It's dark out when Sehun finally reaches his hotel. He practically collapses onto his bed the minute he’s in his temporary room. He exhales loudly out of sheer joy of being able to get off his aching feet. It's been a very long day. One filled with way too much leg work and not very much success.  He thinks he should probably invest more time to work out but then he remembers that he's mostly tired because he got lost 3 times because of course Beijing is huge and no one prepared him enough for the amount of wrong directions the locals gave him. If he’s learned anything from this trip is that he should have taken learning Mandarin much more seriously.

And then like magic his thoughts shift over to a certain fluent mandarin speaker. One with big sparkly eyes and silky smooth voice. One who he had,just a two days ago, managed to piss off. Sehun groaned into the mattress. Why did his life have to be this complicated? Of all the people in this world  he could have developed feelings for he ended up having feelings for someone in a mob. And not just any mob. Of course not. No he wound up falling for someone part of the most famous and powerful groups in Asia. God his life was really ed up. He sits up in the bed and lets out a tired sigh briefly imagining a life where Luhan is not part of the mob and he isn't a journalist.

It's a pretty picture he sees. There's a lot of freedom in their smiles. But Sehun stops his musings right there. He doesn’t want to keep wishing for something that very obviously won’t happen. Maybe in another universe Luhan and him can live happy boring lives but in this one they don’t. And it's fine. Really it is. Because although it's complicated at least he’s met Luhan. Luhan who is charming and refreshing. Luhan who lives to make fun of Sehun. Luhan who pushes him away but reels him back in just as fast. And he knows he sounds like a love sick fool. Mostly because he  is a love sick fool so it makes sense. It makes sense...and yet his heart feels heavy. Heavy with the fact that he’s so close to Luhan and still miles away. And now that the other is mad at him he can’t even think to apologize in person because that’ll probably end worse then their brief argument at the bookstore.

He could text him. He wants to. Technically  Luhan had only warned him about “seeing” him and as far as Sehun was concerned a text was just reading material. He bites his bottom lip weighing his options before he reaches into his pocket and retrieves his phone. it. He has to at least try something and he can’t always cower at Luhan's anger. Sure they had rules but come on...it was a coincidence.  Sighing loudly he types a quick message and immediately sets his phone down and waits.

It takes less than a minute for his phone to vibrate and his eyes widen in surprise.

“Are you still in Beijing?” is the response from Luhan he gets and Sehun isnt really sure if this is a good or bad thing.  If he replies yes it could mean that maybe Luhan wants to see him. It's a stretch. A large one.

So he replies a simple “Yes.” Hoping that his delusions are right for once.

He  waits but not long because  again the response is instant.

“Don’t contact me until you’re back in Korea.”

Well he can’t say he’s surprised. Disappointed is the  more appropriate feeling but definitely not surprised. He stares at the message for awhile before he decides there's really no point in coming up with a response. Luhan would probably end up blocking his number or something. So instead he tries to console his wounded heart by distracting himself with work. He gets up from the bed and pulls out his laptop from his bag. He can always try fixing things with Luhan later.

An hour goes by when Sehuns stomach starts growling. And he soon realizes he’s only really running on some coffee he bought himself earlier in the morning and nothing else. He looks at the progress he’s made and decides he’s reached a good part to stop at. His stomach growls louder as he puts his laptop away and he makes plans to get some street food from the market close by. He could get room service but when will he ever get a chance to taste authentic chinese food in China again?

With that in mind he changes out of his slacks and button down shirt to some comfy sweats and a hoodie. He heads out into the evening and takes a deep breath of the cool night air. He starts to walk in the direction he remembered the market being when he suddenly collides with something. No he soon realizes. He actually collided with a person.

He looks down and finds a girl with short black hair and he is about to apologize but the glare and shove the girl gives him stop him. Rude, he thinks to himself as he watches the girl stomp away. He shakes his head and turns back but something about that girl rubs him the wrong way. Aside from her being so angry it felt like he recognized her. Those eyes...he’s definitely seen them before. Not wanting to hold up people on the sidewalk he keeps walking. He searches his brain trying to figure out where he could have possibly seen this girl and is about to give it all up when he remembers.

He’s definitely seen her before. In Korea. He saw her at the coffee shop! He had bumped into her there to and just like the last time she had glared at him. The hairs on the back of his neck spring up at the realization because why is he bumping into this girl? This girl who’s eyes alone scream murder. And then as Sehun looks around he spots her again talking into a phone angrily to the side of a closed up shop. Sehun his lips and walks further into the market paranoia settling in to the pit of his stomach. He’s definitely not hungry anymore. So he tries to lose himself in the crowd. The need to escape and blend in growing with every step he takes.  He’s looking at all the people around him warily when his brain brings up another time he’s seen that girl. And Sehun panics. Because the girl isn’t just some random chick. No he’s seen her before in Itaewon. Sehun had gone there because Chanyeol had said he had a lead about a warehouse the police found. The story had been that it was Jay and they had been hoping they could get more information about the things going on between the gangs. He had seen her at a coffee shop talking to someone about Jay and Alex, the man who had revealed to be a traitor. She was Jessica. At the realization his whole body turns cold. Because it is obvious to him now that the sensation of being followed wasn’t all in his head.

He regrets not trusting his gut sooner as he goes deeper into the market.  He needs to get out of here but he’s not too sure how. He also does not understand why he’s being followed. Sure he’s made enemies out of many groups but he didn’t think he’d pissed off Jays group. He turns his head slightly to see if there’s anyone watching him or following and to his horror he sees two men dressed in black a couple meters away. His heart rate quickens and he finds it harder to breathe. Did they find out he was the one snooping around them this whole time? Zico and Kris’s crew had managed to discover him so why couldn’t Jay?

The girl, Jessica, was here...in China of all places.  It couldn’t be a coincidence. Not wanting to risk being out here alone anymore he remembers his phone but when he reaches into his pocket it’s empty.  That !

He soon realizes Jessica must have b