“No.” Was Seohyun’s reply when Siwon tried all sorts of ways to explain to her how serious her condition is. “Joohyun. Listen to him, we can always find another substitute and…” “And what? Start all over again? Waste all the effort I have put in after all these years?” Seohyun interfered Kyuhyun. “I’m not doing this, you guys have no rights over my health issues. It is my body.” Seohyun was getting mad. “Listen to me, just for a month, rest for a month, they would not suspect anything.” Kyuhyun said, it was difficult to convince her, and he knew that very well.

“This conversation is over. I’m going to discharge myself.” Seohyun said as she left the room. Kyuhyun ran after her, and shut her room door, while grabbing her to face him. “Seo Joohyun, can you listen for once?” Kyuhyun became a little agitated. Annoyed by the fact that Seohyun is always stubborn. Seohyun did not budge, it was something that she has decided on and she will not change her mind.

“Your eyes are important, you should know about that. This is just a mission, once all these ends, you still have your life to go on. Please think about yourself for once.” He reasoned. “And what if the operation fails? I have to go blind for the rest of my life? Kyuhyun, I’m not stupid to make such a rash decision.” Seohyun rebutted. “You have to trust Siwon.” Kyuhyun stressed. “I will think about it, but for now, it’s still a no.” She said, and Kyuhyun knew better that she was not going to give in. He stepped forward and gave her a hug, in which Seohyun stood there without any reaction. “I promise after this, we will take a break together.” Kyuhyun said softly, as he kissed her forehead. “Rest well, I’m leaving now.”

Seohyun sat down on her bed, closed her eyes and let reality sink in. Her eyes..

===

“There’s another dealing next week, it’s going to be huge and exclusive for us. If nothing goes wrong, we might all get a huge paycheck.” Jihoo joked. “Anyway, please train hard for this, more than anything else, it is going to be dangerous if things goes wrong. We need to be really careful when we are there.” He turned serious. “Seohyun, you will stay at the control station to update us about the condition.”

“But I should be able to participate! I’m recovering well and…” “We’ve talked about this countless of times already, you really should stop exerting yourself, it’s going to be bad. Think about your body, Seohyun.” Jihoo said as a matter of fact. Seohyun sighed, secretly blamed herself for being incapable for the last dealing.

“It’s good that you can’t go.” Yonghwa said after the meeting ended. Seohyun flinched at his words, a little offended. Was he mocking her? “It’s going to be dangerous, and you shouldn’t be in it.” He continued, being a little too serious. “It’s none of your business. Besides, I can manage them very well on my own.” Seohyun retorted. Who is that rascal who dares to mingle and judge her when he’s a newbie himself?

“No matter how good you are, you should never put yourself in a risk like this. You’re far too kind to go into such dealings. Just look at the previous one, injuring yourself just to protect one of us. What if he killed you right there without all those stupid teasing? You should stop being stubborn.” Yonghwa was starting to get a little too agitated. “It’s none of your business. Stay away.” Seohyun glared at him as she limped slowly towards her apartment. For all these years, she has always been that outstanding one, who is he to judge and comment about her. 

She went by the garden and decided to rest there a little before continuing, it was tiring to walk with the clutches but she had to in order for her to recuperate faster. She was staring into space when someone sat beside her. Someone unfamiliar and uninvited.

“Beautiful isn’t it, the garden here.” The guy commented. Seohyun did not reply, instead, just nodded at his comment. When she does not have the mood to talk, she will not. “It’s time like this that we need to take things slow and have a breather. Hi, I’m Yunho, I work here too.” The guy introduced himself, despite Seohyun’s lack of reply. 

Seohyun felt a little irritated by the uninvited stranger, but she did not want to be any ruder. “Seohyun.” She said briefly and uninterested, her tone gave away her intentions. “You must be the one who has saved one of our men during the last dealing. The female soldier.” Yunho said, grinning. Seohyun flinched at the term ‘female soldier’. It sounded a little too greasy to be used in this context. “I heard your knee was injured, are you feeling better now?” Yunho continued asking, as though ignoring her cold attitude towards him on purpose. “Can’t you see the crutches?” Seohyun shot back, rolling her eyes as though it was a really stupid question to be asked. 

Yunho laughed her reaction, she was really fun to talk to despite her cold attitude. Perhaps it was because of all the girls whom he’d met were all the same – they were willing to go on their knees just to be with him. “Take good care of yourself, a girl should cherish her body.” Yunho said as he stood up to leave. It was interesting to bump into her when she’s alone, and indeed an interest encounter with her.

Seohyun heaved a sigh of relieve when Yunho has decided to leave her alone. The last thing she wanted to do was to ask him to leave since it would be really rude of her. 

===

“Alright, we will be leaving from here. Tao, you and Zheng will cover this area, while Yonghwa and I will talk to them. The rest, take your place and stay alert should there be any clash between both parties. Seohyun, you know where you should be, someone will accompany you there.” Jihoo instructed as all of them started to prepare for the dealing. “We will meet them in 15 minutes.” All of them nodded as they took their place while Jihoo and Yonghwa walked towards the meeting area.

“Yonghwa, just hold the casing, and check if the money is in there. I will do the talking.” Jihoo said. Yonghwa nodded as he followed behind. It was his first time dealing with the other party up front and he had to admit he was a little excited. A black Mercedes Benz pulled over and a man in full suit stepped out.

“Mr Jun.” Jihoo said as he extended his hand to the man. The man stepped on his cigarette he was smoking on to diminish it. “Have you got the goods ready?” The man known as Mr Jun asked. His voice was filled with authority and seriousness. “Yes Mr Jun, it’s all here. Please take a look.” Jihoo gestured to Yonghwa as he opened up the casing to show Mr Jun the goods. One of his men stepped out and went through the casing, before turning back and nodded to his boss, telling him that everything is in. “Bring the money.” Mr Jun said, another man holding the suitcase stepped out and opened the case, showing the money. Jihoo took a look at the money, verified and stepped back. “Thank you Mr Jun.” Both parties exchanged the cases. “Help me say hi to your boss, Jihoo.” Mr Jun said then turned around walked towards the car.

Seohyun felt that something was wrong. The dealing was too smooth, and based on her previous experience, she knew that the other party would always try to bargain their way through. But this time round, it seemed too peaceful to be true. “Stand by.” Seohyun said in the walkie talkie. She looked at Mr Jun, who entered the car and his subordinate closed the door for him. 

Jihoo and Yonghwa began to walk towards their car, relieved that the dealing was smooth. “JIHOO! YONGHWA” Seohyun shouted in the walkie talkie as she realized one of the man appeared from their back and shoot at them. Jihoo was shot in his back as he lied on the ground, holding the wound. “Hyung!!” Yonghwa said as he retrieved his gun and looked around. Jihoo’s men came out of their hiding area and gunshots could be heard everywhere. 

Seohyun began to feel nervous as she came out of her hiding place. She felt someone’s hands pushing her down back to her seat. Looking up, she realized it was the guy whom she met at the garden. It was Yunho. “I will go.” He said as he ran towards Jihoo and Yonghwa. More back up came and helped them, while Yonghwa tried to help Jihoo up to take cover. “Bring him there, they will you.” Yunho told Yonghwa, as the latter nodded. “M-mister Jung..” Jihoo tried to greet as Yunho held his hand up, telling him that he should forgo the formalities in this situation.

Seohyun immediately rushed towards Jihoo with the first aid box, as she kneeled down to help him stop the blood from flowing out too much until he receive proper treatment. “Goddamn Jun. We are gonna get our revenge for backstabbing us!” Jihoo said as he groaned in pain from his wound. “Oppa, stop talking. We will get to the doctor right away. Please drive faster Yonghwa.” Seohyun instructed.

Jihoo lied on the bed after the doctor attended to his wounds while Seohyun sat beside him together with Yonghwa. Seohyun was curious about the guy named Yunho helping. Who is he and what is his role in the organization exactly. “Oppa, who is that guy who helped you and Yonghwa earlier on?” Seohyun said she decided to ask. It was much faster this way. “The guy? You mean the tall guy?” Jihoo said. “Yeah, the tall guy. The one who directed you and Yonghwa.” Seohyun replied. “He is Mr Jung, Seohyun-ah.” Jihoo replied as a matter of fact. “Mr Jung?” She still did not get it. “Jung. The owner of our organization.” Jihoo smiled.

“Jung Yunho? Then what was he doing there?” Seohyun said, trying to keep her shock in. So the man she talked to at the garden a month back was actually the person she wanted to know more about. Half of her felt a little stupid for not realizing. 

“I have no idea as well. I guess he’s just here to see if everything is alright. After all, this dealing is one of the biggest.” Jihoo shrugged his shoulders. “I was a little shocked to see him there as well.” He continued. It was weird, because he always tends to keep himself away from people’s eyes. Seohyun thought. Nonetheless, she thought it was her luck to be able to see him in person. This may lead to more information for her team.

She excused herself from the room, walking quickly towards the washroom and took her phone out. “Kyuhyun, I know who is in charge of the organization already. I met him a while ago.” Seohyun said quickly and quietly. “Please help me do a background check on Jung Yunho.” Seohyun quickly said as they exchanged a few words before ending the call. “Seohyun-ah, please consider the surgery.” Kyuhyun said before Seohyun with a short “Ok” before saying goodbye.

She then went to the convenience store to get some food for Yonghwa and herself before heading up to the room. She found Yonghwa outside the room as he gestured her to let Jihoo rest and they should take their leave. They then decided to settle at the park to have their dinner. It was already 1AM and they were tired and hungry.

“Seohyun..” Yonghwa said as he looked up from his food. “I’m sorry for those words that day, I didn’t really mean to probe into your personal issues, it’s just that…” Yonghwa explained. “It’s alright, maybe you were right. I might have even dragged the team down if I do not recover in time. I guess I was too stubborn back then.” Seohyun said. “So.. are we good again?” Yonghwa said slowly, unsure if this was the right thing to say. “I guess. Were we ever good?” Seohyun laughed softly. Yonghwa looked at Seohyun, it was his first time seeing her smile. She’s really pretty when she smiles. He thought to himself.

“Aren’t you curious about Jung Yunho?” Seohyun suddenly mentioned. Yonghwa blinked his eyes as he thought about her words. “Why should I?” Yonghwa replied. “Isn’t it normal to be curious of who is your boss?” Seohyun justified. “I don’t, it doesn’t change anything.” He answered briefly. “I’ve been in this organization for the past two years and I’ve never heard anything about him. I’m actually shocked that he has decided to show his face. We actually had a short conversation prior to this and I did not know who he was then.” She continued. “He talked to you?” Yonghwa raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, and I was pretty rude to him, because I was…well pissed off by you that day.” Seohyun chuckled. “Oh..” Yonghwa said, no emotions in his reply.

“It’s late, let’s go back and rest before we come back to visit Jihoo again.” Yonghwa suggested. “Yeah, let’s go.” Seohyun agreed as they walked towards the apartment building together. As they exited from the lift, Seohyun stopped in her heels. The whole walkway to their each unit was pitched black. There must have been a short circuit. She silently cursed, with her bad eyesight, she could not even make her way anywhere. “Hey, you scared of the dark?” Yonghwa asked, seeing her freeze on the spot. “N-no..go ahead.” Seohyun said, unwilling to reveal her reasons. Yonghwa walked forward, while Seohyun followed closely. When Yonghwa stopped in front of his apartment, Seohyun banged hard onto him and she fell. “Hey…hey you alright?” Yonghwa said. Seohyun sat on the ground trying to look for an object to help her stand up. Her heart was racing, she had not experienced this before. It was as though her eyes have stopped functioning. “Seohyun!” Yonghwa called out to her again as he pulled her up seeing that she was still struggling.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Did you hit your knee again?” Yonghwa asked, worried since she has not been replying. “I-I’m fine..Can you lead me to my apartment please?” Seohyun finally gave in and asked, she did not want to cause any more trouble with her bad eyesight. He held her arms as he slowly lead her to her door step, “Keys.” He told her and she passed to him. After unlocking the door, he the lights for her and she heaved a sigh of relieve. Her vision is finally back. 

“Thank you.” Seohyun mumbled as she finally calmed down. “You should go see a doctor.” Yonghwa suggested, sensing there was something wrong with her eyesight. “It’s not completely dark, Seohyun.” He stated. “I know.” Seohyun replied softly she had no reasons to retort this time round. He was right, and today was a wakeup call. “It’s getting late, I don’t want to hold you up.” Seohyun said as she stood up. “Yeah, rest well Seohyun.” Yonghwa said as he walked towards the door. “Goodnight.” He said, before walking towards his own apartment.

Seohyun locked the door and sighed. Should she just listen to Kyuhyun and Siwon?