The Beauty of Something Broken
(Chapter two)

 

“Yifan, they’re starting to suspect, I can’t do anything reckless at the moment or else I won’t even be able to see you the next time.” The young man in dark, pitch black coat hissed.

“I know, I know, I’m not asking you to do anything right now. Instead, tell me, what are they planning regarding the Luguo Bridge and Beijing? You must know something about that, right?”

Yifan was desperate to at least know the situation. They were unprepared to fight against the Japanese if they were to attack, so he had to know what exactly the enemies had planned.

“For now, they just want the Chinese forces to withdraw,” The young man answered truthfully, “but they’ve been secretly sending more forces towards the bridge, and it’s only a matter of time before they’ll decide to attack.”

“So they are going to attack?” Yifan asked.

“They won’t say that out loud, but seeing what they’ve planned, it’s really what they’re after. After that, they will start to advance towards the West.”

“And you, what’ve they asked you to do?”

Yifan watched the other adjust his cloak, “I’ve been send to join the troops in near the bridge, together with a few others and some extra forces.”

Yifan did not know whether to regard this as a good or bad thing, “I… Then, I’d like to request one thing from you,” A short silence fell upon the two of them before Yifan continued, “please look after someone for me.”

▓

“What’s happening?!” Kim Jongin rushed to the field near the bridge with wide eyes, seeing the troops marching and firing. “Stop them immediately!”

Oh Sehun turned around to face the other with an emotionless expression, “Officer Kim Jongin.”

“You’re just an Officer too, Oh Sehun, you’ve got no right to order the troops to train without giving advance notice to the local Chinese inhabitants! Don’t think that just because the General is a relative of yours that you can do as you please!”

The tall officer burst out into cold laughter, “I don’t see why we would have to go as low as to tell whenever we train our forces. As if they’ve any right to request something as pathetic as that, how foolish.”

“We’re trying to negotiate with them,” Jongin hissed angrily, “the last thing we want is for them to distrust our words.”

“Do you really, really believe, Officer Kim Jongin,” Oh Sehun’s eyes glistered darkly, “that they would trust whatever we told them? We speak to them with honesty, but all they hear is murderous intent from our side. Talking to them is like talking to animals,” Oh Sehun shook his head with a grin, “they won’t understand. All they will is bark around because that’s all they’ll ever do.”

“We want their cooperation, Oh Sehun, not their land.”

Kim Jongin was furious because of the other’s childish actions. It was not their plan to kill and murder in order to get what they desired. They wished for peaceful cooperation. Not everyone thought the same way, unfortunately, and all to his dismay. Some loved the thought of taking over the great China, marking it as their property, showing just how strong the Japanese empire really was. Foolish, it was too foolish in Jongin’s eyes.

“Cooperation is the word of a weak man, Kim Jongin,” Sehun said harshly, “because cooperation is nothing but us putting down our power in front of those who should be obeying us. No, instead of cooperation, we should go for dominance from our side,” A cold smirk appeared on his lips as he spoke, “and submission from theirs.”

They both looked each other in the eyes, not a word spoken by either of them.

“Your father would be so utterly disappointed in you,” Kim Jongin spoke out seriously.

This caused Sehun to grit his teeth, “Shut your mouth.”

“What? You can’t do me anything, can you?” Jongin laughed, “No, you can’t, and you know why? Because without your father, you’re nothing. You are nothing.”

This was the last straw for Oh Sehun, and he threw himself onto the other, ready to hit him harshly on the face, if not for a sudden intruding voice to catch their attention.

“Officer Kim, one of our soldiers is missing!”

Kim Jongin was quick in pushing Oh Sehun off of him, “Who?”

“Do Kyungsoo. The Chinese inhabitants were frightened because of the sudden training without prior notice, and started to shoot.” The soldier threw a quick glare at Oh Sehun, “We quickly retreated from our position at the south, but Do Kyungsoo wasn’t with us anymore.”

A cold smile appeared on Jongin’s lips as he looked at Sehun, “So thanks to you I’m missing a soldier. Well, Officer Oh Sehun, thank you for the trouble.” He quickly looked back at the soldier, “It might be possible that the Chinese took him captive in such chaotic situation, but he might as well be just lost. Send a message to the General about this. How’s the situation at the South now?”

“The Chinese are still wary, but they’ve stopped firing.”

“Go inform the General now.” Kim Jongin spoke, gesturing for the soldier to leave.

“If something happens to my soldier, Officer Oh Sehun,” Kim Jongin said without looking at the other, “you’re going to pay the price.”

▓

“General Park Chanyeol, we’re ready to depart,” The person next to him as he approached his forces with an emotionless expression.

“Have the General there been informed of my arrival?” Park Chanyeol asked.

“Yes, he has, and so has the two officers there. Officer Byun Baekhyun will be meeting us there.”

Park Chanyeol looked in front of him, “Good.”

In a short while, they would be departing. Park Chanyeol did not know why they had sent him, from all people, but he was not going to question any order given to him. As far as he knew, their forces were already far stronger than the Chinese, so his presence with his own troops would not mean anything but a kind of unnecessary fright to the Chinese. The Chinese government was reluctant to negotiate, as expected, but his arrival would surely not bring color in this grey matter.

“How’s the situation there?” He asked the soldier next to him.

“Tense, General, very tense. It seems that although our side has been asking for a withdrawal, our forces are doing the exact opposite by triggering fear amidst the inhabitants. The Chinese government thinks we’re playing tricks with them.”

Of course they would, he thought disapprovingly, “Who’s the General in lead there?”

“General Oh Soohyun, General.” The soldier replied.

“Well, doesn’t that explain everything?” He said while grinning, “Officer Oh Sehun must be the one putting up the entire ruckus, not?”

“Well… That I’m not quite sure,” The soldier replied honestly.

“Childish as ever,” The mighty General shook his head, “childish as ever.”

▓

He roughly pushed the man away who was holding onto him, not hesitating to grab his gun and to point it to the other’s head. These Chinese had taken advantage of the chaos and captured him before he could do anything. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead as his exhausted eyes roamed around the place. He was too far from the troops right now, too deep in the enemy’s territories. He gritted his teeth as yet another person attacked him.

“What are we going to do with him?” One of them asked while punching him in the stomach, making him lose grip of the gun in his hand.

“He’s a valuable bait, so for now, let’s bring him into the city.”

Kyungsoo did not understand anything, everything sounding so terribly foreign to his ears. He did not understand Chinese, could read no word in Chinese characters. All he could do was fight for his life, but it was pathetically useless when it was one against a whole group.

“He’s an enemy, we can’t bring him inside!” Another yelled frantically.

“We don’t need him to speak.”

A cold voice said before Kyungsoo’s vision turned black, something covering his eyes. He wanted to scream, but before he could, something hit his head and he out.

▓

“What’s wrong, father?”

Lu Han asked as he watched his father rush to the door, hastily putting on his uniform.

“I’ve got to go to the police station,” His father answered quickly, “a Japanese soldier has been brought to us.”

Lu Han’s eyes widened, “A soldier? But… How?”

“I’m going there to find out right now. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but look after your mother and sister while I am.”

“No,” Lu Han responded right after his father finished talking, “no, I’m going with you.”

This made his father groan in frustration, turning around swiftly to meet eyes with his son, “Lu Han, please, this is no time to be arguing-”

“Father, you’re the chief of the Beijing police force, and I’m your son.” Lu Han stood up from his seat, “At times like these, I want to do at least something except for dreading the day my life would end.”

“Lu Han-”

“I’m coming with you,” Lu Han said matter-of-factly, already on his way to get his coat, “whether you want it or not.”

“This is not a joke, Lu Han.” His father said seriously.

“That’s the last thing I thought this was, father.”