Another season passed by, the blooming spring had already withered within Andy so the hot intense heat of summer couldn’t melt down the arctic heart. Yet, on the surface, he was somewhat friendly and approachable. He was like a pitcher plant, inviting his prey with amicable appearance, luring them in until it’s too late. He was following orders from his master with absolute success rate that never disappointed Hyun Min. The missions that Andy was given begun to get harder and more dangerous but it didn’t matter, Andy had no troubles with those cases until...

“I have to kill this man?” Andy asked Hyun Min, he was daunted but he had controlled his trembles and feared expressions.

“Yes. He’s a traitor that knows too much for his own good.” Hyun Min replied.

“I will finish it as soon as possible.” Andy bowed, turned his back and headed for the door.

“I will be awaiting your flawless result.” Hyun Min grinned as he watched Andy’s back while leaning comfortably in his chair.

As soon as he was that that he was out of sight, Andy let out a deep breath with his eyes closed. He had never killed anyone before. Just the thought of it shook his entire tenacious mentality but he had to complete the task. It was a given.

Andy had penetrated to the target’s house. He had seized his target in the bedroom, yet he couldn’t land the final blow.

“Why are you doing this to me?” The target, Kwangsoo, asked in fear.

“You had betrayed the master.”

“What are you talking about?” Kwangsoo’s voice trembled.

“It was a direct order from the master himself. I only follow orders.” Andy tried to sound tough but he was feeling remorseful.

“Please, let me live.” Kwangsoo begged, his face was pitiful but that didn’t shake Andy’s heart. His decision had already been made.

With the gun against Kwangsoo’s head, Andy was about to pull the trigger but a sudden sound of door opening stopped him. Standing at the doorway was a sleepy girl, about seven years old. She was rubbing her eyes while holding a white bunny soft toy.

“Daaaad...” Her word slurred from sleepiness. “I want to go to toilet...”

Andy was frozen on the spot. He couldn’t kill Kwangsoo in front of this innocent child. He didn’t want to give the child the same trauma as he had, he didn’t want history to repeat his self.

“Please, don’t kill me, at least, not in front of her. Please, don’t touch her.” Kwangsoo pleaded with all his might. His lips were quivering.

“Who is this man?” The girl questioned as she ogled at the scene.

“Just someone I know. Why don’t you return to your bedroom first? I will come soon.” Kwangsoo tried to sugar-coat her to leave, he knew it was dangerous if she had stayed any longer.

“Promise?” The girl held up her tiny pinky finger.

“Promise!” Kwangsoo also held up his with much effort. The girl turned away and left the room.

Andy had loosened his grip on Kwangsoo, he had lost the will to kill the man as he feared for the child’s future. Let out a sigh, Andy put his gun away.

“Run away. Don’t let anyone know that you’re alive. Live as a dead person so that you can protect her. I will report your death.”

“You’re letting me go?”Kwangsoo stuttered. He thought he would be dead by now yet he was let off.

“It’s not for you, it’s for her. Killing you is easy but her future without parent is awful.” Andy untied the man and headed out of the room. He was worried about the consequences but his heart was delighted.

After returning to the headquarter, Andy reported his mission as success. He was extremely nervous when Hyun Min stared at him, as if the guy was searching for any sign of dishonesty. After a moment had passed, it seemed like the master was deceived by Andy’s composure so he congratulated him on completing the mission and dismissed Andy.

Phew! That was nerve-wrecking. My hands are so sweaty. Andy thought as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pants’ pocket. While he was still idling around the master’s room area, Andy noticed a high level assassin was about to enter the room. Curious, Andy tossed his tiny handmade voice transmitter at the assassin. The little device stuck onto the collar of the shirt and somewhat blended in well with the colour to be unseen. Pulled out his ear piece, Andy listened to the conversation.

“Who’s the target this time?”

“Lee Kwangsoo, he’s on the run.”

“I thought you already had someone to handle that case?”

“It was a failure. That guy was too soft. I knew there’s a bit of weakness in him. Guess I have to train him again. How troublesome!”

“I just need to kill him right?”

“Yes, kill him and capture the daughter alive. I want that failure to kill the kid, so that all his emotion can be erased. He has to learn that his softness will bring more disaster and one must not have a weak heart.”

“I’ll be on it immediately.”

Andy’s mind went blank as the conversation flowed into his brain. Everything he had done was vain, no one was saved, it was even worse. If he had killed Kwangsoo, the kid would have survived but things had taken the worse turn. Just the thought of killing the innocent kid made Andy feels nauseous. He was disgusted with himself, for being powerless, for being a pawn in those evil hands yet he had always turned a blind eye.

I can’t do this. I need to escape.

Andy headed out of the headquarter, drove to the Han river. On the way, he was thinking of a way to get rid of the tattoo and there was only one obvious option. Stopped by a pharmacy, Andy bought a first-aid kit and some antiseptic solution.

The summer heat during midday was making Andy sweats bucket but nervousness and fear were far more of a factor that contributed to his elevated heart rate and sweat production. Andy wound down the car window a little to let a breeze of air in, however, he noticed that he was tailed.

That was so quick.

It took Andy about half an hour to get rid of the tail but he knew that soon, there would be more chasers coming after him. As soon as he had reached the bridge, Andy immediately searched for a place to hide under it. Then, he took out a sharp small knife.

It’s gona be painful but I will finally be free. This tattoo really does resemble a shackle, restraining me from escaping.

Andy stuffed his mouth with some bandages to prevent him from accidentally bite his tongue during the process. Then, he dug the knife into his own flesh. Blood was oozing out, the pain was extreme that low moans escaped Andy’s mouth. Pieces of skin and some flesh were discarded yet Andy hadn’t find the chip yet. He dug a bit deeper, carefully to not cut his own tendon, veins and arteries.

Bingo!

Andy let out a relieved huff as he picked up the small chip that was tuck in the back of his ankle. His head leaned back to the cold wall, he just wanted to rest. However, Andy quickly proceeded to bandage his ankle with the equipment in the first-aids kit. The antiseptic solution stung him as he poured it onto the area.

Better than infection.

As soon as he had wrapped the ankle, Andy fished out a small plastic pocket with resealable opening. He placed the chip in there, then placed the pocket into another one, sticky tape was then wrapped around to ensure it was waterproof. Satisfied with the product, Andy threw it into the river, hoping the current is strong enough to carry the chip as far and quick as possible downstream.

I can’t let them know I’m injured. I have to clean this up quickly.

Andy quickly cleaned up, dumping whatever possible into the river while making sure nothing would float and leave evidence. He was nearly done when the sound of many cars were stopping above him, on the bridge. His chasers must have arrived. Finishing up erasing the trace, Andy leaned onto the wall and headed upstream. Soon, Andy opened a hidden passage from the wall that he had discovered by chance some time ago. He had always planned to leave, but he didn’t know it would be this soon.

The passage led downward, toward the direction of underground sewers network. It was dim and humid inside, the foul smell of waste was getting worse and worse but Andy couldn’t do anything. He just had to endure it. After what seemed like a decade, Andy took a break, he looked at his watch. It was already noon. The unplanned escape had placed Andy into a disadvantage, he had no food with him. His stomach was growling, his body was weakening from hunger and loss of blood.

Night had fallen on Seoul, Andy assumed that he was safe so he returned to the surface by crawling out of a tunnel. The area was unfamiliar to him. It seemed like an outskirt area. Andy walked straight ahead without checking his bearing, he was too tired. His vision was blurred. His shoulder had droop so low.

About ten metres in front of him, there was a person, standing. Andy was not sure who but before he could ask any question, he fainted.

“Are you feeling better?” A voice asked as Andy opened his eyes. He was on a couch, tugged with a blanket. The owner of the voice was a tall, well built man.

“Did you save me?”

“I couldn’t leave you after seeing you fainted. I was so surprised since I was just taking the trash out.”

“Thanks. I need to leave now.” Andy threw the blanket off him and tried to stand up but the man had already forced him to lie back down.

“No you don’t. It’s safer here. I know you’re running away. I know who you are.”

“Who are you?” Andy asked. He was afraid that he would fall into the hand of the devil again.

“Eric Mun. An information dealer. And don’t worry, I’m not going to force you do any of those works that you had done. Just rest.”

“But you want something out of me, don’t you? People like you don’t just save others for no particular reason.”

“Yes, I do. I want you to help me get top secret information so I can sell it off to my customers. But it’s your choice to help or not. And you can stay here until you get better.” Andy was surprised at how honest Eric was despite him being involved in this shady underground business.

“Is that the only thing I will have to do? Nothing else?”

“Yes, nothing else. You’re free to do whatever you want as long as you get the information for me, by hacking. I will never ask you to personally retrieve any information, thought I know you’re quite capable. I can even write up a contract if you want, but I’m really poor so I won’t have much to compensate.”

“It’s alright. I will work for you. But how come you are poor?” Andy found the facts quite twisted and contrasted: a top secrets dealer that is poor.

“All I have is connection, I get information out of gossips, out of friends and acquaintances but I’m in debt. I was foolish back then so I have a bit of debt on hand. Let’s just say, I possess intangibles and trade them for money but my tangibles are not enough.”

“I see. It’s better that you don’t have much money, that’s mean you can’t track me down if I runaway.” Andy laughed a little.

“That’s a nice genuine laugh you have there.” Eric commented. Andy was startled at the comment, it had been a long time since he had laughed heartily.

And that was how Andy and Eric began their illegal hacking business. Andy would occasionally took time off to hunt down some traces of his father’s murder but he had always returned to Eric’s side. It was like a home to him. Hyesung and Junjin joined in a bit later and only Eric knew the detail of their story, just like how only Eric knew the detail of Andy’s plan.

“So why did Eric become a dealer?” Minwoo asked as Andy finished summarising his life story.

“That’s his story to tell, not mine.” Andy replied.

“So you lived with him until now?”

“Yeah. I wanted to live on my own when I had made enough money but Eric begged me to stay. I guess he loves my cooking. I remember at the beginning of our lives together, we had instant noodles for all three meals every day. Even my first meal after waking up was instant noodles. I had gotten so sick of it that I began to learn simple dishes. Some were failures but I improved and now, I’ve reached this level.” Andy grinned proudly.

“So my uncle is somehow related?”

“I think he knows something.”

“So what are you going to do after you find out the murderer?”

“I’m going to kill him. I definitely will. I had my hands stained with blood countless times already. The disgusting feeling had already become blunt, I’m no longer feeling guilty beating down the bad guys. I haven’t kill anyone yet, it must be horrible, probably worse than the first time I had beaten my target till verge of death but I will do it. I will kill that murderer.” Andy coldly answered with determination.

“I wish you don’t. I don’t want you to become someone like them. Please, don’t. Just punish them some other way.” Minwoo pleaded as he hugged Andy tighter. He was squeezing the younger hard, as if he was trying to shake some senses out of the other man.

“We will see. I will try to suppress my anger.” Andy cupped Minwoo’s face and kissed the lips passionately. They spent the night cuddling under the starry sky, temporarily forgot about all the troubles and trauma.

OMG! It's been a year since I started this fic, I didn't know it would get dragged on for this long --'

Thanks to my faithful subscribers and readers, I've reached this far, especially those that commented. I hope you enjoy this fic so far since I know my fics tend to be plain, no posters, no background, no fancy layout or whatsoever and I don't do giveaway and things like that. Just plain words but I hoped it gave you some entertainments and enjoyments. Love you all!!

ANd next chapter, we will get back to the main story :)