North - South

Fish and chips

London

"Feels surreal, oh?"

"Mhm," Jeong Hyeok looked at her while bouncing a timid, lips-pressed nod.

The whole last 48 hours had felt like that. And surreal was quite an understatement to describe the turmoil of events that had followed Se-ri's call with Chief Kim.

The express mail with the documents that would have granted to Jeong Hyeok a safe – and 'safe' in cases like these always meant 'undercover' – trip. Contacting Dan's uncle to secure Seung-jun thanks to the private guards, a handful of men in his trust, that the one-star general had provided his nephew with. And then the bags, and working again and again on what to say.

And in the end – not so 'end' – that thought.

They would have shared a suite. And even if the word suite made it sound big and spacious, this still meant that they would have shared a room. For safety reasons, of course. Pretending to be a couple would have been better. But still.

"I'll sleep on the couch!" Jeong Hyeok had instantly clarified, only to blush one second later because of the subtle meaning of that excusatio non petita.

"Ri Jeong Hyeok ssi..." she had given him her most tender smile, "we have already slept in the same house, it's not as if it is a big deal."

Big deal. Again. He would have liked to know what a big deal was, then, since it seemed as if nothing was. She had said she had feelings for him. Se-ri herself had said it. What, were those feelings already gone?

"Listen, I have an idea," Se-ri claimed his attention with that reassuring look that, he knew, only was a promise for disasters. But did it turn his curiosity into concern? Not at all. "Why don't we take a little time for ourselves?"

It was 9 in the morning. Chief Kim wouldn't have received them before 6PM. To give them as much privacy as the situation requested, he had preferred to wait till when the office would have been empty. They would have had a brief talk only the three of them before the formal deposition that was scheduled for the following day.

And their flight back was booked for the day after the deposition, at dawn. Which meant two whole days to spend alone with Jeong Hyeok. Had she maybe planned each and every minute? Tsk. Nonsense. She just was someone well organized and who didn't like to waste time, like every businesswoman was.

God, they would have been clamorous days. London was so big, and at the same time so small, perfect for the kind of tour...

"What if I give you a small tour? Nothing too challenging, just Savile row, Fortnum and Mason, and finally Covent Garden, so we'll be close to Scotland Yard."

"Oh? Isn't it too cold to visit a garden?"

"Wha... ah, no, it's not a real garden, no."

"Mhm," Jeong Hyeok turned his head to the bag, suppressing the growing discomfort inside his gut. Why calling it garden, then? Only to make tourists feel stupid?

He was always cute, Se-ri observed the man, yet he was never as cute as he was when he was disappointed, with that little pout that apparently couldn't be helped. Exactly like her, he detested when something made him look stupid. A soft smile sprung on her face.

"Can I show you my old school, the one before we met, Ri Jeong Hyeok ssi?"

The question had its designed effect. The man's face relaxed as he cast her a sweet glance that was soon paired with a soft beaming. "I would love it."