The Tension Between Us

Angie had made an appointment with Rai. He was actually at an activity, so they only had time to meet briefly before Rai went to his own activity. Normally, they would have met at the place where they usually enjoyed a drink, but this time they met in front of the police station. Rai had warned Angie not to do anything strange.

"So, what kind of fuss have you made in my absence?"

The second the two of them met, Rai's expression turned deadpan. Angie just laughed, feeling very satisfied at her friend's annoyed expression.

"Relax, I didn't do anything."

"So now what? If you hadn't done anything weird, you wouldn't have insisted on meeting like this."

Angie reached into her jacket pocket and showed Rai the gold pin. "Here. Do you recognize the symbol on this gold pin?"

Rai's brow furrowed at the small gold pin. "Where did you get that?"

"That's not important. Let's just say, does this symbol look familiar?"

Rai gave Angie a skeptical glance. "Don't tell me you stole it from someone?"

"Hey, don't accuse! There's no way I'd do something reckless like that."

Rai laughed mockingly. "Isn't that what you usually do? I could get fired for having to save you from the police every time you act recklessly."

"Come on, Rai. Just tell me whether you recognize this symbol or not? It's very important for my continued life."

Rai sighed. In the end, he gave up and rummaged through his case notes to check if the symbol on the pin had ever been in one of his cases. Certainly, the symbol looked familiar. As soon as Angie showed him the pin, Rai immediately felt he recognized the symbol. But he was not sure if the sense of familiarity was really because he had handled a case related to that symbol, or because the symbol did not mean anything and was just a random symbol that was sold freely as an accessory.

Rai read his notebook thoughtfully. A few seconds passed and he widened his eyes when he recognized the symbol.

"How? Is it in your case notes?" Angie asked.

"Be honest with me, where did you get that pin?"

Angie frowned. "What? Why do you have that expression? Ah, so it's true that this symbol was in one of your cases, huh? Come here, I want to see the notes too."

Rai moved her notebook out of Angie's reach, making the woman growl angrily.

"Answer me first, Angie."

"Um, from a guy I met at the nightclub we used to go to."

Rai widened his eyes. "What the hell? You approached that guy?"

"It wasn't on purpose. I just felt attracted to him."

"Are you in love or something?"

Angie laughed loudly. "What the hell is that? In love? I'd rather die than fall in love."

Rai snorted. "Don't talk nonsense, Angie. Karma can come at any time."

"Ah, never mind. Just give me the information. Don't worry, I won't do anything dangerous."

Rai sighed. "That symbol belongs to an organization. I don't have any more information about it yet, but my superiors say that it's a dangerous organization. I heard that some important people in this country are working with them."

"You mean they're the mafia?"

Rai shrugged. "Apparently. That's why, quickly return the pin to its owner quietly and never deal with it again."

Angie grinned faintly. A mafia organization working with important people in this country, huh? Angie's interest grew even greater.

"Angie, hey!"

Angie looked up at Rai and smiled widely. "Thanks, Rai. I'll treat you the next time we hang out, bye."

Angie ran away waving goodbye.

***

"Come to think of it, I don't know where the address is," Angie muttered.

After she said goodbye to Rai, she quickly went to the area around the nightclub she always visited. If the man frequented the same place, it was possible he lived nearby. Angie would probably find him if she wandered around the area.

"Ah, I guess I'm out of luck today."

Unfortunately, after an hour of wandering around the area, there was absolutely no sign of the man. Angie stopped at a nearby food truck and bought a hot dog and a cold drink. Wandering around alone in this heat was exhausting. Angie devoured her hot dog while sighing repeatedly.

"Maybe I'll-"

Angie was startled and immediately hid. She intended to go home while finishing the rest of her cold drink. Just a few steps into her walk, the familiar figure she was looking for suddenly appeared. Just like before, she was alone.

"Haha, so lucky."

Angie grinned. She quickly finished her drink and threw the plastic cup in the nearest trash can. She hurriedly quickened her pace to follow where the man went. Angie tried to hold her pace so that her position in the man's position was not too close. Angie was used to following the object of her news when she was still working as a journalist at a well-known newspaper company. Following someone secretly was a very common thing for her.

The man continued to walk at a fast pace and then turned into one of the narrow alleys near the shops. Angie was a little hesitant to follow him into the alley. Rai's words that warned her a moment ago suddenly rang in her ears.

Angie took a deep breath. She checked the small sling bag she was carrying, making sure the folding knife she always kept hidden in her bag was still there.

"It's now or never," Angie muttered.

The deeper the man went into the alley, the more tense Angie became. The narrow alleys in the area were numerous. Normally, inside those narrow and dark alleys were a few hidden shops that sold goods that were not free to circulate. Of course, these shops were disguised under the pretense of selling alcoholic beverages or snacks.

Angie had to repeatedly hide herself between the narrow shop buildings in the alley every time the man stopped walking and looked over.

"That was close," she muttered.

Angie came out of hiding, but the man had disappeared. She cast her eyes around, but there was absolutely no sign of him.

" Shit, where did he go?"

Angie was just about to walk again when she suddenly sensed someone's presence. She held her breath as a cold, sharp blade pressed against the right side of her neck. A hard grip was also felt on her left arm along with a strong intimidating aura. Angie's body was pushed roughly into the alley wall. She could feel the sharp blade on her neck starting to slightly scratch the skin of her neck.

"Looking for me, huh?"

***