Chapter Text
Suit, check.
Documents, check.
Gun and badge, check.
I stared at myself in the full-length mirror in my apartment in Seoul. The image--no, the shell I wore--stared back at me, with false black eyes full of fear and uncertainty, but hard and sharp with stubborn determination.
The watch on my wrist read half past four in the morning. I straightened my suit one last time before heading out the door and into the lonely, dark hallway of the apartment complex. My footsteps fell silent on the cold tile floors as my hand clutched on the keys of my bike, the smallest tinkling of metal against metal echoed through the halls. Silence greeted me, just like any other morning for the past year.
However, today...I’m heading out to go somewhere quite different.
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Before I could even enter the fleet barracks, the quiet murmurs of the men in the fleet were carried off by the gentle morning wind into my trained hearing.
“I heard Mr. Han will be speaking with her today,” a male voice spoke.
“Which Mr. Han?” Another asked.
“Who else? No one picks out women from the staff like the Big Honcho,” the first man replied, and everyone else roared with laughter.
“He's going to be in for a treat, though,” another voice chimed in. “That woman is as frigid as mountain winters.”
“Nah, women are in for security,” she heard another male speak. “Who knows if that would melt that arctic heart of hers.”
The moment I stepped in the door, as expected, everyone fell silent; awkward stares of men like deer caught in headlights were thrown at my direction, but I paid them no heed. All this was nothing but temporary; I would be more than happy to leave this shithole full of testosterone-high dimwits as soon as I find more information about my father.
I kept my eyes focused straight ahead as I continued my march towards the Chief’s office which can be found beyond the grey door at the end of the hallway.
The Chief sat behind his desk like he always did in the early morning, in a crisp black suit and sported greying hair that was neatly combed back. He always had that permanent scowl on his face, and I wondered: was this something that he was merely doing for his image? My eyes curiously traced the fine lines of his forehead in wonder.
"Reine Lee," he spoke with his usual quiet, authoritative tone.
"Sir," I responded as I snapped my heels together and stood on attention; with my “eyes to the horizon”, whatever the hell that meant.
"Mr. Han will see you in his office,” the old man said. He didn't even bother to look up at me from all the papers he had on his desk.
Fifteen minutes was all I needed before I found myself inside the elevator going to the top floor of one of the C&R buildings in Gangnam. Two senior guards of the fleet—probably Mr. Han's personal guards—stood on either side of me.
This is my first time to actually enter the main branch...I wonder if Dad sees this scenery every single day? I wonder if he has ridden this very same elevator, going up to a meeting with the President?
I...I miss you, Dad. It's been too long since I heard anything from you. I wish you left me with a sign, or a clue...of where you were.
Imposing, dark wood double-doors greeted us when we made our way around the corner from the elevators. Four more senior members of the fleet stood guard outside, and opened the doors for us.
A woman with short brown hair and square glasses stood inside the first room, along with a team of four more in the large office space. I knew her—Jaehee Kang, assistant to the C&R heir, Jumin Han. Seeing her meant I will be speaking with the younger Han, then.
Thank goodness. I don't need any more unwanted attention.
"Reine Lee, is it?" The assistant stated as she adjusted her glasses. She seems very prim and proper; just like everything around the office.
I stood on attention as I was addressed. The guards have left me by myself inside the assistant's office, and somehow, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. "Reporting as summoned, Chief Assistant Kang."
When the assistant opened the doors to the inner office, I was greeted by immaculate silence and the unmistakable scent of mint and sandalwood. I fought the urge to let my eyes roam around the exquisitely designed space; a perfect play of stone and wood, with touches of glass in the right places to let natural light in.
A solitary table was situated in the middle of the large space, and behind it a tall, raven-haired man with broad shoulders sat, immersed in the document that was laid in front of him.
"Leave the documents on my desk, Assistant Kang."
I could clearly remember that day when I first heard his voice. My breath hitched at how it seemed to dance on my skin. When the younger Han looked up at me from his desk, his gunmetal grey eyes pierced through me like a well-aimed bullet, and made me very self-conscious.
“I don’t remember allowing anyone entering my fleet under a disguise,” he stated flatly as soon as his eyes left mine, while he scribbled away on the papers that were on a neat pile on his desk.
I was utterly confused. Was I called in his office just to be reprimanded? “I apologize, but I’m afraid I have no idea what you mean.”
He stopped and stared back up to me, his eyes sharp and piercing, and very openly annoyed. “Your hair and your eyes are fake. If you’re going to work in my team you should know I don’t appreciate hiding behind disguises.”
Something in the way he talked really made me want to grab him by the collar. Like who even gives a shit about hair color and contact lenses? Why is he making such a huge fuss about something this trivial?
But I reminded myself to be in my best behavior. If I am going to have a fighting chance of finding anything about my father, I just have to bear it. “My apologies,” I replied clearly. “I’m half Canadian, and I did this merely to not call too much attention to myself.”
I heard an exasperated sigh. “Did you not hear what I just said?” the corporate heir retorted as he held several documents in both of his hands, and lightly tapped the corners on his table to reorganize them neatly. “The Chief of Security has nothing but praises for you,” he said nonchalantly, and stacked the papers he just organized on top of the pile to his right. “I believe getting rid of pretenses is not something too difficult, is it?”
My fists clenched as I bit the insides of my cheeks to keep myself from saying something unnecessary. “No, Mr. Han.”
“Good,” he replied as he opened another folder from another pile of untouched paperwork without even looking up at me. “Do what’s necessary, and see me again tomorrow.”
He pressed several numbers on the phone on his desk, and Jaehee Kang’s voice answered. “Book another appointment at the same time tomorrow,” Jumin stated. “With Lee Reine.”
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Suit, check.
Documents, check.
Gun and badge, check.
I stared at myself, for the second time, reflected on the full-length mirror in my apartment in Seoul; however, the image that stared back at me was an image I never thought I would ever see again. Emerald green eyes reflected on the mirror’s surface, and the crimson hair that I have felt nothing but hate for reflected the room’s light with the color of sunset.