she should have known.

it is really weird how seungwan is so fit despite never going to the gym. she would disappear for days saying that it's for work but what teacher goes to that many trips? she's she quick with her words and she knows many languages. she's smart, smarter than anyone she knows. so, of course, government would pick up on that, of course, they would never let her go. it's strange how, more than anything, it makes her sad. seungwan is brainwashed, thinking she's on the right side.

she's not. she doesn't know what she's fighting for.

their life was getting stale she'll admit. but she was comfortable. seungwan was her comfort from all the bad in the world, her little shelter to get home to. joohyun thinks of all the days they spent on their couch, enjoying each other's company over a movie, how seungwan would massage her feet after a whole day in heels. she does think it was too good to be true after all, she often got that thought, that seungwan was too perfect. of course, it had to be an act; a fake personality for a fake relationship.

betrayal hurts like no bullet would. she puts a hand on her chest with a frown. when she said 'i do' for forever, she really meant it. did seungwan?

it has to end one way or another, she thinks loading a gun. when seungwan gets home, there's a surprise waiting for her. enough of the games, real is about to begin. she waits for a car to pull up to their driveway and hides the gun. seungwan should be home from her mission soon. from a hard day chasing silly guys with their little toys while joohyun did the real work, saving the world, the innocent people.

securing a small dagger in her belt and pulls the shirt over it. she's still in her work clothes - white shirt and dress pants. she has pulled the shirt out from being tucked in and has opened a few buttons of the shirt. she's being casual. like any other day, she pretends everything is okay.

she takes a deep breath and with a glance at the mirror - her hair is a mess - she goes downstairs where seungwan is about to come.

they met by an accident or so joohyun hopes. joohyun was on a mission in slovenia, searching for a hotel after taking care of her target. it was an unexpected turn of events that the police got involved and followed her to the hotel, searching for anyone that was traveling alone since the killer was a tourist. they wanted someone foreign. her being asian was the first giveaway that she's someone she doesn't belong as much as xenophobic as it was. she ran her eyes across the whole hotel floor and grabbed the first person that she saw; she wanted an alibi and she got it - seungwan was willing as soon as she saw her. was it her looks that caught her attention? did she already know her from the target on her back?

"miss...?" seungwan fished for her name as joohyun looped her arm around hers.

"just joohyun." she had said, leading them towards the unaware receptionist.

"seungwan. korean?"

"yes. you?"

"as well. surprise."

"not really." joohyun smiled, ordering a room with one bed with quick english, seungwan was staring at her the whole time.

once the keys were in her hand, the guys were inside the hotel sniffing around. thankfully, they didn't know exactly what they were looking for. that it was joohyun that they should capture.

but it could be soon that they'd figure it out.

joohyun pushed seungwan towards their room, hands linked. she glanced over her shoulder. with quick steps she lead them, seungwan looked back as well but wasn't asking any questions. it was like she knew what was happening. now joohyun knows why - she was also running away.

they quickly got to the room and closed the door behind them. they both leaned against it, listening to anything suspicious. they made eye contact, seemingly catching themselves acting weird around strangers.

"are you staying here for long?" seungwan asked.

"we'll see." joohyun air of aloofness around her, but she couldn't help showing a smile to her.

she found seungwan incredibly attractive back then. it was the way she carried herself, so sure of herself. her face was completely relaxed into a smile like she couldn't stop smiling even if she tried. sunshine of a person, joohyun didn't have that kind of person in her life. but she could have this one right here. she also found the whole thing quite . it did help that seungwan was good-looking as well, fit body, and of a goddess. everyone knew joohyun was an girl.

they waited until the police left but still didn't separate, talking about all sorts of things. joohyun found out seungwan worked as a professor and was there for a work trip, a conference of some sort. not only attractive but smart too. it couldn't get any better it seemed.

nights were the best. the locals fired up the place, music, and dancing in the backyard. alcohol flowing easily between them, it possessed joohyun. she wanted to be close to seungwan, she didn't even know if seungwan liked girls, unconsciously she stared at her fingers while seungwan talked about some weird fact she knew about slovenia; short fingernails, big hands.

"seungwan," joohyun cut her off, leaning in closer on the table between them, she took her hand between both of hers. she the back of her hand, making swirls with her thumb. "it's very interesting," she rolled her tongue, "but do you perhaps want to dance?"

"with you?"

joohyun laughed, "i don't see anyone else here."

"there's lots of people." seungwan looked around.

"you don't seem like a ditsy type."

"'ditsy type'?" seungwan laughed, looking off to the side. "i was making sure. i don't want to assume."

"chivalrous."

"of course. lady needs to be treated with respect."

"respect my wish, come to the dancefloor, lady." joohyun held out her hand.

seungwan took it.

they moved to the groove, the flaming hot weather and the dust in the air made all the mood they needed. the bodies felt the tension in the air as they walked to the floor's center where the couples were dancing. joohyun remembers sweat-stained bodies. they were glued together, two magnets calling each other, mixing with the crowd effortlessly. they looked at each other with sly smiles, secrets in their eyes; they knew what they wanted of each other by then, since the time that they met till then, eyeing each other as prizes. they wanted to see each other bare, they wanted to make each other come undone, show the true self. there was only one way to do that, wasn't it?

somewhere in the distance thunder broke out.

joohyun looked up to the sky, showing her neck -- a weakness. everyone knows baring their neck to someone is submitting. and so early in the night? she shouldn't have done this, but she couldn't help lowering her guard down. it had been a long week, she worked hard and she was tired. she wanted to let her hair down, relax. it's been so long since she was with someone, she couldn't think of a better option than seungwan. her boss wouldn't even know.

they rolled their hips with the music as the wind picked up, hands would not leave each other alone. they had to touch, but not too much. it was nearing inappropriate with the way they were looking at each other. pupils dilated - the thing only they could see given the fact how close they were to each other - tracking every move they make. hearts beating along to others, they didn't know how synced they are but anyone who would look at them could feel the spark and joy in them. finding someone you have the same frequencies with is rare. sometimes it happens in the most unexpected ways.

joohyun put her hands on seungwan's shoulders, hair wild as the thunder that booms above them.

"how do you like your women?" joohyun leaned in near her ear, tangled in her hair. she had to know once and for all.

"as refreshing as dew on the grass." seungwan pulled back and spun her around. "as beautiful as the sunrise. strong and independent." she pressed against joohyun's back, swaying them as she took her by the hips. "confident." she nosed her shoulder and breathed in. "daring to ask me to dance."

"staying out in the thunderstorm?" joohyun asked, setting aside her hair so her neck can be kissed.

"it's just water." lightning struck the sky, making joohyun chuckle at seungwan's words.

the tension in the air rose as did the wind. as if the sky was pierced the rain fell down hard. everyone ran for cover, getting inside. the music stopped. all this and they still felt for each other. they laughed staying put in the same place - the center of the backyard.

joohyun shook her hair out, completely wet. she pushed aside stray strands away from her face, watching seungwan.

"do you want to get out of here?" she asked.

"i thought you'd never ask."

it was a good thing they rented a room before. the whole place was scarce, no person in sight as they made their way inside. they looked around as if they were looking for the enemy, two agents on a mission. holding hands tight between their bodies. puddles of water everywhere they went, outside the room's door where they stood trying to open it.

once inside they took a pause. they stood close to each other, breathing each other's air.

"you sure?" seungwan asked.

"sure for what?" joohyun , acting as if she didn't know what was going on.

she knew full well that they are going to sleep with each other. it was inevitable the moment they touched.

seungwan sighed. she pushed aside joohyun's wet hair, watching as it fell behind her back. seungwan's hand trailed down her shoulder, collarbone. she leaned in close.

joohyun kissed her.

it was a small peck, a lean in then back. it wasn't enough. tingling lips went in for more, she kissed her once again, this time longer. she was still skittish, pulled back when it was about to be good. she couldn't believe the magnetic field over seungwan's mouth. it was like some sort of a drug, glue. her lips stuck to coming right back. she gave a long open mouthed touch of lips, seungwan caught her. she slid her hand to the back of joohyun's neck, keeping her there when joohyun wanted to pull back again. seungwan deepened the kiss, on joohyun's bottom lip. her tongue slipped out, wetting it.

joohyun gripped seungwan's shirt at her hips with both hands; up it went, wet shirt over her head. seungwan gave it no resistance, shaking out her hair. they went back to kissing while going over to the bed, pulling each other in. the dress's zipper joohyun wore, came undone. broken that will be fixed in the morning- lips over neck, chest, hips- fingers, and hands, soft and delicate touches, hard and rough when needed to be. they held hands in the middle of it all, they couldn't let go. they weren't shy, it was almost like they'd shared this kind of moment before but at the same time, they were tasting each other for the first time too. the buttons they press they knew, the creases, the muscles, tight and soft, fingers digging into the skin- the voices, the moans, and feelings spilling out through vocal cords.

the laughter. god, the laughter.

joohyun remembers laughing and she had never laughed during before. it was an experience she'd never forget in her life. when everything's set and done, she could sit in content that she had experienced it. that she knows how it feels to have with pure fiery passion. the best night of her life. she still considers it that as she drives back home, tears gathering in her eyes. she takes a deep breath and breathes out through . breathing exercises never worked for her, she was always the type that gets controlled by the emotions.

it's good that seungwan's job is demanding. she needs to prepare for the classes, go to the conferences, make talks, grade papers. and she always needs to be alone to concentrate, she stays at the office in the university most of the time, gets home late at night.

joohyun's cover is great too. supposedly she's a programmer working with servers that just keep on crashing. she's always at the company helping out, working hard. seungwan never had questions, technology is not her strong suit.

that was true until her real agency gets hacked. they get an alert blaring through the whole building's computers about how the data is being accessed by a foreign database. all their secrets, missions, and reports on them, the names of the agents, of her boss's identity. it has to be kept a secret, all the agents get on that as soon as they can, her included.

they manage to stop it just in time, but the fact that it has nearly succeeded is bad enough. they track it, of course, locating it to their rival agency. the same piece of guys that keep duping them on the missions, stealing their hard-earned wins, reaping the benefits. it can't be left just like that, they arrange a mission off the books, a taste of their own medicine. with the best hackers in tow - her included - they made a team for a better - and successful - hacking.

but first, they have to get close enough.

she has to stay the whole night, working. she tells seungwan that her friend, sooyoung, needs some friend counseling. that her family had an emergency and she needs an ear to listen. surprisingly, seungwan is awfully okay with it. she doesn't lie that she will be with sooyoung, just what they will be doing.

they manage to find the location of the agency. it's a building near the university seungwan teaches. very near, next door actually. shabby little thing -- on the outside, she guesses. much like their own headquarters -- a normal building on the outside and high-tech offices inside.

their line of work demands secrecy but is necessary. she believes that there should be law and order, that there should be bigger, more strict, and organized agencies that take care of things a police department can't and are too incapable of. she's in hire to kill people, yes. but people that are better off not being in this world. pure criminals without redemption options. joohyun has trained since her teenage years to be capable of taking them out and she will not lose this position over some rivalry.

especially when the other side is this sloppy, she thinks successfully tracking the exact location they are in is.

stakeouts are boring but the food is always great. she doesn't know what is about the stakeouts that make it so but this burger is a god sent.

they are waiting to spot agents going in and out of the building. so far there are none. the only suspicious person was a guy with a cane that could walk perfectly fine, but sooyoung says she just has trust issues.

they're hacking their system, but the loading bar is going so slow, it seemed like it is stuck on ninety-eight percent. that's joohyun's most hated part -- waiting. she always hated waiting, it's a waste of time, she could do something better like go to the gym. she is stuck with sooyoung in a van.

it's ridiculous that they don't even know their rival company's name after all these years. for a top spy agency they really ed that up. she wants to go inside and take them all out, so they don't mess with her work anymore, so her days are less stressful. she could work without looking over her shoulder, that would be so wonderful for once. she pitched this idea to the 'big boss' but was quickly shut down. it would be messy and unnecessary. like they always don't go guns blazing on every mission.

sure, she wants research -- a plan. but anything would be better than sitting in a van. at least switch her out.

sooyoung taps the dashboard, nodding her head at a figure approaching the building. they look familiar, the way they move. something gives off a very familiar vibe, an itch in her brain. she grabs a set of binoculars and tracks them. as soon as she gets a glimpse she narrows her eyes, eyebrows tense. she watches as she walks closer to the building, just to be sure, just to know she actually makes it inside and is not just walking by. after all she works near, she could just be on a break. it seems that seungwan is not concentrating on anything but then she turns her head, her eyes set exactly at the van they are sitting in-

sooyoung shoots at seungwan without a second thought. seungwan ducks, holding a bag over her head and leaving her whole body unprotected. idiot.

"what the hell are you doing?" joohyun puts her hand over the gun, alarmed.

"we've been compromised." sooyoung shrugs.

"that's my wife!"

"your enemy wife." sooyoung corrects.

"you don't know that." joohyun defends her.

seungwan runs to the building's door, the bag still up. she takes out a card, flashing it to the card reader. it flashes green and lets her inside the building. sooyoung looks pointedly at joohyun who falls quiet. she was wrong, all the facts point to that. she doesn't want to believe it though. seungwan doesn't seem like someone who lies, it must be some sort of misunderstanding.

"we have to report it in." sooyoung says, staring. "twenty-four hours mission to get rid of her?"

she probably thinks joohyun is weak, showing her feelings. joohyun clears straightening her spine. seungwan is a spy. fact. she works for a rival company known for their dirty plays. fact. joohyun is married to her. fact.

"she's my wife, i'll kill her." joohyun says and starts her van.

"you organized a mission by yourself and failed?" a robotic voice asks.

joohyun stands with sooyoung, both of their hands behind their backs, spines straight, everyone in the office watching them. he can see them but they can't see him. that was always the deal. joohyun respected it, she knows how dangerous this job was. that's why she's cursing herself so hard for making such a rookie mistake.

she should have never gone there, it was like they were like college students hazing each other but with real viable information, no one should get a hold of that.

"yes, sir." joohyun speaks up when sooyoung stays quiet.

"i'll let this go since you managed to uncover one of their agent's identity. son seungwan, was it?"

"yes, sir." joohyun lowers her head.

"joohyun's wife?" someone asks.

"can't be."

"it is. it's possible i have been compromised, sir." joohyun says, her voice is steady but her body is shaking. she hates losing and seungwan made her a loser in her workplace where everyone respected her. she's a sham now. how will she ever get back to the place that she was?

"-24 hours."

"what?" joohyun snaps out of her thoughts.

"you have 24 hours to kill her. i assume she has all the information we need at your house. kill her then we'll extract it. good luck, joohyun." he says and the connection cuts.

she did promise sooyoung to kill her but now that