The Chase
HUNTED: Deception Game
Berlin, Germany
18:35
“. Lee, open your eyes! He’s coming”
“” the said man groans, his torso filled with fresh blood.
A man walks toward the duo, tossing a small black chip playfully "You trust so easily"
"ing traitor"Lee spites
The attacker simply smirks before pointing a gun at the two injured officers "They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer"
"I should've known it was you. I never really liked you from the start"
"I share the same sentiment"
Two shots fired.
S.O.F. Headquarters
10:13
“What do you mean you lost the chip?”
“General Na took it” the officer grimaced, clutching his freshly opened wound “We believe he’s the spy we’ve been tracking down all these years”
The men in black combat uniforms exchanged looks while their superior discusses with a couple of men dressed in navy military informs.
“This General Na” The Special Forces superior sighed “what spy? How did this happen?”
“General Na posed as one of my team and infiltrated us” replied the officer that sat in front of the S.O.F. superior “as soon as we retrieved the chip in Berlin headquarters, he immediately attacked me and another officer, catching us off guard. My colleague is dead and Na is currently off the grid”
“General Lee” the superior eyed the tanned officer “That chip holds our country's defense operation. Your military data is in there. If our enemies get a hold of it, we’re as good as doomed”
“That’s why we needed your aid, sir.” General Lee admits “We can get General Na while your agents can retrieve the chip from him”
The superior shook his head “If the general, as you say, has already infiltrated you—”
“Neo” General Lee cuts off “He goes by the alias Neo”
“As I was saying, Neo has infiltrated you. That means he’s already ahead of you.” The superior continued “We will take over and let my team work on this.”
“How many will there be?” the general asks, fixing his navy uniform “We can send his data for you to brief on”
“If he’s a spy, your data is pretty much useless” one of the agents in black walks forward, stopping just beside the superior.
The tanned general eyes the ravenette, giving the agent a once over before cocking an eyebrow at the superior.
“One agent is enough” The superior says “Agent D-003 will take the mission”
“Sir” The said agent replies, straightening his stance. If he wasn’t part of the Special Forces, he’d be a perfect Navy recruit.
“With all due respect, sir. Neo is a wanted spy. If we can’t even get a hold of him, how can your one-man team do it?” The general reasons.
“You’re missing the point, General Lee.” The SOF superior leans back “We don’t work with large units like yours, we specialize in intelligence and tactics. You can’t expect us to ambush and bomb the guy. This is a critical case and we need to approach this carefully. My agent will have our chip and your guy”
The general sighs in defeat, giving the officers behind him a nod “Understood. But we need the general— Neo alive”
S.O.F. Headquarters
13:00
"Here's what we have on him" the superior hands the ravenette agent a two-page paper with information about their target"not that much and I doubt it's going to help us"
"Na Jaemin,twenty-eight. Position, Military General. Pretty standard and normal"The agent reads aloud as he flips the pages "Alias: Neo. Charged with murder and attempted murder of two military officers, treason against the gorvernment, and illegal cyber intrusionof government-protected documents"
"He's been off the grid but we just received a signal from one of his devices" The superior says, turning his laptop for the agent to see "We have his coordinates"
"For someone who can hack the government easily, why would he make a mistake and connect to his device?"Agent D-003 furrows his eyebrows, looking at the two square inch photo of a brunette "that can't be right"
"It might be an unfortunate mistake or a trap but whatever it is works in our favor" says the superior as he closes the lid of his laptop "you are my best agent, Lee Jeno. Prove you are worthy of your title, D-003”
Lucerne, Switzerland
15:32
Lee Jeno clutches the steering wheel of his Jeep Wrangler while driving around the old city. His navigator blinks, catching his attention ‘Twenty-seven kilometres until Stanserhorn’.
Once he reaches his destination, he parks his car a few meters away from the railways station. The agent straightens his clothes, sporting a pair of black turtleneck and jeans with grey trench coat in order not to stand out.
“One person for cable car?”Asks the ticketing personnel with hard accent,“Where are you from?”
“Yes, please” Replies the ravenette in perfect German, presenting a first class Swiss Travel Pass towards the personnel. “From Germany” he says, in order not to raise suspicion for an Asian man fluent in German.
“You chose a great place for vacation” the personnel switches in German while handing back the card to the agent.
“I’ll probably come back, then” Jeno fakes a smile “Dankeschön”
16:20
Jeno knew it the moment he laid eyes on that icy blue hair. It was Neo. The man didn’t even try to blend in, he stood out the most. Standing a few meters away from his target, Jeno eyed him carefully.
But Neo locked eyes with him, as if he knew the agent was tailing him. With swift movement, he disappeared from the crowd. Jeno quickened his pace, eyes scanning like a hawk for every sign of his target. Surely, he wouldn’t be that far on foot.
Jeno searched for thirty minutes but still no sign of his target. It’s almost night time and the fog is starting to get denser. With regretful sigh, he walks back to his car and typed the data he needed. Five-foot ten with blue hair, but he doubts the blue hair will stay any time soon.
Hotel Kreuz
18:10
Jeno showers too cool his head off, revising plans in his head how to get Neo as soon as possible. His head filled with thoughts when he hears a slight movement from his room. Without turning the shower off, he grabs a towel to wrap himself while carefully reaching for his reserve pistol in the lavatory. He slowly approaches the door, leaning into it to listen. Jeno readies himself before swinging the door open and pointing the gun at the intruder.
The intruder, however, carelessly shot his gun and grazed the agent’s shoulder. Jeno throws he ashtray for distraction before lunging himself to his attacker. He locks the man on the ground, disarming him in the process. Before the agent could remove his mask, another intruder broke in, causing Jeno to release the man under him. the new intruder had already pointed his gun at Jeno sooner than the agent could respond. This is a humiliating way to die, he thought.
Four shots echoed around the room.
18:45
Jeno finds himself staring at a certain blue haired man while the latter drags the dead bodies of his intruders at the corner of the room. Bless who cleans this room tomorrow.
“What are you doing here?” was the first thing Jeno says to break the long silence.
The man in question eyes him from head to toe, clearly aware of his unprofessional attire “I followed you”
Jeno scoffed, any hint of shame thrown out of his mind. His target followed him. “You know I was targeting you. Why did you shoot them instead?” he points at the dead men.
“Because they targeted me, too” The man explains “These were the men sent to get me. If they attacked you, it means you didn’t come with them”
“You’re Neo. You’re the criminal wanted by the Korean government” Jeno says, sounding sarcastic.
“My name is Jaemin, stop calling me Neo” the other man shakes his head as he sat on the foot of the bed.
“Look, I didn’t come for you.” Jeno confronts “I’m only interested with the chip you have”
“Neo has your chip”
“And you’re Neo” Jeno states firmly.
“I’m not” the guy, Jaemin, argued “You’ve all been played”
“Ne—Jaemin, stop lying.”Jeno’s patience was running low. He doesn’t have time to play mind games with a criminal “just give me the chip before you end up like those guys”
“If you firmly believe I’m Neo, you won’t do that” Jaemin his head “But I don’t want to be slandered by a name that’s not even mine. Why did you think I came here on my own? Why did you think I risked opening my device if I knew the military was already on me?”
Jeno grits his teeth. He knew it was suspicious that he blatantly opened his device if he’s being hunted already. But trust is the least thing he was trained to do. They were trained to keep their eyes open and follow logic. “Then why are they hunting you down?”
Jeno doesn’t miss the smirk plastered on Jaemin’s face “Because I have proof about Neo’s identity”
19:28
“We’re not taking your car”
Jeno furrows his brows at the man beside him “You want us to walk? Bern is more than a hundred kilometres away”
“We’re taking the rental car until the train station” Jaemin replies, taking the lead.
“Surely you can afford to buy yourself a car” Jeno mocked.
“Cars have GPS, Agent Lee” reminded Jaemin, his blue hair almost blending in with the thickening fog “What your headquarters see is also seen by the enemy. We’ll keep a low profile as much as possible”
“Where are you taking me?”Jeno finally asks.
Jaemin turns his head towards the ravenette and smiles “Milan”
Bern, Switzerland
21:18
Jaemin sighs, looking at the train schedules “Milan will take about three hours”
“How do I know this isn’t a trap?”Jenocautiously asks, getting off from a vintage Chevy that looks too expensive to be for rent.
“Am I holding you down? You’re free to go if you want” shrugs Jaemin.
Jeno furrows his brows “What makes you think I won’t take you back to the headquarters?”
Jaemin looks at him, eyes unwavering “Agent Lee, I’d gladly go back to the headquarters with you if I come out alive”
Brig, Switzerland
22:21
“Isn’t it too much to take two missions by yourself?” Jaemin asks, sitting comfortably beside Jeno.
Jeno squirms at the familiarity “Aren’t you being nosy for a criminal?”
“I’m not a criminal until proven” Jaemin says firmly “we’re stuck here for about an hour more, Agent Lee. Humour me a little”
“I’m not an entertainer”
“Too bad” Jaemin shrugs before eyeing the agent “You’re an eye candy”
Milan, Italy
12:19
“What do you get after completing this mission?” Jaemin questions while locking arms with Jeno after getting off the train.
“After dealing with you, hopefully a long vacation” Jeno sighs, giving up any resistance “Aren’t we supposed to keep a low profile?” Having two male foreigners locking arms with each other and the bubblegum blue hair doesn’t really coincide with Jeno’s definition of low profile.
“What? Gay couples are common nowadays” Jaemin declares proudly and Jeno almost chokes. Jaemin gives a light squeeze on the agent’s arm before leaning in “Somebody’s following us. Plus, you’re injured”
Jeno continues to look forward, avoiding raising any suspicion. He lets Jaemin take the lead, going through a crowd of people to hopefully lose their stalkers “It’s just a gash, how long till we get to your place?”
“We pass at PortaVenezia then we turn right around the corner” Jaeminwhispers.
Jeno eyes the two square buildings as they approach. Not a lot of people during midnight but they could pose as tourists and no one would suspect a thing.
They casually walk around, Jeno’s hand subtly clutching his gun. He feels Jaemin quickening his pace before seeing a couple of shadow figures in his peripheral view. One, two, three… five isn’t that bad, if Jaemin could fight.
“We’re not going to fight” Jaemin says “it’s too risky and we’re in an open space”. He grabs Jeno’s arm and walks briskly, passing by a couple of police officers on roving duty.
He leads Jeno to a maze of streets then— bang.
“” Jaemin cursed “guess we do have to fight”
Jeno nods and pulls hand gun but Jaemin stops his hand.
“Quietly”
Jeno doesn’t even have time to be surprised when Jaemin sneakily hands him his own knife that was tucked inback pocket. Sly fox.
1:12
Jeno huffs heavily while putting the last body into the dumpster. Jaemin proceeds to cover it before leaning on the brick wall of a narrow street. Today had been a long day and they both looked like a mess. Jeno wanted to shower and sleep. Jeno took this mission to get the chip and capture Jaemin as soon as possible but he didn’t expect for things to get more complicated. He really deserved to get a vacation once this is over.
“Hey pretty face, wanna get some rest soon?” Jaemin forces a smile while clutching his abdomen. Only then Jeno realized his companion was bleeding a lot.
Jeno came in time to grab a hold of the man, droplets of impending rain bounces on his icy blue hair. Jaemin clutches into Jeno’s arm, supporting himself up with his back on the wall.
“What’s going on in there?”
A sudden string of light caught Jeno off guard but Jaemin pulls him close. He feels the other’s ragged breathing and knows Jaemin will probably pass out soon. He circles his arms around Jaemin, pulling him close.
“Oh” one of the police officers says “just a couple of drunken lovers, I guess”
“Have a great time, you two” whistles the other officer before leaving Jeno and Jaemin.
1:45
Jeno scans the dimly lit room completely soaked. It was a studio-type apartment with one bed that looks barely used and a kitchen that barely has anything. He turns around to find a computer with multiple screens that almost fill the entire wall.
“There’s a first-aid kit in the bathroom” Jaemin croaks out while Jeno lays him in bed.
Jaemin hurriedly s his already wet shirt as soon as he sees Jeno holding the red box. The latter squints at the hideous bruising around the cut “This isn’t fresh wound”
“Thanks to your Neo” Jaemin groans when Jeno applies the disinfectant"God, I can't wait to get my hands on him"
Jeno doesn't say anything. He still doesn't trust Jaemin and everything is still as sketchy as it was ever since he met the guy. Why did Neo's hunters also attack him?
Jeno cuts the previous stitch before replacing it with the new ones. Jaemin groans in pain, stuffing his mouth with his shirt. Once Jeno was done patching him up, Jaemin sat up with a painful whine.
"I just stitched you up. You shouldn't move" Jeno reminds him in a demanding tone.
Jaemin lays on his back obediently before reaching his arm towards the computer "Can you give me that black box thingy on my desktop?"
Jeno grabs the thing then eyes it. It seems to be some sort of fingerprint scanner connected into the PC. He hands the scanner to Jaemin, wire long enough to reach the bed. Jaemin places his thumb on the pad and all the screens of the PC completely lit up, startling the ravenette.
"This is the only way you can activate my PC. This device only reads a pulsating finger so if I'm dead, nobody will be able to activate this even if you cut my finger off" Jaemin explains, handing the scanner back to Jeno "This PC contains every information about Neo"
Jeno gives Jaemin a weary look, the latter nodded in approval. The ravenette agent sat on the chair, pulling a storage chip from his pocket and inserting it into the PC. He copies the files, eyeing a shivering Jaemin on the bed.
Once he was allerted that the files have completely transferred, he opens the numerous documents tofinally see the identity of Neo. Jeno scoffs while reading the contents of the document "Why, hello"
He shakes his head, completely flabbergasted. He pulls the chip, placing it in a secure place so that he can finally go back and have peace. He sat beside Jaemin, placing a hand on his burning forhead. No doubt Jaemin is having a fever.
"Nights are cold in Italy"Jaemin's lips slightly trembled "you'll get hypothermia if you don't change soon"
Without any protest, Jeno removes his shirt. He contemplates on removing his pants before shaking the thought. His pants aren't that wet and a little coldness doen there is nothing compared to his previous missions.
Jaemin leans closer to him, completely vulnerable and in need of body warmth. He doesn't even have a blanket, much less a towel or some sort. "Those men that attacked us, were they sent by Neo?"
Jaemin shifts in a more comfortable position, his bare torso clung into Jeno's side "I was the only one who knew about his identity. He was confident he killed me, taking the chip with him, but I miraculously survived. Before I went off the grid, I sent him a sneak peak of his data. He knew I was alive that's why he got me hunted, that's why he sent you"
"Then why did you connect to your device afterwards? You exposed yourself to us" Jeno questions.
"I did it because I knew they were going to get the Special Forces involved. I had no other way to contact you or to send Neo's data over without being killed. I had to get to you first before you kill me. Neo chose your department because he knew you work in small groups."
"Because there's less casualty"Jeno cuts him off. It finally dawned on him "It didn't matter if I found you, I would've been attacked either way. Neo was scared if I got to you, I could expose him. They used the SOF to track you down. I was basically their walking GPS." He groans, rubbing his temples. He's too tired to deal with this much information. Not only he was set up for a trap, the whole Korean government is already in trouble and he can't even get to contact them. "I really need that vacation"
5:05
“Damn it” Jeno clicks his tongue, watching a couple of men gather in front of the apartment building from the window blinds. “Jaemin, can you move?”
“Yeah” Jaemin groans weakly “we should probably go”
Jeno grabs a hold of Jaemin, letting the man lean on the corner of the wall before grabbing his silencer. The agent crouches down the door to see any shadow movement from outside. He signals Jaemin to watch over the window then yanks the door open. He shots the one on the right, grabbing his body just in time to shield himself from the other attacker. He shoots the other one next. He quickly pulls the dead bodies in and closing the door quietly.
“There are eight… ten people outside” Jaemin bits his lip “and they’re probably expecting more”
“We’ll have to get through them, then” Jeno signals.
5:15
“What’s the situation over there?” asks the man in full black gear.
The man in similar gear with gas mask salutes before replying “Negative, sir. No movement since we arrived”
Four men gather around the door while the hallways are guarded by two guards each. “Throw the gas bomb on my signal” commands the superior, putting on his own gas mask. He raises three fingers.
Three… two… one… thud.
The door is kicked and the bomb is thrown. Dense gas filled the studio apartment while the men gather inside. They spot two unconscious figures in the corner of the room and immediately point their guns at them. Once the gas slowly clears out, the superior curses in silence.
Milan Malpensa Airport, Italy
6:48
Both Jeno and Jaemin remove their combat gears in one of Jaemin’s reserved vintage cars. Jeno holds the gas mask in his hand, examining it carefully.
“That was a great idea, by the way” Jaemin says, changing into a simple black shirt and leather jacket he got from his trunk. Jeno hypothesized Jaemin actually have clothes on his rental cars, smart move if you think about it “You got us to change into our assailants clothes and pose as the guards to trick them. Easy escape”
“They’ll figure it out soon” Jeno throws the mask away before putting on a white white shirt and similar leather jacket Jaemin handed him. He throws the other man a questioning look.
“Aren’t we posing as a gay couple?” Jaemin fakes a shocked expression.
Jeno eyes the bubblegum blue hair and pretty face. Yes, he thinks Jaemin is a pretty face with fluttering long lashes. “Are you perhaps… Do you…” Jeno stutters “never mind”
Jaemin simply smiles and intertwines their fingers “Let’s get you home, il amichetto”
7:45
“What were you doing in Switzerland in the first place?”
“While I was looking for information about Neo, I found out he had connections in Switzerland” Jaemin explains “He was selling military information to his Swiss affiliates and also to mask his identity. Like misdirection, so he’ll be untraceable”
“When Germany agreed to aid our Korean army…”
“He took the opportunity and attacked us while we were in Berlin”
“Jaemin, who are you really?” Before Jeno could ask more, he feels Jaemin’s head lean on his shoulder. Drowsiness finally engulfing the man and Jeno thinks he probably should get some rest too. questions can be answered the moment they arrive.
Incheon International Airport, South Korea
18:45
To say that the flight is a smooth ride is an overstatement. As soon as they got out of the airport’s glass doors, multiple gun shots fired. Jeno pulled Jaemin while commotion is starting to grow. They arrived at a parking lot when a man in black uniform shot the car beside them.
Jeno and Jaemin managed to hide within the cars, guns on each of the agent’s hands. He shoots one of the guys on his right then proceeds to pull Jaemin the other way, crouching down to avoid any attackers.
“There’s six of them” Jaemin huffs, observing the side mirrors of the cars around them “Three at two-o’clock, two at nine-o’clock, and—“
Bang.
“One at twelve” Jaemin continues.
They continue their hide and seek for a while. Jeno shoots two more while Jaemin stabs one. Jeno just shot his fourth kill when he hears Jaemin scream “Behind you!”
It was too late, Jeno was shot though and through. He falls on the ground as if time had slowed down. He sees Jaemin grabbing a gun and shooting his attacker before passing out.
S.O.F. Headquarters
8:00
General Lee enters the S.O.F. superior’s office, holding a basket of flowers “I’m sorry to hear what happened to your agent”
The superior nods, signalling the general to sit.
The general complies “We lost one of our comrades to the hands of Neo, we will make sure Agent D-003’s efforts will be honoured”
“Thank you” The superior says. General Lee notices a crowd on black combat uniforms guarding the door “but we don’t need your sentiment, General”
The general straightens himself, smirking at the superior “May I ask what this is all about?”
“General Lee, Donghyuck” Jeno says, emerging from the crowd of black uniforms “you are charged for the murder of your colleague, Lieutenant Lee Minhyung and attempted murder of General Na Jaemin. You are also charged with theft and cyber crime as well as treason” Jeno hands the chip to his superior “Your identity and all of your crimes are in there. There’s no escaping now, Neo”
11:23
Jeno leans his head back, collecting his thoughts on everything that’s happened for the past few days. His mind goes back to when he and Jaemin were en route to South Korea.
“Jaemin, who are you?” he asks, looking at the latter’s doll eyes.”You don’t really belong in the military, do you?”
The other boy smiles, fluttering his lashes “Let me tell you a secret. My sole mission was to come for Neo and nothing else. I almost had him in Berlin but he got to me first. He killed Lieutenant Lee and thought he killed me too. When he knew I was alive, he framed me for his crimes. This is just my payback”
“What are you going to do when you get back?”
“Aren’t you the nosy one?” Jaemin teases, snuggling close to Jeno. The ravennete stares the luscious pink lips he’s been internally fighting to feel “I had a lot of fun with you”
A sound of knocking distracted Jeno from his thoughts. He signals his junior to come in, looking at a small, thin box the latter places on his mahogany table “Delivery for you, sir”
Jeno dismisses his junior, grabbing the box and observing it. It doesn’t have a return address but decides to open in anyways. Inside was a small pamphlet of what seems to be a travel brochure for Bahamas. Other contents in the box include a plane ticket and a single note that read,
Mind spending your long vacation with your boyfriend?
Nana
xoxo
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