O N E
───────────────────────────────────

How hard can it be killing an old grandpa? Right?

Getting access to the palace was certainly complicated, but in Jieun's case, she was not a hitman at that moment. Jisung had helped her enter as one of the bodyguards. Better yet, one of the closest bodyguards to the king.

The palace was humongous. Anyone could get lost inside in a second. Her plan was not going to be easy, but it would be easier than facing time in prison by that "stupid jerk" who was watching over her, hoping that she failed in her mission so he could pay another hitman for way less than what he deserved.

"YJ!" A person called. Jieun decided to not give it much thought while she stood in the hallway, guarding the palace against herself. She had a plan, but she had to see how it was going to unfold. All she knew was a name.

"YJ?" The name was called again only for her to realize that they were talking to her. It was the bodyguard in front of her on the other side of the wall. "Are you the new bodyguard? I have never seen you around."

"Yes, sir," she replied with confidence. He certainly was handsome as she thought, Welcome, number 57 to my simp list.

"Oh! You didn't answer me when I first called you." He chuckled. "I'm Seonghwa, I heard you were YJ, but I never heard your name. May I know it?"

She looked up at him, giving him a basic warning look. She wasn't dumb. A face like his could betray you in a second, and she was not going to fall for it. If she was able to easily infiltrate herself in the palace, that meant any other psycho could do the same.

"Yang Jina," she lied through her teeth. Why would she mention her real name? Only dumb people do that. Like, come on. She was a hitman—well woman.

"Well, Jina, the king is on his way here, and we're about to make the switch," he said. Jieun furrowed her eyebrows confused, eager to ask but still, he saw her expression and explained it all. "The switch is when we switch bodyguards for the night. Since it's almost daytime, we get to take a break, so the other group joins. Our time is nighttime."

"Wait- is there a way to stay the entire time?" she asked, but he shook his head. Yeah, of course, her plan went to waste for the first night. Her only shot at killing the king was at nighttime, but even better. No wandering eyes would be around.

"We should get going," he smiled, showing her the way out. She stood there for a bit, thinking about her plan and whether it was going to work. Suddenly, a noise was heard. Seonghwa grabbed her hand, surprising her and taking her with him to another long hallway. It meant only one thing: the king was coming.

"Shit," Seonghwa cursed, turning to face her. "Since our night watch is over, we need to make it out of here. Hopefully, the king won't get mad. He hates it when things are out of place."

A door suddenly opened to the hallway and Seonghwa signaled at her to lower her head as he warned, "Don't look up, or you'll become dead meat by the end of today."

Dead meat? Me? Gosh, you must be going nuts.

Still, she lowered her head. She heard some footsteps and they were getting closer. Seonghwa held her hand tightly when she heard someone's voice in front. She expected the voice to sound somewhat old and hoarse, but she was wrong. It sounded like a young man but she knew it couldn't be so she thought she was hallucinating.

"Are you leaving?" The person in front of them asked. Jieun did not look up even thought she should've in order to see his face. It would've solved all the problems that came along afterward. She wondered many things since that day. She asked herself many questions, yet found no answer. Firstly, who was that guy, and secondly, why was she not able to recognize him?

"Yes, your majesty," Seonghwa said and bowed ninety degrees to the person. That was certainly the king.

"And she is?" The person asked, getting Jieun's attention. She still wouldn't look up. She didn't want the supposed king to see her face just yet. She couldn't kill him out in the open, so she had to wait for the right moment.

"She is a new bodyguard," Seonghwa explained. "YJ is working nighttime with me. We were about to head out. Sorry for the inconvenience, your majesty."

Jieun rolled her eyes at Seonghwa's kiss-ass behavior. He looked like a grown man who couldn't care about anything nor anyone, but there he was, kissing up to the king. She would've killed to look up just once. Just once, so she could memorize his face or even killed him with the knife in her pocket. However, she couldn't just kill him so easily. Her hair was in the way, all over her face as she looked down. She felt eyes on her. She could feel him, the king.

"Tell her to pick up her hair next time," he said. "If there happens to be an emergency in the palace, it could get in the way, and I could die."

Jieun chuckled softly underneath all her hair as the man in front of her looked at her confused. Seonghwa gulped when he heard the chuckle. To Jieun, the situation was just hilarious. That supposed king cared so much about himself.

A sudden nudge on her stomach made her groan and lose focus. She glared at Seonghwa as he whispered to her, "You have to say 'Yes sir'!"

She looked down though as she refused to say it. She wanted to play with the king himself so she stayed quiet. He probably seemed suspicious, but she could not wait to dig her nails up his ugly skin and rip his neck out of his body. But she wasn't a psychopath. She definitely wasn't one.

"Leave it," the guy said. "She surely seems nervous on her first day. She will bow down to me sooner or later."

A second went by as footsteps were heard again, but this time walking away from them both. The king likes to play games, she thought. How old could that man be? She had never been in such a strange situation.

Seonghwa sighed in relief as she looked up.

"Why did you not say it?" he whisper-yelled. "That guy is the king! He could kill you!"

Jieun stretched her arms, ignoring his statement and walking away. "Better yet, tables are about to turn."

He looked confused but followed after her. As they were leaving the palace, he offered her a ride—to which she refused. She had to take care of her own business as well. As he left, her phone buzzed. Of course, a call from the one and only Yoon Jisung.

"What now, uncle?"

"Is he dead?"

She clenched her teeth, knowing he was questioning the obvious, even though it was not so obvious. It was her first day there. What did he expect? If he was such a madman, he could murder the king himself. It wasn't like he hadn't killed someone before. This time it was a king. That was the only reason he turned into a coward.

"On its way. I came late at night, so my turn was over. New bodyguards took in. I have to wait until night time."

"Mhm, want to play a game, my little niece?"

She took a deep breath and started walking away from the door so people would not hear. On her way, she replied, "What game?"

"Every morning you leave the palace without him dead, your precious money goes down."

"What?" She suddenly yelled, stopping her tracks. "My seventy thousand better be intact when I go see you."

"Well, he must be dead by the next family visit. Or let's see, we can go to sixty-eight? Maybe sixty-six?"

"Tomorrow! I will get him dead tomorrow. My money should not go down by then."

"It is set. Starting tomorrow, two thousand dollars will go down whenever you leave without him dead. Let's see if you're willing to sacrifice yourself for a thousand or two, more or less."

"Bring it on, Jisung. Bring it on."

───────────────────────────────────
• 1420 •