Prologue

Big chandeliers, a soothing sounds of instruments, clicking sound of glasses, a great ambience, and the expensive word to describe the event is oblivious in the current scene. People are either talking about business or dancing with their partners, while the others are just trying to fit in. With this kind of life you wouldn't ask for anything else except to maintain your status so that people will keep looking up to you. Feeling superior to everyone by using such papers called money.

As the party continues, a middle-aged man walked through the mic. He was dazzling to everyone's eyes, his white hair didn't even make him less handsome, his posture is like a model and you could hear the word rich as his heels make a clicking noise.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I wanna say thank you to everyone who came to our party tonight, I know each one of you are really busy. I hope you'll enjoy this party and won't find this as waste of time. Let's cheers everyone", he said and smiled to everyone showing his beautiful and complete set of teeth. Who would thought that this man is in his 50s.

The middle-aged man then drank elegantly at his wine glass filled with an expensive wine after he spoke to everyone. After taking a sipped he then continued his speech "We've been friends, partners, enemies for awhile now that lead us to success, enjoying our current life with our own family" he said then take a glimpse at a middle-aged woman and an adult man who are seating not so far to him. The beauty of the middle-aged woman can be described as Aphrodite. She's seating with her son elegantly as she waves to everyone as a greet. She looks like a queen "As you all know that this party is for my one and only son who also contributed a big part of our success... Since, he's at the right age now to have his own family, me and my bosom friend decided to arrange the marriage of my son and his daughter" before the speaker can continue his speech the audience clapped their hands, indicating their approval and happiness for the obvious announcement

"Me and my bosom friend have been together through thick and thin. Now that we're old, we would like our two families to be connected and make our partnership even stronger through the engagement of our kids. I would like to call Ms. Anacia Ferish Chen, my future daughter in law to come and join me here" a beautiful lady wearing a beautiful gown, walked her way to the speaker after she heard her name being called. She smiled to everyone that even a girl would fall for. Anacia is like an angel who descended from heaven. Her husband is too lucky to have such a kind of lady. Her straight hair is swaying elegantly as she walked her way. She has the perfect curves of the body that every woman wants to achieve, and the rhythm of her walk can be compare to a Miss universe. Sean must be a good person in his previous life to have such a perfect soon to be wife.

Meanwhile, a 25 years old man seating next to a middle-aged woman is preparing himself as he's aware that his name will be called next. He fixed his tie and suit before heaving a deep breath, he then look at his mother who gives him a reassuring smile and a nod. As he examined the reactions of the visitors who are looking to his fiancee, he felt very proud seeing how they were mesmerized by the beauty of Anacia. Sean is satisfied because he knows, he pleased everyone right now especially his parents.

"Anacia looks lovely, isn't she?" Sean's mother asked as she observes the reaction of her son who's looking to his fiancee. Sean stared at Anacia for awhile before he looks at his mother to give her a nod while showing his beautiful smile that he got from his father

"She's perfect" he said and shifted his eyes to Anacia again. For Sean, obeying his parents is a great decision since he believes that his parents only want what's best for him. And now, he's successful in life with a beautiful woman who will be soon his wife.

"How lucky to have such a beautiful daughter in law like Anacia. My son should take care of her or else he won't have his share when I die" the speaker joked that made the people laugh while Anacia blushed, she then glanced to her future husband who met her eyes making her looked away in panic "And now please welcome my son, Sean Sky Gwenu. Come and join us here my son" Sean stand up after he was called by his father and walked his way to them. As he was about to reach the two, an unexpected event happened...

A sound of raging cars and shooting guns can be heard around the place. Crashing, and running to a speed limit to catch and escape. Just by looking the whole scene, it's full of chaos. Let's just be thankful that they still somehow managed to minimize the damage even though the escaping culprit is being careless

"Hanlon, are you sure this will work?!" a muscular man asked the person next to him who's busy shooting the car in front of them. The word panic is visible in his behavior, but still he manages to drive well and catches up the speed of the car in front of them "One mistake and you will die! Can you hear me?" he continues even though the other is ignoring him

"Aish! Shut up! Will ya?" Hanlon responded. He then slip half of his body through the window of the car, and now half of his body is outside the car while it is running at the crazy speed "Just drive and I'll take care of the rest" he said. The driver didn't have a choice but to follow the plan they have made awhile ago. Once their car is in sync with the other one, Hanlon didn't hesitate to jump next to the car beside them and managed to get in using the Car's window, with a lot of trouble of course

'So that's why this bastard was aiming to the windows of my car' the culprit thought when Hanlo forced his way in

Sevilla, the driver heave a sigh of relief after he saw that his friend entered the car. Him and Hanlon have been friends since the first day Hanlon joined them. He is the first friend of Hanlon at their work, and within just a few days, Sevilla already noticed how Hanlon always have crazy ideas inside his head. Because of Hanlon's recklessness, he always got into trouble that made him didn't have any other friends, and being hated by the others, even their boss didn't trust Hanlon that much since for them the young man is a trouble maker. Sevilla, as the senior and older than Hanlon, he decided to supervise him and take care of him. He already treats Hanlon as his younger brother that's why as much as possible he wants to protect this young man, especially the fact that the kid doesn't have anyone to rely on. When he made sure that Hanlon is already inside, he slow down the car and uses GPS to follow the directions the two will take. As a detective and working on a righteous side, he needs to follow the rules and regulations when driving to avoid any accidents on the street.

After Hanlon entered the car the two starts to fight. The man tried to shoot Hanlon but the kid manages to snatch his gun, they then began to exchange punches. As a secret agent, Hanlon is good at combat so he just playfully counter attacked to the man's offensive act. The two keep on battling until they lost control of the car. The culprit tried to get rid of the annoying brat who's been pestering him, but the other wouldn't let him win. It annoys the culprit so much to the point that he decided to step on the gas without even controlling the steering wheel or which way they'll head. He just let it run and run until the car crashed in a place that made the car stopped

"O my God! What was that?!"

"A car just crashed in our party"

"That surprised me"

"That's a huge damaged"

Various reactions can be heard around after discovering the scene. The car that crashed inside the hotel was emitting a smoke when a man suddenly came out, covering his mouth while coughing. He then looked around to check if there's someone got hurt but luckily no one was injured. A few seconds later a group of people came out of the hotel and approached them.

Inside the hotel the announcement of the engagement of Chen and Gwenu took place. Outside is the swimming pool where young people and helpers spend their time waiting for the announcement to end. The car, crashed not so near to anyone so aside from the damage, there's nothing else

"What happened?" A middle-aged man asked. After Hanlon cough a few times he looked at them and responded

"Sorry for the chaos, sir. I lost control of the car while fighting with a sc*mbag" after he said that he then went inside the car and grabbed the man who caused the car crashed. The man is still struggling in his hold so he decided to handcuffed him and face the middle-aged man again after he heard him spoke

"I Don't care what you're doing or what happened to you. You just destroyed our party and even cause a damaged! How are you going to make up with it?" the middle-aged man is now fuming mad. Hanlon, sighed and grabbed his phone in his pocket using one hand while the other one is pinning down the culprit

"I'll talk to my boss. Give me a minute, sir" he said then dialed the number of his boss.

"Put it in speaker" the middle-aged man demanded. Hanlon granted and put it in speaker. After a few rings someone finally answered

"What is it, Hanlon?" said the voice on the other line. Judging by his tone, it seems like he already knows what will the young one is going to say and one hundred percent sure, it's trouble

"Boss, I have good news and bad news" Hanlon responded with a grin on his face. He didn't even care the whispers around him and just minding his own business

"Cut to the chase, Hanlon. I'm busy"

"Okay, so here is the good news. The good news is I Caught our criminal" Hanlon proudly stated as he looked at the man that's still struggling

"And what is the bad news?" normally if someone heard a good news the reaction would be happy but since it is Hanlon, and Hanlon always have the bad news, it's natural to feel nervous instead of happiness

"Ahmm well the car we're in just crashed in one of an expensive hotel, and ya know there's a damage... so.. yeah. You know what I mean" After he said that he bit his lower lip and extended his arm to prepare for the Shizi Hanlon bomb

"SHĪZI HANLON!!!" Hanlon just chuckled after he heard his boss shouting his full name. It's not new to him already, he even named it.

"You crazy brat always bring a trouble! I'd rather not have the operation succeed than you giving me a headache after that so-called good news of yours! Don't bother me you little sh*t take care of it on your own!"

"Eh?! But I don't have a money, boss. How can I pay this?" Hanlon innocently asked.

"That's your problem!" with that the call just ended leaving Hanlon looking on the screen of his phone. He pouted as he realized that his boss just abandoned him

Hanlon look back to the people around him and to the middle-aged man who seems more furious than before. His pouting lips retreat as the middle-aged man is on the edge of exploding. It's really a bad news this time, if the worse comes to worst, he might not be able to exit from the foxes territory.

"Amm, I'm really sorry for everything, sir and about the damaged, I'll pay it in installments. I promise I'll pay everything, so can you please let me off the hook?" Hanlon, tried to pursue the middle-aged man but it didn't work as the man got angrier and even pointed him.

On the other hand, Sean was just observing the situation not so far from the scene with Anacia beside him. He watched how the young man acted like it's not a big problem and still managed to act like a naughty kid. He acknowledged the braveness of the young man, but still it won't fix all his problems. Sean just rolled his eyes when the kid made the situation worse.

'Seriously, is he aware the situation he's in?' he thought

Before his father can speak, Sean decided to interfere and approached the scene he was observing awhile ago. He walked through the crowd as he maintain his elegant posture and a handsome expression

"Let him go, the damaged is not that big though. If you want, I'll take care of everything, dad" everyone turns to Sean as his voice took over the place. Sean approached his father and tapped him on the shoulder before smiling sweetly. "He still needs to bring the man to the police station, dad. If the culprit escape, it's our burden because we stalled this young boy here" Sean continues as he gestures to make his explanation more acceptable to his father.

"If he wants to go now, he should pay the damaged and take care of everything first then---"

"Dad, I told you I'll handle everything" Sean cut his father's word for the first time that made his parents stunned for awhile. Even Sean just realized his action but there's no turning back, what's done can't be undone.

"Why are you so eager to take that kid's burden? I'm sure he's not your friend, so how come you're saving him?" Sean, was about to answer his dad when Hanlon interfere their conversation making him sigh in annoyance.

"Sir, I know I was too careless and I'm willing to pay everything, it's just that I don't have the money, well not at all, I have some savings from my previous salary but I'm pretty sure it's not enough, so please, sir. I'll give you all of my savings right now just let me go and I promise I'll pay the rest every time I received my salary" Hanlon stated and made a promise gesture like he's just reciting a pledge

"Are you stupid? If you'll give all of your savings tonight, how can you be so sure that you wouldn't need that money until you'll receive your salary?" Sean asked. Hanlon frowned at him. For some reasons, Sean suddenly feel frustrated at the young man's words. What he said just now is too reckless and he seems doesn't care about himself. Sean started to believe that the boy in front of him is stupid "Didn't you heard what I said? I'll take care of everything especially the damaged so just leave and bring that guy with you before he can escape" Sean demanded with full of authority in his voice. He even make his words carefully pronounced to make the boy understand him and just oblige

"As what your father said, we're not friends and doesn't even know each other, so there's no need for you to help me. And about my savings, it's mine so I have the rights to decide what to do with it. Lastly, I don't need to make sure that I wouldn't need that money for the next few weeks, I just need to do my best not to need my savings, besides I have a friend that can help me" Hanlon, just grinned like a kid who just finished telling his story to a friend. By just looking at him right now, there's no sign or hint of nervousness on his face or actions, it's like his current situation is nothing to him. Sean gritted his teeth as the boy won't accept defeat in their current debate. He's having a hard time controlling himself not to punch the boy on his face so that he would fall asleep and just send him to wherever his place

"Stop being stupid and just go away! I don't need to know you or to be friends with you for me to take your burdens away. I have a lot of money while you're still struggling for the better so just go like nothing happened and let me take care of everything to get all of this done. Okay?" The frustration can be already heard in Sean's voice, he even gesture his hand to the exit to emphasize of the word go away.

While the two are still exchanging long sentences, the people around them are just watching the two like it is some kind of a play. Sean and Hanlon didn't even realize that they've already forgot that there are people around them, even the culprit who's still in Hanlon's hold stop struggling and just listen the two arguing

Their little fight is surely interesting

At the end, Hanlon obeyed. Sean is the man that doesn't show any signs of giving up, not to mention that Sean's word is right. Hanlon heave a sigh first as he turned his back, preparing to walk out of the place with the culprit in his hold. No one dared to ruin the scene of the two. But before Hanlon took a two steps away, he looked back again

"Is there really nothing for me to do at all? Not even removing the car? Or---" Hanlon didn't finished his questions when Sean showed his bunny teeth as if he's going to bite him "It's awkward for me to just go like nothing happened after I caused a chaos in your party, you know?" Hanlon stated like a kid and pouted his lips. Sean was stunned for awhile seeing how cute the boy is but he manages to disregard it and came back to his senses

"Do you want me to dragged you outside to make you go away from this place? Maybe it will make it less awkward for you" Sean sarcastically suggested and even prepared himself to dragged the boy if he still won't go

Hanlon blinked a few times, he then gave an innocent smile to the person in front of him, a smile that made Sean froze again. Hanlon then awkwardly roam his eyes to the people around him and bowed to them as a sign of respect and maybe sorry for what he caused. After that, Hanlon slowly began to walk away until he finally reach the outside of the hotel. Since Hanlon didn't bring any cash he walked on the street with the culprit until Sevilla's car approached them

"What happened? I lost track of you" Sevilla ask him after he entered the car with the culprit. Hanlon just shrugged as a response before they drive back to their place

When they reached the police station, everyone looks at them, their faces show the sentence 'Here comes the trouble maker.' Hanlon pays no attention to the eyes on him, instead he continues to make his way to cell while dragging the culprit with him. After Hanlon put the man inside the prison, he then happily went to the Chief Inspector's office to report. Hanlon is really used to the situation everytime he came back from the mission with Sevilla. After all it was his fault why people would raise an eyebrow whenever he's around.

When Hanlon reached the office, he knocked the door with beat before he entered, wearing a radiant smile that can make someone loses his mood. Inside the office, there is a man who is near in his fifty, seating on a black chair while writing something in a white folder. On his desk, there is a nameplate that says 'Dion Lee- Chief Inspector'. Dion Lee is a well respected Chief Inspector in their department because of how hardworking he is and how he really works for the justice. Everyone wants to please him and make him happy by doing a great job, except one person.

"Good evening, Chief!!" Hanlon greeted in a loud and singsong tone. The Chief Inspector just rubbed his forehead to calm himself before he looks at the owner of the voice. By just hearing him speak makes him stress

'This kid will be the death of me' he swear in his mind

"You're here. What a shame" Chief Inspector stated in a disappointed voice. Hanlon just beamed at him, he then sit on the chair that is placed in front of the table of the Chief Inspector.

"You must be happy seeing me right now" Hanlon giggled. The Chief Inspector just sighed. He's right, he is happy that Hanlon came back safely. He maybe not say or show it, but he does really care the young secret agent

"How did you fix your mess?" The chief inspector asked casually, he then continues to write while listening to the person in front of him

"Oh! They just let me go" Hanlon shrugged

"What about the damaged?"

"They'll fix it on their own. Anyways the culprit is in cell right now, so... Mission success" the secret agent proudly said

"They didn't make you pay?" Chief Inspector asked. Hanlon pouted realizing that the chief didn't care about how he succeeded putting the culprit inside the cell

"Come on, Chief! Why do you keep talking about the other things, when I am here to report about the mission of catching the serial killer" he pouted more and even fake a tear. The chief inspector is like a father to Hanlon even though he always annoys him. He wants to make the chief inspector see him as a grown up so that he will start to believe in him, but he keeps on disappointing everyone. He actually has a lot of achievement but because of his impulsiveness, his achievements became a shadow of his mistakes

"Shizi Hanlon" hearing the Chief called his full name with seriousness, Hanlon decided to behave. The chief heave a sigh before he stop writing as looks at Hanlon "You did a great job" he said making Hanlon smile but before he could say a word, the chief continues to speak "But your recklessness can ruin everything" the smile on his face suddenly fade after hearing what the chief inspector said

He's already aware of that but he just can't change who he is. He wants to grow up, become mature enough to handle a mission on his own, and to be able to work as a secret agent officially. But it seems that he is still too far for that

"Shizi, I believe in your capabilities but if you'll continue to act childish, you won't be able to go far. Remember that you're originally a secret agent but because of your countless mistakes, they put you here. You're lucky enough since you've got talent and ace everything while you're in training, they let you came here to practice and grow yourself. Even though you're not allowed to have a major case or mission without Sevilla, it's still not hopeless for you to come back where you really belong" the Chief tapped him on his shoulder and made an eye contact with him. He knows that someday, Hanlon will be able to fly on his own without crashing. And he's ready to guide him no matter how long it takes "I'll wait until you grow up. Someday, I'll witness that the little chick before is finally a beautiful eagle. I shouldn't die before that day comes so do your best"

When Hanlon returned to the apartment, he's living with Sevilla, the detective is already eating while watching basketball on the TV. He announced his arrival and receive a nod from his friend. The apartment was originally to Sevilla, he was paying it in installments before but the chief inspector bought it for him and Hanlon to have a comfortable place to live without stressing themselves of paying the apartment. Sevilla actually has a home he can stay, but ever since Hanlon joined them, he decided to buy an apartment so that Hanlon can have a place to stay near the station. He also wants the kid to live without awkwardness, since staying in his house with his family can limit someone's movement

"How did it go?" Sevilla asked to the newly arrived person

"Same thing" he answered flatly. After he drinks some water, Hanlon entered his room without any word

"Aren't you gonna eat?" the detective asked but receive no response. He just sighed and turned off the TV. Hanlon rarely acts cold and it's either he's upset or just tired. The first time Hanlon acted differently surprised him to the core. He can't really understand the boy that much but at least he can sometimes read him and just let him do what he wants. Sevilla knows that Hanlon is not free, he maybe not in a cage but his movements is limited and that's what makes him like a prisoner. With Hanlon's personality contradicting to the rules he has to follow, it is really hard

Hanlon didn't bother to take a bath or change his clothes, he just directly lay on his bed and stare into nothing for awhile. The words that the chief inspector said to him awhile ago rings again inside his head. Every time he remembers what the chief said, it makes his heart hurts. He's disappointed to himself and it annoys him because he can't do anything about it, even though the conflict is just between him and himself. He just hate how he can't show his true self, how he can't differentiate between the pretentious one and the real him. It's just feels like isolating his whole identity.

Work of fiction

This is a FICTIONAL work. Names, Characters, Businesses, Events, and Incidents are either MADE UP by the AUTHOR or used FICTITIOUSLY.

Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or real events is entirely COINCIDENTAL.

Every right is reserved. Without the prior permission of the author, no part of this story may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means...

Warning: Typos and Grammatical Errors ahead