2. King Protea

Gambling With Death
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For the entirety of the car ride, Myungsoo spent his time stalking Zhang Yixing and idly chattering away about him to Hana. While she wasn’t actually fully listening, she did manage to retain the fact that he didn't actually want to be an actor at first, but rather he had signed up with an entertainment agency to be an idol.

“He switched to training to be an actor a year in when he realized that the agency was just going to end up overworking him as one of the few Chinese trainees signed under the label,” he continued as the two got out of the car and walked towards the entrance of TNR Agency.

“Well that's interesting to know,” she spoke as she feigned interest. She honestly did not care about why Yixing was in Korea, or even him about him in general, but there was something about what Myungsoo said that stuck with Hana. After mulling around with the idea of a contract for a bit, her eyes lit up with a possibility.

“Oh, hey,” she started, looking at Myungsoo, “maybe Miyeon was killed because of a contract issue? Someone higher up in the agency got mad that she wanted more money, or maybe she discovered some sort of corruption going on?” she mused, tapping her chin. Myungsoo scoffed as a wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“You've been watching too many dramas in your free time.” Hana pinched his wrist that was now dangerously close to pulling at her ear, and he hissed, glaring at her.

“I don't even have free time though!” Myungsoo rolled his eyes.

“Last week.” Hana’s mouth opened, and then closed it with a clack.

He was right. She did have a slight obsession with dramas, especially crime or thriller ones, so she could poke fun of everything wrong the police did, but instead, she would get caught up in the plotline. She spoke up again after a few seconds.

“Well they are possibilities,” she replied, still standing by her words. “Remember that one case where the murderer ended up being that politician who had his secretary murdered because she found out about his money laundering?”

“Yes, but still, whatever floats your boat, Hana.” She punched his shoulder lightly causing him to let out a chuckle. “I thought you were stronger than that.”

“If I wanted to hurt you, you'd be in an ambulance by now.” Myungsoo just grinned and opened the front door of the agency and let Hana go in first. She reached up and patted his head as a thank you, and he shook his head to straighten the bangs out.

The two made their way inside and stopped at the secretary’s desk. The agency’s walls were decorated with pictures of some of their models along with the CEO of the company, Kim Jaejoong.

The secretary looked up at the two detectives, and Hana noticed her eyes widen when her eyes wandered over to Myungsoo.

“Hi,” she spoke, “what may I do for you?” Her eyes strayed from Myungsoo to Hana and then back to Myungsoo, before staying on him. Her gaze was making Hana feel slightly uncomfortable, and she wondered how Myungsoo felt.

“Are you here for a photo shoot?” the secretary asked. A male walking by seemed to have overheard and seen them because he suddenly changed direction and walked towards the three, his slightly heeled dress shoes clicking on the floor. He bee-lined straight for Myungsoo, and Hana smirked slightly at how flustered Myungsoo was beginning to look.

“Excuse me?” he asked. The two detectives diverted their attention to the man. He was wearing a thin black choker, a purple dress shirt covered by a black blazer with black skinny jeans. He was quite tall, and Hana felt herself lifting her neck slightly to see his face as he got closer to the detectives. Myungsoo was only a few inches shorter than him.

“My name is Kris Wu, a creative director here,” he turned to face Myungsoo, “and I want to recruit you.” He raised his index finger at Myungsoo, pointing it right at his face. Myungsoo looked back at Hana, who shrugged, and then looked back at Kris.

“Uhm, what?”

“You heard me. Your lean body and your prince-like visuals are perfect. I want you to model for TNR.” Hana was taken aback. She knew Myungsoo was handsome, but damn. Then Kris looked back at her, while still pointing at Myungsoo. “And you, Miss, you have some amazing proportions. You could be good for commercials.”

Hana wasn't speechless often, but in that moment, she didn't know what to say. They both simply blinked at the man for a moment, and once Hana’s brain began working, she started to say that he was misunderstanding them.

“Uh, Mr. Wu, you're mis-” Myungsoo cut her off by placing a hand on her bicep, stopping her from reaching for her badge that was hidden by her jacket.

“She isn't a model; she's just a friend who came with me for support. I came here to find out what I needed in order to apply.” Hana turned to him incredulously. Just what in the world was he doing? Myungsoo sent her look that she knew meant that she should just roll with it, and so she resisted the urge to roll her eyes and looked back at Kris.

With a smile, she said, “Yup. I’m here to support Myungsoo.” It sounded robotic, even to her, and she winced slightly. Kris clearly didn’t notice and was just elated that Myungsoo was ready to work with him.

“Perfect. You don’t even need to apply at this point. Walk with me.” Kris turned around and started to walk further into the building, probably taking them to his office. He didn’t look back once to see if they were following him, but they trailed after him regardless. Kris radiated this aura of exuberance and confidence that she assumed was what he used to his position as Creative Director within the company. He seemed to know quite a bit about fashion from the way he clothed himself, and Hana was even willing to bet that he did a stint of modelling himself from the way he walked down the hall in front of them.

Once Kris was a respectable distance in front of the two, Hana hissed, “What are you doing?”

Myungsoo whispered back at her, “Getting info from the source. Come on, how else are we going to get info this easily?”

She looked at him incredulously. “By taking them to the interrogation room?”

“And then not getting them to talk anyways because of their lawyer? Come on, Hana,” he softly pleaded. She eyed him for a few seconds before sighing. She knew he was right, but Hana wasn’t the best actor.

“Alright, alright. But the moment I notice something strange, Mr. Wu over there is going to find out who we really are,” she hissed. Myungsoo just grabbed her wrist and quickly caught up with Kris, stepping into his office a few seconds after he did.

“Okay you two, sit down,” Kris spoke as he gestured to the two sofa chairs facing his own rolling chair behind his cherry wood desk.

“So, I was wondering-” Myungsoo started, but was cut off by Kris’s desk phone ringing. Kris picked up quickly, mouthing a ‘sorry’ as he held up his index finger to indicate that he needed a moment to take the call. Myungsoo nodded and directed his attention to the office while Hana fo

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hamsterboo
[GWD] Withering Petals is officially completed, and with that, I'm saying goodbye to Hana, Yixing, and Baekhyun <3 I'll probably come back to edit this mess of a fic tho lmfao

Comments

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miladee__
#1
Chapter 38: I really love the dynamic of the first interaction between Yixing and Hana here. I totally can imagine the situation of how strong Hana's character is and how Yixing is feeling intimidated by her.

the sentences of who are speaking get me confused here and there but they don't change the fact that it's exceptional writing. I enjoy the story a lot and it's just the beginning <3
Hasnaa2
#2
back again to re-read this master piece !!
I am glad u fineshed editing it Ms Hamsterboo !!
chonanay
#3
Chapter 40: sebin could've been prepared to kill kris too, right? a close call
mi_nam92
#4
Chapter 66: Thank you for sharing this awesome story!
Serserexo
#5
Chapter 65: Omg if anything this is an absolute great awesome story and tar from trashy T_T it's worth the wait and read. Good on ya!
anitaklr24
#6
Chapter 64: It is so cute!
I had a great time reading it again.
davian
#7
Chapter 65: Oh my this is from Lay's point of view. I love it. Thanks