AYOOOOO it’s been a long time…so a recap….

Previously on The Boss: Kyungsoo is demoted and put on temporary suspension for angering the chief of police, and angry at the injustice, he decides that he will continue his investigation regardless. Baekhyun and his crew fly to Los Angeles to meet up with Baekhyun’s cousin – Heechul – who is running the business abroad. Baekhyun tells Heechul that he is afraid of getting into something with Chanyeol and that the latter will hate him for dragging him down, but Heechul tells him to go for it. Later that night, Baekhyun comes to Chanyeol’s room but is harshly rejected by the latter. Chanyeol begins to realize that maybe Baekhyun has been sincere towards him. But he can’t wrap his head around it.

Now to the main story…

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The sun was already beating down on the back of his neck as soon as Kyungsoo stepped off the curb at LAX. He adjusted his sunglasses – odd dark, square spectacles he reserved for trying to remain inconspicuous – and focused on the black Sedan currently lingering near the parking garage on the road. When he was sure, he shifted his small duffle over his shoulder and marched towards it, barging in and tossing his bag into the back before the driver could even utter a word. As it so happened, the driver was so startled by the sudden entrance that his coffee sloshed around in his hands and landed in his lap. He swore loudly and obscenely before Kyungsoo handed him a handkerchief to mop it up.

“God dammit, Soo. Why do you have to be like this every single time we meet?”

“In my defense, for a very Special Agent you don’t seem to be very vigilant, Kangin. How exactly does the FBI make use of you?”

The older man continued to dab at the dark spot on his pants with the cloth. “Ha ha ha, very funny. Laugh all you want, Kyungsoo, but I’m not the one who crawled to the other for help.”

“Touché,” he acquiesced with a grin, then his expression grew more serious. “And thanks for this, by the way. I know I’ve put you in a difficult position if they ever find out what you’re doing for me, but I was about to lose my mind. You’re a life saver. Seriously.”

Kangin grinned back at him lightly. “You know I’d do whatever I can to help you, Soo. You just have to ask… Now let’s get the hell out of here before traffic gets any worse, if possible. There’s a lot you need to see.”

Kangin drove quickly across town while Kyungsoo took in the sights as fast as he could in passing – tourism would have to be saved for another time, another trip. But it felt like he’d hardly had time to blink before they’d already arrived at a cliff-side street in Malibu and Kangin had pulled the car into an outcrop overlooking the street below.

The older man stepped out and Kyungsoo followed his beckoning as the other led him to peer over the edge of the road.

“See that house down there?” he asked with an indicating jerk of his head, hands deep in his pockets. Kyungsoo nodded silently and peered down to the street below where a large white house sprawled along the cliffs, fences on every side except the cliff face that towered over the ocean. He noted the men who stood at its entrance, all dressed in dark suits. It was hardly inconspicuous. “That’s the Kim residence. Home to Kim Heechul and a few of his goons. But you might know him better as-“

“Byun’s maternal cousin,” Kyungsoo repeated automatically, his eyes narrowing as he took in the house again. “He’s the only one on that side of the family and they’ve been extremely close since Byun was born - despite a 7 year . A few years ago Heechul was given charge of the smaller Los Angeles branch as Baekhyun’s highest general and has since expanded the business, especially this year. I guess that’s why Byun’s decided to come pay him a visit - make sure he’s not cooking the books or holding out on him or something.”

Kangin nodded. “I’m sure you’re right. We’ve been monitoring all of Heechul’s known bank statements and despite the fact that all of his businesses have reported steady growth, his income is off the charts.”

“Is the Bureau getting ready to move in?”

Kangin shook his head. “As usual, we’ve got a leak somewhere and Internal Affairs has suspended all of our operations, and not just this case either. But whoever it is is in deep though, ‘cause IA hasn’t even named a suspect to the higher ups yet. All I know is that the Byun accounts are off limits and we are to ‘cease all activities’ until further notice. But believe me, we’re close.”

“Yeah, we’ll I wouldn’t get too excited just yet,” Kyungsoo replied with a deepening frown, and folded his arms across his chest. “You can’t kill the dragon until you’ve cut off the head, and Seoul Metro isn’t even anywhere close to ready to taking this thing down. We’ve barely got our foot in the door.”

“Well, I’m just telling you what I know. It’s going to take a joint investigation to finish them off once and for all – cooperation on both sides you know, the US and Korea.”

“And when do you imagine that will happen?” he asked, raising an eyebrow mockingly.

Kangin scoffed with a puff of air. “It’s going to be a damn pissing match for lead on this case. I don’t imagine Seoul Metro is going to let us take lead on their turf and the FBI rarely settles for second, even though it’ll be an international affair.”

Kyungsoo sighed, “It could be years before bureaucracy is ready for that level of cooperation.”

Kangin shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and shrugged. “Yeah, well what can you do? The world is unfair.”

Kyungsoo sighed again, deeper this time and stared back down at the house. “I don’t know… but something,” he muttered. After a few seconds he nudged Kangin, who’d begun to stare at the other houses around them absent-mindedly. “Hey. They’re moving again.”

The black suited men outside the house cleared the way as a dark van pulled from the underground garage of the house and took down off the road.

“C’mon,” Kangin said, already siting in the front seat of the Sedan. “I know where they’re going.”

“Where?”

“Surprise,” Kangin smirked.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and made to get in the door, but before he could step inside he felt a tingling on the back of his neck – the feeling of being watched. He turned to face the cliffs above them, cars whistling past on the higher road, and he looked back and forth between the houses on his street. But he could see no one around to warrant such a feeling. So with another look from Kangin he hopped back into the passenger’s seat.

The long flight had taken a toll on both Kyungsoo’s exhaustion and his psyche. But refusing to think about the latter, he drifted into a short nap as the car bumped along the bogged down highway towards the outer edge of the sprawling beige city.

In the short dream he had before reaching their destination, Kyungsoo remembered a dark place. He couldn’t see and he couldn’t speak, but he knew he wasn’t alone. He could smell the musty scent of the closet - a chemical smell wafting up from the supplies on the floor - and another smell that was familiar and more human – sweat. He could hear the sounds of breathing, his own mixed heavily in the breath of another, warm and wet. And he could feel the touch of his skin as a warm hand crept its way up to his shoulder-

“Soo.” Kangin’s voice startled him awake. “We’re here,” he said calmly and released the hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder that had probably shaken him awake.

He rubbed his eyes slowly and took in the warehouses around him. They all stood about 2 stories tall and were covered by a drab white paint that had clearly turned grey via the city’s smog over the years. “Where are we?”

“Well, we’re parked about a block down from Heechul’s biggest chop-shop – or, at least what we suspect is a chop-shop given the number of cars that go in and the electrical output that’s being paid for. Before I woke you up I watched Byun’s vehicle go inside. We see Heechul’s car go in often so we suspect that his main office is also inside the building. But of course this is all circumstantial until we can actually get someone inside the building…or raid it.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “So you don’t have anyone on the inside? No undercover agents?”

Kangin shook his head with an exasperated sigh and reached over to pull a pair of binoculars out of the glove compartment. “Here, take a look.”

Kyungsoo peered down the street while Kangin continued to speak.

“Even if we hadn’t been suspended from investigation it would be difficult, and I don’t just mean trying to convince the higher-ups. This shop opened up about a year ago from what we can guess, so security is really tight. They’re new to the game so they’re careful - extraordinarily cautious. They keep a close eye on everyone who walks past the building let alone anyone who works for them. We thought a few months ago that we could get a guy who was already on the inside to flip for us but after our agent made first contact with him he was put under close watch by Kim’s men. So now we’re just waiting – hoping – for them to give us a reason to raid the warehouse. So far everything’s been spic-an-span.”

Kyungsoo dropped the binoculars into his lap and rubbed the bridge of his nose, continuing to stare out the window down the street where the Byun’s patrolmen waited outside the sealed doors. “This is all so…unhelpful,” he muttered.

“Yeah, well no one said taking down an entire syndicate would be easy.”

They passed a few moments in silence and Kyungsoo picked at the edge of his nails absent-mindedly until he felt as though a heavy weight pressed against his chest. The tingling sensation from earlier returned in the back of his neck causing his eyebrows to furrow in worry.

“I think we’re being watched.”

“Mm,” agreed Kangin stoically. “I think so too.”

“Byun’s men?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen anyone leave the facility in this direction. But for all I know they could have widened their patrol units in the neighborhood in the past few weeks. Either way it’s giving me a bad feeling.” He reached to turn his keys and ignite the engine but Kyungsoo’s hand shot out to stop him.

“Wait. Get down.”

The two slunk down into their seats and watched over the edge of the dash as the van from earlier pulled back out of the warehouse and headed down the street towards them. When it passed they sunk to the floor and out of sight, waiting a few minutes before they slowly rose back up.

As soon as they were sure the van had gone and the outward patrol had turned the corner, Kangin started the car and drove off back towards the center of downtown.

“Something else to show me?” Kyungsoo asked, though a yawn escaped his lips.

“Well I was going to show you some of Heechul’s business fronts before taking you to the hotel… but check out the rear-view mirror.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes narrowed as he watched the cars behind them in the mirror.

“Now watch as I make this turn.”

Kangin swerved to the right onto a large street, earning a few aggressive honks from the cars around them. Then Kyungsoo saw it.

“We’re being followed,” he said with amazing calmness. “The white Toyota, 3 cars back.”

“That’s what I thought too… So what do you say I take you to my favorite café?” A grin visibly spread across Kangin’s face.

Kyungsoo practically mirrored him. “Well I suppose I could use some coffee.”

---

Junmyeon was typing furiously into his computer when Yi Xing strolled into the room around noon, hands in his pockets with a casual demeanor. The urge to smoke made his fingers twitch, but instead he reached for one of the many hard candies he kept in his cargo pockets. Junmyeon didn’t like it when he smoked inside.

“You didn’t come home last night,” he said, softly sinking into a chair, and he watched as Junmyeon’s head shot up startled, obviously just noticing him. His eyes were circled with purple - a sign that he hadn’t slept since yesterday.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” the light-blonde said, hand covering his heart. “You’ll kill me one of these days.”

Yi Xing rolled his eyes. “Sometimes you really talk like an eighty year old, you know that? You’re not ready for the nursing home just yet, Gramps.”

Junmyeon narrowed his eyes with faux danger. “Well, ‘lest you forget I’m turning thirty-five this year so time’s a tickin’. I’m not as young as I used to be.”

“And yet just as limber,” he retorted, and watched as a faint blush speckled across Junmyeon’s cheeks and his brows furrow as he tried a little too hard to seem interested in what was on his computer screen.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“You didn’t ask me a question.”

Yi Xing rolled his eyes. “My statement, then. Conversationally, it demanded an answer.”

Junmyeon finally looked up and folded his hands across his desk, a small smile playing across his pink lips. “Well, in answer, I’ve been desperately trying to consolidate our hedge funds. The Tech lab sent me an urgent memo last night before I left that someone was attempting to snoop on our online records and so I needed to move a few things here or there so that it didn’t look so… messy.” As he spoke his fingers fiddled with the small trinkets that lined his desk, straightening them compulsively with a fixated expression.

Yi Xing raised a brow and got up from his chair, walking around the desk to stand behind Junmyeon’s chair. “And it took you all night?”

“We-Well,” he stuttered at the sudden proximity, “as I’m sure you understand some of the other investors we are involved with aren’t strictly legal and since I wasn’t sure who was snooping – like Seoul Metro or the FBI – I had to make some calls and liquidate some of our deals-“

Yi Xing leaned in closely to his ear and spoke lowly. “You didn’t call me.”

He could see Junmyeon shudder under his breath and sense his tension as he begun to speak more rapidly with nervousness. “I-I am sorry. I was just so busy and I didn’t have time to think. If we had been caught for something as stupid as this Baekhyun would probably murder me even if I am his cousin and I-“

Yi Xing spun his chair around then so that they were staring each other in the eye, and Junmyeon’s mouth shut with a pop. Yi Xing took the other’s chin in his hand. “I’m not mad, just teasing. You know I love a man with determination.” He pressed a soft kiss to his nose and when he pulled away he saw with a chuckle that Junmyeon had narrowed his eyes at him again.

“You’re really-“

They were interrupted very suddenly by three curt knocks on the door that resounded loudly throughout the wide space. Then the door swung wide open to reveal a very tall man, his black trench coat flowing behind him menacingly as he walked in – a slight limp in his left leg -ignoring the frantic cries of Junmyeon’s secretary.

Junmyeon was caught between a look of surprise and his previous faux anger until Yi Xing leaned in again to whisper in his ear. “Business face.”

When he stood back up the light-blonde’s expression had changed completely, a business-like grin encompassed on an innocent face.

“Mr. Kim, I’m so sorry. I tried to explain to him that you were busy but he insisted-“

Junmyeon raised a hand good-naturedly. “It’s perfectly all-right, Seungwan. Will you get our guest some coffee? Let’s show him our hospitality. Please take a seat, Detective.” He gestured with a hand to the chair across from him and Seungwan bowed her way out the door with a troubled expression. The tall man raised a brow in question.

“How did you know I was a detective?”

“You mean aside from the way you barged into my office with that opposing and condescending demeanor? Well, despite the thickness of your coat there’s still a clear indent along your waist line from where you’ve stashed your gun and badge. But I’ll see some ID now, please, before we speak any further.”

“Is your whole family as astute as you and your brother? He said to me almost the same thing this morning.” The detective shifted around in his chair and pulled from his pocket a small flip-book. “But, you’re right,” he said, flashing the two his identification. “My name is Special Detective Shim Changmin. I’m with Seoul Metro’s Major Crimes Unit and I’m here to ask you a few questions.”

“Well, well. The Chief of Police has sent me his only son. This must be something very important then if-“

“Pardon me, Mr. Kim,” he said suddenly, raising a hand to cut him off. “But I was actually referring to your – um – associate, Mr. Zhang.”

Both men were surprised by this, but where Yixing merely raised an eyebrow, Junmyeon’s face alighted in shock for a full five seconds before he was able to muster up some response. “Well, if that is the case why come here?”

Detective Shim scoffed. “I did intend to reach him at your home but by the time I was finished talking to your brother he recommended I try you here. Kim Minseok is your brother, right? It seems his prediction was on the money… so to speak.”

Finally, Yi Xing spoke up. “Well, Detective, fire away. I have nothing to hide. Do you suspect I’ve done something wrong?”

The Detective was silent for a few moments, staring stoically between the two. Yi Xing leaned against the back window and Junmyeon sensed his irritation and began fiddling compulsively again with the objects on his desk.

“I want to know where you were on September 19th of last year.”

“How should I know?”

“Let me refresh your memory. You were in the greater Seoul area – the docks on the south-side of the West Han to be specific. Perhaps near the warehouses?”

Yi Xing chuckled. “Well, I hate to break it to you, Detective, but my memory ain’t that great, and I’m not the type of guy to keep a schedule on where I’ve been.”

“But I am,” interrupted Junmyeon, opening up an app on his computer. “And from the 17th to the 20th of September last year the two of us were in Daegu, actually. I was attending a conference and Yi Xing followed me down.”

Detective Shim kept his eyes on Junmyeon’s frank stare. “And you can account for his whereabouts at all times? Even at say… 5 am on the 19th? It’s possible to drive between Seoul and Daegu in less than a day – one could even go back and forth under the cover of night, without notice.”

“Detective, it is perhaps a 6 to 8 hour round trip by car between Daegu and back. I assure you that if my bed had been empty for so long I would have noticed. Whatever you have suspected of Yi Xing for that morning... I assure you he has an alibi with me.”

The detective briefly flushed at the implication, but Junmyeon’s stoic expression was unwavering and Yi Xing swirled with pride.

“Well, with your close association I doubt the court will find you objective enough to testify for his whereabouts.”

“Well, perhaps if our close association – as you call it – were acknowledged by the government then you would be correct. But as they understand it now there is nothing inhe