♫ Alex Chu - 기다리게 해서 미안해요 (Sorry For Making You Wait)

“My heart only ever had one thought, one want. One need, Despite all, in spite of all... All my heart has ever wanted is you.”

- Stephanie Laurens

The girls arrived at the designated location just in the nick of time. The restaurant is called La Yeon, which is located on the 23rd floor of the Shilla Hotel, overlooking Namsan Park. Chaeyeon found out that it was only one of two restaurants there that hold 3 Michelin stars, so in other words, fancy. Chaeyeon and Eunbi were in awe at how fancy the place was, but was expected for the kind of dinner they were attending. As professional as they wanted to be though, they’ve never been to anything like this before, so they couldn’t help but gawk at the sight.

As they stepped out of the car, Agent BYJ appeared before them still looking intimidating as always, even when her face was hidden by a mask. She opened the car door for Cherry and greeted her, introducing herself as Chaeyeon and Eunbi’s superior. Cherry happily greeted her and proceeded into the hotel. From what Chaeyeon could tell as she entered, it seemed like the entire hotel was rented out for the whole night, since there were only the staff and guards with masks around and no regular guests. The feat alone was enough to make Chaeyeon ponder just how powerful these people are to stop normal operations for the night. Even though there was no one else around, the place seemed to be quite heavily guarded with people from her agency and M-San, so Chaeyeon was somewhat relieved. However, she knew to never underestimate any situation no matter how many guards were provided. Things can still go wrong, so she didn’t completely dropped her guard.

They proceeded to the elevator. Cherry entered first and then Chaeyeon and Eunbi on either side of her with Agent BYJ standing in the front, and ascended to the 23rd floor. As the elevator began moving, Chaeyeon felt a slight tug on her left arm. She secrettly glanced down to see that Cherry’s trembling hand was gripping onto the sleeve of her suit jacket. Chaeyeon guessed Cherry was feeling a little nervous being in this kind of environment. She had always been shy, especially when she’s in an unfamiliar setting surrounded by strangers. Chaeyeon sneakingly slid her right hand towards her left arm where Cherry’s hand was gripping and pushed it downwards until their hands touched. Chaeyeon hooked her pinky with Cherry’s and held onto it until they reached their floor, hoping to provide her some comfort. She felt the trembling stop.

The doors opened when they had reached the designated floor and were greeted by more guards. They were guards from M-San’s side this time. As they stepped out, Agent BYJ instructed the 2 agents to follow her while the other guards gestured Cherry to follow them. Just as Chaeyeon was about to follow her superior, a hand grabbed hers and held her back.

“Wait.” Cherry suddenly said, causing everyone to stop, bewildered at the situation.

“I would like Agent Feather to accompany me.” Cherry said to Agent BYJ and once again in Japanese for her father’s guards.

There was a moment of silence as the guards and Agent BYJ exchanged looks. Without saying anything, Agent BYJ looked at Chaeyeon and nodded her head in approval and walked off with Eunbi. The guards again, gestured Cherry towards the dining area.

As they were walking, Chaeyeon couldn’t help but wonder why Cherry wanted her to come with her.

“Why did you ask for me to stay with you? You have your father’s guards to accompany you. You don’t need me by your side.” Chaeyeon whispered.

“That’s not true….” Cherry hesitated.

“I-I just feel safer when I’m with you.” She quietly added.

•~•

The dinner was proceeding fine so far. All the food was monitored before serving and Chaeyeon stood close by Cherry the whole entire time. She was slightly anxious though since Cherry was seated by her father and in front of all the other business associates. However, it wasn’t as bad as Chaeyeon had expected since Cherry kept quietly talking to her. Every now and then, Cherry would ask if Chaeyeon wanted a bite, but of course Chaeyeon declined every time. There was no way she could sneak a bite with everyone’s gaze directed up front, not to mention that her father was seated not too far from her and that she was on duty.

“Stop trying to feed me when there are so many people looking up here. You want to get me fired?” Chaeyeon whispered.

“Mmm, but it’s good though. Too bad, maybe I should try to feed Rabbit unnie.” Cherry said with a slight chuckle.

Chaeyeon looked at the girl, bewildered why she said such a thing.

“What do you mean by that?” Chaeyeon questioned.

“Do you not see her?” Cherry amusingly replied.

Chaeyeon looked up across the room to where Eunbi was standing. She knew exactly what Cherry was talking about now. Eunbi seemed quite fidgety, especially when a cart of food passed by her. She would take quick peaks and her lips every once in a while. She must really want to try the food badly. The two girls couldn’t help but snicker at the sight. They tried their best to not make it so obvious, but their efforts were in vain.

“What are you girls giggling about over there?” A gentle yet stern voice said.

Their smiles vanished as Chaeyeon reverted her gaze forward while Cherry looked over in the direction the voice was coming from. It was M-San.

“It’s nothing father.” Cherry said as she cleared , resuming to her meal.

M-San didn’t say anything for a bit as he continued to eat.

“That’s odd. You two seem quite close considering you only met about a week ago.” He said, still facing forward.

“She’s been a really big help. She’s protecting me very well and keeping me safe from harm.” Cherry replied.

A small grin creeped up on the corner of  M-San’s mouth at Cherry’s response.

“I haven’t seen you laugh like that in a while Sa-”

“Otosan!” Cherry sternly interrupted her father, slightly startling Chaeyeon in the process.

A bout of silence followed the end of their conversation, as the two quietly took their next bite. Chaeyeon could feel the tension between the two, which made it slightly suffocating and uncomfortable for her.

“Thank you…” M-San suddenly said, breaking the silence.

“....For taking care of my daughter.” He softly added.

Chaeyeon could tell that they didn’t have a very good relationship based on how they spoke to each other and how distant they seemed. However, she was glad that he still cared for his daughter’s safety.

Suddenly, there was some radio traffic that made Chaeyeon put her guard up. She calmly listened, trying not to cause unnecessary panic.

“Who is that guy?” A voice said through her ear piece.

“Some drunk ajusshi I guess.” Another voice replied.

“He’s stumbling onto the property.”

“Talk care of him quietly and remove him from the premises. We don’t need him making a ruckus.”

The radio traffic stopped.

I guess the situation has been handled.

Or so she thought.

“He’s giving us a harder time than we thought. Please send some back up to the front of the hotel.” The frantic voice returned.

Chaeyeon became more alert now, Her body tensed up and her eyes darting to every corner of the room scanning for anything out of the ordinary. All of a sudden, the lights shut off. A lot of shuffling and shouting could be heard as guards scrambled to surround M-San and Cherry. Chaeyeon quickly grabbed Cherry and pulled her closer to her, to the point where she could feel her breathing on her. Everyone stopped moving and waited for the emergency lights to turn on.

Just as the lights kicked on, grunting and glass breaking could be heard. Some of the people in the staff’s uniform were fighting with the guards. They must’ve disguised themselves and posed as the hotel and restaurant staff to get past security.

The guards surrounding M-San and Cherry began swiftly moving. Chaeyeon heard their plan. Their plan was to get to the emergency exit and escape quickly before they got hurt. Before getting anywhere near the door though, a few of the radicals came from behind and attack the guards surrounding them. Chaeyeon had no other option but to get Cherry and her father to safety by herself now that the guards were occupied. She quickly grabbed their hands and lead them towards the kitchen instead of the emergency exit.

She figured going the back way would be safer since the bad guys could be blocking the emergency exit. She rushed and pushed passed the employees in the kitchen, who were confused with what was happening. They made it into the hallway of the back entrance, and scoured the entire floor, making turns left and right to find the elevator or employee stairs down to the lobby.

“Agent Feather, where are you? Are you Ok? Are Cherry and M-San with you?” Agent Rabbit’s voice suddenly said through her ear piece.

“Yes, I’m currently roaming around the employee hallways on the 23rd floor right now, trying to find the way down to the lobby.” Chaeyeon replied, her breathing labored.

“Roger. Me and Agent BYJ will try to make it to you. They got the lobby cleared, so they should be able to escape as soon as they reach down there.”

Before confirming the plan with Eunbi, Chaeyeon ran into one of the bad guys and began fighting. M-San grabbed Cherry, pulling her away from the fight. Chaeyeon threw a couple of punches, but he blocked her well while he got one or two strikes in. She managed to flip the guy on his back, but he countered and pulled her down with him. He got on top of her to pin her down, but she