Spar
Shin Hye wasted no time and briskly tottered to her door. She was exhausted, and to be honest, embarrassed as hell. What exactly was she thinking? That’s the problem: I wasn’t thinking. When Min Ho hugged her back at the elevator, she remembered feeling flustered, and then feeling warm. It was the way he held her close, his body communicating to her everything he wanted to say in the way his words couldn’t. In the few seconds he held her, it was as if she felt his unspoken pain, his relief that his Grandfather was alive, his longing for his old life, and most of all, his sincerity when he thanked her. And before she could come to her senses, her stupid arms just had to move on their own.
She only realized the gravity of what she’d done when Min Ho kept stealing glances at her from the rearview mirror and sneaking smiles her way during the awkward ride home. She dreaded that the chaebol was never going to let her forget that moment of weakness. But truthfully, what was even worse was the possibility that she wasn’t going to let herself forget how it felt like being held in his arms.
She reached for the doorknob, ready to lock herself in her room in shame.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
A hand hooked her arm, making her stagger back a step away from her door. She almost let out a whimper. I was so close. Shin Hye scowled when she came face-to-face with Shi Yoon. She looked down at his hand tightly clutching her arm then up to his infuriating face.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She pulled her arm away and glared at her best friend.
Shi Yoon narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. “Don’t you think you owe us an explanation for your vanishing act? Min Ho and I were worried sick for days!”
And as if on cue, Min Ho strode inside the house, looking a little curious after hearing his name. His eyes fell on Shi Yoon before meeting hers. He smirked a little and Shin Hye flushed. She quickly averted her eyes and turned around to face her door again, wanting to be thousands of miles away from those two fools. But Shi Yoon was quick to block her way.
“YA!” She yelled, getting frustrated. “I’m here now so what’s the problem?”
“What exactly were you doing at Moon Chae Won’s, huh?”
Shin Hye rolled her eyes. “So this is about Chae Won? Psshh. You’re just mad that I didn’t bring you along.”
Shi Yoon scoffed, but his face went beet red. “Excuse me, why would I want to be around that crazy woman? I was just worried you’d gone off and put yourself in danger.”
“Well, I didn’t. And even if I did, that’s my business.”
Something flashed in Shi Yoon’s eyes that instantly changed his expression. “Your business? So what exactly have I been doing for the past five years? Just tagging along in your escapades?” Shi Yoon spat, looking uncharacteristically serious. “Shin Hye, we’re supposed to be partners! What if something really happened to you?”
Shin Hye let out a frustrated sigh, wishing they didn’t have to have this conversation now. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away where I went. But I’m not going to apologize for going off by myself once in a while. You may be my partner but there are some things I need to do on my own. You are not my keeper, and I’m not yours.”
Shi Yoon gritted his teeth, looking angrier. Shin Hye hasn’t seen this side of him in a while, and she honestly didn’t understand why he was being so touchy about the topic. Judging by the look on his face, she knew that she’d pushed the wrong buttons.
She waited for him to say something, but Shi Yoon just glared at her.
Min Ho cleared his throat, and for a moment, Shin Hye forgot that he was standing right there. “Hey, are you guys hungry?” He asked, Shin Hye suspected, to ease the tension in the room.
They both turned to look at Min Ho, who was sitting on the armrest, looking uncomfortable. But he straightened his expression and pointed to the kitchen. “We still have lots of meat and beef left over and I’ve been told a lot of times that I’m awesome at grilling.”
Shi Yoon’s face softened a little, his eyes brightening at the prospect of someone else besides himself cooking. Shin Hye, on the other hand, pressed her lips together. “Who? Your butlers and maids? Are you sure they weren’t just sucking up to you?”
Min Ho stood up and smiled. “Ahh, a skeptic. Let me prove you wrong, then?” He cocked a brow mischievously. “Come on, I succeeded my first real mission, didn’t I? Plus, it’s a thank you. For tonight.”
He caught her gaze again and did that thing where he just stared at her as if he was peeling off her layers but at the same time, pleading for her to cave in. She fought it and looked away. “I’m not hungry. You two eat, I’m going to sleep.”
Shi Yoon grunted. “Looks like she’s flying solo from now on, chaebol,” he said coldly, and Shin Hye knew he was still pissed off from the argument they had. He gave Shin Hye a nasty stare. “If she doesn’t want your meat, I’ll eat your meat.”
Min Ho let out a laugh, ignoring how wrong that sounded just now.
“We can even use the werstersursos you bought.”
“Worcestershire sauce,” Min Ho corrected, still laughing.
“That’s what I said.”
Min Ho turned to Shin Hye again. “Are you sure you’re not joining us?”
She just let out an aggravated huff and turned to her door, nudging Shi Yoon out of the way. When she closed it, she didn’t step away and leaned in closer, hearing their voices from the other side.
“I guess not,” Min Ho said.
“Ugh. Would it kill her to just answer our questions properly?”
“Give her a break, will you? She’s probably just tired.”
“Dude, you’re the one who’s supposed be sulking after what happened to your Grandfather. Not her. She’s being unnecessarily difficult. Whatever, just ignore her. Come on, I’ll help you grill.”
Shin Hye heard their footsteps retreat to the kitchen, and she felt rather guilty. “Anya, this is his fault for hugging me earlier,” she grumbled. Scowling, she quickly undressed, still muttering complaints under her breath. “And what’s wrong with Shi Yoon? It’s not like it’s the first time I left without telling him. Ugh.”
After a shower and a change of clothes, she proceeded to lie on her back and stared at the ceiling. Just like that, the remnants of the dream from the last time she slept on that bed crept in. She shuddered and flipped over, covering her head with a pillow. She muttered a string of curses underneath for being so weak-willed. And when she finally pushed the images from the dream away from her mind, she reminded herself of The Mute.
He was seen at Samcheok. The Mute’s hometown. No trace of him in three years after I thought I’d killed him. If Chae Won was right, then why would he go back to his hometown? Did he have no plans of continuing being an assassin? If that’s the case, what’s he been doing all this time? Perhaps living a normal life? Could it be… wait, does he have a family now? No, there’s no way! Assassins know they can’t have those kinds of personal relationships. It’s too dangerous. That’s why I can’t ever allow myself to feel anything for Lee Min H—
“Damn it.” She sat up and hit the bed with her palms.
Concentrate. So why would The Mute reappear after three years? Why would he risk being seen again after making me believe he’s dead? Is it really for the money? Was he offered such a huge amount that he had no choice but to return to the game? But by who? Lee Maeng Hee? Did Lee Min Ho’s own family really want him dead? But they’re already fucking rich, why would they need to harm him? He doesn’t even want his Grandfather’s company! Exactly what kind of fucked up people would kill innocent Lee Min H—
She leaned back, her head hitting the bed with a thump. “Ugh. I’m hopeless. So. Fucking. Hopeless.”
Her stomach grumbled – a reminder that her dinner at Chae Won’s was cut short because she had to race back to the Cabin. She shook her head, wondering why she rejected the offer from Min Ho to eat when in fact, she was famished. Oh yeah, because she couldn’t face him after embarrassing herself in the elevator.
And as the cruel universe would have it, she heard distant laughter through her windows, coming from outside her room. That meant Shi Yoon and Min Ho had gone out to the back garden to grill the meat, taunting her. I hate them.
She got up from her bed and walked to the windows, pushing the curtain aside. True enough, she saw Min Ho hunched over the grill, flipping the meat, while Shi Yoon was preparing wraps on the garden table, talking animatedly. She scoffed at the sight, but her stomach growled louder when the scent of the meat reached her room.
With a pout, she went back to her bed and covered herself with a blanket. Sleep the hunger off. She shut her eyes tight, but an even louder bout of laughter wafted into the room. She grunted, pulling the blanket aside as she sat up. “That’s right. They’re laughing at my expense and I couldn’t just let them talk about me behind my back,” she declared, pushing herself off the bed. She grabbed a light jacket and put it on before coming out of her room.
Min Ho almost spat the meat he was chewing, unable to control his laughter. “So what did you tell the kid’s parents?”
“I told them that Chae Won was suffering from a mental illness,” he replied, clutching his stomach. “You should have seen their faces! They looked at Chae Won with pity, and then she just growls at them out of nowhere. They even told me how great a guy I was for sticking by my mentally-ill girlfriend.”
He chuckled loudly when at the corner of his eye, he noticed Shin Hye’s head peer from the kitchen door, looking at them like she was still deciding if she should come out or not. He couldn’t help but smile. Shin Hye can be ruthless when she wanted to be but there were times when she was just adorable.
“We’ve got company,” he told Shi Yoon, popping