The phone rang, shattering the silence of the winter night. Jasmeen was in a deep sleep. Both her body and mind were at their limit from exhaustion, so the sharp sound of the ringing phone did not easily wake her. The phone next to her was vibrating so intensely it was on the verge of falling off the table.
When the phone rang for the second time, Jasmeen reached out in a daze. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she looked at the screen. An unknown number.
Suddenly, her heart sank. This late at night, an unknown number? An unknown fear pricked her like a thorn. Taking a deep breath, she answered the phone.
"Hello?" Her voice was slurred with sleep, almost a whisper.
A brief silence followed on the other end. Then, a heavy, rough voice emerged, sending a cold shiver down Jasmeen's spine. The voice was unfamiliar, but there was a chilling authority in its tone.
"Is this Jasmeen Ma'am?"
It was not a question, but a definite declaration.
Jasmeen quickly looked around. The faint light of dawn had not yet entered the room; the surroundings were black. Her throat dried up with fear.
"Who is speaking?" Jasmeen tried her best to sound normal, but her heart was pounding like a drum.
"Oh, there's no need for introductions this late. Just listen carefully to one thing. Your Ji-han sahib... he won't be flying for much longer." The man laughed, and the sound was horrifying. "It doesn't take long to pluck a bird's feathers, Ma'am. And when the feathers are gone, do you know how easy the prey becomes?"
The words poured into Jasmeen's ears like hot lead. Ji-han! The man was talking about Ji-han! All of Jasmeen's sleep vanished in an instant.
"What do you want? Where is Ji-han?" Anger and urgency now mixed with fear in Jasmeen's voice.
"Calm down, Ma'am. We don't want anything from you. We just wanted to send a message. We want our 'property' back now. And if he doesn't return our 'property' himself, then the rules of the game will have to change. And that new game won't be pleasant for you."
The man didn't give Jasmeen a chance to say another word. Toot... toot... toot... The phone call was disconnected.
Jasmeen remained sitting with the phone in her hand. Her hand was trembling, and sweat was trickling down her forehead. 'Property'? What were they talking about? Ji-han... was he in danger?
Jasmeen quickly got out of bed. She felt that she needed to go to Ji-han right now. Immediately. Jasmeen quickly dialled Ji-han's number. Her entire body was still shaking violently. The cold sensation of sweat on her forehead was distinct. The phone rang once on the other end, and it felt to her as if a thousand years had passed.
"Hello?" Ji-han's voice answered. Calm, deep, but with a slight weariness. He probably hadn't been asleep.
Jasmeen tried in vain to manage a weak smile. No sound would escape her throat. Gathering herself with great difficulty, she finally spoke, "Ji-han... how are you? Are you alright?"
The question was not simple, but a desperate inquiry. For a moment, she forgot all her fear, wanting only to be sure that Ji-han was safe.
Despite the calm surroundings on the other end, Ji-han's sharp ears immediately caught the slightest tremor in Jasmeen's voice. His mental alarm bell went off. People in his world do not call this late just to check in, especially not Jasmeen.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine, Jasmeen," Ji-han replied slowly and deliberately. His eyes were scanning the room, trying to find any danger lurking in the depth of the silence. "But... why do you ask like that? What happened, Jasmeen?"
Ji-han's question was enough to break Jasmeen's resolve. She closed her eyes. The sounds of the phone threat echoed in her ears again— 'We want the toy back now.'
She couldn't put Ji-han in danger. She couldn't impose her own fear onto him. At this moment, she had to stay normal.
Jasmeen took a breath. Forcing a firmer tone, she said, "Oh, nothing... I just suddenly woke up, so... I thought I'd call."
Despite her desperate attempt to sound normal, her tone came out slightly too hurried. Ji-han offered a slight smile from the other side of the phone— not a genuine smile, but a tactic to hide deep concern.
"Suddenly? This late? You don't usually call so easily." Ji-han knew her too well. "Jasmeen, tell me the truth, is there a problem?"
Jasmeen sat down on a corner of the bed. Her eyes welled up with tears, but she would not let Ji-han know it. She was unaware that Ji-han was also sitting on the other side of the phone, on extreme high alert.
"No, Ji-han. I'm telling the truth, nothing happened. I should go back to sleep now. Good night."
Ji-han wanted to say more, but Jasmeen cut the call. She quickly put the phone down, as if holding it would cause her to burst into tears.
As soon as the call ended, Ji-han sat motionless on his bed. His eyes glowed in the darkness. He knew, 'nothing' means 'everything'. Jasmeen had sensed danger and was lying to protect him.
Ji-han picked up a satellite phone next to him. He dialled a specific number.
"Don," his voice was now as cold as steel. "Notify my people. Action mode. And... double the security where Jasmeen is right now. No one is to come near her. And... yes, find out. Who called Jasmeen this late?"
As soon as the instruction was given, Ji-han called his trusted assistant waiting outside his chamber.
"Prepare the car. We are leaving now." A frigid determination was in Ji-han's eyes. "Let the game begin."
Jasmeen put down the phone and panted. She had lied to Ji-han, and the burden of that lie now weighed on her chest like a mountain. She knew she should have told Ji-han about her anxiety, but she didn't want to seem weak at that moment.
To distract herself, Jasmeen got out of bed. To relieve her restlessness, she took out a favourite new night dress from the wardrobe. She put it on and looked at herself in the mirror. Her inner fear was slightly suppressed, at least.
With a sigh of relief, she picked up her smartphone again. On a whim, she took a casual selfie in the night dress. She quite liked the picture. Without much thought, she posted the picture on Instagram—just to show her friends, to divert her mind. The caption was just a night emoji.
Notifications started coming in within two minutes of posting. Ignoring a few likes and comments, Jasmeen was checking her feed. Suddenly, she saw a new notification—a Direct Message (DM).
She usually avoids messages from non-followers, but this message had a strange, unfamiliar profile picture and the ID was some inscrutable Russian letters. Curious, she opened the message.
The moment she opened the message, Jasmeen's body froze. The characters on the screen were all unfamiliar—the Russian language written in Cyrillic script!
She quickly copied the text and pasted it into a translation app. The translation appeared on the screen—cold and terrifying.
"The picture is beautiful, alluring. But you don't have time for dressing up anymore. Your 'bird' is now entering the cage. Be ready. We are coming."
The message included a date and time—exactly two hours from now! And along with it, a vulgar, frightening laughing emoji.
The phone in Jasmeen's hand was about to drop. This message came right after posting the picture on Instagram! This meant someone was tracking her! Every step, every moment—everything was under someone's watch. This message was not just a threat; it was certain proof of her location. This message had penetrated her security barrier!
Who were these people? How did they find her location so fast? Was Ji-han truly in danger?
Jasmeen did not dare waste another moment. She quickly deleted the post from Instagram and switched off her phone. She was sure that even telling Ji-han wouldn't be enough now; she had to do something herself. But what? Jasmeen quickly stepped out of the room. Only one thought in her mind: don't run, find out. She could not believe that someone could track her like this, even with such tight security. Her eyes went to the roof. Perhaps she could get a better view of the surroundings from there.
There was no time to change clothes or hide. She just threw on a dark jacket over her night dress and silently climbed the stairs to the roof. The roof was dark, shrouded in the heavy fog of the winter night.
In one corner, a high-power telescope, Ji-han's hobby, was tied to an old tripod. Quickly setting up the tripod and slightly adjusting the focus of the telescope, the distant buildings became clear before her eyes.
Jasmeen intently scanned the surrounding tall buildings, parked cars, and alleyways. Her heart was racing. No, nothing suspicious caught her eye. Everything seemed normal, calm. She was just about to feel a slight relief.
Right at that moment, a voice came from very close by, right behind her. The voice was deep, cold, and extremely quiet, like the friction of some metallic object.
The language of the voice was that unfamiliar Russian.
All the blood in Jasmeen's body froze for a moment. She couldn't move, as if her feet were cemented to the floor. She realized that someone had broken through her security perimeter and was standing right behind her.
Then, that voice began to sing. A melancholic tune sung in Russian—like lyrics leading a hunter to its prey. Jasmeen knew the translation of these lyrics from the app, but she didn't need the meaning of the song right now. The melody itself was terrifying enough.
As the man sang, his voice became very low and soft.
"Я знаю, я знаю... Я тебя нашел." (Ya znayu, ya znayu... Ya tebya nashel.)
"I know, I know... I have found you.")
Addressing Jasmeen, the man then whispered right next to her ear in pure English—a shiver ran down her spine:
"I know, I know... Ma'am. Don't try to lie to Ji-han on the phone. He is busy with his work now. And you? You are his weakness, which is now in our hands."
Just then, Jasmeen gathered all her strength. Ji-han's teaching! Don't panic, take action!
She threw the telescope tripod fiercely behind her. As the tripod hit the man, there was a harsh noise. Taking advantage of this, Jasmeen ran at full speed towards the other end of the roof, where an iron ladder led down.
But the mafia man was not one to give up so easily. Jasmeen knew that running away was no solution. She knew Ji-han had taught her how to keep a cool head in moments of extreme danger. Her hand went into her jacket pocket. There, always, a small 9mm pistol was hidden—a gift from Ji-han.
While running, Jasmeen abruptly pulled out the pistol. She didn't know if she should shoot, but she had no other option now.
She suddenly turned around, aiming the weapon at the man's supposed position in the darkness, ready to fire.
A moment before firing!
The tall, blonde-haired mafia man lunged at Jasmeen with incredible speed. His movement was as quick as a tiger's, difficult to track even in the dark.
Before Jasmeen's finger could squeeze the trigger, the man rushed towards her and fiercely gripped her pistol-holding hand. Jasmeen winced in pain, but her grip did not loosen.
The man's face was now right up close to Jasmeen's. His eyes gleamed, and his blonde hair shimmered even in the dark. His strong arms wrapped around Jasmeen like iron.
The pistol remained static between their hands.
The man exhaled, his warm breath hitting Jasmeen's ear. His voice whispered once more, now in —a mix of total caution and coldness:
"Shhhhh..."
Then, quickly and with a Russian accent, he spoke into Jasmeen's ear:
"It's not time, alluring one. Your Ji-han is busy. And I came to take you, not to harm you. Not unless you make me."
The man applied slight pressure, and the pistol was wrenched from Jasmeen's hand and clattered away into the dark. Jasmeen tried to free herself, but escape from the man's muscled hold was impossible.
Just then, intense light illuminated the rooftop from all sides. It was as if daylight had flashed through the night's darkness.
A helicopter sound!
No, it wasn't just light. A heavy military helicopter was roaring down overhead. Powerful searchlights shone directly onto the two of them.
Ji-han! He had come!
Ji-han, not after finishing his work, but suspicious of Jasmeen's 'nothing' remark, had already prepared his high-speed security team. Right after Jasmeen cut the call, he dispatched his private team to the area.
The blonde-haired man was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected Ji-han to take action so quickly and with such a large team. Using a helicopter in this area was an extreme military tactic of Ji-han's.
The man understood—his time was up. He shoved Jasmeen onto the floor and tried to quickly disappear into the darkness along the edge of the roof.
Ji-han's special team members quickly rappelled down from the helicopter. Their goal was not Ji-han, but to protect Jasmeen and capture the assailant. As Ji-han's team members were rappelling down, the blonde-haired man, with unbelievable agility, vanished along the edge of the roof. He knew that a direct confrontation at this moment meant certain death. He had only come to deliver a message—the job was almost done.
The first security officer to descend from the helicopter (code-named 'Falcon') quickly rushed towards Jasmeen. Jasmeen was still kneeling on the floor, breathing rapidly.
"Ma'am, are you alright?" Falcon asked, his automatic rifle aimed cautiously around.
Jasmeen shook her head, unable to speak. She just pointed towards the edge of the roof—where the man had disappeared.
Falcon quickly ordered through his walkie-talkie, "The visitor has escaped! Section Three, seal the northeast block. We want him alive!"
Just then, below, on the city's busy main road.
Ji-han was sitting in his bulletproof armoured car. His eyes were on the monitor inside the car. He could see Jasmeen on the live feed coming from the helicopter. His eyes didn't well up, but he felt a sharp burning pain in a deep corner of his heart. He knew what could have happened had he delayed even for a moment.
His trusted assistant, Mr. Kim, sitting beside him, lowered his head and said, "Don, we have him cornered. He jumped from the roof and is now heading towards the ground floor. Our ground team is about to engage him."
Ji-han gave a calm but firm instruction, "Do not shoot him. Just detain him. I want to know—who sent him? And... how did he get so close to Jasmeen? Why did security fail?"
Mr. Kim immediately transmitted the order.
On the roof.
Falcon was helping Jasmeen and escorting her towards the helicopter. The intense wind from the helicopter blades and the searchlights made Jasmeen's eyes sting.
"Let me down! I need to go to Ji-han," Jasmeen shouted.
"Forgive me, Ma'am, your safety is our first priority now. Don has instructed that you must be moved to a safe location," Falcon informed her politely but firmly.
But Jasmeen's eyes were fixed on her pistol lying in a corner of the roof. She realized she had to catch this man—to protect her Ji-han.
She abruptly broke free from Falcon's grasp and ran towards the pistol. Picking up the weapon, she decided to quickly descend the stairs—to join Ji-han.
She knew Ji-han was trying to catch that mafia man downstairs. And Jasmeen does not want to be his weakness now. She wants to be his partner.