Min Ah closed her eyes as she felt the floor rocking underneath her. She let out a small whimper as she curled up on her side and placed a pillow on her head, as if it was going to help her feel any better. She heard a mix of voices through the thin walls of the cabin she was in and grit her teeth. Unable to push away that sea sick feeling any longer, she reached for her worn down black duffle bag and pulled it onto her lap. The bottle of anti-nausea medicine rattled underneath some clothes as she impatiently grasped it.

The white bottle cap popped off easily as she swallowed two pills and tiredly collapsed back onto the creaky old bed. She heard the honk of a ship horn in the distance and then two polite knocks at her door. The temptation of ignoring it was strong, but despite it she pushed herself off the bed and opened it only far enough that she could look at the crewman she had talked to earlier without giving herself away.

“Miss, the passenger you described to me has boarded. He’s staying in the cabin on the other end. Will you need anything else?” He asked quietly.

“No that’s fine. Uh… here you go” She said as she reached into her back pocket and handed him his pay, “Actually, will you let me know when we’re about an hour away from our destination?” She asked.

“Sure!” He said eagerly, obviously expecting more money as he gave a quick bow and went off to work.

She shut the metal door quickly before she would get spotted and went back to the bed. The nausea was starting to go away, but she knew the mild discomfort would remain until she reached solid ground. And that wouldn’t be for a long time she thought miserably. She kicked the duffle bag off the bed and she heard her gun clatter to the ground. She groaned as she once again sat up and bent over the edge of the bed. She gripped the end of the white sheet as she reached for the object she carried around with her all the time. She stuffed it back to the bottom of the duffle bag. She thought about the small prepaid phone she had bought for emergencies and wondered if leaving her actual phone off and back in her apartment had been a smart choice. It definitely was she decided as she thought about Myungsoo and how he would react to finding out she had randomly taken some time off.

The hours slipped past and Min Ah could feel the medicine begin to wear off. got drier and her stomach started to follow along with the tilt of the boat. She sat up and tried taking deep breaths even as she felt the urge to vomit rise in . With a silent swear under her breath she reached for the duffel bag and popped another pill. She kept her lips shut as she impatiently waited for the medicine to take effect once again. A ship horn blared and she blinked as she waited for the knock on her door.

“Miss? Hello? We’re almost there” Said a voice from the other side of the door and Min Ah chuckled at the crew member’s somewhat timid voice. He looked younger than even her so she figured he could use the extra cash.

“I’m sorry can I ask one more favor?” She said got up with a groan and opened the door,

“Of course!” He replied eagerly.

“Before we dock can you request a cab to be waiting for me?” She asked.

“Yeah that’s simple, what name should I put down for it?”

“Uh.... just Eun Bi” She said, picking a name at random.

“Alright” He said and after receiving a bit more cash he left.

Min Ah turned to her bag and made sure everything was there. Her bulky black coat was laying on the floor and she pulled it on quickly. Reaching into the black duffle bag she pulled out a black cap and put it on, making sure to draw it low enough to it made her face difficult to make out as long as she kept her head down. She cautiously opened her door, the smell attacking her once again, but this time the effect was dampened. Her focus was heightened and that alone tended to push away discomfort for the sake of efficiency. If she was spotted everything would be for nothing so reminding herself to be extra careful she changed her walk so that her shoulders were hunched forward and her head was down.

She stayed towards the back, confident that with all the people around her it would be difficult to make out if she was even a woman or man. The ship horn blared, this time much louder without the walls muffling the sound and she carefully tilted her head up. From underneath the cap she slowly scanned the crowd until her eyes landed on him. For the rest of the time she stayed in her spot, only occasionally moving few feet either side following the crowd.

The boat rocked violently as it docked and metal screeched as the walkway was lowered. As much as her instinct told her to be the first one down, Min Ah forced herself to wait until Jong In left. She kept her eyes on the back of his shoes and when she saw them move she did too. He quickly followed the line down and she let exactly seven people go before she too got off.

Relief burst inside of her as her feet touched the cold hard ground, but she didn’t get to enjoy it for long. He was moving fast she realized as he went out to the main street and hailed a taxi. As soon as his door shut and it started moving she ran to the taxi that the crew member had reserved for her. The middle aged man seemed surprised as a figure dressed in black ran out to him and without even another word jumped into the cab. He opened his mouth to say something as he got into the driver’s seat before he saw that it had been in fact a girl.

“Are you Eun Bi?” He asked, wondering why a girl was dressed in such a way.

“Yes, listen please the cab that just left. It’s right up the street. Follow it please” She said hurriedly, a hint of frustration in her tone, “You’re gonna lose it!” She added as that seemed to snap the man out of it and he buckled up and took off.

“Are you trying to catch your husband cheating on your or something?” The cab driver ventured to ask as he quickly glanced at Min Ah’s face set in concentration.

“Something like that” She muttered as she stared without blinking at the cab up ahead, she glanced around quickly and took in her surroundings, “Slow down… pull over here” She whispered as Jong In’s cab stopped a block ahead.

She watched quietly as he exited the cab, paid the fee and walked into a house. She frowned as she sunk into her seat and looked at the cab driver.

“How would you like to have a job for the next few days?” She asked.

“…What kind of job?” He asked suspiciously, the strange woman finally giving him the feeling this went further than marital problems.

“I just need you to be my driver for the next few days. We’re gonna be following this guy around and just watching where he goes” She said calmly, watching his expression turn uncomfortable.

“That sounds pretty illegal miss” He said politely, wishing suddenly he never would have picked her up.

She hesitated a moment before reaching into her bag and pulling out her badge and ID. She opened it for him to see, being careful to not leave it out too long so that he wouldn’t get a good look at anything important.

“I’m working with the police department here to do some top secret work. It’s really important that you don’t say a word of this to anyone because you could blow the whole operation” She lied expertly as she assessed his reaction, “Of course, you would be paid… say, double your rate?” She added.

The man’s eyes glinted at the mention of the money and she knew she had just hired herself a driver.

~~~~~~

Kris had resigned himself to the type of life he lead.

It was a life shaped entirely by the event around him and though nothing had come by from his own choice, he was embracing it better than he would have ever expected. It could’ve been simple to play the blame game. There were after all two people who were directly responsible for the life he led nowadays, but that was a waste of his time. Nothing would change where he was today.

Instead, he had become quite the professional at being able to forget. He had learned how to manipulate that switch in his brain so that at nights like these, he would be able to go out and enjoy some time without thinking about anything past the point of tomorrow. He glanced at Tao who waited quietly for Jong In to return. Things had been tense here when Jong In missed his first check in. Since it hadn’t been until days later that he had been able to contact them, they had been assuming the worst and preparing for retaliation, but Jong In had finally called so they could relax.

Still, he sounded nervous. There was a prick of apprehension in his voice as he spoke to Kris and he had the feeling that he was holding something back. He knew the trade off had gone bad and that he had been arrested, but the part about him being let go because of insufficient evidence…Jong In clearly didn’t want to expand on that and it bothered Kris. Things didn’t work that way. Regardless of how long they had known each other, Jong In should have been fully aware that there should be nothing left out. They heard a car pull out and Tao straightened out. Kris looked up and smoothly slid the gun into the holster underneath his coat.

“You worried us” Tao spoke first as Jong In walked in and he walked over to him. Giving him a short embrace.

“It was no big deal. The idiots didn’t have anything on me really” Jong In said, acting as normal as he could as he noticed the large house was empty and it was only Tao and Kris waiting for him.

“What happened to you?” Kris said with a nod towards the somewhat fading bruises on Jong In’s face.

He stood up, his tall height would have been intimidating if Jong In hadn’t spent nearly all his life getting over it.

“One of the cops got too excited when he caught me. That’s why they let me go. He screwed the whole case up” He answered easily. It wasn’t a lie technically, so it flowed easily from his lips.

Kris stared at him for a second longer before accepting his explanation. He walked up to him, his steps echoing loudly on the hardwood floor and he placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Come on. We’ve got a celebration ready for your return” He said, a slight smirk on his face as he nodded towards the door.

The atmosphere seemed to instantly relax as Tao smiled brightly and ran over to the both.

“So how was it being back in Korea after such a long time?” He asked in a curious tone as they neared the car.

“Nothing special” Jong In heard himself say, though it was the furthest thing from it.

As they stepped out of the house and into a black sport luxury car, they were unaware of the girl only a block away who carefully taught the taxi driver on how to follow a car without being noticed until they reached what seemed to be a nightclub. She peered cautiously as they handed the fancy car to the valet and walked in. Waiting a while she decided to direct the cab driver back to the house they had come out of.

“I’ll be right back” She said as she stepped out of the taxi and walked to the house.

All the lights were out so she assumed it was empty as she snuck behind the house and took in the property. The metal bars on the window were for security measures she figured as she stuck to the shadows and looked in the back. A chain link fence cut off access to the back of house and she raised a brow at the barb wire sitting at the top of the fence. That cut off the option of jumping the fence she thought as she looked for a window. There was one, but it was high up and something told her it would be locked anyways.

Then she saw it, a small basement window at ground level. She debated leaving right now, but the law enforcer side of her told her otherwise. Despite the reason she had followed Jong In, she hadn’t forgotten the fact that he was involved for some reason with a very dangerous gang. If she was going to even try to help Jong In, Wu Fan and Tao escape this then she had to know what she was dealing with. It would be even better if she could find someway to get the gang leader caught without them getting into serious trouble in the process.

Min Ah grabbed a jagged rock lying off to the side and with one swift movement shattered the glass. She froze and looked around, but no one had been around to hear the sound. She kicked the glass from the edge and lowered herself in. She hit the ground with a thud and she straightened out slowly. The darkness was so deep that she could barely make out her own hand as she blinked furiously trying to regain some focus. She saw something swinging a few feet in front of her and pulled on it.

Lights flickered on and she stared at a surprisingly modern basement. It was neat and clean, but that wasn’t the surprising part. No, that part was on the table off to the side, the table with the various guns lying plainly on there. She scanned them and felt a chill run through her. What the hell had they gotten themselves into she asked herself as she spotted some crates off to the side. She walked over to them and using her sleeves as gloves she grunted as she pushed the heavy lid off of one. A gasp escaped her as she stared at the packs of white powder filling the crate to the brim. There had to be at least a couple hundred dollars in merchandise here alone she realized suddenly as she counted the crates.

She backed up as she tried to think. Reason and emotion having a small civil war in her mind. She should call this in immediately, but what then? That meant her friends would end up jail or even worse she realized as she let emotion make the choice for her. She needed to get out first she realized as she turned to leave, a small blinking dot stopping her short. Min Ah froze and reached for the small electronic device sitting of to the side. She frowned as the screen showed the layout of a house…

With a sudden rush of adrenaline she realized it was this house and that the section glowing bright red with a warning on the top right corner was the basement. She threw the device back on the table and she looked around in panic. Of course it had been too easy! They had a security system too she realized as she ran and pushed a chair underneath the window. Panic ran wild inside of her as she turned off the lights and carelessly grabbed the frame of the broken window, pulling herself up and back out onto the grass. She felt a stab of pain on her upper thigh as a shard of broken glass cut her on her way out.

Wasting no more time, she ran towards the waiting taxi driver and got in.

“Drive!” She ordered as he started the car and pulled forward.

Her chest tightened as she looked back just in time to catch three cars pulled into the house. Figures raced out of the car and into the house as she silently counted about 9 or 10 of them. She had let herself be careless she scolded herself as she remembered the injury on her leg.

“Where am I heading?” The man asked her from the driver’s seat.

“Take me to the nearest hotel” Min Ah said as she tried to assess how deep the cut was.

She looked back one more time, though the house was long out of her view now, for the first time doubting her resolve in finding him.

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I've been pretty irresponsible updating this fic lately so I'll apologize for that :)

I hope you guys enjoyed reading and I'll be sure to update soon!