CHINA

The plane arrived by around 4 am. They were fetched by the service car of the hotel where they will stay for the whole duration of their stay. Sooyoung did not take some sleep; she indulged herself again on kimbap as she sobs while looking at his picture on her phone. Yeojin can only sigh together with Jinhyuk as they watch her cry over the large bowl.

“She had it hard eh?” he asked Yeojin.

“Yes, she really loves that guy. She maybe all smiles but you can feel that sadness around her,” Yeojin replied.

“Kimbap is a sad for me from now on,” Jinhyuk sighed making the female one chuckle at him.

“So who is her principal sponsor that they even paid for the whole duration of her stay?”

“Mister Li, an owner of the largest and most powerful tourism company in China,” Jinhyuk replied, a knowing smile on his face.

“You look scary. Are you baiting her on your plans again? Jinhyuk, we are talking about Sooyoung in here,” Yeojin grew uneasy.

“Trust me Yeojin. This time, just trust me,” Jinhyuk looked at her.

“Make sure she returns in one piece inside and out or I will kill you myself,” Yeojin stated, looking daggers at the male one before going on to where Sooyoung is.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

By around seven, Mrs. Wu arrived in China. She was welcomed by her secretary, a female girl about Sooyoung’s age.

“Ma’am, welcome back. I already have the information regarding the next project of Mister Li. They are endorsing a five minute short movie regarding tourist spots around China where they have posts. As of now, they have scouted two models for the short movie. A female Korean and a male Chinese,” her secretary relayed as they head to the black limo waiting for them.

“How about the old queen?” she asked once they are moving on the highway.

“She will be in Korea for tomorrow for some unknown reason. But she will be watched by our agent in there. There’s no need to worry about it ma’am,” the lady replied.

“Did you get the name of their models?” Mrs. Wu asked.

“Yes, I did. The male model is a Chinese residing in Korea, Mister Huang Zi Tao. The female model had just wrapped up a project in Paris, Miss Choi Sooyoung.”

Mrs. Wu looked at her secretary, “Choi Sooyoung?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Mrs. Wu leaned on her seat, “Find her whereabouts as of now. I know how Mister Li treats his models. I am sure they are in here. Make an appointment with her at our residence in Guangzhou.”

Her secretary gave a nod, taking note of her next assignment.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

KOREA

The lead regarding the culprit have been vanishing in thin air since they cannot find anymore lead as to where to make the second step regarding the search. Kris took a trip to Paris that day and will be back the day after to check on Sooyoung. He booked an appointment to meet Mister Andrei himself to ask about her whereabouts. The boys are back to normal although they are still working on the issue at hand. Surprisingly, the boys at the café learn about Sooyoung’s disappearance which made them uneasy as they are tending to Jinri who is waiting for Sehun at the café house.

“Nam Joon-ah, is there something wrong? You all seem to be uneasy today,” Jinri noted while she is waiting for her order by the high chair.

“Sooyoung noona is still missing and Kris hyung is going crazy about the problem regarding the company and her whereabouts,” he replied with a sigh.

Jinri almost screamed, “Sooyoung Unnie us missing? Since when? Why? What happened? Why is that Auntie never told us about it?”

“Eh? I thought you guys know already. Omo, Kris hyung will kill us for sure. Please keep it as a secret for now, please Jinri-ah” Nam Joon panicked.

“But why did they keep it? I mean wae?” Jinri was at a loss for words. Just in time, Sehun walked inside the café only to be confronted by a glaring Jinri.

“Why the frowning face?” Sehun asks as he moves to give his girlfriend a kiss.

“Why did you not tell me about Unnie’s disappearance?” she asked right away.

“Where did you get that nonsense?” Sehun gave her a questioning look.

“Tell me the truth,” Jinri pushed the issue since she very well knew that he can’t lie.

True to her instincts, he gave a defeated sigh, “Ne, noona had been missing for almost a month. Hyung had just learned that she is in Paris right now.”

Jinri’s eyes welled up in tears, “You mean, they had fight? Unnie and Oppa had a fight?”

Sehun hushed her, “Shh, it’s fine already. Hyung will bring back noona tomorrow so no need to worry okay?”   

Jinri cried into his arms making Nam Joon uncomfortable witnessing the scene right in front of him.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

That night, Lay decided to take a walk outside the busy streets hoping to see the same girl who had been tailing his whereabouts.

“Lay! Wait up!” Chanyeol called as he joins Lay on his walks, “Where are you going?” he asked.

“Taking a few walk around to stretch my legs, wae?” he asked.

“Well, it’s kind of weird to do that stroll in the night,” Chanyeol replied.

“How about you, should you be with Dr. Ha Ni?” Lay gave him a playful smile.

Chanyeol blushed, “I already sent her home. She will have her duty tomorrow.”

“Must be nice to have a girl eh?” Lay asks as they starts to get into the busier part of the city.

“Yeah, it inspires you to work harder. Why don’t you find yourself a girl?” Chanyeol asked.

“They are a burden,” he sighed.

Chanyeol decided not to ask furthermore until they stopped on a food stall for some food. While they are eating, Lay decided to buy some water on a nearby stall too only to catch the sight of a hooded girl from afar, watching him.

Without even getting the bottled water and his change, he started to chase the girl who ran away. Chanyeol was startled to see Lay run that he rushed on paying too that he even waited for his change and got the bottled water Lao bought including the change before running after him.

This time, the lady is not going on the opposite direction of the moving crowd making it hard for him to tail her when the crowd slowly gets thicker as they ventured furthermore the busiest part of the city. He lost her on the very same alleyway where he thought he caught her. But he really did not lose her; he saw the slightest movement on the shadows that when he ran to it, he caught the lady right before it could run. He pinned her on the adjacent wall, holding her both her arms in his one hand and pinning her with his other elbow.

Blonde hair gets released when the hood of her dress falls off her head. A pair of familiar brown eyes met his, but it was only the female one who is shocked.

“I know it’s you all along and now I know you are the one who stole the papers, where is it now?” he asked, his voice surprisingly calm.

Her chest heaved from both of fear and shock. She was left speechless, unable to answer and glued on the wall as she stares back into his eyes.

“Your stare will not speak so open your mouth and tell me where it is,” he prompted again, pinning her even harder on the wall.

“I don’t know where they are. It’s not anymore on my grasp,” she replied, her voice as soft as she kept her eyes on his. They were the very same eyes he had looked into before but now it so void of emotion.

“Spill or I will bury a bullet in your head,” he stated, pulling gun on his back, pointing on the side of her head.

The feel of the cold metal is not new to her, but the person holding it is someone she never expects to do it. He maybe like her, but she never thought that they would have this kind of encounter. Her breath hitched when he pushed it, somehow scaring her. But she was able to pull herself again despite the tears threatening to fall which the dark alleyway shadowed.

“Even if you plant that bullet, I will not spill anything. Why don’t you try?” she taunted him, but she is scared at the same time.

They held each other’s gazes, measuring each other till he finally cursed, “Damn it! Just spill it!”

“Lay…” she whispered, “Wae..?” she asked which made him glare at her.

“Because you are a threat to my friends,” he replied, “And I plan to dispose any threat to anyone close to me,” he added.

Then it made her question herself about her worth to him. If he is planning to dispose her then the answer is clear as the sun; he used her for his plans and mission.

“LAY!” Chanyeol’s voice interrupted the moment, distracting Lay which gave way for her to maneuver her way out by a few fast techniques and run, leaving Lay on the floor as he pulls himself with the help of Chanyeol.

“Are you okay? What are you doing here?” he asked again as he lead Lay out of the dark alleyway.

“I tried to catch a thief, but I failed,” he lied.

“Don’t try to be a hero. You’re so frail looking to be a Superman,” Chanyeol sighed as he helps him because he sprained his ankle.

After getting into the highway, Chanyeol hailed a cab and gave the address as Lay tries to ease the pain on his ankles. The memory of her face a while ago flashed on his mind. Her eyes full of shock hurt and tears made him uneasy. ‘Tears are their weapon, you should not be deceived by it, you should know when to distinguish a real tear from a fake one,’ his Uncle’s words rang on his mind again.

But too much tears in his life has made it impossible for him already to distinguish which are real among them. Because after everything that had happened in his past, for him, tears are just water that comes from the eyes. No tears are real, all are false. No one sheds real tears.

That’s how his heart grew hard from everything in his past. A past that he tries to suppress, only to resurface again.