Everybody Wants to Rule the World

34

Trigger Warning(s): non-graphic violence, the same sHmExY material from ch. 12

War of Hearts (Acoustic Version) by Ruelle

~ Jimin's Point of View ~

8:37 PM, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2028. SHANGHAI, CHINA.

There were people following us. There were people stationed on each block. There were people watching us through sunglasses, even though it was night. They were the only people on the streets beside us, and they were armed.

I noticed from the moment that we stepped out of the restaurant. Emira was busy marveling at the night sky and reminiscing on the plate of pasta she enjoyed. She was easily the most oblivious person I had ever met, but I had to hand it to her... it made my job a lot easier.

It was easy to rule out the Alters, since they usually dressed as ordinary citizens to complete missions. Maybe the CIA then... I had observed that they were fonder of impersonating government officials or, in this case, police officers.

I wasn't shy about meeting their gaze, letting them know that I knew they were there. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I waited until Emira was looking in the opposite direction to draw it out of my pocket.

[1 New Notification]

"wHo tF iS chaRLiSa" me bitch: the departmnt intelligence agency's peple gonn a be in shanghai to tkae mirie from you. you're gonna nede to fighr back. i told them nto to engage but they aren't listennig to me.

Charlisa's biggest pet peeves were spelling and grammatical errors. She was clearly rushing, and I assumed I didn't have much time.

Emira was still staring overhead at the clouds, slightly tinted from the remaining streaks of a sunset. She was completely ignoring me and the agent who had sidled up alongside me, saying something about the night sky. Huffing out an annoyed breath, I let my body go on autopilot, grabbing the agent's jacket and slamming his head into my knee. He fell unconscious instantly, but I had to muffle the crack of his skull with a fake cough, and I threw his body to the sidewalk. I nearly had a heart attack when his flailing hand brushed Emira's arm. She seemed slightly startled and looked at me with wide eyes.

I summoned my most charming smile and replied to her comment on the night sky with a flirtatious, "It's not as pretty as you."

"Stoooooooop," she whined and covered her face with her hands for several seconds. I used that time wisely, whipping around and slamming my elbow into the gut of the agent behind me. He grunted but fell silent when I shoved his head into the pavement. I wrapped my arm around Emira's before she could look behind her. "Are you trying to make me flustered?" she asked, purposely avoiding my gaze.

"Well, it is my sole duty." I could sense another agent creeping up towards us, and I quickly redirected her attention to the crowd of skyscrapers in the distance. This one wielded a knife, most likely laced with strong poison since not much could kill me, and I spun before he could do so much as nick my ear. The maneuver put me on his opposite side, and he immediately began to reach for Emira. But I wasn't going to let that happen, so I grabbed his armed hand and slammed the knife into his back, simultaneously breaking his arm. Knowing I couldn't keep Emira distracted for much longer, I played dumb, saying, "Hey, buddy, are you okay? Drunks, am I right? We can only hope he wasn't intending to drive home." I shot a charming smile in her direction and lowered him to a nearby bench, using my concealed position as leverage to glare at the remaining agents.

I knew they weren't bothering with guns because it wouldn't work anyways. I suspected only Charlisa, Anesa, and I knew the secret to killing someone like me with a gun. But the fact that they were willing to use poison showed that they did, in fact, want me dead. All I wanted to do was text Charlisa and figure out what in the hell was going on, but I had to make sure Emira got back to the hotel safely.