It’s begun to snow heavily by the time he reached the Kyunghee University gymnasium. The ground was covered in small specs of white, and the descending snow illuminated by the soft yellow lights made them look like thousands of tiny fluttering angels. Sung Gyu gripped the steering wheel of his car and closed his eyes. Tonight’s mission was a decider; whether he continued on his path, whether he changed direction, whether he succeeded and lived, whether he accepted his fate to make the greatest sacrifice. It was also a decider for his frail, old heart. Sunggyu had planned to stay low and unnoticeable for the whole course of the event, quietly seeking for Jaehyun and taking him out before he could start anything. But according to Howon, Jaehyun hadn’t exactly planned to do his “execution” quietly. He wanted it big and extravagant, he wanted everyone to see him and know his name before he turned all of them into lab rats.

“How are we now?” Howon’s voice was in his earpiece. As tonight was an assignment directly related to the STF, Howon had taken over the roll of support instead of Jieun. Sung Gyu also kind of suggested it beforehand for his sister’s sake because he didn’t want the last of him she’d ever hear to be his possible final breath.

“Just arrived at the venue” Sunggyu looked around the surrounding. There were only lines and lines of cars parked, people heading towards the brightly lit gymnasium. There was nothing standing out so far.

“Coast is clear, will update once inside”

“Cool, keep me posted”

Sunggyu momentarily muted the mic and prepared to leave to find his fate. Before he climbed out of the car, he reached into the glove compartment and searched blindly until he found it. It was a small stone bracelet, which he always wore to his missions to remind himself whom he was doing this for. For better measure, he also grabbed a wad of tissues and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. He’d never know when his nose would have a calling, especially as it happened more often than before.

Afterwards, he went to the trunk of the car where he’d carefully placed his larger equipment. Tonight’s murder weapon would not be RJ71. For one, it was intentionally made as a slow killer that won’t serve the purpose tonight. For the other, if Jaehyun was coming with the stronger version of the biochemical, Sunggyu didn’t want to increase the danger of one too many biochemical hazard lingering in the crowd. For this reason, tonight, Sunggyu would be doing what he was essentially the best at. He would be a sniper. 

He put on his leather gloves and reached for the gun carrier. His face covered in a mask, hair beneath a cap, Sunggyu carried the large, black box along the back of the building, trying to disappear into the shadows of the night. From the back door, he entered the hallway. Walls shook and the ground trembled by the music booming inside, the corridor was completely empty. Quick on his feet, he made a beeline to the boys locker room and placed the gun under the bench. The box cracked open, almost soundless, revealing his three guns; an SNT K5 Pistol, a simple Smith and Wesson pistol and a K14 sniper rifle. Leaving the rifle to be used only after the subject is located, Sunggyu picked up the K5 and discreetly placed it inside his coat. He knew there would be no metal detectors, no extensive checking of the partygoers. Fully equipped for the night, he kicked the case back shut, pushed it under the bench with his foot and locked the locker room on his way out back to the corridor. 

“Good evening and welcome! Can I get your name please?”

The lady at the reception has got to be someone he knew, but he couldn’t exactly recall her face. Sunggyu smiled politely, nonetheless.

“That’s Kim Sung Gyu”

“Kim Sung Gyu…hm…” The lady scanned the list of names on one file, then moved to another. “What faculty are you from, Kim Sunggyu-Ssi?”

“Law”

“Ah, law” she muttered under her breath and flipped open another file. “Faculty of law was the most elite back then, wasn’t it? I remember everyone being obsessed with the law kids. Talk was that they had the best looking guys” she flipped another page and traced the names with a finger as Sunggyu stood there patiently, his ears running warm. The lady looked up and gave him a suggestive smile. “Well, I’ve got to say, they haven’t lied” she pushed the file towards him. “Sign here please?”

Sung Gyu tried to smile, but he mostly ignored her as he quickly put in his signature. She would have caught him for more chit chatting, but he escaped it by collecting his tag and walking away. He tried to melt into the crowd, the plethora of men in smart suits, women in evening dresses, huddled in circles, reminiscing over their college lives.

Sunggyu hadn’t may friends back in college. He tried his best not to stand out and be noticeable because he was a shy kid who hated all that attention. He remained low, focused on studies, spent most of his time in the library, reading or the gym, working out on his own. He knew he was handsome, and that self awareness also kept him away from the crowd and unnecessarily gawking eyes. But it never worked in his favor. Being eye-candy came with its own perks, although it wasn’t something he chose to be. And it was also something that stood against him even tonight.

“Oh, it’s Kim Sung Gyu!”

Sunggyu slowly turned around, his fists tightened on the either sides. Behind him was a group of batch mates that he barely recognised, all waving their hands in excitement that Sungyu certainly did not find mutual.

“Wow, haven’t you aged like fine wine!” Said one of the women in the group and approached him in a quick stride. It’s been barely an hour since the party started and this woman was already drunk -face. “How are you? How has it been?”

“Good, fine” Sunggyu nodded awkwardly, slowly backing away from them. But the group was relentless.

“Sunggyu-Ssi, remember me? We did mooting together” Another one of the ladies reached for his arm and stared into his eyes as if she was trying to read his mind. “I’m Yoojin! Lee Yoojin!”

Sunggyu couldn’t remember any Lee Yoojin for the life of him. He nodded, nevertheless, eager to get away.

“Yeah, I do”

“I used to have the biggest crush on you back then”

“Oh” Sunggyu pursed his lips. How does one respond to confessions like that? 

“Uh, thanks?”

This made the ladies burst out laughing. “Aigoo! He’s still so modest and cute!”

“And very, very handsome!”

The two women shared some sort of weird hand gesture, a smack on their arms as Sung Gyu watched them uncomfortably all the while.

“You ladies are shameless, really” said one of the male classmates, who’s face he didn’t remember. But it’s obvious the classmate recognised him well. “Sunggyu-ssi? Why don’t you grab a drink first? All the law faculty kids are sitting together in table two, you can join us”

“Sure” Sunggyu gave them a forceful smile. “I’ll catch you there”

As soon as the group disappeared into the crowd, Sunggyu turned the opposite direction and walked towards the bar. They’ve put up a makeshift bar inside the wide expanse of the gymnasium hall, a stage upfront and a Photo Booth. There had to be at least 150 partygoers in total, a crowd too large for him to protect on his own.

That made him want a drink, to moist his dry throat and parched lips, burn him in the process if it helps.

But his luck lasted only so long that the moment he arrived at the makeshift bar, another voice called him. It was calling from a very close distance, and this time, he easily recognised it. His blood ran cold as he lifted his head. Lee Sung Jong, Jung Eunji’s best pal from college was standing right in front of him behind the counter.

“Sung Gyu Hyung?”

He immediately changed his mind about the drink. He could very well do without one.

“No,” He shook his head, turned away and tried to leave, but Sung Jong proved that he hadn’t changed a bit as he reached out and caught him by the arm.

“Yes, it is Sung Gyu Hyung, I know your face”

Sung Gyu sighed and reminded himself that he was from the army. Army officers did not run away from kids like Lee Sung Jong.

“Okay, what do you want?”

Sung Jong’s lips lifted in a smirk. “Funny that’s the first you ask after you went into exile and broke my best-friend’s heart”

“Sung Jong-Ssi” Sung Gyu closed his eyes. “Can you just-,”

“She’s here…Jung Eunji”

Sung Gyu’s hands froze over his eyes, so did his blood in his veins. He slowly lifted his head looked up at the other, who was giving him a look of distaste.

“I mean, she’s also doing so much better than before” Sung Jong shrugged and went to the back of the bar. An unknown patron arrived and asked for a beer, which Sung jong got one of the girls behind the bar to tend to. Sung Jong himself grabbed a glass and poured a generous amount of whiskey, topped with a large cube of ice. Without even asking his preference, Sung Jong placed the glass right in front of him.

“She’s dating a scientist. A hot one” Sung Jong raised his brows. “You can’t hold a candle against him so you better not even try”

Sung Gyu stared at Sung Jong for a moment. Whatever reaction Sung Gyu had given him, Sung Jong seemed pretty happy to have invoked it. On your face he seemed to be telling him. But that didn’t even bother him.

Sung Gyu wanted to tell him that he had moved on. At the age of 34, Sung Gyu wasn’t going to sit and whine about a lost love. True, Sung Gyu still loved her. It wasn’t easy to leave his heart behind and act like he never cared. But at the same time, there was nothing beyond quietly loving her that he could do. There was a flicker of pain. It was inevitable. But Sung Gyu was a professional killer who was slowly dying because of the biological weapon he was forced to use almost every day. Did Sung Gyu want Eunji to be a part of that miserable life? No. He’d rather have her date a hot scientist that he couldn’t hold a candle to, instead.

Sung Gyu had a large swig of his drink and said nothing at all.

“So,” Sung Jong started leaning over the counter towards him. “Where in the hell did you disappear to, and why did you come back?” One of his brows lifted as he quietly observed him. “I heard you ran off abroad”

Sung Gyu wasn’t out of the country at any point. He was in extensive special task force training. Then he was hiding. Sung Jong didn’t have to know any of that. Sung Gyu just shrugged.

“You never come to the reunion” Sung Jong went on, cautiously rapping his fingers on the counter. “Why are you here all of a sudden?”

To stop your silly from turning into a living lab rat. Sung Gyu wanted to tell him. Instead, Sung Gyu heaved a sigh and finished the rest of his drink. Sung Jong observed all of this quietly and took the glass from him. He twirled the ice in the glass around for a second as Sung Gyu tried to recover from the burning in his throat.

“You’re not here to get Eunji back, are you?”

There it goes. Sung Gyu couldn’t help rolling his eyes. He should not be chit chatting with his past right now. He should be on a roll, actively seeking out the killer before he starts anything.

So he decided to be true and upfront about it. Sung Jong is just the bartender. There was nothing that this kid could do.

“I’m here on a mission” Sung Gyu said. Sung Jong poured him another glass and set it on the counter.

“Mission to get your ex back?” Sung Jong narrowed his eyes.

“It’s been five years, Sung Jong, get over it” Sung Gyu shot him an annoyed look. “You can move on from it because I have and so has she”

Sung Jong was quiet for a second, contemplative. Then he sighed, resting against the counter and tilted his head. “Hmm, you’re right, I guess” He turned back to him. “Then what’s this mission of yours”

“Work” Sung Gyu had a gulp of his drink.

“What kind of work?”

“I’m here to find a psychopath”

Sung Jong stared at him for a second. Slowly, an amused grin spread across his lips. “Ha, ha ha” He mock-laughed and slapped a hand on the counter. “I bet the only psychopath here is you”

“Very funny”

“Hm” Sung Jong moved forward and intently stared into his eyes. “Makes me wonder…what do you even do? I heard you left your job at the firm”

“I did”

“Then what are you? Are you like, in the secret service or something?”

“Something like that” he shrugged.

“Good, then you better run and start looking for your psychopath, hyung” Sung Jong was smiling, his eyes set beyond him, as he spoke through gritted teeth. “There is someone I don’t want you to see”

Sung Gyu had not a lot of time to register what the other was saying. He'd just set his glass down, prepared to leave the scene when a familiar voice sounded beside him. 

“Sung Jong-ah, can you pour us two beers please?”

“Just one” Said another voice. “And one whisky on the rocks, please”

It was this one voice that sent a chill down his back. It’s been three years, and Sung Gyu had heard that voice only a handful of times. But his brain, his whole consciousness had been training to trace it for the past few weeks, so much so that it stood out and punched him in the solar plexus like a brutal reality check.

It was him, it was-

“Excuse me” Sung Gyu muttered and quickly moved himself away from the bar. He couldn’t be seen. He couldn’t be noticeable now, because his target has walked right into his arms.

With his ex-girlfriend, the woman he’d sworn to protect until the end of his life.

“Howon-Ssi, put me through to noona”

Sung Gyu was back in the boys’ locker room, seated on the bench where he’d hidden his guns underneath. It was an emergency, and the kind of emergency where he needed his sister’s wisdom over his boss’s professional insignts.

“To noona?” Howon inquired on the other end. “I thought we agreed she’s not on this mission. You wanted that, Hyung”

“I know” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “But I need her help”

“On what?”

“You won’t understand”

“Try me” Howon challenged. Sung Gyu knew his boss was a hard nut to crack. Sung Gyu closed his eyes, finally giving in. He had not a lot of time for games of push and pull.

“I found Lee Jaehyun”

“Good, now set up your gun then-,”

“He’s with my ex girlfriend”

Even saying that out in words left a cottony sensation in his mouth. Jung Eunji, the woman who still had his heart, with Lee Jaehyun, the man he was here to kill. Could fate be any crueller?

Howon was quiet for a second, then he reiterated what Sung Gyu just said. There was doubt in his voice.

“How is that a problem?” Howon pushed on. Sung Gyu pressed a hand on the side of his head, staring out the window, watching the descending snow. Of course Howon would say that. He was a seasoned killer who had not an ounce of humanity left inside him. Love, romance, life. Those weren’t the kind of vocabulary he’d find in his book anymore. Unlike Sung Gyu, Howon wasn’t killing out of desperation. He was killing because its his job.

“Just-just put me through to noona please” Sung Gyu pleaded tiredly. She was the only one who’d understand him.

“Gosh, you two dramatic babies”

Howon put his through to Jieun nevertheless, although while complaining that she wouldn’t even be online. But unsurprisingly so she was, and already panicking the moment she heard his voice.

“Noona, I’m fine. Nothing happened yet”

“Oh thank god” Jieun muttered on the other end. “Why did you want to talk to me?”

“It’s Eunji” Sung Gyu said, and it was surreal to speak her name, a name he hadn’t mentioned, once, not even when they were talking about her for the past five years. “She’s with Lee Jaehyun”

There was a second of hesitation. “What do you mean she’s with him?”

“Meaning, they’re together…” He swallowed hard. “Like she was…with me”

“Oh my, oh god” Jieun’s concern was enough to comfort him and put him on the edge at the same time. “What should we do?”

“What else? Set up the snipe and shoot him” Howon grumbled in his ear, which Sung Gyu obviously ignored. But not his noona. Noona understood his predicament.

“And live with that guilt of breaking her heart once again? Sung Gyu wouldn’t do that”

He nodded quietly, his stomach churning at the thought of it. There was a point where even morality had to draw the line. He had to sacrifice one man to save a hundred more. But how could he do that when the man he was to kill was someone the woman he loved probably cherished? Was he going to risk breaking her heart like that? Sung Gyu had a heart too, one that’s been wrapped around her, drowning in her eyes for the past few years. There was no part of him that could bring himself to do that to her.

“You are too sensitive, too romantic. You can’t do that in this business, hyung”

“You can’t blame him for being a little human” Jieun replied. Then her attention returned to Sung Gyu. “Gyu, you need to find her and you need to warn her”

“That her boyfriend is a psychopath?” Sung Gyu covered his face with his hand. There was one thing that bothered him from the moment the realisation hit him. Jung Eunji was dating the psychopath. And the dating part was just his assumption. What if they were-?

“Howon, is there anything from his records that you left out?”

“Like?”

“Like I don’t know…” A heavy breath. “Like…spouse…of Lee Jaehyun?”

Howon seemed to understand the issue. “He’s unmarried, its proven”

“Okay good” That’s one less weight to worry about. 

“Then tell her, Sung Gyu, get her out of there”

“How?”

“Somehow” Jieun returned with determination. “If you’re going to shoot that man, you’ve got to shoot him without her seeing him being shot. And he’s got a deadly weapon in his hands, Sung Gyu. Men like that don’t love women. She’s there as his assurance. You know this better than anyone else”

Jieun was right. WIth experience, he knew, the moment Sung Gyu pulled up and Jaehyun felt threatened, the first person he’d hold hostage would not be the entire hall full of people. It would be Eunji. The one thing that he’d feared tonight was already bound to happen. It would not be just an assassination, it was also going to be a rescue mission to save the damsel in distress, the woman that he loved.

For this reason, having her know that he was still here, that he’d betrayed her, lied to her, Sung Gyu realised, was a risk he had no choice but to take.