Kim Minseok took a deep breath as he faced the mahogany door before him. Various thoughts ran through his head at that moment. Did Oh Jaesuk take the bait? Minseok nibbled on his lips, deep in thought. He straightened his tie and buttoned his jacket, readying himself.

There was only one way to find out.

Minseok knocked on the door three times, signalling his entrance. He then proceeded to turn the knob, opening the door. There sat Oh Jaesuk at his desk. The older man’s hair was combed back neatly, accompanied by a mixture of grey and black hair. Jaesuk’s face was worn out. After all, he was fifty-five years old and he no doubt had stress from his multibillion dollar business.

“You called for me, Sir?” Minseok greeted his boss, while he stood before his desk. Upon hearing the voice, Oh Jaesuk’s eyes flickered up to the bodyguard. The older man let out a soft sigh, leaning back against his seat. Anticipation grew within Minseok as he saw the fearful expression on his boss’ face, even though he tried to hide it.

“Minseok, you’ve been my bodyguard for four years now. I trust you and I need you to do something very important for me.” Mr. Oh’s eyes were staring straight into Minseok’s.

“Anything for you, Sir.” He gave a small smile to his boss. Mr. Oh nodded while picking up a stack of paper from his desk, before shoving it into Minseok’s direction. The bodyguard grabbed the offered papers, before scanning through them. His eyes perused the well written document in which the death threat was written.

I’ve really outdone myself, Minseok thought.

“I’ve been receiving death threats, as well as my daughter. No one has aimed for her before.” Mr. Oh looked down for a second with a pitiful expression, before snapping back to his normal calm expression.

“I want to appoint you as her bodyguard until things have calmed down. She’s a stubborn woman, and I know that out of everyone, you will be able to handle her the best.”

Minseok nodded, before giving his boss a solid ‘Yes, sir.’

Of course he knew about the death threats, they were his idea. He knew it would scare Oh Jaesuk more if his daughter was involved. He needed to get closer to her. She was Jaesuk’s only weakness. Minseok isn’t going to pass up this opportunity. He grinned internally, thankful that his plan had worked. It took him years to gain Jaesuk’s trust.

It was time to get down to business.

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“Mommy, I want to go with you!” The toddler gripped onto Misun’s calf tightly, not wanting to let go.

“Kyungie, Mommy can’t bring you to work. But I promise, when I come pick you up at five, we can go get ice cream!” Misun grinned down at her son, ruffling his black hair. Kyung’s wide innocent eyes twinkled with excitement after hearing his mom’s proposal. Kyung looked up with an enormous grin and nodded continuously.

“Ice cream! Ice cream!” He squealed in delight while still giving Misun’s leg a death grip. She smiled down at him and pat his head before picking him up into her arms.

“Now give mommy a kiss.” She pursed her lips and closed her eyes, waiting for her son’s sloppy peck. The kiss came a second after her command and she opened her eyes with a big smile. “I love you, Kyungie. Be good for Mrs. Park.”

“Ne, I love you too mommy!” Misun gave Kyung one last smooch, before setting him down and letting him run into the daycare building with his little legs.

Misun gave a small sigh, before turning back to her car. Why did her father have to give her so many hours this week? It is so tiring, and she hasn’t had much time to spend with Kyung lately. ‘Hopefully with these death threats, he will give me more time off.’ She gave one last look at the building her little bunny will be in until five. ‘I hope he doesn’t give Mrs. Park any problems again.’

ღღღ

‘Her kid’s cute.’ Minseok watched on and listened to the conversation between Misun and her son. The toddler’s face was a replica of his mother’s. He possessed her bright sparkling eyes and facial structure, especially that aura of innocence. That’s the thing he loved about kids. They were so innocent and easy to love. Minseok remembered when he was innocent like that.

Flashback

5 years ago

“Kim Minseok, you have been assigned to a mission.” A deep voice echoed in the enclosed room.

Minseok’s eyes flickered over to the approaching figure. He stood up from his seat on the gym bench and dropped the two weights he was lifting seconds before. He grabbed the towel that was hanging from his neck, wiping the beads of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead.

“ing finally.” Minseok exclaimed, walking over to him. His last mission was a success, but left him with a broken arm. He was their top spy, but even the perfect spy can’t fight against twenty CIA agents without getting a battle wound.

His teacher glared at him, before handing over the assignment letter. He ripped it open in pure excitement. He read through it quickly before giving a quick glance at his teacher, hesitation in his eyes.

“Really?” Minseok asked, unsurely.

His teacher rolled his eyes, while suppressing a tiny smile that was trying to make its way present on his face.

“Yes. You were a handful when you were younger Minseok. When you first joined the 225th Bureau, I was the only one who saw potential in you. You were a chubby child, but you were intelligent. After seven years of training, you surpassed all of your fellow spies. This assignment will not be quick. We know how you love to obtain your target’s trust before torturing and killing. We are allowing your tactics for this objective. Your target is none other than Oh Jaesuk. You have heard the stories about him. Complete scum. We have been watching him since he escaped us. We have sent many to kill him, but they have all come back unsuccessful. He has been in South Korea for 30 years, Minseok. We are happy he has not spilled our secrets yet. But knowing how he was when he was a teenager, he will not keep them to himself for long.”

"You knew him?” Minseok’s wide eyes looked into Mr. Chang’s expressionless ones.

“Of course. We joined this agency together. But I knew his dreams of freedom was stronger than his loyalty to our beloved country.” Mr. Chang explained.

Minseok didn’t understand Jaesuk’s reason. Freedom? There was enough freedom here in North Korea. He thought the idea of betraying your own country was completely out of question. His only dream was to serve his country well. If taking down his country's most wanted betrayer was the only way, then so be it.

They gave Minseok all the needed documents in order to keep up with his false pretense  to be a resident of South Korea. They had bought him an apartment near Jaesuk’s work building. Minseok researched Jaesuk before heading to South Korea. He had found that Jaesuk has a daughter and she has a new born of her own. From Mr. Chang’s knowledge of his old friend, Minseok knew the only way to destroy Jaesuk was through his family.

Present

Minseok sat in his Audi while staring across the street. His car was in an empty parking lot across from the daycare. He has been watching it for hours, awaiting Misun’s return to fetch Kyung. He gazed at the clock on the dashboard. It read 6:03. ‘She said 5 o’clock.’ His eyes flickered back up to Kyung, only to see him dangling his short feet on the bench outside of the building. His hands playing with the end of his T-shirt.