Introducing Kan from F.cuz.

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Jonghyun walked into a busy casino and spotted a man wearing a hoodie sitting at a poker table, rubbing his two miserable poker chips, the only chips that were left from a night of gambling, in between his fingers.

He walked right up to the back of the man, “Those chips won’t breed even if you keep rubbing them together you know.”

The man turned around to see Jonghyun, standing over him.

Jonghyun then invited the man to a drink, “Wanna drink? My treat.”

“What, alcohol early in the morning? No thanks. What about coffee at the cafe?”

“Wow dude, you’ve changed, Kan. No problem, I guess I needed coffee too.”

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Jonghyun took a sip from his morning brew, “I thought you would never quit the Korean police force AND join Cerberus. Isn’t that your dream to go back to becoming a police after The White Dragons? You were an undercover longer than I was.”

“That was what I thought. But, the Korean police force has, rules, rigid systems, I guess The White Dragons stint changed me. I can’t take all those anymore, especially after so long, so I joined Cerberus. We lack structure, but we get the job done.” Kan sat back and crossed his legs.

“Do you ever think about the good old days Kan? When we were still undercovers?”

“We may think that it’s the good old days now but hey, let’s face it, it was hell at the time. Me spying for the police force, you for the Echelon, superiors breathing down our necks to get the job done, getting chased by a bunch of guys holding sticks and axes....”

“Oh, I remember that one. We took them for a ride around town didn’t we?” Jonghyun let out a laugh, “And the best thing was, we set fire to the drugs they were carrying, they had to carry their sorry asses back to their boss. I would never forget the face of their gang leader. Hilarious.”

Kan started laughing but awkwardly, their laughter trailed off as quickly as it began.

We both know that those things were not the worst, the worst was when we were facing our own brothers, shot at or chased down by them, Echelons agents for me, the police for Kan. We had to hurt them, to avoid suspicion. It was hell. I had to stab a fellow Echelon agent just because Cho Tae-Hyun was watching me. I’m so sorry. Are you still alive?

“Jonghyun? You seem distracted.”

“Sorry. What were you saying?”

Kan let out a small chuckle, “You are unbelievable Jonghyun. You can just switch off like that? I didn’t say anything.”

“Oh, really? Sorry bout that. Now’s not the time to get nostalgic I guess.  So, how’s Cerberus been treating you?”

“Better than the police force I say. Flexible working hours. Small task group, easy to handle.”

“I can see that, living the good life huh? So what was Cerberus doing at an Echelon mission site?”

“So you heard. I knew you didn’t come to just talk about the ‘good old days’ with me. We were saving Echelon’s , what else? We just happened to be in the neighbourhood. And I guess someone doesn’t trust you.”

“What?”

Kan took out a small microphone that was stuck on the underside of the table and put it on the table.

“See you later Jonghyun. And next time, I prefer we talk without someone listening in to our conversation.”

Kan got up from his seat and left the cafe, leaving Jonghyun looking at the small mic in between his thumb and index finger.

What the hell?

Enraged, Jonghyun called Taecyeon on his cellphone.

“You have some trust issues don’t you?! I TOLD you that I can handle this myself! What’s with the mic? Damn it!”

“Just in case if you needed assistance.”

“WHAT ASSISTANCE? I could be getting something from him if it weren’t for YOUR assistance! And he’s my friend!”

Minho chimed in to the conversation, “The mic is the smallest that I can find, I swear. I guess he saw it when the waiter stuck the thing to the table while delivering your coffee.”

Taecyeon then continued, “It’s just standard procedure. Please remember, you are part of a team now. We need to know.”

 “I thought this is a ‘secret’ mission. No one is supposed to know we’re on the Cerberus trail, and I was trying to help by being as casual as possible about my meeting with Kan.”

 “I know, that’s why we didn’t tie him up and interrogate him. Jonghyun, stay there.”

“What for?”

“We’ll have breakfast together. The whole squad is in the van outside the cafe.”

“You were tracking me too?!” Jonghyun then let out a frustrated outcry audible to those around him, gaining him some unwanted attention, to which he quickly dismissed by putting away his cell phone and drinking his coffee, in an attempt to avoid the curious looks from the cafe’s patrons.

_______

As Jonghyun literally ‘stabbed’ the last piece of omelette on his plate with his knife, “I guess I should have told you I’m meeting him. You are the leader anyway.”

“No, this is not about me, this is about the team, we need to know where you are going.”

I’m the one who needs to know where you’re going. I can’t trust these people; they have way too complex backgrounds. Remember the mantra Taec. Trust no one, but yourself.

“Hey, are you still gonna eat that?” Minho asked Nichkhun about the salad on his plate.

Nichkhun responded, “Huh? You can take it if you want. I say you eat an awful lot for someone your size. Not that it’s a bad thing.”

As Minho took the salad from Nichkhun’s plate, “I used to live on the streets. Food wasn’t an easy thing to get.”

The five members, still strangers to each other then continued eating in silence before dispersing to different locations for their own activities on that Sunday morning.