It was a particularly dark night. A dark and quiet night. It was the perfect blend between dark and quiet. In fact, there was something so right about the night and all its dark and quiet glory, Kwon Jiyong figured it was just the right kind of night to make a quick and very painful kill.

So there he was, hidden in the shadows, crouched down comfortably between two barrels, on the roof of a very large mansion, as he waited for his assigned target. Everything was set and ready to go; guns were loaded, knives were sharpened, and his shoelaces were nice and tight. So why wasn’t the target where he was supposed to be?

Patience wearing thin, Jiyong started to fidget, fingers hovering over his knives that were smartly placed above his right ankle.

“He’s late,” he muttered sharply.

‘It’s been 30 seconds. Quit fidgeting and try to wait for another 30,’ said a voice from the earpiece lodged in his ear.

Over the past 12 years, Kwon Jiyong has made himself known for a variety of different reasons, from being a dashing and witty young man to being one of the best assassins in the agency.

“30 seconds up, I’m going in.”

Unfortunately, patience was not among the variety.

He made a swift jump from the rooftop to the entrance three floors down, knocking out two armed guards in the process.

‘Boss will want your head when he hears about what you’re doing.’

Something about those words made a nerve twitch.

He pulled at the door, hard, yanking it open, exposing two old men sitting on those big cushion chairs by the fire with cigars hanging in their mouths.

‘Fine, whatever, just remember to keep the target alive.’

“Sorry for the intrusion, but it’s very rude to be late for your own death, don’t you think? Now which one of you is-“

‘Death? I just told you that he needs to be kept alive!’

A pair of closed fists came at him out of nowhere, barely giving him enough time to dodge the assault. He may have landed on the wrong foot because it took him an extra second to regain his balance, and that was all it took for the second attack to land.

A foreign hand grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall, forcefully knocking out the air from his lungs.

“Ow…” he wheezed.

‘You are soooo dead.’

Jiyong grunted.

‘Oh now you respond.’

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” One of the old men spoke, swinging his cane around as he approached the hanging assasin.

Jiyong opened his mouth to answer but only managed to produce a choking sound.

The bea