University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 2001.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

Without looking up, she shook her head briefly and continued to focus on the university schedule she’d been eyeing for minutes now. Before he had gathered the courage to approach her, he was sitting a few seats away at a row below hers, observing the girl quietly. She had come into the lecture hall looking like a lost puppy, tripped over a bag, and gave its owner five apologetic bows before settling into a seat near the middle. He thought it was adorably pitiful.

He smirked to himself, knowing this girl was either going to be really easy, or really difficult. There were no in-betweens when it came to nice girls like her. She looked Korean, for sure. But it was possible that she grew up abroad and didn’t speak a word of the language, or like him, grew up in Korea. His guess was the latter, judging by her guarded behavior. She was a foreigner in this land, much like he was.

More students filed in and soon, the hall was full with no professor in sight. His attention was still on the girl beside him, and even though he wasn’t really looking, he could hear the impatient way she tapped her pen on her notebook.

He decided to test his theory out.

“They tell us not to be late, but they’re the ones who don’t show up on time. Must be American culture,” he spoke in Korean, his eyes peeking at his seatmate for any sign that she understood.

She lifted her head and turned to look at him in surprise. She was even prettier up close. He flashed her a smile, which she did not return.

“Are you a freshman, too?” He asked.

“Uhh, yeah.”

“International Studies and Business?”

She nodded her head and turned her attention to the front of the hall as soon as the professor came in. He knew it was the end of their conversation, and yet he wanted to know more. He could sense her apprehension in conversing with him by her curt replies, but judging by her reaction earlier after hearing him speak Korean, he could tell she needed someone to connect with.

“Let me guess,” he started to say as soon as he caught up with her after class ended, slinking his way in the throng of students that crowded the hallway. She was walking to the direction of the building lobby, but not fast enough to lose him. He considered this a sign that she was fine with him walking alongside her. “You’re a chaebol forced by your parents to study abroad so you can inherit and run the family business.”

This time she let out a chuckle. The first real reaction he got out of her.

“You couldn’t be farther from the truth,” she said, refusing to meet his eyes. Interesting.

“Oh yeah?” He bent down and hooked a finger through her handbag’s strap, tearing it away from her hand and lifting it up. That stopped her in her tracks. “Then how do you explain your designer bag? This is easily a few million won.”

Her eyes widened and she immediately snatched it from him, looking annoyed. He his chin and regarded her curiously. “As a matter of fact, you’re whole outfit screams ‘affluent’. U-Penn isn’t a cheap school either. Are you still going to deny you’re not a chaebol?”

“I’m not a chaebol,” she insisted, her face softening. “These are bribes.”

He raised a brow. “In exchange for?”

She fell quiet, hesitant to answer. “In exchange for coming to this school.”

He pursed his lips, trying to detect the hidden meaning in her words and her heavy sighs. “I get it. This is far away from home and you didn’t want to come.” It wasn’t a question.

“I didn’t have much of a choice,” she slung her bag on her shoulder and began walking again, this time, faster. He persisted and hastened his steps to match hers.

“You and I have very different reasons for being here,” he stated, pushing down the anger that was bubbling beneath the surface. Following this girl was no longer about the initial attraction. He felt a kinship, somehow. “They’re making you go away, while I didn’t want to stay.”

They’d made it out of the building before she finally turned around to face him, her eyes flared up. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me these things. Or why you’re following me.”

“I thought maybe you could use a friend here,” he said, taking a step closer to her. She didn’t budge. “We’re not much different, you and I.”

“You literally just told me we had different reasons for being here.”

“Yeah, but we’re both resentful. I didn’t want to end up here either, but I couldn’t stand being in that country anymore. You could say I also had no choice.”

She folded her arms and let out a frustrated sigh. “How can you say those things? You’re a stranger. You don’t know me.”

“Then allow me to get to know you,” he extended a hand. “Park Yoon Jae.”

She looked down at his outstretched hand before meeting his eyes. Slowly, she lifted her arm to take it. “Han Chae Ah.”

* * * * *

“Don’t,” Shi Yoon held Min Ho’s hand to stop him from going through the door. “Leave her. She wants to be alone.”

Min Ho raked a hand through his hair and stared at the door. It hadn’t been long since Shin Hye had left the room, pale and horrified. She had left strict instructions not to follow her, but it didn’t feel right just standing there, leaving Shin Hye to deal with this piece of news. He turned around and placed his hands on Shi Yoon’s shoulder, looking him in the eyes. “Brother? Shin Hye has a brother?”

“I’m more surprised that I didn’t know she was the granddaughter of Park Sang Hoon,” Chae Won shot Shi Yoon a curious look. “That means she’s the daughter of Park Shi Won. He was killed last year. Why is she an assassin? Shouldn’t she be swimming in her family’s money?”

Shi Yoon reached up to tug Min Ho’s hands down before sinking into a seat. He buried his face in his hands and didn’t say anything for a while.

“Half-brother. She has a half-brother,” he began to say, leaning his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know much about him because Shin Hye never mentions him but I know she used to be scared of him as a child. From what I can remember, they’re nine or ten years apart. Shin Hye’s mother…” he paused, looking up to meet their eyes. “…she’s the second wife. Shin Hye was actually the product of an affair. The first wife died, then Shin Hye’s father married her mother and they moved into the Park mansion. Shin Hye lived with her brother for two years before he went to college abroad. Shin Hye and his Mom already escaped the Parks before he could come back.”

He turned to Chae Won. “That’s why you didn’t know Shin Hye was Park Sang Hoon’s granddaughter. Nobody knew that she existed. They thought Park Sang Hoon only had a grandson.”

“So Shin Hye doesn’t have access to her family money?”

Shi Yoon shook his head. “Legally, she did. But she didn’t want it.”

Her eyes widened. “Why the hell not?!”

Shi Yoon rubbed his face with both his palms in annoyance. “You don’t understand. Shin Hye doesn’t want anything to do with that family.”

“They killed her mother,” Min Ho spoke, the words weighing heavy on his lips.

Shi Yoon nodded. “If her brother is behind this then there’s only one thing he wants,” Shi Yoon spoke, his voice heavy . He met their eyes. “Shin Hye didn’t only kill Park Sang Hoon and Park Shi Won, she killed the Park family business. After her father’s death, there was a power grab between the drug syndicates to take over. The Parks’ former allies and close business partners took over the whole operation. Other than the Parks’ legal possessions, everything was taken.”

“Holy ,” Chae Won shook her head. “She single-handedly took down the most powerful family in the criminal world? I think I just fell in love with Shin Hye.”

“Revenge?” Min Ho slammed a fist on the table. “All this for mothering revenge?”

Shi Yoon’s lips tugged up in a wry smile. “Revenge is one of the most potent driving forces in the world, chaebol. It’s wicked, but it’s also natural. It can turn even the sweetest of girls into the deadliest of assassins.”

Min Ho pursed his lips at Shi Yoon’s words. He knew all too well how much he’d want his hands on whoever killed his parents, too. But unlike him who had chosen to live his life, Shin Hye was consumed by it. Revenge changed her.

“So how do I fit into the picture?” Min Ho asked. “If Shin Hye’s brother is really behind all of these, what does that have to do with me?”

Shi Yoon stood up from his chair and moved to face his laptop. “That’s what we ought to find out.”

“Aside from revenge, there’s another potent driving force that can even be more powerful,” Chae Won spoke after being silent for a long time. “Money. And if it’s one thing this man has,” she looked Mino up and down. “It’s money.”

* * * * *

Seoul, 1998.

The eight-year old girl tightened her grip on her Mother’s hand, alarmed by the number of men in the house. They didn’t look kind, unlike the ahjussis that used to talk to her in their old neighborhood.

She tugged her mother’s hand down, and the older woman bent over to level her face with her little girl’s.

“Are we really going to live here, Omma?”

“Yes sweetie,” she the girl’s cheek and gave her a warm smile of assurance. “From now on, we’re going to live with Appa. That means we’ll get to see him everyday, not just on weekends. You wanted more time with him, didn’t you?”

She bit her lower lip. Her friends bragged about their fathers all the time, but she never had the chance to. The few times he visited them, he was never like the fathers her friends would describe. He never bought her ice cream or pretty dresses, or brought her to fun places like the zoo. He would come, and he would talk to her sometimes, but he never smiled.

Just then, the door opened and a teenager in his high school uniform came strolling inside. He stopped upon seeing the two of them, but there were no greetings or smiles offered. Shin Hye met his gaze and felt even more scared of him than the men in suits. She took a tiny step back to hide behind her mother’s figure.

“Yoon Jae, you’re home?” Her voice was sweet and welcoming. “We just arrived an hour ago.”

The boy dipped his head in a lazy bow and without a word, walked toward the staircase.

“Have you eaten dinner?”

The loud stomps filled the space, but none of them heard any response. As soon as the boy disappeared into the second floor, Shin Hye turned to look up at her mother whose smile faded slowly.

“Who is he?”

She smiled down at Shin Hye. “Sweetheart, that’s your Yoon Jae oppa. I told you so many times about him, didn’t I?’

Shin Hye looked up the stairs and recalled her mother telling her about a sweet, smart boy – a brother she had yet to meet. “He’s scary,” she said, not at all expecting that the brother she was looking forward to meeting wasn’t the same as her friends’ older brothers who carried them and played with them, bought them food and toys. Her oppa reminded her so much of her appa.

“You have to give him time, Shin Hye,” she squeezed her hand. “Just be yourself and he’s going to fall in love with you.”

* * * * *

Shin Hye had gone through her fourth round by the time she noticed her hands trembling. The sounds of the bullets did nothing to drown out the thoughts that filled her head. Nor did the calm she usually felt whenever she trained like this, secluded and away from the world she loathed, come to embrace her. Right now, she was overcome by regret and guilt. By anger. By fear. The memories came flooding back – those that she desperately repressed when she decided to leave her old life behind.

Park Yoon Jae.

She had not given him a second’s thought when she pulled the trigger that killed her father. Their father. He was no longer her business, she had not seen him in more than a decade. She neither loved him nor truly hated him for the sins of his family. Their family.

Click. Another round of shots pierced through the silence. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to keep her arms in place. The succeeding shots strayed farther and farther away from the target, her vision blurring. What was left of her composure slipped away with every bullet that echoed through.

Her eyes stung from unshed tears. She closed them, but she didn’t stop. She pulled the trigger over and over, her shots wildly hitting the concrete wall meters away. A scream was stuck in , painstakingly making its way up to . The image of her mother’s smile and her Father’s lifeless body vacillating in her mind. Her Grandfather’s cold, calculating eyes. Yoon Jae oppa.

The next thing she knew, scratched from the pain. She had wailed so loud that it echoed through the firing range, and yet she couldn’t hear anything else but the memories that nagged at her. Her knees finally buckled and she slithered to the ground, exhausted and spent, her cheeks wet.

That’s when she felt two strong arms surround her body. The contact should have surprised her, but it didn’t. What took him so long, was all she thought as her hands made its way up to hold onto him, as though making sure he was really there. He was whispering things to her, things she couldn’t make out, but his voice was enough to soothe the pain by a little. He’s here.

She was past the point of wondering what had happened to her, why she allowed herself to be too dependent on anyone to be okay. She no longer cared about that. All she knew was amidst all of this, Lee Min Ho was going to be her anchor. He already is. In his steady embrace, she cried and cried. For the first time, she bawled her heart out for her mother’s pain. For the guilt that ate at her when she killed her father. For all those years of pretending to feel nothing whenever she took a life. For robbing Shi Yoon of a future he deserved because she was selfish. For putting the man she has grown to love in danger. She will never be able to forgive herself for all these sins.

“Shin Hye,” Min Ho whispered against her temple. “I’m here. I’m just here.”

Her chest heaved up and down. The tears have stopped, but the emotions lingered. She squirmed underneath him before lifting up her face to meet his eyes.

“I ed up,” she squeaked.

He studied her closely, his thumb tracing circles on her cheek. “We all do.”

“I don’t deserve you.”

A flicker of alarm passed through Min Ho’s eyes before he leaned in close. “Don’t say that,” he whispered against her lips before planting a kiss on them. Shin Hye closed her eyes and let Min Ho’s warmth spread through her cold body. He pulled away, his eyes still steady. “You deserve me. No one else does, Shin Hye.” He kissed her again, this time more urgently, as though trying to convince her. He nipped on her lips like he was on nectar. Her heartbeat quickened as her hands glided up his arms to cup his face. She tilted her face to the side to taste more of him. Min Ho groaned when Shin Hye ran her fingers through his hair, her hand landing on his nape, tugging him as close as he could.

For the first time in a long time, Shin Hye didn’t see herself as a killer. She was someone that could be held like this, kissed like this. In Min Ho’s eyes she was more than the woman she has loathed all these years. Shin Hye pulled away despite yearning for more.

She looked into Min Ho’s eyes. Those goddamn beautiful eyes. “I need you,” she whispered against his lips.

Min Ho creased his brows before a look of comprehension passed through his face. He drank in her features, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Shin Hye, I—“

She pushed herself up to meet his lips again, giving him no chance to say what he was about to. Min Ho responded with fervor, constricting his arms around her. Before long, Shin Hye felt one of his hands travel down to the back of her knees in an attempt to carry her. Shin Hye fastened her hands around his neck and planted kisses along his jawline, before burying her face in his chest, inhaling as much of him as she could. It was foreign to her – this feeling. But one thing she knew for sure, she couldn’t get enough.

Shin Hye blinked her eyes open to complete darkness and silence. It was strange and jarring – the feeling of total disconnection with the world around her. She didn’t know exactly how long she’d been out, and she cannot remember how she slipped into slumber so effortlessly. The sleepless nights and incessant thoughts came with the job, and yet tonight, the