“I’ll do it.”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“Don’t ask me to do this now, Hangeng.” She turned to look him in the eye. “Let’s get through the current more pressing issue first. Do you really think now’s the time to make that sort of decision or to even ask me to so much as think about it?”

“Quit trying to run away from it, Heechul. You know there is nothing fair about what you are doing to either me or Leeteuk!” Heechul remained silent at the accusation. She knew it was true but had no clue how to choose between the two men. They both meant so much to her. She thought it would be easier. Maybe one day she would just look at one of them and know that he was the one for her. But no. That had not happened. And now she was stuck in a pit deeper than she had ever been in. The urge to drink another glass of a strong liquor overtook her again. She’d have to sneak it later that night. Her thoughts were cut short by the front door closing behind a tall slender body. The two sitting on the couch looked up to see Leeteuk glancing back and forth between them.

Heechul stood up and walked past him to the bedroom. Hangeng watched her, shaking his head.

“What did you say to her?” Leeteuk asked, not flinching when the door slammed shut.

“Same thing you did.” The younger male explained.

“I think it might be best if you didn’t talk to her about that. I’ve already dealt with her. She just needs time.”

“She’s going to choose you.” Hangeng said. “You’re better for her.”

“Well, I’m not going to deny that.” The older man laughed at the younger’s look of astonishment. “I’m kidding. But in all seriousness. Heechul is a grown woman. We need to let her make her own decision. She’ll calm down when she’s ready. Let’s focus on what we need to do for this assignment right now.”

“Okay.” Hangeng agreed. “So what do you have in mind?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to determine what all we have going for us. It seemed easy enough for us to get into the main branch. If it worked once, let’s try it again.”

“It’s not going to be fool proof, Leeteuk.” Hangeng started.

“I know. But it’s worth a shot. Do they have any idea that we got in the first time?” Leeteuk asked, flipping through the folders that were on the coffee table in front of them.

“Not as far as I know. We may have to wait a while to figure it out though.” Hangeng said. “They’re a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.” The two men chuckled darkly.

“Okay, if we don’t get word that they know within the next week, we’ll go ahead and move forward with this.” 

“Sounds good. And Heechul’s agreed to it so we’re set.” Hangeng added. Leeteuk nodded, unhappy with the idea of putting Heechul in the target range the way they were going to.

The plan was the send her in alone, make her presence known to a select few officials, and see who follows her out. They would then use that opportunity to ask questions and get the information of who is after them and why after taking the person captive. While that method had never been tested, they knew the risks that would come with it. Let the wrong people know what’s going on and it could mean death.

“We need to make sure everyone is moved in safely tomorrow to their new homes. We’ll let them leave at different times so as not to rouse suspicion and have them call us whenever they can.” Leeteuk explained. “I’d like to know that everyone is safe before we move forward with anything else.”

“I completely agree. We don’t need to put any other lives in danger that don’t need to be.” Hangeng didn’t even blink at the hidden suggestion in his sentence. At this point, he couldn’t care less. While he loved Heechul, he was tired of her attitude and childish flip flopping between the two men. He had seen Leeteuk sneak out of her room the morning after Jasmine was killed. The woman needed to make up her mind and that was all he was going to say on the subject. It didn’t matter to him who she chose. In fact, he had meant what he said earlier about Leeteuk being the better choice. He had a feeling the older man hadn’t been quite as lighthearted about his response as he had made it out to be either.

In fact there was no doubt.

Leeteuk knew.

And the way to get to a leader is through the second-in-command.

Through the girl.

Phoenix now had his next target.