Chapter Five: White Short Hair

“This time, our mission...” K lifted the whiskey glass from the table, took a sip, his eyes narrowing into slits as he scanned the throng within the club, and spoke in a low voice, “Recently, intelligence suggests that extraterrestrials are hiding among the club’s patrons. Our task is to apprehend them.”

JIN followed his gaze, watching the crowd and recalling the white-haired woman he had seen earlier. Her expression carried a certain disdain, as if she regarded the others with the indifferent contempt of a superior being observing inferiors. The memory unsettled him.

“As far as I know, they can mimic human form. We must be cautious.”

“Then who are we supposed to trust?” JIN asked, confusion tinging his words.

“I think you’ll get used to it soon. We’re partners, after all...” K resumed his former, languid pose, seeming utterly relaxed. If one were unaware of his agent status, he might have been mistaken for a carefree libertine.

“Speak your mind. Did you remember anything else?” K straightened, fixing his gaze on JIN.

Suddenly, JIN recalled the mysterious woman had slipped him something at the last moment—a pair of red spectacles, perhaps?

Yet he dismissed the matter, merely chuckling and teasing, “It’s hard to call us partners. We’re simply colleagues.”

He paused, his tone sharpening, “And since the aliens can mimic humans, how can you prove you’re really K? Likewise, I can’t prove I’m JIN. As you said, the less we know about each other, the better.”

K hadn’t expected to be confronted with his own words and laughed dryly, shrugging. Given JIN’s reasoning, the possibility was indeed real.

“If you put it that way, perhaps your suspicion is greater, considering you arrived with the air of a wronged spouse and have been testing me since.”

JIN smiled, halting K’s retort, and pointed towards a corner of the bar, lowering his voice, “It’s quite possible neither of us is the alien...”

“Oh?”

“Eleven o’clock, the woman by the surveillance monitor...” JIN gestured toward the white-haired woman.

K’s gaze followed, and he too sensed something off, his brow furrowing.

“The aura around her... it disgusts me.”

JIN murmured, feeling an intense aversion, as though she carried a shroud of darkness. Unbeknownst to him, his genes were attuned to light, making him especially sensitive to darkness.

“What?” K turned back, laughing dryly. “That’s a rather absurd reason.”

JIN chuckled. “Why not test her?”

K shrugged, rose, and together with JIN, took his glass and walked over.

But before they reached her, the white-haired woman shot them a fierce look, her black eyeliner accentuating the icy disdain in her gaze. Two figures, clad in black uniforms and sunglasses, joined her, and the three swiftly exited the bar.

JIN and K exchanged glances, reading the same meaning in each other’s eyes.

Something’s amiss!

With their target identified, they hurried after her.

Shortly after JIN left, another woman dressed in white entered the bar, watching him depart. Had JIN seen her, he would have been astounded—it was the mysterious woman thought to have perished in the explosion.

At the bar’s rear exit, the street outside was quiet and deserted, puddles scattered across the ground, lamps flickering erratically amid the clutter. The silence made the footsteps of the three figures strikingly clear.

JIN and K followed, glimpsing the trio turn onto another street, vanishing ahead.

K looked to JIN, nodded, and prepared to hurry after them. Yet JIN grabbed his sleeve, and from his black trench coat drew a laser gun.

K smiled wryly, feeling slightly patronized.

The white-haired woman turned, facing them with a cold impassivity. Four men in black stood rigidly beside her.

Without words, all recognized their adversaries. The woman nodded slightly, almost as if issuing an order.

The four men charged forward simultaneously.

K holstered his laser gun, made a show of flexing, and grinned menacingly, “Ready for a fight? I’ll oblige!”

JIN pursed his lips helplessly—despite having a gun, K insisted on charging in headlong.

“Let’s do this!” Seeing K already engaged in melee, JIN tucked away his laser gun, lest he harm his ally, and lunged into the fray.

K executed several flashy moves, then delivered a decisive kick, sending a black-clad assailant crashing into nearby debris, knocking him senseless.

In contrast to K’s flamboyance, JIN fought with stark efficiency. He seized one attacker’s right arm, slammed his forehead into the man’s skull, then delivered a knee blow, sending him sprawling.

Spinning, JIN landed a heavy punch on another charging opponent. As the man staggered back, JIN stepped forward, his fist morphing into a claw that gripped the man’s collar, his right hand choking him. With a sudden exertion of force, he hurled his foe aside.

Turning again, JIN saw an assailant sneaking up behind K. Sprinting a few steps, he launched a powerful kick, sending the man flying.

“Hey, that one was mine!” K protested, rubbing his nose in annoyance.

JIN chuckled, “The capable must bear the burden. No need to thank me.”

“Hmph~” K began to retort, but the white-haired woman darted forward, leaping to deliver a fierce kick.

“Dodge!” JIN shoved K aside and rolled clear himself.

The woman missed, leaping through the middle and landing ahead. She shot them a venomous glare, but lingered no longer, swiftly departing.

“After her!” K shouted, “That woman could be the alien we’re hunting!”

They barely took a few steps before the four black-clad men, now sprawled on the ground, rose and tackled K, pinning him.

“JIN, go after her! Leave these to me!” K shoved off one attacker, scrambled up, and drew his laser gun.

“Understood!” JIN, without hesitation, dashed forward in pursuit.