𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑇𝑜 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟

13.

Klaus, though a skilled diplomat, still lived with his mother in a sprawling mansion. Despite their shared residence, they maintained a distance of at least 50 feet at all times. This peculiar living arrangement didn't change the fact that he woke up to the same alarm clock he'd had since he was seven—a classic black ring with silver lining.

This particular morning, he woke up to darkness. "Christ," he mumbled, reaching for his phone. The screen flickered before displaying a downloading screen. Klaus furrowed his brows, waiting as the download completed. It was a file: Kate's file. In fact, it was a bounty notice with all her details and a reward of 4 million dollars.

He opened one eye, sighed, and turned the phone off. 'Tempting, but not worth Minji talking my ear off,' he thought. As he placed his phone back on the nightstand, it buzzed again. This time, it was Minji. His eyes widened. What had she done this time?
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We were in the hotel, and it was early—maybe 5 a.m. I was eating a blood-red apple, its crispness breaking the silence of the morning. Kate smiled at me, a rare moment of calm between us.

Kate poured herself a glass of juice, the morning light filtering through the kitchen window, casting a soft glow on her face. As she sipped her drink, she glanced over at me, a glint of warmth in her eyes. Surprisingly, we were finally getting along, the tension of the past replaced by the calm of the present morning.

"Isn't this nice?" Kate remarked, her voice laced with a hint of amusement. She set the glass down and leaned against the counter, watching me with a faint smile.

I nodded, feeling a rare sense of tranquility settle between us. "Yeah, it is," I admitted, a small smile tugging at my lips. The tension that had once defined our interactions seemed to have dissipated, replaced now by a tentative camaraderie.

Kate chuckled softly. "Who would've thought we'd end up here, huh?"

I shrugged, a playful glint in my eyes. "Stranger things have happened."

She raised an eyebrow, her expression teasing. "True enough."

As we stood there in the kitchen, the morning sunlight streaming in, I couldn't help but marvel at how far we had come. Despite our tumultuous past, it seemed like we were finally finding common ground, one calm morning at a time.
That was until, the window shattered, and smoke filled the room. An M18 Colored Smoke Grenade. Lasers cut through the haze, searching for us. I cursed under my breath as we both dashed from the kitchen to behind the couch. Kate took cover behind an armchair.

She pointed at me, then made a series of hand signals, deploying military gestures. I shook my head, signaling that we should go straight ahead. She responded with more hand movements, but I couldn't decipher them. Frustrated, I leapt towards her and grabbed her arm. She grunted as I led the way, navigating further into the depths of the hotel, away from the imminent threat.

We ducked into the walk-in closet, breathing heavily. "It must've taken them 48 hours to find us," I muttered, crouching down to rummage through a cardboard box filled with my stuff. "Jesus, where's the trust?" Kate mumbled, pulling on a pair of boots. I grabbed my shotgun while she picked up her pistol.

"Why do I get the girl gun?" she whispered, clearly annoyed.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked, exasperated.

"No," she said sharply.

Rolling my eyes, I swapped her pistol for my shotgun. We heard footsteps approaching and readied ourselves. The door burst open, and a machine rolled in, scanning the area. It dropped another bomb, which rolled dangerously close to my feet. I kicked it away, but it rolled right under a container of flamethrower fuel.