Part I: The Game is on!

Chapter 1: Enemies

If you’ll believe in me, I’ll believe in you. Is that a bargain?

 – Lewis Carrol

Four months passed like a whirlwind, bringing along more failed blind dates, arguments on Friday evenings, and business trips abroad. Da Hyun would often think about Chili and wonder how he was doing now that the weather had gotten cold. Whenever it snowed, her heart ached. Would he be okay? Every time she went jogging in Hangang Park she would always look around, her eyes searching for him. But it was as if the ground had swallowed him. He was nowhere to be found.

He was gone.

And there she had been so sure he would come to look for her to pay back the money in any way he could. She thought they would meet again, at least once. No, no, and no. She knew all along that she would never meet him again, but she had hoped to see him just once more. Sadly enough, wishes don't always come true and Da Hyun knew that. She knew it would be useless to wait, to expect, to dream. She never did those kind of things, anyway. She was a realist. Their paths would never cross again. Yet she had that feeling, a glint of hope. How foolish.

One afternoon Da Hyun got a very shocking phone call from their family lawyer. One of her sisters was a main suspect in a huge money laundering case. It took her a while to actually understand what lawyer Kim was saying, but once the information had sank in, she knew instantly this was a setup. Immediately, Da Hyun canceled her schedule for the rest of the day and made her way to the prosecutor's office. She was so angry she almost broke a heel while speed walking.

Her sister in question was the gentlest, sweetest and the most naive woman. Perhaps her soft character had gotten her into such serious trouble? Okay, maybe her sister could be a scheming bit.ch at times or slippery like a snake when the situation called for it, a party animal clinging to men like a leech, and suave liar during the tight moments. She was dumb like a shoe and vain like a mirror. However. However... she was not the type to get involved in crimes, even when taking in account their mother's background, which Da Hyun didn't like to talk about.

Kang Mi Rae. She was 28 years old, had two children and an as.shole of a husband who luckily refused to attend Friday's family dinners. Da Hyun would have strangled him to death already if she had to meet him outside the office. Mi Rae led a peaceful life indulging herself in shopping and strutting around her art gallery like a prima donna of the century. She also paid a lot of attention to her two daughters, educating them to be tactful ladies, with class and style like herself. All in all, she had lived a privileged luxurious life lacking nothing and now they were telling her she would have to go to jail for years, maybe 10 maybe 15.

Mi Rae’s heart was racing so fast she thought she'd die right there. It was unfair and she felt wronged because she had done nothing wrong. She had gotten married early, visited her mother's house every Friday for a family dinner, went shopping with friends on Saturdays, and to the spa for massage on Sundays. She never fought with her family, cooked for her husband and made sure her children were educated properly. She was a proper lady!

Then one beautiful day, when she was planning to go shopping for the latest Prada bags, out of the blue, there was a letter from the prosecutor's office summoning her. Of course, she thought it must have been a misunderstanding, so she decided to go there all by herself to talk some sense into the prosecutor's head. Only, he had an awful haircut and smelled bad, she couldn't even talk to him let alone look at him. She was so shocked that they didn't even give her a good looking prosecutor in a crisp suit.

Life could be so unfair sometimes.

Scattered all over the desk there were various documents, black on white, hard evidence of the crime Mi Rae had never committed. What more, her younger sister's name came up as well, after all without Da Hyun she would have never been able to open her art gallery. Mi Rae tried to look at the documents but she couldn't understand anything, they were written in the official language and contained long hard words she didn't know meaning of. She didn't even know what money laundering was and the prosecutor only laughed at her when she told him innocently that she had never washed money in the laundry machine in her entire life. She felt so utterly wronged when she once again glanced at his unpleasant face.

Lawyer Kim was the first one to arrive at the scene. He promised everything would be all right and that he would keep this from her mother for the time being. But he had to call Da Hyun since it looked like she'd have to get involved. He didn't understand how something like this could have happened. He was fully aware of Mi Rae's incompetence to commit such a crime, but he knew Da Hyun was smart enough, she could have done it. He didn't believe she would do it, but then again, there was no one else to suspect. And taking in account her father’s background this wouldn’t even be a new thing. He wondered how much money he would have to prepare since the prosecutor seemed to be a very poor man.

The prosecutor…

Prosecutor Oh was young and ambitious; he was also blunt and straightforward, sparing no sympathy to hysterical women. Sobbing Mi Rae annoyed him and he wanted to get her out of his office as soon as possible. For him, this case was as good as solved and he just wanted to get it done and over with. After all, he had been working on it for months already.

Not only money laundering but there was a murder too. A man by the name of Jung Woo had gone missing six months ago and three months ago his body had been found and identified. It turned out Mi Rae had had an intimate relationship with him and they had planned to elope together. Prosecutor Oh could only snicker at such plans. “How .ing cheesy! Were they filming a movie or something?”

From the very beginning of the investigations, prosecutor Oh had been convinced of Da Hyun’s guilt. Mi Rae was definitely too incompetent to commit such a crime nor did she have any plausible motives for it. Da Hyun again, was in the lead of a finance related company where a lot of money circulated daily. All evidence pointed at her and he was not willing to look into the case any further. Once he got this solved he would be promoted and that was the only thing what mattered to him.

He had heard about Kang Da Hyun, apparently she was beautiful and intimidating, with strict business attitude and unyielding look in her eyes. Apparently, a lot of people found that irresistibly y, he could only scoff. Personally, he already hated her from the bottom of his heart and there was nothing y about that. He hated businessmen and women, especially those in high positions. They always went around causing problems with their drama and greed. All they cared about was to get profit at all cost, any cost.

“Good evening”, Da Hyun stepped into the office with a cautious look on her face.

Prosecutor Oh greeted her with a scrutinizing look and cocky scoff. Needless to mention, she felt a bit insulted by his attitude. “I don't know if this is a good or bad evening for you...”

Da Hyun ignored his snide comment. “I would like to go straight to the business. What's this commotion about?” she asked in a tense voice, glancing at her hysterical sister and then at the prosecutor. He seemed to have difficulties with fitting his bloated ego into his dirty little office. “What is this anyway, a rat's nest?”

“If you admit to everything now I can shorten your sentence”, prosecutor Oh said with overflowing satisfaction in his voice. ‘As.shole’ was written in bold imaginary letters on his forehead.

“What do you mean?” Da Hyun frowned and he smirked upon seeing her uneasy face. How he loved to see people like her in such a confused state. Looking at her along the bridge of his nose, he seemed to be ridiculing her. And he was. To his heart's content.

“Would you like to take a seat and listen to the whole story?”

“No, I don't want to sit down.”

Their gazes locked and they glared at each other, contempt flaming between them. The air grew hot and started wavering.

“Then please don't be too shocked when I read the verdict.”

“The verdict? We haven't been to the court yet and you are already judging us?” Da Hyun scoffed.

“That's what prosecutors do...”

“You are going to put innocent people in jail, is that what prosecutors do?”

“They all say they are innocent when they aren't.”

“She doesn't even know what money laundering means.”

“But you seem to know, maybe even too well?”

“On what basis-” Da Hyun didn't get to finish because prosecutor Oh threw the documents, he had been holding all along, into her face. Cold and collected hostility flashed behind his eyes, and that intimidating look sent shivers down Da Hyun's spine. He was not joking, he was all in, and everything about him screamed danger.

Shocked, she looked at him quizzically but his response was a smug smirk. “Why don't you take a look yourself, Da Hyun shi?”

“I don't want to go to jail”, Mi Rae cried in the background. “Da Hyun I didn't do it, I haven't done anything wrong. You know it right, right? It's so unfair, the prosecutor isn't even handsome”, she wailed, burying her face in her palms.

From her lateral view, Da Hyun saw how prosecutor Oh sent her sister a weak but extremely ridiculing glare, scoffing in disbelief. Meanwhile, lawyer Kim was still standing silently by the window and it didn't look like he'd start speaking soon. Coward.

Da Hyun bit her lower lip, it would be better to stay calm and study the evidence to understand what kind of circumstances they were in. Her sister was not guilty and she was going to prove it no matter what, even if it killed her. So, she squatted down and started picking up the scattered documents from the floor when a dirty converse stepped on the papers she was going to pick up.

She glanced up and saw prosecutor Oh's taunting eyes, he was enjoying every second of her humiliation. His gaze shifted at the collar of her shirt and she realized that she was displaying quite a bit of cleavage in such position. Ambiguous little smile tugged at the corners of his lips when their eyes met briefly. She scoffed, feeling exposed and violated. He had no decency at all.

“Once caught by me there is no way out”, he jeered, looking at her like she was a piece of trash.

“You sure are fast to judge”, Da Hyun commented nonchalantly. “You haven't even heard our side of the story yet.” She tugged the papers from under his shoe. “Mind you?” He stepped aside, something flashing behind his eyes, but it was only a fleeting emotion, which got instantly lost in all the other less pleasant emotions.

“And I don't want to hear it”, he spat.

“But I want to!” A new voice intervened.

All eyes were on the young man who stood in the doorway. He glanced at Da Hyun first but his gaze quickly shifted at Mi Rae, lawyer Kim and lastly settled on prosecutor Oh. He clenched his jaw, frowning angrily.

“What are you doing here?” Prosecutor Oh asked blandly.

“I think you know”, the stranger spoke calmly, almost too confidently.

He was tall and handsome like a prince in shining armor, ready to save the day. But life was not that easy and Da Hyun quickly lost her interest in him, she stood up with the documents in her hands and her eyes narrowed at prosecutor Oh. It took him a moment to realize that she was glaring at him, and she had to clear to finally get his attention.

“I have the right to consult my lawyer before you interrogate me and don't even think about touching my sister. I'll take the full responsibility for this case”, she said sternly.

“That's even better for me.”

“Excuse me, would you wait just a minute”, the prince injected.

“This has nothing to do with you, Jongin.” Prosecutor Oh spat.

“You stole my case!” Jongin spat back.

“And what are you going to do about it? Last time I checked you weren't a prosecutor. Besides, this case was mine all along”

“Ji Hwan should b-”

“We are not having this discussion again.” Prosecutor Oh held his palm in midair.

“Yes we are.”

“You have no right.”

“Then what is this?” Jongin held up the document he had brought. Instead of giving it to prosecutor Oh he scrunched it into a ball and threw at the latter's face. “Catching someone is different from catching the right people!”

Prosecutor Oh glared at his opponent with so much hatred it seemed like he would catch on fire any moment now. Da Hyun secretly wished he'd burn to ashes and squirm in pain to his bitter death. The world would become a better place without him. 

Jongin again, remained cool and composed. He placed his hands on his waist under his ed blazer and waited. Meanwhile Da Hyun was going through the evidence, Mi Rae was staring dreamily at Jongin and lawyer Kim was trying to figure out what to think of this all.

“Who do you think did all the work?” prosecutor Oh finally spoke. “I am not giving up on this case.”

“You either give up or resign”, Jongin threatened.

“Detective Kim”, yet another voice rang in the corridor and another young man appeared in the doorway. He looked like he was the youngest. “Detective Kim let's handle this in a humane way.”

“Humane?” Jongin uttered a dry laughter. “Animals should be regarded as animals and no more.”

“Please don't fight again, they just fixed the door frame and chief was complaining about the cost.”

“Hey kid, if you stick to him with this case you will regret”, prosecutor Oh hissed with a scary frown on his face and the younger male backed in fear.

“Are you threatening my partner right now?” Jongin asked sharply.

“You can't just barge in here and, and-”

“Newsflash! I just did!”

Da Hyun smiled smugly to herself upon hearing these words. They were like honey to her ears. Shifting her gaze from the papers she saw prosecutor Oh’s fuming face, his small eyes turned into slits almost disappearing.

“How about instead of discussing we take it outside?” he growled, rolling up his sleeves as he stepped closer to Jongin.

“What? Am I getting on your nerves?” Jongin’s lips twisted into a smirk.

They both glared at each other through squinted eyes, their lips twisting into grimaces and Ji Hwan gaped at them in utter shock, knowing that the hell was about to break loose. Heavy silence fell in the room and the air was instantly loaded with cracking palpable tension. Mi Rae stopped crying and held her breath.

3...2...1…

“Are you two done arguing?” Da Hyun asked with a sigh. She had been looking between the two, one brow raised higher that the other. Frankly speaking, fistfights didn't interest her and this whole argument was just a waste of her precious time. Men and their prides. Instead of using common sense they always resorted to fists, each hit damaging their stupid brains even more. Idiots.

Both prosecutor and detective turned their heads to her, the tension suddenly disappearing and the audience could breathe freely again.

“How unprofessional...” Da Hyun muttered sternly. “What is going on and who will be handling this case? How will we proceed from now on and what will happen next? I demand answers!”

Jongin glanced at prosecutor Oh and then flashed a casual smile at Da Hyun. “I am very sorry that you had to witness this but if you would please follow me to Ji Hwan's office so we could discuss the matter.” His voice was sweet and friendly, but she didn't trust him any better than the prosecutor, who now had an irritated expression on his face. When she glanced at him their eyes met and he scowled at her. There was no way Da Hyun would be staying with him for any longer.

She glanced at lawyer Kim who shrugged. He helped Mi Rae to her feet and they all followed, what seemed to be a ray of hope, into another office at the very end of the hallway. Ji Hwan took a seat in one of the armchairs, Mi Rae sat on the sofa, lawyer Kim sat next to her and Da Hyun made herself comfortable beside him on the other side of the sofa. Jongin didn't sit down. He stood behind Ji Hwan's chair, his arms crossed over his chest and a thoughtful expression on his face. Stealing a glance at him, Da Hyun had to agree that he was attractive. He had kind eyes and a nice row of pearly white teeth.

After polite apologies and vague explanations (about the commotion a while ago), which didn't really make any sense, it was time to get down to the business. Da Hyun listened how Ji Hwan went through all details while lawyer Kim translated them into easily understandable language for Mi Rae.

Immediately Da Hyun wondered how in the world the police had gotten their hands on the accountancy information, especially when her own name and company came up. Mi Rae again, was too shaken to understand anything and too mesmerized by Jongin’s good looks. She only kept nodding while wishing the whole situation would be over sooner (so she could flirt with the detective). But things suddenly got even more complicated when it came to the light that she had had an affair with Jung Woo.

“What were you thinking?” Da Hyun snapped when she heard about it.

“I couldn't help it. I fell in love”, was the only thing Mi Rae could say. She lowered her eyes and pouted.

“You fell in love?” Da Hyun asked in disbelief. “Shouldn't you have thought about that before getting married?”

“I didn't know”, Mi Rae cried out. “I didn't know then... that love could be like this!”

“So did you do it, after all? Did you let him use your assets?”

“No, it wasn't like that! He had nothing to do with the gallery.”

Then it hit Da Hyun like a lighting. “Did brother-in-law find out, did he? Did he know?”

“Maybe...” Mi Rae whispered. “He might have caught on.”

“That son of a bit.ch!” Da Hyun sprang to her feet. “Where is he? I am going to kill him! I'll kill him and then I'll kill myself.”

“Miss, please calm down”, lawyer Kim pleaded. “Let's discuss this thoroughly before jumping to conclusions.”

Ji Hwan stared at Da Hyun with wide open eyes, startled by her outburst and Jongin swallowed a smile.

“That sleazy little… I should have known he had something up his sleeve when he accepted the COO position so easily.”

“I would like to hear more about this man”, Jongin smiled knowingly.

It was just the name he had expected to hear.

After going through basic information, a new meeting time was arranged. This was not going to be an easy battle, but one Da Hyun was not willing to lose. She couldn't wait to meet Kang Min face to face.

Four years ago, when she was still a university student majoring in business, Mi Rae got married to a man whom their father adored. Kang Min, a polite son of an affluent family, freshly graduated from one of the top universities. His background was perfect and he fit the successor position as if he had been made for it.

Unfortunately, Mr. Kang died in a car accident before he could nominate Kang Min for the most wanted position in the company. That happened a year ago and that's when Da Hyun stepped in. Ever since her teenage years she had been around the company and every single employee who had the slightest amount of power knew her. Kang Min had to fight with her for the desired position and he lost that battle in every single category.

He still got a high position, but he was not satisfied with being a second. He would never be because his mind had always been set for higher profits. Even though, it had been almost a year since Da Hyun had swept CEO position from under his nose, he was still thinking about it and he was willing to use any means to get it. He believed it belonged to him and him only. He'd get there no matter what, no matter how long it took, and no matter if it killed him.

Kang Min and Da Hyun met rarely, and communicated only through their secretaries. That was also the reason why she didn't know anything about the investigations. He had handled everything in secret and so, she was sure he was behind the money laundering, if not even the murder. He had always been sleazy, shady and suspicious. And finally, he had managed to scheme his way under her skin.

Shin Kang Min

31 years old.

Declaring a war.

“Miss, you are making a big mistake.”

It was detective Oh who had spoken from the shadows. Da Hyun looked over her shoulder and saw him loitering close by. She had just walked through the entrance and turned left, when he had noticed her. He was leaning against the vending machine with a cup of coffee in his hand.

“You”, Da Hyun narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you want?”

“Isn't that obvious?” he asked with a sarcastic tone and sipped the coffee. His eyes lingered on her face, his intense gaze violating the privacy of her soul.

“Are you following me?” she spat. He did look like a creeper.

“Instead of following I was rather waiting.” Detective Oh straightened up and stepped from the shadows, the sun was bright and he squinted his eyes. Da Hyun looked around, wondering whether he'd attack her, but he was calm and only stopped in front of her to look down at her with ironic tint in his eyes.

“You are shorter than I expected”, he jeered. “Not as pretty, as they say...”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Da Hyun looked at him from head to toe. Not that he was any better looking himself.

“You don't have to work with that bloody Jongin, you can always request someone else.”

“Like you?” she scoffed, giving him a long critical look. His sense of style was straight out of a dumpster and her mother had once told her not to trust people who dressed badly. Not that she had ever actually followed any of her mother's ridiculous advice but this time...

“I like how you think”, prosecutor Oh drank from his cup.

“Give me even one reason.”

“We can't talk about that now and here, you know.”

“And you know what? You are the last person I would work with!”

“You don't know what great of a mistake you are making.”

“Mistake? You will put my sister in jail!”

“So? Jongin will put another innocent victim in jail. Does that change anything?”

“How rude”, Da Hyun muttered under her breath. She knew exactly what he meant. He thought she was going to use bribes to get out of the trouble.

Detective Oh smiled knowingly. “Da Hyun shi, if you think that putting an innocent person in jail instead of your supposedly innocent sister, let's suppose she is innocent, anyway... we are talking about double standards here. Besides-”

“She is innocent”, Da Hyun stated. “You sure have guts Mr. Prosecutor. Aren't you supposed to help and protect citizens? Aren't you supposed to be on our side?”

“I'm on my own side... I don't know about you, though.”

“What is it exactly that you want?”

His eyes grew darker. “For this to be over sooner. I don't care if it's you who goes to jail or you sister. I want this case to be over. Immediately!”

“Have you no shame?”

He uttered a humorless chuckle. “If it's not you who goes to jail then it will be someone innocent, inevitably. So who cares? By the way...” his eyes shifted to her chest and then back to her face, a smirk twisting his lips. “Is that a push-up bra you are wearing? Lying about everything, aren't we?”

“As.shole.”

Da Hyun couldn't control herself anymore and so she slapped him so hard his head turned sideways. The cup, he was holding, fell to the ground and rolled on until it bumped into a nice pair of leather shoes.

“What a babe, really”, detective Oh jeered. He slowly turned his face towards Da Hyun and rubbed his cheek. “You want to go to jail that bad?”

“That's enough”, a brisk voice injected. It was Jongin. He stood a few feet away from the scene with a black leather case in his left hand.

He looked good in his black fitting suit and dark blue tweed coat, not to mention his taste in shoes was excellent. But what made him even more handsome were not his boyish hairstyle or his alluring eyes, it was that serious expression on his handsome face. No one would have been more fitting for a prince charming role than him at the moment.

“Leave her alone.”

Detective Oh was a total opposite what came to character and style, but didn't lose much in the face department. However, Da Hyun didn’t know that yet. He was dressed in a wrinkled loose suit and a pair of converses toppled with a black trench coat and a long gray scarf, which hung loosely around his neck. His appearance was shabby, he hadn't shaved for a few days or weeks and his longish hair, which was in a loose ponytail, seemed to be dirty, in fact he looked like he hadn't showered since forever. He didn't waver in front of the prince charming but stood straight and tall, which he was. Tall and skinny like a slimy little worm.

“You think you will win so easy?” he asked with a scoff. “Sooner or later I'll get my hands on this case.”

“Then keep this between you and me, don't get her involved.”

Detective Oh glanced at Da Hyun with a mocking twinkle in his eyes. “Don't worry, she will soon come to me on her own.”

“You wish”; Da Hyun injected dryly.

“Just ignore him”, Jongin said indifferently, his attention now fully on her. “Where are you going? Do you need a ride?”

“If that's not a problem.”

“Why don't you two go str