Sunye was in her bedroom, practicing to kick a boxing bag that SD had installed in her room. She had gotten pretty good at it over the weeks and even landed a kick on SD's foot once. It did not hurt him much but she managed to break his defense which was a start.
Sweat dripped from her forehead as she imagined the bag to be Choi Kibum. The son of a bitch was the reason her reputation was on line. Even though SD had paralyzed him, for once Sunye wished that he had tortured that brat more. She landed a few good kicks on the bag, channeling all her anger towards it.
She vaguely heard the sound of the passcode being typed. Pausing to catch her breath, she picked up a towel and wiped the sweat off her forehead before heading out to see who arrived. To her surprise, it was Orea and…
"Isn't he...isn't he an idol?" Sunye frowned. Minwoo flashed a wide smile at her.
"I didn't know such a pretty sister lives here!" he exclaimed. He tried to grab her hand but Sunye, on instinct, twisted his arm and made him yelp.
"Don't touch me!" she scolded him.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Minwoo yelled in pain. "I was just trying to be nice."
"Be nice without touching!"
"Big sis, your reflex actions have improved," Orea complimented. " Twist his arm more!"
But Sunye merely smiled at her and let go of Minwoo who pouted. "Pretty women line up for me all the time," he said. "And yet, you two make me cry!"
"Oh shut up!" Orea snapped. "Why are you here?"
"What's going on?" Sunye added. "How do you two know each other…"
Then it hit her. She looked from Orea to Minwoo. "You're also part of SD's group?" she guessed.
"You can say that," Orea winced. "He's one of the top guns of the Light. Beneath me and SD of course."
Sunye stared at Minwoo in surprise. A member of a popular boy band was part of the Light?
"But I thought you guys sell information," she frowned.
"I do!" Minwoo chirped. He sat on the couch and leaned against it. "I keep an eye on all celebrities and fish out information from them. Sometimes, if a client pays us enough, I even sell them to tabloids. But it's not just celebrities whose news I collect. There are many influential people who have a lotta dirty secrets. It's my job to collect their secrets."
Sunye was now truly interested. She sat opposite to him and asked, "How do you do that?"
"Well, I keep an ear out for all the shady businesses the agencies take care of," he replied. "Also, the celebrities who are working for certain people or groups like the Yakuza, Mafia or other criminals. Some are involved in crimes themselves. A lot of the famous celebrities get sponsors by sleeping with different people. I gather the information they get from their sugar mommies and daddies to use it at the right time. Not all information is used of course. The Light has a rule. No pay, no say. If a client doesn't pay up, we simply use the information as a weapon against that client."
Sunye recalled how SD went against his own client eight years ago when he was denied payment. Seemed like all the members of the Light followed this rule.
"Enough chit chat!" Orea snapped. "Tell me why are you here? Why did you take admission in my school?"
Sunye was also suspicious of the idol who was sighing. His playful demeanor was replaced by a serious expression.
"The Leader is suspecting you and SD," he stated. "That you guys are doing something."
"What do you-" Sunye began but the front door burst open. All of them jumped when SD entered the house. To Sunye's surprise, there was a wide smile on his face as he approached them.
"Minwoo, my man!" he exclaimed, seemingly coming to hug the kid. Minwoo stood up and widened his arms.
"SD!" He laughed and was about to hug the older guy but SD grabbed him by the collar and dragged him outside.
"Hey!" Sunye and Orea protested but SD, still smiling, dragged the youth away, closing the door behind him with his foot.
"Orea, what's going on?" Sunye demanded. The girl took a deep breath.
"I don't know, but it seems that the leader of the Light is closing in on us for some reason," Orea replied. "But why?"
SD held Minwoo by the throat. Even though there was a smile on SD's lips, his eyes were distant and cold.
"Ah, my comrade!" SD said in a cheery tone, tightening his grasp. "How nice of you to visit my humble abode."
"SD, bro!" Minwoo squeaked. "I can explain-"
"The leader is hiding in the shadows while 6 and 8 rot in prison," SD said. "And now he sends another minion!"
"He's not sitting idle!" Minwoo revealed. "I'll tell you why he really sent me here if you just let me go."
SD let go of him and crossed his arms. "Tell me," he quietly demanded. "What's the leader upto?"
"We got news that the Empress would return to the country any day," Minwoo revealed. "One of my celebrity buddies heard it from one of their clients who is working on the PM's fundraising project. The Company is planning to reinstate the monarchy and put Jonghyun as a puppet ruler while they pull the strings."
"The will of the previous Emperor is still missing," SD reminded him. "And the name of the true heir is written there."
"Yes, one of the Kim San's but which one?" Minwoo scoffed. "The son of the concubine or the Empress?"
SD did not reply. Without the will, it was impossible to carry out their mission. But where was the will?
"The leader isn't going to stop you," Minwoo stated. "He told me to help you. The Sailor's Reef Bridge will be disastrous to us if it's built but our weapons' expert is in jail. How are we going to break him out?"
"How the hell did 8 land in jail?" SD asked. "I was away when he was captured."
"The idiot was caught selling makeshift bombs to the student protests which were organized against the government," Minwoo revealed. "He's in for a good thirty years."
SD sighed. Why was he not surprised by that? 8 was always a crazy one but selling bombs openly was a dumb move. No wonder the leader wants him to remain in jail. However, now the time was desperate. They needed his weaponry.
"That woman," Minwoo began. "That's her right? The one you talked about all the time? Han Sunye?"
"Yes," SD admitted. Minwoo sighed.
"The leader won't be happy," he pointed out. "She's a liability on our part. We can't take any responsibility if she's hurt."
"She won't be hurt," SD claimed. "I'm training her."
"Will that work?" Minwoo questioned him. "You know very well that in our business, it's a life or death situation. We put our lives on the line everyday to collect information and sell it so that people could know the truth! The Company is hiding too many secrets. They already killed 10 last year and now, they're on our tails! Don't you think she's going to be a huge obstacle? Especially after knowing what you're going to do?"
"I'm not leaving her behind," SD stated curtly. "She's not a liability but an asset. We won the case against Hyun because of her efforts. She risked her life while I retrieved the suppliers' list of the Company. Han Sunye is more capable than you think."
"It's not her capability I'm questioning," Minwoo said. "It's your inability to keep her away from you. Don't you think you've been too rash in involving her in your life?"
"A careful life is so boring!" SD sighed. "What's the fun if I don't take a risk? After all, the riskier life is, the more fun it becomes. I'd rather die taking risks than live not taking any at all. At least, I won't die with regrets."
He smiled and shrugged. Minwoo could only shake his head. It was common knowledge among the core members that SD would not only die for that woman but was willing to kill anyone who dared to hurt her. Minwoo had looked up all information about Han Sunye and he was surprised to learn that she worked for Lee Jonghyun, SD's biggest rival to the throne.
"I really can't read you," he sighed. "Anyways, the leader is sure the Company is up to something. We need to prepare for it fast. Breaking out 6 and 8 out of jail won't be easy but I believe you have the map of the prison?"
"Yep!" SD winked. "All I need to do is, send the message to 8. He still couldn't find 6 in there. The old man has been kept away in a secret chamber but the maze is making it impossible to track him down."
"So what do we do now?"
"Orea already planted a virus in PM Lee's phone," SD revealed. "Once the virus is fully activated, we can strike. In the meantime, Minseok is also cracking the code to the security system. Once he succeeds, we will get the whole map of the bridge and also how to control the prison walls. 6 is kept there somewhere and only the PM's software system is hiding his location."
"So we wait?" Minwoo asked.
"For now," SD nodded. "Not for long."