— 

  “Morning, Teuk,” Eunhyuk opened the door, lazily rubbing one eye, “you, uh, called?”  

  “Yeah. Take a seat.” Leeteuk cleared his throat and neatly filed some papers away. “I have an assignment for you.” 

  “F-for me? Just me?” Frankly, Eunhyuk was yet to have settled back into this whole assassin thing. He wasn’t sure if he’s ready to take on a sole assignment yet. “How come?”

  “Simply speaking, you were my only choice. Sungmin’s out of town on a job, I have Heechul working undercover on a mission, Donghae, while a good hitman, is still technically a rookie here, so that leaves just you.” 

  “That’s not true. You have dozens of other killers employed—”

  “Eunhyuk.” Leeteuk gave him a stern look. “Shut up. I chose you. And you’re going to do this.”

  He sighed, deciding there was no use in fighting. “Well, as long as I’m still getting paid.” 

  “You are. Provided you get the job done, that is.” Leeteuk handed him a folder. “Here, have a run through this. It’s one of my men—name’s Kim Ryeowook.” 

  “I see that.” Eunhyuk mindlessly flipped through the pages. “Hey, I know this kid. I’ve seen him around a couple of times; even talked to him a little bit. Always thought he looked a little too dainty to be an assassin. Then again, so do Sungmin and Heechul.” 

  “Yeah, well, don’t get too attached t0 him.” He said. “He’s been throwing some red flags lately. To be quite honest, I’ve had my suspicions about him right from the start. He was too nice, too trim, too clean with his jobs. A little too perfect, you know? So I did some digging, and let me tell you, I wasn’t too surprised to learn that he’s been working for another underground assassin firm.” 

  “Oh?” Eunhyuk had an idea where this was going.

  “Yeah. They use a taxidermy shop as a front—pretty stupid, if you ask me.” The dimpled man gave him a picture of said shop; it looked pretty ordinary to Eunhyuk. “Their head goes by the name Yesung. Really creepy guy.” 

  Leeteuk showed him another picture, this time a shot of this Yesung character. Judging by the dead look he’s giving the camera, Leeteuk’s right. 

  “And that’s his graduation picture too.” Leeteuk almost shuddered; he quickly put the image away. “The guy’s good though. The police have never busted him or his company; in fact, they probably don’t even know it exists. I myself don’t know much about him, except that his men always leave a smiley face in blood, and that he joined forces with Choi Siwon at least once. You can see why this burns me so.” 

  Calling anything that had to with Siwon a sensitive topic would be an understatement. Sungmin has already filled him in about how Siwon met his untimely death. Eunhyuk was just sorry he wasn’t there to see it happen.

  “I get the picture.” Eunhyuk tucked Ryeowook’s file under his arm; he was going to keep it for future reference. Leeteuk had written in quite a bit of a profile for him—that should prove useful. “You want me to off one of our men.” 

  “You’ll get extra if you do it quick.” Leeteuk promised. “So, we have an understanding?” 

  “Just one more thing: are you absolutely sure about this?” Eunhyuk didn’t want to have to repeat history. “I already went through this exact same once before, Teuk, and I ended up in critical condition for months.” 

  “I never make mistakes, Hyuk. Not in my work.” Well, he sounded certain. But Eunhyuk still intended on running a few more background checks. “Besides, that was clearly under false pretenses. That Kim Kwangsoo was a son of a too blinded by revenge to care about covering his tracks. I, however, am a fairly level-headed man who doesn’t like being double-crossed.” 

  “Gotcha.” Eunhyuk stood up. He hoped his hesitance wasn’t too obvious. “You can count on me, Teuk.” 

— 

  Eunhyuk would have thought that staking out a colleague would be easier. Instead, it was much more harrowing. At least strangers didn’t know who he was. But Ryeowook was someone whom he worked with, not very closely, but still under the same quarters. It was hard to sneak around him, to watch his day go by, to keep from getting caught.

  While waiting for his Starbucks order, Ryeowook whipped around, feeling something amiss in the air. Eunhyuk let out a soft yelp as he hastily moved behind a wall post, effectively disappearing from Ryeowook’s line of sight. This was getting too much for him.

  “Hi!” 

  “Jesus!” Eunhyuk nearly had a heart attack. He adjusted the sunglasses he wore to try to look discreet and took a good look at the beaming face a few inches below him. “Donghae? What are you doing here?” 

  Afraid that Ryeowook might recognize Donghae, Eunhyuk grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him towards himself. Now they were just two strange men standing behind a wall in Starbucks. 

  Frankly, Donghae didn’t mind the handsy-ness. “I was bored. Leeteuk had no new assignments for me. So when I saw you walk out of his office this morning, I decided to follow you, just for entertainment. What are you doing following that scrawny-looking fellow?” 

  “That scrawny-looking fellow is an assassin at our company.” Eunhyuk informed him through a whisper-shout. “According to Teuk, he’s a double-crosser and he wants him dead, but I’m just making sure.” 

  “Whoa. An assassin with a conscience. Who knew?” 

  Eunhyuk was an interesting character. Donghae’s never met anyone quite like him. He didn’t take pride in his assassin work, but he was usually quite competent, despite people’s constant degrading comments of him. If he were to pick at his features one-by-one, they weren’t really very nice, but put all together, they actually made up a pretty handsome face. After asking around, Donghae learned that Eunhyuk had quite the reputation for sleeping around. He wasn’t surprised, honestly; he seemed the type. Donghae was more surprised to learn that he slept with women. Donghae found that wildly interesting. He was certain that that was lust he saw in Eunhyuk’s eyes that day they first met.

  Everything about this man just contradicted. He just didn’t make any sense. Donghae liked that.

  “Need any help?” Donghae offered. “You should accept. You look like you need it. No offense.” 

  Eunhyuk wasn’t like most of his co-workers. He didn’t mind working with people. But frankly, Donghae made Eunhyuk feel too many strange feelings all at once and he didn’t need that right now.

  “Um, thanks,” he was ready to move; Ryeowook just went out the door, “but no thanks, I have this handled.” 

  That statement probably would have panned out better if he hadn’t tripped and fell on his face. But in all fairness, Donghae was holding his foot out on purpose.

— 

  “Your face feel better?” 

  “No.” Eunhyuk couldn’t recall the last time he ever felt this annoyed. He was normally very lenient towards people, even his own victims. But there was just something about Donghae. Eunhyuk just didn’t know how to act around him. He made him feel uncomfortable, he made him feel hot, he made him feel very, very confused. 

  Eunhyuk wondered if that was why Sungmin was always so mean to him.

  “Whoops, target’s on the move.” Donghae pointed, his eyes fixed on Ryeowook as he stopped to pet a stranger’s dog. “Is this guy for real? He smiles at everyone, he stopped to give a homeless man spare change and I’m pretty sure he just stepped over an ant.” 

  “Well, he is an assassin, so he can’t be all that nice.” Eunhyuk frowned at all the crumbs Donghae was spreading. “Hey, easy on that burger, would ya? I don’t like having crumbs in my car.” 

  “Sungmin tells me you frequently make a mess in his car.” 

  “Yeah, well, that’s different. That’s Sungmin’s car and he has friggin’ blood stains on it, for crying out loud—why should he care about crumbs?” Eunhyuk had half the mind to confiscate the cheeseburger from Donghae’s hands. From now on, he was no longer allowing food in the car. 

  Since Donghae obviously had no intention of listening to him, Eunhyuk decided to shift his focus to the subject at hand. It’d save him a hell of a headache. “Ryeowook hasn’t been doing anything suspicious all day. If I didn’t know him, I would never have even pegged him as an assassin. But Leeteuk seemed so sure…” 

  “Well, maybe we’re looking in the wrong place here.” Donghae said, his words stifled by the chewed burger in his mouth. Eunhyuk had to stop himself from wiping Donghae’s mouth clean. “Maybe this guy’s more cunning than we thought. We should check out his phone records, look at his bank accounts, that kind of .” 

  “How are we supposed to do all that?” he asked. “We’re assassins, not federal agents. We don’t have the jurisdiction to do any of that.” 

  Eunhyuk was way too big of a goody-goody. Donghae had the strongest urge to hug him, squeeze him like a big teddy bear in a toy shop window. His thoughtfulness was refreshing; in fact, Donghae found it most endearing. 

  “I know some people.” He put simply with a one-shoulder shrug.

  “You’d do that?” 

  “For you?” Donghae couldn’t help himself anymore—he pinched Eunhyuk’s cheek. “Sure.” 

—

  Donghae specifically told him to meet him in the conference room at three. Eunhyuk arrived at 2:59 and Donghae was already there, nursing a cigarette and tediously going through some papers.

  “Hey.” Eunhyuk kept his distance, preferring to stand in a corner by himself. “You find anything?” 

  “Nope. This kid is clean.” Donghae said, tilting his head back to blow smoke. Eunhyuk never saw someone smoke so ily before. In fact, he never found smoking in any way attractive until today. “He calls his mother every week. He volunteers at a local rescue shelter. He donates to charity. Just what the hell is he doing at an assassin company?” 

  “And why does Teuk think he’s a mole?” Eunhyuk was already having a hard enough time wrapping this whole thing around his mind. But now he had to deal with Donghae too. But at least Donghae has proven to be of some help. Not much, but some. “So where do we go from here?” 

  “You’re asking me? This is your case.” 

  “Oh, right.” Eunhyuk wasn’t used to taking charge like this. Sungmin usually called the shots. It’s too bad he’s in Daegu. “Um…I say we—I should talk to Leeteuk. Try to convince him that Ryeowook is innocent.” 

  “Wow.” Donghae remarked. “You really are one of a kind, Mr. Lee Hyukjae.” 

  Eunhyuk was about to leave, but he immediately spun around, eyes wide at the mention of that name. “I never told you my real name.” 

  He smirked. “Like I said, I know some people. People who can find me any information I need. Any information I want.”

  Eunhyuk narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t sure he liked this invasion of privacy. “Who are you exactly?” 

  “A man who’s too bored and too curious.” Donghae flicked some ash inside a paper cup. “People tend to remember me fondly as a charming lothario. The people who piss me off remember me as their cold-blooded killer.” 

  “Well, I know you now as the bastard who has no sense of privacy whatsoever. And I’m being nice here, by the way.” 

  Eunhyuk didn’t know why he was so riled up. A lot of people knew his real name; it didn’t really make a difference if Donghae knew or not. There was just something about this man that aggravated him so. Maybe it was the y, smoldering thing he had going on. He couldn’t be the only one who noticed it. Or was affected by it.

  “Now, now, don’t get your in a bunch.” Donghae put his cigarette out and took a new one from the pack sitting amidst the mess of papers. “Let’s talk about something a little more riveting. Tell me, why were you in critical condition?” 

  “What?” 

  Even with a cigarette in between his lips, Donghae still managed to smirk. “I was listening in on your conversation with Leeteuk earlier.” 

  “You were eavesdropping?” 

  “Tsk. Such a horrid word.” Donghae played with his lighter, sparking it and then turning it off again and again. “Come on, I’m curious. Be a dear and enlighten me.” 

  “It was nothing. Just an accident.” 

  “Does it have anything to do with your temporary leave?” 

  “You ask too many questions.” Eunhyuk wasn’t about to open up to someone he barely knew, someone who annoyed him to a great extent. He wasn’t that smart, but he at least knew better than to give himself away like that. He knew Donghae’s type—he manipulated people, made them trust him and then take advantage of them. 

  Of course, Eunhyuk was just guessing. He just really didn’t like this guy.

— 

  “I don’t care what you think, Hyuk.” Leeteuk clicked his pen, giving his employee a firm, unwavering look. “I know what Ryeowook’s been up to. I found out myself. The evidence doesn’t lie.” 

  “What evidence?” Eunhyuk was flabbergasted. Leeteuk was usually more level-headed like this. Just what sorts of things have been going on while he was away? “Teuk, I’m telling you, this guy is a pansy. I don’t even know how he can kill someone, let alone betray a whole league of assassins.” 

  “Eunhyuk. Let me make this clear.” Leeteuk sounded so serious that it was getting creepy. “I don’t pay you to question me. I pay you to listen to my orders and kill when I say so. So unless you get the job done, I’m going to have to fire you.” 

  “Fire me?” he squeaked. “Teuk, I just got back—”

  “Yeah, and you’ve been nothing but a pain in the since then.” He sighed. “Just go, Hyuk. I have enough to deal with. I expect that the next time you step into my office, it will be to report back to me with results.” 

  Eunhyuk left, closing the door a little too loudly. Was killing a wrongly accused man just to keep a stupid job really worth it? He didn’t even like this job anyway. It was too messy, too dangerous and the people weren’t even nice to him. At least when he was a stripper, he knew he was wanted.

  “You’re not going to let him get to you, are you?” An obnoxious drawl comes; Eunhyuk turns around, gaze almost deadly, to see Donghae, still smoking, standing nearby. He was eavesdropping again. “Teuk’s being a , honestly. Guy must be having a bad day. But I agree with him—our job isn’t to ask questions. He tells us to kill someone and we do it. Easiest job in the world, if you ask me.” 

  “Don’t you have anything better to do than to follow me around?” he asked crossly.

  “Right now, I can honestly say that I don’t.” He blew smoke in Eunhyuk’s face and laughed when it made him scrunch his nose. “So, what are you going to do now, Mr. Conscience? You have quite a predicament on your hands.” 

  “Screw off.” Eunhyuk huffed off, mostly because he didn’t know how to answer that question yet, and partly because he was afraid of what would happen if Donghae got any more closer.

—

  Eunhyuk sighed, feeling immense disappointment in himself. “What kind of an assassin am I…” 

  Shortly after his conversation with Leeteuk, Eunhyuk decided that he was right. He was hired to kill and that’s exactly what he was going to do. Any other assassin would have already blown his brains out and got paid a healthy sum. 

  Eunhyuk had his chance. He’s had four chances, actually. But in all those times, he chickened out. He couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t bring himself to kill someone for something that he knew wasn’t true. Now, if he actually was a spy, then that would actually make this whole thing easier.

  This was his final chance. Eunhyuk wasn’t going to allow any more.

  He was surprised that Ryeowook, someone that he barely even knew, agreed to meet at the rooftop under such vague circumstances. It made Eunhyuk think that maybe he wasn’t the most naïve person in this company after all.

  The fool didn’t even bring his gun with him.

  “Hey. Eunhyuk, right?” Ryeowook patted him on the back as if they were old friends. Eunhyuk bit his lip; this just wasn’t getting any easier.

  He squeezed the gun in his belt holster, fiddling with the safety lock. “Ryeowook-ssi…” 

  “Is there a reason you wanted to see me?” he asked, flashing a friendly grin. This guy was just too good to be true. 

  And that got Eunhyuk thinking. What if he was wrong? What if this guy was just really good at covering his tracks?

  But, then again, what if he's not? 

  Eunhyuk ultimately decided to turn the safety lock on. “Ryeowook-ssi…you need to leave. Get out of here; go somewhere where they don’t know who you are or what you do. Leave the city, if you can.” 

  “W-what?” he asked, alarmed. “Why?” 

  “Because if you stay here, then sooner or later, someone is going to kill you.” Eunhyuk went straight to the point. “But it won’t be me. I’m not entirely convinced that you’re a traitor, so I’m giving you the chance to flee. To live. I suggest you take it.” 

  “Okay…” Ryeowook still seemed confused. Eunhyuk didn’t blame him. This wasn’t like what he expected though. He expected more questions, protests, maybe even a gunshot or two. This was all going a little too smoothly. 

  As Ryeowook took his phone out to call Leeteuk, presumably to quit, Eunhyuk couldn’t help but grip his gun in ever-growing suspicion. 

  “Teuk?” he paused to give Eunhyuk a look. “…You were right.”

  The phone wasn’t even on speaker, but Eunhyuk could hear his boss's irritating Elmo laugh from where he was standing.

  “…What?” Eunhyuk was starting to get the sense that he had just been duped. “What the hell is happening right now?” 

  Even Ryeowook was laughing at him now. Eunhyuk grabbed the phone from him. “Teuk, what the hell are you laughing at? What’s going on?” 

  “Come to my office, Hyuk,” he said, still chuckling, “I’ll tell you all about it.” 

— 

  “You’re a bastard.”

  It was all a lie. It was a bet, a stupid bet between Leeteuk and Heechul. It was simple: Heechul believed Eunhyuk could be just as every merciless as him and Sungmin when it came to killing; Leeteuk knew Eunhyuk was better than that. He was different. He had a conscience. 

  “When I asked Wook to help me out, he was actually pretty eager. Little bastard loves playing tricks on people.” Leeteuk shrugged, still elated that Heechul now owed him sixty-thousand won. “Don’t let his appearance deceive you. Ryeowook is one of the deadliest people we have. He slaughtered a whole factory of people once—just because he found out they put insect legs in strawberry milk.” 

  “They what?” Eunhyuk felt distraught. He was crazy about strawberry milk. 

  “Long story. Just look it up.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Anyway, at least after this whole ordeal, we know where you stand. Let’s face it, if it had been Sungmin or Heechul, Wook would have been dead in less than five seconds. No questions asked, even.” 

  “Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better.” Eunhyuk left the room, trying to process his humiliation. He wasted his whole day on his case; he genuinely feared for Ryeowook’s life and continuously tortured himself with the thought of having to put a bullet in an innocent man’s head. 

  Sometimes he thinks he chose the wrong life path. 

  “You look upset.” As if Eunhyuk wasn’t already feeling bad enough, Donghae had to show up. “You look like you need a smoke. Try one; it really takes the edge off.” 

  Eunhyuk stared at the proffered pack of cigarettes. He’s never tried a cigarette before, but if it was a real stress-reliever like people say, then what the hell. One won’t hurt. 

  “It was a car accident.” Eunhyuk suddenly blurted out-of-the-blue. Donghae looked at him curiously. “That’s why I was in critical condition. The guy who we thought we had just took down turned out to still be alive, and he was pissed at me, so he shot me while I was on the wheel. Car skidded off the road and rolled down a hill; I was damn well nearly paralyzed.” 

  “Oh. That .” That’s the only response he had for him. Eunhyuk was expecting a little more…sympathy. Or just a bigger, more concerned response at least. “Is the bastard still on the streets?” 

  “I don’t even know.” He said. “I couldn’t stand in trial because, well, I was in the ICU. And neither Sungmin nor Kyuhyun could go, because they already had enough trouble with the law and were afraid of compromising their identities. Leeteuk didn’t have anything to testify; he was bound and gagged the whole time.” 

  “.” 

  “It was a kidnapping.” Geez. And Eunhyuk thought he made the dirtiest jokes at the most inappropriate times. 

  When Donghae noticed that Eunhyuk was having trouble with the lighter, he did it for him. Eunhyuk tried to follow Donghae’s lead—he’s never smoked before and he certainly didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of Donghae.

  Eunhyuk’s first puff sent him into a violent coughing fit. The following puffs were easier, but still, Eunhyuk didn’t like the way the smoke tickled his throat. Truthfully, he didn’t even want to do this all that much. He only did this because Donghae offered, and Eunhyuk thought he had been a big enough to him today already.

  Eunhyuk was wrong. The problem wasn’t that he didn’t like this guy. It was that he liked him a little too much. 

—