MEI probably should’ve realized that Jun would find out everything, one way or another. He’s insistent like that; her analogy of him being like a bee, is spot on in this situation. Somehow, after Ming Hao’s burst of sudden questions and anger, they all found their way to the couches to talk everything out. Of course, Jun and Ming Hao alike, forced Mei to sit between them with Charlie across from all of them. The two boys were not about to let some strange old cop be closer to Mei than he already is. The fact that neither of them noticed how close Mei has gotten to this guy, freaks them out—even Ming Hao, who’s not sure how he really feels about Mei other than thinking she can be a bit annoying and a bit of nuisance. But this Charlie guy, they don’t know him, and they don’t like him.

“So, how are you two?” The older man asks as he leans further into the grey couch, a small smirk on his lips. Ming Hao is having none of it. After punching the cop in the jaw and receiving little to no reaction; all he wants to do is punch him again and see if he’ll receive some sort of expression, especially when he’s smirking like that. Jun on the other hand, wants to learn everything possible, before taking Mei as far away as possible.

“I don’t mean to be rude, officer.” Jun begins as he situates himself on the edge of couch. “But, can we get to the point and not skid around it?” Charlie lets out a short chuckle as he lets his eyes follow from Ming Hao, to Mei, to Jun. He’s amused by it all. First with Mei’s change of attitude, her sudden authority. Second, the sudden burst in of her roommates, as if they believe they’re her superheroes and she’s their maiden to rescue. And now, now he’s just amused with the three sitting in front of him acting so defiant but holding in their insults and come-backs because of what he knows.

It’s amusing.

“Mei’s parents, are murders…” The beginning of Charlie’s long story, was enough to keep Jun and Ming Hao interested and on their toes as they tried to understand every detail. From defecting to North Korea, to defecting back to China, to maybe being North Korean spies. Neither of the two interrupted, nor did Mei ever try to intervene to make her parents sound somewhat human, despite not really being human at all. “And that’s that.” Charlie ends as he claps his hands before stretching his arms across the back of the couch.

After a second or two of complete silence, and Charlie smiling from to ear, Jun twists toward Mei. “Is this what you’ve been keeping to yourself?” Slowly Mei nods her head at him, and almost immediately Jun looks even more upset. To him, holding onto something like that, he’s surprised she’s still breathing. If he were to find out his parents were like that, he wouldn’t be able to handle it—nor would he be able to hold it in. He’d be mean, and he’d be upset. He’d be lashing out a people, and he’d be crying in his room. How is Mei not doing any of the above? How is she acting so normal? “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Mei shrugs her shoulders in response; she’s unclear of how to respond to that kind of question. “Now, shall I continue to the new information, or should I wait for the sappy hallmark movie moment to be over?” Ming Hao’s eyes widen; throughout it all, he was the quietest, and now he can’t believe that there could possibly be more to the story. Mei doesn’t even give Jun a chance to process what Charlie just stated.

“Continue.” She states as she narrows her eyes and crosses her arms.

Charlie leans forward, as if to add more effect to what he’s about to say. Like he’s putting on a show of some sort. “I went back through my notes, specifically the events four years ago; and something caught my attention.” He pauses, and waits to see if Mei can figure it out just from that. But when he sees the three of them starring back at him blankly, he thinks otherwise and continues. “The man said something about your father refusing an offer of sorts. If the man, like he says, is in fact a North Korean spy then the offer was most likely for your father to come back to North Korea and not stay any longer in China.”

The three stare at him confused. So what? What’s that supposed to mean? Why is that so special, and didn’t he already say that he found all this information before? What’s with this new analysis? “In retrospect, either your parents truly did defect to China to get away from North Korea based on the offer to come back, or the offer was a ploy for anybody who seemed to be in too deep with their scheme—somebody like me.”

“So, my parents are either evil or extremely evil.” Mei mumbles.

Charlie nods, “In order for me to truly figure everything out, I’m going to need you to stay in Korea till, at the very least, March.” Mei tries to hold in her laugh, but can’t. It’s not that she finds the situation funny, because it’s not, but the patent idiocy in it makes her feel sort of like a character in a movie. The type of character who keeps stumbling upon horrible situations and never finding a way out. That’s what she feels like.

“Why? Why do I need to stay here?” She asks as she tries not to laugh again.

Charlie rolls his eyes. He doesn’t understand how she can’t comprehend the situation. He practically laid it all out for her, yet she can’t figure it all out? He’s finding her a bit more bothersome than before. “Because, if I’m to understand everything, that means I need to be in contact with people who worked with your parents back in North Korea. The thing is, they only trust people related to your parents: including you.”

“I don’t know them.” She states, and its complete honesty. She never got involved with anything involving her parents. In actuality, she stayed away from it, never wanting to go near it. Thus why no one from her parents past would be able to meet her, or know her.

He shrugs, “But they know you, and that’s all that matters. All I’d need for you to do, is be there, and I’d do everything else.” Mei seriously doesn’t understand Charlie. Why is he interested in her parents past? What made him begin to investigate her disappearance? What’s his personal connection to her parents?

“What did my parents do to you?”

“What?” The older man mumbles in jolted shock. Mei, has once again, figured him out. It’s simple to her. How can you possibly be this involved with something, if it’s not personal? It’s the only way she’s interested in it; and the same can be said for Jun and Ming Hao. But Charlie, what’s personal to him? After a second, Charlie regains his composure and moves his gaze back toward Mei. “What do you think they did?”

Mei doesn’t know. What possible way is he entangled with his family? What did his parents do to him? Or what way did they hurt him? “I don’t know.” Charlie chuckles, and shifts his arm to fold them in his lap.

“Then, I guess we’ll save that conversation for another day.” He pauses to look between the three of them. “Besides, I don’t think you’d be able to handle it.” He once more glances between the three before keeping his gaze directly on the youngest, Ming Hao. “I think the three of you need a moment. So, I’ll go get some food; pastries sound good?” He doesn’t wait for any of them to answer, though it is a rhetorical question, and instead dodges around the couch and out the door.

Jun stands up the minute the door slams; he stretches his limbs before he begins to pace back and forth. He wants to say something, and he can feel the words on the tip of his tongue, but he just can’t say it and instead his mouth just opens and closes a few times.

“You need to leave the apartment.”

Mei’s not surprised by Ming Hao’s words, more so it’s almost like she wanted to hear it. “Ming Hao,” Jun whispers harshly as his eyes snap toward him with a scowl. “What the hell is wrong with you?” If it wasn’t for the fact Ming Hao and Jun have been best friends for three years, Jun probably would’ve punched him directly in the mouth and told him to shut the up; because, what the hell? Mei’s going through a ton of , and that’s the first thing he says?

Ming Hao scoffs and urges himself not to roll his eyes. “What the hell’s wrong with me?” He asks incredulously as he shakes his head and stands up to tower over Jun—like always. “What the hell is wrong with you? Didn’t you hear what that said? Her parents are involved with North Korea, and because Jing Jing is friends with her—she got involved with it. And now, most likely, we’re involved in this . I don’t want to be in danger, so she needs to leave.”

Jun goes to tell him to watch what he says, but Mei beats him to the punch. “Ming Hao is right,” Needless to say, both boys were shocked. Like usual, they expected Mei to keep quiet unless talked to and if talked to, she isn’t really aggregable; she’s usually defiant. “I shouldn’t live with you anymore; especially if I might put you in danger.”

“Mei,” Jun breaths as he stares at her softly. “you’re not putting us in danger.”

Ming Hao can’t help but laugh at that. It’s now that Ming Hao knows he’ll never fall in love if it makes you this damn stupid. It’s as if Jun is so blinded by Mei that he can’t possibly fathom that she being near them, is dangerous. Not only to them, but also the people they love. Their parents, their co-workers, their friends; everyone.

“You guys should leave before Charlie gets back. I’ll contact you later tonight.” Ming Hao instantly agrees, as he stands up and clasps a hold of Jun’s upper arm. Despite Jun trying to rip himself free of Ming Hao’s grip, the younger manages to get him out of the apartment before Mei locks it. Mei keeps herself sat on the floor, near the door, with her arms resting around her legs with her knees pulled close to her chest.

As much as she hates to say it, she’s lost. Where does she go from now? Sure, she’s assured herself that living with Jun and Minghao is a big no-no, contacting Bella and Lucca is also a no (seeing as she’s pregnant and the last thing she needs is stress from knowing she’s being watched from a dictatorship), she’s not even sure if she should be in contact with Jing Jing. Though, she assumes that North Korea may find it suspicious if she suddenly stops contacting people who mean so much to her. But, then there’s the aspect of, where does she live now? She has a job, but living in a hotel was never something she favored. She has enough money, but staying in a place where she’ll feel scared and be lonely, it doesn’t sound happy to her.

For the first time in a long time, Mei is lost. No matter how many times she up and moved herself, she always seemed to know where she was going. Even if she didn’t, she felt like she did, and that’s what mattered. She enjoyed being surprised if she asked to be taken somewhere she doesn’t know. She enjoyed meeting people she’d never think of meeting. But this, this is different.

And it’s the first time she’s ever felt scared about it. No place to go, no place to be, no place to belong. She had finally found a place she could call home, and once again she’s running away—like always.

Charlie comes back twenty minutes after Jun leaves. The minute he opens to the door and stares at Mei’s hunched over form, he laughs. Laughs. He drops the pastries to the floor and has to hold onto the handle of the door to make sure he doesn’t fall over—that’s how he laughs. It disgusts Mei. Is he laughing at her pity? God, he must really hate her.

“I guess; they didn’t want to be a part of your life anymore.” He chuckles as he slides his back down the door, and sits on the floor next to her. He grabs the bag of pastries, picks out the cinnamon roll, tears apart of it off, and begins to eat. “So, did they kick you out or…?”

Mei takes a deep breath and does the same as him. Stretches out her legs, grabs the bag of pastries, takes the other cinnamon roll, and begins to eat it. “I kicked myself out. I don’t want to put them in anymore danger.” Charlie lets out a few short chuckles as he tries hard to keep himself serious. Though it doesn’t work out, and he instead he just begins to laugh just as hard as before.

Mei seriously can’t stand him.

After gathering himself once more, he faces Mei with narrowed eyes. “You can stay here, on the couch; I’m not giving up the bed.” This time, Mei laughs. She would never imagine living with him.  It’s almost like leaving a castle to return to the world of being a peasant. From heaven to purgatory; except when living with Charlie it turns into sudden hell. Though, it’s not like she really has a place to go after kicking herself out of her home.

“Fine.” She mumbles as she continues to munch on the cinnamon roll. “So, who are these people we have to meet with?” Charlie glances at her, as he shoves a hand into his jean pocket and pulls out a slip of crumbled paper. He opens it up and after a staring at it for a few seconds, he slips it toward her. She picks it up instantly and looks through all the information.

Three names and titles are listed on it with a few scribbles of soldiers, and ladies in dark dresses nearby:

1. Roe Tae II | Retired General
2. Ae Mi Ja | Retired Elite Delegate
3. Won Byung Chul | Retired Sergeant

Mei looks back up at him, before she glances back at the paper once more. “Why do you need five and half months to talk to three people?” Charlie scoffs, once again he expects Mei to catch on fast to something that’s obviously not easy to catch onto.

“As of now, I only have three people connected to your parents; but, with their help, I’ll be able to get more names of people I need to talk to. In the end, March, is only a set time—this may or may not lead to either a shortening or longing of the time frame.” He pauses to shove the paper back in his pocket before starring back at her. “Don’t be so focused on time.”

Throughout the day, Charlie and Mei have one more interaction. Eating dinner together at the table. For the most part, they both tried to avoid each other. He stayed up in the loft area, and Mei stayed near the front door. Almost as if she was debating whether or not she was going to bolt out of the apartment and never come back. The promise Mei had made about calling Jun and Ming Hao later that day, never happened. Instead, as she went to fall asleep, she glances at her phone to see more than thirty phone calls from Jun with over twenty voicemails. A few phone calls came from Ming Hao but only five or so. No one else called, because no one else knows about the situation.

She’s sure that if she doesn’t contact Jun sooner or later, he’ll end up coming back to the apartment and dragging her back to his. And, as much as she wants that to happen, she can’t let it. So she vows, sometime in the next few days, she’ll call Jun.

O c t o b e r  1 5

2 0 1 5

S e o u l,  S o u t h  K o r e a

MEI never contacted Jun, instead she avoided him like the plague. The only time Jun could spare a glance at Mei—to see that she is alright in person—is when he would run as fast as possible to his truck, and drive to the coffee shop to see her leaving to get on the bus. A few times he tried to get on the bus, but never seemed fast enough to do so. He’s beginning to get a little peeved at the situation. She promised to call them; to reassure them, that she’s okay. Instead, he has to contact that smiling Seok guy at her work to double check on her. And other times he’d sit on the couch calling her, over and over again. If not for Ming Hao yelling at him that he would slap the ‘living out of him’ if he were to try and go to Mei, then he’d probably already have seen her.

Though, it’s not that Mei didn’t want to talk to Jun, it’s just that, speaking on legitimate terms, she can’t. Besides working at the coffee shop, researching up those three names on the internet, being annoyed by Charlie twenty-four-seven, and trying to hold on to her sanity; fitting Jun into the schedule doesn’t really work. Also, she knows for a solid fact that all Jun will do is try to convince her to move back in with him and Ming Hao.

“Is there food?” Mei asks as she shoves the white blanket off of her, and shifts into a sitting position. Charlie whose hair is disastrous and clothes completely wrinkled, glances over his shoulder from where he’s sat at the counter. After giving her a once over, scoffing at the way she’s managed to pin her hair up on top of her head, he nods. Mei mumbles a curt ‘yay’ to herself, as she maneuvers off the couch and stretches. Sleeping on a couch makes her miss the old mattress she slept on at Jun’s.

After a second or two of stretching, she heads to the kitchen, grabbing a white bowl out of the working dishwasher and pouring some of the cereal flakes Charlie had out on the counter. “Milk?”

The older man points toward the fridge with his finger as if it’s the most obvious answer. Mei simply rolls her eyes at him and heads toward the fridge, opening it up, and pulling out the milk—only to find it completely empty. She huffs and turns toward him, “Who leaves an empty container of milk in the fridge?” He only shrugs his shoulders and scoops more cereal into his mouth, ignoring her silent glare sent his way. “I’m going to the store.”

Still dressed in her clothes from yesterday—denim jeans, and a white sweater—she heads out, only grabbing her pink coat to keep extra warm. The market isn’t too far from the apartment complex, just past the park, and the pizza parlor she was supposed to eat at a long time ago with Ming Hao and Jun. The cold wind caused her to pull her coat closer to her as she dragged her feet against the pavement of the sidewalk, barely awake as it is.

Living with Charlie, she doesn’t sleep properly, she doesn’t eat properly, and now she can’t even walk a few blocks to go the store because of the two earlier statements. And, with Charlie as he is, his cynically-jerk-like attitude, it’s hard for her to ever be at peace. Especially when she doesn’t have her small fire escape to sit on and relax at.

The market isn’t busy, though what store is at six in the morning on a Thursday. The two employees at the check stand welcome her, and bow their heads respectfully as she nods at them and head’s toward the back isles where the milk is held. Mei’s a bit surprised when she reaches the section.

There, dressed in a dark hoodie and some jeans, is Ming Hao who’s carrying a basket filled with chips and soda as he stares back at her equally shocked. Mei decides now that she can survive without milk and instead have a piece of toast or something. She turns on her heel, and quickly while facing the other direction, speed walks away from him.

It doesn’t stop him from following.

He reaches her an instant, though that’s easy seeing as he’s taller and has longer legs. He places his hand gently on her shoulder and manages to move around to stand in front of her, keeping her in place as he does. She doesn’t make a movement to push him out of her way, or even try to forcefully get rid of him. More so than anything, she’s actually slightly glad to see him. “You’re still living in this area?” Slowly she nods her head to confirm and watches as he nods. He glances back at her and with a sigh asks, “Have you eaten yet?”

The two wind up going to eat at some dingy restaurant in the same plaza of the market. They sit in a far back booth, she supposes it’s because Ming Hao doesn’t want anyone to see them. She understands. He also rarely glances at her, and quickly states both of their orders so the waiter will run off and not dose around for too long. Once the waiter does leave, he glances at her and lets out another one of his deep sighs. “How have you been?”

“Fine.” She replies.

He lets out a chuckle, “Bull.” He leans further into the plush brown leathered seat as he settles one arm along the back, with the other resting comfortably in his lap. “Where are you staying?” He asks next.

“Nowhere.” She responds as she gently crosses her arms over her chest.

Ming Hao rolls his eyes, “Do you hate me because I kicked you out?” Mei’s eyes instantly widen. Hate? Hate Ming Hao? No. She highly doubts that it’s possible for her to hate him. He had his reasons (like any sane person would) for kicking her out, and she agreed full heartedly; so, in technicalities, she’s the one who did the kicking and he was just the reinforcement.

“No.” She says softly but honestly, and for once he nods his head like he actually believes her. “What is it that you want? It’s not that you wanted to take me to breakfast, I know better; so, what is it?” Ming Hao lets out a laugh at that. It seems to him she’s gotten a bit brighter in the past week. It’s not that she wasn’t smart before, but she could never analyze people’s actions. She had a hard time with that. For instance, Jun. She never understood why—even though she knows he likes her—he would go to such lengths to keep her safe and happy. It left her mind boggled. Especially when he would hug her.

“I think, maybe, you should move back in.” He sheepishly smiles as his fingers curl into the bottom of his navy and red sweater. Ming Hao had realized, that after Mei had left, he had become a little more than accustomed to her. He’ll never admit it though. “For Jun’s sake.” He adds in; just for the hell of it.

Mei sighs, as much as she would love to move back in, she can’t. Not now at least. Maybe not ever. She hasn’t decided; when this ordeal is over, come March or whenever, she’s not sure if she’s going to leave or stay. “I think I’m best where I am.” Ming Hao’s face falls, and just as Mei sees a small frown slip onto his lips; it’s gone in an instant. Instead, a neutral expression lines his face as he glances back at her.

“Are you sure?” He double checks as the waiter brings over their food.

She nods, “Positive.”

He takes a deep breath as she begins to eat quickly. He watches her and comes to the conclusion that she probably hasn’t been eating much; or at least not to the standards that she used to. And for the first time in his life, a pang of guilt hits him in the heart. As much as Mei might now blame him, he blames himself. It’s his fault she’s not eating properly, it’s his fault she has bags underneath her eyes, and it’s his fault Jun acts like he’s Rose from the Titanic; whom just lost the love of his life.

“Can you at least answer Jun’s calls?” She nods her head, and he knows it’s an empty promise. “He acts like a lost puppy; and for some reason he always gets his hopes up, that if he keeps calling maybe you’ll pick up just to tell him to stop calling. Honestly, all he wants is to hear your voice.”

Mei continues to nod her head as Ming Hao goes on and on—barely touching his food, because honestly he’s not hungry—about how Jun’s been acting and how he’s annoyed to pieces because the idiot is just wallowing around and barely coming out of his room, like a hermit. Like a turtle. Like a stupid boy in love with a girl who can’t comprehend feelings. After realizing that Ming Hao is never going to eat his soup, Mei takes it from him (barely listening to what he’s rambling on about) and continues to eat it.

Halfway through eating Ming Hao’s bowl of soup, Mei gets a text message. Charlie’s name, saved in her phone as ‘The King of Douchebaggery’, pops on the screen with the words ‘urgent, come back’ directly next to it. Instantaneously Mei wipes with the edge of her napkin before connecting eyes with Ming Hao who stops talking after a second. “I have to go; I’m sorry.” She places a few bills on the table before she stands and walks off.

Ming Hao tries to stop her by reaching out to grab her wrist; but, she easily dodges him and flees from the premise, leaving him starring after her with a harden glare. He vaguely thought he was pissed before, because of how Jun was acting, but now he’s really pissed. He gets it, he threw her out like an old pair of jeans, but all he’s ever known is how to take care of himself. If he was to ever be in danger, the first thing he thinks of, is taking care of himself. Call him selfish or a coward; but the last thing he’ll do, is protect someone when his own life is in danger. That’s another reason why he doesn’t understand how Jun can simply put Mei’s life and well-being before his.

It can’t just be because he likes her.

Mei reaches Charlie’s apartment pretty quickly, despite freezing her off from running in the cold. Charlie, like usual, doesn’t even spare her glance and only rolls his eyes at her distressed appearance. “Get dressed; I found General Roe’s addressed.”

“I am dressed.” She mumbles more to herself than to him, knowing full well that he’ll only rebuttal her statement and try to say something demeaning to her. After grabbing her pink sweater—which was awfully thrown over the side of the couch—and changing into her blank skinny jeans, Charlie and her leave to his dark navy blue BMW sitting in the dingy parking lot of the fast food restaurant across the street. Sadly, Charlie is too cheap to pay for the spot in the garage. “How did you find him? We’ve been searching for days.”

Charlie glances at her after backing the car up and almost scrapping the rear against the dumpster before pulling it onto the street and almost catching the edge of another car’s bumper. It’s in this situation that Mei misses Jun’s safe driving. “I made a few calls; and that’s all that needs to be said.” The two keep rather quiet after that; the only sound coming from the outside of the car. Even when Mei wants to turn on the radio, Charlie turns it off and gives her a hard look. In the end she’s stuck taking a nap for the two-hour car ride.

By the time they had reached this so-called ‘destination’ Mei had fallen asleep and woke up, ten different times. About five separate times Mei woke up because of slight fright, and when she woke she started to shake like she usually does at night. Charlie doesn’t say anything to her, more so he barely even glances at her; even though he knows she’s shaking like a leaf. She can’t tell if it’s because he feels bad or because he doesn’t know what to say.

He pulls the car into a rather gloomy and empty parking lot. From the looks of it, Mei would say it’s an abandoned warehouse: a large gray two story warehouse with rusty corners, and a large black rolling door. A few pine trees surround the property, and there’s a dirt path leading to the back of the building. For the most part, it’s rather industrial. Almost as if it was used back during the Civil War to make weaponry for either the North Korean militia or the South Korean Resistance.

“Do what you’re told, when you’re told; got it?” Charlie asks as he turns the car off and faces Mei’s direction. “Follow the protocol.” Mei wants to scoff at him: protocol? What is she, a cop? He is, but she isn’t. The only reason she’s doing this is because she has to. If she doesn’t, there’s a good chance her friends may get hurt and a chance her parents may be framed for something they may not be doing. And that’s the last thing she wants; so she’ll do whatever it takes to learn the truth. Even if it means going along with a pessimistic jerk like Charlie and pretending to know cop-language despite not knowing anything. “Let’s go.” He says as he jumps out of the car, Mei quickly follows after he slams the door.

They make it to the entrance, not a word from either of them, and as Charlie leans down he glances in Mei’s direction: the look in his eye is serious, way to serious. After growing up with a father like hers, she knows exactly what he’s trying to tell her. Do what I say, if you don’t…you might not live to find out what I’ll do.

In a matter of seconds, the rolling door is pulled up, and in front of them is a completely empty warehouse. There’s a few empty crates here and there (that have been untouched for a long time since there’s a thick layer of dust on top of each), there’s a broken and rusty old stair in the far left hand corner that was (at one point) supposed to lead to an equally rusty broken loft. As of where she’s standing, she sees no sign of danger. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

Charlie lets out a loud sigh as he runs his hands up and down his face and into his hair line. He must be frustrated; this probably isn’t what he wanted. “This is the place!” He screeches and shakes his head in utter defiance. “General Roe is supposed to be here!” Mei watches as Charlie twists toward her, and for a second she spots a glimmer of worry and staid in his eyes—and then, he stops dead, leaving her to stare at him.

“What’s wro—” Mei’s mind goes blank as something cold presses against the back of her head. A short clocking sound it heard as someone lies a hand on her right shoulder, their nails digging into her collar bone. Charlie puts up his hands, directly in front of him, in a stopping sign. Whoever is behind her, doesn’t make a move, instead they dig whatever they have further into Mei’s head. To that it begins to pulse, and she can swear that it’s a barrel of a loaded pistol. Finally, the silence between the three of them, is cut by the words Charlie could only come up of in a minute.

“General Roe.”