Xia Lei dashed along the wall from where he’d climbed into Bongeunsa. Ear-piercing sirens sounded behind him, hounding him. The nerves in his body were all taut. He awakened the power of his eye; dark corners, areas behind the wall, windows from up high, everything in the range of over 1,000 metres was in his grasp.
On his left, two Korean policemen holding his picture were opening the main gates of Bongeunsa a few hundred metres away. On his right, about 50 metres away, a police car drove past the wall. A Chevrolet Suburban SUV carrying CIA agents was on that road too. Right ahead, a helicopter was approaching quickly…
People were coming from above and below to capture him - this was like an inescapable net!
However, even the best nets had holes. Just as that Chevrolet Suburban moved forward, Xia Lei cut to the wall on his right and got to the top of the wall in one bound. He squatted on the wall and waited for the Chevrolet Suburban to turn the corner before he jumped down, crossed the street and headed towards a more densely-populated area. He’d just left his previous spot when the helicopter came roaring over, its white searchlights sweeping the area in Bongeunsa. The entrance of Bongeunsa was also flooded with a black mass of police and the Korean military police…
If Xia Lei had been two minutes slower, he would’ve been trapped in Bongeunsa.
He went through a small alleyway and a motorcycle came zooming over from one side. The female rider was in tight-fitting leather from head to toe, and had all the right curves, with enticing long legs. She had a helmet on which obscured her face from view but Xia Lei still saw the face the helmet hid. It was Liang Si-Yao.
The motorcycle stopped by the side of the road and Liang Si-Yao raised the visor of her helmet to say anxiously, “Get on, quick!”
Xia Lei hesitated; he did not move. He’d been betrayed once and he didn’t want to be betrayed again. If this was an act that Liang Si-Yao was putting on with the CIA then he would become the poor sucker who fell for their lies.
“You’re out of time!” Liang Si-Yao said anxiously, “Please, trust me. I’m not lying to you this time! Why would I call you if I’m lying? Don’t you know what I face losing?”
She had given Xia Lei a phone call a few minutes later so she would be marked as a betrayer of the CIA, and the penalty for doing so was severe.
A police car appeared at the other end of the street, its sirens tearing through the silence of the night.
Up in the air, another helicopter flew in their direction. Having found no trace of their target in Bongeunsa, they were sure to expand their search radius. Their could have gone past not just Gangnam - maybe even the whole of Seoul.
Xia Lei had no time to consider further. He wouldn’t get on Liang Si-Yao’s ride if he had a choice, but he didn’t.
Xia Lei walked over quickly and mounted the motorcycle. Liang Si-Yao handed him a helmet. He put it on, then put his arms around her waist. Liang Si-Yao released the clutch and revved the accelerator and the motorcycle roared forward like a wild beast. She chose to go to a place like Xia Lei had intended; poorer, more complex terrain.
The night wind whistled past their ears and the police cars and helicopters were left behind.
Xia Lei’s emotions were in a jumble. Military police, police cars and agents all over chasing him, Liang Si-Yao here… It was all so complicated. He had his arms around Liang Si-Yao. Her waist was as familiar as ever, soft, slender… he’d put his arms around this waist countless times but this time it felt completely different from the past; he could not describe this feeling.
They exchanged no words the entire journey, avoiding crowded streets and choosing to stick to more remote streets. About ten-plus minutes later, the motorcycle came to a poorer district next to the Gangnam district. The luxuriousness earlier was like an illusion. There were no high-rise buildings here, nor dazzling neon lights, nor wide, clean streets. What they saw were low-rise shack-like buildings, plastic sheets and electrical lines like spiderwebs. The streets were narrow and rubbish was strewn everywhere, giving off an unpleasant stench.
This was a combination of the city and countryside in Korea. Everyone said that South Korea was pretty as a picture but seeing the poor districts of Seoul made one realise that any place at all would have their ugly side.
Liang Si-Yao rode the motorcycle into a shack. The yard of the shack had a large amount of cardboard and plastic bags piled in it, and some other rubbish others had thrown there like a sofa.
A big dog ran at the motorcycle, barking. The chain which held it back rattled loudly.
Liang Si-Yao removed her helmet and yelled, “Shut up!”
The dog seemed to understand Chinese and it burrowed back in its lair with its tail between its legs.
This situation confused Xia Lei. Everything showed that Liang Si-Yao was familiar with this place, including this dog.
A middle-aged man came out from the shack. He had a sallow face and a thick head. His hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in ages; he looked like a human-shaped bear. But this was just an outward appearance. His body was fairly sturdy and his eyes sharp, intelligent. He did not look like a scrap-collector.
“Go out and stand guard. Contact me if anything happens,” said Liang Si-Yao.
“Nn.” The middle-aged man made a sound of acknowledgement and left the shack. Xia Lei then hopped off the motorcycle. He looked at the middle-aged man’s retreating back and asked, “Who’s he?”
“Someone who should have vanished off the face of this Earth, but I saved him,” said Liang Si-Yao, “His name’s Park Jinyong. You can trust him.”
Xia Lei’s gaze went to Liang Si-Yao’s face. “And you? Should I trust you?”
Liang Si-Yao fell silent. She looked away from Xia Lei’s gaze, her eyes full of hurt and guilt. She knew that Xia Lei had shared his true feelings with her back then, and shared all that he could share of himself with her too but she had hurt him in return. Now, faced with this question, she was at a loss as to how to respond.
“Are you going to answer me?” pressed Xia Lei. He wanted to know the answer.
Liang Si-Yao looked up at the sky wrapped in night and said, “Let’s talk inside. US satellite technology is scary. We might be discovered if we stand and talk under the open air.”
Xia Lei let out an internal sigh and followed Liang Si-Yao into the shack. The insides were terrible. A small, square table had a few days’ worth of instant noodle bowls stacked up on it which had not been cleared away and some flies buzzed around them. The corners were a little cleaner, but not very much. Men’s clothing and socks were thrown in those corners and the smell was worse.
Liang Si-Yao frowned. “That guy doesn’t know how to clean up. How is anyone able to stay here with this filth?”
“You like your cleanliness as always. You used to keep your room very neat and if you were home you would prepare a pair of clean socks for me in the morning,” said Xia Lei softly, as images of the past surfaced in his head. A long time had passed but he could not forget the wonderful times he had shared with Liang Si-Yao.
Liang Si-Yao suddenly turned around and threw herself into Xia Lei’s arms. What high-ranking CIA intelligence officer, what AE capsule - she didn’t care. She just wanted to go back to that time.
But Xia Lei pushed Liang Si-Yao away. She moved towards him again but he took a step back. He said nothing, but his stance was clear.
“You…” Liang Si-Yao spoke shakily, “You’re not willing to forgive me?”
Xia Lei smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Some things can’t go back to the way it was. I was in agony when you left. You hurt me so deeply and it was difficult to get myself out of that pain… Why have you appeared in my life again?”
Liang Si-Yao’s eyes filled with tears instantly. “Your life was in danger. I couldn’t watch you die.”
Xia Lei had some measure of confidence that he would’ve been able to escape even without Liang Si-Yao’s phone call and her coming to get him. He could detect his pursuers before they got close and avoid them ahead of time. However, Liang Si-Yao had indeed turned up, risking her life to do so - how could he not appreciate this? He just didn’t want to show it.
“It’s not worth it for you to do this.”
“You think this is a trap? You can kill me of you don’t trust me.” Liang Si-Yao took out a gun and turned it so that the butt faced Xia Lei. She held it out to him with one hand.
Xia Lei walked past her, not even sparing the gun a glance. He sat on the plank bed and said evenly, “Put the gun away. If I wanted revenge I wouldn’t have let you leave when you were in China.”
Tears leaked from the corners of Liang Si-Yao’s eyes, and she used her sleeve to wipe them away when she put the gun away.
“When can I leave this place?”
“Tomorrow morning,” said Liang Si-Yao. “I’ve arranged it all for you. Park Jinyong will drive you to the port at Busan in the morning. You’ll return to China by sea.”
Her route was the same as the route Long Bing had planned.
“And you?” asked Xia Lei.
“Do you still care for me?” Liang Si-Yao laughed bitterly, “You don’t need to worry about me. I won’t have any trouble.”
“You said that the phone was already monitored. Won’t the CIA find you because you called me?”
“I said you don’t need to care about my matters!” Liang Si-Yao seemed to be a little unstable.
Xia Lei fell into a heavy silence. What could he do even if Liang Si-Yao came under investigation by the CIA, or worse? There was no way for him to bring her back to China. With her identity, she could face the death penalty if she went back!
“I’m sorry.” Liang Si-Yao drew a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
“It’s fine.”
“Why are you doing things for Bureau 101?” Liang Si-Yao looked straight at Xia Lei. “Isn’t it good enough to be an honest businessman? You can be with Shentu Tian-Yin. She is an exceptional woman. Your life can be very blessed but you chose a path like this. Tell me - why?”
Xia Lei laughed wryly. “You think I don’t want a life like that? There was no way I was going to lead a normal life the moment I ingested those AE capsules. The AE Research Centre will never let me off. The CIA will never let me off. And so you’ve appeared in my life. One of the reasons why I’m doing things for Bureau 101 is because I was looking for a place which could protect me.”
Liang Si-Yao was quiet for half a beat before she suddenly laughed. “Life is sometimes so helpless. Never mind, let’s not talk about these unhappy things. It’s rare for us to be together like this so how about we have some drinks? We haven’t had drinks together in ages.”
“Sure, let’s drink.” Xia Lei couldn’t refuse.
Just then, the big dog outside the shack started barking.