MEI wakes up to find herself lying on the couch, a threaded pink blanket thrown loosely on her upper body, with her legs sitting atop Ming Hao’s lap. He, on the other hand, has his head leaning on his shoulder a good amount of drool falling out of his mouth as his arms lie sloppily in his lap, and his legs outstretched onto the coffee table. Instead of his usual batman, he wears a faded Pikachu onesie that’s obviously too big for him.

“You’re up?” She turns her head to the left, just in time to see Jun take a seat on the floor in front of her—his knees pulled to his chest with his arms wrapped around them. A small smile plays on his pink lips as he looks up at her, wariness evident in his eyes. For a split second, he glances down at the dark green watch on his wrist before looking back up at her. “It’s still early, go back to sleep.” She tilts her head as her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

The last thing she remembers was falling asleep next to the door of her room. She eavesdropped on his conversation with Ming Hao and then felt rested enough to actually do what Jun wanted her to do. She’s not quite sure, how exactly she got out onto the couch or why she did. Did she sleep walk? Or maybe, did she wake-up and find her way out here? Neither of those sound plausible, it’s more likely that Jun or Ming Hao carried her out here and if she had to guess it was probably Jun more so than Ming Hao; but, why? For what reason? Yes, she fell asleep on the floor but all he had to do was put her on the bed and cover her up. Not bring her to the couch.

“Did you bring me here?” She croaks; and surprises herself at the roughness in her voice. Jun grimaces, easily as surprised at the sound of her voice but more unnerved by it. Like he’s scared for her; that she’s having some mental breakdown that she’s not telling him about. She, herself, isn’t even sure how she feels at the moment. All she knows is that she needs to talk to Charlie, and she needs to see Charlie to make sure he’s okay. Then she’ll deal with her mental state and anything that follows.

After a second of analyzing her facial features, he nods his head—the small smile diminishing from his face, a now serious expression taking its place. “You were screaming, in your sleep, calling out for Charlie. And then you started crying—scared the living hell out of me. I didn’t know what to do, so I brought you out here. Ming Hao started patting your legs—don’t ask me why he just did—but it somehow helped and you stopped crying and settled down. All the while he continued to pat your legs until he fell asleep.” He gestures over at Ming Hao, causing her to look at him as well. She can’t help but feel a tinge of guilt run threw her system. She can’t believe how much trouble she’s put them through; and how much they’ve stuck with her.

“Sorry.” She murmurs, her voice still coming out hoarse.

He instantly shakes his head, parts of his auburn hair falling onto his forehead. He’s solely trying to convince her that she did nothing wrong, to the point that he reaches out and cradles her bandaged hand in his own. “Mei, there’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s merely your subconscious dealing with the immense trauma you went through.” He’s trying to justify things; while she’s trying to apologize for all the things she’s put him through.

“I know; but, I’m sorry anyways.” She adds in; and this time he gets it. He knows Mei, he knows that she has a difficult time trying to apologize for things, but God knows that even if she does—she’s horrible at trying to get her point in apologize, across to others. But again, he knows her, and he knows what she’s saying when she’s says it—most of the time.

He keeps her hand in his as she tilts her head on the pillow to fully face him. He tilts his head in return—that way they’re in constant eye contact. “You’re worried about Charlie?” He questions to which she lets out a slight sigh. Charlie. How is she not supposed to worry? She watched him get shot by a gun that wavered in front of her face. She watched him be strung up by his ankles and then get dragged away with them. She slipped in his puddle of blood. And she witnessed a mad man try and kill the both of them like they were nothing more than just cows about to be slaughtered or insignificant nobodies that don’t deserve to live. Yes, she’s worried about Charlie. All she can think about, is Charlie. She spent a whole week with that man, a whole week with just that man. He, somewhat, became her family. Like an uncle of sorts. A mean one, that likes to taunt her—but nevertheless an uncle.

“I’m scared for him.” She says her voice wavering in a stutter.

His thumb runs against the tan bandage on her skin, as his other hand reaches up to hold the other side of it. “Don’t worry; we’ll find him—I’ll find him. I promise.” He glances down at his wrist watch once more before glancing back at her, his smile reappearing on his lips. “Please, get some sleep.” Mei nods her head at him, and slips her hand out of his. He settles back into the position he was previously in, his legs pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. Before falling to sleep, Mei crawls her way to Ming Hao and grabs a hold of his shoulders, making sure not to wake him. “What are you doing?”

She glances over her shoulder to smile at Jun—the first smile she’s had in a few days. “He looks cramped.” With his shoulders in her hand, she maneuvers him to have his head resting on the arm of the couch. She then grabs a hold of his knees and stretches them out the width of the couch before lying down in the opposite direction of him. She spreads the pink blanket between them—making sure to cover up from his waist to hers. “There, much better.”

Jun laughs, with his smile blooming even brighter as she twists his gaze back at him. “Sleep, please.” She nods her head, and presses her back against the bulk of Ming Hao’s legs before shutting her eyes. Finally giving peace to the poor boy sat in front of her. Jun doesn’t fall asleep that night; he was too preoccupied with making sure Mei had a good night’s rest. A few times he drags his energy less body to make himself some tea. Other times he has to tear himself away from her side to take a quick break in the bathroom before returning to her side and practically cussing himself out for leaving when he sees a frown grace her lips and tears fall down her cheeks. Another nightmare, he thinks.

He doesn’t do anything; honestly speaking he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do. He was never good with people crying—whether it be awake or not. Surviving all those days in which Jing Jing would cry like a baby at lunch, or in the morning, or calling him at two in the morning; was literally the hardest thing to go through. It’s emotionally draining for the one crying, but it’s emotionally draining for the one that has to comfort you as well. And he seems to always be in the position to comfort others. He’s not sure why he’s always compelled to do so, especially when he hates how crappy he feels afterwards, but every time he sees someone crying or upset—he’s drawn to them. He supposes that’s why—out of all the girls in his school—he looked at Mei.

Ming Hao is the first to wake between him and Mei. And he’s blindly surprised to find her feet in his face and his legs stretched across the couch. He pushes his hands against the firmness of the couch, enabling him to sit in a comfortable position. His eyes immediately connect with Jun, who’s hovering around the kitchen—debating whether or not to make coffee. “Don’t even think about it—your coffee , and you’ll deprive of us of Mei’s coffee if you do so.” Ming Hao’s low voice, scares the ultimate piss out of Jun. To the point that the older jumps a few feet in the air before gripping the sides of the counter with his pale fingers. “And you call me a chicken.” The younger mutters as he hops over the back of the couch, in an attempt to not disturb Mei. He fails miserably—holding onto the side like a sloth before slamming the side of his body onto the floor with a bang—resulting in Mei shooting up at the load sound like a mummy coming back to life.

“Is something wrong?” She blubbers as her head swivels every which way. Jun shoots a look at Ming Hao—mostly a scowl with a bit of tension between his eyebrows. Ming Hao, in return, sticks out his tongue before peaking over the couch to watch as Mei continues searching around the apartment for something. And if the two had to guess, she’s probably looking for a gun—because the sound of Ming Hao falling to the floor, is the same of a shot from a barrel of a gun.

Jun makes his way to her, and places his palm a top her head, forcing her to stop moving. “Morning.” He says in a lighthearted tone with his hand still on her head. Her eyes flicker upward, to see his dopey smile on his face—the exact one she’s been missing for what feels like centuries now.

“Hi.” She replies; cringing at the sound of her stupid, raspy voice.

Ming Hao glances between the two and rolls his eyes as something finally hits him in the face like a fast ball. His two dopey roommates have concurring feelings for one another. He knows Jun has liked Mei since (practically) he was in diapers; but, now he can see that Mei feels the same way. Obviously, because the two are idiotic dunces, she doesn’t realize her feelings for him nor does he realize that she likes him. Of course it has to be him that realizes—the outside party of one, the third wheeler. God, his roommates are idiots.

“Make coffee.” He commands while shooting daggers at the blonde girl.

Jun frowns as he twists his gaze toward the younger who stands there with a pout, looking absolutely ridiculous with his Pikachu onesie on. “She just woke up.” Ming Hao mocks him as he walks around the couch to stand in front of the pair, with his hands on his hips. Mei has to slip one of her bandaged hands over to stifle a laugh at how the youngest looks.

Besides his ridiculous Pikachu onesie, and his pout; the younger’s hair is tousled into every which way that he looks like an old man who’s yet to grow up. His usual pink lips are a chapped greyish mess that it makes her laugh because he’s always talking about how he keeps his face in check—always moisturizing and putting on chap-stick.  He honestly looks like an unruly, old, teddy bear. “Make coffee.” He commands once more as he sticks his arm toward the kitchen and points a thin finger toward the coffee maker.

Jun goes to reprimand Ming Hao but Mei nods her head, a smile filtering onto her lips, causing him to shut his mouth as she scurries to the kitchen. Thus, in cause, the youngest feels accomplished as he takes a seat on the couch; wrapping the pink blanket around himself like a baby. Jun, on the other hand, hovers his fingers above the youngers head before he pulls on the edge of his onesie and flicks it back—hitting the top of Ming Hao’s head and scaring him to the point that he lets out a yelp.

“Coffee should be done soon.” Mei says, before she’s limping her way toward her bedroom—paying no attention to Jun or Ming Hao.

Jun re-grabs Ming Hao’s onesie and shakes the kid back and forth—a scowl set on his features. “What is wrong with you? Can’t you let her relax for one minute? You heard what happened to her, so give her some time.” Ming Hao lets out a loud huff as he crosses his arm and stares at his stupid best friend.

“Can’t you see that she’s anything but a fragile little girl?” He barks back with a glare; his tone downed voice creeps Jun out as he lets go of the boy’s onesie. Ming Hao glances behind him to check where Mei went, before looking back at Jun with a sigh. “She’s been protecting herself since she was born; the last thing she needs is for us to act like she’s an incapable child—because she’s not. And you know that. She needs us to be normal; to treat her normally.”

Jun shakily takes a seat on the coffee table, placing his head in his hands. He hadn’t thought of it that way. Ever since seeing Mei fall into his arms, all he’s done was act like she’s incapable of holding herself together. He, himself, was never good at letting people who needed help, suffer on their own. He just never realized that maybe they weren’t suffering; they were just trying to adjust to normalcy—and Jun didn’t help by acting as if they couldn’t.

Ming Hao lets out a sigh and pats his friend on the shoulder. “Look, it’s not as difficult as your making it to be. Just act like nothing changed; but don’t ignore what she went through either. If she wants to talk about it, she will—when she wants. In the meantime, just be normal. We have to be us; she needs us to be who we are. Get it?” Jun, in an attempt to show he understands, nods his head as he stands back up.

“How am I supposed to act normal?” The older replies in sudden nervousness. The last thing he wants to do is make Mei uncomfortable or upset with him acting like a doting, over protective, weirdo who has absolutely no ties to her except for the fact that at one point in their life, they were neighbors.

Ming Hao, sort of annoyed with this ongoing conversation, sighs and makes his way into the kitchen. “Do you seriously need advice from me to tell you how to be yourself?” The younger lets out a scoff, pouring his cup of coffee and adding some sugar to it. “Just be stupid, and observant.” He states as if it’s the obvious because that’s how Jun always acts.

Ming Hao clicks his tongue and shoots his finger up, “Oh!” He states, coffee spilling out of his mouth and landing on his onesie. “Smile, a lot. For some reason you smile a lot when you see her. And be caring, you’re always watching out for her—so do that; but not too much because it gets annoying after a while. Ah, and ask a lot of questions because for some reason you enjoy bugging the out of her with question after question—” Jun, finally annoyed by the younger, smacks his head causing the younger to shut-up.

“I get it.” Jun states with a roll of his eyes.

Ming Hao frowns, shakes his head, and takes a sip of his coffee. “You asked, I answered.” Jun purses his lips at the younger, just as Mei comes walking out—now dressed in a nice pastel pink knit sweater, and a white skirt. The two boys cringe at the sight of the cuts and bruises on her legs. “Why did you get dressed?” Ming Hao asks after taking a sip of his coffee.

Mei glances between them—a worried gaze in the mix of her expression. “I’m thinking about going to work today.” She answers and immediately Jun rejects it with a shake of his despite Ming Hao telling him to shut-up and stay quiet. “I think it’ll be good for me.” She continues as she walks to the front door and slips a pair of her dark black flats on.

“You want to go straight back to work, right after experiencing what you had yesterday?” Jun asks hesitantly, receiving an outward cringe on Mei’s face and in inward face palm from Ming Hao. After what they just discussed, the idiot goes back into fragile child mode. Ming Hao literally can’t stand his best friend some times. “Maybe you should just stay here, and take it easy today.”

Mei instantly shakes her head, “If I stay here, I’ll only worry about Charlie. Working will get my mind off of it. Besides, I owe the guys an apology. I haven’t been the nicest the past few days.” Before Jun can reject it once more, Ming Hao reaches over and pulls at his auburn hair—causing a searing pain at the back of his head. Mei grabs her wallet off of the banister, and slips it into her purse before she looks toward the two boys. “I’ll be back soon, don’t worry too much. I promise to not get stuck in a freezer again.” She tries to joke, she even smiles a little, though the joke isn’t too well received by the boys who only grimace at her.

“If you need anything, just call.” Jun mutters; but it goes unheard by Mei who scurries her way out of the apartment.

Ming Hao scoffs as he makes his way back to the couch. “Very nonchalant.” Jun glares at him as the boy turns on the TV and flips it to the nearest channel playing reruns of Blue Exorcist. The young boy groans as he re-wraps the blanket around him. “I’ve seen this ten different times.” He mutters as he crosses his legs on the coffee table.

“You’re an idiot.” Jun states as he shoves a hand through his hair.

Ming Hao rolls his eyes, “Says the guy who can’t keep his cool.”

“Shut up.”

When Mei makes her way into the café, she’s greeted with the sight of Ming Yu’s chest after having been wrapped into a hug by the tall boy. His chin rests comfortably a top her head as his fingernails dig into her shoulder blades. “It’s really you right? Where have you been?” The younger boy asks relentlessly as Mei manages to remove herself from his arms. She finds three pairs of eyes staring down at her thickly bandaged hands. She, in return, shoves her hands into the pockets of her pink coat.

Seok Min approaches her slowly, a tentative smile on his face. For a moment, his eyes flicker to where her hands are now, before looking back up at her and reaching over to pat her on the shoulder. “How are you?” He asks, as Won Woo walks around from the counter to walk over to his employees.

Mei shrugs her shoulders, a grimace of a smile ghosting her lips. “I’ve been better.” Won Woo slings an arm around Seok Min’s shoulder as the three tall boys stare down at the girl who keeps her hands pocketed in her coat.

“Where’ve you been Mei?” Won Woo questions as his fingers tab against the far etch of Seok Min’s shoulder. Mei ponders; she can’t tell them—they’re not like Ming Hao and Jun. They may be a great set of guys, but they’re not people who know her. They’re not people she can trust with that kind of information.

A menacing gulp traps in as she struggles to say, “I was mugged.”

The three boy’s eyes go wide as they stare at her in awe. She manages to not look or sound convincing at all despite the velocity of the comment. But Mei at lying. Won Woo, who happens to be somewhat of a living lie detector, keeps whatever he wants to say inside of him as he shrugs himself off of Seok Min and heads back to the counter. “The café opens in a few minutes; are you sure you’re okay to work today?”

“Yeah, noona, maybe you should’ve stayed home today.” Ming Yu adds in; a concerned look covering his face. Mei shakes her head as she moves her way around the two boys still standing in front of her, to grab her apron off of the hanger in the back corner of the room.

“I’m fine, I promise.” She adds in as she ties it around her waist and turns to face the three boys. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.” She walks up to the barstool, and takes a seat as Ming Yu hesitantly makes his way behind the counter—Seok Min watches her wearily.

She almost feels like she’s walking on eggshells around the boys. And she’s starting to think that maybe it would’ve been better if she did what Jun said and stayed home. But she can’t. All she’ll end up doing is worrying senseless over Charlie while waiting for General Roe to get in contact with her—like he said he would. Doing that would only drive her insane. And, just for today, she’d like to not feel like her life is falling to pieces.

Her stupid promise about going to Jing Jing’s wedding makes her feel like because she’s beginning to think that maybe that’s not going to happen. And at the rate things are going she’s ing positive she won’t be there for the birth of Bella and stupid Lucca’s child. And she won’t have to worry about accidentally running into her parents because she’ll be dead. She was almost dead. She thought she was going to die. Trapped in a freezer with only the distant memories of her time with her father to save her sorry and a man who she has no clue whether or not is dead or alive. And she’s scared.

She's so scared. She can’t remember if her father taught her anything else. She can’t remember if she ever met anyone involved with her father. She can feel herself losing a part of her sanity every time she pushes herself to look into old memories of the past she so dearly hates. And she hates that because of what’s she putting herself through, she’s making others suffer. She sees the way Jun and Ming Hao stare at her cuts, and bruises and of course her bandaged hands. She felt the tension of worry and the blanket of unknown when she walked out of the apartment. Though she has to admit that things could be worse: Jing Jing could be here, fussing over her and crying.

Her work day was rather slowly, but progressed enough for her to get Charlie and General Roe off her mind. The only time she ever thought about them was when people would stare at her hands, and then she’d think about what happened to cause that. It wasn’t till about two in the afternoon, that the reality of her life hit Mei like she was freefalling through the sky and forgot to eject her parachute.

As she walks to the counter she usually takes a seat at, only to stop a few feet short at the view in front of her. Seok Min leaning toward a man, trying to hear what he’s saying, before pointing over at Mei with furrowed eyebrows. “Mei,” Seok Min calls as he waves his hand to call her over. She does as he says, taking slow but precise steps to the two men in front of her. “This man says he knows you, is that true?” Mei slowly nods her head as her hand digs into her side.

“Yeah, he’s a family friend. Mind giving me a second?” Seok Min nods his head as he slowly walks away from her. Leaving Mei, with him. She lets out a shaky breath as her eyes scan the man. He’s dressed normally, not like the other day. A simple long sleeved grey shirt, a dark brown coat, a pair of dark black skinny jeans, and grey converse. His scar must be covered by makeup of some sort, for if he was to show it—he’d be the odd man in the room. After a second of willing herself the courage, she takes a seat adjacent from him. “What are you doing here?” She murmurs; her voice wavering in wariness and hostility.

The man merely runs his hand along the table before his hazel eyes snap up to her chocolate ones. “It’s a free country, darlin’.” He stretches an arm along the back side of the booth as he stares down at the young girl with harsh eyes. “And, I’m pretty sure that’s not one of the questions you wanted to ask me.” A huge grin plasters itself along his face as he taps his fingers (one after another) on the edge of the brown table. She finds it menacing. It’s not like when Ming Hao doesn’t when he’s annoyed or tried; it’s completely different, like he’s plotting something in his mind. Something devious. Something wrong.

Mei sits quietly as she folds her hands in her lap and flicks her gaze from the man in front of her, to her co-workers who stand near the counter preparing the drinks she’s supposed to serve. None of them pay attention to her, not even Seok Min. All of them just do busy work. For some reason, she feels like she’s suffocating. She’s not sure why. But she can feel slowly closing, her hands getting clammy, and her eyes are tearing. “Where’s Charlie? I just need to know where Charlie is.” She mutters as her head turns to look back at General Roe. Surprisingly, he digs a hand into the pocket of his coat and fishes out a dark black, and silver metal flip phone before he flings it across the table at her.

“Press the number two, then enter.” He states in a gruff voice as he begins his incessant tapping once more. Mei stares down at the phone, biting her lip as she takes it into her trembling hand. What is she supposed to do? Follow what General Roe is saying or…? If it leads her to Charlie, she might as well do it. That’s why she’s talking to him in the first place, for Charlie. So, with a deep intake of a breath, she does as he says and presses the phone to her ear.

The first thing she hears is the dial tone before someone answers the phone. No one talks at first, there’s just shuffling, before the line goes dead silent. “Hello?” A painful, hoarse voice murmurs from the other side—Mei immediately recognizes it as Charlie. Tears form in the curves of her eyes as she breathes a ragged sigh of relief and places a hand over .

“Charlie?” Her voice raises in octave as emotion flies into her tone.

There’s more shuffling on the phone, missed with ragged breaths she knows is coming from Charlie. “Mei? Is that you?” He manages to cough out; and she begins to wonder if he’s being restrained or something.

“Yes, where are you? Are you okay?” She sputters out questions one right after another. Each one sounding vaguely similar to the last; until, Charlie let’s out a long lasting ‘sh’ forcing her to shut up and pay attention to what he’s about to say—or what he’s not about to say.

“I’m okay,” He begins, his voice coming out like hers did in the morning—like it’s a struggle to even try to think. “I’m at the hospital near our apartment. The doctors say I can leave in a few days; I need you to bring me a pair of clothes, and some food—possibly, I don’t know, some pizza. They starve me here.” Mei’s not quite sure how she’s supposed to feel. Ecstatic? Because Charlie is okay, and his regular commanding self. Annoyed? Because this whole time she was thinking he was dead. Scared? Because why the hell does General Roe know where he is and she doesn’t.

Mei lets out a sigh, “I’ll be there soon, Charlie. But I have to go.” She hears whines and denials from him as she clamps the phone shut and places it back on the table. At least now she knows he’s okay and most likely safe. “What do you want?” Mei asks as she pushes the cell back toward him. He takes it graciously and shoves it into his pocket. “How did you know where to find me?”

His eyes watch her playfully. “What? Did you think I was sitting on my after I left you?” He begins with a raised eyebrow. Mei contemplates it: that does sound stupid; that he didn’t do anything for the few hours they weren’t in contact. “I’ve been watching you; you’ve got a nice place to live in.” He juts his finger over his shoulder; effectively shoving it in the direction of Jun and Ming Hao’s apartment. Her home. “And you work in a nice place too—got it all worked out, hunh?”

Mei keeps her eyes trained on him, not daring to let them waver away. In fear that maybe he’ll whip a gun out, right there and then. It’s a possibility, the guys insane. Especially after what she went through. Trapping her in a freezer, waiting for her to die, shooting Charlie and hanging him by the ankles with rusted chains. “Are you going to kill me?”

“No.” The man answers quick and swiftly. There’s no hint of humor behind it, not like his earlier statements about her life. That probably means he’s serious; but at the same time she’s not quite sure. He could be joking. What’s her serious could be his humor. “But, you need to be worried Mei. Where you are, what you do, who you interact with, how you act with people—you’re always being watched.” He leans closer to her, his elbows leaning low on the chestnut table, and his eyes digging into her skull like daggers. “The person you pass by every day on the small walk here, the neighborhood cat lady, the man who smiles too much and sells newspapers. People like that, they watch you, they’re paid to watch you. To figure out when you’re ready.”

Mei’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. Ready? In what sense? For who? Why? And how is she ever considered ready? “Ready for what?”

“To replace them.” General Roe answers as he stays still as he is. Them. Who’s them? And replace; replace what? Replace who? And who’s watching; the North Koreans? But why? What’s the point? She’s not special, she doesn’t know anything? Her parents are the ones to be watched. Maybe she’s going insane. She’s stupid for thinki8ing that what Charlie said was all of it. When there is so much more to it. More than she could ever know. “You’re dense Mei Fen.”

Her eyes flicker up toward his once more, “You know my name?”

“I told you; I’ve been watching you. I know a lot of things about you, and Jun Hui is it? Oh, and that tall fella,” He brings a hand up and scratches the side of his head, before he nods as if he figured out what he needed to know. “Ming Hao. Yes, that its. I know you, Jun Hui, and that fella Ming Hao. Your friend, the one that’s getting married, Jing Hua—her and her fiancé Soon Young as well. I know of Bella, the pregnant lady in Italy, who’s married to a man named Lucca. A real as your texts say.”

“You went through my texts?”

General Roe nods his head as he pursues his lips; upset that she interrupted him. “I’ve gone through everything I had to in order to figure out who you are, Mei. And after doing so, I’ve come to learn that you’re incompetent.” Mei’s eyes bulge. Incompetent? After running away from her hell hole of a past, and saving herself and Charlie from dying a very painful death—she’s incompetent? How so? In what way? His eyes drag throughout the café before landing back on Mei. “You know nothing about what you’re really in.”

“And what am I in?” She directly asks—no sign of hesitance.

General Roe resituates himself, not leaning on the table any longer. “Your parents were great leaders. Your father, a powerful operative for the special forces and your mother a well-known and respected delegate—and you, you’re a product of them. That being said, many officials believe that you could be a better operative than anything your mother and father could’ve ever tried to be.” Mei scoffs; to be better than her mother and father? Last time she checked all her mother and father did was beat the crap out of her physically and mentally. Never was she to be better than them; why would they want that? They hated her. That’s why she left.

“Other children of leaders are pushed into training, and by their eighteenth birthday they hold high positions; whether it’s in the army as a delegate, or in the government. But you, Mei Fen, you’re special.” Once more, General Roe leans closer on the table. As if he’s telling the biggest secret on the planet. And she’s the only one allowed to hear. “Instead of being trained by officials in the army; you were secretly trained by your parents, the two best leaders that North Korea could’ve ever wanted.”

She shakes her head. Trained? No. She was not trained; she didn’t have time to be trained. “My parents never did anything that could help anyone; especially not me.” General Roe lets a scoff roll off his tongue a small ‘tsk’ soon after, as he slides even closer to her—practically leaning so close she can see the outline of his scar, where bits of concealer falls of. She begins to wonder, does he put the makeup on every time he walks out? And how did he get the scar in the first place? Questions she’s sure she’ll never get the answer to.

“Then how did you know how to get out of that freezer?” She stays quiet. Silence stays between them, and it makes the man in front of him smirk as he leans back against the couch. Because he knows he got her. She can’t answer the questions because if she does she’d be incriminating herself against her earlier assumption. “Maybe you didn’t know as a child. But the only way you knew how to get out, was because your father taught you how. And they’ve taught you other things, to get out of places to get past people. They prepared you for what was bound to happen.”

“That’s why this whole act,” He waves his hand around the area—gesturing to the café, and her life revolving around it. “This act of trying to be normal, won’t last forever. The minute you were born, was the minute you were bound for anything but normalcy. And I think it’s about time you realize that. You were never meant to live the normal stationary life these people around us do.” His fingers once more glides around the room; and Mei herself glances at all the people. The one’s studying harshly, the others drinking coffee and talking wildly to their friends, even the quick business goers. She wishes to be any one of them. Anything then what this man is telling her she is.

“You won’t be normal forever Mei. At some point in your life, they will think you’re ready, and they will take you away—whether you’re willing or not.”

Mei swallows the words she was about to say, as her hands clam up. Now what is she supposed to say? What is she going to do? He’s saying that no matter how normal she tries to be—she’ll never succeed. There will be someone or something that will take her away from it. Whenever that may be. “Will they hurt the people I care for?” She murmurs in an attempt to learn more. For the sake of the people she loves and cares for.

He shakes his head, “As long as they don’t intervene—they won’t be hurt.” She gulps once more; digesting the information. At least now she knows that Jun and Ming Hao are safe, the same goes with Jing Jing and Bella—Lucca and Soon Young. Everyone’s safe, even stupid Charlie. “You have to learn as much as possible in the little time you have. You have to be prepared for whatever may happen to you.”

“And what’s going to happen to me?”

General Roe in a breath as he slides away from her and runs a hand down his face. “Once they take you, you’re to replace another operative—most likely a position in the National Defense Commission based on your parents combined jobs and assets. If you don’t achieve in the ways that they hope, then they’ll kill you. Especially so if you’re defiant. So, if you want to live, then you have to do as much as possible to prepare yourself.” He digs, once more, into his coat pocket—and this time he slips a piece of paper onto the table and pushes it toward her. “That’s who you need to meet next. You must go alone, if you don’t, then they’ll do what I did to your friend, but worse. You’ll be put through another test, much worse than what I put you through. But, in the end, it’ll be beneficial. She’ll tell you things about your parents—things I could never. And she’ll prepare you; more so than I can. But what you need to know, and keep in your mind,” He in a breath, and grinds his teeth together.

“She’s a devil in sheep’s clothing.”

Mei glances down at the paper, it lists an address and a name; a name she’s already familiar with. “Ae Mi Ja? She’s the elite delegate.” General Roe nods his head and stares at her with interested eyes. Surprised that she knows about Mi Ja. But of course she knows, Mi Ja was one of the three names on Charlie’s list. Her eyes flicker back up toward him, confusion lining her features. From what she remembers, Charlie said she was the least of their worries. General Roe was supposed to be the worst. “What will she do to me?”

“You won’t go if I tell you.”

Her eyes flicker back toward him, a lump in as she processes what to say next. What is she supposed to say? “You promise my friends won’t be hurt?” General Roe nods his head as he slips out of the booth and stands up—Mei following after him.

“The last thing they want, is to be on your bad side.” With that said the man takes his leave, sending one last glance in Mei’s direction, before walking out like he was never there in the first place. Like they didn’t just have a very impactful conversation. And just like him, Mei pretends to act like nothing happened and goes about her business—none of her co-workers asked about whether or not that man was truly a friend. And she didn’t bother to come up with something to say to them. Her mind was elsewhere. Parts of it focused on General Roe and the suspicious aura around him, others sat with Charlie at the hospital, and another portion worried about her future—something she’s never done before, worry about her future that is.

Work ends around nine, and after saying quiet goodbyes to Won Woo, Seok Min, and Ming Yu; she heads across the street to her apartment. The only thing she wants to do, is re-bandage her hands before falling asleep and taking a long nap. But when she unlocks the door to the apartment, and steps in, she’s greeted with the view of a nicely dressed Jun and Ming Hao.

The youngest steps forward first, a grimace of a pout lines his face but is overshined with what’s in his hands. A small newspaper wrapped box (the size of a notepad) with a slightly degraded red ribbon. Under it, he holds a thin white and pink card. “Here, take it.” The tall boy shoves the box and card into her hands, surprising her as she tries to balance the products in her hands. “Open it.” He murmurs as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Mei slowly nods her head as she stares down at the white and pink card. She can’t help but laugh and smile at the words on it. Ming Hao has crossed out the curly silver words ‘get well soon’ and instead he scribbled a few words between the printed ones ‘you’ve get gotten well soon, make more coffee.’ Near the end after a few periods (whom she believes Jun scribbled in) is a ‘please’. And then in big, blue letters are the words ‘FROM THE HANDSOME AMAZING AND TALL PRINCE AND HIS UNATTRACTIVE STUPID AND SHORT BEST FRIEND’. She giggles once more as she places the letter on the banister and proceeds to open the horribly wrapped, old newspaper box. Inside, sat on top of a small grey cloth is three pieces of paper.

All three are tilted with the word ‘coupon’ and below it sits ‘no expiration date’ and ‘only useable once’. One of them has the words ‘Ming Hao be nice for the day’. Another is titled ‘Ming Hao be nice for two days’. And the last one is scribbled out a few times with the end result ‘Ming Hao be nice for four and a half days; I can’t be nice to you for longer than that’.

“You should savor those.” Ming Hao says after a minute as he points toward the box she’s starring into. “I would save one for your wedding day or a birthday—something like that.” Mei can’t help but smile at the tall boy, before he’s bringing him into a bone crushing hug. The tinge of red spreading against his cheeks going unnoticed by the girl and his best friend behind him.

She separates him after a second and continues to grin, “Since when were you nice?” The boy frown and points his finger toward Jun who takes a step forward to stand next to Ming Hao. His hands are folded behind his back and a sloppy smile lies on his lips, before he pulls one hand forward and shows off a small bouquet of tightly wrapped white roses.

She gapes between him and the flowers, then back at him and then back toward the flowers. Jun shyly rubs the back of his neck with the smile still on his face. “I remember in your journal you wrote that your favorite flowers are white roses; because they sy—”

“Symbolize purity.” She finishes for him; to which he nods as he slides the flowers into her hands. She takes it willingly and stares down at them for a minute before taking a sniff of them and smiling once again. She glances once more at Jun, “Thank you, but why did you do this?” She glances between her two roommates before Jun takes the initiative to answer.

“We thought that you needed something to make you happy, since the last few days have been anything but.” He states to which Ming Hao rolls his eyes; because it wasn’t his idea at all, and was only Jun’s. He only went along with it because he had too. If anything he just wanted to leave the girl alone to let her do her own thing but Jun wouldn’t allow that to happen.

Mei smiles thankfully, on the verge of tearing up because of the stupid thoughtfulness between her roommates and that she probably won’t be able to be around this for much longer. And that the two have no clue what’s going to happen to her. “Thank you.” She murmurs before she’s pulling both of the boys into a hug; despite major objects from Ming Hao.

“Jeez, it’s not that big of a deal.” Ming Hao states as he glances at Jun mid-hugging. In return Jun only shrugs his shoulders as the girl begins to cry silently with her head partially buried in each of their chests. The two boys continue to make glances between each other; despite not realizing that she’s crying.

Jun pulls away first, to stare down at her, “Mei?” He asks as he leans down to be at eye line with her. His overprotective nervousness, and wariness taking control of him. Ming Hao, on the other hand, is now stuck after Mei wraps her arms tightly around his torso—having fully let go of Jun. She goes as far as even burying her head into the side of his chest, allowing for no one to see if she’s crying or not. “Is something wrong?” He asks as he tentatively places a hand on the top of her head. Everything’s wrong, she thinks to herself; but ends up rejecting that and shaking her head.

“Everything’s fine,” She murmurs as she brings a hand up to wipe at her eyes secretly. “I’m just tired, and thankful.” She pulls herself away from Ming Hao, who seems thankful for the matter as he wipes at his yellow knit sweater. Mei looks up at Jun, “I’m going to bed, thank you.” With the little courage she has, she pulls herself onto the tips of her toes and presses her thin chapped lips along his soft pale cheek. Leaving one boy shocked, another wondering about the wet stain on his shirt, and her slightly alarmed by the weird feeling she got from doing just the small act.

“Good night.” Jun wavers over his shoulder as she scurries off to her room.

Ming Hao looks over at Jun with a sigh as his best friend reaches up and touches the side of his cheek, the part in which she had kissed. He scoffs, and pushes past him, making his way to the couch with a roll of his eyes. His best friend is seriously worse than him at romance—and Ming Hao hasn’t even had a girlfriend before. “The two of you are like a horrible love story.” He drones as he switches the TV back on and wraps himself into the pink blanket.

Jun, on the other hand, dilly dallies on the exact spot he hasn’t moved from. A dopey smile sticks to his face; and it would probably stay there for the rest of his life. But, the sad thing is, he doesn’t truly know what’s going on with the girl who hides herself behind a majority of pretenses and veneers. Soon enough, those fronts will disappear and everything that’s hidden will soon come to light.