“I was just about to leave so go ahead and take a seat”, the man said, getting up and dusting his pants he smiled again at Yejin and walked up the path to the main road. Yejin smiled back politely and walked over to the bench and sat down and watched the water gently lap the edges of the lake while the moon shone full and bright in the sky.

Jungmin walked up to his car feeling refreshed from the fresh air and the peaceful lakeside. For days he had been engrossed in company affairs and tonight he had finally managed to unwind a bit. Meeting a pretty girl hadn’t been part of the plan but he didn’t mind. Tomorrow his agents would check in to update him on any news of Hyun Joong, who seemed to be absolutely impossible to find, but Jungmin knew he was still in Seoul. There had been a few mysterious killings that seemed to have been executed perfectly, something only Hyun Joong seemed to be able to pull off. It had to be luck that Jungmin had even been able to keep track of him for so long but he wasn’t about to give up anytime soon.

Yejin walked home to see Hyun Joong getting out of his car and meeting eyes she smiled at him. Hyun Joong would have preferred to walk away and avoid any unnecessary conversation but he decided against it and opened the gate and waited for her.

“Good evening Hyun Joong-sshi, how was your day today?” She looked up at him smiling brightly.

Hyun Joong cleared his throat awkwardly as she looked at him expectantly, “It was alright”       He could go against 10 armed men anytime but he just couldn’t carry on conversations, unless they involved some work to be done. But he felt guilty with his simple answer so he decided to go out of his comfort zone to extend the conversation a bit and get rid of the irritating feeling that was bugging him.

“The full moon can be seen quite well today since there aren’t many clouds in the sky.” he tried to say casually while glancing at the sky.

Yejin’s smile only grew wider at his attempt to have a conversation,“ It’s beautiful isn’t it? I just went to the park to get a good view, it was so peaceful and serene, it felt like all your troubles could be momentarily forgotten and you could just stay there forever enjoying the view an-” trailing off she suddenly realized that she was probably making him feel awkward and looked at him apologetically slightly shocked to see a small smile on his face.

Hyun Joong had been surprised at her sudden enthusiasm but it didn’t make him uncomfortable. It had actually amused him to see this girl with a constant smile on her face rant about the moon and the park. It was refreshing and he would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy seeing her face light up like that.

 The front door suddenly opened and they turned to see Yejin’s grandmother, “I thought I heard voices outside, Yejin-ah why don’t you invite Hyun Joong in and continue your conversation?” She asked carefully hiding her surprise at seeing the two together.

Yejin. So that was her name Hyun Joong thought. They hadn’t formally introduced themselves in the beginning, due to Hyun Joong’s careless attitude, so this made things between them a bit more comfortable. At least that’s what he felt.

Yejin turned to Hyun Joong to see if he was going to come in and sensing that he was about to refuse she spoke up before he could.

“Come in for a few minutes and have a cup of tea at least.”

The guilty feeling bubbled up again and once again he couldn’t bring himself to refuse the soft pleading look in her expectant eyes. Sighing softly he muttered an ‘ok’.

Forgetting in her excitement that they were still getting familiar with each other she grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the house. Hyun Joong just managed to shut the door behind him in his current state of shock. The physical contact was like a splash of cold water. How long had it been since he had last felt this touch of warmth? A touch of genuine kindness. Not the touch of a stranger trying to kill him. A touch that felt oddly familiar.

He looked down at his wrist as he vaguely heard her telling him to sit down.

Damn. He had gone soft.