Three months later,

Hanyang at night is the opposite of its vibrant atmosphere during the day. All the street vendors have packed up and gone home for the day. All the houses have shut their doors and windows so as to not let the cold wind in. Outside, hardly any trace of humans can be seen except for a few drunkards and night guards on their patrol. Above them, the moon is completely hidden behind the clouds which seem to have dominated Hanyang's sky for the past months. The city seems to be hibernating before a busy day ahead.

In the dead of the night, an emergency flare suddenly lights up the sky above the Royal Palace. The flare is small and white. It exploded in the sky for one second, and then, as abruptly as when it came, it was gone.

After the flare disappears from the sky, a white figure suddenly appears on the streets of Hanyang. The figure is completely dressed in white and has a thick white veil that covers almost his whole face. The man moves swiftly from the streets to the rooftops of nearby houses without making a sound. Then, just as quickly as he comes, he disappears behind the walls of the Royal Palace.

The man traces the flare to the mysterious building that is not on any official map. He hesitates for a second at the gate, then enters the main room as if it were a habit.

In the room, the King sits at the head of the table. Next to him, an older man who bears somewhat of a resemblance to the King sits even more comfortably.

"Cha, long time no see," the older man says casually as the man in white enters.

"I'm retired." He replies half-heartedly, not looking at the man laid back in his seat.

"Retired means that you can forget your manners?" The older man retorts, "Are you not even gonna greet the King?"

This prompts the man in white to glance at the younger man in the red dragon robe. He slowly kneels on the floor and bows to the King.

The King only slightly nods at him and signals for him to join the table.

"And just so you know," the older man wastes no time to speak up again, "undercover does not mean retired."

The man in white immediately shoots him a look of daggers, but he ignores this and starts to sip the tea in his cup.

"Who's the target this time?" The man in white decides to get straight to the point this time.

The older man slowly puts his cup on the table in front of them and turns to study the expression on the man in white's face. For the longest time, the younger man thinks that the other could just swallow him whole and spit him out as easily as a piece of cake.

"It will be a big job," he turns away when he seems to be satisfied with what he sees on the other's face. "You haven't gone soft on me, have you?"

The man in white raises an eyebrow at this. "Of course not," he replies almost immediately.

"Then why have there been fewer and fewer news lately?" He questions.

"It's hard to send any news when there is nothing going on at all," he says firmly.

The older man continues his mental scrutiny of the other, and in the end, decides to stand down.

"It's the Haeju rebels," the man announces slowly and clearly. "They have wreaked havoc on the city for three months now, and last week just seized control of the food supply from Hanyang."

"Good," the man in white suddenly interrupts, "so they can feed the people now? I don't see any problems with that. We all know the local officials often like to pilfer the food supply". He finishes with a series of eye rolls.

"It's not just about the food supply. At this rate, they will take over the whole city in another month." The older man concludes.

"Haeju is only a small city," the King asserts, "we just need to take them into custody and exile them if needed."

"We need to make a lesson out of them," the older man reaffirms. "Bring me their leader's head."

This prompts both men to turn their heads towards him.

"Uncle!" The King protests as he hears the words come out of the other's mouth.

"What?" He retorts, "I knew you were so much softer than your father, but to be this soft? Joseon would be taken in a month!"

"But..."

The King does not get a chance to finish his speech when the man in white speaks up again: "So you want to kill the Haeju rebels' leader? That will not go down well with the locals. I heard they are popular there." Then, as if to emphasize his point further, he reminds them all: "Remember fifteen years ago?"

"What? The Jun execution?" The older man scoffs, "That was for the greater good, and if it was gonna upset a few peasants, then so be it. We haven't had another one like Jun Kihong for fifteen years, have we?"

As the older man recounts the most tragic execution in the history of Joseon as his greatest victory, the King could only bite his lower lips in silence.

"How about the rest of the followers?" The man in white continues.

"Do not spare anyone important," he looks the other man dead in the eyes, "I mean it."

"Is that it?" The man in white has started to stand up now and head for the door as if another second in the same room with the older man will yield him insane.

But just when he is about to walk out of the door, the older man raises his voice again, this time, with less patience, and much more scrutiny.

"Remember what I used to teach you?"

The man in white turns back to look at him in anticipation of an answer to his own question.

"Every man is an island, Jungsu ah. Your name is Park Jungsu, not Leeteuk. Don't let all the gatherings and hangouts at Lee Youngwoon's residence fool you into thinking you are one of them. You will always be an outsider looking into their family. You made a promise. You belong with the Parks. You always have and always will. And the Parks always serve the Chois."

With that, the older man turns back to his cup of tea, leaving Leeteuk with a thousand different feelings battling each other to dominate.

Every man is an island, the older man's voice keeps echoing in his head.

*****

The next night, Lee Youngwoon calls a meeting at Seowangmyeong. Inside the small room, seven people occupy a whole table, but somehow it still feels like something, or someone is missing.

"Hankyung ah, has there been any news from Heechul?" Youngwoon asks carefully.

But Hankyung seems to be immersed in his own world.

"Hankyung?" Youngwoon calls out to him again.

"I'm sorry, seonsaengnim," Hankyung is quickly taken back to the real world after the second call, "I have received a few letters from him with updates on Kim Dongchun's group. They seem to be doing well. They have taken down a few corrupt officials, and last week just took over the food supply from Hanyang. That should help the people get through the drought this year."

Lee Youngwoon sits on this information for a long while.

"That's good." He finally concludes in a positive note. "They might be able to make a change there after all."

Hankyung only nods quietly at his remark.

"Anything else?" Lee Youngwoon expands his line of questioning to the whole table.

"Lee seonsaengnim," Hyukjae raises his voice in response to the question, "I heard that last night... the Phantom Killer was back..."

The air suddenly feels like it was out of the room. Everyone turns their head towards Hyukjae's direction. For a second, Leeteuk feels as if his heart could explode any second.

"What's the Phantom Killer?" Donghae asks innocently.

"You don't know about the Phantom Killer, you babo?" Hyukjae turns to his friend. "Legend has it that he used to be an assassin that terrified Hanyang a long time ago. People say that his signature appearance was pure white clothes and a thick white veil that covered his whole face. No one ever knew what he looked like, what his real name was, or where he came from. Outside, he looked like an angel, but people used to say whenever he appeared, there would be a bloodbath. He moved so fast and skillfully that even when he massacred his victims, their blood could never reach his pure white clothes. He was like a phantom that could appear and disappear in a blink of an eye. Rumour has it that he was the Chois' guardian angel. A protector. A hunt dog."

"But no one has seen him for the good part of almost twenty years," Hyukjae continues, "until now."

"But wasn't that just a myth, abeonim?" Sungmin turns to his father.

Lee Youngwoon sits quietly in his seat for a moment. 

"He could be real, Sungmin ah. But even so, no one has seen him for almost twenty years. We don't know whether he is even alive, or the figure people saw last night was actually him."

"Actually, seonsaengnim," Kyuhyun suddenly speaks up, "there was rumour that the Phantom Killer appeared fifteen years ago. The night that my parents died."

Lee Youngwoon looks at him deep in the eye, then dwells on the information for a minute.

"Hyukjae, why don't you look more into this?" He says firmly. "Now, let's call it a night."

As everyone starts to leave the room, Lee Youngwoon realises that Leeteuk has stayed behind.

"Leeteuk, are you okay?" He asks softly.

"I'm fine, Youngwoon ah," he answers, "I have to go away for a while."

"Where?"

"Back home. Some relatives are having small disputes with each other, so I have to take care of it. Don't worry, it shouldn't take more than two weeks."

"Okay. I'll be here when you get back. Come back soon." He gives Leeteuk a reassuring smile.

"One more thing, Youngwoon ah. It is getting dangerous out there, especially if the Phantom Killer is back. We don't know who his target is this time. So promise me, you will stay in Hanyang until I come back."

"Why, Leeteuk?"

"Just promise me." Leeteuk looks at him firmly.

"Okay, I promise."

"And Sungmin as well. Where is he?"

"I have Sungmin keep an eye on Hankyung after Heechul left. He has not been himself lately. I'm really worried about him. When Hankyung gets better, I will have Kyuhyun take Sungmin back to Bukhansan. It's safer there, and no one will recognise him."

"Okay, good," Leeteuk looks like a mountain had been lifted off his shoulders, 'tell him not to leave Hanyang. Stay as close to home as possible."

Lee Youngwoon only nods at the other's suggestion. 

"I will see you in two weeks, Leeteuk ah." He says as the other starts to leave the room.

But Leeteuk only gives him a gentle smile, and for a second, Youngwoon could also see a hint of sadness on his face.

Out in the front yard, Leeteuk sees his four favourite students off to their daily lives, unaware of the storm to come. Donghae and Hyukjae, as usual, are bickering about something or other. Occasionally, when they stop bickering, they would start whispering and giggling with each other. In another direction, he sees Kyuhyun accompanying Sungmin who seems to be rambling about something while he only quietly listens, occasionally making snarky remarks at the other which always makes Sungmin blush and slightly annoyed.

For a second, he wishes that he could stop everyone from moving and everything from unravelling if he could. To keep those smiles on their faces forever, he would take a thousand blades and a thousand arrows to his heart.

Leeteuk stands looking out on the yard for a long while before he realises the two figures he has been watching are already standing tall before him.

"Leeteuk seonsaengnim," Sungmin calls out to him, "It's getting late. Will you be joining my father for supper? I will have the servants prepare your favourite tteobeokki."

Leeteuk looks at the other's bright smile and eyes like a crescent moon for a second, just like he did fifteen years ago when he first met the boy.

"I can't," he says gently, "I'm busy, Sungmin ah. But I will be back soon."

With that, Leeteuk begins to walk away from the two. As he reaches the gate of Seowangmyeong, he turns around to take one last look at the place he has cherished more than home for fifteen years, wondering about the next time he will be back. But deep down inside his heart, Leeteuk knows that the next time he is here again, nothing will ever be the same.

Not for him.

And especially, not for the people he has held dear for the better part of his life.

Above him, a dark cloud is about to form in the sky above Hanyang. 

And perhaps, in his heart, too.