"Jungwoo?" Minseo asked but he didn't even bother looking at her. "Jungwoo?!" She asked again, louder this time.
"Yes?!"
Jungwoo flinched, panicked.
Minseo let the flowers she was holding on a table and came closer to him.
"Are you ok Jungwoo?" She asked and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You look very troubled today. Did something happen?"
Jungwoo laughed awkwardly and placed on a shelf the vase he was holding.
"Of course not!" He answered immediately. "Everything is fine!"
He tried to reassure her, as convincingly as he could.
Minseo didn't believe him. She knew that something was off, but she knew as well that Jungwoo wasn't going to tell her what it was.
"Ok then..."
She said and left from his side, focusing on her work again.
"Erm....Minseo?"
Jungwoo asked and the girl looked at him.
"Yes?"
"I have to leave earlier today...I'm sorry, something urgent came up."
"Oh sure...it's fine. When are you leaving?"
"Around 2 at noon."
Minseo furrowed her eyebrows, that was very strange of him. Jungwoo never left the shop that early. This emergency seemed very serious.
"Sure...no problem."
She said and Jungwoo tried to smile. His lips were trembling even if it was barely visible and his heart was beating fast. But he had to do this. Even if he didn't want to.
--
"Hey man."
Yuta said as he brought the cup he was holding to his lips.
"Yes?"
Doyoung asked while typing on his computer.
"Do you think Simon has called anyone?"
"Hmm..." Doyoung paused. "I don't think so. I mean we promised to call each other in case anything happens, and no one has called anyone yet. If Simon did actually call someone then why would the person keep it to themselves?"
"I don't know..." Yuta continued. "But maybe Simon told them to not say it?"
"Maybe...But why would he tell them not to?" Doyoung wondered. "There's no way we are going to find who Simon is just by using the missions as a clue."
"What if they are all related to each other? Like us for example."
"You're right...but it would be stupid to do that, I mean it doesn't make any sense. Why would Simon want to get caught?"
Doyoung asked.
"I don't know..." Yuta admitted. "Do you think that Simon is only one person?"
"We can't be sure about anything at this point. But if he is only one person then he is very clever...at least for now."
"Yeah...do you suspect anyone?"
Yuta asked.
"No, but I don't trust anyone as well. Anyone could be Simon."
"Do you think that if we find Simon we can stop the game?"
"Definitely." Doyoung answered. "But we have to wait, and see what happens. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do yet."
"Do you think I'm Simon?"
Yuta asked jokingly.
Doyoung laughed. "You could be, as I said don't trust anyone." He typed something before continuing. "Besides, I could be Simon so be aware Yuta."
Doyoung said and turned around his chair to face him.
The other man laughed.
"Ok then Simon, let's hope I reach the end of this game."
Yuta said as he got up from the sofa and headed to the kitchen.
Doyoung smiled and laid back to his chair.
"When is Simon going to call one of us?"
He wondered before continuing his work.
--
Jungwoo was currently at his house. He left earlier from the shop as he had stated. He was now in the bathroom, looking regretfully his reflection in the mirror.
He opened the faucet and put his hands under the running water. He collected as much as he could and splashed it onto his face.
This was real.
This was not a dream.
He left the bathroom and went to the living room.
He was overwhelmed with so many emotions that he didn't even know how he was supposed to feel.
Fear, Regret, Anger. They all were combined and mixed together harmonically, without one of them overshadowing the other two.
Jungwoo grabbed his white mask that was decorated with flowers and examined it.
He pressed his lips together and hoped that he was going to wake up. That this all was just a nightmare.
But it wasn't, and he knew that.
He was only wearing black clothes and the mask was going to be the only thing that stood out from this total black outfit.
He left his house, hoping that everything was going to be ok.
--
*Last night*
"H...hello?"
"Hello Jungwoo...I'm Simon and this is your first mission."
Jungwoo froze. He felt like his heart stopped beating, he knew that these words were the last thing he wanted to hear this night.
"Are you still there Jungwoo? This is a real call, not a recorded message."
"Y...yes...I'm here."
"As I said earlier this is your first mission. I think you remember what happens if you don't do it."
"I...I, do..."
"Excellent. I advice you to not try and find this number because you won't manage to. Also I recommend you to not tell the police anything about this. I'm even surprised that none of you came up with this idea yet..." The electronic voice said. "Ok now back to you. Your first mission isn't anything hard or very dangerous." Simon stated. "You just need to follow my instructions and everything will be fine. I will sent you a location, at this location you're going to find your weapon to complete this mission. A gun."
"A...a gun?!"
Jungwoo asked surprised.
"Yes Jungwoo, a gun. You have to find it, take it and then rob the bank I will tell you to." Simon said. " But not so fast, you can't have the money you are going to steal. Or else one of your wishes would be fulfilled and it's only the start. You have to burn the money. Sounds cruel, but you haven't seen anything yet. Also don't try keeping the money to yourself, trust me, I will know it if you do. You have to keep the gun as well, it will come handy later. That was all I had to say, goodnight Jungwoo. You have until tomorrow to finish this mission."
And the phone closed.
Jungwoo started trembling and collapsed on the ground.
"How am I supposed to tell the others about this?"
--
Currently Jungwoo was heading towards the location Simon told him.
The more he walked, the more isolated the place was.
No one was walking at these streets, not even a single person. Today was a sunny day, but despite that fact, the air was still chilly like the past days. However the streets were he was walking were dark, the enormous buildings hid the sunlight and let only a small amount of it reflect on the asphalt.
Jungwoo was close. He took another turn and finally faced a dead end.
He was there.
But now he had to start searching for the gun. He left his mask somewhere near and started searching. It seemed strange to him, why would Simon just want him to rob a bank, only for the money to get burnt in the end?
However it wasn't his place to question Simon's orders.
"Where is it?"
He asked as he had already searched most of the place. He moved a brick and right behind it there it was.
The gun.
Jungwoo gulped and hesitantly took the plastic bag that was covering the gun.
He had never touched a gun before, and the idea never crossed his mind.
He wore his mask and took the gun out of the plastic bag.
"I'm sorry..."
He said.
And then he left, heading towards the National Bank. To complete his first mission.