Chapter 1

Chasing Xiumin
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

“What if I promise not to accidentally shoot anyone this time? Not even with the tranquilizer gun? Will you stop nagging then, Lu? Please? I - oh no, a customer’s coming. I’ll call you back later.” With a sigh, Zhang Yixing stuffed the burner phone into the pocket of his tan vest and forced a smile onto his lips.

“Welcome to HomePlus, how may I help you?”

A girl, shifting from foot to foot and deliberately avoiding eye contact with him, pulled her thick scarf up higher over her flushed cheeks. Yixing waited.

“Ma’am?” He stretched his grin wider and took a step closer, hoping his body language came off as "friendly and inviting" like his manager had instructed. (It didn't. It looked vaguely terrifying, actually).

She flinched, alarmed, and shuffled past him, pretending not to have seen him.

Yixing frowned. Did he really look that frightening? He knew his nose hadn't settled in yet after the latest surgery Luhan had insisted he undergo, but he quite liked his new face, and he thought his smile was - 

Brrrriinnnnggggg!

Yixing fumbled with his vest pocket, glancing warily around him, and spoke into the phone. “Lu, I can't keep taking your calls during work, even if it's just a cover job, it’s really -”

“It’s Kris, not Luhan, you . And I thought I told you to pay more attention. Our secondary target just scurried past you, and you didn't even notice.”

---

Ramyun, ramyun, ramyun. Geez, did they move the ramyun aisle or something? It was always in Aisle 14 before, but maybe now --

“Ma’am? Do you need help?”

Im Yoojung’s head whipped up from her position on the floor. The guy with the creepy smile who had greeted her earlier stared at her, eyes surprisingly devoid of judgment considering Yoojung was squatting on the ground searching for ramyun.

"Ma'am?"

What does he want? Yoojung thought, panicking. Is he mad that I kept walking like I didn't see him earlier? I mean, I know it was kind of rude, but he's clearly just as socially awkward as me, and two socially awkward people in one conversation is just not a good -

"Hey, are you alright? Can you not get up or something?" 

- idea, and wow, he's actually kind of cute when he's all worried about my wellbeing and not smiling like a crazy axe murderer, with those dimples and those long eyelashes and that curly hair that looks a little bit like jumbo ramyun noodles, and -

"Ma'am? Do I need to get medical help?" Creepy Smile Guy sounded genuinely concerned this time. 

Quick Yoojung, say something normal so he knows you're not having a !

"I like ramyun!” 

... Nope, nope that wasn't normal.

Creepy Smile Guy’s eyebrows arched. “Uh, okay? Ramyun’s in Aisle 14, and this is Aisle 13.”

Falling out of her squat and onto the floor, Yoojung wailed internally. In addition to being socially incompetent, are you also illiterate, Im Yoojung? You can't tell the difference between 13 and 14? Why are you absolutely incapable of having normal social interactions with -

“Do you… um, do you need help getting to Aisle 14?” His voice rose in pitch at the end, unsure. She didn’t blame him. I’d be confused too if I had to deal with me, she thought mournfully.

“No, thank you.” Yoojung finally found her voice and scrambled to her feet, shuffling toward Aisle 14 and feeling Creepy Smile Guy’s eyes burning into her back the entire time.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Im Yoojung, mukbang broadcast jockey extraordinaire, the voice inside her head mocked. She can talk to complete strangers through a screen! She can dole out love and life advice, all while stuffing her face with food! But you know what she can't do? Lead a normal conversation with the greeter at the grocery store, apparently! 

Grabbing package after package of ramyun, Yoojung stacked them into a Jenga-esque tower with the ease only an experienced mukbang BJ could possess. Blindly, she tottered toward the first available cash register and dropped her haul on the counter, not bothering to look at the cashier. 

Please be one of those quiet cashiers who don't bother making small talk, please - 

“Wow, I guess you really do like ramyun, huh?”

Her eyes snapped up to meet those of Creepy Smile Guy’s.

Ah, hell.

---

Yixing lay sprawled upon his couch, phone in one hand and laptop perched on his stomach as he streamed BJ NyamNyam’s newest mukbang video.

“Welcome back to BJ NyamNyam’s mukbang!” Yoojung's face popped up on screen, smile glowing with the force of ten thousand suns. “For today’s mukbang, we have cheese ramyun with cucumber kimchi and cola. Doesn't it look delicious, everyone? All the prices are listed on the sidebar, and -- oh, thank you for the donation, User #301! Sorry for being late today -- usually my sister goes out to buy the food for me, but she had to work overtime today, and I got a little lost at the mart. It’s actually a funny story --”

Yixing hit mute, silencing the girl on screen just as she reached to stir the enormous pot of ramyun, and raised the phone to his lips.

“Lu, is Kris sure this was the right girl? Not just a look-alike? Because she didn’t act like the target does in her livestreams at all, and I watch those every night.”

The phone crackled with the force of Luhan’s sigh. “Yes, Zhang Yixing, it’s the right girl. Kris ran a facial scan three times already to make sure, and it’s a match. You’re just lucky he happened to be monitoring the CCTVs at HomePlus, where we specifically placed you knowing both targets often shop there, or else you would have missed her entirely.”

Yixing winced.  “I’m sorry, Lu, really! It’s just, I was expecting someone more… lively? Extroverted? I just don't get it, Lu, this girl was really awkward, she’s not all sweet and charming like her online persona is!”

“Then tell me, what else would a girl be doing buying that much ramyun unless she were filming a mukbang broadcast? Huh? You told me yourself she bought enough ramyun to feed a college fraternity for a week. And then tell me, how many successful mukbang broadcasters look exactly like our target and live in this area? Can you just use your head for once?” Luhan snapped.

“Alright, I’m sorry,” mumbled Yixing, eyes downcast.

Another sigh came over the phone, this time weary rather than frustrated.

“I didn’t mean it like that, Xing, you know that. I’m just worried about Xiumin, and we need to do this job properly to get him back. I already did what I could to delay the deal a bit, but ultimately getting the girl and the information is your job.”

“I get it, Lu, we’re all worried about Xiu. I’ll do my best from now on,” Yixing promised, brows knit. “Next time she comes in, I’ll follow her home and get started on the mission. I’ll do it.”

---

Im Chaeyoung collapsed onto the sofa, groaning as she massaged her swollen feet.

“Long day?” Yoojung asked from the kitchen.

Chaeyoung grunted in the affirmative, too tired to respond to her sister with actual words. Work for the last few months had been a perpetual flurry of finalizing arrangements for the upcoming meeting with the Defense Minister. As head of her department at Suho Industries, South Korea’s largest legal supplier of high-end surveillance equipment, Chaeyoung was responsible for making sure every second of tomorrow’s meeting impressed the notoriously hard-to-please Defense Minister.

“Baekbaek, baby, why can't you be a little bigger so you can just maul all the anno

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
nyamnyamnyam
Chasing Xiumin is one of the many fics on AFF that have been plagiarized on another site (see blog section for more info). Please don't read CX on that other site - my work can only be read here on AFF, so if you see it anywhere else, please report it to me.

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
comrades
#1
Chapter 22: I just realized this story hasnt been touched in two yrs and now im in mourning :(
vampwrrr
#2
Chapter 21: Oh, wow. That killed one of my theories that little boss was Chanyeollie. I think that Big Boss is Xiumin.

...or not.

Something's up with Xiumin, anyway, though. An experienced secret agent crying over torture? Or...hm, there's something to the fact that Luhan hears machinery in the calls. Maybe they're recordings?

Anyway. RIP, poor Fluffers.
vampwrrr
#3
Chapter 20: I really like how Chaeyoung has decided, even though Jongdae is...the most annoying man on the planet, to stick with him because no one deserves to be alone and defenseless and falsely accused of a felony.
vampwrrr
#4
Chapter 19: I don't trust Henry, I don't trust Chanyeol--shoot, at this point, I don't even trust that Xiumin has actually been kidnapped.
vampwrrr
#5
Chapter 18: Awww, Yixing has a crush...
vampwrrr
#6
Chapter 17: Is Jongdae starting to let down his clown guard?
vampwrrr
#7
Chapter 16: Awwww! Taotao packed them snackies?!
vampwrrr
#8
Chapter 15: I caught the showtime reference and my heart cooed.
vampwrrr
#9
Chapter 14: I love being right.