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Ayako takes a swig of wine as she settles on the plush, velvet red armchair. A smug smile, more of a smirk, plays on her face as one of her men informs her of the presence of a beloved guest.
She had been lying low for the past few weeks after successfully pulling off one huge mission she had long been eyeing. So, when notified that someone wanted to speak to her, one of the best con women—or arguably the best con woman—she had initially thought of turning down the request for a meeting.
However, as she got to know the identity of the person who made the request, and despite her lingering doubts, she found herself unable to resist agreeing.
This man who everyone knows to be the best of the best, was asking her, someone way too far from his line of work, to meet. Yes, maybe she had thought of working with him once in a while during her rookie days, but now? Oh, no. It was way too dangerous to believe he had nothing but pure intentions to work with her.
After all, she had been in this industry too long to not know who this extremely undeniable person was.
And she knows him all too well.
Now, in front of her stood one handsomely groomed man—way too groomed for a meeting—and she couldn’t help but stare him down from head-to-toe. There was this expression on his face that seemed impossible for her to read. She couldn’t see if he was amused or annoyed to be having to face her again after all those years. She thought maybe it was because of the sunglasses that sat on his face or it was the foreign smile he displayed but there is one thing she is still sure of.
He still looked insanely handsome, that she could not deny.
She doesn’t know why in the world she could not manage to utter at least a simple greeting. It felt as if her lips were sewed shut from the force that is Kwon Pil-sam’s presence.
“Ayako.” His deep voice sends shivers to her spine as he calls for her. It is like a foreign sound, an unknown presence, is calling for her, asking for her attention. “Are you alright?”
Oh. The national smuggling king casually asking her if she’s alright? That’s new.
With his arrival also came an entourage of four men—all in black suits, matched with emotionless faces— who stationed themselves in all four corners of her office living room.
“Ah, Mr. Kwon,” she puts down the wineglass in her hand before pushing herself up. Just as Ayako moved a little closer towards her guest, his men were quick to react; that was protocol — the protocol that Kwon Pil-Sam had instilled whenever he was meeting new, untrusted people.
No one can lay hands on him without his approval.
But Ayako is an exception — she will always be an exception. So he stops them.
There is an unpleasant expression on Ayako’s face as she looks at his men “Chill. I’m not going to kill this boss of yours.”
She sees him staring at her for quite some time with an expression she cannot, for the love of her, seem to understand. She was only pouring him a glass of wine, so what was so wrong with that for him to be looking at her like that?
He had settled on the armchair opposite her, taken his sunglasses off, and seemingly made himself comfortable in her presence like it was the easiest thing to do.
Ayako only scoffs at the sight of him like that and passes him the wineglass.
“Long time no see, Aya.” He greets her with a tinge of sweetness in his voice. The words that slip out of his tongue are foreign yet so familiar to both of them.
Ayako could not even look him in the eye when she heard how he called her.
“Happy to see me?”
She always loved the confidence that came with this man; how feisty and bold he could be. And she hated how he was right . That beneath this strong façade of hers, in the back of her mind, she is indeed happy to see him .
“Of course,” she answered with a brightly painted, playful smile. Ayako noticed Kwon Pil-Sam's overconfidence, the unmistakable flare of desire, want, and need in his eyes — and she despised everything about it. “Surely you aren’t her for a mere catch-up session, are you?”
He arched an eyebrow, a glint of mischief sparking as a sly smirk slowly grew on his lips. “Oh, but I am.”
The audacity of this man had never failed to surprise her. She hated how she loved that although he had changed so much, that audacity of his that first annoyed her back then was still there.
Ayako could only laugh.
“I know you keep up with every single person you know, Kwon. Don’t try to fool me.”
Still the straightforward, aggressive Ayako I know , he thought.
She was correct. He always made sure to be posted about the happenings in the lives of the people around him, be it a trusted ally, or a despised enemy.
“I want to hear it from your own mouth, Aya.”
“That would only be a waste of time if we do that, Mr. Kwon. You already know everything.” Ayako downed the remaining contents of her wine glass before continuing, “And for goodness sake, stop calling me like that.”
“Like what, Aya?” Pil-Sam tries to suppress the amusement building in him. He bites the inside of his lips in an effort to not let a burst of laughter roll out of him at any second. He had missed seeing Ayako trying so hard to convince him to drop the nickname he had given her and more so missed the amusement that came with it.
Ayako rolled her eyes. “Like that!”
Pil-Sam fails to suppress his amusement and lets the corner of his lips rise freely. The moment there is a full smile on his face, Ayako does not let it off easily—considering he barely smiled back then—and immediately points it out. It makes her laugh, but when she realizes what she is doing, her eyes widen and her hands return to her lap, letting the awkward silence reign in the atmosphere.
Ayako curses herself, annoyed how he has once again warmed the coldness in her heart, how it is so easy for him to do it, and how she unconsciously lets him.
The silence lasts for more or less five minutes, but to the both of them, it is like an eternity. The air in the room becomes dense, hanging with unspoken words and unresolved tension. Every passing second feels like an agonizing crawl towards an unknown resolution. Then, she breaks the silence with a stern gaze, cutting through the heaviness in the air.
“Get to the point.” She looks him dead in the eye, “What do you need from me?”
“I need,” He starts off, searching her face for a reaction she has yet to display. He feels the intensity of her gaze, so he battles against her, retaliating with much more fervor and emotions his eyes could possibly exude. With their eyes locked, fully focused on one another, he continues, “you.”
She turns away, breaking their eye contact, as if needing a moment to process the unexpected request. "Of all the people in the world, me?" she responds incredulously, her eyebrows knitting together in a mixture of surprise and disbelief.
“You're the only one I trust to pull off this feat." Pil-Sam implores, his words carrying the weight of urgency and the glint of desperation in his eyes are too visible to go unnoticed. “I need your help, Ayako.”
Did she hear that right? The national smuggling king needed her—a very inexperienced person in his line of work—help?
“I don’t know a thing about how you do your job. Do not entrust to me something far from my line of work.”
Pil-Sam stands up and walks to her side of the room. “So are you saying you agree to work with me?”
Ayako looked at him in disbelief. “You’re dubbed as the national smuggling king! Why in the world would you need my help?”
Kwon Pil-sam sighed
In the sinister industry he was in, he was known to be the best of the best.
It was his craft, his specialty, and Kwon Pil-sam hated how he could not find a way to pull off this insanely important mission without the help of anyone else. Because let’s face it, in the industry he was in, there was no one you could trust — not even your closest ally.
And there was only one person who he entrusted his entire being to, and she happened to know exactly what he needed to do.
So he tells her his plan. He tells her how he thinks it is too impossible for him and his people to pull off. It is a hard task. They needed to sneak into a banquet, trick people, get their loot, and successfully smuggle it out. It required going through many risky areas and unpredictable people. They needed to con people, and she was just the best person for the job.
When he finishes explaining to her, there is hesitation on her face.
“I’m considering it,” she looks at him intently, “but I will need time to think this through.”
Pil-Sam is desperate to get her to agree. He was willing to do anything at this point, even if he needed to kneel before her.
The weight of his plea lingers in the air as he anxiously awaits her decision.
“Just this once, Aya. Please.”
Please.
There is desperation in his voice, almost as if he was begging to be freed.
Ayako feels like there is a storm brewing in her mind. Although she is confident she can pull this off, she isn't the type to offer her services within a matter of minutes, guaranteeing a 100% success rate; she's not even sure if she'll even benefit from this.
But it is Kwon Pil-Sam she is talking to—the same Kwon Pil-Sam whom she once recognized as her partner-in-crime back when they were still trapped in the hands of Seoul’s Organized Crime’s ruthless boss.
She knew they made a great team, but he had already said he wouldn't be anywhere near the place he planned to assign her, so that was a lost cause. Still, Kwon Pil-Sam was her weakness, the one thing that could trip her up, and he knew exactly how to use it to his advantage.
“So what you’re saying is I’ll be going alone?” Ayako looks at him in disbelief when she sees him nod slowly. “You’re not going to come?”
He couldn’t possibly go. It was way too risky if he were to come with them. But that isn’t what rolls out of his lips.
“Do you want me to?”
“Will you come if I ask you to?”
Pil-Sam sees the sincerity in her eyes, and he feels like it is drawing him towards her. Seconds later, he finds himself standing right in front of her, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms like he always used to do whenever there was something bothering him. Instead, he settles on tucking the few loose pieces of her hair into her ear.
His touch against her skin feels electrifying, but oh, how she missed it.
Pil-Sam takes her hand into his, his thumb traced absentminded circles on the back of her hand, a gesture Ayako loved. Ayako's gaze lingered on his as he whispered, “Anything for you, Ayako.”