A/N: Divided to 2 parts coz my internet is being weird >_<

--

 

“You’re late.”

 

 

I didn’t say anything and just sat down in front of Kim Kwangsoo. He immediately gave out a smirk after seeing the displeased look on my face.

 

 

“Had trouble sneaking out of Myungsoo’s house again, Jiyeon-ah?” He asked as he smoked his tobacco. “Oh, right. It’s his birthday today. So, how was the party? What did you give him?”

 

I looked down and kept my mouth shut. I don’t want to engage in a conversation with the bastard.

 

“Well, I bet the best birthday present that you could give him is the truth. He deserves to know the truth since he has been a good boyfriend to you. You’re not doing your part as the girlfriend since you continue to hide things from him. ” He continued to sneer. “But I understand. Just think about the pain that he would feel once he finds out about your true identity.”

 

“Stop it.”

 

“His job is to protect this society from evil, but his girlfriend is actually one of the greatest evils lurking around the city.”

 

“I said stop.”

 

“Which means he’s protecting this city from the likes of you! Haha! How sad and tragic is that?”

 

“Kim Kwangsoo.”

 

“And the best part is, he doesn’t know anything about it!”

 

 

 

*BAM!*

 

 

 

Kwangsoo grinned as he wiped the blood off his mouth. I didn’t even feel any pain after punching him hard on the face. The punch wasn’t enough. I want the bastard to suffer.

 

 

When I was still ten, my parents gave me away to Kwangsoo in order to serve as the payment for all of their debts. Even though they didn’t shed any tears or showed signs of sadness while giving me away, I wasn’t surprised. They never loved me anyway. For the past ten years that I’ve spent with them, not once did they treat me as their child. It’s as if they were just waiting for the right time to give me away.

 

I knew that they were going to give me away. They told me about it when I was still seven. They said that my fate has been decided even before my birth.

 

They made me compensate for their debts. I was reduced to a mere, faceless object. I had a name, but I had no identity as a person. I was only identified as Kwangsoo’s tool, and nothing else.

 

 

“Jiyeon-ah, your life isn’t yours anymore.”

 

“I know.”

 

“You’ll have to work under me from now on. That is your only purpose.”

 

 

Kwangsoo is the mayor of Gwangju. He has been governing the city for five years already. His pretentious acts of goodness earned him the support of the people. He wants everyone to believe that he’s leading the city towards a prosperous and bright future. Truth is, he just wants to gain more power in order for him to rule not only Gwangju, but South Korea as a whole.

 

Even though Kwangsoo was good at hiding his true nature, there were still people who were clever enough to see the real him behind all the pretense. That’s when I come in. Those who managed to find out about his dirty secrets were never given the chance to speak up against him. Kwangsoo makes me eliminate them before they could even get the chance.

 

I started working as an assassin five years ago. That’s when Kwangsoo won the election and finally sat as the mayor of Gwangju. He had trained me for ten years. He taught me how to use weapons. He taught me how to fight in close combats.

 

He taught me how to kill.

 

 

“Good job, Jiyeon-ah. Mayor Kim is finally out of the way.”

 

“. . .”

 

“You made your first kill.”

 

 

I know I wasn’t doing the right thing. But somehow, Kwangsoo managed to make me believe that my only purpose in life is to assassinate the people whom he wants me to assassinate. Even though I do my job without any hesitations, there are times when it sickens me. Whenever I see the blood of the person whom I’ve just killed, I would sometimes ask myself if he deserved to die. I would sometimes wonder about what his family and friends would feel.

 

These thoughts tempted me to commit suicide several times before. I wanted to know if someone would actually cry over my death, or if no one would actually care. I wonder of the world would still revolve like nothing happened. It would most likely turn out that way. That's what I thought. The world wouldn't cry for an assassin like me. 

 

This life isn’t mine anyway, so why bother living it?  That’s another thought that crossed through my mind. I got tired of livng, even though I wasn't actually living in the first place. 

 

So I decided to just end the tiresome game. However, none of my attempts succeeded because Kwangsoo’s men were always around to stop me from doing them. Since I knew that I won’t be able to succeed in killing myself, I decided to just drown myself in alcohol. I drank almost every night. There was one, particular night wherein I was really drunk to the extent that I lost consciousness.

 

That was when he found me. Then everything changed.

 

 

 

“Have you finally calmed down?”

 

I sighed heavily as I sat back on my seat while massaging my fist. “Just tell me what you want.”

 

Kwangsoo also sat back down. “There’s someone whom I want you to eliminate.”

 

I gulped as I clenched my fist. It’s been almost a month since he asked me to kill someone. Even though I want to object, I know that it’s pointless. He has warned me time and time again that he’ll do something to Myungsoo once I decline. “Who…who is it this time?”

 

He took a picture from his wallet and handed it to me. Upon seeing the picture, my eyes widened.

 

 

“T-This is-“

 

 

Kwangsoo nodded. “Lee Sungyeol. Chief of Police.”

 

 

Myungsoo’s bestfriend.

 

 

“I-I can’t. I won’t do it.”

 

Kwangsoo took the picture from me and grimaced. “You have no choice.”

 

I stood up and looked at him in horror. “Why are you making me do this?!”

 

“Because it’s your job.” He said while playing around with the picture using the tip of his finger. “You have to eliminate all the people who try to go against me.”

 

“But-“

 

“He knows that I hide illegal drugs in my warehouse. Somehow, he managed to get some evidence on paper. He plans to present it at a press conference, which will begin five hours from now. I want you to kill him and burn the evidence before he could show it.”

 

I bit my lip as I looked down. Sungyeol has been Myungsoo’s bestfriend for more than 20 years. Since they’re both orphans, they treated each other as family. Myungsoo once told me that he has no one else but me and Sungyeol.

 

“I bet this would motivate you, Jiyeon-ah.” Kwangsoo’s lips suddenly formed into a smile. “If you succeed, I’ll let you go. This is your last mission.”

 

I stood up and gaped at him. “You’ll…set me free? I won’t work for you anymore?”

 

Kwangsoo nodded. “Yes. I consider Sungyeol as the biggest hindrance towards my quest for power. Once he’s eliminated, everything would be easy.”

 

I looked away from him and took a deep breath. Then without saying anything, I left the room.

 

 

--

 

 

Yah, Park Jiyeon. Where are you?

When I woke up this morning, you were already gone.

 

 

“Are you ready, sir?”

 

“Yes. I’ll put an end to Kim Kwangsoo’s lies once and for all.”

 

 

Jiyeon-ah, I know that we had an argument last night, but I hope you didn’t take it to heart.

Please text back. Please tell me that you’re alright.

 

 

“Did you bring the files with you?”

 

“Don’t worry. I have them.”

 

 

If you decide to come back home, I left the keys under the carpet.

I’ve been called to guard the hall for Sungyeol’s press conference. I’ll be back later tonight.

I hope to see you once I get back.

 

 

Forgive me, Myungsoo.

 

If ever I could finish this mission without any flaws, we’ll probably see each other at home tonight.

 

But if it goes wrong, things would never be the same again.

 

If ever I get caught, I hope you won’t be the one to catch me because if you do, you’d find out.

 

Once you find out, you’d resent me forever.

 

 

“Five minutes, sir.”

 

Sungyeol nodded at the cop who was tasked to guard him while he’s waiting at the lobby. There are five more cops outside. The hall where the press conference would be held is just four rooms away. Hundreds of cops are guarding that hall, and one of them is Myungsoo.

 

 

“Sir, it’s- WHO’S THERE?!”

 

 

*BANG!*

 

 

After hiding for almost 30 minutes, I finally jumped out from the hole which I created on the ceiling. I wasted no time and immediately shot the cop on his ankle, making him drop to the ground. I swiftly kicked his gun away from his reach and turned to face Sungyeol who was already at the corner of the room while clutching a folder. I figured that it contained the evidence that he gathered against Kwangsoo.

 

The door suddenly swung open, revealing the five cops who were guarding the entrance of the lobby. Within a matter of seconds, I took my gun and fired bullets straight to their ankles. As they each dropped to the ground, I immediately pulled Sungyeol out of the room and dragged him outside the lobby. I pulled us in towards an empty and spacious room and locked the door.

 

 

Sungyeol eyed me terrifyingly as he took a few steps back. “I-It’s you. I know that you work for Kim Kwangsoo,”

 

For the past five years that I’ve worked as an assassin, I’ve always been at the top of the Most Wanted list. The police have been hunting me down for years. The bounty placed on me even went from 1,000,000 won to 50,000,000 won. That’s how desperate they are to track me down.

 

 

 

“Jiyeon-ah, do you know that assassin who wears a silver helmet and a black suit as a disguise? You know, the so-called ‘SIlver Phantom’?”

 

“Oh…her. Why?”

 

“She killed the vice-mayor yesterday. Have you heard?”

 

“Yeah…it’s all over the news.”

 

“I swear, I’ll catch that killer someday. I’ll make her pay for everything she has done.”

 

“Uh…Myungsoo-ah…”

 

“Hm?

 

“What if…what if she’s actually working for someone? What if she didn’t want to do it after all? What if she didn’t have a choice but to do it?”

 

“That’s silly, Jiyeon-ah. Everyone has a choice.”

 

 

I actually have a choice. I could choose not to kill Sungyeol, but then I would risk the chance of finally having my freedom. I would risk the chance of finally being with Myungsoo without any worries.

 

But…am I doing the right thing?

 

 

“Sungyeol-sshi…” I slowly removed the helmet from my head, revealing my face to Sungyeol. His eyes widened in shock upon recognizing me. “I figured that before this ends, I’ll have to let you know.”

 

“J-Jiyeon-sshi…y-you’re…”

 

“Yes. The Silver Phantom.” I revealed. “And your speculations are right. I work under Kim Kwangsoo.”

 

Sungyeol looked at me with a pair of uneasy eyes. “Does Myungsoo know?”

 

I shook my head. “I kept it from him throughout these years.”

 

“Then I guess…you’re here to kill me, right?”

 

I didn’t respond. Instead, I looked at the folder that he was holding. He immediately backed away as he clutched it tighter.

 

“I’ll put an end to Kwangsoo’s lies, Jiyeon-sshi. I won’t let you stop me.”

 

 

All of a sudden, my hands moved on their own. They suddenly lifted themselves up and made the gun point towards Sungyeol.

 

I wanted to tremble at the very least, but I couldn’t. It’s as if my blood-tainted hands are already used to this kind of position. My hands have killed so many people in the past that they don’t show signs of fear anymore. Perhaps, they have gone numb. They feel nothing.

 

 

“Why are you doing this, Jiyeon-sshi?” Sungyeol asked in a calm tone. “Why do you work for someone like Kim Kwangsoo?”

 

“You don’t have to know.”

 

“Well, you don’t have to do this! I may not know how you ended up in this situation, but I’m sure that you’re not a bad person! It’s not too late to change things!”

 

“That’s what I’m doing right now. I’m trying to change things. I’m trying to change my fate.”

 

“What?”

 

“Before, I didn’t care about my freedom. I accepted everything. I accepted the fact that my life isn’t under my control. But then, I met Myungsoo. He made me realize that my life is mine, and no one else could control it except for me.” I said shakily while trying to hold back the tears which are forming in my eyes. “So now, I’m desperate to get my freedom. I want to live like a normal human being. I want to be happy and free with Myungsoo,”

 

“You can do that, but not this way.”

 

“There’s no other way.”

 

“I could help you. Myungsoo and I could help you.” Sungyeol held out his right hand. “Let’s stop Kwangsoo.”

 

 

I looked at him, then I slowly lowered my hands. “Sungyeol-sshi-“

 

 

 

“FREEZE!”

 

“PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!”

 

 

 

We were startled when the door suddenly banged open. Hundreds of police officers swarmed in with their guns. Outside, I could hear the loud sirens of police cars. This could only mean one thing.

 

The whole building is surrounded.