Seoul City, Late February.

It was just another spring-to-come typical kind of night. Not too windy, but not too hot either.

And she decided it was the nice time for her to finally accept a date offer from one of his colleague at work.

The date went well but his colleague couldn't make it to take her home because his flat direction was too far apart.

And being an independent woman that she always was, she also didn't want to burden his date.

So she opted to just take a public bus ride like the usual way she was always taking to get home.

It was almost late at night so the bus was not too crowded. There's just another man in hoodie sitting on the back seat and then herself on the middle seat.

She was looking absentmindedly outside the window, thinking about the peach pie her mom promised to send her from her hometown, also her plan to go on vacation abroad after she's saving part of her paychecks foralmost three years -she already couldn't wait !- when it finally came down on her that her stop was just some feet away.

She stood up and walked to the front of the bus door, ready to get off. And that's when she realized that the hoodie guy was also standing up.

Maybe his home was on the same block, she thought cursorily before she finally stepped down the stairs as the bus came to a halt.

The path to her cheap rented flat was deserted and dark. She looked up to see the street lamppost was blinking weakly and made a mental-note to herself to tell the authority around about it in the morning.

But in the middle of the silence, she could finally hear another footstep in distant behind her.

She tried not to think about it as she tightened the blazer she wore. But when the sound slowly grew closer, she couldn't help but to fasten her walking pace out of instinct.

And the footstep fastened itself too. Then she realized she was really being chased.

She was almost running at the point she couldn't even see the direction she was heading to.

She braced herself to glance at her back but the darkness got in the way she couldn't see anyone. At the time she turned her head back to see her front, she suddenly crashed into something. Someone.

"Going somewhere, pretty ?"

It's a big guy in a black tight shirt, keeping her body trapped within his over muscled arms. She trembled.

"Man, she's mine. " This time it was the hoodie guy, coming up from behind. "Find your prey yourself."

The man in tight shirt chuckled before tossing over the woman rather harshly to the other guy "Nice catch, Taeyang." he said in acknowledgement.

The hoodie guy only raised his eyebrows once to the latter before glancing down to the struck-looking woman in his arm.

"Hey, there. We're gonna have some fun."

And before she could yell out a single help, her consciousness had already fallen away.

--

The Royal Palace of South Korea, Late February.

Lee Jinki jogged to the palace's conference room. Sighing as he quickened his pace and shaking his head slightly. He was late. Again.

And it was all because he couldn't slept well for the nth times in these past few days. The issue was eating him alive, leaving him awake in the middle of the night and could only watch blankly as the dawn rising up. The words repeated themselves on his head like a broken record that couldn't be turned off.

The crown prince breathed hard, as he finally arrived in front of the conference room, waiting for the royal maids to open the well-furnished door for him. And once he stepped inside, as he expected, all of the important people had been gathered around.

Jinki immediately bowed to the King, to the Queen, and to the ministry officials as he apologized for being late and quickly took a vacant seat in behind the 'u' letter table.

A younger regal-looking male -whose name Taemin- who sat beside him chuckled as Jinki flopped down on his chair, "Someone didn't sleep well again, I see.." he whispered.

Jinki just glanced at the other, as if shushing him with the gesture and tried to focus on the issues that were being discussed instead.

"…kidnappings, human trafficking, money laundering, illegal goods-guns and drugs, ion, even murder. The number of these criminal activities have been increased rapidly in the past two years as what the police and the justice department have reported." Choi Minho, one of the palace's intelligence team said. "People are getting scared and unsure of the government, of us, because of this."

The King frowned, worry fogged over his old lenses "Why can't we get a control over this? We have a lot of soldiers that can be sent off to stop them.."

"Yes, we do, Your Majesty.." Minho bowed his head slightly in respect "But Kkangpae is not like any other of our enemy. We can't declare an open war against them. Since they are not doing their criminal activities openly as well.

"They are well-hidden, having many members who are spread throughout South Korea. On the top of it, they are working underground, through undetected threads and webs. Even our cops had gotten overwhelmed because of the difficulty of cracking their identities.

"They're trained to be able to fool their victims, they work very fast and neat, both men and women are all dangerous and very powerful. If the palace's soldiers plan to attack them directly, I'm afraid we would just lose a lot of lives in vain."

The whole room fell silent as Minho closed his speech. Everyone was busy with their own thoughts while the King himself could not stop frowning as if the world would end tomorrow. And maybe it really would, if this problem could not immediately resolved. The Queen was no less anxious, as her love for her people made it impossible for her not to feel bothered.

Jinki finally decided to break the silence by clearing his throat, thinking to voice out the solution he had been thinking for nights as every pairs of eyes in the room turned around to see him, "I think the best way is to approach them personally," he said.

And there was a silence following the Prince's statement before the King finally raised the question "Could you explain further what do you mean?"

"As Minho said, that it's difficult for us to attack them openly, that's why I think we need to approach them in a more personal way. So we can easily find their weaknesses, how to track and trap them. Stopping the whole organization at once." The Prince explained, standing up to emphasize his purpose.

"What do you mean by a more personal way? Do you want us to befriend them ?" The King asked again "That's impossible, son."

"Not a friend," Jinki shook his head, "But a spy."

He let his words hanging midway, to make a greater impact. And as he heard muffled breaths and doubt murmurs around him, he slowly continued "The palace has to send a person, in disguise, to be a part of them. Kkangpae is famous for it's loyalty toward each other, it will be easier for us to figure out what's going on there and stop them from the inside." Jinki explained, voice sharp and serious.

They all glanced at each other. While The King only nodded slightly, getting a hold of the reasonable logic in behind the Prince's input.

"I'm sorry, My prince," Minho cut off, sounded unsure of The Prince's idea "The job is  way too risky. You know how dangerous Kkangpae is. It won't be easy to join them, let alone to convince them that the person is worth of something for the organization. The most important point, who's willing to do it? This isn't a joke.."

Jinki knew what Minho worried the most, therefore he just smirked to his childhood friend  and stated "I'll do it."

The room fell to another eerie silence before The Queen finally gasped and cried out. "What? No!" Her Majesty shook her head rather brutally "No, My Prince. It's too dangerous, They are dangerous. You can't.."

"This is for our people's sake, Mother." Jinki said, staring straight to the pale-looking Queen. "I'm the Crown Prince. I have the responsibility to protect my subjects. Besides, it is common in our tradition to not let people know the face of the future King before he's ready to get crowned. No one even know I'm a Prince unless for the palace's staffs. All of it will facilitate the disguise." Jinki explained without a hitch, since he had been thinking overnight about his plan to make it flawless and convincing.

He took a deep breath before turning his gaze to the King "Will you let me do it, Father?" he asked, determined.

The Queen's face was still showing that she didn't agree with her son's decision. But when she turned to the side, to her husband -to search for any sign of disapproval too-, the King looked unexpectedly calm.

"If you're sure this plan will work out, I'll allow you." he said firmly, ignoring his  wife's unbelieving stare.

"After all, this is a good opportunity to show our people -later- that you deserve to be the next king." The King said "We'll always help you from behind. So, Just prove to us that you're able to do it."

Jinki beamed widely, didn't think his Father would allow him this easily. "I'll do everything I could. Thank you, Father."

His Father just nodded. And a little later then, they had started discussing about the preparation and the crucial necessities for the Prince's undercover. The King immediately ordered the courtiers to prepare the official announcement -only among the palace- about the Prince that would be sent off to the frontline of the battlefield.

The Queen was constantly glancing to her stubborn Crown Prince, giving an over-concerned look everytime but Jinki only smiled and shook his head at her to stop worry.

--

Jinki narrowed his eyes, slowly focusing his sight on the distance in front of him, feeling the bow vibrated in his hand, giving a soft-sign he only knew, and he held his breath as he released the arrow, watching in silent as it floated gracefully through the air and finally stuck right in the middle of the target board before him.

He raised an eyebrow, acknowledging himself.

"Nice shot!" Minho shouted from a distance, while walking over to him along with the Prince's younger brother, Taemin.

Choi Minho was actually a bestfriend, that was very close to the royal family and well-known for his quick wit since he was a little, especially in the case of analysis. Jinki had learned a lot with and from him.

"There's a huge difference in between perfect and nice, you know." Jinki snorted, jokingly.

"I see you're practicing hard." Minho said, half-chuckling "But it's 2013, man. Who's still using bow and arrow to attack rival ?" he teased.

"This is only a warming up." Jinki shrugged "I've been practicing a lot of things."

"I know..." Minho said before teasing again. "Still having a cramp from the last martial arts session? Or have you gained more abs from the PT?" he grinned and they both laughed after Jinki pretended to punch him in the stomach.

Taemin, that was only watching from the side before, could only roll his eyes upon hearing the bickering "Stop it guys, this is not a joke." He scolded, before turning his head to look at Jinki "You only have one more day before they send you off, hyung."

Jinki stopped his laughter at once as he stared at the youngest, before pulling his lips to smile again as he put his hand on Taemin's shoulder. His spoiled little brother was very, very dependent on him.

Taemin was worried about him, on the level that could match the Queen's but Jinki knew that Taemin understood that he couldn't do anything about it because this was what Jinki wanted and being a stubborn man that he was, no one could stop him.

Needless to say, Him and his little brother were a complete opposite.

While Jinki enjoyed challenging things like archery, water polo, and equestrian, Taemin preferred to do calmer stuffs like reading, dancing, and painting that Jinki couldn't even understand how one could find fun in such things.

Because Jinki was born like that, to feel his own adrenaline rushing loud and fast until he could hear it right in his own hear. To feel his heartbeat thumping mildly against it's limited cage.

That's why this whole spying opportunity was just like another game to him, something that made Jinki really want to engage.

"Stop worrying me, brother. I'll be fine." he smiled as he patted Taemin's back and continued "You're the one that should be worried, cause you have to replace me doing my current jobs. That means less dating with your canvas and brush, you need more sunshine. Look at your pale arms." Jinki grinned at the pouting Taemin, that just elbowed his big brother's tummy after it and made all of them laughed.

Minho was the one that stop laughing first. He was taking a deep breath before looking to Jinki again "But Taemin's right, hyung. You have to be careful. And make sure you've studied those fake files the ministry provides."

Jinki sighed, looking aimlessly to his bow "…yeah, I've memorized them like a mantra."

"I could always accompany you, hyung." Minho proposed abruptly.

"No," Jinki shook his head "It'll be suspicious. I better go alone, just don't want to ruin the plan."

"Hyung, don't underestimate this." Taemin said uneasily "You want to fight for our people, but you risk yourself."

"I don't, okay." Jinki cut off, he's pretty tired about how there was always a different person that worried over him and his decision twice a day "Thank you for your concern, you guys are great. Now, who's in for swimming ?"

Knowing that was another Jinki's way to drop the former subject, Taemin only shook his head "No. You've been doing archery for hours. You have to rest." he firmly said "I don't want you to get sick by the time you're going, hyung."

"Later, after swimming. Come on." Jinki wrapped his arm around Minho's shoulder as they walked away from Taemin who kept nagging at his stubborn brother from behind.

--

The Royal Palace of South Korea, Early March.

Jinki didn't like celebrations and such. So when that D-day came, he just wanted his closest people to gather and bide him goodluck.

And that's why he's here now, bowing before the King and the Queen as he asked for their blessings. The King hugged him after it, saying that he believed in Jinki, believed that he could certainly do it.

Jinki was sort of touched by what his Father did. Cause that might be the first time his Father -awkwardly- hugged him in years and seemed so proud of his bravery. It made Jinki felt more motivated to do the mission, to make his loved ones proud.

And so he turned to his Mother, who hadn't stop shedding tears since the beginning. He walked closer and gave her the tightest embrace he could give, and she was slightly shaking in his arm that Jinki couldn't do anything beside whispering soft reassurances to her.

At some point, this whole emotional thing somehow made him want to laugh. Cause hey, this was not the end, this was not a real farewell, there's no one die -yet-, then why did they have to be that sad?

But finally they pulled away. The Queen sighed as she kissed her son's forehead and his cheeks gently "Promise me to do well and come home safely, okay?" she  asked and Jinki nodded.

"I will.." Jinki said before rolling his eyes "Just stop crying, you look much older like that," he joked around and groaned as he earned a punch from his Mother.

"This is better, see.." Jinki said again, grinning as he let go of her.

Then from the corner of his eyes, he saw that his brother was no less melancholic than his Mother. It looked like Taemin would drown in his own tears if Jinki didn't do anything soon. So the older one hurriedly walked to the other and held him in his arms.

"Hey, listen to me," Jinki said as he patted his brother's head with one hand, while the other one landed on Taemin's shoulder "A Prince is forbidden to cry, especially in front of everyone. Do you understand?" he said but Taemin remained silent.

Jinki sighed before looking right to his brother's doe eyes, repeating the question "Do you understand, Taemin ?"

The other finally nodded hesitantly.

"Good," Jinki said, patting Taemin's hair once again "During my absence you have to be responsible to the palace. You will help from the inside and I'll help from the outside, we'll form the coolest team ever, okay?" Jinki smiled as he raised his eyebrows.

The younger pouted lips finally turned into a smile, he nodded again. "I love you hyung, take care."

Jinki only laughed before ruffling Taemin's hair.

Sighing, he thanked God sincerely from the deepest pit of his heart for only having one brother. Otherwise, he already couldn't stand the thought of how many more hugs and sweet words he should go through before he could really depart.

And finally, The Prince turned around to give a final bow toward all the attendances, who also bowed respectively to him in return. He only exchanged glances with Minho then smiled at each other after it. And as the small ceremony was over, he rushed into his car and drove himself to the first destination.