
“Kang Myeong Suk, you are under arrest,” Tae Pyung said as he knelt beside the man to cuff his hands and read his rights, his voice cold and apathetic. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”
Kang Myeong Suk looked straight into Tae Pyung’s face — still taunting — then turned his head to spit at the ground beside him.
As two other policemen approached to lift the culprit up to his feet, Tae Pyung went to check on Kyung Won, who trembled as the effects of the ephemeral blood rush waned. He tapped his buddy’s shoulder, his subtle way of telling Kyung Won that he had done well.
Soon afterwards, Tae Pyung went to stand at the side of the bridge and leaned on the railings, exhaustion and anxiety finally caving in. He hung his head down and closed his eyes, thanking the heavens for giving them a bit of luck when Kyung Won fired that miraculous shot and succeeded. Then, he took a long, deep breath as he allowed waves of relief to wash over him, thinking that the long night had finally come to an end.
“Kim Tae Pyung!”
His eyes flew open as he heard Eon Jin’s voice and almost by reflex, he lifted them to search for her face in the chaos.
In a split second, his world turned upside down as Kang Myeong Suk tackled him full on, causing the two of them to fall over the railing and plunging to the river headfirst.
Eon Jin bolted towards Tae Pyung without giving it any thought in an attempt to save him, albeit it was already too late. Stunned, she watched as his body hit the water surface with a loud splash.
“Kim Tae Pyung!” she shouted out to the river below, hoping against hope that the man will resurface when she called his name.
A minute or two passed without any movement.
“Aish! I told you not to do anything stupid!” she screamed out of frustration, scolding like usual as if Tae Pyung could hear her underwater.
Likewise, Tae Pyung’s team dashed towards the edge of the bridge to check on the two men.
“All of you, get down to the river bank now!” Kyung Won yelled at them, his eyes glaring at the dark water below in pure disbelief.
Eon Jin, who was still standing at the edge of the bridge, grew impatient as each second passed without any indicator that Kim Tae Pyung survived the fall. Her fingers dug into the cold metal barrier while her teeth latched on her lower lip like it was a lifeline.
Then, against whatever logic remained in her, she climbed the railing and dived into the river.
She opened her eyes the moment her entire body submerged into the frigid water, immediately starting her search for Tae Pyung’s body. Nevertheless, it proved to be a ludicrous attempt as the dark of the night made everything underwater pitch black. She swam away from the bridge’s shadow, but not altogether leaving the area where she last saw him, going in circles as she felt blindly beneath the water’s surface.
Where is the moon when you need it? she thought.
And by the grace of the powers that be, the clouds rolled by, allowing the moon to cast light upon the river.
Eon Jin snickered, making no effort to conceal her distaste at the divine mockery, then plunged her head back to the water. She came up for air after one solid minute, taking a lungful, then dived again.
It was during this attempt that she found Tae Pyung, drifting unconscious beneath the water. She propelled her body towards him, reaching out to grab onto his arm and pull him closer.
Fortunately, in a matter of minutes, Eon Jin was able to drag Tae Pyung out of the water and towards the safety of the river bank. How she was able to do it with a physique like hers was something she credited to sheer luck.
“Hey, Kim Tae Pyung,” she said in between short, quick breaths.
When he did not answer, she gently tapped on his pale cheek which was already cold to her touch. She swiftly leaned closer and angled her head towards his chest, her hands subtly shaking Tae Pyung by the arms. Her eyes widened with alarm when she heard nothing — neither a beat nor a breath — which prompted her to do CPR at once.
With arms straight and fingers interlocked, she pressed into Tae Pyung’s chest, pumping in a steady rhythm for thirty times. Then, she tilted Tae Pyung’s head, granting her full access to his open mouth. She covered it with her lips, breathing into him all the air she drew into her a few seconds before, enough for his chest to rise, then pulled away.
She looked at Tae Pyung, lying in the damp grass lifeless, and lifted her hands to gently touch his cheeks.
“Breathe for me,” she whispered, her lips trembling with fear she never knew she had inside her all this time. “Breathe for me, Kim Tae Pyung.”
As if the purpose of his existence was to heed her every call, Tae Pyung compelled himself to open his eyes.
Photo by Aditya Vyas on Unsplash
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