Two full weeks passed, during which Yibo and Youn were incessantly on the lookout, watching Zhan around the clock, with the help of Emily. But nothing much happened, as Zhan did not leave the campus once during those two weeks. This seemed really strange to Yibo. After all, he had left the campus at least twice a week for a month and stayed overnight outside.

Emily suspected that either Zhan had no business outside, or that Zhan had taken the argument with Yibo to heart and didn't want to provoke another fight. But neither Yibo, nor Youn, nor Emily knew what the real reason was. And Yibo didn't feel like asking Zhan why he didn't leave the campus anymore. Especially not after he had made such a drama out of Zhan leaving the campus again and again.

What Yibo did know, however, was that Alessia hadn't left campus in those two weeks either. And that caused Yibo to have doubts again. Had Zhan really only ever left the campus because of Alessia? Or had she left for Zhan? And as before, Zhan continued to be by Alessia's side from morning to evening, and even stood beside her several times when she had arguments with other students. Even when she was clearly in the wrong.

But aside from these things and his ever-increasing jealousy of Alessia, Yibo had really enjoyed the nights with Zhan. They talked, made love, and fell asleep cuddling. Almost every night, Yibo would lie awake a few minutes longer after Zhan had fallen asleep and look at the sleeping Zhan. He wished that they could always be like this with each other, and not just at night.

And then Saturday morning came. Yibo and Youn were together in the cafeteria. They had just come from breakfast and were about to go for a jog when they saw Zhan leaving the campus together with Cheng. Hastily, they hurried after the two. Close enough to them not to lose sight of them. But far enough away not to be spotted by them, they followed the two.

Zhan and Cheng walked up to a small supermarket and stayed in the parking lot for a few minutes, looking around and around before getting into a black SUV. As the two drove close to Yibo and Youn, Yibo saw that Zhan was at the wheel of the car. Now it was definitely certain that Emily had really seen the two and that she was not mistaken.

Luckily for them, a cab was just coming and Youn waved it over. They told the driver to follow the black SUV and the driver then said with a laugh, "I've been waiting for someone to say that sentence to me for 10 years!" Then he drove off and they followed Zhan and Cheng. And as it turned out, their cab driver was very skilled at following a car unnoticed. Because they managed to follow Zhan and Cheng without any problem until they reached a deserted area, where the two of them drove their car into a gateway of an old abandoned house.

Since they couldn't stop and get out directly in front of the house, they dropped off at the street corner. They carefully crept up to the house and the gate entrance. But because the gate was closed, they couldn't see in to the yard where the car was probably parked. And they couldn't see where Zhan and Cheng had gone.

What the two did see, however, was that on the house, there were three cameras. One pointed at the gate entrance, another at the house entrance, and the third pointed at the street and the sidewalk. "This is an abandoned house. Then why are there so many cameras here and what are Zhan and Cheng doing here?" Youn asked in a whisper while Yibo tried to look in one of the windows.

"I have no idea. The whole area here is deserted. It looks like no one has lived here for years." Yibo replied, pointing in to the window.

"What's that?"

"Looks like part of the ceiling collapsed."

"You know what that reminds me of?"

"No, what?"

"Of horror movies. No normal person would stay in an abandoned building that's already collapsing unless they had something to hide."

"I get it. But what exactly are you saying? That Zhan and Cheng are murderers and that this is where they have their hideout, where they commit all the murders?"

"Maybe."

"Oh come on Youn. You don't really think Zhan and Cheng are some crazed killers who set up their torture workshop here."

"I don't know what to think or believe. But it's definitely not normal."

"Oh stop it. Let's just figure out how to get in there instead."

"Have you gone crazy? I'm not going to a house where the ceiling could fall on my head at any moment. Besides, it's daytime and they would see us right away. And we don't even know where exactly they are there. We don't know what's in the yard either."

"Now what?"

"Now we get out of here first before they catch us."

"All right." Yibo replied. The two jogged down the street and to the corner, where Yibo stopped. "I want to stay here and see when they leave again or if anyone else comes here. I can't give up now."

"Do you really think this is a good idea Yibo?"

"Yes. I want to finally know what Zhan's secret is. He won't tell me. And I don't want to wait any longer until he's finally ready to tell me everything."

"Okay. But I want to point out that I don't think it's a good idea."

"Maybe it's not a good idea. But Youn, I think we're very close to finding the answer around Zhan's secret."

"I just don't have a good feeling about it. There's something not right about it. Think about it for yourself. Everything here is abandoned. Every single house is empty. The whole area is dead. So what are Zhan and Cheng doing here? And why do they need three surveillance cameras? For what? For an empty run-down house that's falling apart?"

"If you want answers to these questions, we should stay here and find out the answers."

"I hope you won't get the stupid idea that we enter the house after Zhan and Cheng have left again. There are probably other alarm systems besides the surveillance cameras. And I don't want to be caught spying on your boyfriend. Who knows what he'll do to us then!"

"And what do you suggest instead?"

"I suggest we call a cab and head back. And then we'll figure out what we want to do. We need to make a plan. We can't just go in there and hope everything works out."

"All right. You're right."

"I know. Yibo, I understand why you want to do this. Even I want to know what Zhan is hiding. But we can't act impulsively. We're welcome to stay here a little longer and see if anything else happens. But in an hour at the latest, I want us to call a cab and get out of here."

"Okay. Thanks Youn."

"For you, very much." Replied Youn.

The two looked around for a hiding place from which they could keep an eye on the street without being spotted themselves. But all they found was an old garbage container standing in front of a house. Fortunately, it was really big and empty and gave Yibo and Youn enough space to hide inside.

Through a few holes in the container, which Yibo thought looked like they had been shot in, they could see the street and part of the sidewalk where the container stood. Never in his life did Yibo think he would ever do something like this. Chasing someone he loves more than anything else with a cab and then hiding in a container to spy on him. But somehow he also found it very appealing and exciting.

Just ten minutes after they got into the container, they heard voices and footsteps approaching them. Someone said, "Did you see the way the boss looked at me? I got really goosebumps."

Another replied, "Not just you. He looked at all of us like that. But I guess it's no wonder. He finally wants to see results."

Man one then said, "I know. But the boss should remember that this kind of thing needs time."

Man two: "He knows that. But he's losing patience. It's been going on too long now."

As the two men walked past the garbage container and Yibo and Youn could finally see them through the holes in the container, they cringed when they saw that the two men were carrying machine guns. And suddenly man one stopped, looked at the container and hit the container several times with the barrel of his gun. Both men suddenly looked at each other questioningly. Probably because this time the container sounded different than before.

Both men took two steps toward the container, man two asked man one, "Do you remember last week?"

Man one replied, "Sure. Why do you ask?"

"Because I don't want it to go like that again. You got that?"

"Listen. I already said I was sorry. I couldn't have known that this guy was just a jogger."

"You shot him!"

"I didn't mean to. I told him several times to make himself known. But he preferred to run away."

"When you point a gun like that at someone, it's no wonder. This time you pull yourself together and let me do it."

"All right."

"So, whoever is there in the container better show up voluntarily! We are armed and not afraid to use our weapons!" Said Man One, this time now directly addressing Yibo and Youn.

Yibo swallowed hard. He and Youn began to tremble. Who were these men? And what would they do to him and Youn once they surrendered? "Didn't you hear me? Come out of there!" Roared man two, pointing his gun at the container.

Suddenly, they heard more footsteps. "Hey guys, what's taking you so long? The boss is waiting!" Yibo winced as he recognized Zhan's voice.

"We've got a problem. There's someone hiding in the container." Replied man one.

"Oh yeah?" Asked Zhan.

"Yes. We have asked the person to come out of there. But so far nothing has happened." Explained man two.

"Okay, I'll take a look. Put the guns down. Take a couple of steps back. I wouldn't come out either if someone was pointing a gun at me." Said Zhan. Then the container's lid was lifted a bit and Zhan's face appeared above Yibo and Youn. They stared at him with wide eyes.

Zhan smiled and winked at Yibo. "Stay calm." He whispered. Yibo and Youn nodded silently.

"Guys, there's nothing there. The container is empty." Stated Zhan.

"But we definitely heard a difference." Said man one.

"Maybe so. But there's nothing in there. Come on, let's go back. The boss is in a particularly bad mood today." He said to the men. To Yibo and Youn he said again in a whisper, "In five minutes you can get out of here and leave." Yibo and Youn nodded again.

Zhan closed the lid of the container again and moved away. Yibo and Youn could see through the holes as the three moved away. They waited as Zhan requested, five minutes, and then scrambled out of the container. As fast as they could, they ran when they left the container and headed away.

Only after a good 500 meters did they stop. Neither of them said anything. They just stared at each other until Yibo's cell phone beeped. He pulled out his phone and found a message from Zhan: "A cab is on its way to you. Wait at the old bus stop. You will be picked up from there."

"Thanks." Yibo texted back. He was completely confused. What had he and Youn just witnessed? What does Zhan have to do with these men? And who is this boss? But most importantly, what is Zhan going to do with them now that he caught them spying on him and Cheng?