The next day, Heechul sat in her study, nibbling on a pack of crackers as she read her newest edition to her personal library. It was something she had picked up from the bookstore the previous day. She was thoroughly enjoying the story even though it was nothing but pure romantic fluff. Not much of a story line but it was a good break from the last book she read that was nothing but violence and cursing. A light smile spread across her face when the male lead leaned down to kiss the main character, a girl very similar to how Heechul would like to be: sweet and innocent (although it did annoy her slightly that the girl was as naive as she was). But overall, Heechul was enjoying it.

She was pulled out of the romantic world when her phone vibrated, startling her so that she nearly knocked Heebum, her cat, off of the couch. She could swear the cat glared at her but she just stuck her tongue out at the feline and answered the phone, not bothering to look at the caller id.

"Hello?" she started.

"Heechul?" The voice on the other end was not who she expected.

"Leeteuk?" She pulled the phone back and looked at the screen. Yep. It was her publisher and he sounded off.

"Can you come in today?" he asked, his voice lower than usual. "There's something we need to discuss."

"Listen, I know that last chapter was not the best I could do. If you just give me one more day I could-" she was cut off.

"Heechul, this has nothing to do with the book." Leeteuk's voice was severe. "I need you to come in as soon as you can."

"Yeah. I'll be there in an hour." she answered, not questioning his tone. She knew when the man was serious about something. And, as he said, this had nothing to do with her latest novel.

As promised, she was at the publisher's office within the hour. If there was one thing Heechul was proud of, it was her punctuality. She walked in and made her way down the familiar hallways to find Leeteuk sitting behind his desk, an expression so severe and frightened on his face she almost didn't go in. Almost. Despite her strong desire to run in the opposite direction, Heechul opened the door and closed it firmly behind her. Leeteuk looked up and motioned for her to come to his desk. When she did, he handed her a plain white envelope. Her eyes widened when she read its contents and Leeteuk reached over and played a message from his answering machine. When the deep voice hung up, they simply looked at each other.After a lengthy silence, Heechul was the one to speak.

"I thought you had gotten us out of that." she said, accussingly.

"I thought I had too." He put his head in his hands, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. He had taken every step to hide his entire unit from these people. How had they been found? Heechul sighed.

"It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up about this." She tried to comfort the man, putting the letter back on the desk. "It's not like it hasn't happened before. We'll just do what we've always done."

"I'm not relocating an entire unit, Heechul. Not after everyone has finally started settling down." Leeteuk's gaze weighed heavy on the woman. She had to look away before it broke her.

"We're looking to you, Teukie. You are our leader. It's your decision." She still couldn't look at him. "But whatever you choose, we're all behind you one hundred percent." She pat him on the shoulder and started back towards the door. "I've got to get home. Hankyung's going to be home soon and I don't want him to be suspicious. I'm supposed to be in my study reading and working on the enxt few chapters. By the way, I expect an extension on my dealine for this." she added before making her way out to her car as quickly and as quietly as she could. When she reached the apartment, she ran in and locked the door behind her, leaning against the solid wood for support. Her foot slid slightly on something and she looked down to find a white envelope identical to the one she had just seen in Leeteuk's office. She picked it up and swallowed.

That afternoon went as every other afternoon did. Hankyung came home, found Heechul in her study where he attempted to scold her for sitting for so long then resigned to rubbing her neck. He kissed her at the base of her neck before leaving her to go make their dinner with whatever groceries were left in the cabinets.

Heechul walked down the hall and stood in the doorway to the kitchen, leaning against the frame, watching the Chinese man work. He saw her out of the corner of his eye and smiled at her before turning back quickly to finish cutting what appeared to be carrots. She walked up behind him, pushing off the wall, and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her head rested neatly on his shoulder. She turned her face towards him to plant a kiss in the crook of his neck then bury her face in that spot. She smirked slightly when she felt him shiver. She kissed him again.

"What's wrong with you today?" Hankyung asked, a smile in his voice. It wasn't like he was complaining. The woman was just acting differently than usual. Normally, he would be the one initiating this kind of physical contact. This was almost too sensitive to be Heechul who was typically playful.

Heechul didn't answer his question, only continued to pepper the exposed skin on his neck and shoulders with soft kisses. Hankyung finally turned around and put his own arms around the woman. She smiled at him, a glint of something Hankyung couldn't place in her eyes. Not that he had time to think about it as he was soon occupied by other things, such as Heechul's lips against his own. She kissed him as if they were love-struck teenagers again, all searching tongues, roaming hands, and racing pulses. He quickly took over the kiss, the beginnings of dinner behind him forgotten.

*******

Heechul looked at the sleeping man beside her. She ran her fingers over his face, memorizing every detail. His arms unconsciously tightened around her bare waist. She gave an rare smile while running her fingers through his hair. Slowly, the man began to wake up. He grinned when he saw her and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose then on her lips. Heechul's eyes fluttered closed when they moved over her jaw line and down her neck. She willingly turned her head to allow him more access as he moved over her. But what she saw made her previously racing heart stop cold. A white envelope sat behind Hankyung's lamp. She was now oblivious to the kisses he was peppering her collarbone with just as he was totally clueless to what she was doing as she reached over and pulled its contents out, reading them over his shoulder. When Hankyung finally realized he wasn't getting any response out of the woman under him, he looked up. Her face was as white as the sheet she was holding. She sat up as much as she could looking as if she were going to throw up.

This letter was only slightly different from the one she had received earlier and the one she had read in Leeteuk's office. Only this one had one small difference: the mention of a third party, the identity of whom had been unknown to everyone but Leeteuk, including Heechul who had been the man's second in command. Now she knew - and the shock was almost too much for her to handle. Without a word, Heechul pulled her own letter out comparing them, making sure she was reading each of them right. Hankyung remained silent, waiting on the woman to process the new information. And from the look in her eyes, he knew not to disturb her.

The letters were essentially the same: a threat on each of their lives, punishment for an entire military undercover unit for running away, the worst of which saved for the leading trio. For Leeteuk, Heechul, and Hankung... or rather Park Jungsoo, Kim Hee Chul, and Han Geng.