"No emotion, no feelings, no fear. Complete the mission. I belong to the KSI."
An eight year old Kim Chung Ha sat atop of a wooden stool in a top secret facility in rural Thailand. She sang her heart out, repeating those words again and again like a lullaby. Her legs swung back and forth, showing the true nature of her age.
Like all the other kids in the facility, Chung Ha was brought up in the KSI. She had no idea of her true identity, where she had come from or what lurked beyond the walls of the organisation.
But that didn't matter to Chung Ha at all. She never thought to question her identity or background because the KSI was all she ever knew. To her, the KSI was always right, that they only wanted what was best for her.
Her mentor, Park Hyung-sik, walked in with a bundle of papers in his hand. Before sitting down, he made sure to ruffle her hair, making Chung Ha giggle at his playfulness.
Naive Chung Ha always looked up this man. He always told her that for as long as she obeyed the KSI, she would always have a home.
"You must be the luckiest girl on earth!" Hyung-sik exclaimed, taking a seat in front of her.
"Why?" Chung Ha giggled, gushing over her mentor who she always worshipped.
"Don't tell anyone," Hyung-sik shushed her, placing an index finger over her lips. He leaned forward on the desk, looking around slightly even though no one was in the room. Hyung-sik was always like this, toying with Chung Ha's curiosity and excitement made her think it was a fun game they would be playing. "You've been selected for a mission!"
Chung Ha's face burst with excitement. She had been groomed to think that being given a mission was an honour, dying for the KSI was something she should be proud of and that only the best children in the world could train with the KSI.
He reached for the first file in his bundle of papers. Opening the cover, a stash of photographs fell scattered over the desk. The photographs were all individual shots of middle aged men, but none of them looked into the camera. They were all secretly taken, all caught looking down the streets, lighting up cigarettes or talking on the phone.
"These men," Hyung-sik began lecturing Chung Ha, "belong to China's biggest mafia."
Chung Ha didn't say a word, concentrating on the multiple photographs to absorb every detail.
"They're bodyguards. For the baby heir."
"Baby heir?" Chung Ha asked, snapping her head up to Hyung-sik. He hummed, loving that Chung Ha was completely engrossed in the plan. Since the baby heir was born years ago, the KSI had already decided that this baby would grow up within their control. When the time was right, they planned on training a child to specifically follow him.
He reached for a second file, throwing it in front of Chung Ha on the desk with a smug smile. He leaned back, sipping his coffee as he prepared to educate her all the minute details about this gang.
"This is Jackson Wang." Hyung-sik began, referring to the profile of a young boy around Chung Ha's age. Jackson's picture stared back at Chung Ha. His goofy grin was innocent; he looked harmless, so pure and gullible that one wouldn't think he would grow to become someone so notable.
"His date of birth is..." Hyung-sik continued, "his passport number is..." Chung Ha listened on intently, her legs continued to swing back and forth but she no longer giggled like a child.
At times, her duality could be frightening to some. When it was time to be serious, Chung Ha was taught not to mess around to waste the adults' time. She observed every photo on the table with scrutinising eyes, memorising every detail about this boy who she was tasked to associate with.
Once she stepped out of that room, Hyung-sik expected her to know the ins and outs of this gang like she was a part of them.
In her coming years, throughout her teenage years all the way to early adulthood, she carried out her lone mission by obsessively following them, learning everything there was to know about them so that she could make her move and finally befriend Jackson Wang.
She needed to gain his trust and before she knew it, her life revolved around his.
Jackson didn't know it, of course, for they had never come across each other's path until the right moment, but while he had no idea of her existence, she knew everything about him. From his height, which schools he attended, how many veins he had on his arms, his appointments with even the most unrelated people, Chung Ha had all that information engraved in her mind.
She plotted for the right moment to show herself and the perfect opportunity came when she found out that Jackson had taken a liking to boxing. To have a common interest with him, she took up sword fighting and joined an international sports tournament in America at the same time as him. She was for Korea and he was for China.
Twenty year old Chung Ha stood at the bleachers with the rest of Korea's national team. She had just won the championship in sword fighting, but that title didn't come as a surprise to anyone. She was the best of the best, having been trained how to fight in the KSI since she was born.
Jackson, sweat glazing his entire upper half, faced Argentina head on in the finals. It was a close call, but Chung Ha knew he would be joining her in the championships' team. After all, she studied his techniques and training for years and knew exactly what he was capable of.
After a round of jabs and hits, Jackson's winning move - an uppercut to the battered Argentinian - sent his opponent flying to the ground. Defeated, crushed and broken.
The ring roared into triumph. China's national team jumped over the ropes, throwing the boxing champion into the air. The judges gave him a much deserved standing ovation, but Chung Ha could only keep her eyes on Jackson amidst the hustle and bustle.
She knew he would win, but a burst of pride and joy still exploded in her chest when he really did. It was strange to think that she knew everything about him like a friend of her own, but he had yet to know who she was.
Chung Ha was determined that would change, however.
A few hours after the match, China's team prepared to go for a celebratory dinner. Jackson was alone in the showers when the door creaked open. He didn't notice at first, and the hot steam clouded his peripheral vision temporarily. But Jackson wasn't one to be taken for a fool.
Instinctively, sensing that he wasn't in the room alone, he grabbed onto his towel to wrap around his lower half just as a silver blade shot through the sprinkling shower. The cascading water parted ways just as the deadly weapon surged towards his heart. He dodged just in time, spinning 360 degrees just as he tied a knot around the towel.
As smooth as water itself, he glided across the wet tile, twisting the intruder's arm to hold it against their own neck. He positioned himself behind the intruder, locking them in place so that if they dared move, they would be sliced by their own sword.
The intruder was smaller in frame, definitely shorter and their hair was tied in a high bun.
"Bold of you to enter the men's showers." Jackson's hot breath fanned behind Chung Ha's neck after realising that it was a girl.
Hearing Jackson's voice next to her ear gave her the chills. This was the guy she had been observing and investigating for practically half of her life and he finally said his first words to her.
"Not bold enough!" She snapped, grabbing on to the knot at the front of his towel. She spun, using all the strength she had to wrench herself out of his grasp. Jackson's wet towel came off, pooling into a bundle of fabric on the floor.
He stood there naked. The hot shower's steam flowed around him like fluffy clouds. The water droplets from the tips of his hair drizzled like beautiful raindrops to his toes.
Chung Ha faced him fully. Her eyes never wavered, keeping her gaze fixed on his curious face. Her clothes were getting damp by the second and her hair was slowly getting wet by the splish and splash of the shower.
Her sword remained drawn, pointing its tip only inches away from Jackson. But that didn't even faze him. He looked at her up and down, analysing her like a curious science experiment.
"Why do you look so familiar?" He asked more to himself than to her.
"Kim Chung Ha of Korea. Swordsmanship champion." She answered for him, feeling the heat of the shower room get to her.
A light bulb switched on in his head. He vaguely remembered Korea winning the sword fighting category, but he had no idea who was crowned the champion, their name or cared to even know what they looked like.
Well, now he was intrigued.
"Ah..." He tilted his head, finally nodding slowly. "So it was you... And what is it exactly that I can do for you in here, Miss Kim?"
He stepped forward, placing his two hands on the side of his hips with a little teasing smirk on his face.
Chung Ha kept her eyes on his every step, watching how he was getting closer and closer to the tip of her sword.
"Date me." She said, just as the silvery tip was a centimetre away.
Jackson halted his step.
Did he hear her right? Or was the running shower so loud that he misheard what she said?
"Is this how you confess to someone?" Jackson snickered, finding this random girl more and more interesting.
"The only way I know how." Chung Ha answered, not making a move to withdraw her sword until he agreed to be her boyfriend.
Slowly, Jackson trailed his eyes from the pointy tip of the sword to the base of her wrist.
He caught her by surprise, reaching forward to grab onto her arm before pulling her body flush against his. In the midst of the sudden pull, with Jackson's strong hold on her wrist, she hadn't even noticed she dropped her sword in the pooling water at their ankles.
In close range, just millimetres away from his face, all coherent thought was forgotten. The room was suffocating itself, but Chung Ha doubted her irregular breathing had anything to do with that.
At the corner of her eyes, she could see Jackson lift a hand towards her face. She stood still, feeling his calloused hand stroke her soft skin. The tip of his index finger slowly traced her sharp features before stopping underneath her chin.
He lifted her chin up, made sure she made eye contact with him to let her know it was too late to regret what she requested. Chung Ha was determined though. She wasn't a woman to take back her words and Jackson liked that about her.
Finally, he slammed his lips down on to hers.
All at once, with their lips connected in a fierce wild kiss, Jackson had already slid his hands behind her thighs. Chung Ha knew the signal. With one hand tightly gripping on to the roots of his hair and the other placed securely on top of his shoulder, she jumped.
Her legs wrapped his naked body, letting Jackson carry her under the running water. Her back slammed against the wet tiles, her clothes were drenched, but that only turned Jackson on even more when the shadow of her dark nipples seeped through her white shirt.
Jackson's lips moved ferociously. It was as if he was starving for her and Chung Ha couldn't help but lose herself when he detached his lips to bury them into her nape.
A moan, so frustrating and strained, escaped from Chung Ha's swollen and bruised lips when he began sucking and nibbling every inch of her skin.
She felt drunk in his control. The feeling was so exhilarating that she hadn't even realised that he peeled her wet clothes off...
***
In the morning after, Chung Ha woke up to a loud knock on her hotel room door. The hotel hosted all the teams participating in the tournament and she mentally cursed that her teammates were waking her up this early.
"Wh-" She snapped open the door, only to be cut off instantly.
"Good morning, girlfriend!" Jackson exclaimed.
She peeked her eyes open wider, seeing a styled and dressed Jackson in her doorway. Chung Ha, on the other hand, was still in her pyjamas, her hair was a mess and her legs were achingly sore from the night before.
"What are you doing here so early?" Her raspy hoarse voice asked. She cleared her throat, desperately needing some water.
"We're going on our first date, duh!" Jackson tutted, like it was the most obvious thing ever.
"We are?" Chung Ha raised an eyebrow, questioning herself whether they had spoken about this before.
"Yup." Jackson said nonchalantly, "for our first date, we're going to Japan!"
"JAPAN?!"
On a whim, Jackson had managed to drag his new girlfriend through the airport, onto a plane, on the way to Japan for their very first date.
At the time, it was spring day.
Cherry blossom trees became their companion on every date they went to around Japan. They were always there in every moment they spent together. He even gave her a pet name - Blossom - because he told her that no matter how far apart they would be, even when they were on opposite ends of the world, he would always be thinking about her when the blossom blooms.
Three years into their relationship, Jackson told her that he would be seeing her less and less because he had to take care of his 'business' after his father. Jackson painted himself as an honest businessmen, but the truth was that China's gang was built behind a multi-millionaire business of aircraft dealership; they would use the company as a cover up for their illegal activities. Chung Ha knew the truth, of course, but she continued keeping track of him when they weren't together.
Jackson soared in his 'business' sooner or later. At the forefront, he became one of the most influential young businessmen of the decade. At the back drop, he became one of the greatest, most feared leaders in Asia. Eventually, he became so busy that he could only arrange time to see Chung Ha once a year in the spring and naturally they chose Japan as their meeting place.
One year, their spring took a turn for the winter.
With the sweet aroma of the cherry blossom trees above their heads, Jackson was met by Chung Ha as the KSI's secret agent who came to arrest him, rather than Chung Ha as his girlfriend.
For corruption in the stock market exchange, Chung Ha had personally arrested Jackson for her own gain. The rumour was that Lalisa Manoban was just assassinated by a new gang in Korea and the spot for the leader of the KSI was yet to be filled.
When Jackson was tried, convicted and sent to prison for two years, Chung Ha's efforts were commended and she was promoted to take on the leader role. Should she feel guilt? The obvious answer was no. Should she be happy that she finally caught the criminal that she had spent her life catching? Yes. So why did she feel everything she wasn't supposed to be feeling? Quite the opposite, she found herself drowning in regret.
As she stood under a cherry blossom tree alone in Japan as the leader of the KSI, months after Jackson was imprisoned, she realised everything they had was an illusion. Fake. Their relationship and love story was built on a pack of lies.
Just like the cherry blossom trees, the time they spent together was intoxicatingly beautiful, but tragically short-lived.
For that reason, Chung Ha held on to the name 'Blossom' to her dear heart. It was something very small, but it reminded her of what they had.
She believed that if she held onto that name, then she could hold on to the little memories that they had left, hold on to the Jackson she once knew.
But more importantly, 'Blossom' was something that Jackson gave her and only her and nobody was allowed to take that away.