-- September  20, 2017, 08:00 AM --
-- Lee Mansion, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul --

A young woman groaned as she sat up on her bed and squinted her eyes at the sun that was shining through her window. She was stretching and rubbing the sleep off her eyes when one of the maids came into her room. 

“Good morning, Ms. Sunmi.” The said maid greeted her with a bow to which the woman, now known as Sunmi, groaned at.

“Chunghee-unnie, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me ‘miss’.  Sunmi is fine.” She told her personal maid, the one who had been with her for the last 5 years.

The woman ignored what she said and shrugged with a teasing smile. Sunmi rolled her eyes at that.

“Are Appa and Eomma around?” She asked.

“No, Ms. Sunmi. Your father left for a conference and your mother went with him. They will be back in 5 days. Your teacher will not be meeting you today as well so she left some modules and activities for you to go through.” Chung-hee informed her and Sunmi sighed tiredly. She didn’t like the fact that she took University classes online and met with a teacher once a week to check up on her pace for the lessons. 

She got ready for another boring day of doing modules by taking a bath and eating her breakfast first. Afterward, she started working on the modules her professor left behind. Sunmi was considered a genius with an IQ of 145. She had developed extremely fast at such a young age and her parents felt that her potential was being wasted going to a normal school. They didn’t want to send her to school with people older than her as they didn’t want to affect her chance to make friends with people her age so they signed her up for various academic online classes as well as after-school and out-of-school activities with people her own age. Now at 20, she is currently working on her second degree in Computer Engineering after earning her first one in Business Administration, the previous year. 

It was already 2 PM and she was at her home study/library working on yet another module when Chunghee came in with the mail.

“Ms. Sunmi, I got those packages you ordered via mail last week. I’ll be putting these in your room. Also, an envelope that was addressed to you came in as well. Security already had it checked out so you can go ahead and open it.” Chunghee said as she placed down a few small boxes she was carrying and handed an envelope to Sunmi.

Sunmi wondered who would be sending her mail and excitedly opened the envelope to take a look. She pulled out an invitation card. Chunghee watched as she flipped the card open and read the contents with her.

I invite you to a murder game party which will be held on September 27th.

That was the first line that Sunmi saw and she excitedly read the other details before closing it and looking at Chunghee with a big smile on her face.

“Unnie-” She started to say but Chunghee cut her off.

“No. If you want to join that gathering, you have to ask your parents yourself. Don’t drag me into this.” Chunghee already knew what her charge would ask her.

“But Unnie, this invite says that it’s supposed to be top secret and that I should come alone. What do I tell mom and dad so they don’t worry too much and send someone to watch over me?” Sunmi whined a little as she thought about the possible scenarios in her head.

“Well, you can tell them that you joined a mystery club and that you got invited to a gathering. That should be enough truth that they don’t have to worry about what you will be doing, at the same time, you won’t be revealing too many details.” Chunghee advised. Sunmi had a worried look on her face as she thought about how her parents would react. She hoped everything would go well.

--  September 25, 2017, 06:30 PM --
-- Lee Mansion, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul --

After Sunmi received the invite, she couldn’t stop thinking about it anymore. She loved mystery and crime, she and her Appa usually spent Sunday nights watching replays of American Crime Shows. Most girls dreamt of being a princess when they were younger; she dreamt of being a crime scene detective.

The past few days flew by and before she knew it, her parents had come home from their trip. They were currently having dinner together and she was trying to think of how she can bring up the invite.

“So, anything interesting happened while we were away, Sunny? Did you meet any boys?” Her mother, Park Shinae, asked her. Sunmi was adopted at the age of 10 by Lee Junho and Park Shinae. The couple was unable to have kids and Sunmi was like an answered prayer to them. Although they were busy most of the time, they tried their best to be there for Sunmi whenever they could.

“Eomma, you were away for literally five days. I was busy with my modules and homework. How could I meet a guy that fast?” Sunmi asked her mom.

“Okay, no boys then. Is there anything new you’re up to?” Her dad asked.

“I joined a Mystery Club. I even got invited to a party. It’s happening 2 days from now. Can I please go?” Sunmi asked, looking at both of her parents with puppy eyes. 

“Okay, take the driver and security with you.” Her dad said as he continued to eat his meal. Lee Junho was the Deputy Chief of the Korean National Police Agency. Due to the nature of his job, he had security around his family whenever they stepped out of the house. The public is aware of who his wife is, given that she’s made a name for herself in the fashion industry, but the both of them kept Sunmi out of the spotlight so no one really knew who she was. They preferred it that way for safety reasons.

“But I’m old enough to drive myself around and go without security. Please, Appa? Please, Eomma? Eomma, how am I ever gonna meet boys if I go around with security breathing down my back.” Sunmi didn’t have plans on going to that party just to meet a guy but she’d say anything to get her parents off her back.

“Yeobo, maybe our daughter is right. We both know how responsible she is and that she can defend herself if need be. Let’s pull back her bodyguards.” Her mom spoke to her dad in a sweet tone. Sunmi knew that it was her mom’s secret technique of getting what she wants and that it always worked on her