Amber returned to the ballroom, finding Lee Soo Man in the centre of the room with Key once more by his side. He was conversing with a rather tall man in a black suit, who seemed to be in his mid forties. His hair was cropped short and he stood with one hand in his pocket, the other holding a wine glass in between his fingers. As Amber approached, Lee Soo Man sent her a dangerous glare before returning to continue talking with his guest. The exchange went unnoticed.

She bowed at Lee Soo Man once she had reached his side. “Please forgive me, Master . I became preoccupied with checking that the night was progressing smoothly that I forgot to return to your side.”

Lee Soo Man waved off her apology. “Whatever. Now that you are here, I would like to introduce you to Superintendent Park jiseok, head of the Special Investigations Unit. Park jiseok; this is Amber Liu, my personal secretary.”

Park jiseok and Amber exchanged a bow of their heads in greeting. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Liu.”

“My pleasure as well, Superintendent Park jiseok.” She peered at him with a cold indifference and smiling gently, all the while sizing him up. Lee Soo Man would require her to give an assessment of him later.

“Now, we were speaking of a rather tough case that your unit has been struggling on for a couple of years, weren’t we?” continued Lee Soo Man.

Park jiseok smiled. “Ah yes, but I don’t wish to bore the lady with such terrifying tales of murder.”

Amber smiled up at Park jiseok. “Please do not mind me; I am fine with such tales.”

“Very well,” nodded Park jiseok. Turning back to Lee Soo Man he said, “What I am about to tell you is somewhat classified, but I believe it is in your best interests to know. We have been mystified by a series of killings that have been happening for several years, killings we have every right to believe are assassinations. This assassin tends to prefer using bladed weapons to kill their targets, sometimes making the cuts so carefully that it would take the victim some time to die. A rather frightening entity, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes… frightening indeed,” said Key in an off-handed manner as he gazed away with a bored expression.

“After some time, the only piece of information we were able to ever gather was that this one assassin went by the alias, ‘Dawn’. And that is what we have named the cursed case.” Park jiseok took a sip from his drink as he observed their reactions to his tale.

Amber had her eyes downcast, her face as expressionless as always. Key stifled a small yawn as he continued to stare at nothing in particular. Lee Soo Man nodded his head, a somewhat troubled expression on his face as he his chin.

“That is really an unsettling tale. I am troubled that such a fiend has been able to escape the clutches of justice for so many years. I wish I could do something to help.” He suddenly looked up, his face brightening as an idea came to mind. “I hear that your department has been lacking in funds for some time. Perhaps I could help alleviate your troubles in that area?”

Park jiseok let out an uncomfortable laugh as he shook his hand to wave off Lee Soo Man’s generosity. “Oh no, I cannot do such a thing. I thank you for your thoughtfulness, but while it may seem to you as an innocent gesture, to others it will look like a bribe. We cannot afford to tarnish both our reputations with corruption allegations, now can we?”

Lee Soo Man joined in with Park jiseok’s laughter. “That completely slipped my mind, Superintendent. A mind as sharp as yours is truly fit to run the SIU.” The laughter died down and Lee Soo Man looked at Park jiseok seriously. “But remember, Superintendent; you have my full support in this case. I wish you luck with capturing the culprit.”

Park jiseok bowed deeply. “Thank you, Mr Lee. But the actual task of capturing Dawn is not mine but Detective Henry Lau’s. He is the lead detective and I believe he is finally making his way over to me with his partner, Detective Lay.”

The three of them followed Park jiseok’s gaze, their eyes taking in every detail of two detective’s images. Henry smiled at Amber, but she did not return the gesture. Key noticed the smile and turned to peer down at Amber, a mild look of curiosity in his eyes before he turned away. The pair came to stand beside Park jiseok, polite smiles on their faces. Henry continued to sneak glances at Amber but was disappointed when she kept her eyes downcast.

Park jiseok turned to address Lee Soo Man, his face beaming as he presented his two proudest detectives. “Mr Lee, may I introduce you to Detective Henry Lau and his partner, Detective Lay Zhang Yixing. Lay, Henry; this is  Lee Soo Man, his son Key Kibum and his secretary, Amber Liu.”

They all exchanged their greetings and Lee Soo Man was the first to speak. “As I was saying to your superior, your team has my full support in trying to capture this ‘Dawn’ character. A creature as vile as that does not deserve to exist.”

Henry smiled, as he stared at Lee Soo Man confidently. “I must thank you greatly for your faith in our abilities to capture this assassin. We are honoured and will do our best.”

Lee Soo Man returned Henry’s gaze smiling, his eyes masking his true thoughts. Deep down Lee Soo Man felt that this boy would soon become a nuisance. But for the meantime, he decided that he will let him live.

“Am I interrupting something?” asked an enthusiastic voice to their right all of a sudden. The group turned to see Luhan standing there with a small grin on his face, Sehun standing just behind. As Sehun noticed Lay’s presence, he raised his glass a little in greeting. Lay felt the urge to poke his tongue out at him but he managed to refrain from doing so.

Luhan took a step forwards to the crowd, turning to look at everyone in turn before finally resting his gaze on Lee Soo Man. “Mr Lee Soo Man… My, it really is an honour to meet you at last. You are the legend among legends in the corporate world. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Luhan, CEO of Han's Distributions. A small company compared to your multibillion dollar empire, Mr Lee.”

Lee Soo Man glared at Luhan, his hand tightening around his glass slightly. Luhan noticed the tiny movement and smiled inwardly. ‘So the old bastard knows.’

He then turned to indicate his friend. “Oh, I must introduce my dear friend Oh Sehun, son of the Senator. But I am sure you are all well acquainted anyway.”

“We have met on several occasions,” said Sehun with a small smile.

“Yes… we have…” said Lee Soo Man, gazing at Luhan suspiciously. He knew the boy would have already realised that he knew who he truly was. There had to be some motive behind his sudden appearance before him tonight.

Luhan now turned away from Lee Soo Man to look at Park jiseok. “Superintendent Park jiseok. It truly is a pleasure meeting you here again.” He held out a hand which Park jiseok shook firmly.

“Yes, yes… a pleasure indeed. My department can never be more grateful for your help with a major drug deal bust the other day. Because of you, we were able to do great damage to one of The Five. I’m sure it would be some time before they will be willing to move again,” said Park jiseok with an enthusiastic grin.

Lee Soo Man stared at Luhan, his rage barely kept in check. He had heard from his men last night about it but they had been unable to figure out how the information was leaked. ‘So it was this conniving little upstart who caused it all.’

Luhan grinned modestly, looking away. “You praise me too highly, Superintendent. I was only doing my duty as an honest citizen.” He peered up at Lee Soo Man, his grin appearing innocent to all except Lee Soo Man and Amber.

“Well, I must not intrude further. I bid you all a good night and welcome back to Seoul, Key Kibum.” He held out his hand for Key to shake, which Key glanced at first before shaking it uncaringly. Luhan left and Sehun followed, but not before exchanging his pleasantries with the two.

Amber watched Luhan and Sehun walk off, feeling somewhat troubled. She glanced up at Lee Soo Man, noticing the ever familiar tensing of his jaw line that indicated his suppressed rage. She sighed inwardly as she turned away.

‘War has been declared.’

tbc.

Okay, so that was perhaps an interesting way to end the night, huh? ^^ But a little short =( I didn't go into how Amber felt about Henry being on her case as it didn't quite fit here. That'll come in later. Oh, and the police will refer to the gangs of korea as 'The Five'. :D

Next Chapter: To the past, ten and a half years ago...