ROKA Close Protection Unit Headquarters - Seoul, Korea
--
As the commander of the Close Protection Unit, Major Bae 'Irene' Joohyun liked to be well prepared for any scenario. At all times, she would be constantly informed of any new activity for her unit's active assignments. In return, she would take care of her subordinates to the best of her abilities.
So when the mission came down from the chain of command to send an undercover operative to protect a Yook Sungjae, she had thought nothing of it. She understood that it was going to be a long mission, so she would be losing that asset for an indeterminate amount of time. At the time, she thought that she could afford to send Lieutenant Lee Changsub. After all, it was only one person, and he had spent most of his Close Protection career at the academy.
A year and a half later, another request to protect the same person landed on her desk. If the client had a high profile, it wasn't unusual for them to need additional protection, although it was strange for both operatives to be so deeply undercover. Nevertheless, after conferring with Changsub, she had found an operative that matched what he recommended, Warrant Officer Son "Wendy" Seungwan. She would act as his secondary while also keeping an ear close to the ground to pick up any chatter regarding Yook Sungjae.
Almost three months after that request, a third request came, this time by proxy. This time, the request came with a specified operative in mind, Captain Park "Joy" Sooyoung. She was one of Irene's best and brightest; after being transferred to the Close Protection academy as an instructor, she had gone on to be a team commander. Due to the oddity of the request, Irene had decided to do a little investigative research.
She had found out the reason why Joy had been transferred to the Close Protection field, but she didn't understand why Yook Sungjae was so important to the military that he warranted three bodyguards. She had tried to dig further, but nothing had come up. She had asked Changsub once, only for him to flatly deny her.
There was nothing for her to do, except to be well-prepared for any scenario.
So that's why when Sergeant Major Lee Minhyuk came into her office and told her that Yook Sungjae had been involved in an accident, and nearly killed, Irene didn't panic. She issued clear and concise orders to the sergeant major, dialled a number on her phone, and immediately left her office.
--
CUBE Division Company Building – Seoul, Korea
--
Lee Changsub wasn't a man who enjoyed being in meetings.
He barely paid attention to one of the financial department's lackeys as they droned on and on about stocks and other financial related matters that had no relation to him.
He was twirling his pen in a distracting manner before one of the other directors glared at him.
Changsub sheepishly placed his pen back on the table and glanced at his watch.
CEO Lee had walked into their office earlier this morning and told Sungjae that he would need him to go on a sudden observation tour at another facility. When Changsub reminded him that they had a Directors meeting scheduled at the same time, CEO Lee had told him that he could substitute for Sungjae at the meeting. After all, he was an assistant director.
And speaking of assistants, Joy hadn't shown up for work in the morning. Changsub had asked Sungjae, but Sungjae had merely waved it off and told him that he gave Joy the day off for health-related issues.
Changsub had frowned at the time and made a mental note to check up on her. If Joy wasn't available to protect Sungjae, then it was up to him to accompany Sungjae. He had asked Dong Wook to allow him to go with Sungjae, but Dong Wook had been adamant about the meeting.
Changsub had immediately called Wendy but found out that she had also been roped into the meeting. With no other alternative, he found out which car Sungjae was going to take and discreetly planted a tracking chip on it. The chip had GPS capabilities and was connected to Changsub's phone. It could calculate the average time need for travelling and was updated through a live feed to account for traffic and other factors.
Before the meeting, he had sent off a message to Irene, informing her of the situation and providing access to his computer's servers. If anything happened to Sungjae, the chip would immediately inform her.
All the directors had turned off their phones during the meeting for courtesy reasons, but as soon as the meeting was over, Changsub switched his phone back on, praying for nothing.
But three messages immediately pinged him as the phone was reactivated.
TrackerChip2955: Target immobile for approximately 5 minutes.
TrackerChip2955: Media confirms traffic accident at target's location. GPS Coordinates (38548:89956). Message sent to Close Protection Unit.
Bae Irene: Retrieved the client. Moving towards hospital. RV at Seoul National. Bring W. I got J.
Changsub grabbed Wendy, shoving his phone into her hand. Wendy's face paled as she read the messages. She handed back his phone and pulled a set of car keys from her pocket.
"I'm driving," she said.
--
I'm sending someone to get you. Get what you need. 30 mins. Plain clothes.
Joy read and reread Irene's message. There was no doubt that it was related to Sungjae's accident. The media had already converged onto the scene and there had been an aerial shot of Sungjae and his driver being recovered from the car before being transferred to an ambulance that would take him to an unknown hospital.
She assumed that Irene already knew which hospital he would be taken to, given her vast array of informants. When Joy first worked with Irene, she had been rapidly impressed by how efficient the older woman's leadership was. She wasn't fixated on the conventional rules; she understood the importance of information and proper training but also valued creativity in the field.
Joy was still shaken from the events, but she forced herself to freshen up and grabbed one of her pre-packed tactical bags from the closet. A knock came on the door, alerting Joy to her driver.
But she couldn't be too sure, especially with what just happened. She flicked out a tactical baton and peered through the peephole.
It was Yeri.
A wave of relief washed over Joy as she opened the door and engulfed the younger woman in a hug.
"Unnie, I'm so sorry," Yeri whispered, returning the hug.
Joy shook her hand and quickly collapsed the baton. "Let's go."
--
Seoul National University Hospital – Seoul, Korea
--
The sliding doors opened automatically to allow entry as Joy and Yeri swiftly cut through the swath of patients milling about in the lobby. A large-screen television was showing images from the accident to a captivated audience. Whispers and quiet murmurs echoed in the room.
Joy did her best to drown out them all out. She had gotten no word about his status yet. Yeri didn't know, and Irene hadn't responded yet.
They eyed the receptionist desk over beside the staircase and were about to approach them before someone grabbed Joy's wrist.
Joy looked over and saw that it was Changsub.
He shook his head and dragged her and Yeri over to a corner where Wendy was waiting for them.
"Where were you today?" he hissed at her as soon as they met up. "Sungjae said he gave you the day off for health reasons."
So that was how he explained it. "He did," Joy answered tersely.
Changsub just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but Joy wasn't in the mood for his suspicions.
"Where were you today, oppa?" Joy turned his question against him.
"I had a meeting and couldn't be there with him," Changsub answered.
Joy crossed her arms. "Funny how whenever you're not around all of these things happen."
Joy saw Changsub's eyes flicker with emotion, but he didn't raise his voice. "What do you mean?" he asked her deliberately. "You think I'm behind this?"
Wendy quickly cut in before the situation escalated. "Now is not the time to snipe each other," she scolded them both before she turned to Joy. "He's been in surgery for the past hour."
Surgery. The word frightened Joy.
"How bad is it?" Yeri said the words that Joy couldn't bring herself to say.
"We don't know yet. He had lost a lot of blood when he first arrived, along with some burns on his body," Wendy looked over at Changsub, who nodded.
"Did anyone notify his family?" Joy asked.
"They're on the way," Changsub said not looking at her. "Minhyuk and Ilhoon are taking care of them."
"He's in operating theatre number three," Wendy gave Joy a quick hug. "They're waiting for you up there."
Joy didn't know who she was referring to, but she nodded woodenly and followed Yeri to the elevator. Within a few moments, they arrived onto the operating floor. Following the signs, they found their way towards the operating theatre where two uniformed men were standing guard outside of the waiting room.
There were two other people inside, but Joy couldn't bring herself to walk in and see them. She stood outside, frozen, as she watched them discuss something intently.
"You alright there, boss?"
Joy looked over to see Peniel looking at her, a comforting smile on his face. "Peniel..."
"Don't forget me," Hyunsik chimed in beside him.
"Hyunsik," Joy tried to give them a smile. As their former commander, she needed to appear strong in front of them.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Peniel," she told him, looking at the staff sergeant patches on his collar.
"All thanks to you, ma'am," Peniel gave her a quick salute. He looked over at Hyunsik, who pressed a button, opening the sliding doors. "They're waiting for you."
Joy nodded and mustered her courage to step inside the waiting room, Yeri following her closely behind. The two women inside turned to welcome her inside. Behind them, a screen told them recorded how long Sungjae had been in the operating room for and the surgeon in charge.
"Joy," Seulgi greeted her with open arms. "You're here."
"Well, I have to be," she replied with a hint of her old humour as she hugged Seulgi. "He's my charge."
Seulgi smiled before Irene tapped her shoulder, indicating for her to let go.
"Sooyoung-ah," Irene said as she tried to give Joy a hug.
Joy stopped her. "Why was I given this detail?"
"Sooyoung, I know you've been through a lot," Irene started but Joy interrupted her.
"You're right, I have been through a lot. First, you tell me that I was requested for this detail. You tell me that I was handpicked for this mission. You decided that even though Sungjae and I were romantically involved, it was okay for me to go on this mission.
"But why now?" she continued her tirade, while Yeri and Seulgi looked on uncomfortably. "Why were we put together again? Whose idea was it? Whose bright idea was it to put me with the person I love, who doesn't even remember me?!
"I went through special forces selection. I killed for this country. I got hurt, I lost friends. That's fine. I signed the dotted line. I knew the risks. But because I decided to get involved with a genius, we were separated because the military decided that what he knew was too important.
Joy didn't know how much they knew, or even if they knew about The Breakthough.
But she wanted her answers.
Joy was breathing heavily, but she didn't stop. "So now, I want to know, why I was given this detail? Who requested me?"
"It was requested by proxy," Irene reminded her.
"But who did the proxy represent?!" Joy was now screaming at her. "Who asked for me?"
"I asked for you."
Joy turned around at the familiar voice.
"You asked for me?" she repeated in disbelief, staring at the pair that just walked into the room.
Changsub nodded. "I asked for you," he said again.
--
What a reveal *cue dramatic music*
This story has been one big exercise in getting back into writing again. I tried to experiment at the beginning with my writing style again. While dialogue is important, I feel like I tend to overuse it. I tried to write about the characters rather than have them explain in words what was happening.
God, everyone in this story has a hidden past or something. Why did I even decide to write this? Should have stuck with something nice and fluffy.
So Joy has been reunited with Irene and Seulgi, Changsub reveals that he had a bigger role in this (or did we already know that), and the rest of the close protection team is back in.
As always, thank you for all your votes, reads, story list adds, comments, and support!
Look forward to the next chapter as more secrets get revealed!