The Diamond Race | discontinued

chapter 6

05:00 Paris, France 48.8566° N, 2.3522° E

"Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty." Baekhyun's voice whispered in Kai's ear, instantly waking him.

Kai's eyes opened slowly, not at all wanting to get out of the warm and comfy bed.

"Jonginnie~. If you don't get up, Baek is going to have to give you morning kisses." Baekhyun tugged at the comforter Kai had wrapped tightly around himself. Baekhyun made sure to lean close to Kai's face so that the younger not only got an earful, but a hot breath bath.

Kai sat up immediately, promptly scooting away from Baekhyun as quickly as humanly possible, the thought of morning kisses making his skin crawl.

"Never, ever do that again." He glared at Baekhyun as he fumbled for his glasses.

Baekhyun shrugged. "It was the only way to get you out of bed."

Kai sneered at that. "Oh really? It would just kill you to just gently shake me awake?"

Baekhyun ignored Kai's grumbling, turning back to the mirror in their room to inspect his appearance.

"Xiumin said we have to get ready to go to the airport to pick up whoever he called."

Kai pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, as he looked in his suitcase for a decent outfit.

"Still no idea who it is?"

"No idea, but Chen told me he said 'I love you' to whoever he called."

"Xiumin has a girlfriend?"

"I'm thinking it's his wife. Maybe she's calling to ask him when he going to come home to see his kids."

"I don't think that rumor is real. I doubt he secretly has a wife and seven kids."

Baekhyun turned, satisfied with his appearance, and sat on his bed.

"No one knows anything about Xiumin. Only that he was the first in our team. I wonder what life he had before the agency. The guy's like a ghost."

"In all honesty, that's none of our business." Kai frowned at Baekhyun. "It's policy at the agency not to interfere in other agent's personal lives unless contacted by the agency or that agent."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

"Oh, alright. There he is, Mister-I-love-to-kiss-agent-Xiumin's-ass. I was wondering when you would show up."

Kai threw his pillow at Baekhyun as he went to the bathroom.

"Shut up."

---

Chen added a spoonful of sugar to his coffee before sipping it. Xiumin had been jumpy the entire night, barely sleeping despite Chen's urging him to do so. The elder was currently in the bathroom showering. Typically he always got up before Chen, but today was different.

After their conversation at the cafe, Chen had been burning with curiosity. Who had Xiumin been talking to? Why did he seem so nervous? However, Xiumin's demeanor about the whole situation had warned him to stay away from it.

As it had turned out, Chen's curiosity got the better of him. While Xiumin had been asleep, he took the burner phone, out of the pocket of Xiumin's civilian clothes. He checked the number on the phone. It was a United States number. This had intrigued Chen. They worked frequently with other people, since the agency was international, but he didn't recall Xiumin bonding with any of the people they worked with, with the exception of one particular person who was not to be named.