The toilet door creaked open, its rusty hinge screaming louder than the laughter that followed.Jackie stepped out first, wiping her hands on a tissue like she was brushing off something filthy. Kenny and Leo followed behind her, still joking about nothing in particular, their voices bouncing off the stained tiles of the hallway. The air outside was thick with the smell of bleach and old water, and for a brief second, Jackie didn’t notice him.Then she did.Andrew lay sprawled on the cold floor a few feet away from the entrance, one arm bent awkwardly beneath him, the other stretched out as if he’d reached for help and missed. Blood streaked down the side of his face from a cut above his brow, drying dark against his skin. His lips were swollen. One eye was already bruising, purpling slowly like spoiled fruit.Jackie stopped short.Kenny let out a low whistle. “Damn.”Leo laughed. “Isn’t that your bodyguard?”Andrew shifted slightly, groaning as he tried to push himself up. The m

Andrew didn’t waste time asking himself why his chest felt tight.Instinct had always been his sharpest weapon.The moment the parking lot confirmed Jackie was gone and her friends were home already, his hand was already at his ear.“SSA HQ,” he muttered under his breath. “Joe. Isaac. I need eyes. Now.”Static crackled for half a second before Joe’s voice came through, alert instantly.“Copy that. What’s the situation?”“Jackie’s off-pattern,” Andrew said, already moving. “She should’ve left for a hair appointment thirty minutes ago. She is not by the car in the lot.”Isaac cut in, fingers flying over keys on the other end. “You think this is related to earlier?”Andrew didn’t slow. “I don’t think so.”That was enough to answer.Joe exhaled sharply. “Sending her details through now. Isaac, pull campus feeds. Priority sweep.”“I’m on it,” Isaac replied. His voice took on that clipped tone he used when the world narrowed down to screens and data. “Give me ten seconds.”Andrew jogged pas

Andrew had two weeks left in Leipzig. He was no longer the quiet foreigner who arrived with an accent and guarded eyes. He had blended in so seamlessly that even the teachers stopped seeing him as an outsider.To them, he was just Andrew, sharp-tongued, observant, and unusually good at reading people. To the students, however, he had become something else entirely.At first, he had moved carefully, learning the rhythm of the school and the city. Leipzig was nothing like the places he had trained in. It was old and modern at the same time, beautiful in a way that hid its rot well. Behind historic buildings and clean streets were underground networks that thrived on silence, money, and fear. That was why he was there.Andrew understood one thing very quickly: in Leipzig, reputation was currency.And he built his.He attached himself to a group of boys who sat at the back of the class, the ones teachers warned others about but never punished too harshly. They were loud, careless, an

News of Andrew reached Percy Tan quietly, the way dangerous information always did, slipping through his human ears until it landed exactly where it was meant to.Percy Tan.To the outside world, he was untouchable and almost invisible. Teachers spoke his name with respect. Parents spoke it with caution. Students spoke of him with admiration. If anyone tried to define him, they would say he was the head of G and D Town,the golden district of the city, the place where money flowed cleanly and futures were polished.No one knew what sat beneath that shine.No one except the SSA.Behind closed doors, Percy Tan was the spine of the most notorious high school ring in the region. He didn’t deal with his hands. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t threaten. He delegated, observed, and calculated. Every transaction, every promotion, every quiet disappearance passed through his awareness like numbers on a balance sheet.So when reports started coming in about a new salesboy who was boost

Andrew arrived seven minutes late.It was the kind of lateness that couldn’t be excused but also couldn’t be accidental. Seven minutes was long enough to be noticed, short enough to suggest intent. Percy Tan noticed immediately.The meeting place was not an office, not a classroom, not anywhere obvious. It was a private study room above the old library glass walls, soundproofed, smelling faintly of leather and dust. The kind of place donated by wealthy alumni and used only by those who knew it existed.Percy sat alone at the long table, jacket draped neatly over the back of his chair, sleeves rolled up just enough to suggest comfort rather than labor. A tablet lay in front of him. He didn’t look up when Andrew entered.“You’re late,” Percy said mildly.“Yes,” Andrew replied. He didn’t apologize.That earned Percy’s attention.He lifted his gaze slowly, studying Andrew the way a chess player studied a board after an unexpected move. Andrew stood straight, hands relaxed at his sides,