The unexpected phone call came in the middle of the night, some time in-between Saturday and Sunday. I was so pissed off being waken up from a wonderful dream that I almost slammed my phone and cracked it – anything to stop that annoying sound from ringing. I screamed, pulled my eye mask off and glared at the phone accusingly. Damn it, I forgot to silent it before I slept and now I had to suffer the consequences.

            Not even the name displayed on the screen helped to ease my anger. Kim Minseok, how ing dare you called me at 2 a.m. just because the sun had risen in your headquarter?! I took a deep breath and picked up the call with the sweetest, most venomous tone I had ever used, “Yes, Kim Minseok? What’s with the sudden call? Seoul is still dark because the sun hasn’t risen yet so I’m not entirely sure how I can help you now?”

            There was a deep sigh from the other end, signalling that he was in great distress. As much as my dislike towards him, I could not help but felt a little bit of pity rising from my chest. Out of the three children of Genbu, Minseok was the most favoured one because of his resemblance to the late Kim Yong Ha. For Joonmyun’s sake, I calmed down and sat on my bed, yawning tiredly after all the things I’d done during the daytime.

            “I know it’s late. I’m sorry, Sena,” Minseok admitted with another regretful sigh.

            “And what exactly are you sorry for? You haven’t done many things you should be apologetic for, have you?” I sarcastically remarked, staring at my chapped nails like the little I was. If I suddenly forgave him without giving him any kind of insults, then he would definitely be suspicious. After all I was the one known for my biting remarks. It was haughty, I knew. But it also felt good. “Calling me at 2 a.m. in the morning, suddenly apologizing and being nice, is there anything that I should know of? You know I don’t like flatterers and sweet-talker, so speak now, Minseok, before I drift off to dreamland and leave you hanging on the phone.”

            “Still as demanding as ever,” He grumbled unhappily. The knot in my heart finally loosened. He spoke very quickly, without taking a break, as if he was in a hurry. His voice was neither too loud nor soft, but somewhere in-between his heavily accented English, I could detect fear and uncertainty – and now I wasn’t entirely sure whether Joonmyun’s plan would work as well as he wanted to be, “Sena, I apologise for Sohee and this. See, early this morning… The Genbu’s headquarter was attacked by Byakko’s intruders and though no major damage was done, but we had to move out for a period of time to repair some of the buildings they destroyed.”    

            The sentences I wanted to say were swallowed back into my throat. I could guess what he wanted but I was not selfless. I had to think of other lives in my clan before I thought of theirs. “And where are you now?”

            “Help us, Sena,” He finally admitted it. Despair had bent his ego. He must be at loss to be begging me at 2 a.m. I sighed and stared at the door, wondering if I should bang on Joonmyun’s door to tell him or let him have a peaceful rest after sleepless nights doing so many things someone his age should not be doing. Minseok halted, took a deep breath, and continued, “Please. We’ve helped you two years ago. Now we need yours.”

            I did not like the way he phrased his request even though I did owe him the favour two years ago. I smirked in contentment and replied, “Very well, Minseok. How many of you are coming? Bear in mind my headquarter would not be able to shelter thousands of you. And remember that Byun Baekhyun is targeting both of our clans right now, so if anything happens here, I will kick you out immediately. Do those conditions sound good to you?”

            “Good, all’s good as long as we could escape safely. It’s just me and my mother,” Minseok hastily answered without thinking much. I almost chewed my nail and quickly asked, “And Jongdae? How is he? Fine, I hope. Don’t tell me the two of you are planning to leave him behind. What about your Elders, Minseok? Is this an escape to you or a runaway plan? Because you sure as hell sound like you are avoiding responsibility right now.”

            He scoffed – I could hear it. I could hear sarcasm, and the belittling tone I could not miss from his voice when he questioned back rudely, “Weren’t you escaping two years ago? Sena, Dear, you shouldn’t be the one talking about responsibility. And yes, Jongdae… is fine,” He sounded a little strange, “He is definitely coming with us. It’s just us three without the Elders. I have told them to scatter away to different parts of Southeast Asia to avoid suspicion.”

            What we were doing was vastly different, and it would never get passed Minseok’s thick skull no matter what kind of persuasion I used. Two years ago, I escaped to Singapore because Byun Baekhyun was targeting my Elites and not the whole clan. Besides, the Elders were alive at that time, and though I had suspicions without evidences, I was sure that Byakko would not attack Seoul as long as I was away, hiding. What Minseok was doing now was a cowardice act. And he did not even bother trying to deny it. Genbu was in crisis and all he cared about was himself.

I fumed, then calmed down a bit, and sneered loudly so that he would hear the acid in my voice, “Kim Minseok, I don’t think you are desperate enough to need my help yet. I do not appreciate your insult at all. Perhaps you should knock at Wu Yi Fan’s door and see if Suzakku is willing to take you in. Jongdae is very much welcome, but the two of you can scram off to Suzakku’s territory. If you have nothing else to say, I will hang up and get back to sleep. Now bye.”

The word ‘bye’ must have triggered his anxiety system because he quickly screamed in panic, “Wait, Sena! I was wrong, alright? Why do you have to be so impatient? Jesus! I was wrong, Sena, I’m sorry. Please help us. We’ve got nowhere safe to go. All the houses we owned in our territory are somehow leaked into Byakko’s hands. I’m sure Joonmyun would appreciate it if you’d help us. We are one big family, after all.”

What a family he was to kick me out of his house and disgraced our entire clan while I was unconscious from the gun shot. I was never a forgiving person. In fact, I held grudges for a long time. Had it not been for Joonmyun, I would have turned a blind eye over to Minseok’s trouble. I bit my lips hard and forced myself to think sensibly for the sake of my fiancée. “Will you arrive by public airplane or your own?”

“Public airplane. The private planes are not safe,” He muttered.

“Then I will send a helicopter to the airport. Take that one and it will send you directly to my headquarter. I can’t guarantee your safety from Singapore to Seoul, so the rest is pretty much up to you,” I suppressed a cruel giggle and cleared my throat, “See you in a few hours, Minseok. Be safe. My condolences goes to Genbu. Bye.”

(5)

            At 2 a.m. in the morning, Kim Jongin wasn’t asleep. His eyes looked at the paper unblinkingly, biting on the giant peppermint candy roughly. He had tried cigarettes before, but smoking for him did not give any kind of satisfaction so he quit before he even started. The dark circles under his eyes had became worse after nights of losing sleep from the work. In Seoul, he lived in his own apartment, so he had the freedom to do things without being suspected.

            His room was messy. Clothes were thrown onto the sofa carelessly. Two weeks of staying indoor right after work had done the damage to his apartment. There were stacks of leftover food on the table. The only space he left empty was his bed because one, he never touched it, and two, he needed it to vent out his frustration. Jongin never bothered hiring any helpers to keep his working space absolutely untouched.

            To say that Jongin was never angry was a bit far-fetched. He was angry most of the time. He was just a little better at holding his anger than anyone else he had known – except for Sehun. In the short twenty-one years of living, Jongin had been called many names, most of which he was never bothered with – two-faced, heartless, demon child. He had long numbed that part of his brain and stopped paying attention to the belittling. He wasn’t always this ignorant, but situations had forced him to think differently, especially now that he got one extra person to take care of.

            On the paper, there was a list of rank, all of which were soldiers working in the Blue House. The highest order was the current President. Below her was Prime Minister and the Secretary. As the generals did not care much for the Blue House, the fifth-star general Ji Jin Hee handed over the task to his subordinates, which ultimately landed on the greedy hands of Han Sungho. He now sat on the top of its’ military order, just below the President herself. It would not be so easy to be rid of him, but Jongin could slowly work his way up with the lower-ranked soldiers.

            He picked up the phone after glancing at the clock – and only barely. “Why are you calling? I told you not to call me with this number.”

            “Are they still checking your calls? Suspicious bastard,” The person on the other end grumbled, quite unhappy that he had to work so late in the morning when he was supposed to be getting rest. It was weekend, and he needed more privacy. “You said I could contact you anytime. Emails aren’t safe, either way. I could easily hack into your computer as easily as you, to mine. Do you still live in that apartment of yours?”

            “Is it a necessary piece of information, ?” Jongin spat, rolling his eyes as he threw the thick stack of paper onto the table and jumped onto his bed. The welcoming blanket felt more like heaven than anything else ever did. “If you keep on grumbling and muttering nonsensical stuffs, I’m gonna hang up. This call is going to break our previous record of talking nicely and sensibly for four minutes and twenty seconds. Oh , it’s passed. Bye.”

            “ you, Kim Jongin, I’m sacrificing my sleep for this,” The caller viciously threatened. Jongin chuckled. Both of them were losing sleep over this. “If you dare to hang up, I will personally go over and kill you myself.”

            “Alright, then set a timer for yourself. I don’t want to talk to you for too long or it will affect me badly,” Jongin was just joking, of course. His sense of humour was often a form of sarcasm, irony or simply derogating. “Before you start, I just want to warn you about Sena. Try to keep an eye on her. She’s sneaking out of the headquarter to the Blue House because your investigation is too slow and secretive.”

            “Sena?” Now he sounded disappointed. “Kim Jongin, stay away from her. She’s suffered enough ever since you left. You don’t need to open an old wound for her.”

            “Of course, of course. Don’t try to play Prince Charming with me. But what Sena and I are doing are none of your business. Knowing your personality, you would have probably kept your mouth shut, wouldn’t you? And what for? Don’t you like her, too?” Jongin questioned, and he wasn’t entirely satisfied when the only respond he got was a low hum, neither approving nor disapproving, “Now what about the Lieutenant General I asked you about? Did you do your homework well, Oh Sehun?”  

A/N: Next few chapters are basically battlefields with minimum romance. Just so you can be prepared. We need Sena in action, don't we?