***EDITED VERSION 31/05/2017***

Chapter three

Two men walked side by side as they exited their terminal, fetched their luggage and made their way onto the busy streets of London. One of these men was trying to regain his focus on the mission that had brought him there in the first place while the other man, well… the other man seemed to have no mission at all.

“Where are you going?” the man with a mission asked the man without a mission.

“To my hotel” the man without a mission stated matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which to him it actually was.
  The man with a mission frowned in suspicion at the man without a mission. “Where is your hotel?” he asked, not really sure if he wanted to hear the answer to that question.
  “Same place as yours.” The man without a mission answered nonchalantly. The other man came to an abrupt halt at the statement. “What?” he was surprised. “I thought you were joking.” The statement was one filled with absolute horror.

The two men, in between long moments of awkward minutes spent in pretence of ignorance towards each other, had managed a conversation in the last minutes of their flight that led them to discussing their respective arrangements upon their landing (part of Key’s plan). When Minho reluctantly- after several minutes of pestering from the man beside him- informed Key of his booking at a hotel that wasn’t too far from the airport, Key had slouched in his seat and complained about having made a booking at the exact same place.

“What did I do to deserve such a fate?” he had asked the heavens, mortified.  Seeing his reaction, Minho had laughed and left the matter there, thinking that it was the man’s strange manner of joking but as they headed towards the sidewalk to haul taxis Minho began to realise that he had been mistaken.  

 As fun and  enlightening as it had been to spend a few hours getting to know this stranger, Minho had had enough the moment their plane had landed. He had told himself that upon their exit they would both climb into their respective cabs and happily never see each other again. Minho had a job to do and he had presumed to expect that the other had his own business to tend to upon arrival but when Key simply stated that he was on vacation and had yet to decide what he would do with his time while there, Minho knew that this was a man without a mission.
  After the few hours the man with a mission had spent with the man without a mission on the plane, he wanted nothing more to do with him. Key had proven to be a distraction for Minho even before they had met. He was afraid to know what would happen if they were to be exposed to each other for longer periods of time. As much as the realisation of them heading in the same direction brought an unwanted satisfaction to his recent undesirably furtive sentiment, the last thing he needed was to have the man staying at the same hotel as him. If his luck continued in this direction, Minho was sure to end up failing in his mission.

“I told you earlier where I’m staying. Whether you believed me or not is not my problem.” The man with the mission internally cringed at the casualness in Key’s voice. It was because of this man that he nearly lost his target in the airport and now he was telling him that he would be at the same hotel as both him and his target! Minho was afraid to even imagine what that meant. Key seemed to be the kind of guy to cause trouble everywhere he went. Minho only hoped that he wouldn’t cause any trouble for him but somewhere deep inside he knew that this is bound to end in disaster.
  He watched Key waddle his way to the curb and try to hail a taxi ahead of him by standing on the side of the road and sticking his thumb out like an idiot. The other man stood like that for minutes without any luck before Minho decided to finally give him an example of how things were supposed to be done.

Key turned as he heard a whistle coming from next to him. His finger was still sticking out in mid-air, suitcase tightly clutched in his other hand behind him. A glimmer of irritation shone in his eyes at the attempt the man behind him was making to try and show off but Key did his best not to let his frustration show. His eyes widened in delight as he noticed a cab coming to a halt right in front of him but to his aggravation, the other man quickly jumped in when it finally stopped.

“That’s my cab!” Key shouted at the man before he even had time to consider that there were people all around them. Minho was about to shut the back door in the other’s face but was surprised when it was jerked back open.
  “Yah!” A battle ensued as the two men played a game of tug of war with the taxi’s door, much to the driver’s dismay.

“Ey! Be careful wi’ that. in’ell! Just get in the both of ya. And ’urry it up won’t ya!” the man behind the steering wheel wore a deep frown of reprimand on his face. He didn’t even take a second to consider that perhaps the men didn’t understand him, seeing as how they are speaking in a foreign language and all. All he wanted was to get the hell out of the no-parking spot he was currently parked in.
  To the taxi drivers relief, the two Asian men stopped tugging at the door as the one inside let the one outside in, both grumbling the entire time. With the door finally shut, the driver started to question his decision to take both men to their destinations at once. He only hoped that the two were travelling to places that weren’t too far apart.

“So…” he started into the brooding silence that filled his back seat, “where’re you two gen’lemen headed?” he put the question to the men, fingers crossed. When the men proceeded to give him the exact same answer at the exact same time, he quickly raised his eyes to the sky in thanks to whatever god answered his prayers and was about to pull out when he felt the need to say something more.

“Ya know,” he said pointing, “Those bags would fi’ be’er in the trunk don’t ya think?” he posed the question to them, his eyes fixed on the two large suitcases stacked in the centre of the back seat and separating the two men from each other. He jumped, startled by the collective and firm “NO!” he received from the men as the one with the more feminine features folded his arms across his chest and the other looked out the window. He had no idea as to what the deal was with the two but he figured it was probably for the best that those suitcases stay between them. All the better to keep them from tearing each other apart, and his cab along with them.

As the cab started moving, Key couldn’t help but gleam at having managed to make it into the same cab as the idiot beside him. He was well aware that this was indeed Minho’s cab; in fact, he had planned it like this since they got out of that darned plane. He was feeling spiteful after the way the other had treated him on the way and he had every intention of getting back at him. He felt that the other needed to compensate for his earlier rude behaviour and what better way to do so than to pay for cab fare? His earlier act had been quite brilliant but not so much an act because when Minho had told him where he was staying, Key had been genuinely surprised. He hadn’t wanted to show his surprise at the time so he acted rather burdened by the news. Truth be told, he hadn’t expected for his plan to be so well assisted by fate. It was just his luck it seemed. Key would be sure to take advantage of it.

Minho sulked as he looked out at the moving cars as they took to the road. As much fun as it had been to toy with the man on their shared flight, he really didn’t want to have to spend another moment in his presence. Minho was well aware of the effect the other had on him, and it was for that very reason that he would rather the other disappeared. But contrary to his preferences it seemed he was doomed to endless encounters with the man.
  “What room are you in?” he asked, his curiosity causing him to speak without thinking things through first. He saw the other’s head shift as the question hung in the air for a long while. Minho nearly face palmed himself at the realisation of the stupidity of such a question given the circumstances.
  “I thought you weren’t happy about me even staying at the same place as you, so why ask for my room number?” Key asked with genuine interest to find out the answer.
   Minho shifted uncomfortably in his seat and let his head hit the headrest behind him.
  “Never mind,” he sighed, “I didn’t think that one through before I said it.” He explained. Key rolled his eyes at the useless response and decided to make a move.
  “207” he revealed and left the number floating about in the air for a while. When Minho offered no response, he decides to speak up.
  “That’s my room number. Come pay me visit one night,” he added, a smirk playing on his lips, “I’d love the company.” It was finished with a hint of sinfulness in his voice which made Minho squirm unexpectedly inside. The other happily soaked in the awkward silence that followed his words before releasing a silent snicker.  Key was shocked when he heard the man on the other side of the wall that was their luggage mutter: “Maybe I will.”

“What?!” Key had to ask to make sure he hadn’t misheard.

“I said, maybe I will pay you a visit one night.” Minho said, a satisfied grin making its way on his face. It had taken him a moment to recover his sanity from Key’s insinuation. It had hit him with a rage that screamed for him to wake up from his stupor. What was he thinking flirting with this guy? Asking for his room number was just taking it too far. His curiosity had to be stopped with the threat of a knife to keep him distanced from his downfall.
  Minho had a battle boiling beneath the surface; should I give in or should I restrain myself? He honestly wasn’t sure what he wanted. The thought of late night rendezvous with the blonde haired, femininely feline featured man on the other end of the cab’s back seat excited him but his killer side couldn’t be held back. He just couldn’t be with anyone that way. All he knew and lived for was his work. He had to keep his urges in check. One way of doing that was in the form of the threat that had brought a grin to his face.
  He peered over the mound of luggage to observe the man’s reaction, only to be confused by the smile that graced the man’s face as he looked out the window on his side of the taxi.

For as second there Minho had forgotten that the other wasn’t aware of his profession. The grin on his face turned sour the moment he realised that his killer side had won the internal battle and he had just made a death threat to Key without him being aware of it. He instantly wished that he could change what the intent of those words had been just moments ago, but he couldn’t.
He honestly hadn’t wanted them to mean what they meant; that he would gladly pay him that visit only to put an end to his distracting existence. The problem was… he knew too well what else they could possibly mean. Minho had never been so taken by anyone as he was with this man and unlike with others, where a simple threat like that would have lead to the death of the person he had intended it for, Minho didn’t think he had it in him to dispose of this man for simple pleasure or out of need to refocus.

He wasn’t sure what that meant… And the thought terrified him.