FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER – ABANDONED SUBWAY STATION, LINE 9 EXTENSION
They'd lost the first tail within six blocks and it was definitely not easy with Leo's constant whining of how tired he was and how he needed to rest.
"I thought you were a gym instructor?" Jae had asked. "You're so lazy for someone who's this muscular."
Leo was panting hard. "I....uh...
I'm an influencer. Bro we need to rest please!" He continued whining as Jae pulled him along till they go past the last block.
The second on the other hand, took way longer. Jae had to drag Leo through a drainage tunnel that reeked of food waste and stagnant water.
And by the time they surfaced in the abandoned station, Leo was bent over, hands on his knees, breathing like he'd run a marathon.
Jae, infuriatingly, looked like he'd taken a casual stroll.
"Okay." Leo straightened up, hands on his hips. "Okay. Wow! I needed that. I really did."
Jae fidgeted bit before patting his back. "You did good. Well done. That was just the beginning."
"Oh hell no! First of all, I need you to explain what the just happened. Everything. Starting with why you're dressed like a backup K-pop dancer who took a wrong turn into an action assassin movie. And don't dare lie to me."
Jae was scanning the shadows, checking exits and calculating their next moves. Then he turned to face Leo who was staring at him, arms crossed, waiting for the explanation.
"You need a shirt."
"Oh, don't you dare change the topic. Explanation. now!"
Jae let out a deep sigh. This guy was making him talk too much and he hated it. But he had to tell him what was going on. Because going forward, it won't be as easy as it has been.
"Look, you livestreamed my face during a classified intelligence operation. That footage is now in the hands of at least three hostile organizations who will pay substantial money for information on my location and for my head. And if it's not already obvious to you, I am a spy."
"So you're, like, actually a spy."
Jae grunted in frustration. "Weren't you listening? I just said that!" Sigh. "I am an Industrial espionage specialist."
"So....that's just a fancy way of saying spy. I'm I correct?"
Jae's jaw tightened. "Yes. The company that owns that gym is a front for Helix Dynamics. They're developing a weapons system that can do so many terrible things and destroy humanity basically. It could totally rewrite digital reality, falsify evidence, crash economies and erase people and anything in its way, from existence. I was retrieving the data that proves it exists."
Leo stared at him. "And I just... accidentally ruined your whole mission by filming you?"
"Yes."
"And now we're both going to die."
"Most likely."
There was a pause. A very long one.
Then Leo started laughing. A loud, full-body, doubled-over laughter that echoed through the empty station like he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Jae watched him with the expression of someone observing a particularly confusing biological specie. "Are you having a mental breakdown?"
"No, no." Leo said waving his hands in defense. "It's not that." He wiped his eyes. "I just wanted to film a workout video, that's all. And i woke up early tofay at 5 AM. I did my skincare routine. I put on my lucky orange shorts, and stepped out to the beautiful morning of my first morning in Korea and now I'm in an abandoned subway station, shirtless, with this cold hearted pink-haired assassin who's dressed like a K-pop idol, and apparently I'm on a hit list."
"Should I feel sorry for you, this is all your fault!" Jae barked. Surprising himself. He'd promised his therapist he'd stop but this was getting annoying.
"My fault?!....." Leo went on and on about how he did everything perfectly and how Jae ruined his morning and Jae was watching and waiting for the right moment to knock him out. But he remembered his therapy and controlled his breathing to relax.
Calm down, Jae. Calm down.
Slap.
"You slapped m—"
"Keep it down!" Jae interrupted. The slap hurt his hands a little. "...I understand your frustration but we can't draw unnecessary attention. We have to figure this out."
"This is the best worst day of my life."
Jae's eye twitched. "Yes." he responded cold-heartedly.
Leo finally caught his breath, straightening up. His expression shifted, still relaxed, but something sharper underneath now. "So, real talk now. How much danger are we actually in?"
"Substantial."
"Like, 'they'll find us in a few days' substantial, or 'they're hunting us right now' substantial?"
"The latter."
"Cool. Cool cool cool." Leo cracked his knuckles. He looked relaxed physically but in his head, he was already running around and screaming "This is not cool! I'm gonna die! Wnere are you mama?!"
"So what's the plan?" Leo asked.
Jae blinked. "The plan?"
"Yeah, man. You're the spy here. Clearly, we gotta work together now, right? That's how this works."
"No."
"No?"
"I work alone."
"Okay, but counterpoint:" Leo gestured broadly. "You are stuck with me now. Literally. Plus, I'm also in the video so my face is out there as much as yours. And fun fact…" he said gloating with pride.
"I even have eleven million followers who are probably losing their minds trying to figure out where I am right now. So either you help me stay alive, or we both die separately. Your call."
Jae stared at him for a long cold moment.
Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a zip-tie handcuff.
Leo's eyebrows shot up. "Whoa, hey, I'm flattered, but I usually require dinner first—" he was joking but he didn't like where this was going.
Jae snapped one cuff around Leo's wrist and the other around his own. "You're a liability to me right now. Until I figure out what to do with you, you stay in my sight."
"You're handcuffing me to you?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"Until you're no longer useful or you're dead, which hypothetically, would happen sooner than you think."
"Dude!"
"Sorry." Jae said. Not meaning it. "Are you ready?"
Leo looked down at their joined wrists. Then at Jae's face. He had sharp attractive features. His pink hair falling across his blue eyes that looked like they'd never smiled in their entire life. Then he grinned. "You have no idea what you just got yourself into."
Jae's expression didn't change. "Whatever." He muttered. "We're leaving the country. In three hours, there's a cargo flight to Osaka. If you slow me down, I'll leave you in a shipping container."
"Wow, so romantic." Leo snapped rolling his eyes.
"Move." Jae turned toward the north exit, yanking Leo along with him.
***
Behind them, in the shadows, something chirped. A surveillance drone. It was small and nearly silent, detached from the ceiling and followed them. Quietly.