•dark mode preferred•

Dark rooms, neon lights, thumping bass, and sweaty bodies. The club was bustling with life as the evening turned into a moonless night.

Above the dancing floor, a secluded VIP bar different from the pandemonium downstairs catered to the high-paying clients. Some of them here for pleasure, some for business and some like Detective Kim Namjoon to catch a criminal.

His sharp eyes skimmed over the fashionably and expensively dressed men and women, spotting for something out of ordinary. But the only thing out of ordinary was a middle-aged man sitting in one of the seats, his foot tapping restlessly. The man had asked for the police's help.

Mr. Ling was a businessman and like every other person, he had secrets. Secrets he didn't want the world to know. It wasn't anything illegal. Well, if you considered having multiple mistresses while being married illegal, then surely he was a criminal, but as of yet, Detective Kim had priorities.

His priority was a person named Mune. Namjoon couldn't even call Mune a person. The victims of the Mune always had different answers about their identity. Some said it was a man. Some said it was a woman. Some even said that it was a woman with a man's voice, while the others said vice versa.

No one was sure. Namjoon had the theory that it might be a duo of man and woman. The Mune had been the biggest worry for the police department because they had been targeting well-known businessmen and politicians, finding secrets and asking money in millions to keep their mouths shut.

They couldn't even figure out where they were getting information from but wherever it might be, and no matter how disgusting and disgraceful those secrets might be, if the person asked for help, the police would provide it.

Namjoon was best known for his destructive nature, destructive to whoever messed up with him. He was a part of the crime department and he had the opportunity to lead the mission today. If he got his hands on this Mune today, it'd be the biggest achievement for him, bringing him honour as well.

"Are you waiting for someone?" A voice asked from beside Namjoon, making him turn and watch a woman with bright pink, long hair sliding in beside him. His eyes took in every detail of the woman as she ordered herself a cocktail.

She had an oval face with tanned skin that seemed to have a golden glow to it. Her almond-shaped eyes were sharp and Namjoon was pretty sure she was wearing blue contacts. She has a small mole on the upper left side of her pink full lips that made her look even more unrealistic paired with the simple black dress she wore, with a thigh-high slit. Exposing enough skin to make any man fall on his knees in front of her.

Namjoon certainly found her attractive. He would have also offered to pay for her drinks if he hadn't been on duty. But he wasn't and he was definitely not going to let his hormones get the best out of him.

"Maybe," he answered, taking a sip of his gin and tonic nonchalantly. The woman smirked, sex appeal oozing out of her demeanor as she took a sip of her pink cocktail.

"Well, it doesn't look like you are looking for a bed warmer," the pink-haired woman purred, catching his reaction from the corner of her eye. She watched him discreetly checking her out, for the third time since she joined him at the bar.

"Are you?" he asked, watching the woman curiously.

She shrugged her delicate bare shoulders. "Maybe. If the man beside me does more than just checking me out."

The officer chuckled. "Sorry, lady but I don't do one-night stands."

"That's a white lie. No man that looks like you can resist the temptation." And as if on cue, the slit fell away as she folded her legs, one on the other, revealing the ruby red garter she wore.

She was dressed to seduce.

Namjoon gulped, the temptation catching him off guard. His eyes quickly darted to the bartender, who was an undercover officer himself. He was of no comfort to Namjoon however, as he was busy holding his laughter at his 'situation'.

Whoever said being undercover was fun...

He felt her small hand on his thigh, way higher than considered decent. It made the man gulp and shift in his seat uncomfortably. The pink-haired woman chuckled, removing her hand from his thigh.

"It looks like you really aren't interested in anything more than a drink." She tilted her head back, finishing her drink. "Anyhow, it was nice meeting you, Dimples."

She got up then, trailing her hand over his shoulder as she walked past him. "I'll see you around," she said, winking and getting lost in the dancing crowd.

Namjoon watched her go with his eyes narrowed. He didn't have a good feeling about this woman. If she really had been looking for someone to spend her night with, she wouldn't have given up so quickly. Especially after knowing that he had shown interest in her. She could have easily tried pursuing him a little more.

Unless...

The officer quickly turned in the seat, his eyes going towards the seat Mr. Ling had been occupying. To his complete displeasure, the man was missing.

Namjoon quickly tapped on his earpiece, trying to spot the rest of his men, who were currently out of his sight. "Mr. Ling is out of sight," he said, moving towards the direction the pink-haired woman had gone in.

"I repeat, Mr. Ling is missing. Look for a woman with pink hair and a black dress. Quick!" By now his steps had turned into a jog as he entered the lobby. Looking at both sides, he couldn't catch sight of any human being, except another officer who had entered the lobby just then.

Using his hands, he instructed the other officer to scout the left side while he checked out the right. Nodding at each other, the men quickly separated and started checking the VIP rooms which were all open.

Namjoon ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he opened maybe the fifth room, the last on this floor, and found it empty. Just when he thought he had lost his lead, he saw a flash of pink on the floor.

He rounded the corner and picked up the discarded wig. Looking forward, he also saw the pair of heels the woman had been wearing left there.

Seems like the woman was in a hurry but why would she even leave a clue like this. Everything was fishy.

The elevator dinged just at that moment. Namjoon ran towards it, only to find Mr. Ling leaning against the wall of the elevator. He looked exhausted, his face devastated.

"Mr. Ling! What happened? Are you okay?" Namjoon asked as he helped the older man come out of the elevator. He slid down the wall, leaning his head on the wall behind him.

"It's over, Detective. My money's gone but at least I'll be able to keep my secrets safe." Namjoon cursed under his breath, his hand messing up his hair even more.

"Who was it?" the detective asked, his tone serious as his sharp eyes looked around.

"I am not sure. It was dark and the voice sounded robotic. I'm not sure. It's over anyway," the middle-aged man sounded defeated but Namjoon wouldn't accept defeat so easily.

Leaving the man sagged against the wall, he decided to take the stairs. The trail of clothes did catch his eye but he knew it was a trap, a distraction. He sent a quick message to his team, telling them to seal all exits and keep an eye on the vehicles passing by. He had to catch this person.

If it was anyone else, they would have followed the clothes leading downstairs. Namjoon didn't know how they landed there but he was sure his target did not go down. He took two stairs at a time, climbing up as his heart started beating faster with adrenaline. He was so close to her and yet, he couldn't catch her.

It was almost as if his instincts were leading him. He didn't check any other floors and aimed only for the terrace. Four floors up, he grabbed the door handle and twisted it open. He had his gun by his side, the safety lock still on because they were ordered to catch Mune alive. Still, a gun is a gun and it is meant to scare.

He waited a moment as the metal door banged against the wall, the sound reverberating through the silence. His sharp eyes observed the view he had, his ears trying to pick up any abnormal sounds. When he found nothing suspicious, he stepped onto the terrace, his steps cautious and his gun pointing straight forward, held tightly in both of his hands.

He flinched when all of a sudden the door closed. He was quick to whirl around but not quick enough to avoid the baseball bat that hit his temple. A painful grunt left his lips just as his attacker cursed at missing their shot. Clutching the left side of his head, he looked up, trying to remove the haziness his eyes took on.

His hand raised, blocking the next hit his attacker attempted, taking the brunt of the bat on his forearm. It didn't hurt that much this time around and he was able to stand up straight to see a woman coming at him again.

This wasn't the woman he met in the bar.

As soon as he realised that, he had to duck again as the woman lunged at him. He went to grab her waist and tackle her to the ground but the woman beat him to it as she agilely twisted, catching him in her trap and elbowed him in his ribs.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, doubling over in pain and stepping back from the aggressive woman. In the midst of it all, she had lost her footing and had fallen on her back. Namjoon watched her face twisting in pain as she rolled over her back. Seeing his chance, he lunged at her, his hands going towards her arms to pin them down.

She grunted as his heavy body fell on top of her, pinning her to the ground and restraining her. He tried to flip her over, his gun still clutched tightly in his hand as he attempted getting the handcuffs from his back pocket. He had thought she wasn't a skilled fighter upto that moment, her dependence on her bat had been apparent but she surprised him yet again as her legs wound around his hips, her grip tightening painfully.

There was a moment, it seemed to slow down as his wide eyes met hers, her lips pulled in a brilliant smile as she pulled him down on her body with her grip on his hips. With a strength he wouldn't have imagined her to possess, she flipped them over, her strong thighs pinning him underneath her while her quick as lightning hands cuffed his wrists with his own handcuffs.

She sat up then, her pelvis pinning him harshly as she sat on his stomach. Her thighs tightened a little more as he started to struggle, a clicking sound making him stop. He saw her cocking the gun, his gun, which she pointed straight between his eyes.

"I wouldn't struggle this much if I was you," she let out, taking his ear piece out and switching it off.

"Who are you?"

"A magician," she answered with the same smile, her hands busy patting his pockets to find his wallet.

Meanwhile, Namjoon willed his mind to etch her features in his mind. The top half of her face was covered with a mask, only her lips and chin visible. But it would be enough to make a sketch. He also noted that she was of average height, average built. Her short hair in a tight pony and her body covered in all black combat gear, he didn't think she was inexperienced. The woman knew what she was doing.

"Detective Kim Namjoon, the infamous God of Destruction, detective of the crime branch. Fancy meeting you like this," she said, bringing his attention back to her in time to see her throwing his wallet away.

"I know it's your job to follow orders," she continued, her smile falling as she tilted her head to the side. "But you should at least check the background of the person you are giving protection to. Worthless pigs, they are."

"You got your money now. What else do you want, Mune?" he asked with a hiss, still struggling against his bonds but unable to do anything.

"This is not all about money, Detective Kim. You'll find out tomorrow morning. Till then, I hope you focus more on the women Ling has assaulted by calling them mistress. Damn nasty man. I wish I could just kill him but that's not really fun, is it?"

She pointed her gun between his eyes when she finished, the tip digging in his skin but he was more focused on the weight that lifted off his body.

"Gosh, if this had been an alternate universe, I would have loved to tie you like this but in a more comfortable place and preferably with less clothing included. You are hot, Mr. Kim," she said, her lips pulled up smugly as she saw a flush crawling over his cheeks and his eyes turning big when she winked at him.

In a flash, Mune was off of him and by the time Namjoon was on his feet, she was standing on the wall. His eyes widened once more, sweat gathering on his palms as he sputtered, "Wh-What the hell are you doing? Get down, Mune. You'll die if you jump."

"How cute!" she said, and looked down before looking back at him. "As much as I appreciate your concern, I really should get going. Your team should be here any moment."

As if on cue, the door rattled but it didn't open immediately. Namjoon looked at the door, the wheels in his mind turning as he glanced at the woman, her back now turned to him. His hands were still cuffed but his mouth wasn't.

"You'll get caught someday, Mune. Why not stop it right now?" he asked in a last attempt to get something out of her that could tell him who she was.

She turned her head just slightly and he saw a tight smile on her face, unlike the playful one he had gotten from her till then. "Why didn't they stop?" she asked, confusing him further. "Till next time, Detective," she sighed and jumped.

At the same time, the door flung open with a bang but Namjoon didn't flinch. He was too stunned to care as he ran to the edge and saw the woman lying in a bunch of card boxes piled up in the back of a van that quickly pulled away from the building. In the rush, he didn't miss the little salute she gave him, her lips pulled wide but her eyes filled with hatred and anger.

"Dammit, Kim! You are hurt," came his colleague's voice, just as he felt the handcuffs falling away. He sighed, he had been so close to catching her but her behaviour made him think...

The debriefing went on the whole night. Namjoon was utterly exhausted by the time he was done questioning Mr. Ling and the woman he had met in the bar. According to Mr. Ling, Mune was a tall person but their body and face were covered when they collected the bag filled with money. As for the woman, she was nothing but a hired help, a hostess who wanted the extra money.

His head throbbed and the wound on his temple stung. All he wanted to do was go home and hug his pillow while he slept. But it looked like the day had just started.

As the first rays of dawn filtered through the shades in the office, a team of five entered it, led by a short haired woman whom he had only seen during award ceremonies.

Song Bo-Ra smiled at him when he got up and forwarded his hand for her to shake. "Ah, Detective Kim Namjoon. I didn't really want to meet you like this but here we are." Pulling a folded paper out of her jacket pocket, she gave it to him.

"It's an arrest warrant for Mr. Ling."

"For homicide? I'm confused." And he truly was. But then, Mune's words made it back to him.

"This is not all about money, Detective Kim. You'll find out tomorrow morning. Till then, I hope you focus more on the women Ling has assaulted by calling them mistress. Damn nasty man. I wish I could just kill him but that's not really fun, is it?"

Is this what she meant when she said it? Did she know about his crimes already and had chosen to blackmail him with this information? Had Ling been lying to him?

"Ling has left a string of dead mistresses. Twelve to be precise from the age group of fourteen to twenty. Damn nasty man. Cho, go get him," Bo-Ra ordered her subordinate before she turned back to look at Namjoon and he was surprised by the anger in her eyes.

"I wish I could just kill him. Mistresses he called them. They were naught but girls. Fucking pedo." Namjoon noted her tensed body, barely holding her composure. His gaze fell down to her tightly clenched fists and her bloody knuckles.

In her designation, bloody knuckles and bruises were not surprising. Bo-Ra was known for her beat first, talk later attitude and no one dared get in her way because she got the job done quicker than anyone. But something in her voice...

"Nothing about the girls' ages came up when we investigated. How did you find out?" he asked, trying not to sound accusing. Something was missing here but he didn't want it to show just yet.

"We didn't," she answered simply, her fingers rubbing her forehead. "We got a package today and everything we had been searching for and did not find was in it. Mune sent it."

Her declaration had him freezing and everything made sense. Judging by the anger on her face last night, he was sure one of the girls must have been related to her. He had a lead.

With a renewed energy, he turned to Bo-Ra who was now scowling at the cuffed and chained Ling who would have to spend a lot of time in them now.

"Detective Song, do you have the list of the victims? I think I know how to find who Mune is."

The woman's eyebrow rose in interest, a smug smile making its way to her lips as she crossed her arms and cocked her hip to the side. "I have them and I can send it over to you but don't expect to find anything of significance. The girls are all orphans. Turns out their caretaker pimped them out to whoever gave him the most amount of money."

Namjoon's jaw clenched hearing that, his tongue poking his cheek as anger fired through him. The case just kept getting more atrocious by the minute.

But breathing his anger out, he said, "I would still appreciate it if you sent the file over. Anything is helpful right now."

Bo-Ra regarded him for a moment, silence stretching between them for long minutes before she shrugged and agreed to it. "I'll send it to you," saying that, she turned to walk away.

Just before she walked out of the door completely, she looked back and bit her lip seeing Namjoon who had visible stars in his eyes as he wrote something in his diary. Bo-Ra wondered how long she would be able to keep it hidden that she was Mune and she did what she did for her sisters from the orphanage. She had had no other choice because money was a dirty, dirty thing that kept getting in her way and if she hadn't donned the identity of Mune along with her partner, she would be the one shackled for Ling's murder.

At the end of the day though, Mune did what was necessary to bring justice to the innocent. Where the system failed, Mune didn't and even if she was called a criminal and locked away, others would rise.

Bo-Ra hoped, though, that Namjoon would be able to understand why she was doing it. Until then, she would keep on fighting. 

~~~~
A/N:

Requested by starislala about 2 years ago? Maybe? I don't honestly remember but I do remember that xe was the first one ever to request a oneshot for this book. The draft had been rotting till now.

I don't write thriller as much as I like to read and watch it but I tried.

Heavily inspired by the webtoon Purple Hyacinth and a little from the kdrama My name.

I hope you enjoyed this because writing this was truly fun. I had to perform the whole fighting scene to be able to write it and I hope it paid off.

Anyho, I'll stop here.

Thank you for reading ❤️❤️