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[Chasing lightning] - [Le sserafim]

With graduation exams just a week away, the air buzzed with a mix of anxiety and anticipation. During Physical Education class, the classroom, usually a hive of revision activity, lay abandoned. Students flooded onto the fields, seeking respite in physical exercise to break the monotony of their intense study sessions.

The form teacher, ever vigilant, had sternly cautioned against high-impact sports like tennis and basketball, fearing potential injuries to their already overworked hands. Instead, the students were confined to the less risky exercises of jump rope and jogging.

As they engaged in these activities, their laughter and chatter cut through the usual tension, providing a brief but welcome reprieve before they plunged back into their exam preparations.

Vienna jogged around the field, her thoughts wandered far from the game of badminton. She had veered into an isolated corner, a place where memories of the special youth and their peculiar encounter still lingered.

Approaching the edge of the field, she noticed a flash of white—a sleeve of a t-shirt barely visible beyond the school gates. Her heart quickened with surprise and an odd sense of elation. She dashed over, grabbing hold of the metal railings of the gate, her breath coming in quick bursts.

"Why are you here?" she called out, her voice carrying a mix of curiosity and relief.

Ni-ki's gaze was steady as he stretched out his index finger, lightly brushing against Vienna's. His touch was soft yet deliberate, and his voice carried a trace of warmth.

"I know you're in the middle of PE right now," he said calmly. 

Vienna nodded, a smile tugging at her lips despite her fatigue. "There are still seven days until the graduation exams."

Ni-ki's eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief. "I know."

Vienna's excitement grew as she continued, "If we count the days of the exams themselves, which are two full days, that means we could spend time together again after ten days!"

Ni-ki let out a soft chuckle, the sound almost lost in the hum of the afternoon. "We're already together every day, aren't we?"

Vienna's eyes sparkled with a mix of determination and affection. "And I don't want our time to end at all."

The afternoon sun cast a warm, golden glow through the rustling leaves above. Ni-ki's gaze lingered on Vienna for a moment longer before shifting past her to the figure now emerging behind her. His expression hardened subtly, a cool frost settling in his eyes.

"Someone's looking for you," he said in a low, measured tone.

Before Vienna could respond, Ni-ki had already slipped away, vanishing beyond the gates.

Vienna turned and saw Shotaro striding toward her, his purposeful steps cutting through the air with an urgency that made her stomach drop. If Shotaro was seeking her out at this hour, it meant something serious was at hand—far beyond the usual warnings about the ongoing threat.

She shook off the dust from her clothes and walked towards him, her mind racing with concern and anticipation.

Shotaro sat down on the sit-up bench beside Vienna, his gaze following her as she worked out on the elliptical machine. After a moment of silent observation, he finally spoke up, his voice carrying a hint of frustration, "Vienna?"

She glanced over, responding casually, "Yes?"

"Do you remember me telling you that you should come to me the moment you encountered any trouble?"

"I remember," Vienna replied, her focus remaining on the rhythmic motion of her legs, moving like the pendulum of a clock.

"But you never came to find me," Shotaro said with a short, bitter laugh.

"I..." Vienna hesitated, shaking her head slightly. "I didn't really face any... problems."

"None?" Shotaro's tone grew sharper, "Hana and her group were constantly bullying you. Why didn't you tell me about it?"

Vienna paused briefly, her eyes dropping to the machine beneath her. She resumed her steady, rhythmic motion, her voice carrying a note of defiance, "Even if I had confided in you... how would that have changed anything?" She threw the question back at Shotaro, her frustration evident in her tone.

The sun blazed down, casting its relentless heat over the field. Sweat trickled down Shotaro's forehead, his discomfort visible as he wiped his brow.

"What did they do to you?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"They insulted me and slapped me," Vienna replied, her tone flat.

"That's it?" Shotaro's gaze was fixed intently on her side profile, searching for something more.

The rhythmic motion of the elliptical machine came to a halt. Vienna turned to face Shotaro, her voice barely above a whisper, "What else do you think happened?"

Shotaro had a multitude of things he wanted to say, but Vienna's words left him feeling deflated, unable to muster a response. The school bell rang, signaling the end of Physical Education. Vienna hopped down from the machine and walked back toward the classroom, leaving Shotaro alone with his thoughts.

He trudged back to the police station, his heart weighed down by the relentless burden of the case. The usual bustle of the station seemed muted, the noise fading into a dull background hum as he approached his colleagues.

One of them caught his eye. "We've made a small breakthrough in Senior Yang's criminal profiling. Have you questioned the victim of the abuse yet?"

"Yes," Shotaro replied, his voice tinged with fatigue. "She refused to disclose what happened."

"And the residents around the area where the abuse occurred?"

"I've dispatched a team to investigate that area. We're still on the lookout for witnesses," Shotaro said, his exhaustion evident in his tone.

A brief pause followed. "Do you think this incident might be linked to Hana's death?"

Shotaro's shoulders tensed as he rubbed his face and neck vigorously, trying to stave off the overwhelming desire to uncover the truth. "I don't know," he replied curtly, his frustration palpable.

The need to understand the full extent of what Vienna had endured—and to unravel the mystery surrounding Hana's death—was consuming him. It was a relentless weight, pressing down on him, pushing him to the edge of breaking.

"And? What happens after you uncover the truth?" The question hung in the air, sharp and cruel. For Shotaro, this was more than a mere procedural query; it cut straight to the heart of the matter.

As a police officer, "uncovering the truth" often meant bringing the criminal to justice. But with cases involving abuse, especially when the offenders were minors, the consequences felt hollow and inadequate. The system's limitations gnawed at him, making the pursuit of justice seem like a Sisyphean task.

A surge of rage and helplessness boiled within him. "Why can't the law..."

"Shotaro! Control your emotions!" his team mate voice was a harsh whisper, urgent yet compassionate. "They're underage. What do you expect the law to do? Lock them all up? They're still children!"

"Being a child doesn't make them above the law!" Shotaro snapped back, his frustration evident. The conflict between his desire for justice and the constraints of the legal system was tearing him apart.

Shotaro's lips slowly curved into a bitter smile. Perhaps, he thought, humans are destined to grapple with their limitations.

There are moments when we must pour all our energy into achieving a goal, yet there are other times when we must confront the harsh reality of our own helplessness and the limitations of our efforts. Acceptance, he realized, was just as crucial as action.

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