The Diamond Race | discontinued

chapter 12

22:00 Paris, France 48.8566° N, 2.3522° E

Junmyeon hadn't felt this happy in years. He had brought his camera with him, often stopping his elder brother on their way back to the hotel to take pictures.

"Myeon, don't you think you're taking too many pictures?" Minseok had laughed at him as he dragged him to stand in front of a graffiti covered wall.

"Stand still, I want to get a good shot!" Junmyeon scolded his brother.

Minseok smiled at the Junmyeon more than he did at the camera. There was a click, then a flash, and Junmyeon made a sound of triumph.

"Good! This looks great. You look great Minseok!" Junmyeon fiddled with the camera, before handing it to his brother. "Now take a picture of me."

Minseok tried not to role his eyes at all the ridiculous poses Junmyeon made and did as he was told. Junmyeon was acting just as he did when they had been younger, and it brought a smile to his face. When he was with Junmyeon he wasn't agent Xiumin, he was just Minseok, Junmyeon's older brother, and he was content with that.

"I'm a bit tired, Myeon let's head back." Minseok tugged on the back of Junmyeon's collar, trying to pull him in the direction of the hotel.

Jumyeon pouted. "But we just got here."

Minseok arched an eyebrow. "We had dinner about three hours ago. We've been walking for three hours."

"Oh?" Junmyeon blushed in embarrassment. "I guess we should head back now."

They rode a cab back to the hotel in a comfortable silence. Minseok turned to look at Junmyeon while the other gazed out the window.

His younger brother had grown up a bit since he had last saw him. A part of Minseok wanted to tell his brother the truth about himself. About why he didn't go home, why he rarely called, why he was so far away. Minseok had the truth on the tip of his tongue, but he kept his lips sealed, not only for Junmyeon's sake, but for his own as well. He didn't know if he could stand the thought of Junmyeon being dragged into his world.

"Minseok? We're here." Junmyeon tapped his shoulder as the taxi approached the entrance of the hotel.

Minseok blinked, startled out of his deep thoughts. Once they had entered the hotel and gone to their room, Minseok excused himself to the bathroom, wanting nothing more but to take a shower and dive into bed. Junmyeon let his brother go before him, still slightly guilty over the three hour walk he had forced on him.

Junmyeon began pushing the clothes he had hastily thrown around earlier backinto his suitcase when something in the messy pile caught his eye. It was a simple unassuming black file, with a USB drive attached to it. Junmyeon pushed away the clothes laying on top of it away quickly. He didn't remember bring a file with him, so where did it come from? Junmyeon frowned at the file, turning it over in his hands without opening it. Maybe it was Minseok's? No, it couldn't be. But if it was, wouldn't he be intruding on his brother's privacy?

In the end, curiosity won out, and Junmyeon cracked the file open, not knowing the truth he would soon uncover about his elder brother.

Agency Briefing File #52415: Operation Diamond Race

Assigned Agents:

Agent Xiumin | Registered Number 0-99

Agent Baekhyun | Registered Number 0-04

Agent Chen | Registered Number 0-21