Nana practically skipped out of the car, waving at Mr. Chen before bounding toward Xavier's apartment building. It was barely 11 AM on a Saturday, and she'd woken up with the brilliant idea that they should go to the summer festival downtown.
There would be food stalls, games, maybe even fireworks if they stayed late enough. And most importantly, she'd seen pictures online of the most adorable giant teddy bear prize at one of the shooting games.
She needed that teddy bear.
And she needed Xavier to win it for her.
The security guard smiled as she breezed past. "Morning, Miss Nana."
"Good morning!" She was already in the elevator, bouncing on her heels with excitement.
She punched in Xavier's door code—1211 her birthday—and pushed the door open. "Xavieee! Wake up, we're going to the—"
She froze.There was a stranger in Xavier's apartment.
A man, maybe late twenties, with sharp features and calculating eyes, sat at Xavier's kitchen counter drinking coffee. He looked up at her entrance, and for just a split second, something dangerous flickered across his expression before it smoothed into polite surprise.
"Oh." Nana's excitement deflated slightly. She bowed politely, suddenly very aware that she was wearing her casual clothes—denim shorts and an oversized yellow hoodie—and her hair was in ponytail.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know Xavier had company..."
"Starlight?" Xavier emerged from his bedroom, hair still messy from sleep, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that hung loosely on his frame. He looked between her and the stranger, then rubbed his eyes.
"You're early."
"I texted you!" she protested.
"Did you?" He pulled out his phone, squinting at it. "Oh. So you did."The stranger stood, and Nana noticed he was tall—not as tall as Xavier, but close. He bowed back to her, a polite smile on his face.
"You must be Nana. I've heard a lot about you."
Xavier moved to stand beside her, and she felt his hand rest briefly on her head in that familiar gesture.
"Starlight, this is Jihoon. He's my cousin. He just moved to Linkon City this week and... decided to crash at my place for a while."
"Cousin?" Nana looked between them. Xavier had never mentioned having family beyond his father, who she'd never met.
"I didn't know you had a cousin!"
"Distant cousin," Jihoon supplied smoothly. "We lost touch for a few years, but I'm relocating for work, so Xavier generously offered to let me stay until I find my own place."
"Oh!" Nana's smile returned, though something felt slightly off. She couldn't place what. "That's nice! Welcome to Linkon City!"
"Thank you." Jihoon's smile didn't quite reach his eyes, but he seemed pleasant enough.
Still, Nana felt suddenly awkward. She'd been planning to do her usual routine—jump on Xavier, nag him about breakfast, drag him around his apartment until he was fully awake. But she couldn't do that with a stranger watching.
She couldn't act like... like however she acted around Xavier when it was just them.
Like a caffeinated hamster, her art professor had once said.
Her enthusiasm dimmed a little.
Xavier seemed to notice. His hand squeezed her shoulder gently.
"What did you want to do today?"
"Oh! Um." She glanced at Jihoon, then back to Xavier. "The summer festival is today downtown. I thought we could go? There's food stalls and games and—" She caught herself, suddenly shy.
"But if you're busy with your cousin, that's okay—"
"I'm not busy." Xavier's voice was firm. He looked at Jihoon. "You good here?"
Jihoon waved him off. "Go, go. I have some calls to make anyway for work. Don't worry about me."
Something passed between them—a look Nana couldn't quite interpret. Then Xavier nodded and turned back to her. "Give me ten minutes to change."
"Really?" Her excitement came flooding back. "Yay! Okay, I'll wait!"
Xavier disappeared into his room, and Nana was left standing awkwardly with Jihoon. She rocked on her heels, not quite sure what to say.
"So..." Jihoon broke the silence, his tone casual. "You and Xavier are close."
"We've been best friends since we were kids!" Nana said brightly. "He lived in the neighborhood, and I was really shy back then, but Xavier was always nice to me."
"He's protective of you."
Yeah." She smiled softly. "He takes care of me. Probably too much sometimes. I keep telling him I'm not a kid anymore, but..." She shrugged.
Jihoon studied her with those sharp eyes. "You're important to him."
"He's important to me too."
Before Jihoon could respond, Xavier emerged wearing jeans and a loose black hoodie. He looked effortlessly attractive in that careless way he always did, and Nana had to remind herself not to stare.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Yes!" She grabbed his hand, already pulling him toward the door. "Bye, Jihoon! Nice meeting you!"
"You too," Jihoon called after them, and something in his smile suggested he was amused.
The moment they were out of the building, Xavier spoke quietly. "Sorry about that. I should have warned you."
"It's okay! I was just surprised." She swung their joined hands between them. "You never mentioned having a cousin though."
"It's... complicated family stuff. We weren't close growing up."
"Oh." She squeezed his hand. "Well, he seems nice! Is he staying long?"
"Not sure yet."
They walked toward the festival grounds, Nana chattering about all the food she wanted to try—takoyaki, cotton candy, those long spiral potatoes on a stick. Xavier listened with his usual quiet attention, though she noticed he seemed more alert than usual, his eyes scanning their surroundings periodically.
What she didn't notice were the four men casually dressed in street clothes, maintaining a careful distance as they followed. Or the way Jihoon had immediately pulled out a phone the moment the door closed, texting: Boss is mobile. Full perimeter in place.
Or that Xavier's hand never left hers, not once, his grip just a little too tight to be casual.
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The festival was already crowded when they arrived, the air thick with the smell of fried food and summer heat. Colorful banners strung between stalls, and cheerful music played from speakers. Children ran past with balloons, couples walked hand-in-hand, and everywhere was noise and life and joy.
Nana's eyes went wide. "Xaviee, look! The takoyaki stall! And oh my god, they have mochi ice cream! We need to—"
"Breathe, Starlight." But he was smiling, that rare soft smile he saved only for her.
"We have all day."
They made their way through the crowds, Nana stopping at every stall that caught her interest. Xavier bought her whatever she wanted—takoyaki, a spiral potato, a ridiculously large cotton candy that was bigger than her head.
"You're going to spoil your dinner," he said, watching her take an enormous bite of pink sugar.
"Worth it," she mumbled through the cotton candy, grinning up at him.
They were passing by the game stalls when Nana stopped dead, her eyes locking onto something.
A shooting gallery.
And hanging above it, the most enormous, adorable teddy bear she'd ever seen. It was easily four feet tall, caramel-colored, with a red bow around its neck.
"Xaviee." She tugged his sleeve urgently. "Xaviee. Look."
He followed her gaze. "The bear?"
"I need it."
"You need it?"
"I need it." Her eyes were huge and pleading. "Please? Can you win it for me?"
Xavier looked at the shooting gallery—plastic rifles, moving targets, the kind of game that was usually rigged to be nearly impossible.
This was a problem.
A very specific problem.
Because Xavier had the best aim of anyone in the underground. He could hit a moving target at 500 meters in the dark. He could disassemble and reassemble a rifle blindfolded. He'd killed men with a single shot from distances that shouldn't have been possible.
But Xavier, the sleepy college student, shouldn't be that good at shooting.
"I'm not really good at these games," he said carefully.
"Please?" Nana looked up at him with those devastating eyes. "Just try?"
He sighed. "Okay. But don't get your hopes up."
He paid the vendor—a middle-aged man who looked bored—and picked up the plastic rifle. It was laughably light compared to his real weapons, the balance all wrong, the sight slightly off.
Xavier aimed at the moving targets—paper ducks sliding along a track.
He deliberately missed.
Then missed again.
And again.
Nana made a disappointed sound, and Xavier felt something crack in his chest. He missed two more shots, trying to make it look natural, like he was just bad at this.
Around them, four of his men watched from various positions, carefully spaced through the crowd. One was pretending to eat at a nearby stall. Another was leaning against a lamppost. They exchanged glances, and one had to turn away to hide his expression.
Their boss—the Shen devil's,the most feared sniper in the underground—was purposely missing stationary targets at five meters.
"One more try?" Nana asked hopefully. She'd moved to stand beside him, watching the targets with intense concentration as if she could will him to hit them.
"Starlight..." Xavier began.
Then she pouted.
Actually pouted, her bottom lip pushing out, her eyes going wide and sad.
And Xavier, who'd negotiated with Russian crime lords and stared down Yakuza without flinching, felt his resolve crumble.
"Close your eyes," he said quietly.
"What?"
"Close your eyes and turn around. Don't open them until I say."
Nana looked confused but obeyed, spinning to face away from the shooting gallery and squeezing her eyes shut. "Okay! They're closed!"
Xavier's entire demeanor changed.
It was like watching ice form. His posture shifted, shoulders settling, grip adjusting with the muscle memory of someone who'd held real weapons more times than he could count. His eyes went cold, calculating, reading wind that didn't exist, adjusting for sights that were off by half a degree.
The bored vendor suddenly looked up, his expression shifting to something like alarm. Because the young man holding the toy rifle didn't look sleepy or gentle anymore.
He looked like a killer.
Xavier fired.
Hit.
Again.
Hit.
The paper ducks didn't stand a chance. Six shots, six targets, so fast it sounded like one continuous crack of sound.
Perfect accuracy.
The vendor's hand hovered over the bell, frozen. In his twenty years running this stall, he'd never seen anyone shoot like that. The aura coming off this kid was wrong—all wrong—like staring at a real soldier, a real sniper, someone who'd—
"The bear," Xavier said quietly, and his voice was different too. Harder.
"R-right." The vendor scrambled to pull down the giant teddy bear, hands shaking slightly.
Xavier's men had all noticed. One was grinning behind his hand. Another shook his head in amused disbelief. Their boss had just revealed himself to win a stuffed animal.
Xavier took the bear, and in the space of a heartbeat, his expression softened again. The ice melted. He was just sleepy, gentle Xavier once more.
"Okay, Starlight. Open your eyes."
Nana spun around, eyes opening—
And immediately screamed in delight.
"YOU WON IT!" She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist in an enthusiastic hug. "You won the bear! Xaviee, you did it!"
"Mmm." He held the bear out to her with one hand, his other arm coming around her automatically. "Told you I'd try."
She pulled back just enough to take the massive teddy bear, struggling to hold it since it was almost as big as she was. Her smile was radiant, brighter than the festival lights.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She hugged the bear, then him again, bouncing on her toes. "This is the best day ever!"
Xavier felt something warm settle in his chest, easing the constant cold he carried. This. This was why he did everything he did.
To see her smile like that.
To keep her safe enough, innocent enough, happy enough to bounce around with a stuffed bear like the world was good and kind.
Even if he had to paint his hands red to do it.
"Come on," he said, steering her away from the shooting gallery before the vendor could ask questions.
"Let's get you that mochi ice cream before you vibrate out of your skin."
She laughed, struggling to carry the giant bear, and Xavier ended up taking it for her, holding it under one arm while she clung to his other hand.
They looked like any other young couple at the festival.
No one would ever guess that the man carrying a teddy bear had killed three people just last night to keep this exact girl safe.
That the hand holding hers so gently had pulled triggers, wielded knives, broken bones.
That every smile he gave her was real, but so was the monster he became the moment she looked away.
In the crowd, Xavier's men maintained their positions, watching for threats that Nana would never know existed.And Jihoon, back at the apartment, received a text: Boss compromised his cover. Shooting gallery. Full precision display.
He laughed out loud in the empty apartment.
Even the Shen devil's was just a man in love, it seemed.
How... dangerous.
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To be continued.