Chapter One

 

CL

 

As I packed my bag with clothes and a few other nesscities there was a knock on my front door. I'm not a person that gets visitors just casually dropping in on me at home. Plus its pretty late. Any other time I would be alarmed and be ready with my gun out but I had a pretty good idea of who it was. 

I walked to the front door and opened it without caution and there standing looking just as smug as ever was Kris. I can't say that it was a surprise but still seeing him again had me leaving my guard down, that's the excuse i'm giving for how easily he muscled me out of the way and walked into my house.

 

"Why do come in." I said sarcastically. He smiled as he picked up a picture I had sitting on top of the table close to the entrance. "Don't mind if I do." He said.

I closed the door rolling my eyes. I snatched the picture out of his hands, it was of me Bom,Dara,Minzy, and Chanyeol. It was one of the last pictures we'd all taken together. I placed it back where it belonged. "Can you not touch my stuff." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. "What are you doing here anyways?" I asked.

He held up the bag he had slung over his back and said. "We have to arrive at the airport together of course. I convinced Mr uptight that it would be better if we drove to the airport in you're car."

I hadn't even noticed the bag in his hands, when I'm usually observant as hell. I think that's the reason I'm reluctant to be around Kris. He clouds everything so that all I can concentrate on is keeping him at a distance. Which I was actually finding extremely hard to do. From the moment I met him I've been, edgy. I can't explain it but even as I thought he could have been the one in charge, a killer I was still very aware of him.

Woman to man.

I had to remind myself that even though he wasn't the one in charge he was still a killer. He was the type of guy I usually but in jail and now I was working with him.

 

I just gave him a stern look and went to the living room where my bags where scattered onto the floor. I could hear him close on my heels following me but I refused to look back and say anything. I knelt on the floor and began attempting to zip the bulging bag closed.

 

"Wow. You've packed a lot. You know this isn't  a real vacation right?" He asked chuckling.

 

I ignored him and continued to strain to get it closed. When I finally did I sighed satisfied. I turned to look to see what Kris was doing and saw that he was looking inside the other bag I hadn't closed yet. The bag that contained my underclothes. I sprang up and slapped his hand away.

"Can you not touch my things?" I shrieked.

 

He held his hands up as if in surrender. "Woah. Ì was just curious."

 

"Don't be." I quickly zipped that one closed too. "Since you're here you can carry my bags to the car." I told him and walked away to my room. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it taking a deep breath. Freaking Kris. How am I going to deal with him just me and him for however long this issue in China lasts?

I got myself under control before I walked back to the living room where Kris sat on my couch. He was texting someone on his phone. I stood waiting for him to acknowledge me but he continued to look down. I know he knew that I was there. He must get some sick thrill out of annoying me. I shouldn't give him the satisfaction, butit was working. I stepped forward right in front of him my feet practically touching his. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. He lazily looked up at me questioningly. 

I didn't really have anything important to tell him but just the fact that he was porpusely ignoring me ticked me off. "Shouldn't we be going." I said instead. 

 

We drove my car to the airport and I grumbled over to expensive storage fee for keeping it there while we are in China. "Doesn't the government pay you a good salary?" Kris asked as we boarded the plane.

"Yeah right." I snorted. 

He tsked shaking his head. "You're in the wrong profession sweet heart. Let me know if ever want to make some real money."

Yeah real illegal money. That wasn't me. I worked hard to protect the innocent not kill them for monetary gain. That's another reason me and him are so different.

 

We settled into our seats and buckled up. I felt another one of my headaches coming on and I grimaced. "You ok?" Kris asked noticing my frown. I nodded. "I'm tired. Im going to try and get some sleep on the flight so don't bother me."

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the window. 

 

"Chae Rin." I heard my name being called. I was too comftorable to get up though. I ignored the voice and snuggled in deeper. Someone shook my shoulder and said my name again. This time I squinted my eyes open and looked up. Kris was looking down at me. I shot straight up. Sometime during the flight I had laid my head on his shoulder. "Where here." He said looking at me strangely. I nodded. We gathered our bags and left the plane. I felt like I needed to say something because it felt extremely awkward. "Sorry about using you as a pillow." I said without looking at him. I could hear him smother a laugh as he said. "No problem."  When I looked over at him I saw that he was scanning the airport his eyes darting all over. Did he anticipate trouble?

Then suprisingly he reached out and grasped my hand in his. I tried to yank my hand away but he held on tight. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Hold my hand. We're a couple on vacation remember. Who knows who could be watching."

He was right. If I was going to do this job I needed to do it right. I laced my fingers in between his and held on. I even went the extra mile and smiled up at him adoringly as we walked. He smiled too. "Wow. You could be an actress with that one look."

That time I smiled genuinely. "I'm perfect at everything I do." I said back sassily.

 

Outside of the airport Kris got us a cab and told the driver in Chinese where we wanted to go.

This whole language barrier thing would make it significantly harder to keep an eye on Kris and find out who was the spy. I should have paid more attention to learning Chinese instead of english. This whole mission was rubbing me the wrong way though. I wasn't here to investigate. I didn't have a bad guy I needed to arrest and bring to justice. I was basically just a glorified babysitter. Everything that needed to happen here was up to Kris. I'm just supposed to make sure that he follows through. I had a fleeting thought.. I wonder what will happen to him once he does.

 

At the hotel Kris got the keys from the front desk. The reservations had already been made in advance by the secretery of defence. Which I think is pretty stupid. Why announce our arrival?

The bellboy handled all of our luggage as I walked beside Kris our hands still clasped together. However as soon as we were alone in the room I dropped it.

 

"Wow." I said walking into the bathroom. It was huge. I was concentrating on that room instead of the fact that there was only one large bed. One bed, two people, you do the math. I turned to him. "Did you think someone at the airport was watching us?" I asked thinking about he had cautiously and studiously studdied our surroundings.

He nodded. "Most likely. I'm sure that they have alerts in place for if I enter the country."

 

That made sense. He had fallen off the face of the earth. Everyone assumed that he was dead, even me, but those in charge here in China couldn't be sure. Kris knew too much about them and they couldn't know if he was still loyal to them or not. That if like Tao he had turned his backs on them. "This is actually pretty risky. What if Suho kept those on top informed of his suspicons of you and Tao?"

 

"He wouldn't. He wouldn't want his dad to believe he wasn't capable of handling everything. Plus Tao was always one of his favorites, him and Sehun. He wouldn't want to risk Tao's life if he was wrong about him." Kris said.

 

I began unpacking my clothes and thinking of how upset I was that I hadn't been able to carry my fire arm with me on the flight. If I was able to identify myself as an officer and had official papers it wouldve been allowed but I was now undercover, practically a civilian. There was a knock on the door and I looked to Kris in surprise. He raised an eyebrow looking at me just as confused. At first I assumed maybe he ordered room service or something but he looked just as surprised as me so that couldn't be it. He cautiously walked to the door and called out something in chinese. A man's voice replied back.

"Its just room service honey." He said to me in korean but the way he said it seemed off. I don't know what it was that alerted me something was wrong but we seemed to be able to communicate with eachother in code easily. I nodded at him that I understood and he nodded back before opening the door. 

There on the other side a man with a rolling tray pushed it into the room. It was covered so we couldn't see what was under it but I had a suspicion. Kris closed the door behind him and locked it. He smiled nonchalantly at the man. The man bowed and said something in chinese, he then bent over to pull the top off the tray and Kris lashed out punching him in the face.

The man recovered quickly and took up a defensive stance. They fought each other fiercely and then there was a pounding on the door.

Reinforcements.

They obviously intended to take us by surprise by sending in the lone man first as an unsuspecting bellhop.

The door rattled on its hinges and I knew soon they would be inside. I lurched forward towards the tray while Kris and the guy crashed about fighting. Just as I threw the top off of it the door burst open. "Kris get down!" I shouted as I grabbed the gun I knew would be hidden underneath.

I began shooting towards the door and our assilants who were also arrmed. Before I could hold them off with my own fire they had sent a spray of bullets into the room. Behind me I heard a grunt of pain. Was Kris hit?

I didn't have the luxury to turn right now. I was too busy keeping the two others from entering the room. "Are you ok?" I asked though not being able to stand not knowing.

"I'm fine." He came to my side and I glanced back quickly. The first man who entered the room was on the ground. I looked to Kris and he held up a bloody pocket knife. "I never go anywhere unarmed."

This was not a situation for laughing but I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face. "Smart. Now how do we get out of here?" I asked.

The two men were out of sight in the hallway reluctant to be exposed less one of my bullets hit them. "How many bullets you have left?"

"Not sure." I replied.

Kris looked around the room. There was no way out though. Were on the fourth floor and the only exit is through the door right into our enemies. "I say on the count of three we rush them." I said. "Easy for you to say. You have a gun."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you want the gun?"

"No keep it." He said, then "One, Two, Three."

Kris rushed out before me into the hall and I swore as I exited right behind him. I had the gun. I didn't mean for him to go out first. Idiot.

Just as expected the two men where in the hall. I aimed quickly and let off a shot that struck one of them in the neck. I turned slightly to shoot the other guy but Kris had already tackled him and they went tumbling to the ground. Kris used his knife lethaly and the struggle was soon over. He quickly stood and grabbed my hand. "Drop the gun."

I obeyed, but not before quickly wiping the handle with my shirt as we raced to the stairwell. We had to get out of the building and as far away as possible before anyone else shows up. That was our main concern. We reached the ground floor and burst through the door at a run. People looked at us alarmed. Some even screamed. Kris's white shirt had blood smeared all over it. Smartly though he had hidden the knife. Out on the street we ran, Kris in the lead while I blindly followed him. This was his turf, I had no clue where we could go. We got a flew blocks over and I was breathing heavily starting to tire out as we went into a shop. 

"Kris." The man behind the counter said in obvious surprise.

Kris talked rapidly and I stood nervously watching the door.

"Grab some clothes and change." He said to me as he ed his shirt. I turned and grabbed a shirt, and jeans off the rack not stopping to wonder if they matched. I stripped down there in front of Kris and the unknown man. Now wasn't the time for modesty. Once I finished putting everything on and relacing my boots I turned to see Kris struggling to put a new shirt on. That's when I noticed a spot on his arm was bleeding. "You were shot." I said. 

"Its fine. It just grazed me." He said.

I reached up and pulled the shirt over his head and carefully helped to place his injured arm into the sleeve. "Thanks." He said. Then he motioned to the guy behind the conter. "He has a car out back that we can take."

I followed Kris out back and as we drove off I asked. "Do you trust him?" He nodded. Then I asked the question that had been plauguing me the most. "How did they know we where there? And who extactly are they?"

 

 

 

Kris

 

I drove silently stewing over the events of what happened since we exited the plane. I had a feeling at the airport that we where being watched and I feared that they were just waiting for the chance to make a move. This whole mission was a bad idea from the start which is why I was reluctant to do it. They threatened me with jail and that's the reason they think I finally agreed.

It wasn't.

Stupidly I agreed because they said Lee Chae Rin would be the one to accompany me.

I could've easily escaped them multiple times, but I stayed. All for a chance to see this one girl again.

Damn I was a fool.

I glanced to my side at her to see her looking out the window. I could tell by the expression on her face that her mind was working overtime. She was puzzling over who it was that ambushed us. I was sure of who it was. And I was sure that we were betrayed. The only ones who knew about the reservation at the hotel was supposed to be on our side.

"It had to be someone on the inside of the secretary of defenses office;maybe even him directly." She said seriously almost as if she had read my mind. She turned those beautifuly compelling eyes on me. "Don't you think?" She asked.

"Definitely." 

 

"ing dirty traitors." she said shocking a laugh out of me. 

 

She continued to surprise me all the time. From the moment I first met her she wasn't anything I expected. Before we came to Korea on that case we reaserched and studdied all the members of 2ne1. I saw pictures of Lee Chae Rin better known as CL. But seeing pictures of her and meeting her in person was two very different things. From the first conversation I had with her I was intrigued. Intrigued enough to risk my life for her.

That still bothered me. Up until then there was only one other person I would do that for, and that was Tao. I didn't even know CL but I couldn't stand the thought of any harm coming to her.

"How's your arm?" She asked pulling me out of my thoughts.

It ached a little especially with the strain I was putting on it with driving, but compared to many other times this was nothing.

"Its fine."

She glared at me. "Is it really fine or are you just saying it is because you don't want to look weak?"

 

Was she worried about me? I thought.

"This little graze on my arm is the least of our worries." I told her. 

 

"True." She replied. She glanced down at her hand and seemed lost in thought again. 

 

My thoughts strayed to something much more pleasant to think of. 

A half dressed CL. 

While in the shop she had pulled her clothes off without hesitation and I had almost had a heart attack. She wasn't wearing any comfortable non threatening underwear, no not her. She wore black lace and a bra that definitely was made to be shown off. I had to glare at Xiu to get him to take his eyes off of her. That doesn't mean that I was so considerate however. When she was fully dressed I still didn't want to look away. And then thought better of it. She'd kill me if she caught me looking so I quickly pretended to be struggling to put my shirt on. 

Then more surprising than her stripping she gently helped to put my shirt on. She seemed to tolerate me at best and want to throw me in jail for life at worst. So for her to be so tender it took me back.

Who was the real CL?

The cold and efficient officer, or the seductive and gentle woman I had a small glimpse of?