Jessica stares at them as she adjusts her headset. It's a bulky, weird looking thing. Somehow she pulls it off. It even matches her shoes. Seungwan is pretty sure they're stilettos in both the shoe and weapon sense. 

Byulyi and Seungwan stare at each other. Eye contact with Jessica is never a good idea. 

“Here.” She hands them a tiny earpiece each.

“Don’t go losing them now. They’re prototypes and T will kill you if you damage her babies. You know how she gets over her tiny gadget children.”

She's heard rumours of a microscopic robot spider army created out of sheer spite. She vows not to lose the earpiece. 

“Have they been tested?” Byulyi asks the question that’s on both their minds.

“No. They’re still a work in progress. But we don’t have the time to spare, intel says the Red Sun is gonna strike tonight.”

Seungwan and Byulyi gingerly insert the earpieces. Disobeying Jessica is also never a good idea.

T is as passionate as she is terrifying. Her work is always of the highest quality and there’s really nothing to fear. But no agent likes going into the field with untested gear. Especially tonight.

“Now, what’d we know about the Red Sun?” Jessica always does mini reviews before a mission. It’s how she gets herself into the zone.

“They’re information brokers and thieves. They sell anything to anyone for the right price.” Seungwan recites whilst doing up her tie. She settles for a Windsor knot, simple and classy.

“And the price is always right.” Byulyi chips in.

“And?” Jessica prods them along.

“There’s at least two and they’re deadly. We know that they’re extremely proficient at hand-to-hand combat, good with firearms and that nobody, nobody has ever been able to identify them.”

“That and they like to leave a bloody trail. The bodies aren’t found for days, but when they are, there's no mistaking who did it.  We still haven’t been able to identify a cause of death for the bodies we do have.”

There’s pictures all over the board back at base. Seungwan can’t get the faces out of her head. In all her years in the business, she’s never seen the dead look like that. They all have the same expression. She thinks that it might be happiness. Except who is happy to face death?

“Good. It’s not a lot, but this is all we’ve got. I’m warning you two now, we are not prepared. But this needs to happen.” Jessica rifles through her papers.

“This,” she holds up the picture of a nondescript middle aged man, “is Park Jin Young. Millionaire, businessman, philanthropist. He received a card and contacted us for help. Tonight is his daughter’s engagement party, it’s at his mansion and we’re invited .”

Seungwan recalls a red circle on black background, simple, effective and surprisingly fear inspiring. Victims always receive two cards. One as a warning and one as a signature. The Red Sun is as distinctive as it is evasive.

“We don’t know what they’re going after tonight. So we just have to be on the look out for all suspicious activity. Ok, we’ll be pulling up soon. Seungwan your handler tonight is Seulgi. Byulyi, yours is Hyejin. Good luck.”

~

 

Seungwan leans against the bar and signals for the bartender’s attention. She’s waiting for Seulgi to make contact and she needs to blend in. Everyone drinks at an engagement party, it’s practically tradition. That and she's been needing a drink for weeks. Something with a kick. Something distinctive. 

“Ma’am, what can I get you?” She takes him in with a quick glance. Ill-fitting vest,  almost perfectly coiffed hair, conventionally attractive face. He’s almost too generic. But there aren’t any alarm bells going off in her head.

“Tom Collins. Thank you.”

There’s a flurry of activity before he hands her the drink. She stabs the straw through the lemon and takes a sip. Perfect. She ignore the cherry that’s innocently floating in the glass. Seungwan hates cherries. She makes a slow lap of the room with drink in hand.

Park Jin Young and his daughter are fine. The daughter's fiancee was fine too. They're on the dance floor, surrounded by a gaggle of friends. And Seungwan thinks it's cute. If she ignores their perfectly choreographed dancing. That's just scary. They're too in sync.

There’s crackle of static and then Seulgi’s voice is in her ear, loud, clear and eager as ever, “Seungwan, Seungwan, I’ve got eyes on you. Adjust your cufflinks if you can hear me.”

Seungwan settles onto a nearby bench, places her glass down and fiddles with her cufflinks.

“Looking good tonight. Loving the suit, it’s dapper as . Ohh! And those glasses! The ladies must be swooning. Oh my god, does Byulyi look as good as you? Oh my god. Byul in a suit...”

Seulgi’s gushing over Byul again. Typical. Seungwan has made bets on when Operation MoonBear will commence. The entire base has. Even Jessica. And that's saying something. 

She picks her glass up and raises it in thanks before taking a long sip. She doesn’t reply. Seulgi won’t be able to hear her anyway. She’s also probably too busy scanning the feeds for Byul. This is why she's always Seungwan's handler. MoonBear would spend too much time flirting and not enough time working.

It’s a one way feed and for the nth time she wishes that it wasn’t. She hasn’t gotten into any trouble yet, but if she does and she’s out of sight, Seungwan is screwed. Well, what are the chances?

“There’s something going on in the coat room. Go through the doorway to the left of the bar and take another left until you find the door next to the mounted bear head. We should go check it out. Be careful there’s no cameras and I won’t be able to follow.”

Seungwan curses her luck. She brings her drink with her. She's gonna need it.

 

~

 

The hallways are empty and she takes careful steps. And then she sees it. The mounted bear head.  She hears loud voices when she nears the door and quickens her pace.

“Baby, c’mon can’t we can work this out? He’s obviously drunk.

“I said we’re done.” She’s obviously uncomfortable.

She peers between the coats. There’s a man in a suit and a woman in a black dress. They’re facing each other, back toward her. He lurches forward.

“Let go, Derek!”

He’s got a hold of her elbow, fingers digging into the skin. Seungwan sees the beginning of bruises and her mind is made up. She carefully sets her drink down.

She dashes through the curtain of coats with a lunge and gives her ring a quick twist. She slaps her hand onto Derek’s shoulder and feels him go limp. 40,000 volts will do that to a person. She hopes the woman doesn’t notice. 

She lowers him down and settles him against the wall. It'll just look like he couldn’t handle his drinks. She turns back to the woman. “Are you alright?”

Oh. She is absolutely enchanting and Seungwan feels her jaw drop. . This is not a good time.

There’s a muffled sob and then Seungwan suddenly has an armful of ‘Damsel In Distress’; attractive even when close to tears, always seems to find trouble, and stirs up unreasonably protective urges in Seungwan.

Those large, doe eyes start to water and all Seungwan wants to do is wrap her up in blankets and keep her safe and make sure that anything that might hurt her is dead or bleeding out. Dammit. She’s a professional, she shouldn’t be feeling this way.

“Thank you.” It’s mumbled into her collarbone and she tries not to shiver at the contact.

“Shhhh. It’s fine. Do you need anything?” She places a hand on her head and softly at auburn hair. She swears the woman presses closer.

“Joohyun.” Seungwan assumes it’s her name.

“Do you need anything, Joohyun?”

“...garden?” Her answer is very, very quiet and Seungwan can’t make it out.

“Pardon?”

“I want to go to the garden.” It’s whispered into her ear and Seungwan can’t help the electricity that surges up her spine. She swears she feels a hint of teeth.

She shakes her head to clear it. She’s a gentleman.

“That sounds lovely. I have no idea how to get there though.”

There’s a giggle. “Don’t worry about it, silly. I’ll take you.” And then slim fingers wrap around Seungwan’s wrist and drag her through the forest of coats.

She makes sure to pick up her drink. She thinks she'll be needing it.

 

~

 

They end up sitting up by the pool. There was originally a lock and fence but Seungwan had taken care of that. What use are her skills if she can't sneak a girl into some place they're not meant to be at? Seungwan fiddles with the cherry from her drink and Joohyun stares into the water.

Joohyun takes off her shoes and dips her feet into the pool. The light reflects off the water and paints her in shimmering colours. Seungwan cannot take her eyes away.

“So, do you have a name? Or do I have to keep referring to you as ‘my hero’ inside my head?” Pretty lips hint at a smile. Seungwan her reflectively. She swears Joohyun edges closer.

“Seungwan. You can call me Seungwan.”

“You say that like there’s other things I could call you.” Joohyun seems to purr. She has definitely gotten closer.

“Mhhh. There might be.” Seungwan thinks that there’s something she’s forgetting, something that’s important. But Joohyun as enthralling as the moon and Seungwan doesn’t think that anyone can escape the pull that she emits.

"Oh. The strong silent type are you? I like that.” She lazily, seemingly thoughtlessly  drags her nails along Seungwan clothed thigh. Seungwan knows better. It’s not the first time she’s seen that move.

Joohyun is tempting, but Seungwan has self control. She’s met a lot of pretty girls. She can handle this one. 

Seungwan keeps shut. Painted nails make their way up to her face, they cradle her jaw and along her cheeks. She grits her teeth together. She has self control. Joohyun’s hands are really soft. But Seungwan has self control. She continues to fiddle with the cherry.

“Tch. Well aren’t you a gentleman.” There’s an odd inflection and Seungwan isn’t too sure how to interpret it.

And then long fingers gently tilt her head back, until she’s staring straight down at Joohyun. Makes her watch as Joohyun take her fingers into her painted mouth. Seungwan feels teeth and tongue and then there is nothing. Her hand falls slack. Joohyun’s fingers leave her face.

Seungwan slumps. Joohyun chews with a smirk. .

“It’ll be so much more enjoyable if you just let loose.”

Joohyun leans forward and her lips are red, red, red. Seungwan clenches her fists by her sides. She has self control, she has self control, she has self control.

“You’re not as good as you think you are, Son Seungwan.”

Seungwan’s brow furrows. Did she mention her last name? She tries to think.

“Just give in.” Joohyun is so very, very tempting. But Seungwan is better than this. She has to be. She's a gentleman.

Seungwan struggles to her feet. She needs to go. She needs to get away. Joohyun is doing things to her head and if she doesn't leave now, she won’t be able to.

She turns to say her goodbyes, when there’s a tug on her tie and she’s dragged into a kiss that feels like drowning. When their lips part, she’s left gasping for breath. Joohyun tastes like cherries. Seungwan thinks she hates them less.

Her body goes weak and she feels herself being pushed back down. Joohyun slides into her lap, holding Seungwan's wrists together with one hand. She feels deft fingers start to undo her tie. . Is she doing what I think she is?

“Surrender. It’ll be fun. I promise.” Joohyun sinks perfect teeth into a kiss swollen lower lip and Seungwan breaks. She can’t say no to Joohyun, not like this.

She surges forward, pushes Joohyun onto her back, pins her wrist above her head and keeps them there. She leans down and slides her tongue into that pretty, pretty mouth, confident and claiming.

She  kisses Joohyun until she’s into , until her fingers go limp and Seungwan can retrieve her tie and bind her wrists together. She moves to the flawless skin at Joohyun’s neck. Presses her teeth down, hot and sharp, and leaves bruises on moon pale skin.

Seungwan thinks Joohyun looks like a vision: pretty and panting, imprints of teeth marring her perfect skin, and eyes dark and desperate.

She doesn't know how far she would have gone if Joohyun’s hips hadn’t stuttered up then. The friction makes her gasp and cuts through her lustful thoughts.

Just what is she doing. She’s supposed to be a gentleman.

She gets off of Joohyun.

“. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.”

Joohyun pouts and traces her lips with her fingers. “Just how close to having your way with me were you?”

“I’m sorry.” She really is.

“Well, if you’re not going to do wicked things to me, could you at least untie me?”

Seungwan does as bidded and undoes her knotted tie. It dangles from her hand limply as she refuses to meet Joohyun’s eyes.

There’s a sigh and Joohyun takes her tie once again.

“Here. Let me.”

Joohyun does her tie for her. Her touches linger. Her touches burn. Seungwan looks her in the eye and prays that she understands.

There’s a press of lips against her cheek and a giggle. And she knows everything is just going to be fine.  “How about you me back inside and get me a drink?”

“I’d be delighted.”

Seungwan notices that Joohyun is shivering. She slips off her blazer and holds it open, gesturing towards it with a tilt of her head. Something flits through Joohyun’s eyes then. Something new. Something dark.

“Oh. Thank you. I guess chivalry isn’t dead after all.”

“Not for you it isn’t.”

She thinks Joohyun looks lovely in her blazer.

They head back inside. They barely make it into the coat room before there’s a burst of static in Seungwan’s ears. There's a dozen words she can’t make out  and one that she does.

“—ungwan.”

“Sun...black…”

“Tr—“

“Joohyun.”

Seungwan's kness buckle and she falls forward. Joohyun catches her. Her vision slowly fades.  She’s carried into the coat room and gently tucked into a corner, something soft is draped over her.

“A gentleman is simply a patient wolf. It’s such a shame we won’t have the time.”

Joohyun presses her lips against hers. And Seungwan knows it’s a farewell kiss. She wonders if she’ll die with a smile on her face. She thinks of Joohyun and she knows.