It had been a few days since Bomi’s and Hayoung’s encounter with the man with the message, and since then, Bomi hadn’t had one day that wasn’t completely packed with work. Today, she had woken up at seven in the morning to work out with Eunji and Hayoung, went straight to escorting Princess Naeun to a meeting with the American ambassador, and then immediately set out with the others to follow up on some leads about the whereabouts of the next Shadow Clan meeting. The latter part of her day had felt more like a wild goose chase, and although they had gotten information from several different sources about a potential meeting, none of them matched. There were no new incidences like the one a few days ago.

After returning to the palace, Bomi and the others had spent about an hour trying to make sense of the information. It was around ten at night when Naeun, who had been assisting them with the different sources, had ordered them to get some rest. She had said that she would try to piece what she could together so they could look over it the next day. They had protested, but the princess had firmly ordered them out of the room.

Now Bomi was finally back in her room, ready to collapse onto her bed.

And she would have had she not noticed the white envelope on her desk that had definitely not been there when she left in the morning. Curiously, Bomi approached her desk and picked up the envelope. It did not have the royal stamp, nor was it signed anywhere, so she had no idea where it could have come from. She ripped open the letter, and the moment she read the first sentence, her heart dropped.

In black, scratchy writing, the letter read:

Yoon Bomi,

We have something that you want. Meet us at the enclosed location tonight at midnight. Come alone. If you come with company or tell anyone of this, we will not hesitate to kill your entire team.

It was a short letter, but it was enough to shake Bomi to the core. She dropped the letter, opened her desk drawer, and pulled out her gun.

“If anyone is there, come out right now!” Bomi demanded. She circled around her room, straining her eyes and ears to detect any anomalies. When she found none, she lowered her weapon and reread the letter.

This could’ve only been the work of the Shadow Clan. But how had they gotten in? They couldn’t have entered through the front door, and her windows were closed...Her windows. Bomi cursed and ran towards her windows. She cursed even louder when she noticed that they were unlocked. She pushed them open and peered outside, ignoring how high up she was.

Nothing. Whoever had snuck into her room was long gone. 

The One-Eyed Man. Had he come back for her? If he had, what could he have possibly had that she wanted? Bomi reread the letter, trying to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. Her mind raced to figure out what to do, but her thoughts were too much of a jumbled mess.

Wait for his message. That was what that man had said to Bomi before he had killed himself. This must have been what he meant.

“I should tell the others,” Bomi murmured to herself.

She snatched the letter from her desk and started to head towards her door, but she stopped halfway. We will not hesitate to kill your entire team. If whoever had left this letter was able to sneak into her room, they could surely sneak into the others’ rooms as well. Bomi wondered why they hadn’t threatened the Princess’s life, but, then again, Naeun’s room was extremely well-guarded. It was nearly impossible to sneak into her room without raising alarm.

Naeun’s life wasn’t in danger, but the rest of her team was. It frightened Bomi as much as the mere fact that she feared for their lives.

Not again, she thought. I won’t let it happen again.

Setting down the letter, Bomi went to change into all black clothes. She slipped knives under the soles of her shoes and strapped some to her thigh. She retrieved her gun from her desk, made sure it had bullets, then attached its holster to her belt. Chorong would kill her for what she was about to do, and she knew that it would break Eunji’s heart, but it was better that than their deaths. Bomi would worry about that after she came back alive.

What if she didn’t come back alive? She had no idea what was waiting for her. Bomi took out her phone and stared at it for a moment. Her fingers began typing something, but they stopped in the middle of the sentence. She would come back alive. She would not let herself doubt that. Sighing, Bomi deleted the note and typed something else up, then set her phone down onto her desk. She unwrapped her scarf―Eunji’s scarf―from her neck and placed it next to her phone. She would have no need for them where she was going.

Bomi pulled a black cap onto her head and tucked the letter into her jacket pocket. She pushed her window open, inviting the cool night air into her room, and stepped onto the windowsill. There was a convenient rain gutter pipe running down the side of the wall outside her window, and if she planned her movements correctly, she could use it to slide down to the ground. It was risky, but it also wasn’t something she hadn’t done before.

I don’t do that anymore. I don’t run away.

Bomi had told Chorong that, and she had meant it. She wasn’t running away. She would come back. It was a promise that she had made both to the others and herself.

Securing her cap on her head, Bomi took a deep breath and leapt out of the window into the night sky.

This was a shorter chapter, but don't worry! The plot is just getting exciting :) Thanks for reading! Again, if you want to become friends or talk to me for any reason, you can follow my twitter @ pandawriter18!