You are my mission

The morning sun filtered through the thin curtains as Su Xiaoxi opened her eyes, momentarily disoriented about her whereabouts. The unfamiliar ceiling of the safe house reminded her of everything that had happened the night before—the break-in, the relocation, and... Lin Yi being reassigned. 

She sat up abruptly and grabbed her phone—9:00 a.m. Lin Yi usually woke at six, yet today he hadn't come to rouse her. 

Pushing open the bedroom door, she found the safe house eerily quiet. On the dining table sat a cold breakfast and a note: *"Out for reconnaissance. Back by noon. Lock the door. —L"* 

The handwriting was sharp as a blade, just like the man himself. Su Xiaoxi traced the note with her fingers, her chest tight. The day after tomorrow, another stranger would take Lin Yi's place, "protecting" her like just another assignment. The thought twisted her stomach into knots. 

Mechanically, she ate the breakfast and began organizing her things. Inside her backpack was the printed copy of the photo that had started all this trouble—she'd carried all her important documents with her since the apartment break-in. The three blurry figures and the silver case in the photo now seemed so ordinary, yet they had turned her life upside down. 

"Wait..." Su Xiaoxi suddenly squinted, holding the photo closer to the light. In the corner of the case, aside from the previously noticed "K-73," there was another line of nearly illegible text. She rushed to the window, scrutinizing it under the sunlight—*"S&W Laboratories."* 

"S&W..." she murmured, immediately searching on her phone. The results showed it was a biopharmaceutical company on the city outskirts, specializing in neuropharmaceuticals. The most recent news, dated two months ago, reported a theft of experimental drugs from the facility. 

"This is the key!" Su Xiaoxi jumped up excitedly, ready to call Lin Yi. But her finger hovered over the dial button—now that he was about to hand over the mission, would he even care about this discovery? 

At exactly noon, the sound of a turning key echoed through the room. Lin Yi walked in, carrying grocery bags. He looked exhausted, faint shadows under his eyes.