Back inside the gymnasium, the party was at a full swing. Christmas songs were playing inside, the decor depicting a winter wonderland with blue lights, fake snow and glittery star hangars adding to the festive atmosphere. Sung Gyu was in the back of the hall, scanning the venue for a familiar sight. Eunji had to be somewhere among them; luring her to him, somehow, was the tricky part. It wasn’t something he could do on his own. He needed a leeway, support. He thought for once alerting the fire alarm to get everyone running, but that would trigger Lee Jaehyun in the process to act fast on his own plans. He could also follow the couple around like a creepy stalker until he got enough attention from Eunji. The trouble was, as much as she knew him, so did Jaehyun. And that was not in the same way that Eunji did. 

He had to get her come to him alone, and on her own accord. 

After a few minutes of contemplation, he came to a resolve to do something he hated to do. He approached the bar again, only to meet with Sung Jong’s inquisitive eyes.

“Coward. Couldn’t even face the truth with your eyes, could you?”

Sung Gyu ignored him and slipped his hand into his pocket. He pulled out his ROKA ID and slapped it across the table towards him. Sung Jong paused for a moment, glanced at Sung Gyu before gingerly taking the ID in his hands. As he examined it, something palpable flashed through his eyes. There was something different when Sung Jong looked back at him; curiosity, wonder, surprise. Sung Gyu secured the ID back in his pocket and fixed his jacket in a way that his ROKA pin showed.

“So yes” Sung Gyu muttered and leaned closer to Sung Gyu over the counter. “Help me, Lee Sung Jong, a lot of lives are at stake”

With a quick plan finally set, Sung Gyu put himself back in his assassin gear of the mask and gloves and lingered among the shadows of the empty corridor. The party had intensified, playing the kind of songs people slow danced to, and he felt it was silly and invain that he was hiding in the shadows instead of dancing around, having the time of his life. He’d chosen this lifestyle. There was not an ounce of happiness in that. And he was also dying. He could only hope there was better luck in his next life.

Sung Gyu phone beeped with an incoming voice mail. It was Sung Jong. It had taken him eleven minutes to set their plan on the roll.

“I shoved a whole glass of beer on her dress” Sung Jong’s voice a loud whisper over the booming music. “She’s headed your way”

Sung Gyu immediately sent a voice message in return.

“Is she alone?”

“Jaehyun hyung is with me”

It was a pain to recount the story to Sung Jong and convince him that Jaehyun was the killer he was looking for. He understood that it was also partly because Sung Jong didn’t trust him. Sung Gyu, in his eyes, was still the man who disappeared without a trace and broke Eunji’s heart. More than once, Sung Jong told him that he would very much like to punch him in the face, but with a lot of coercion, he was able to convince Sung Jong to believe him. The tricky questions were these;

Did he know where Jaehyun worked at?

At a lab. He didn’t know.

Did he know whom Jaehyun worked with?

Alone. He was that smart.

How long have you known him for?

A few weeks?

How long have you known me for?

…years?

It was easier after this, to convince Sung Jong of the mad scientist trope. In a record amount of time, over one glass of beer, Sung Gyu told his new partner in crime how Sung Gyu knew the man. He intentionally left out the part where they were after a biological weapon, and also the part where he was a trained killer. For Sung Jong, Sung Gyu was a lawyer working for ROKA’s legal advisory committee of the STF, who was also now on a mission to stop a crazy man from unleashing a dangerous chemical.

Sung gyu took a deep breath and looked out at the coast of the corridor. A group of women were returning from the ladies’ but Eunji wasn’t among them. Nor was she one of the two girls coming down the corridor, headed towards the washroom. Sung Gyu was doubting Sung Jong for a second, wondering if he’d done a mistake, trusting him, when he finally caught the sight of her.

Even during a mission, as much as he tried not to be distracted, Sung Gyu was blown away by how beautiful she was. Dressed perfectly fitting for the night, Jung Eunji was winter goddess stepping out of a fairytale. She was in a long white fitted dress, one that definitely was not made for running. Her hair was long, flowing down her shoulders like a tender waterfall. Sung Gyu  was immediately reminded of the many times he had run his fingers through it, put it into a loose plait exactly as Jieun had taught him, and even put tiny flowers in it as they sat in the park, her lost in her reads. So many years had passed. But it takes so little for love to renew.

Sung Gyu waited until she disappeared into the washroom and slowly followed after her. 

Facing the ladies’ washrooms were the gents. Sung Gyu had followed female criminals to washrooms enough times to understand how long a woman spent in the ladies on an average. He had enough time to wash his hands, stare at himself on the bathroom mirror and contemplate the bad choices in his life. He took off his gloves, held his clammy hands under the warm running water, re-did his hair and fixed his tie. Seven minutes later, he exited the mens’ at the same time as Jung Eunji did. His timing was right. Before Eunji could do or say anything, Sung Gyu grabbed her by her hand and pulled her into the janitor’s closet.

Sung Gyu had calculated he had less than a minute before she recovered from the initial shock and started screaming. Before any of that, he decided to shock her even further.

Eunji fought his grip and started grappling at the doorknob. Sung Gyu locked it, grabbed her by her shoulders and turned her around.

“What-!” She started to scream. When Sung Gyu pulled his mask down, her voice simply reduced into a muted gasp. The glint of realisation in her eyes, however, was something that Sung Gyu was no stranger to. Eight years. It’s been eight years, yet he still fell for those eyes like the very first time.

“S-Sung Gyu oppa?”

“Hi” Sung Gyu said. Because words were failing him. He’d imagined their meeting for so many years, but none had come closer to this moment, this, right now.

He’d thought she’d weep, he’d thought she would strangle him, rip his face into shreds with her bare hands. What he never imagined was what she was doing right now. Eunji raised her hands, trembling and cold, and cupped his face between them.

“Sung Gyu oppa…”

It was subtle at first, the little sound of short, shallow breaths, before theys slowly morphed into quiet sobs. She grabbed hold of his lapels, ran her hands up and down his chest, touched the side of his face again, ran her hands through his hair as Sung Gyu fisted his hands on his side, fighting every bone in his body that wanted to hold her. 

“This is not a dream, is it? I’m not dreaming…right?”

Her small voice was trembling, unsure, as if she really was dreaming, as if she had just walked, head first, into one.

Sung Gyu swallowed the thick lump forming in his throat. It took everything for him not to reduce into tears.

“Yes it’s me…Jung Eunji-Ssi…”

Eunji raised her eyes up to him. In the dim light of the janitor’s closet, there’s only so much he could see. But the sight of her gleaming eyes broke his heart. Where did it all end? She seemed to be asking him. When did we go from endearing terms to formalities, from passionate kisses in hidden corners to standing apart like strangers?

Please Sung Gyu wanted to tell her loud enough. I love you, but this is not the time.

Eunji seemed to understand this too, his reluctance, his unresponsiveness, the way he stiffly stood back, his hands barely touching her. Eunji stepped away from him and brought her hands to her sides.

“I…” She started unsurely, tracing his eyes. “I’m not sure what’s going on right now, but-,” An uncomfortable laughter that disappeared as soon as it appeared. Eunji heaved a deep breath. “I’m so glad…you’re here…Sung Gyu-Ssi”

Her establishing the formalities created the distance that he very much needed, just to set his plan on action. Sung Gyu watched her eyes change, the shape of her lips pulling into a straight line. He hadn’t much long.

“Eunji-Ssi…”

“Hm?”

“Do you see the pin on my jacket?”

Eunji lowered her gaze to his chest. Cautiously so, she touched the pin only for an instance. The letters ROKA would be visible, although the morphed shape of the hawk wouldn’t make much sense.

“The…army?”

Sung Gyu nodded. “That’s where I work now…”

“Okay” Eunji sighed. “I’m glad”

It’s as if she’d just found the answers for something that she’d been wondering for a very long long. Who was he now, what did he do.

“And I…” He started, closed his eyes and heaved a deep breath. “I’m going to tell you something…I know it's going to leave you surprised, angry and very upset. The only thing I want you to know is, this is my work. This is what I do now. But I never intend to hurt you…and you have got to believe me” He opened his eyes and looked into hers. “Can I ask that of you…Eunji-Ssi?”

Eunji sobbed, but nodded slowly as she absorbed this information.

“Okay”

“Okay” he swallowed. Here it goes.

“I’m here on a classified government mission today-,”

“Okay…”

“And that involves…Lee Jaehyun”

Something shifted in her eyes. Almost immediately, Eunji moved away from him.

“How…?”

“Sung Jong told me,” he said and lowered his eyes. “And I overheard at the bar”

Eunji seemed to contemplate this for a second, looking into his eyes. “So what about him?”

Sunggyu gazed down at her, searching for a semblance of worry, fear or concern. Here was an army officer on a secret government mission that involves the man she was with now. How did Sung Gyu expect she would react? Not how she was doing right now. There was no sign of concern in her eyes. Just curiosity, and something else that he blindly imagined was directed to him.

“I can’t tell you everything,” Sunggyu muttered, finally gathering his bearings. “Like I said, it’s classified information, and-,”

“Is he dangerous?” 

Sunggyu was rendered speechless for a second. The way she cautiously watched him made him quickly nod his head. “Yes, he is….” He heaved a deep breath and found the courage to place his hands on her shoulders. “Eunji, Lee Jaehyun is a dangerous man. He’s planning to do something unimaginable tonight, and I’m here to stop him”

“Is that why you came to the reunion this time?” Eunji asked him.

“I guess?”

“Hm” Eunji took a deep breath and scanned his eyes. “You wouldn’t have come here otherwise”

“No, I-,” he started, then paused when the realisation hit him. He knew what she was doing. Jung Eunji was testing him. Here they were, two star crossed lovers who were once each others safe havens that fate pushed apart, seeing each other for the first time in five years. The first thing Sunggyu did was establish that they were strangers. And then he was telling her that the man she’s with now was a dangerous man, all within the first five minutes of seeing her again.

Did he even care about her anymore?

“Eunji-Ssi…” Sunggyu called her desperately. But she didn’t seem like she was having it. She was seeing him for the first time although he’d secretly seen her for five years. Eunji deserved an apology, an explanation, something. But all she got was this.

It was within perfect reason that she hit his chest once and fisted a handful of his shirt. Eunji lowered her head, resting against his shoulder. Sunggyu’s heart beat so hard it might as well have leapt right out of him.

“Five years” Eunji’s voice was muffled against him. “Five years, Sunggyu oppa. That’s how long I waited for you”

Sunggyu opened his mouth to tell her something, anything. But no excuse he give would amount to anything that he’s done. 

Eunji pushed at him so harshly that he was pressed against the door. The feel of her hand on his chest was still lingering, even if she had moved away.

“Don’t come to me unless you have anything meaningful to say”

“Eunji-,”

Leaving him no space to say anything else, Eunji pushed him away from the door. Sunggyu was a trained assassin, but in her presence he was just a man. The love he had for her had no words to be described, the way he yearned for her could not be put into words. He watched her push past him out the door, desperate to hold her back. It was only after she was out in the corridor that he finally found the strength to say it.

“I’m sorry…I left you”

Sunggyu thought Eunji would leave him hanging. To his surprise, she paused and slowly turned back to him.

“That’s never going to be enough, is it?”

“I know,” Sunggyu nodded. “I failed you” he slowly took a step out into the darkened corridor. From the hallway, slow, Christmas music bounced off the walls. “If I could, let me have this chance to fix it for you”

“You cheesy ” 

Howon was none too happy about the fact that Sunggyu’s gotten his ex-girlfriend involved in the mission. But there was only one way to keep track on Jaehyun’s whereabouts. He needed insider information.

“Where is this guy now? What’s he doing?”

Sunggyu was in the back of the hall, watching people dance and living their lives; him, a lonely dark silhouette. To his distance, he could see her holding hands with his target. It took the special skills of an assassin not to lose his mind over someone in his place with the woman that he loved.

“I can see him” Sunggyu muttered. “He’s dancing”

“Cheeky bastard, you could just shoot him where he stands”

“Howon-Ssi” Sunggyu’s sister now. “What did I tell you?” 

“I won’t do anything until there’s enough indication that he’s going to pull some tonight” he had a sip of his beer and put his foot up over the other. “I don’t want the Jeonju incident to repeat again”

Howon took a sharp breath at the mention of it. The Jeonju incident was one of Howon’s most heinous, fatal mistakes. Although that taught them lesson that not all assumptions were correct assumptions, no matter how many correct and possible evidence existed, the accident cost an innocent man’s life, and Howon and Sunggyu having to sit through trial and nearly having their licence revoked. 

“Okay, you’re right. Stay put” 

Sunggyu nodded, although his eyes were set on the pair a few metres away from him. Lucky bastard. Sunggyu thought, watching the way that man smiled at her. You should consider yourself lucky to have found her. You wouldn’t have stood a chance if it weren’t for me.

And he probably still didn’t. Every time Jaehyun looked away from her, Eunji looked over at him as if she was desperate to be taken away.

“Did she tell you anything about him?” Jieun inquired in his silence. “Anything that rise suspicion?”

“He’s led the organising committee this year” Sunggyu recalled what she’d told him in the dark corridor. “He’d never done that before. And the other thing is, he’d come to the gymnasium several times the past few days and spent hours on here. She has no idea why”

“Does she know anything about the laboratory in Chongbuk?” 

“I assume not. She only knows he works at JJ pharmaceuticals”

“How long have they been together?”

Sunggyu watched across the hall, at how Eunji smiled but it hardly reached her eyes. Eunji smiled with her eyes, but that takes her being genuinely happy to do so. Jaehyun was a social animal now, something that he’s never been before. He was talking too much, laughing too hard. It seemed almost forceful and did people even enjoy his company? He doubted. He was just a glorified psychopath, trying to fit in.

“A couple of months” Sunggyu answered his sister’s question. “At least that’s what she said”

“She’s probably not happy with the guy”

Sunggyu had the last sip of beer and crushed the can in his hand. He didn’t go into agreeing with his sister, but deep down, he realised he was wishing what she said was right.

It wasn’t until the third hour of the party that things started taking a different turn. Sunggyu and Eunji had exchanged numbers, just in case there was anything that she need to alert which he could miss. Sunggyu was in the back of the building, navigating the area in search of anything suspicious when Eunji called him. There was a tremble in her voice.

“I’m not sure if this information helped, but he was just telling me how he’s planned for everyone a big surprise”

Howon and Jieun were listening in on the conversation on their ends. If they were here, they would have exchanged glances.

“Big surprise? Did he specify what?”

“Not really. He said he’d worked on it for days…” There was quiet hesitance for a moment on her end. She was concerned, he could catch it in her voice. “Sunggyu-Ssi, if you don’t mind, what did you first think he was planning?”

“Why do you ask?” Sunggyu whispered, pressing himself against a wall.

“Nothing…just-,”

Sunggyu knew that voice. He knew that tone, that hesitance, that uncertainty.

“Tell me, Eunji-Ssi”

“I know that he’s not working at JJ anymore…but he keeps lying to me”

That sense of accusatory familiarity hit him point blank. “Why do you think so?” He asked, ignoring the insinuations.

“He’s been going to work every day. But he’s been dismissed from JJ. Where is he going now?”

“Did he not tell you where?”

“No” Eunji replied. Silence for a minute and “Do you think it’s related to what you’re saying?”

Sunggyu paused in the middle of the parking lot, snow crunched beneath his shoes. “We can’t tell for sure, Eunji. It could be” He was directly on the back end, close to the fire exits up front. If he entered through there, he could approach the back of the makeshift stage and DJ booth. If he assumed correctly, it was somewhere here that whatever he was hiding, was hidden.

“Where are you now?” He asked the other.

“Out in the corridor, he went to take a call”

Sunggyu’s face was freezing in the snow. He pressed himself against the exit and tried to push it open.

“Eunji, any chance that you could listen to what he’s saying-?”

“No!” Eunji exclaimed before he could even finish asking.

The tone of her left him momentarily shocked. Sunggyu hung onto the back of the door for a second; he was sensing something. “Is there any reason why?”

“He doesn’t like it”

People wouldn’t want others to hear what they say if they had things they didn’t want others to know. Sunggyu and Eunji used to share everything with each other, until he started having secrets he couldn’t share with her.

Sunggyu knew just the way to handle this. 

“Eunji-Ssi”

“Hm?”

Sunggyu pressed onto the Emergency Exit again, the door that wouldn’t even budge. 

“Do you know where the boys’ locker room is?”

“I think I do”

“Okay” SungGyu gasped and tried one last push at the exit door. “When you could find the time to escape, come there and call me. I have something to give you”

Sunggyu went back inside the party hall where everyone was too drunk to notice anything he was doing. Except for Sung Jong, of course. Sung Jong was watching him attentively, every move that he made. Sunggyu went to each of the two emergency exits in the hall, next to the makeshift stage. It took effort for him to realise it. The committee probably never checked them but they were welded shut. 

“Are you sure?” Howon asked when he told him. “Can you check again?”

Sunggyu braced himself and crashed his body against the door. It didn’t even budge. 

“It’s welded. I’m certain”

“Looks like our guy has something big under his sleeve” Jieun said after a sharp breath. 

“Anything from your girl yet?”

Sunggyu felt his cheeks heating up at the mention of her. “Not yet, ah-,” He pulled out his vibrating phone. “That’s her”

“Put her through”

And Sunggyu did just that.

“Jaehyun oppa just went to his car. Do you think it means something?”

Sunggyu slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Could be. Did he tell you anything?”

“He seems pretty agitated”

Sunggyu hummed, making his way through the crowd towards the main exit. “Where exactly is his vehicle parked?”

“Parking lot. I can’t remember exactly where but I think it’s closer to the back of the building”

“Strategic” Sunggyu observed, given that the stage was set at the back of the hall. “Where are you now, Eunji-Ssi?”

“Inside the hall”

At this, Sunggyu looked around himself and easily caught the sight of her at the table of law graduates. 

“I see you”

Eunji immediately started looking around for him but he was already at the door.

“Should I meet you at the boys’ locker or-?”

“No,” Sunggyu shook his head and exited the hall to the dark corridor. “Stay put, Eunji. Don’t move an inch” 

He took one last glance at Jung Eunji, the girl he would go any length to protect, and tried his best not to smile when she met his eyes.

“Stay exactly where you are, okay? I’m going to see what our guy is up to”

Outside, it wasn’t hard to locate Jaehyun and his vehicle. It was a shiny black SUV, the kind of vehicle you’d expect rich people to drive. Sunggyu stood behind the wall, hiding himself within the shadows of the night. Snowing had stopped, yet the cold was skin-biting, that he couldn’t stay out for too long. To his distance, Sunggyu could see Jaehyun in his pale winter jacket, his long hair brushing his shoulders. With the back door of the vehicle opened, Jaehyun was busy pulling out what was evident in his distance, a large ice box.

“An ice box?” Jieun hissed in his ear. “Could be transporting his chemical”

“Can’t assume just by that,” Sunggyu sighed, watching him closely as Jaehyun set down the ice box. It was followed by two small suitcases and a backpack. “I need to see them myself and clarify”

“That might be dangerous, hyung, be careful”

“I won’t open it” Sung Gyu returned, although he wasn’t sure how he was going to clarify anything without doing so. “Not all of it at least”

“Sung Gyu-,”

“He’s moving” Sung Gyu interjected his panic stricken sister when Jaehyun closed the back door of his car. There was quite a lot of containers to take along with him, and Jaehyun seemed to have a plan for that too. He disappeared into the shadows for a minute, only to soon emerge with a wheeled trolley, big enough to fit all his containers. Sung Gyu watched cautiously as Jaehyun’s gloved hands meticulously loaded all the boxes, and when he glanced around him for any suspicious eyes, Sung Gyu immediately pulled himself back into the dark.

Once Jaehyun had moved forward a considerable distance, far enough for him to not be seen, close enough for Sung Gyu to be able to see him, Sung Gyu followed after him as quietly as he could.

Just as he assumed, Jaehyun dragged the trolley all the way to the back of the building. The gymnasium had two fire exits and one single narrow door for maintenance purposes, that goes through a corridor. Surreptitiously so, Sung Gyu followed after him.

“What’s happening now?” Howon went on the other end.

“He’s unloading everything backstage” Sung Gyu muttered into his collar. “No instigators, all on his own”

“Be careful, don’t get too close”

Sung Gyu had to ignore his sister’s pleas and slowly crept into the small space. Being a trained assassin comes with the benefit of being able to move around without a sound. He slipped behind the door, and among the stage props and equipment, watching Jaehyun from the sidelines. Jaehyun set down all his carriers and containers, then slowly picked up the ice box. He cleared out a table nearby before placing the ice box on top of it. Its insides lightened up the moment Jaehyun clicked it open, a thin veil of smoke raising from within. What he pulled up from inside was a container identical to what he had seen back at the ROKA hundreds of times. Sung Gyu wouldn’t have mistaken that for the life of him. Jieun was right. It was the chemical.

As he watched, Jaehyun opened the container and retrieved a single vial, exactly the size of RJ17. From one of the other boxes he took out a pair of rubber gloves, laboratory goggles and a K95 mask. Sung Gyu had done this enough times to know exactly what he was going for. The only step in the process that Jaehyun did differently was, instead of depositing the liquid into a point-five syringe, he placed the vial inside an equipment that seemed like a tiny gun. When he took it into his palm and closed his fingers around it, the equipment became hardly noticeable. Strategic and discreet, he was not aiming to inject it the traditional way that Sung Gyu was used to. Jaehyun was evil beyond belief.

He didn’t spend too long inside the small space. As soon as a particularly loud scream came from the direction of the hall, Jaehyun quickly returned everything to where they were. Except for the little gun with the vial, which Jaehyun put back in its cover, and instead of returning it to the box, he slipped into his jacket pocket.

Jaehyun was ready now, equipped with the most dangerous biochemical weapon in his hands. Sung Gyu had to shoot him. He had to kill him now before he entered that hall full of drunk people and destroyed their lives.

Sunggyu slowly reached into his jacket pocket, retrieving his K5 pistol. He only had to aim it right, finish him off in one shot. Raising his gun, Sunggyu calculated the angle and clocked in his target.

It was then, at that very moment, that the door to the back room opened, Jung Eunji crashing inside.