Early the next morning, Bai Yexiu was rudely yanked out of bed by Gin and reluctantly went to wash up.
As he brushed his teeth, he had to listen to Gin droning on about the mission details from behind him. Finally, clutching two photographs and with an empty stomach, he headed out.
Their target—a blonde American man—was sitting in a café, waiting to meet an FBI agent he had an appointment with, entirely unaware of the dangerous figure heading his way.
The café was not far from the Safe House, and guided by Gin's intelligence, Bai Yexiu found it with ease.
He stole a waiter's uniform, changed into it in the restroom, and upon stepping back out, immediately spotted the target.
The blonde man was anxiously staring at the hands of his watch, constantly glancing left and right. Despite the chilly weather, his forehead was slick with a fine layer of sweat.
"Excuse me, here is your coffee. Enjoy."
The man abruptly raised his head to see a handsome young man in a waiter's uniform. The boy's amber eyes were as still as stagnant water, exceptionally calm and aloof, and a gentle smile hung on his face as he handed over a cup of coffee.
"I-I didn't order any coffee..."
The man wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling a bit uneasy as he looked at the inscrutable youth before him. But upon second thought, if the Organization wanted to capture him, they surely wouldn't dispatch such a green kid, right?
"It's a promotional item from the shop, free of charge."
Bai Yexiu set down the coffee, then went back to the restroom to change back into his own clothes.
Yes, there was indeed a promotional event today: an "event" exclusively for the blonde man.
The man swallowed hard. To mask his unease, he picked up the coffee, took a sip, and then subconsciously checked his watch once more.
The coffee contained a custom-blended drug concocted by Bai Yexiu himself. In a few dozen minutes, the man would experience excruciating pain throughout his entire body, making him thoroughly cooperative for the interrogation to come.
Sensing someone sitting down opposite him, the man jerked his head up, only to find the same young waiter from moments before.
This time, the youth was wearing a black hoodie printed with a cartoon pattern and looking at him with a beaming smile.
Recalling the coffee from earlier, the man instantly assumed the boy was here to mess with him. Just as he was about to blow his top, the youth softly spoke:
"How is the coffee, Mr. Traitor?"
That single sentence from Bai Yexiu nearly caused the man to collapse to the floor, save for the support of his chair.
"W-Who on earth are you..."
The man sprang to his feet, pointing a trembling finger at Bai Yexiu's innocent-looking smile, so terrified he was incoherent.
"I am Cointreau, in charge of interrogating you." Bai Yexiu wore his gentlest smile as he uttered the words most terrifying to the man.
"Mr. Traitor, don't even think about running out of here. We have snipers outside. The moment you try to run out alone, your life will instantly come to an end. And your family will follow you to the grave within seconds, too~ Come on, let's sit down and talk properly."
Of course, the snipers were entirely a bluff by Bai Yexiu. He didn't even have subordinates, so where would he get snipers? Due to the special nature of his status, The Boss had deliberately refrained from assigning him any underlings, leaving him to handle virtually all of his work single-handedly.
Trembling all over, the man sat down, his eyes glued to Bai Yexiu in front of him, terrified to make a single move.
This was the first time he realized the Organization actually had underage members—and a codenamed one at that. The oppressive aura the youth exuded while threatening him was already enough to keep him frozen in place, let alone anything else...
At that moment, the café's front door quietly clicked shut. Outside, Gin hung a sign reading "Closed" on the glass.
This was the small favor Bai Yexiu had asked of Gin before the latter left: to help clear out the cashier and waiters, and conveniently hang a little sign on the door.
As the door closed, the man panicked. Glancing wildly around, he abruptly realized that the cashier, the waiters, and everyone else had vanished entirely. The spacious café held only the two of them.
"First question: who were you planning to meet by coming here today?" Bai Yexiu twirled a lock of his hair, asking with a bright smile.
"I... I..."
Seeing the man stammering, Bai Yexiu stood up and looked down at him from above. "You'd better speak clearly, or I won't mind resorting to some rather drastic measures."
Just then, a man walked up to the café's front door and spotted the "Closed" sign. Though baffled, he immediately pulled out his phone to report the situation to his superior.
Several dozen minutes later, under a combination of agonizing physical pain and Bai Yexiu's nearly sadistic interrogation techniques, the man confessed everything he knew.
It turned out he had originally joined the Organization with naive intentions. Now terrified of prison time and having discovered an FBI informant within the ranks, he had planned to defect to the FBI to redeem himself, and the informant had arranged for him to meet and talk with an FBI member right here. Beyond that, Bai Yexiu had harvested additional intelligence regarding the FBI.
After disposing of the man, Bai Yexiu walked out the front door and unexpectedly spotted Gin's car parked by the roadside. Dragging a sack filled with heavy contents, Bai Yexiu said to Gin in the car, "I've dealt with the target just like you asked. Now I'll leave this corpse in your hands."
Bai Yexiu shoved the sack into the trunk, climbed into the car, yawned as he reported the interrogation results to Gin, and demanded a ride back.
He had been dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn by Gin, after all, and he definitely needed to catch up on his beauty sleep later.
At that moment, Bai Yexiu was pleasantly surprised to discover that The Boss had just topped up his phone credit. The amount matched his pay for this mission precisely; although not much, it would easily last him a month or two.
To be honest, if Gin hadn't broken with tradition by waiting for him outside, he would have had to drag a corpse all over town just to find Gin's car and report back, unable to effortlessly update headquarters via email like before.
So true communication freedom really was important.
Looking at his newly replenished account balance, Bai Yexiu flashed a satisfied smile.