= 30 =

His phone rings as instinctively, he takes it out from the inside of his jacket, puts it to his ear and he clicks the answer button. Usually he would be unwavering in denying any calls from an unknown number, knowing that if he were to answer them, the people he has been carefully avoiding for at least more than a year will start drilling into his mind, asking him to come back home.

This time around, he has let his guard down as his mind is preoccupied with the case of the Reflectors which happened early this morning, completely putting down the defense he has as he avoids the persistent calls.

As he hears the other person on the line greeting him, he almost laughs at his own carelessness. He should have immediately ended the call, yet he knows that running away and ignoring the calls do little to the fact that he has to face his fate sooner or later.

"Young master San," the voice on the other end gets riddled with surprise, relief and disbelief as he can't believe that the call finally went through. "We have been trying to contact you for ages, and I cannot believe that you are finally answering one of our calls."

San grips the phone in his hand, exhaling. He doesn't know what to answer; he never expected this day to come so soon. However the other person on the line is more than happy to accommodate his silence.

"Sir and Madam Choi would like to extend their regards to you ever since they saw you at Bae Wonshik's party that day. They are humbly asking you to return home, and whatever thoughts they had about you taking up the job at the security company to be put behind."

San finally finds his voice back. "How easy it is for them to pretend like whatever they said about my job didn't hurt." He inhales deeply, "Instead of sending you to be talking to me, why don't they directly talk to me? Are they still holding on to their senseless pride?"

"Young master," the voice sounds exasperated now. "You have to understand their feelings as parents. They were simply worried about you taking on a dangerous job; it was never about the status. And that is why, I am formally inviting you for lunch after a long time with them. They miss their only son, and they promise to never question your choices for your job again."

He looks down at his feet, saying, "I can't have lunch with mom and dad. I'm currently on the job, and my client needs me more than before. It's a dangerous world out there; send my regards to mom and dad along with my apologies for not being able to attend. I may have answered this call, but don't expect me to do the same after. Mr. Moon," he refers to the person who called him, "take care too, and I am sorry that you have to be in between the war I have with my parents."

"Young master-" Mr. Moon on the other line replies but he hangs up.

San sighs as he leans against the windowsill, his breath hitched as he thumps his head against the glass window. He intends to lean against the window as he turns around, but gets caught with astonishment when he sees Danbi with her head poked out from the corner, looking sheepish. He doesn't say anything, but merely trails her with his eyes as she approaches him cautiously.

"I'm sorry." She fiddles with her fingers as she knows that she's been caught eavesdropping. "I was looking for you and when I put a call through it seemed that the line was busy. When I found you I wanted to say something but I realized that you were on the phone. I accidentally heard your conversation and it seemed-" she bites her lower lip. "I'm sorry," she repeats. "I shouldn't have eavesdropped."

He lifts up his eyebrows before shrugging, putting away his phone. "It's fine," he chuckles. "There's nothing to hide."

"Your... parents?" she asks. "You said that you couldn't attend lunch with them because of your job."

He looks at her in the eyes before dropping them, a tight smile on his face. His dimples show as he says, "Yeah. They're the people I've been running from for a while now. I don't know what to say, honestly. They're not bad people. It's just that I know I'm running away from the mould that they have set for me. When I should've pursued my higher education like everyone else around me, I went to the security company instead. I wanted to... rebel, I wanted to feel as if I've done something great. But all the while it just becomes something forceful; I don't even know what I enjoy anymore."

"So becoming a bodyguard," she states, "is just you trying to break away from your parents? An act of defiance."

He nods slowly. "I didn't know why I picked up the job at the security company. I didn't even know how to fight, and I'm not the first person you'd think of when you mention about a bodyguard. I was more of a punching bag than the person who'd hit the punching bag. But the only thing I could be proud of was I tried working hard to get acknowledged, because I wanted to achieve something on my own." He releases a sharp breath, "Seonghwa helped me a lot in working out, and now I think I can throw a decent punch." He shrugs, as if it's no big deal.

San sits on the windowsill, supporting his weight on his legs. When he sees her approaching him, he gives her permission to sit beside him on the windowsill.

Danbi puts her hands on her lap, feeling the awkward air once again, reminded of the time in the studio. A lot is in her mind right now, including the revelation by Yunho and Jongho that they are a part of the Reflectors. She thinks back to their warning to her, and she gets all spooked up, but she reminds herself that she has brought it upon herself. Her show is not as neat as she thought, and it won't be much longer until they reveal who she is.

Bae Danbi might not even live longer than she has intended.

"Do you," San asks out of the blue, "want to go to lunch with my parents with me?" He looks embarrassed that he came up with the idea before trying to backtrack. "Uh, forget about that. I can't believe I just asked the prime minister's daughter to lunch."

She blinks, a bit taken aback. She looks at him, who has his head down as he's clearly embarrassed by his proposition. "Sure," she agrees. "It's not like I have any other plans for today. Plus, if you want to meet your parents, then I guess I can be your companion."

She says it innocently that she doesn't realize how he has his cheeks painted red, not believing that Danbi has accepted his invitation just like that. He can't believe that the time when he's being less than serious when asking her out is the moment where she'll accept without much question. Sure, it's not like they're about to date, but to him this is more than he had ever imagined.

"Are you sure?" he asks, still not believing his ears. "I'm your bodyguard... isn't that kind of, I don't know, breaking the rules or something?"

She frowns. "Of what? Plus I'm known to break rules all the time so I don't see a problem."

"It's just-" He taps his feet on the floor, citing, "I hope that you're not too surprised by um, my parents' house. I mean, you're the prime minister's daughter and I'm just- you know."

"I have no idea what you're saying," she says, "but sure. I don't judge." She stands up before asking, "What should I wear? Since I want to make a good first impression on your parents whom you haven't seen in a long time."

"Anything that you're comfortable with." He taps a hand on his chest. "I'll just be wearing this suit, if you don't mind."

She looks at him up and down before nodding. "Right, so if you're looking formal, your partner has to play the part too. I'll see what I have in the wardrobe. What time are you planning to go? I'll have to inform the rest so that they won't have to follow."

He checks his watch. "How about in an hour? I'll get the car ready."

She smiles. "Excellent. See you."

As soon as she rounds the corner where San wouldn't be able to see her, she almost jumps up in excitement before scurrying to her bedroom. She jumps into the walk-in closet, her shouts muffled by her clothes as she pressed her face against them. She can't stop being jumpy, the smile never leaving her face. She looks at herself in the full-length mirror, before chanting some reminders to herself.

"Calm down, Kim- Bae Danbi. It's not a date, it's not a date, it's not a date. You're just accompanying him for lunch with his parents. Not a date, not a date, not a date." Then she sees the rows of high heels she has before saying, "But it feels like one."

Before she gets swallowed in by her excitement further she picks out the outfit that she plans to wear, putting on some light makeup before patting her cheeks to make sure she knows how to act. As she looks at her reflection in the mirror she stops, suddenly reminded of Yunho and Jongho confronting her in the library. Then she's reminded of her twin, whom she's now almost fully sure is a part of the Reflectors. She feels guilty for suspecting every one of them, but it was her mistake in the first place.

True, she was scared that she was caught, but their conversation in the library made her realize how even in the Reflectors, hierarchy and division exist. How ironic.

"How does it feel coming back to the house you have broken into that night, now becoming the lady of the house?" Yunho had asked, attempting to stop her from shouting for help or even escape from the room. His job was made easy because it seemed that Danbi was frozen in place anyway. "We have a few things to make clear to you, so we need to sit down and talk. Straighten some things out."

Even with a shaking body she found herself obeying to his request as the three of them took a seat, with Danbi sitting opposite the two of them. She looked at them with fear in her eyes, but she sensed something different from them - they're not there to apprehend her. There's a much bigger picture they're about to reveal.

"We know you were running away because you were scared of getting caught; you went against the Reflectors' rules," Jongho started. "You broke into a house on your own, even without receiving any instructions to do so. You acted hastily alone, and attempted to destroy the disposable phone in a feeble attempt to cut off the ties you had with the Reflectors. But you seemed to forget how the organizers have the information on the members of Reflectors at the tips of their fingers."

"It was just a matter of time before we find out," Yunho added. "Once you become the member of the Reflectors you can't run away anywhere. Even though the members are anonymous to each other, you're not to us. The organizers and dealers."

Danbi stayed quiet, because she knew that she had nothing to refute. Every single thing that both her boydguards - now that she knew they're a part of the Reflectors - said was true.

Becoming a part of the Reflectors is actually easy as opposed to what image has been painted onto the organization; a secret organization which steals from the rich to distribute to the poor. They can either stumble on it by chance, or they're introduced to the organization by someone who's already inside.

Once they are accepted to become a part of the Reflectors through a series of background checks and contributions, they'll meet the dealer, the middlemen between the members and the organizers. As soon as they are sworn in as a part of the members, they'll be given a disposable phone, in which every communication by the dealer would be done through it. Through the phone is where they'll be given their next tasks; the house they're going to break into, the details of the occupants, the maps of the house and last but not least, the team members they're going to work with.

But that's the catch; they never know who each of the members are. Once they are gathered, their faces are almost covered fully except for their eyes and they only address each other with temporary code names they're given for that day. Becoming a member of the Reflectors require high skills and sharp thinking; having one person slip up would wreak havoc for the whole organization. That is what the dealers are for; they keep things in check.

As for Danbi, for all the jobs she had done as a member, she never knew who her teammates were. In short, even if Mingi or Hongjoong happen to be a member of the Reflectors, she wouldn't have any idea unless they say it for themselves, or she recognizes their voices. However most of the time, the adrenaline rush of breaking into a house drowns their focus on the members' voices, so they might not even notice.

"You were an excellent member of the Reflectors," Yunho says, a little bit disappointment resonating in his voice. "But you made a mistake that night by breaking into this house, alone, even without receiving any instructions to do so. Your recklessness could have exposed our entire organization, are you clear?"

She nodded, void of any words. There's no use of covering up the truth now.

"What was the reason you broke into this house?" Jongho asked, already starting his interrogation session.

Danbi sighed, looking troubled as she thought back to the night she had decided once and for all. "Because I was curious."

"Because you were curious?" Yunho repeated, a lilt of amusement in his words. "You were curious so you decided to break all rules and enter Soyeon's house, without even considering the consequences."

"Because I wanted to see it for myself," she said through gritted teeth, trying to overcome the guilt that she had bottled up for so long. "I wanted to confirm by myself that Bae Wonshik has a daughter, I just wanted a look. I was delusional; you could even ask Mingi or Hongjoong. I was so desperate to have someone to call as my father that I started feeding myself the idea that this person whom I see every single day on the television, on the banners, everywhere. I just wanted a face, a face that I can call a father. But I acted on it rashly and I found out something that I wished I didn't."

"Both of you saw each other, didn't you?" Jongho added. "Only then you realized that you're twins, in a sickeningly twisted fate."

"We did, and... she probably ran away because of that."

"Then why did you come back?" Yunho snapped. "You had a chance to stop your mistake that night by pretending that it didn't happen, but why, why did you have to lead San back to you? You deliberately put that paper in his pocket, hoping that he'd find you again, and we had no choice but to follow."

"Because I'm selfish," she shot back, the tears already appearing in her eyes. "I wanted to know how it's like to live in a mansion, I wanted to know how it feels to not be able to worry about how I'm going to get money. When San mentioned about me looking exactly like his daughter, do you know what I realized then? Why was I the one who had to get the bad end of the deal? Why?" She hit her chest, "I lived my whole life thinking that no one wanted me, that I'm not even worthy to have someone as a family. You must know my history, since you're the dealers, aren't you? You should have every single detail of my life."

Yunho and Jongho stared at her as if they had no idea, but they knew what she's pointing at.

"I was adopted when I was 8, I was so happy because I finally got a real family. It was a tearful separation from Hongjoong, but you know what. I should've stayed. I should've fucking stayed. My adoptive parents said that I was too rough and too loud, not the daughter that they thought I would be. Do you see the problem?" she sneered. "When it's Soyeon people say, 'oh she's too quiet', then people start saying how she should not be because her father is a socialite, she should learn how to interact. Then for me, my adoptive parents said I was too rough and too loud, asking me to 'behave more like a girl'." She laughed in defeat, "What do people want? Too quiet and it's wrong. Too loud and it's wrong."

Yunho's eyes softened at her outburst until he had to remind himself what he was here for.

"Well," she leaned forward, "you know what they did? They pretended that they lost me at the market. The market with lots of big people for a small 8-year-old child, they left me there. I didn't know how to look for them; it was only a month since I'd been adopted and I didn't even memorize their home address. I was crying, looking for them among the crowd, begging for people to take me back home. My adoptive mother let go of my hand, looked the other way and walked forward. She said she would come back, but she didn't. They abandoned me in a market. Before I knew it, I was back at the orphanage because that was the only address I remembered."

Jongho looked down, feeling sorry for her. They knew about her story, but to hear it directly from her brought about a different feeling of pain.

"When they tried to contact my adoptive parents, they couldn't be reached. It seemed like they were so determined in wanting to let go of me, that they even moved out of the country and changed their numbers. What was it, what was my sin that made them determined to run away? If you were in my position," she croaked, "how would you feel about your self worth? And then-" she took a deep breath, "-imagine how I felt when I saw someone who looks like me, living a life of pleasure, protected in their mansion? I," she pressed on, "wanted to feel that. I wanted to get my share of that life. If she could... then why couldn't I?"

Yunho leaned back against his chair, tapping a finger on the table. "But you're starting to regret it, aren't you? You thought that this life would be a cruise all around, but it's only getting harder and harder. Especially since your father is now the prime minister."

"It's too late to regret anything," she admitted. "The damage has already been done."

"You do know that your twin is also a part of the Reflectors?" Jongho asked, tilting his head. "She's a member."

"And all this while you're pretending that you had no idea," she supplemented.

"It's related to the Reflectors, so of course it must be kept a secret."

"So you know where she is."

"And you don't?" Jongho asked.

Danbi chuckled, quite taken aback but she was quick to defend herself. "Think about whatever you like, but I really had nothing to do with Soyeon's disappearance. Having an interview at her boyfriend's company was a coincidence; I didn't even know she had a boyfriend. Getting caught by San before I went for the interview was a coincidence; I didn't know he was one of Soyeon's bodyguards. Only when he went on about me being this Soyeon I realized that maybe... that was my chance to get a pass to live here. So no, I have no idea where she is right now. You should know where she is right now, so why don't you bring her back?"

Yunho and Jongho looked at each other with subtle glances before Jongho asked Yunho to explain further.

"The reason we exposed ourselves to you is not because we wanted to punish you for breaking the rules, but we won't trouble ourselves with those petty things because like you said, the damage has been done. The anonymous messages you've been receiving are also not from us; we're not threatening you in any way."

She frowned. "But I thought... the messages seemed like they were alluding at the fact that I broke the rules that night."

Yunho shook his head firmly. "It wasn't us. And even Anna Yoo's house... that wasn't our doing. The organizers had told us that there were no instructions given out for that house, it was completely unmediated. We're scared that it may be the members acting on their own accord, but one of our organizers had a much clearer idea on what happened. We're scared that you might be the target next, considering how you're her twin."

Realization dawned on her. "You're saying it's Soyeon's doing."

"And a bunch of other people that might have helped her," Yunho decided. "So one of our organizers are asking to meet you personally, because things are not as simple as it was before."

"Who is the organizer you're talking about?"

Jongho took out his phone before turning to a picture, putting the phone on the table in front of her. "You probably haven't met her, but we're all familiar with her."

Yunho nodded. "Her name's Madam Seo; she's one of the organizers. Also our boss."

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