*Present*

"The Leader isn't going to like this," Jaejun said, putting his gun away.

"I thought I warned you not to be reckless," he went on. He opened the trap door and kicked the guard's body into the cellar.

"As long as you're around, I can risk being a little reckless," SD winked. "Number Five."

Jaejun shook his head in dismay but it was no use in scolding SD.

"I'll clean up the mess here," Jaejun said to SD. "The security has been already lowered but I managed to buy only ten minutes. And now only two minutes are left. Run fast, and you might make it before the Company's army unit gets here!"historical

SD did not climb down the chute but stepped forward to hug Jaejun, who was taken by surprise but patted the Crown Prince on the head.

"Thanks," SD said. "For everything."

"Don't be an emotional fool," Jaejun said, trying to suppress his own fatherly affections for the kid he had raised. "Just don't die. I didn't save you all those years ago so that you can die."

"I have no intention of dying, Five," SD said, letting him go. "Nor do I have any intention of letting anyone else die."

"Just go!" Jaejun groaned. SD smirked and climbed down the trapdoor, disappearing from view. Jaejun quickly closed the trapdoor and headed over to a cupboard to take out cleaning equipment. He took off his jacket and pulled up his sleeves to start cleaning the blood on the floor.

Meanwhile, SD sprinted straight towards the exit, not looking back. He did not need to because Jaejun was protecting him from the Company. He kept on running until he reached the exit and clambered out of the trapdoor. Avoiding to be seen, he quietly went back to the boat and sailed away, undetected.

Half an hour later, Jaejun returned to the dock, fully suited and impassive. Mikhael was also there, waiting for him.

"We didn't find anyone," Mikhael informed him.

"I didn't see anyone either," Jaejun stated. "It seems that I was mistaken."

"We can check the CCTV cameras," Mikhael suggested. Jaejun gave him a wary look.

"You really think that I did not check the CCTV cameras?" he asked in a lazy tone. "I checked them and saw that there was no one around. All the guards were at their station. After all, I chose the men and placed them. I know who is where."

"You might have missed something!" Mikhael insisted.

A mocking smile appeared on Jaejun's lips. "Unless, you are suggesting that there has been a lapse in security and a spy actually broke in," Jaejun added in an offhanded tone. "Or that I let someone slip through even though I've been a loyal servant of the Company for twenty years.."

Mikhael looked a little embarrassed by Jaejun's words. The latter was his senior in the Company and one of the innermost members whereas Mikhael was just a pawn despite being the Ambassador of Country R to Country K. The difference between the power Mikhael wielded in the Company was nothing compared to what Jaejun had. If Jaejun gave out an order, even PM Lee could not stop him.

"N-no!" Mikhael stammered. "Forgive me-"

"Don't waste time and keep an eye on the shipment," Jaejun said coldly. "If the shipment fails to reach the Choi's, then remember. You'll be dead. The Company will not spare you."

Mikhael gulped and nodded. Jaejun looked away, turning his attention to the goods being loaded on the ship. They did not talk for a long time, simply overseeing the process.

Jaejun took out his phone and texted the Prime Minister.

"Shipment will arrive in Country K in two days," he wrote. "So far, everything is fine."

He glanced at Mikhael before adding, "Two guards from my squad are missing. CCTV footage tampered with. Mikhael might be colluding with Yakuza."

Pressing send, he put the phone away and returned to his impassive stance. He had completed his part in the mission. The ball was now in SD's court.

Don't mess up, kid, he prayed in his thoughts.

...

Sunye was feeling uneasy. It was past midnight and she should be asleep by then as per the strict schedule SD had prepared for her but her anxiety kept her awake.

She lay on SD's bed, staring at her phone. He had been gone for three days and there was no message from him. Orea had told her that no news was good news but Sunye still felt worried.

She stared at the message which kept on returning to her inbox and was marked as undeliverable. Sunye pressed the send button again, hoping that it would connect but the message was bounced back to her inbox again.

Sighing loudly, she rolled on her back and stared at the ceiling. She was missing him terribly and hoped that he would return soon. But there were still 2 days left and every passing second only increased her anxiety.

"He really is sadistic," she murmured. She got up and slowly shuffled towards his walk-in closet. It was a silly impulse but she decided to act on it anyway. In SD's words, what was life without being a little impulsive?

Scanning through his large collection of shirts, she chose a simple white one which he wore quite frequently. She could sniff his scent on it, making her reminisce about their night at the hotel. Smiling to herself, she took off her t-shirt and put on his shirt. It was not much but his scent was comforting her, making her feel that he was probably nearby.

She lay on the bed again, wondering what he was doing.

"I bet he's doing his spy work," she guessed. "Breaking into some kind of highly secured place and looking for information there. Then he'll use his wits to charm others. Or have a companion in there who'll help him find what he needs and then escape."

Sunye was a little impressed with herself. She was either getting better at figuring him out or was starting to think like him. Either way, it felt exciting to imagine him in different scenarios in her head. It was like she was an imaginative child again who used to dream of the sky being a cotton candy with her best friend San.

"Should I make the scene interesting?" she murmured. "He...he's sneaking into a security vault, secretly breaking through the system. Prodding through the dangers, he enters the vault when suddenly, he slips on a banana skin and trips!"

She laughed to herself as the scene played out in her mind and she imagined SD's shocked reaction.

"Serves him right for not calling!" she sighed and rolled to her side. Her phone was still silent, not any calls nor any messages yet. Sunye kept on staring at it, her mind full of thoughts about what SD might be doing at that time.

Just then, her phone rang, making her jump in fright. Sunye almost got a heart attack when her ringtone rang up. Ignoring the jump scare, she excitedly picked up the phone.

"Hi Sunye," Jonghyun's voice came from the other end. Sunye's shoulders fell in disappointment.

"Oh, it's you," she said in an annoyed tone which made Jonghyun raise an eyebrow.

"You were expecting someone else?" he asked.

"Yes, I was expecting a client to call," she lied easily. For some reason, she was getting better at lying to others, especially to Jonghyun. "There's an extortion case and the client was supposed to call with some important information. He still didn't call."

Jonghyun sighed. "I received a call from Hyeri today," he said. "She told me that she visited your office but didn't elaborate. Did she say anything which might have offended you?"

"She was just talking about our days at the Palace," Sunye shrugged. "She used to visit there a lot and played with me and my friend, the Crown Prince Kim San. We were reminiscing about the good old days."

"Kim San.." he trailed off. "It seems that you were very close to him. You keep talking about him a lot."

"San was close to me," Sunye stated. "You might even say that he was my first love. A little far fetched considering that we were really young back then. But most people used to whisper that if we kept on being this close, then I might end up marrying him someday."

"What if he comes back?" Jonghyun laughed. "Will you leave your lover and marry him?"

He was asking in a joking way but Jonghyun wanted to know her answer. His brother might be dead but Jonghyun was still Kim San. So what if he was not the person she was waiting for? He had the power to bend the truth and he would resort to that if he had to.

"You can marry the Crown Prince and live in the palace as his Empress," he coaxed. Sunye did not reply but picked up a strawberry from the bedside table and idly played with it.

"Marry the future Emperor and live in the palace, huh?" she pondered out loud. "How boring."

"Boring?" Jonghyun questioned her.

"If San ever came back," she began. "He would never take the throne. He hated it and preferred a free life. Only a fool would go for that throne. For me and him, it was a boring life."

"What if he wants it now?" Jonghyun asked quietly. His fists were clenched in anger and he tried to control his temper around her but it was of no use.

"Then I'd be the first one to oppose him," Sunye said in a clear tone. Before he could say anything else, she hung up the phone and tossed it aside. She was in no mood to talk to him, especially when she was thinking about SD's safety.

Pulling the blanket over her, she tried to get some sleep but it was of no use. Her mind was going haywire. She pulled the shirt up so that she could find comfort in SD's lingering scent.

She heard a beep from her phone. It must be that annoying guy, she thought warily. She did not want to see the message but her habit of regularly checking her inbox won over her ego.

Picking up the phone, she saw that it was not Jonghyun but the country code of Country R. Frowning, she opened the message and nearly dropped the phone in surprise.

It was SD!