Min Ho could only watch as she stomped off into her room and slammed the door behind her. For a second there, he half-expected her to come out with some deadly weapon and actually follow through with the threat. His cheek still stung from her slap. He knew she used her injured hand to do it, but how she managed to still inflict that much pain was mind-boggling. It must have been as painful for her giving the slap as it was for him to receive it.

When after a few minutes, she still remained in her room, Min Ho figured she wasn’t going to come out anymore. Relieved, he found himself sinking back to the couch and running a hand through his hair. He didn’t know what got into him. All he could feel at that moment was intense anger at everything she was saying. The odd part was, it wasn’t the fact that she almost killed him that pissed him off, but because she made a fool out of him. Am I really so weak?

He admits, after that night, she crossed his mind more than once. But it was mostly because he thought he’d been blown off. Who was this woman who had brought him to a motel and just left with her boyfriend? He played a lot of games with women before, but whatever Lady did that night wasn’t in the playbook. When his friends had told him that the Shi Yoon guy was really gay, he may have been annoyed, but for the first time, he actually believed that a woman wasn’t playing games with him. She was just genuinely helping him out, like she explained. And that baffled him even more. Who does that?

So when he found out who she really was, he just went livid.

Next thing he knew he was kissing her, if he could even call that a kiss. She was challenging him, and no words would suffice to express just how pissed off he felt. He wanted to shut her up once and for all. He knew he successfully got the hate message across with that action, but the sight of her bleeding lip made him feel guilty. Maybe he went too far. And maybe he deserved that slap. He looked down at the table and saw the clothes that she prepared for him. Great. Now I feel worse.

“Ahh, meolla!” He grumbled and grabbed his coat. Why am I even here? He stormed off the shack and walked to the road. There were no taxis or any other vehicle in sight. He thought of calling someone, but there was barely any signal where he was, and his phone was about to die. He closed his eyes and screamed a curse that echoed into the darkness. Tonight was going down the books as one of the most horrible nights ever. And he had a feeling it wasn’t over yet.

Shi Yoon started off with all their folders in the office, and in the war room. The PC had received the self-destruct code and destroyed all the files even before he arrived. He grabbed all his gadgets , which included a number of laptops and some communication devices, and loaded them in the car. He cleaned out the office and the war room of all evidence that could implicate him and Shin Hye. It was a good thing they’d been careful all this time.

When he was done doing that, he frowned, knowing what was next. He usually never went into the arsenal because the sight of all the weapons freaked him out a little bit. That was Shin Hye’s area, along with their home gym. But he had no choice but to get everything he can. He entered the passcode, and as soon as he entered, he gasped slightly, stunned at just how many weapons they’ve collected throughout the years.

“That’s it. If she asks for another gun, I’m going to decline,” he mumbled. He hauled a plastic box from under one of the shelves and started filling it with Shin Hye’s ‘toys’. He winced from time to time as he carefully stacked them inside, scared that one of the guns might actually go off.

After he filled one container up, he started packing up another one. The hardest part was bringing them to the car since most of the guns were really heavy. The first thing that crossed his mind as soon as he saw the plastic boxes in the backseat was how the hell he was going to explain this to an officer if he was unfortunate enough to be stopped at a checkpoint.

He wanted to bring more things but they couldn’t fit in the car anymore. “I’ll just have to come back for the rest,” he said to himself, thinking about the two bags he left inside his room.

The Cabin was around forty-five minutes away from their house, even without traffic. Even though Shi Yoon thought he’d be sleepy driving to and fro, he was alert. The adrenaline hasn’t died down just yet. He’s had crazy nights in this lifetime, but tonight takes the cake. Seeing Shin Hye in that state made him want to kill somebody himself, so the faster they figure this out, the safer he’d feel.

It was a little past 2 AM when he drove back to the house for the things he had left behind. He slowed down as he approached their gate.

That’s when he noticed something was wrong. The lights from the living room were on, but Shi Yoon was certain that he turned them off before leaving. Not too far from their gate was a black car that he doesn’t remember being there when he left. Stopping himself from panicking, he slowly drove past their gate and parked two blocks from the house.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You can do this, Shi Yoon,” he whispered to himself. He contemplated on calling Shin Hye, but he was sure that she’d only panic. She was supposed to be recuperating right now. He opened the glove compartment and took out a pistol that Shin Hye had kept there precisely for moments like this one. Shi Yoon looked at himself in the rearview mirror. “What would Lady do?”

After a while, he stepped out of the car and sprinted quietly to their gate. He heard the ruckus even from outside. Whoever was in there didn’t make an effort to be discreet. Imagining their stuff being flipped over and destroyed made him want to just barge in there.

He jumped in place silently, trying to get a peek over the fence. He wanted a good look at the unwanted visitors.

Just then, he heard them come out of the door, slamming it behind them. Shi Yoon ducked and crawled to the side of the gate, clutching the gun. Please don’t let me use this. Please.

“They’re gone. I think they knew we were coming,” Shi Yoon heard one of the men say. He still didn’t know how many of them were there. “We didn’t find it.”

Shi Yoon crawled farther, knowing the men will be exiting the gate any minute now and he couldn’t risk being seen. He thought of himself as a good runner, but if the goons had guns with them, he was dead. Seconds later, five burly and dangerous-looking men exited the gate. Shi Yoon was standing on tiptoes, leaning back against the wall like he was glued to it, and hoping the darkness would make him go unnoticed.

Fortunately, they all climbed inside their car and drove off without spotting him. Shi Yoon exhaled and ran as quick as he could into the gate. He drove all the way back there just for those two bags. Now he just had to grab them from inside his room and go.

The mess that welcomed him made him curse out loud. It really looked like the goons got busy while he was gone. “Our poor house,” he muttered under his breath before making his way into his room. He fumbled for the two bags under his bed and pulled them out.

As he was leaving, he noticed the door to Shin Hye’s room was wide open, and the light was on. From where he stood, it looked messier than any other room in the house. Instinctively, he entered Shin Hye’s room. His eyes almost widened as he saw everything in disarray. All her clothes were on the floor. Her closet was emptied out and all things breakable were shattered into pieces. Even her bed was upside down.

“What the hell.”

He inched closer to Shin Hye’s dresser and saw that everything in it were scattered on the floor. Shi Yoon creased his brows. “What were they looking for?”

Then he remembered what Shin Hye told him before he left the shack. She asked him to bring the antique jewelry box that was inside her dresser’s drawer. Immediately, he crouched down and opened one of the bags. He put his hand inside and d for the object, breathing a sigh of relief when he finally felt it. He quickly pulled it out of the bag and stared at it. Shin Hye’s Mother’s jewelry box? Anya. It can't be what they were looking for. “What would they want with this?” He muttered to himself before putting it back inside.

Min Ho got off the taxi and looked up at the giant building in front of him. It was past 7 AM, and he has never felt happier being home. After he stormed out of the shack, he realized he was going nowhere. It was dark and scary on the road. So instead, he spent a few more hours on their couch before sneaking out. He didn’t want to run into that woman again before he left. It was almost daybreak when he finally set out to find a way to get back home. Exactly how long he walked on the streets like some hobo, trying to hail a taxi, was something he wanted to erase from his memory forever. I should have never gone with them in the first place.

He was massaging his temples as he was going inside, partly because his head was hurting from sleeplessness and exhaustion, and partly because if there were any other residents at the lobby, he wanted to hide his face. He didn’t want to be seen doing the walk of shame. Anybody who would see him now could easily tell he hasn’t been home, since he was still wearing the tux that he had worn to Jae Hyun’s engagement party.

The doorman briefly bowed, and Min Ho just walked straight past him, briskly, all the way to the elevator. After pushing the button for the pent house, he let out a sigh and leaned on the metal walls. All he could think of is collapsing on his bed. And if he was lucky, he’d wake up and realize this was all a bad dream.

When the elevator arrived at the topmost floor, Min Ho almost sprinted to his door. When he reached for the lock screen to enter his pass code, his hand stopped a few inches away.

Looking down at the broken screen, his heartbeat quickened. He scanned the door and instinctively nudged it forward slightly. As expected, the door creaked open. After taking a deep breath, he held the knob and opened the door gently. He had a feeling whoever broke in was no longer inside. But after last night, he ought to be careful.

When he walked in, everything was in order – exactly the way he had left it last night. It was as if nothing was touched. For some reason, it made him even more scared. He ran to his room. As soon as he opened the door, he noticed everything was in disarray. His bed was a mess, his closets and cabinets were emptied out, and the contents were now on the floor. He ran a hand through his hair and took the sight in. “Meoya,” he muttered under his breath.

He remembered what Lady had said last night. “…whoever is behind this knows where we live…” He couldn’t forget how Shi Yoon left the shack immediately after that to secure their things.

As it just dawned on him, he ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “, they know where I live,” he grumbled and spun around, as if thinking about what he should bring first. He walked to the closet and took out an empty duffel bag from one of the shelves. He snatched a couple of shirts, pants, and other essentials in lightning speed. He cleared his dresser and dumped whatever he could inside the bag. Charger. Laptop. He didn’t even think about changing his clothes. Whoever ransacked his place could come back any time now. Or worse, could just be waiting for him to return. After grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, he stomped out of there.

He was anxious as he rode the elevator down. He’s never been more scared for his life than he was now. There was someone after him, and whoever it was found out where he lived. When he got to the lobby, he immediately headed to the security room.

“Did anybody come by my place last night?” He demanded as soon as he stepped in. The guards who were on duty stood up and looked at each other.

“Myung Soo and Chae Il were on duty last night, right?” A third man who was seated behind a desk asked. He looked like the chief.

“Yes, sir,” one of them replied.

The chief shook his head and turned to Min Ho, standing up to walk to him. “They’re off duty this morning, sir. But if you want visual confirmation, we can check the CCTV cameras.”

Min Ho dropped his bag on the floor and rounded partition desks to watch the screen with the guards. One of them went through the footage from the lobby camera, while the other went through the camera at Min Ho’s floor.

Min Ho pressed his lips together as they fast forwarded through the tape. Oddly, there was no trace of anyone going into Min Ho’s apartment. He had asked the man to rewind and fast-forward a few times but found no one. What the.

“That’s impossible,” Min Ho replied, shaking his head. “My lock was broken! Somebody was there!”

The chief widened his eyes and picked up the phone to make a call. Min Ho figured that he was probably calling the local police.

Just then, the other guard called their attention. “Sir, there’s an unknown man who arrived at around midnight. He doesn’t seem to be a resident but he was let inside. He left forty minutes later,” he pointed at the time stamp on the lower-left portion of the screen.

Min Ho silently watched as the hooded figure approach the guard at the lobby. The man never once lifted his face so he must have known there would be cameras. But how did he manage to not get caught by the camera at his floor?

Min Ho let out a frustrated sigh and turned to the chief. “My ro