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C H A P T E R   T W E N T Y – N I N E
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»Soon you'll realize that many people will love the idea of you, but will lack the maturity to handle the reality of you.«
– Reyna Biddy

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Serving the bitter truth to someone and tearing a gaping wound in their soul was certainly extremely difficult and required immense willpower. But it was not impossible.

But how the hell should you come out with something - with something so damn ugly - when the ticking time bomb had already exploded and dragged a dozen people into the abyss? My vest was certainly not spotless and my younger self had done a lot of nonsense, which I was not particularly proud of, but that. My silence was unforgivable and I honestly didn't know whether I could ever make a confession.

They wouldn't survive it. I wouldn't survive. Comparing the situation to falling from a skyscraper from which it was impossible to come out alive.

You should've opened your big mouth about this in due course. After all, that's what you can do so well, no?

I almost brutally massaged my temples with my index and ring fingers of both hands and closed my eyes with a deep sigh. I was certainly at an age when I could tell wrong from right. But at what point was something wrong, and at what point was something right?

Still complicated.

"Oh, Cami." A warm hand laid on my shoulder compassionately, and I involuntarily opened my eyes again and saw a pack of Aspirin on the kitchen table, which he probably had put there a few seconds ago.

"It's not your fault TY took you to the warehouse. We should've been more careful to keep you away from him." Ten obviously thought that I was still numbed by yesterday's events, which wasn't completely wrong after all. I looked up and followed him with my eyes; how he headed straight for the kitchen cupboard, took out a glass, and poured water in it. "Funny thing is," Ten laughed, a short laugh as if he just remembered a joke he heard at work, "Your 'running away from him forever' didn't even last ten minutes." When he saw that I wasn't reacting to his pun, he cleared his throat. I would've expected Mark to come up with that kind of joke, maybe Lucas too, but not Ten.

"Sorry, Cami," he apologized, and finally put the glass of water next to the pain relievers.

"Isn't it worrisome what he accuses my father with?" I thought out loud, absent-mindedly playing with the packaging of the pain relievers. I still didn't understand how Taeyong dared to accuse one of the leaders of the inner circle, my father, as a traitor and to take matters into his own hands, trying to track him down.

"It was just a weird theory, causing him to think nothing would happen if he had you by his side." Ten sighed his infamous 'Whenever I'm back from Bangkok they're up to some weird shit'-Ten-sigh. "Obviously a wrong theory," he corrected. "Good thing is we know that the enemy isn't from the inner circle. And by the way, Mr. Kim Jinseong was there yesterday, too, he asked about your well-being." I puffed out air from my nose.

"After almost a quarter of a century, does he remember he has a daughter now?" I raised my brow. As if he was worried about my well-being.

"Jungwoo and I made it clear that your safety is our priority," he told me with a comforting voice. "I'm sure things will go well from now on. You shouldn't be drawn into things that have nothing to do with you."

I sighed softly. "Easier said than done." After sneaking out of the bathroom back into my room at dawn, Lucas was already gone and I had been able to sleep for no more than two hours. And by the time I woke up full of unrest, Jungwoo and Ten had returned to the Headquarter.

"Mark feels guilty and worries about you." He sat across from me at the kitchen table and watched me unskillfully rinsing out a tablet from the packaging and swallowing it with plenty of water.

Of course, he did. It was his responsibility, I had trusted him and he should have had just told me about everything that had been going on - I had eventually found out and experienced a sneak peek from hell anyway.

"Yes, I know," I murmured and thoughtfully drew circles with my finger on the table, blurring the small drops of water that had beaded off the glass.

"Hm, but I kinda have to admit that I worry about you, too." I looked up in surprise, his ice-blue eyes radiated so much warmth, an encouraging smile on my lips. "When you stumbled out of your room, well, looking as pale as a zombie and with a slightly disturbed expression on your face, as if someone had said out Voldemort's name."

I had to smile involuntarily. "I was just tired, and a little nervous about tomorrow," I lied to him, hiding my real inner fears, and he nodded understandably.

"I can understand. They informed me about the mission with Nakamoto. But, Cami, let's be real," he leaned forward on the table and rested his head on one hand. "If my favorite can't do it, who else can?"

"No one?"

"I can't hear you." He pretended he hadn't heard me for real, came closer, and put a hand to his ear.

"No one!" I repeated with a bored expression, but this time louder, so that he'd be pleased with my response.

"That's the spirit," he laughed and gave me a high five, fishing out his phone from the pocket. "I'll let you have breakfast then. I have to talk to Lucas anyway. Can't reach him for hours, can you believe that?" Well, she hadn't seen Lucas today either. Maybe he had left after Taeyong had come to the Headquarter - for whatever reason. Or maybe he had gotten a new mission? Who knew.

With his phone on his ear, Ten waved at me and left me and my thoughts alone in the kitchen.

~∙~∙~

One hour later, I got a text message from Mark, asking me to meet him at a certain address. He had literally sent me the coordinates, instead of a simple street name. According to him, it was an empty place, only two blocks from the Headquarter, easily accessible on foot. Of course, I even had to go on foot since the car I was driving was still parked in front of the bar from yesterday, because I had gotten into Taeyong's car instead. Great. This meant I had to go to VISION to collect the car, so I could drive to the airport tomorrow. Except... if one of the guys would drive me there in their car. Maybe I could ask Mark. After all, he owed me big time. Even the fact that we always met outside instead of working here was annoying enough.

MARK
offline

me
Why do we have a
Headquarter if we never
use it as a Headquarter?

He would answer me after reading this message, I was sure. I wasn't interested in the answer itself, I just wanted to complain. I noticed myself that I was a little bit salty today. It was probably because of my raw nerves and tousled thoughts. Either that or I'd get my period soon. Or both.

On some days I raved about my place of birth and on others, I became aware of the dirt and corruption of this city. Today the latter was my mood. How could it not? A whole quarter was surrounded by organized crime for decades, but nobody seemed to care. Good for my father, good for Taeyong and good for the rest of the Sinister Six - oops, sorry, Sincere Six.

"Waddup, girl!" I startled terribly and jumped to the side. "C'mon over hea and ride with me 920 style baby!"

When I saw Lucas driving with the windows open beside me at walking pace, I swallowed the bunch of curses down.

"I have sweets, too!"

"No, thanks. I don't like sweets," I said without stopping. His fabulous car shone like a majestic black panther.

He laughed. "Why that face, babygirl?"

"Stop calling me that."

Lucas enjoyed it; this grin, this provocation, this triumph. Oh how much he enjoyed it.

"Just Girl?"

I rolled my eyes and avoided a stop sign, which was so disfigured that it was bent in the middle, almost laying on the sidewalk.

"Baby?" I stopped and the car stopped too.

I got to the car in a few steps and leaned through the open window.

He took off the sunglasses and smiled at me, waiting.

"First of all, I'm neither your baby nor your girl or your babygirl. Secondly, I don't understand why you have to get on my nerves again when I was just a little bit away from actually liking you. And that's why, lastly, you should consider behaving less like a fuckboy in order for us two to get along. Understood or do you want a written version of it?"

He ran his finger through his hair and licked his lower lip. "Nah, I don't need you to write it down for me, but could I borrow your lips for the oral part again?"

It came out of the blue, so unexpectedly, that I suddenly pushed myself off the door as if I had burned myself.

He gave me an amused glance. The grin never left the corner of his mouth. "Oh come on, Carmen, you know that I'm just kidding and that I'm only overfond of teasing you." When I said nothing, he continued, "Let's go, Mark must be waiting."

I thought for a moment and then decided to get into his car.

"But please quit the games, Lucas, I mean it," I repeated seriously, but this time calmer than before. I could see in his side profile how he bit back the big grin on his face.

"You know," a playful undertone brushed his deep voice, "It seems just fair for what you actually teased with last night if you ask me." With that, he pressed the handbrake down and drove off at a rapid speed. Thinking back, I had to admit that I had kinda seduced him to kiss me after he had rejected me. Who could've resisted a stripping woman in lavender-colored lingerie? I was just surprised about the fact he had brought it up and talked about it so casually as if it was a minor matter.

~∙~∙~

A few minutes later, thanks to his insane driving skills - I'd never thought that someone could drive crazier than Taeyong - we had arrived at the address Mark had sent us. The empty building turned out to be a big weapon hall. It was enormous, but once we were inside, it was empty aside from Mark who was standing right next to a huge glass box with only two crossed swords inside, wrapped in golden frames, of course.

"Yo, there are my two favorite persons in this world!" Mark greeted, opening his arms. His voice echoed throughout the hall.

"What's up, man?" Lucas high-fived him joyfully while I stood next to him with my arms crossed in front of my chest.

"How are you, Cami?" Mark asked me with a sheepish grin.

"Did you receive my message?" I wanted to know right away, feeling like a strict mother calling out her son in front of his friend, when all he wanted to do was having a great time.

"Um, yeah, I did..." He hesitated, "Look, Cami, I'm so, soo sorry for what-"

"It's okay, Mark, you don't need to apologize again," I said; softer this time. "But why are we here? We have a Headquarter, you know."

"I know," he said, "This place is a new working place, that's why I wanted to show you. Our best equipment is here."

"There's not much to see, Mark... Except for these Chinese double broadswords. They're fucking rad, man!" Lucas looked impressed at the weapons inside the glass box.

"You're right. They're bomb-as-fuck. What do you think, Cami? I believe you can use them, correct?" Mark asked. Lucas raised his eyebrows to the sky and quickly turned his head towards me.

"No way! You can dual wield swords, Angel?!" He looked like a child who had just seen his favorite Avenger at Comic-Con. It amused me to see him like that.

"Yeah, I had Shaolin Kung Fu training," I said as I shrugged. "It's not that hard, honestly."

"Can you do that with handguns as well?" He hastily wanted to know with big eyes. I didn't know what kind of absurd Lara Croft fantasies he had in his head when he asked me that question, but I found it... cute.

"Yes, but dual-wielding two handguns is quite impractical," I told him as a matter of fact, but he didn't seem to care about it. What he cared about was that I was able to fire with two guns at the same time. Mark seemed to notice and started to smirk.

"No prizes for guessing what kinda gun she prefers," he laughed.

"A Browning?"

"Exactly, man," he high-fived Lucas again, laughing together, "We have a real-life Lara Croft in our team."

"Lara Croft, who?" Lucas abruptly turned to me, a smirk playing around the corners of his mouth. I prepared myself for another cringy pick-up line. "Gorgeous, modest, Shaolin double sword fighter... Marry me?" Lucas stepped closer to me flirtatiously. I lightly shoved him away, rolling my eyes. He burst out laughing.

"So," I looked at the both of them, who acted like boys in their first years of puberty, "Are we going to keep sexualizing my fighting techniques, or do we proceed with the oh-so-important meeting?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Follow me, guys." Mark walked over to the wall and slid a small metal plate aside. He started typing some numbers...

Definitely another ultra brilliant password!

...the wall swooshed aside to reveal elevator doors.

"Step inside, please." Mark gestured us to step inside.

"Ladies first?" Lucas held out his hand. I hesitated for a moment, not fond of blindly following them into underground facilities, but their insisting looks forced me to put down my guards.

As the elevator doors opened, six stories down under the ground, a big, open, high-tech facility emerged. It was filled with IT people, sitting in front of huge screens, typing away. The place was buzzing with other people from the Mafia, all seemed to be looking strangely at us as we stepped out of the elevator.

"Everyone is staring," I noticed, "Aren't they used to new people, Mark?"

"Nah, they're just not used to you being here." He started walking down the hall, turning heads as we passed. Lucas nudged me.

"You're quite a celebrity in here, Angel. Everyone knows who you are."

I was stunned. I had no idea people - strangers actually - knew who I was, but I figured I shouldn't be surprised, their jobs were, after all, to get to know secrets.

"Everyone knows who I am?" I asked him skeptically, raising a brow.

"Everyone."

"Oh, well, nice to be famous somewhere," I commented dryly.

"Well, congrats, these are the benefits of being Mr. Kim Jinseong's daughter."

"Don't bring this up," I groaned internally, hating the family connections which were always talked about.

"Should I bring up your ex instead?" He chuckled, not looking in my direction since he knew damn well how I reacted to provocations.

"Oof Lucas!"

"What? It's true," he defended his position, looking innocent all of a sudden, "I told you when we met that I knew who you were too." He sounded so positive and playful. I remembered his words from that day which in fact hadn't been positive and playful at all.

'I heard some nasty stuff about you, but I didn't expect you to be like that.'

I wondered what the nasty stuff was that they would whisper behind my back, classifying me as 'bitchy, dumb and arrogant'.

Lucas, who must have noticed my expression, nudged me playfully. "Every guy in this room would kill to be in my shoes right now. I'm kinda fangirling, can you tell?" He puffed his chest, looking superior as he walked down the hall next to me. I suppressed a laugh.

Mark opened a door for us, which lead us into a small briefing room. Mark sat down at the table, opposite of Lucas and I.

"So, Cami, congratulations on getting invited to Busan with Nakamoto Yuta. You did an amazing job." He nodded approvingly at me. I smiled back.

"We're here to discuss our plan. The questions are: What are you going to be doing in Busan to assure progress in the mission? And how can we advance to the next stage in the mission?" Mark grabbed a notepad and a pencil.

"This is what we know so far. Mr. Nakamoto will be having a press conference, answering questions about his newest project regarding dissolving the plastic in our oceans. His goal is to attract the attention of potential sponsors," I told him.

"Right. So, Cami, this is where you will impress Mr. Nakamoto with your marketing skills," Mark looked me in the eyes and I nodded for him to continue explaining the plan.

"There is going to be a fake sponsor at the press conference, at first being skeptical. He has been told not to listen to Nakamoto, but instead to listen to you, so that you must be the one to persuade him to agree to this project and be a sponsor. It's best to practice your sales speech for Nakamoto Corporation's project."

"Sounds good," I said.

"And this is where you will come in, Lucas. You will be the skeptical sponsor. We will provide you with some nice tuxedos and your new identity. Try to look rich."

"Don't I always?" Lucas pretended to look insulted.

"You look... tolerable. I'm talking about looking rich-rich," Mark said, brutally honest. I couldn't help but giggle. Lucas looked at me, playfully.

"Way to stab me in the back, Angel. Want some salt to rub it in?" We all giggled at Lucas' wildly playful behavior. Or rather, I giggled while Mark filled the room with his loud HAHA's and clapping until he cleared his throat and asked:

"Are there any more questions?"

Lucas and I shook our heads.

"Okay then," Mark put his notepad aside and clapped in his hands once, to signal the end of the meeting, "Good luck in Busan."

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A/N

Hiiii 💕
"The early bird gets the worm" lol
YOU have now the chance to watch the promised trailer for the upcoming chapters before it will be officially posted here on Wattpad (together with chapter 30). Just click the youtube link on my profile :) I hope you like it.  <3

xx, Lyra