Dedicated to:
koryamanent
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"The man in the photos is Nakamoto Yuta." Jeno revealed. Although he tried to talk as professional as possible, the hatred he had been trying to hide in the depths of his heart for years was trying to resurface.
Never did he knew he'd be able to feel this way again.
With Jeno starting to talk about this man, Koeun could only squint her eyes at this. She could feel the bitterness in his words, which she found unusual. Knowing Jeno, he would most likely be blunt about discussing their enemies.
If she was correct about her hunch, then this must be why Jeno was chosen to talk about him in the first place.
"Yuta was the masked man Xiaojun and Hendery encountered yesterday. I know this because I witnessed their fight."
This made the rest of the Elites throw curious glances at the two boys. Xiaojun noticed Lucas' look of validation and gave him a nod, confirming what Jeno had said.
While the Elites settled with the confirmation, Jeno continued. "This man, Yuta, has brown curly hair, dark eyes, and a square chin. Around 5'9" tall. A Japanese citizen residing in Korea for quite some time." Renjun move to the next slide. "He can speak Korean fluently. He also has been familiar with the country and knows various sites and locations, especially anything illegal."
"Why is that?" Xiaojun blurted out in between Jeno's explanation.
Before Renjun could swipe to the next slide, Jeno's cold eyes made contact with Xiaojun's. "He's a professional assassin."
An assassin? Koeun somewhat recalled Jeno mentioning about it before. Could it be?
The silence from the opposite group signaled him to continue. "Specializing in combat and weaponry, Yuta has been involved with the shady community due to his job. From mobs, gangs, and corrupt politicians, he would accept their task for a good amount of money. People would give him a name, he'd kill them, they would pay him, and repeat. In short, he lives for this job."
Yangyang couldn't fight the urge to raise his hand so he did. Noticing it, Jeno gave him permission to speak. "How did he get involved with Taeyong?"
"I believe we don't have a solid answer for that." Was his answer. "But knowing Taeyong's role in their consortium, having a skilled assassin around would increase their chance of protecting their other associates. The more manpower, the better."
Jeno had reached the end of his talk and now it was time to move unto the next one. He was about to return to his seat when he got interrupted. "How did you know all these?"
It was Xiaojun who asked, curious about the specific yet useful information. They had spent months gathering information about Taeyong and this group was already done for someone they just knew.
Stopping, Jeno seemed unfazed about the question. He couldn't blame him for being intrigued so he became frank. "He was my mentor."
Hearing his answer, the Elites couldn't contain their shock. Throughout the year, they had been trying to find more information about them individually, and now, they finally made progress with a controversial discovery. The news, however, didn't surprise Koeun as it should've since it was already her expectation.
His master... Jeno's words were starting to come back to her.
"He was an assassin– a professional one. He could kill people in a way that many would think it was neither an accident or a suicide."
"He trained me into someone I am today, but his mentoring didn't last that long."
"Our last mission failed... I wasn't supposed to be caught..."
"He left me just so he could save himself."
Koeun found his current situation concerning. Yesterday's incident must have opened a scar for him. Now, he had to deal not just with the mission; also, in re-establishing a suspended acquaintanceship.
She knew he wouldn't like that.
Next in line was the one she had been waiting for, Mark. For some reason, as he walked towards the front, she felt her breath hitch, then her heart began to beat fast. As positive as it might have sounded, the reason wasn't making her feel giddy.
She was afraid.
Mark stood tall in front of the meeting's participants, having one of his hands shoved inside his pocket. From this view, he could see how they were anticipating for his talk, so he didn't waste another second. "Before we proceed with the next person of the subject, I would like to explain more of myself first. In that way, it will be easier for everyone to comprehend the following details."
Koeun lightly bit the insides of her cheek, not liking what was about to happen already.
"My real name is Lee Minhyung. 21 years old. And I was an ex-Elites agent."
"What?!" The Elites exclaimed so loud the chief had to interrupt.
"Agents," The tone of his voice already caused them to clamp their mouths shut. "contain yourself."
"Sir, I apologize for my team's behavior." A little embarrassed, Koeun had decided to voice out for them.
"No, it's fine." To her surprise, Mark motioned her to stop. "It was a reflex."
The girl blinked her eyes rapidly. She didn't know if it was because he was refusing the apology since it wasn't a mistake or that he was speaking to her now.
He was still cold but at least.
However, Lucas' attention was centered towards the fact that Koeun didn't seem to be baffled about it. Sitting next to her, he creased his forehead at her. "Wait, you knew about this?"
Koeun diverted her look towards his way. "Y-yes..." She stuttered due to still being dazed from her short interaction with Mark.
For Lucas, he found nothing wrong that she kept it from him and the group since it might be Mark's top secret. Also, the chief nor the department never told them about it so it was most likely a piece of crucial information.
But for some reason, he felt the inside of his chest throb. The two must've gotten enough closure during the time they had kept her "hostage", otherwise, Mark wouldn't even tell her about it. What's worse was that she was under their care for only a few days.
Koeun watched how Lucas seemed to contemplate hard; she could see that there still was something bothering him. But due to him taking too long, the chief finally brought the topic back to Mark. "Mark, please proceed."
Nodding, Mark went with the continuation. "As I've said, I used to be an agent; more importantly, a member of the Elites. I was chosen to be a part of the first batch and given a task to catch the X-Force."
This time around, the Elites remained quiet for him to continue. They already knew Haechan was the original leader, as they only found out about Mark's existence because of his encounter with Koeun.
This must've been the way for him to eventually join the group.
"This sounds confusing at first, but this is how the next subject served as the reason for my involvement with the group."
Renjun, who was in-charge of the presentation, slightly felt tensed before he pushed the next button, revealing several photos of a girl with long, chocolate brown locks, dark, charming eyes, and plump lips. The images vary from candid shots to her agent ID photo.
"Her real name is Kim Yerim but most agents know her simply as Yeri. She was my partner in the Elites." Mark spoke without looking at the screen.
So... this is her. For some reason, Koeun unknowingly tightened her grip unto the armrest. No wonder Mark fell for her.
"We became official members of the Elites at the age of 19. And because of our skills, we received our first laborious mission regarding the X-Force situation. Both of us had worked on it for months until she began to act oddly." Renjun proceeded to the next slide, still showing images of Yeri. Some of them even included Mark. "She became secretive and worked about it herself. She wouldn't share any information she gathered."
Koeun was slowly becoming more immersed in the photos instead of listening. There was a photo of the duo standing side by side as they got awarded as the Agents of the Month. The other one was a formal pictorial of them with their seniors outside their department, including the former chief, Jaehyun, Taeyong, and Chief Moon.
"One night, Yeri got into a car chase while bringing all of X-Force's data with her. We didn't know much about what happened but when I arrived at the scene, her car was already burning as it fell into the river. She was still carried out and brought to the hospital but unfortunately, she didn't make it."
She didn't make it. Mark's words echoed inside Lucas' mind. Even though he still didn't completely like the guy, he felt sympathetic for him. Losing a partner is difficult to bear. He would lose his mind if it happened to Koeun.
"The current chief at that time, Jaehyun, told me that the X-Force was the one chasing her for taking their data away, but it was a lie. I found out that it was his men who chased her down because of the X-Force." Mark explained. "Apparently, Yeri got acquainted with the group and was told about Jaehyun's illegal secret. She was secretly working with them on exposing him but Jaehyun found out about it."
"Wait," Yangyang piped in, getting more and more confused. "you said she didn't make it, so what does she have to do with the ambush?" He thought Mark was going off-topic.
Wait... "She was the girl Koeun fought with yesterday..." Thinking deeply, Lucas couldn't help himself but say it to everyone's surprise. "...right?" He made sure to lock eyes with Mark.
Apparently, during that time, even when he was occupied in taking down the men inside the buildings, Lucas managed to catch up with the scene of the girl's identity being revealed. He couldn't see the girl's face from his view but he saw how Mark froze during their fight. Due to this, he got knocked out by the girl before joining Taeyong to retreat.
Mark was slightly taken aback at first before he nodded. "Yes."
"But if she used to be an agent, and knew about Jaehyun's schemes, how come she's on their side now?" Yangyang continued to ask.
At this point, it had gone awkwardly silent. The Elites was filled with curiosity, while Koeun and the X-Force found it uneasy.
Haechan eyed Mark from his seat. The events from yesterday had put them in so much distress but it wouldn't compare to how Mark felt about the discovery.
"Please leave. I need to think."
And now, he wasn't the same.
"This is why we are having this meeting." All of them turned to look at Chief Moon, who just stood up from his seat. From what they could tell, he was inconclusive about the situation regarding Yeri. "The X-Force is quite as clueless as we are, although we can come up from this meeting that they have more information about Taeyong's new complicit. They shared this with us as we did with what we had gathered."
"Sir, what are you trying to say?" Asked Lucas, furrowing his eyebrows.
Chief Moon clicked his tongue before proceeding. "We have decided to join forces for this mission."
"To what?!" Koeun couldn't believe what she just heard that it jolted her out of her seat. Even the other members were as shocked as she was.
"Do you have a problem with that?"
With lips trembling, Koeun tried to talk. "But, s-sir—"
"We share the same objective, which is to put an end to this consortium's illegal acts." Chief Moon explained further. "Not only that, if we get this done, everyone will benefit. This Yuta guy will be imprisoned as he deserves. Taeyong will pay for the damages he has brought. The other complicit will be dragged. Crime rate will decrease. It's a win-win situation."
"But, sir, what about Yeri?"
Koeun just realized what she had done after blurting it out and the chief was already looking at her. He went silent about it before his eyes locked with Mark's. "I'll discuss it with Mark."
Mark remained emotionless when he heard it, however, Koeun felt conflicted about the whole situation. She gaped at Mark in mixed emotions. Mark...
"Since the meeting came to an end, all of you are dismissed." Chief Moon eyed them, one by one. "Have a good day." With that, he made his way out of the room.
And once he was out, the Elites faced the other from the opposite side of the table, feeling the atmosphere becoming colder and colder.
It was Koeun to be the first one to break the ice by storming towards Mark's way. "Mark," Once she made it in front of him. "please tell me this is just a joke."
But Mark was only blunt about it. "It's not."
It didn't give her any assurance. "Look, you don't need to do this. We can do this on our own."
"Really?" Mark slightly creased his forehead. "Judging from yesterday, all of you barely survived the ambush."
This made her gape at him, shocked by his words. Even the X-Force was surprised by his behavior.
He really did change overnight, was Haechan's thought.
"Hey, hey." Koeun felt someone joining her side. "Mind your words, Mark. You're standing on our territory." Lucas' tone was somewhat threatening. He didn't like his act of talking.
"Mind your tone as well, Lucas. It was mine first before it was yours."
Koeun never thought she could be in more shock than she did before from hearing his words. She couldn't believe he was saying this to the Elites, to Lucas, to her.
Mark realized what he said and sighed. "Look, we didn't come here for a fight. We simply want to end this issue like you do." He tried explaining. "All of us don't want the ambush yesterday to happen again, which is why we are here to offer our assistance. Even if you try to deny it, you need every help you can get to win this fight."
Koeun watched Mark walk away towards his group while thinking about what he said. She knew he had a point. They wouldn't successfully finish Jaehyun's transfer if it weren't for the X-Force coming to the rescue.
But based on his behavior ever since he arrived, she could tell his reason wasn't just about putting Taeyong and the others behind bars.
Mark was just about to approach Haechan when he heard Koeun speak again. "You're doing this for answers, aren't you?"
While the others seemed bothered by the rising tension, Mark took a pause as it took him by surprise, though he tried to mask it.
But for Koeun, she wasn't finished yet. "You're doing this for her, aren't you?"
Even though there were still people around them, it felt like the two of them were alone in the room. Koeun couldn't help herself. At this point, she was feeling mixed emotions. All she wanted was a confirmation from him.
Finally, Mark slightly turned for his eyes to meet hers. They were almost empty, only if it wasn't for the uncertainty in them.
She expected him to say anything but to her confusion, he didn't. He proceeded to make his way through the door, leaving all of them baffled.
Watching him walk out made Koeun's heart ache. Meanwhile, Lucas could see how upset she was just by the way she stared at the spot where Mark was. Her current expression was similar to the one she had whenever he would catch her spacing out.
He could only press his lips into a thin line when a thought hit him.
Is he the reason why she always looks upset?
On Koeun's part, she could only keep on thinking about what Mark did just a moment ago. He could've said anything but he chose not to.
Why didn't he say 'yes'?
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This took longer than I thought. The explanation part was difficult to write. I had to rearrange it so it would go smoothly.