Xiao Jun ran.

He ran, legs burning as his accelerated heartbeat was trying to get out of his chest, his alert eyes looking for an exit, a safe heaven.

Run run run.

The little heir of WayV wasn’t a stranger to fighting, nor to danger.

But he had to run, faster than before, a bullet grazing over his head as he heard the shouts of his enemies in the distance.

Xiao Jun cursed.

For the very first time, his heart held a tinge of emotion, one which he had always conquered ever since his grandfather had given him his first dagger at the age of five: it was fear.

It nearly paralysed his ability to think but his hellish training that he had endured for years kicked in as his eyes registered a possible exit: one of the guest’s room was slightly left open ajar, and without thinking he rushed inside, locking the door as fast yet soft as possible.

His heart truly wanted to fly out of his chest, his lungs begging for more air, as he listened softly behind the door.

The noise, followed by footsteps approached...

Please just go away...

Xiao Jun closed his eyes.

This mission...had gone wrong from the start.

Grandfather was right.

Xiao Jun clenched his fists. He had never ever thought...that just to have his position, his own beloved brother would be this ruthless...
They were twins.  His Ge, had been born a couple of minutes before Xiao Jun, making him the eldest.

And as the tradition held, he should have been thus the legitimate heir of WayV.

Of course, had Xiao Jun been slightly less talented, the elders of WayV would have followed the tradition.

Born with a better physique, a better learning aptitude, and general talent, Xiao Jun had been elected to become the new heir. This mission was his “enthronement” mission.

His grandfather had told him to look out for his own brother, but Xiao Jun had dismissed it in his heart; they had never been in conflict and even though he had received the position of heir, everyone had seen it coming; his brother had even waved it off with his usual smile.

Sure, they weren’t close...but to be this ruthless?

After all, no matter who was the heir, they all were part of WayV.

His brother would naturally become his right hand so how come...
Xiao Jun opened his eyes for a moment and closed them as he sighed again in pure relief.

The noise outside went away, and suddenly his knees didn’t support his wounded body anymore, slumping down against the door frame.

No matter what...there were way too many hoop holes to dismiss this as an accident.

The usually easy penetrable luxury hotel room was guarded to the brim and secured with traps that weren’t supposed to be there, the guards of his target were definitely S-class instead of B-class, and even the planned exits had been blocked.

No one... no one except the elders knew of the details of his mission....no one...except his brother.

If not for pure luck...Xiao Jun would have been dead.

He opened his eyes, determined to find his way out of this deadlock, but his body stiffened as he was looking in a pair of deep warm brown eyes.

“Whoa I thought you fell asleep. Seems that those wounds are less serious then I thought.”

Xiao Jun ‘s eyes darted quickly around the luxurious suite he had infiltered: it was spacious, the furniture a notch above the standard rooms, and beside the curious model-looking boy, there seemed to be no one.

Xiao Jun’s heart calmed down.

A kid his age...He could take it down without killing it, in a couple of movements.

If not for his wounds, he would only need one movement.

“You look like a scared animal.” The boy continued with a silly smile, guard ridiculously down as he continued to observe Xiao Jun like it was normal that a bleeding kid barged into his hotel room.

“I don’t bite. My name is Xuxi. What’s yours?”

 Xiao Jun wondered if all rich kids were this silly or stupid.

Just as he wanted to knock the kid down already, he heard shouts coming from the hallway.

His eyes widened as he heard the doors of the rooms next to them being opened with force, surprised screams could be heard from their owners as those people barged in them, explaining that there was a dangerous individual on the loose.

Xiao Jun cursed, wondering what to do.

“Seems like big trouble. Come and stay still.” The kid took his arm, forcing him to stand up, leading him into a room.

“Stay here and don’t speak.” The kid locked the door from the outside before Xiao Jun could even comment how stupid his actions were.

Even if he was hiding in a locked room, those people would simply barge in it; he turned around but there was no window, nor other place to hide in what seemed to be a bureau room.

Before he could think further of a solution, the door of the luxurious suite barged open.

“Who dares!”

He heard the kid’s voice shout with such arrogance and power that he was stunned.

“My apolgies but there is a-”

Before the man could even explain, the silly kid interrupted: “Even if the building was on fire, do you think that you have the right to enter a prince’s room without the approval of my father!? Are you trying to declare a war on our country?”

Xiao Jun was stunned.

A prince?

Was that silly kid bluffing or was he telling the truth?

Sure, this luxury hotel was quite famous in Hong Kong but what were the chances of a royal staying here?

“My a-apologies b-but-” the man was as flustered as Xiao Jun, but stayed silence as shuffles could be heard.

“This is the seal of the royal family. What kind of hotel is this that allows security to barge in like this! Call me your boss, right now!”

The man stuttered but another individual interrupted him, voice cold as ice as he explained the situation.

Xiao Jun’s heart steeled itself; this voice belonged to the S-guard that had wounded his arm.

“A killer?” The silly kid asked in unbelief.

“Yes. Move now, as we have to track him down.”

Xiao Jun was sure that the kid, upon hearing his identity would sell him away.

But it stayed silence as the people searched through the suite.

The door on his side made a noise, as someone tried to enter.

“What are you doing! This is my father’s bureau room! If you enter you will be considered as spies and enemies of my country!”

The guard ignored his warning, trying to unlock the door.

“Even if there was a killer, he can’t be there. There are no windows, and only my father has the key. If you barge in, I will immediately call my father! Are you looking down on our security people?”

“Don’t cause trouble.” He heard another guard say, and immediately the door remained still.

As the people tried to apologies, the silly kid ushered them out, seeming annoyed and angry as he complained he would tell this incident to his father.

As the entrance door closed, Xiao Jun’s heart finally regained its calm.

Luck.

So much pure luck. Xiao Jun couldn’t believe it.

A second later the lock of his door was lifted, and the prince, smiled again at him with his silly face.

“Well that was quite close. You are lucky that my fat father gave me the key. This room is fortified with a special steel, so no one can force himself in.”

Xiao Jun wondered how silly this prince was.

He had just hidden an assassin in a room where important information of his country was kept in security.

Silly.

Stupid.

Utterly silly and stupid.

“Come on, let’s play something to kill time. Those people will probably patrol the hallways for a long time before giving up.”

“Are you silly?”

In truth, Xiao Jun wanted to question his mental ability, but didn’t as he had received his help; that would be too rude.

The question didn’t seem to efface that ridiculous silly smile on the prince face.

“Didn’t you hear them clearly? I am an assassin. I am a bad person.” Xiao Jun stressed each of his words, looking for a reaction.

“Why are you a bad person?”

The question stayed in the air, silence greeting them both.

Xiao Jun wondered if the person was stupid...or just plainly too kind.

“My dad is an advocate.”

Huh? “You are not a prince?” He asked in surprise, but the kid shook his head: “I am a prince. But my fat father is an advocate. People say that my dad defends bad people. That he lets bad people get away with their punishment.”

The kid smiled again: “My dad says there are three kinds of people that are bad: the ones that do it because they have no choice, the ones that do it but still have the right of a second chance and the ones that are a lost cause and choose evil because they became one with it.”

The silly kid looked at him from top to toe: “Xuxi can’t judge which one you are. But I am sure you are not the last one.”

“How are you sure about that?” Xiao Jun couldn’t help but ask, wondering what kind of silly things this kid’s father had thought him.

“Because you said to Xuxi: “I am a bad person.”. You clearly said that to warn me. That’s not a thing a bad person would do. Also, when you came in, you looked scared, not evil. Xuxi has seen lots of people who want Xuxi’s life. But Xuxi didn’t see that look in your eyes. You never thought of killing Xuxi.”

Xiao Jun wondered if the kid was sage beyond his ages, or simply silly.

Seeing how he dragged him to play a match against him, bragging about his fighting skills in the game, he was simply sure that this kid was just a silly kind-hearted kid.

“You are so bad at fighting.”

“Shut up! I can beat you in real life right here, right now before you can even speak!”

“But you are so lame at fighting on the PlayStation. You didn’t win one battle in any of those fighting games!”

It was probably because they bickered back and forth that Xiao Jun didn’t hear the door being opened.

“Oh, it seems we have guest?” a tall man entered the suite, making Xiao Jun’s body stiffen in no second.

He cursed his negligence, eyes looking towards the exit; the kid was silly, but there was no chance his father was too.

Which sane minded adult would be okay with an assassin?

“Fat Dad, you are back! Look, I made a new friend!”

“And who’s this friend? He looks quite in a bad condition, why didn’t you call for Wendy?”

“If I called a doctor, would those people in the hallway not barge in again?”

Xiao Jun wanted to flee, right here right now, but the tall man merely clicked his tongue;

“If your friend keeps those wounds open, he will suffer later. Just call Wendy and ask that she brings the doctor in disguise as a royal guard.”

What kind of silly development was this?

“If Xuxi ask her, she will scold me for making trouble again.”

The tall man laughed, taking his phone as he called this “Wendy”, his posture relaxed as he looked at Xiao Jun.

“Are you okay kido?”

Xiao Jun nodded, not used to the warm eyes he was looking at, mumbling a thanks.

A silly family.

“Are you not...”

“Afraid?” The tall man laughed as he took of his expensive suite vest, making himself comfortable as he took a seat on the couch. “My son may look innocent, but if he says that you are his friend, then I completely trust his judgement.”

Utterly silly and naive.

“Xuxi has seen lots of assassins in his life. He knows the look of danger when he sees it.” The advocate replied as if he could read his mind.

Xiao Jun frowned; how could such a silly smiling kid continue to be so...kind...if he had seen the true face of his world.

“Its been a while since he has spent some time with a same aged friend. I hope you can stay for dinner after the doctor treats your wounds. Don’t worry, my guards will you through a special exit. Perks of being members of the royal family.”

Xiao Jun closed his rooms’s door behind him, locking it as he shut off the world behind him.

His room was simple, looking very poor in the moonlight’s light; there was no use of having unnecessary stuff when you spend most of your time on the training grounds.

The elders had been surprised, lecturing about the failure of his “enthronement mission.”

His grandfather had been the only one who had looked with a sad expression.

He knew.

As for his elder brother...the surprise on his face had lasted a second; but it had been enough to see and confirm his doubts.

When he had come to comfort him, Xiao Jun had shook him off; glare obvious for everyone to see.

“I will remember today. Its today that I lost....my beloved brother. I no longer have any family besides Grandfather.”

The words had surprised the elders, whom finally understood something was wrong, but his grandfather had only sighed.

As for his elder... as for him, he had only looked at him a calm expression.

The room suddenly felt cold.

Xiao Jun wondered how come he had never felt it before.

It was strange; he had never questioned why he belonged to this cold word to begin with.

But now...

It had been merely two hours.

Two hours of laughing, bickering, and losing games one after one. Yet unlike the defeat on the training ground which tasted bitter, losing games in that fancy hotel suite had only tasted warm as the silly kid had laughed, eyes not mocking but warm as he proposed yet another game.

Warm.

How warm.

But it wasn’t his world.

Xiao Jun had been long accustomed to the cold.

Now that he had touched a silver touch of warmth he craved it.

But from the beginning on, the reason he had never touched it, was because he knew that despite the cold, this was the world Xiao Jun belonged too.

“What’s your name?”

“Don’t ask. Or I will really beat you.”

“Pfft, you can’t even beat Xuxi in a game!”

“Doesn’t matter. I can still beat you in real life.”

“Games are also part of real life! If Xuxi beats you in the next game, give me your name!”

“...”

“Hehe, Xuxi won!”

“I never agreed to it in the first place did I?”

“Yah! Only losers don’t admit defeat! Are you a loser?”

“Are you a kid?”

“Xuxi is a kid. You too are a kid? If you don’t tell me, Xuxi will call you loser!”

“...”

“Loser, loser,...”

“You are so annoying!”

“Wrong. I am Xuxi. What about you?”

“... Jun. I am Xiao Jun.”

“Nice meeting you, Xiao Jun!”

Xiao Jun closed his eyes as he slumped against the wall.

Its fine.

His words and mine, won’t across again anyway.

It was a silly stranger.

A silly smiling stranger.

No more then that.

When the plan landed in Chicago, Xiao Jun had wondered why the heck the elders had entrusted this mission to him.

Its been 3 months since the incident, but Xiao Jun had already completed a new “enthronement mission.”

But with his traitor of a brother, who had been eager to compete, the elders had entrusted them both with an S-grade mission to make the final cut.

Xiao Jun had thought they would be both similar missions, but while his traitor had a silent assassination mission, Xiao Jun had been charged with a theft mission.

Why theft?

It was very strange.

Just as he wanted to doze off in the taxi, his eyes caught a suspicious movement.

He was being followed.

Xiao Jun frowned...Could this guy try again to sabotage his mission?
Or was this the “real mission” of the elders?

Xiao Jun asked the driver to go somewhere else instead of the hotel he had booked.

“Where too?”

“...”

Sometimes the most safest place, where the lost obvious. Instead of going to an unknown hotel...
“Is there a very famous luxury hotel near this address.” Xiao Jun gave the address of the company he was supposed to steal from.

After some discussion, Xiao Jun decided on one, and directly called in the car to book a room of the said luxury hotel.

Money wasn’t a problem. Now even if his followers followed him, he would at least be at ease that the place wasn’t a trap.

Xiao Jun’s mission was hard, but for someone who had been trained since he was five, it could only be described as routine.

Soon, the accounting ledger of th