Chapter 6

General Argus offers Mo-Yeon a final bow before making his way into the ballroom. The night is young and the charity gala is just about to start so he thought he would refresh himself with a few glasses of red before tonight's big event. Might be a while before another grand gala could happen after tonight; might as well enjoy it, he thought.

After a few more rounds of red wine and a couple of his and hellos to familiar heads of countries, Mo-Yeon takes the stage to deliver her opening remarks. Standing at the back of the ballroom, Argus quietly slips out of the door and hangs around the hallway. A few moments later, the ballroom door opens and the Vice President emerges. Argus looks up at him and approaches him casually. "Hello, old friend."

"Argus," Chairman Han nods at him and they shake hands, grips as firm as steel. "It's nice to see you tonight. How's your old swing?"

Argus clicks his tongue and shakes his head. He takes his place beside Chairman Han and matches his slow strides. "I see you remember quite well your last victory against me. I have improved tons, Chairman Han, it'll be a shame if we can't hit the golf course before you go back home."

The Vice President drops a hearty laugh. "I'm pretty sure I can as easily beat your ^ss, Argus! But as much as I hate to walk away from a match I surely would have won, I couldn't stay long here in Urk. There are pressing matters the IF needs their best man to attend to so I must hurry back first thing tomorrow."

"Oh how will we manage without you, Chairman?" Argus says sarcastically, which earns him another laugh from Chairman Han.

"As much as you're treasured around here, Argus," he winks.

"Ah, well, I'm just a humble general here in the Kingdom of Urk," Argus shakes his head, feigning humility.

Chairman Han claps Argus on the back. It seems they have reached their destination and so they go to a halt in front of the men's comfort room. He leans closer to Argus, his voice deeper and barely audible. "I've been hearing things, my dear friend. Dark, fishy things little birds whisper in my ear. I will not want to sully my good self with these fishy little businesses I've been hearing about but I will not want to stay silent, either, if a more rewarding endeavor presents itself."

Argus sneers at him and leans back into the wall, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets. "You need not to worry about these fishy little rumors, my good sir, as they are rumors until proven true."

"You sound very defensive, Argus, don't you?"

Argus shrugs and turns his back on Chairman Han, ready to go back to the ballroom. "Seriously, Chairman. You need not to worry anymore," he says before taking his leave, sporting a dark sneer hidden from Chairman Han's view. Chairman Han watches Argus for a moment and as if he's just realizing the conversation is done, he shrugs and lets himself into the men's comfort room. Just a couple of seconds after he locks himself in the comfort room to take care of his needs, a man in a black suit unlocks the door and lets himself in. Not half a minute later, the same guy leaves the comfort room and heads to the opposite direction of the ballroom, not a soul witnessing the quick charade.

xxxxx

"Help! The Vice President! The Vice President is dead!"

Mo-Yeon's head snaps to the direction of the voice, her head swimming with confusion. Not able to process the man's voice, she feels Shi-Jin and Dae-Young already dragging him to a secret door behind the stage, which leads to the hallway back to her room. Before Dae-Young opens the door, she notices Shi-Jin's strong grasp on her wrist and she forcibly shakes her hand free. Shi-Jin looks at her, confused.

"The Vice President—"

Shi-Jin sighs and both his hands fly to her shoulders. Mo-Yeon can feel that although his hands are firm, they, too, are warm, trying to be comforting and assuring. "We need to relocate you to a safe place," He says.

They lock eyes for a few seconds before she shakes her head, her lips pursed. "I'll check on him. I want to see for my own eyes."

"It's too dangerous." Shi-Jin says, dismissing her determination.

"I don't answer to you, Captain Yoo Shi-Jin. I am your Queen and you answer to me," Mo-Yeon says, her voice a little angrier now.

Mo-Yeon and Shi-Jin lock eyes, angry, heaving heavily. Dae-Young hears Myeong-Joo on the radio, asking for the whereabouts of Mo-Yeon and sternly giving instructions to keep her locked and guarded in her room. Dae-Young watches the staring contest in front of him and tries to decide whether to answer Myeong-Joo or wait for Shi-Jin and Mo-Yeon to come to a consensus. Myeong-Joo's voice is now rising, impatient that no one is replying to her radios.

Shi-Jin puts a hand on his radio earpiece, talking with his eyes still locked on Mo-Yeon's. "Big Boss to Command. I need additional backup. Ten royal guards at the back of the stage. Now."

Dae-Young hears that Myeong-Joo is now terribly angry over the radio. "I repeat, Angel to Big Boss. Secure the Queen. I'm sending the guards over there now to secure the Queen. Respond if you copy. Over."

Shi-Jin shakes his head, tongue in cheek. Dae-Young sees him turn off his earpiece. "You do know that Myeong-Joo will have our heads for this."

"She has more things to think about, what with hundreds of guests to move out of here." Mo-Yeon says, trying hard not to think about how angry Myeong-Joo will be with her later. It's almost as if she can hear Myeong-Joo shouting and cursing on Shi-Jin's and Dae-Young's earpieces.

Ten guards in the same black suit arrive and Shi-Jin turns to face them. Mo-Yeon looks at their faces, only really recognizing half of them.

"On the Queen's orders, we will her to the crime scene. Chief Seo Dae-Young and I will cover her from the front and the back. All of you circle us as we make our way to the comfort room," Shi-Jin briefs the men, all of them carrying heavy rifles. He looks at them in the eye, one-by-one, as he gives his instructions. "No one is to penetrate the circle. No generals, no presidents, no other member from the armed forces. I repeat, no one is to penetrate the circle apart from the Commander-in-chief."

"Yes, sir!" The men all shout in unison, stomping their left foot in attention and then easing back.

"Okay, let's go."

Shi-Jin has his hand gun out now and takes his position in front of Mo-Yeon while Dae-Young flanks her from behind. Shi-Jin and holds his guns close to his chest, while Dae-Young checks his inner coat pockets to reload his gun. The ten men make a circle surrounding the three and they start make their way away from the stage.

The formation marches cautiously across the ballroom and Mo-Yeon notices that the ballroom is almost empty now. All the guests must have hurried out after hearing the terrible news. As they pass the door from the ballroom into the hallway, Mo-Yeon sees a handful of guests still trying to flee the scene. The number of guards keeping watch on the hallway has now tripled in number, all of them carrying rifles and hand guns. Mo-Yeon's head snaps around, trying to locate a familiar face in the remaining crowd. She puts a hand on her heart, which is now beating so heavily she thought the guards surrounding her might be hearing it. She thought that if she did deep breaths and tried to rub her chest, her heart might calm down a little—but it didn't.

They keep their pace towards the comfort room and Mo-Yeon knows they're almost there when she sees an even bigger mob of police and guards crowding the wall. As they come to a stop, Mo-Yeon sees a number of guards wearing the IF logo on their collars standing by the door.

"Let's go." Shi-Jin waves a hand to signal the rest of the guards to stand down and he makes a path for Mo-Yeon to approach the door. He exchanges a few words with the guards at the door and beckon to Mo-Yeon. They let them go through. Dae-Young follows the two and continues to cover Mo-Yeon's back.

As they go through the door, Shi-Jin side steps to give Mo-Yeon a full view of the man sprawled on the floor. Vice President Han Suk-Won is lying on the floor, his left ear pasted to the floor, his body swimming in his own blood. A bullet-sized hole could be clearly seen behind his right ear. Mo-Yeon just looks at Chairman Han, unable to move after taking one step closer to him, unconsciously holding her breath. Her head is swimming in confusion. Why? Who did this? Why will they do this to him? Why here? Why tonight? These simple questions ricocheting like bullets inside her head. She is just standing, not moving an inch, hands trembling and fidgeting uncomfortably beside her. Her heart is racing even more so than before, and maybe even faster and more desperate than after an hour of slightly intense training with Shi-Jin. She is a doctor—well almost a doctor—and she is supposed to be used to seeing wounds and blood and dead bodies even. But looking at Chairman Han, how violently he is sprawled on the floor, how it all happened without him having a chance to get saved, she felt cold, frozen, and didn't even notice that she is crying if she didn't feel a warm hand wipe her wet cheeks.

Shi-Jin watches Mo-Yeon go into a shock as she zeroes in on Chairman Han's body on the floor. Two streams of tears flow from her eyes and he slowly reaches one hand to wipe the wetness from her face. Shi-Jin now hears a breath get caught in Mo-Yeon's throat, and her shoulders start shaking. Shi-Jin takes one step forward and pulls Mo-Yeon towards him, the one hand at the back of her head now, letting her cry on his shoulder. He starts to lift his other hand to pat her back but hesitates, and lets it hang beside him. "You've been very brave, that's enough, Doctor Kang."

Mo-Yeon feels her body getting racked with sobs, her shoulders shaking, her breaths skipping. More than the Vice President, she knows she is crying for herself, for her kingdom, for what this catastrophe will mean for monarchy—and she knows how selfish it all sounds in her head, so she cries even more as admonishment for her selfishness.

Shi-Jin feels Mo-Yeon nod weakly, submitting, but still crying. She lifts her head and their eyes meet, hers with tears still steadily flowing. This is the same proud woman who stood at the stage and addressed her kingdom earlier in the night. This is the same obstinate woman who wouldn't yield to his teasing and the training. It is heartbreaking seeing her in such a mess.

He s his coat and takes it off, and wraps it around the still shaking Mo-Yeon. "We'll take you back to your room now."

Mo-Yeon wipes her nose with the back of her hand like a child and turns back to Chairman Han's body. She slowly approaches him, the hem of her gown getting drenched in the pool of blood that surrounded him. She circles to his other side, now facing Shi-Jin and the other guards, and crouches down. She stares at Chairman Han's face, half of it visible from this side. She thought about his inappropriate comment earlier and regretted saying "go to hell" on her mind. She thought about seeing him last year and the thoughtful gift he sent earlier this year, remembering her birthday. No one deserves to go like this, she thought. If only someone saw him earlier, if only he didn't go the comfort room unescorted, or if only he didn't go to Urk at all, he won't be lying on the floor like this. She reaches out a hand and closes his eyes. Still on her knees, her hand bloody from reaching out to Chairman Han, she looks up at Shi-Jin.

"Captain Yoo Shi-Jin, please call the press."

xxxxx

Myeong-Joo is running towards the small conference room, a handful of police forces behind her. Dae-Young just radioed in to her that Mo-Yeon is calling a press conference and Shi-Jin has yielded to her demand in a heartbeat. She's fuming and makes no effort to hide it anymore, kicking the door to the small conference room open as she arrives.

More than a handful of reporters and photographers are already seated, minutes after the press conference call has been issued. Apparently, a majority of the TV stations, newspapers, and online outfits were already in standby outside the castle even before the gala started, waiting to ambush an official or a businessman, and get a quote to supplement the news on tonight's gala. Not even a bit did they expect that they will be catching on tape tonight an even bigger and more explosive message straight from the Queen of Urk.

Eyes spring to Myeong-Joo as she enters the room dramatically and heads straight to the holding room beside the podium, which is set in an elevated platform at the end of the room. Myeong-Joo slams the door open and her eyes immediately find Mo-Yeon, seated in an armchair, already dressed in a black suit dress.

"What the hell are you thinking, Kang Mo-Yeon!" Myeong-Joo marches in front of Mo-Yeon, her hand flying to the arms of Mo-yeon's chair. Mo-Yeon looks up to meet Myeong-Joo's angry eyes. Her eyes dart to Myeong-Joo's hands for a moment, noticing they are shaking as well.

"I have to make this announcement before someone else does. There were hundreds of people in that ballroom, Myeong-Joo. Someone's bound to talk as soon as they leave the castle doors," Mo-Yeon explains, her voice a little too desperate and pleading. Her eyes are still red and swollen from all the crying and Myeong-Joo scoffs at her face. "I know this is going to mean very bad for our kingdom but there's nothing we can do now, is there? And frankly, I would prefer some support right now rather than scolding because I'm not even sure I can do a proper speech out there without bursting into tears."

Myeong-Joo hears her voice break a little and straightens up, letting go of the chair. She steps back, still shaking in anger. She raises a boot and kicks the coffee table beside her with all the strength she can muster, and lets out a deep breath. The table crashes into another armchair, similar to Mo-Yeon's, and the armchair gets pushed a few feet from where it stood. She is not angry at Mo-Yeon for calling the press, nor is she angry at Shi-Jin and Seo Dae-Young for not listening to her orders. But she is so very angry, every bit of it pulsating through her body. She feels a hand land on her shoulder.

"She'll be fine, Myeong-Joo," Shi-Jin says, stepping in beside her. He adds, too quietly, in a tone the distracted Mo-Yeon won't be able to register, "Tonight is tougher on her than anyone."

Myeong-Joo stays still for a while, her anger now dissipating into an emotionless ball, before falling into her knees in front of Mo-Yeon in an apologetic bow. Mo-Yeon is caught by surprise and falls on her own knees in front of Myeong-Joo. Her hands touch Myeong-Joo's, her eyes scanning her poker face for some explanation of her sudden change of actions.

Myeong-Joo looks Mo-Yeon straight in the eyes for a moment, just staring, no emotions, then lowers her eyes to the floor. "In behalf of the entire Royal Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Urk, I, Commander Yoon Myeong-Joo, humbly ask for Your Highness' forgiveness for tonight, our incompetence and shortcomings have tainted your crown with blood. I have nothing to justify our ineffectiveness but I take all responsibility over this incident. I swear I will do everything in my power to resolve this."

Shi-Jin, Dae-Young, and two other royal guards in the room fall as well on their knees. In truth, Myeong-Joo is most aggravated with her own self, only projecting the anger and the frustration on everyone around her. She was supposed to be on top of security tonight but the Vice President, no matter how evil and infuriating he is, died on her watch. She has no one else to blame and get angry at but herself.

Mo-Yeon shakes her head and wraps her hands tightly—as tight as her shaking hands could let her, at the moment—around Myeong-Joo. "This is all of us, Myeong-Joo," she says quietly, and lets go. She stands up and brushes the imaginary dust off her dress. "Right now, let me do my job."

Myeong-Joo is still kneeling on the floor when Mo-Yeon exits the holding room, Shi-Jin behind her. Dae-Young approaches Myeong-Joo and helps her get back on her feet. "Let's go, she'll need us out there."

When Dae-Young and Myeong-Joo re-enters the conference room, a dozen of photographers are already clicking on their cameras, all focused on Mo-Yeon taking her place behind the podium. Almost all the chairs are already occupied by reporters of all nationalities, laptops on laps and notepads on hand.

Mo-Yeon looks at Myeong-Joo and Dae-Young across the room, and then at Shi-Jin standing just a step behind her. She lets out a deep sigh and starts to address the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, please allow me to spare you the salutations and head straight to the reason for this sudden press conference. Tonight's charity gala has closed to a most unfortunate incident. With deepest sorrow and regret, I bring the news that Chairman Han Suk-Won, Vice President of the International Federation, was assassinated at tonight's event. As of the moment, we are still conducting investigations to further understand the entirety of the situation and identify the cause of his untimely demise.

"I have arranged for tonight's gala with the intention to help ill countries, and prevent more losses, mortal and emotional. So it strikes me with great grief that such an event is turned into an opportunity to strike down one of the most brilliant and assiduous men I have ever had the honor to work with.

"As Queen of the Kingdom of Urk, I can personally vouch for the level of security my people have arranged for tonight's event. The safety of everyone attending the gala has been paramount but despite the extreme protection measures we have taken, our security has been breached. We will not rest until this case is solved and until the perpetrator has been brought to justice.

"I extend my personal and sincerest condolences towards the bereaved of Chairman Han Suk-Won, and to the International Federation who has lost its great leader."

Mo-Yeon finishes her speech without a hitch and slowly makes her way off the platform. The photographers and the reporters fly out of their seats to try and ask their questions but Shi-Jin and the royal guards have already shielded Mo-Yeon, letting her walk safely back to the holding room.

Myeong-Joo watches the reporters try to get their hands on Mo-Yeon and turns her head away in annoyance and embarrassment. Dae-Young watches her as she turns her back and exits through the conference room door, knowing that it's best to just let her be for now.

xxxxx

The ceremony held for former Urk Royal Armed Forces Commander-in-chief Yoon and former Third State of Set General Suh was small and solemn, as requested by Myeong-Joo. Queen Ah-In would have wanted the full martyr's tribute but Myeong-Joo insisted that her father would not care for such elaborate ceremonies and frivolities. But Queen Ah-In understood what kind of man Yellow Tiger was, him having worked for her as the Crown's Commander-in-chief for more than two decades. So she grants Myeong-Joo's request and they give him a small ceremony, held in secret, at the Crown of Heroes Cemetery. The Crown of Heroes Cemetery was where all deceased members of the royal family and the most notable members of the kingdom who have died in service to the country were buried.

The burial ceremony was short and simple, with only a handful of Yoon and Suh family members, their closest military friends, Shi-Jin's father Yoo Sung-Jin, and Queen Ah-In in attendance. Queen Ah-In awarded both with the highest honor the Crown can bestow on an Urk citizen, which was the Most Noble Ommelmoerstien Cross of Urk. Vaguely similar to the UK's Victoria Cross, the Most Noble Ommelmoerstien Cross of Urk has only been bestowed by the reigning sovereign to 15 Urk citizens since it was established after the First World War in 1918.

Myeong-Joo stood motionlessly beside Dae-Young as they lowered her father's casket into the ground. While there was no more room for remorse in Myeong-Joo's heart, with all of the space occupied by memories of and grief for his father, she can't help but feel disappointed by the absence of Shi-Jin.

Shi-Jin was not allowed by his father to go back to the Kingdom for the burial despite his insistence, since the royal family he was serving at the moment was undergoing some civil unrest of their own. Although Queen Ah-In would have let him come home, it was Yoo Sung-Jin who instructed Shi-Jin to stay. Furious, like the mature son that Shi-Jin is, he then refused to return his father's calls and e-mails. That order, he will come to realize, was the last time they will be in contact before Sung-Jin's short call in August to inform his son that he was getting deployed to Ingushetia in Russia—that call also turned out to be his last.