Shi Yoon craned his neck from side to side and entered their house. He was exhausted. He’d been going around the city since 8 AM, and it was way past lunch now but he hasn’t eaten yet.

“Shin Hye!” He called out as he approached the dining room, hoping she cooked this time. The sight of the empty table made his heart sink. Not only was he hungry like a wolf, he was sure Shin Hye hasn’t eaten too. It had crossed his mind to pick up lunch on the way, but he was too tired for even that.

“Shin Hye?” He called again, but there was no response. He proceeded to the war room where he saw Shin Hye staring intently at the monitor.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Eo, wasseo?” Shin Hye shot him a glance before looking back at the screen. “Monitoring the articles about the Shin Chun Dong case.”

“Are the police onto us yet?” Shi Yoon asked as he let out a yawn and sat in front of her. He leaned his chin on his hands lazily.

“Nope. They just say that the murder is tied to the deaths of other heads of notorious criminal rings in the past year. Of course they won’t reveal any leads to the press so we might have to check up on how our cops are doing,” Shin Hye looked up and noticed Shi Yoon’s lack of energy. “Have you eaten?”

Shi Yoon pouted. “Not yet.”

“Mianhae, I was planning to cook but I lost track of time,” she replied. “How about I order in?” She reached for her hand phone to make the call. Shi Yoon nodded and rested his head on his folded arms on the table. Shin Hye observed her friend and felt sorry for making him do so much work. She made a mental note of taking Shi Yoon on a vacation after the Lee Min Ho job. When she hung up, she turned to her friend again. “I didn’t think you’ll be at Wang Gwan all morning.”

“I wasn’t,” Shi Yoon sat up straight, yawning again. He appreciated that Shin Hye at least asked him first about whether he’s had his meal before moving on to business as usual – and that’s definitely an improvement. Shi Yoon is used to it, though. Shin Hye could get really passionate and meticulous about jobs. This Lee Min Ho job in particular made her even more workaholic than usual.

“So where were you all day?”

“As planned, I went to Wang Gwan to find out what I could about Lee Min Ho’s schedule but apparently, he hasn’t shown up to work for the past week and the employees don’t have any idea where he is. Some think he’s on a trip somewhere, but according to the office rumors, he had a fight with Chairman Lee. They’re even talking about him being removed from his position.”

Shin Hye frowned. Lee Min Ho was proving to be a hard man to find, as expected.

“I was told that if there was anyone who knew Lee Min Ho’s whereabouts, it would be his secretary. It’s a good thing we have a mole in the company. I went to our client and asked her if she could sneak into Lee Min Ho’s secretary’s office. Unfortunately, even his Secretary doesn’t know where he’s gone. His schedule for this week and  next week is completely blank.”

Before Shin Hye could ask a follow up question, Shi Yoon started narrating the places he’s been to, knowing Shin Hye would be pestering about it. “I checked the sasaengs’ fancafe and tracked down all the spots he hangs out at. I went to his gym, but I found out he doesn’t go there regularly. He has a favorite designer, but I also checked there and I was told he hasn’t had a meeting with them in two months. The only spot he’s constantly seen at is Reveille. But even there, his appearances have been erratic.”

“. We might have to do it at his home,” Shin Hye ran a hand through her hair in frustration. She hated ‘house calls’.

Shi Yoon shook his head. “We can’t do that either. I already checked by calling the Lee residence. As it turns out, Lee Min Ho moved out a few days ago. No one knows where he moved to.”

“UGH! This brat is such a headache! It’s like he knows we’re coming for him!”

Shi Yoon narrowed his eyes. Usually, Shin Hye never humanizes the target. Sometimes they were called ‘bastard’, ‘’, ‘er’, but never a term that sounded so… personal. “Brat?”

Shin Hye ignored him and covered her face with her hands. “So we’re stuck.”

“Not exactly.”

Shin Hye moved two of her fingers to steal a peek at Shi Yoon. He was holding up a fancy looking envelope. “What’s that?”

“Well, just as I was about to give up, Son Ah Young called me and told me she found something on Lee Min Ho’s secretary’s desk,” he extended his arm to give the envelope to Shin Hye.

She hurriedly opened it.

“You’re cordially invited to the engagement party of Ahn Jae Hyun and Park Na Young,” Shi Yoon told her as she read the card. “That came for Lee Min Ho.” Shi Yoon shook his head and let out a whistle. “Yeokshi. Chaebols are unbelievable. An LG and Doosan merger? It’s frightening, I tell you. It’s like they’re preparing to take over the world or something.”

Shin Hye stared at the card and thought about the repercussions of what she was about to do. No doubt that this engagement party will be full of the country’s most important people. She might not know the who’s who of the chaebol world but she knew that when two huge conglomerates were to be linked in marriage, the business world pays attention. Killing Lee Min Ho during that night would not only be risky, it would be foolish.

She turned to Shi Yoon who was looking at her expectantly, waiting for a reaction. A part of her suspected that maybe it was Shi Yoon’s way of telling her that this job is hopeless and they should abandon it. But the more difficult it was, the more motivated she got. This is precisely the type of fear that Son Ah Young faces every day. If a brilliant hacker and a trained mercenary have a hard time with all these threats, how much worse would a traumatized accountant feel?

Shin Hye sighed and read the date. “July 23.”

Shi Yoon nodded. “We have two days.”

Her heart was beating fast at the thought of the gigantic task in front of her. “Do you think you can find out everything about this party?” Shin Hye asked.

Shi Yoon smiled. “Did you really just ask me that? It’s like you don’t even know me,” he declared cockily. Shin Hye knew it was his way of trying to lighten up her mood, but she caught the worry on his face. Shi Yoon stood up from the chair and walked to the PC at the corner of the war room to start.

He was still apprehensive about this job, but he was done opposing Shin Hye on this. He knew she was determined to do the job. And the best thing he can do is make sure that they both come out of it alive.

“What are you doing here?!”

He smirked and took off his sunglasses. “Is that a way to greet a friend? You knew I was arriving this morning and you didn’t even pick me up from the airport. I haven’t been home for a year. That really hurt.”

She stood up from her seat and walked to the door. Before closing it, she peeked outside to check if anybody was nearby.

He casually took a seat on one of the chairs and looked around the room. “Nice place. Do secretaries normally have their own office in this country?”

She balled her fists and tried to control herself before looking at him again. “You’re not supposed to be here. You can’t be seen here,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Relax. I’m only here to check up on you,” he stood up and walked to where she was standing. He her cheek lightly before running his hand down to her neck, to her shoulders, then resting on her waist. “I haven’t seen you in ages. You’re still beautiful.” He pulled her close and leaned down. But she quickly pushed him away.

“I’m not in the mood,” she said coldly before turning around. She placed one hand on her forehead and the other on her waist. She paced nervously while he watched on, amused. After a few seconds of silence, she turned to him, her expression harsh. “Why hasn’t she killed him yet? We’re running out of time!”

He smiled. He expected it from her. When his men told him a few months ago how the cold assassin, Lady, has suddenly started killing off criminals, he knew she’d make sure Lee Min Ho was a bad man first before she’d do anything.

“I know you want her to be the one to kill him, but how are we so sure she’s even going to do it?” She was looking more and more on edge. “How hard is it to kill one person, huh? Why is she going around looking for files, putting on costumes? What kind of mercenary does that?” She continued, sounding totally feeling absurd. “She could very well ruin our plans!”

“SHE IS PART OF OUR PLANS!” He raised his voice angrily. The more he listened to her, the more infuriated he got.“This isn’t just about your greedy , Han Chae Ah! We had a deal. I don’t give a about Lee Min Ho. Your target may be him, but Lady is my target!”

Buckling under his intense stare and gruff voice, she took a seat. She clasped her hands and closed her eyes to calm down. He has always frightened her, but she wouldn’t be able to carry out any of her plans without him. She took a deep breath and lifted her face to him. “You were right. She paid a visit to the hospital and took Lee Min Ho’s file,” she shook her head. “I don’t know if she bought it. Min Ho hasn’t been to that doctor since he turned 21.”

“Did you do as I say? Did you put what I told you to put into that file?”

“Yes. It was difficult, but your hacker helped.”

“Good. What about the girl?”

Chae Ah looked at him quizzically. “Son Ah Young?”

“Yes. Did they contact her again?”

Chae Ah nodded her head. “Last Saturday. She said the man she talked to told her that Lady made the decision to kill him.”

He rubbed his palms together as he let out a menacing laugh. “Finally, we can have some fun!”

A knock on Chae Ah’s door interrupted their conversation. She stood up and opened it slightly, making sure her companion wasn’t seen. She was surprised to see who it was.

“C– Can I talk t—to you?” Son Ah Young asked.

Chae Ah’s expression hardened as she opened the door. Ah Young’s eyes widened when she saw the stranger look at her and give her a wave.

“Ahh, this must be her,” he stood up and spread his arms. “I ought to hug you, sweetheart. If it weren’t for your ty ways, I wouldn’t have this golden opportunity!”

Alarmed, she turned around to leave but he quickly ran to the door and blocked it. He lifted his hand to trace a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Not so fast,” he whispered. “If you want no harm done to your son, you better stay and chat with me. Eo?”

A tear fell from her eye as she convulsed. “Please. Don’t hurt my Jin Young.”

He pursed his lips. “Up to you, sweetheart. You cooperate and this will all be over,” he told her menacingly.

“Why are you doing this to me?” She burst into tears and crouched down. “Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you, huh? Why?”

“Stand up.”

She looked up at Han Chae Ah who was now looking like she was about to kill her.

“I SAID STAND UP!” She repeated, the veins in her neck bulging, her eyes watery.

Son Ah Young did as she was told, her knees weaker than ever. Chae Ah walked to her and grabbed her chin rather violently. “Do you want to protect your son? THEN STOP BEING WEAK!” She yelled. “You think we’ll hurt him? Well then think about what happens when Lee Maeng Hee finds out that you bore the child of his son through an illicit affair!”

Ah Young stood there, feeling every pang of Chae Ah’s words.

“He may not be Chairman Lee, but he can be just as vicious,” she spat. “He just lost 850 million dollars to his brother. What do you think his family will do to poor Jin Young when they find out what little scrap they got from Lee Kun Hee will be shared by an illegitimate child? Don’t be scared of what we’ll do to your son, Ah Young-ah. Think about what the Lee family will do to him!”

Ah Young looked at her with stricken eyes, tears still streaming down her face. “Please. I don’t want anything to do with them. I just want my son safe.”

Chae Ah exhaled and took a step back. “Do you want to help your son?” She said calmly. “Then make sure Lee Min Ho dies.”

Ah Young bowed her head, trying to stop her tears. When she calmed down a bit, she lifted her head slowly. “I gave him the invitation.”

Chae Ah’s scowl turned into interest.

“The… the invitation to that engagement party,” Ah Young said meekly. “You told me the man who works for Lady will come by, and he did. I gave it to him a while ago.”

The man clapped his hands. “Great. Bravo, Ah Young-ah! Yeokshi, I knew you wouldn’t let us down!”

She bit the inside of her lower lip, trying to stop herself from crying again. “I did everything you wanted me to do. Give me back my son now,” she begged.

“Not yet,” Chae Ah replied stoically. Her heart was hammering at the thought of finally getting rid of that boy. She had always hoped she’d see the day, and back then, it was once just a distant dream. But he can taste it now. All she needs to happen is for Lee Min Ho to die.

 With her steely eyes, Chae Ah held Ah Young’s gaze.

“You’ll get your son back as soon as Lee Min Ho is dead.”

Shin Hye was hunched down, studying the large sheet of paper that Shi Yoon had just laid out on the table. They both haven’t slept since the night before. Shi Yoon had disguised himself as a worker and paid a visit to the Ahn estate, where the party was going to be held. Shin Hye, on the other hand, tried to find out everything she can about the party using some hacking tricks that Shi Yoon had taught her.

“We lucked out because it’s an outdoor party,” Shi Yoon told her. “The problem is, there are only two spots where you can take the shot.” He pointed to a structure on the paper, “through a window from inside the mansion”, he moved his finger to the edge, “or from behind the trees in this mini-forest.” Shi Yoon frowned. “Who has a mini-forest in their home? God, these people are too much.”

Shin Hye blew out some air and shook her head. “The Ahns hired twenty guards for this party. There will be men patrolling all areas around the estate,” she told him.  She then proceeded to mark the spots where she believes they will be located. She bit her lip. “Positioning myself outside would be too risky.”

Shi Yoon nodded. “I thought so, too. Our best option is inside the mansion.”

“Then we have to get in without problems,” she looked at him warily.

“I already got myself invited to the party. I’ll be one of the guests.”

Shin Hye rolled her eyes. “Great job on reprising your role as a chaebol. I bet you were just waiting for this opportunity, weren’t you?”

“Stop being snarky because all you can be is the house help,” he retorted. “You can come in as one of the waitresses. They’re the only ones allowed inside the house. Just be careful not to run into the handsome foursome. Especially Lee Min Ho.”

“Handsome foursome?” She frowned.

“Flower four was taken,” Shi Yoon shrugged and went back to focus on the sketch. “The best spot to take the shot is one of the guest rooms over here,” he moved his index finger to a window from the third floor. “The catering services are arriving at 4 PM.” He took another roll of paper from under the table and handed it to Shin Hye. She opened it right away. “That’s the floor plan to the house,” he said. “Study it and make sure you know your way inside. When things go wrong, it helps if you know the spots you can hide in. As soon as you arrive at the location, make your way to the room and hide the equipment before coming do