“Jihyo! Come over quickly! Boss is in critical condition, I don’t think he can last that long!” Jackson shouted from the other side of the line. Jackson is Park Jin Young’s personal assistance, and he grew up training with Jihyo.

“What?! What on earth happened to my father?” Jihyo questioned demandingly, probably shocked from the sudden news. Her father has been healthy, still working out and checking on the institution every now and then. Just what happened…?

“Boss is attacked by a sniper when I was away to fetch the car, by the entrance of the institute.” Jackson said, trying hard to supress his quivering lips.

Finally grasping the situation, Jihyo quickly hopped onto her car and sped off to the hospital Jackson informed her over the phone. Must be Exodus’ doings. Jihyo thought and punched the horn of the car with her fist, releasing her anger at anything that’s around her.

Beep… Beep… Beep… The machine keeps making the annoying sound as Jihyo stepped into the hospital ward. Park Jin Young suffered a shot through his chest, barely missing his heart, and the doctor has already informed Jackson and Jihyo that he wouldn’t last long and that there’s nothing that can be done. Rushing towards her father’s side, Jihyo kneeled in front of her dad, with tears sparkling in her round eyes.

“J-Jihyo ya… I w-will put Prism t-to your care now. Remember that daddy a-always t-trusted you and love you…” The critically injured boss barely made out these words as tears roll down Jihyo’s cheeks uncontrollably.

Beeeeeep…

Jihyo could only stand there staring at her father’s lifeless body. She clenched her fists and  bit on her lower lips, so hard that it drew blood. Jackson could only place his hand on Jihyo’s shoulders, pulling her into a hug, giving her as much comfort as that could bring.

I will avenge you, dad. She thought angrily.

Park Jin Young is officially announced dead, the whole association was notified and every agent wore all black for the following week, in memorial of their late boss.

Being the strong woman she is, Jihyo quickly recovered and continued with all the work her father left her. Every part of the office reminded her of her father, she could literally still see her father’s shadow lingering around the house, just that he’s no longer there for her; not now, not anymore.

“Found something!” Sana shouted from across the room. “Chou Yi suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia since 5 years back, which is around the same time AceAid Medical hit it big worldwide. And he has been under some sort of medication.” Sana excitedly said to both Mina and Momo who are bickering on the couch on what should they watch, cartoon or Animal Planet. Upon hearing this, Mina snapped her neck towards the talking girl so quickly, she might have suffered a whiplash.

“Show me!” Mina jumped to Sana’s side, looking into the computer screen.

“You can use this information against him.” Sana casually informed the girl engrossed in the presented information as she stretches her back after the long hours she spent in front of the computer. Meanwhile, Momo started watching her cartoon on the television.

“Sir, we have updates on Myoui Mina.” A guy in black said sternly to Chou Yi in his room.

“Hey, Miss Son, may I know where’s my dad?” Tzuyu asked one of the maids cleaning up the dining table after dinner.

“Master is probably in his room.” The maid replied with a polite bow as Tzuyu started making her way to her dad’s room.

“Y-You’re saying that Myoui Mina is a trained hitman?!” Chou Yi questioned the man in black rather loudly, being unable to contain his shock, he continued, “And you just found out about it?”

Chou Yi is absolutely unsatisfied with the lack of efficiency from Exodus, starting to doubt his alliance with them. Little did he know that Tzuyu overheard the conversation behind his door, utterly stunned at the sudden information.

“She works under Prism, so it’s hard for us to track her down. We only got this intel because some of our girls have some bad blood with Myoui and her gang.” the guy in black informed indifferently, not without giving Chou Yi a dirty glare and a smirk. “She’s probably after you, your daughter, and most importantly, your business.”

“I want you all to get rid of her, but do not alert anyone when you guys are doing it. I don’t want cops after me.” Chou Yi warned.

“We’re more professional than that. We will craft out a plan and have your approval (nope, it doesn’t work that way) before executing our plans.” The man in black replied as he rolls his eyes.

Shocked, Tzuyu immediately ran back to her room. The sound behind the door wasn’t unheard as Chou Yi promptly went to open the door to check if his conversation with the member of Exodus was eavesdropped. Fortunately for Tzuyu, her actions were quick and she managed to get back to her room before being caught by her father. Or rather, the devil she calls father.

Thump, thump… Thump, thump…

Tzuyu’s heart beating hard against her chest as she felt like her world is being turned upside down. Being surrounded by sugar coated lies, not only by her father, also by her mentor. Why is she being so concerned though? Mina is nothing but a colleague, but that’s not what her heart has been telling her the past few days.

“Maybe I should just ask her tomorrow…” Tzuyu muttered to herself. “But if she’s really a hitman, she wouldn’t break that to me, and all that adds up to why she got such a deep cut on her shoulder.” Tzuyu reasoned. Unknown to her, tears escaped her eyes and started rolling down her pink cheeks.

She cried, all night, to sleep. Tzuyu’s not weak, just that she blames herself for believing in all the lies that were fed to her. She knew about her father’s shady businesses, she knew when her father warned her about Mina, yet she still chose to trust. Maybe she is to blame for making herself vulnerable; what more, falling in love with one whom all along planned to kill her.