Chapter 61 - Welcome

"You look disappointed," Jonghyun noted. Sunye's face slightly fell upon seeing him as if she was expecting someone else.

"Of course not!" she lied. "You told me that you were going to pick me up…"

Her eyes inadvertently glanced to his side but he was all alone. Jonghyun noticed that she was a little distracted but he did not say anything. Instead, he held out his arm for her.

"Shall we go?" he asked. Sunye nodded but she was so distracted with the thoughts of SD that she did not notice that he had held out his arm for her. Instead, she shut the door behind her and walked towards the lift, lost in her own world. Jonghyun was slightly taken aback but composed himself.

"Why does your father want to meet me?" she asked once they were outside the building.

"He heard that the coup's only survivor has joined LN Partners," Jonghyun sighed. "And insisted on meeting you. It's not pleasure, believe me."

"Oh," was all Sunye could say. Jonghyun was slightly annoyed by her less than expected enthusiasm. What was going on in her mind? It was so hard to tell what Sunye was thinking. She always had a tendency to hide her true feelings which was sometimes exasperating. 

She looked strangely glum all the way to their car. Once she reached Joghyun's M5, she came to a stop and a look of slight relief overcame her. Unbeknownst to her, Jonghyun followed her gaze. She was looking at Haein with great interest as if she had been eager to see him.

Jonghyun frowned at her unexpected reaction. Sunye and his secretary barely knew each other but why was she so relieved upon seeing him that day?

Haein bowed low and opened the backdoor of the car for them.

"Good evening sir and madam," he greeted politely. He wore a navy blue suit which perfectly fit his muscular figure with a light coral shirt underneath. The tie he wore was also blue with pinking dots on it. His hair was brushed back to perfection while his blue eyes were covered with the frameless glasses he wore at work. Sunye was trying hard not to compare his current look with the feisty one he had donned when they first met. 

How did a guy manage to look sexy in both attires? What was this sorcery? Was he born with special genes?

Sunye quickly composed herself and nodded at him before getting into the car. Jonghyun gave Haein a curt look before getting into the car behind Sunye. Haein took the driver's seat.

"Driver Cho isn't available today?" Jonghyun inquired upon noticing that his secretary was driving.

"He's ill so I'm driving you to the mansion today," Haein replied. Sunye briefly met his eyes on the rearview mirror. 

Why am I thinking about him so much? Sunye scowled inwardly. Was it because of the fond nostalgia? Ugh!

SD did not betray his emotions and kept a passive front. But he could feel Sunye's occasional gazes on him which caused him to slightly smirk. Even though she was sitting next to Jonghyun, her mind was wrapped around SD. No matter how much she tried to resist him, she somehow always ended up thinking about him.

"Don't worry about my father," Jonghyun was saying. "He's probably just glad to find an old acquaintance from the royal palace."

"Huh?" Sunye was startled. "Did you say something?"

Jonghyun narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Was she not paying any attention to him?

"I said that you don't have to worry about my father, " he repeated.

"Oh," she said. "Okay."

Truthfully, she had completely forgotten about her nervousness regarding the dinner but now that Jonghyun had reminded her, she was tense again. Meeting PM Lee in person after so many years felt strange. Her memories from the palace only rotated around Kim San and her adoptive father. Other than them, she barely remembered much.

She glanced at SD who winked at her through the rearview mirror. In spite of herself, she flashed an unintentional smile. Jonghyun saw her lips twitch and he glanced at Haein who was driving with his eyes on the road. This little exchange was making Jonghyun feel a little disturbed. His jaw clenched but he did not say anything. 

They drove on in silence, passing by the busy streets. PM Lee lived in the diplomatic zone which was the most guarded and secured area in the country. Every entrant must hand in their fingerprint and eye scan in order to pass through the gates. The guards would crosscheck their identities with the one on the national database before allowing them to enter.

Moreover, the gates to the diplomatic area were infused with electricity. Instead of walls, the entire area was enclosed with a long, metal fence with high voltage current coursing through it. Touching it even slightly would mean instant death. Fierce canines were trained to make sure that no intruder could enter. Those who made it past the electric fence, died by the hands of the hounds which tore them apart.

At night, specialized mine bombs were activated on the yard. Any unauthorized wanderer could step on the mines and get blown up into bits. Many careless staff had lost their lives and assassination attempts were thwarted by these hidden bombs. The Prime Minister had a tightly maintained schedule and the whole security was detailed around it.

But SD was patient. He was aware that this was only the outer security. It was the internal security which concerned him. It was not easily penetrable and even with Orea's skills, they were not entirely sure of how to crack the system. There was only one man who could crack the system and it was the creator of the software himself.

Sam Cheng.

Yes. Their target for that night was not the Prime Minister but Sam Cheng, the Head of Internal Security.

SD stopped in front of the gate. Over twenty feet high, the gate oversaw all those who dared to come near the mansion. It was like the Big Brother, seeing and controlling the actions of all those near it. There were invisible cameras around the gate and several drones circled the area every half an hour. It had near perfect coverage, not missing a single thing. Not even an ant could pass by.

But SD knew that like everything, there must be some kind of lapse in the system. Only one question circled his mind: where was that loophole?

An armed guard came up to the vehicle with a squad dog and scanner to check the car. Even though it was Jonghyun's car, it would still have to go through the elaborate security check. First, the dog sniffed the car for any potential threat. Then, the guard scanned it once again using the scanner, opening the back of the car to see if anything was hidden.

"Clear!" he declared. "Please input all of your fingerprints and eye scans."

Jonghyun exited the vehicle first and inputted his fingerprint and stepped in front of the eye scanner. A laser scanned his eyes and his personal information popped up on the monitor.

"Welcome, Lee Jonghyun," the monitor piped up. Jonghyun's information on the system had been modified to accustom to his new identity. After him, Sunye inputted her fingerprint and eye scan.

"Welcome, Han Sunye," the monitor stated. Sunye was mildly surprised and also uncomfortable the way her information was shown on the monitor. Technology in their country had advanced to the point that their information was almost freely accessible which was scary. She was not wholly welcoming of the fact that a machine could read her personal data just with her eye and finger scans.

Then something hit her. She glanced at SD, who was emerging out of the car. If this monitor could display her information, then would it not also reveal his identity?

For some reason, she was scared and also nervous. She had known SD for eight years and yet, she did not know his name. Moreover, Jonghyun was also standing next to her. Would it not be strange if SD's real name popped up on the monitor? He might get caught!

"S-shall we go in?" Sunye asked. "Secretary Haein can enter after he's done with the security check."

"We'll have to go together," Jonghyun stated. "There are mines around this area. A guard will take all of us through the safe route. If Haein goes the wrong way, he might die."

Bombs? Were they entering some kind of battleground?

Sunye was nervously watching SD as he stepped in front of the scanner. He looked calm but she noticed that he had gone unusually still as if contemplating what to do. She should not be that worried about him and yet, she could not help but be scared. If his secret was exposed, then he might be sent to jail…

Why am I so worried about him? She argued with herself. Was it because of their long and complicated history? But then...why was her heart beating so fast? Why was she so focused on his worried expression?

She watched as he put his finger on the fingerprint scanner. The machine inputted his prints and he moved on to have his eye scanned by the laser. The machine paused for a few seconds, processing his information before making a soft beep.

"Welcome, Kim Haein," it said.