Byul woke up around seven in the morning to an empty space beside her. The light that had come in from the windows shot through her closed lids, forcing her awake. The first thing that came to mind was Sehun. He had fallen asleep with her, didn’t he? But the sheets around her were so cold. For a moment, Byul considered that she dreamt the whole thing, though it felt all too real to be a dream. There was no way her mind was creative enough to conjure any of that. Despite that, there wasn’t a trace of evidence that Sehun had been in the room with her.

Leaving her room to get breakfast in the kitchen, she noticed Jangmi sipping on coffee by the table. She must have just gotten back from Busan very early in the morning.

“Hey, there. Rough night?” There was a mischievousness in the way she was smirking.

Byul’s eyes rounded. “What? What makes you say that?”

“That guy with the nice car told me to give this to you.” Jangmi tossed her a folded piece of paper which Byul caught.

Unraveling the note, she read:

Byul,

I never write letters or notes for anyone and I feel really embarrassed about writing this now, so you better appreciate it.

I’m sorry I left. Something at work came up. I didn’t want to wake you. When I get home, I’ll give you a call, because I think we need to talk about last night.

Sehun

“Talk?” Byul asked herself out loud.

“I didn’t know you were dating that guy. It kind of makes sense now, I guess,” Jangmi commented, casually chewing on toast.

“Did you read this? I can’t believe you!” Byul pocketed the note. “And no. I’m not dating him.” Sadly not dating him yet, she wanted to add.

She eyed Byul suspiciously, not seemingly convinced. “Did you sleep with him? He came out of your room stealthily, but saw me come home and wrote that note up before he left.”

“I didn’t sleep with him.” Byul flopped herself onto the chair across from Jangmi. “I slept with him, you know what I mean?”

“I’m not sure,” Jangmi teased, though knowing exactly what Byul was trying to say.

The note in her pocket felt like it weighed as much as a brick. Byul pulled it out to re-read it again. Her eyes inspected every word closely together, as if there was a secret meaning that she wasn’t understanding. “He wants to talk? Is that good or bad?”

Jangmi shrugged. “I don’t know, but it sounds pretty serious.”

Byul wondered if Sehun was starting to regret the whole thing and wanted to tell her that it was a huge mistake. That would crush her into tiny pieces. He wouldn’t do that to her, right? Get her hopes up but then send it to the ground? Those kinds of thoughts bothered Byul for the entire morning.

Sehun pushed up the large-framed sunglasses to keep it from sliding down the bridge of his nose. He kept his eyes on Jang Seungho who was across the room from him in the pool hall. Sehun brought the bottle of beer to his lips to cover the fact that he was speaking to his earpiece.

“Do you have sights on the area?”

“Yeah. Three guards in front of the building. Three on the east and west. Nine in total,” Chanyeol informed him.

Sehun absentmindedly readjusted the hat on his head. It seemed like his disguise was working because he had been watching the man for some time and no one had tried to attack him. “I’m hurt. He didn’t bring all of his men.”

“Maybe he thinks we got scared off from yesterday.”

“That’s offensive.” He leaned forward with his elbows on the table, watching Seungho slip the waitress a large tip in the back pocket of her jeans with a flirtatious wink.

“What happened last night after you left Byul’s apartment? We talked on the phone, but you didn’t meet up with me afterward at my place.”

“Oh, I ended up spending the night with her.”

“Aaaaaaand?” Chanyeol’s tone was inappropriately suggestive.

“She said you were wrong. I’m not a bad influence.” Sehun wanted to demand why Chanyeol was now bringing up the topic about Byul of all possible times, but he felt the need to tell him about what Byul said anyway. Byul had disagreed with Chanyeol and that took off a tremendous amount of weight from Sehun’s back.

“That’s because she doesn’t know all the details. She doesn’t know you’re a hitman.”

Sehun grew silent. Again, Chanyeol was still right. It felt like the weight was slowly piling up again.

Chanyeol seemed to notice the pause. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to discourage you. If you really like her, then go for it. Don’t listen to me.”

This time, Sehun took an actual long sip of beer. “That’s the plan.”

“What do you mean that’s the plan? Did you—?”

“Target is on the move. I’m following him. Looks like he’s leaving through the back door.”

Sehun slipped out of his booth to tail Seungho. He pocketed his sunglasses and pulled up his mask to cover his mouth and nose while he followed Seungho out the back door. He seemed to have left the building for a smoke break because he plucked a cigarette out of his pocket. As Seungho brought out a lighter and flicked it to start a fire, Sehun spoke up before he had a chance to light his cigarette.

“You’re such a pain in the , buddy.”

Seungho turned at the voice and at once recognized the masked man. “GUARDS!”

Chanyeol spoke into the earpiece. “Sehun, the men stationed at the sides of the building are coming towards you.”

On cue, six men were making their way to Sehun. He cracked his knuckles and got into position. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“Sehun?” Chanyeol breathlessly called out. He searched for his partner left and right as he ran down the alley. Relief washed over him when he spotted Sehun standing by a car.

Sehun had ran after Seungho once he tried to flee. Chanyeol quickly took care of the three men at the front of the bar before rushing over to find him in case he needed the help. The back of the restaurant had been littered with unconscious bodies.

Clearly, he didn’t need help. Chanyeol studied Seungho’s slumped body leaning against the car. He put his hands on his hips. “Oh, you got him. I’m surprised you took out all those other guys by yourself.”

Sehun scoffed smugly. “I told you I could still fight.”

Chanyeol gave him a knowing grin. “You’re full of those painkillers, aren’t you?”

“I am.” Sehun began to prop the body up against the side of the car. He brought out his phone to take a picture to send to their client. “I’ll text the picture now. I’m glad this is over. This whole thing was such a hassle.”

“Can I pose next to him?” Chanyeol squatted beside the body with a peace sign and a goofy grin.

Sehun paused before he could capture the image. He lowered his phone to give his partner a look. “You’re disgusting, Chanyeol. Get out of the shot.”

Byul stood by the mailbox with a letter in hand from Seoul National University that she ripped earlier with anticipation. She read the same words over and over.

Ms. Seo Eunbyul,

It is with great pleasure that we write to inform you that you have been re-accepted for admission to Seoul National University...

It was about time that she put her life back on track. No more depending solely on small jobs to help her get by. Byul wanted to pursue her passions again and not be scared of failure anymore. She started with picking up where she left off in school. With a smile, she pocketed the letter into her shoulder bag. Byul would have to tell her manager at work that she’ll have to start working part-time instead of full-time because she would be continuing her Criminal Justice program.

Accepted. She was beaming at the word.

Instead of going straight home, she hailed a taxi. The time was about two in the afternoon. Byul wasn’t sure when Sehun wanted to talk, but figured it would be best to approach him herself and then maybe share the good news she had.

Stepping out of the taxi minutes later and onto Sehun’s driveway, Byul saw that Sehun’s garage door was open. It looked like Sehun had just pulled up. In fact, he might have still been in the garage because Byul thought she heard his voice.

Peeking into the garage, she watched Sehun step off the silver motorcycle he seemed to have used for the day. His hair majestically fell into place as he took off his helmet. He was speaking to his earpiece over a call.

“...I took care of the body and sent the photo. He said we should be expecting payment this afternoon… Okay. Bye.”

A thought occurred to Byul: How funny would it be to see Sehun jump up in fright? The Oh Sehun who was seemingly unafraid of anything. Snickering behind her hand at the idea, Byul tiptoed while she silently approached him slowly from behind. She moved as quiet as a mouse. Once she was close enough, she quickly grabbed him by the shoulders.

Sehun reacted to the “attack” by grabbing one of her wrists with both of his hands. He jutted his hips back and pulled her over his shoulder. In the next second, Byul’s world was upside down and she was on her back against the garage floor with pain branching out from her shoulders and tailbone. Sehun was pinning her with his forearm against .

“Byul?! What the hell!”

She shoved him away and sat up. “I should be saying that! What is wrong with you?!”

“Don’t sneak up on me then! I’m going to literally get you killed next time, I swear.”

“Why are you so antsy anyways?” Byul massaged her aching shoulder blade. She didn’t know she could flip through the air that quickly until Sehun had demonstrated.

Instead of answering, Sehun stood first to offer his hand. Byul took it and he hauled her back up to her feet.

Byul dusted off her clothes with a frown. “That wasn’t the hello I was expecting.”

Sehun’s shoulders sank. He did his best t