24. Hurdles

Liu Xiang roamed his eyes around the living room, seemingly entertained by the interior. There is nothing fancy inside but every little decoration adds to the warm ambiance of the house, he strolled towards a wall that is filled with pictures. Family photos, baby pictures, and even a photo of Leona with Katarina. With their personality as opposite as day and night, they're like an eclipse together but what caught his eyes is the large black and white photo of Katarina in a dance studio. She is striking an elegant ballet pose in a tutu and pointe shoes with a serious face, her vibe exudes elegance and grace. She looks really beautiful when she's in her element.

"My mom is a frustrated photographer, it has been a hobby of hers for years." Katarina broke his train of thoughts, she passed a cup of tea over to him.

"Thanks"

"Sit down"

She started tending to his wound while Liu Xiang is feeling giddy for some reason, when did he start feeling shy around women? He gulped feeling her hand on the neck below his ear, as she guides him to turn his face towards her direction. She greeted him with an apologetic smile as she continued to dab an antiseptic on his wound, her breath fanning his face.

"I'm really sorry, it's my fault for overreacting. Leona tends to be bias when it comes to the people important to her, she wouldn't hesitate to believe me if I insisted that you were stalking me."

he cleared his throat to calm his system. "She's a good friend."

"Hmm" She said smiling, her doe eyes turning slightly crescents. "She's my standard when it comes to men." She said playfully.

Liu Xiang felt defeated, 'Wow she's so vocal about showing her affection.'

"Your friend, he likes my baby." She mentioned out of nowhere, her face turning serious. Making Liu Xiang gulped, 'too vocal'.

He lifted the cup of tea to ease the tension he is feeling at the moment. This ball of sunshine looks harmless yet intimidating when she wants to be one.

'Why am I suddenly caught in a crossfire? you can beat up my traitor brother to your heart's content if you want'. It seems like Katarina is going to be his second brother's greatest hurdle, she got Leona wrapped around her finger that he has to get to this lady's good side if he wants to get to his woman.

"Haha! I have no idea, does it look that way?" there is no way he's gonna dig his own grave along with his traitor brother.

"Well, Leona is not for the faint of heart." She said matter-of-factly "Done!" She closed the first aid box and walked him out "Thank you again for letting the kids off, I owe you bigtime."

"No problem, they're lucky to meet someone like you."

"I'm not really sure about that, but Leona said I have this weird obsession about making people's lives be a bit better than when I meet them when in fact I can barely help. I have limited resources so I can only try in anyway that I can."

'Indeed'

They said their goodbyes and Liu Xiang walked towards his car feeling happy and empty at the same time.

He dialed his assistant's number "I sent you an address, check on the kids and find a way to make them accept financial help so they won't go back to the streets anymore."

****

Swirling a glass of sazerac in her hand, Leona waited for the bartender slash owner of the cozy bar that she's at as he serves another costumer. He's a man around early fifties, same age with her dad if he was alive. This guy used to be an intelligence officer and his connection still runs deep even after he retired that people like her still visit him for information. His bar is like a DMZ, that serves as a buffer between the underworld and the lawful world and although it might sound strange, the people of both worlds could trade information ethically in here. In a society it's almost impossible to eradicate its underworld completely; when you remove one mafia group, another one will just emerge to replace it. So in lieu of exerting vain efforts to fully remove it, a regulation was instead established. As long as the organization does not violate the civilians' human rights then they are allowed to continue to coexist with the rest.

"It's been a while since my dear niece visited me and I have this feeling that it's not entirely to check on my well-being, it kinda makes me sad." he jested as he served her another glass of liquor.

"Well, my job doesn't really give me much of a freedom to do what I needed to do these days. I have to secretly do personal things in between my missions." She adjusted the bangs of her wig, she's being extra cautious now that she's on an assignment so she has to wear prosthetic make up and wig to alter her look but surprisingly this uncle of hers always knew when she visits.

"You know you could leave the military if you want right? You're still young and it's not too late to build a new life."

"Old man, you should have thought of that before you dump me in a military boarding school." she nonchalantly rebutted and gulped her drink in one shot.

He sighed, God knows how he regretted it. Her parents were his bestfriends and only family. They grew up together in an orphanage, they fulfilled their dreams together. When they died, he was at lost. He was left in grief and the responsibility to take care of his friends' daughter that they left behind. In desperation to find the justice for his friends he decided to leave her in a boarding school, just to eventually fail. He failed miserably... In finding the culprit and being a guardian.

'If only I could turn back time.' He sighed. "So how can I help my dear niece today?"

She didn't say anything and just slid her smartphone on the counter top towards his direction. The old man catched it and curiously look at the photo showing on the phone.

"This..."