AZARADAN
Night at the Crown Prince's chambers.
Buk's dinner table had a single dish, one rice filled plate and 3 side dishes in small portions, the maids seemed to be done bringing more. Kro stood at the door, wondering why the prince requested so little food. For the starter, he was the best eater, but that night he wasn't.
The maids waited to hear what the prince would order next
"Kro, have a seat! Everyone else, leave the room, thank you for your service", Buk ordered,
In a matter of seconds, there was not one maid in the chambers, only him and her.
Kro had to obey the order, she sat after putting her sword down. She was unaware of the prince's motive, and she was uncomfortable. She kept rubbing her palms all over her lap, her head lowered, not wanting to look at his face,
"Let's eat", excitedly, Buk said and started filling his spoon with the culinary delights.
Kro was puzzled. A spoon was resting in front of her, waiting for her to pick it up and start digging in, but she couldn't,
"Why aren't you eating?", Buk asked, "You don't like rice, or are some of these side dishes not of your taste?",
"Why're you doing this, your majesty", she finally asked, "Why do you want us to share a meal? I know I'm not supposed to question your order, but I honestly feel uneasy, like I did something wrong",
Buk put the spoon down and slid the plate aside,
"So, I guess you want us to talk then", he proceeded,
"I just want you to tell me what this is all about",
"I just want to enjoy dinner with my favorite person in the kingdom, I don't think I need permission to do that",
"Favorite person?", she did not expect him to say that, as much as it was many girls favorite phrase to hear, to her, it felt very weird,
"What your sister said today made me think about my decision, and the truth is I don't regret stealing you from your family. They've been with you since you're born, so spending 30 nights with me shouldn't sound so awful to them",
"I don't regret working double shifts every day, I don't. But I just want you to let me do my job, just like everyone else. Honestly, ever since I started coming here for my night shifts, I never once felt like I'm working, I feel like I'm doing something else",
"What do you mean?",
"I'm supposed to guard you, protect you. But not stay with you when you're taking shower or sharing a meal with you. I just want to stand outside the door, making sure the surrounding is safe for you, just like any other guard",
Buk got up from his chair and moved to the one closer to Kro, as if he wasn't hearing her from where he was.
"But Kro, you see, I don't want you to be just a guard to me, I also want us to be friends. I want us to speak to each other like the way we're doing right now. What's the point of being my guard if all you're going to do is stay outside the chamber? I want you to be the last person I see before I close my eyes for the night",
It still felt strange. She had a strange feeling in her chest, a hurricane-y feeling twirling inside her tummy, releasing a bag of butterflies, and making her pretty uncomfortable instead. He was slowly making her vulnerable.
She started repeating her father's words in her head, chasing that weird feeling away
"(I'm destined to hold a sword, not flowers! Swords not flowers, swords, not flowers!)", internally, she dragged her senses back,
He no longer seemed like a prince, or a friend. But slowly became something forbidden for her.
.....
present.
FAR-BRIDGE
"Is there something you're not telling me?", asked Leo, through the phone,
Kro threw her bag on the sofa and started dragging her feet to the kitchen. She was exhausted after a visit to the columbarium,
"Is there something I'm supposed to tell you?", she asked,
"Yeah! There is!",
"Which is?",
"The fact that you got shot last Friday!",
Kro's legs halted, halfway to the kitchen door, a bit shocked from hearing that from him,
"How did you know?",
"So, the guy who shot you saw you healing, and he told the minister about it. Then the minister told Misaki to come ask you about it, but since Misaki felt awkward, she asked me instead",
"What did you tell her?",
"I told her you're immortal, that you can't die, so what the shooter saw was true", he teased her, sounding so real,
Kro heaved a sigh, and her trip to the kitchen proceeded,
"Thank you for playing dumb. I thought you told her the truth",
"You think I can sell you out?",
"No, but you have a thing for Misaki, So, maybe you could've said everything unknowingly. People do crazy things when they're in love",
"I don't have a thing for anyone_",
"Yeah, sure. Keep lying to yourself",
She opened the fridge to see what she had for her night snack, and the only thing which caught her attention was the big piece of cake. She carried it out to the table,
"I almost forgot, you still have the files, right?", she asked,
"Yes, I just got started getting into them. The HR also told me you already hired a PA, so I took her file too. I wanted to inform you, so you don't go crazy looking for it",
"No problem, and I need another favor",
"Yeah, what is it?",
"As you're going through them, can you try to find someone whose surname is Fang? Even one member of the family, I just want to know if there's anyone related to any kind of Fang",
"Yeah, I can do that, but it's going to take a while. Is it important though? Because I might need to take these files to Jipan, he's a pro in searching for family trees",
"Yes, it's very important. I'm suspicious and my suspicions_",
"Are always right, I know. I'll do that",
"Great, thanks, I have to eat now, bye",
"Bye ghost",
Kro hung up first.
She fished out a fork and started devouring the piece of cake staring at her.
...
CC Headquarters
MD's office
Ukraine stared at the kaki envelope with his name on it resting on Sue's table. He didn't want to take it; he wasn't curious to even know how much was inside.
Sue couldn't understand why he looked so gloomy towards a simple envelope, while everyone who received it left her office all teeth out with joy. He was the first one to look blue,
"Ukraine, it's just a reward from the president to the marketing team, what's wrong?", asked Sue,
With his hands now rested behind his back, he stood up straight, attentively,
"The bonus is for the new products you guys designed, but at that time I wasn't part of the team. So, I can't take the reward",
"Just take it, I can't take this back to her, it's rude. I know it's not a lot, but just take the envelope, she will appreciate it",
"Okay, let's do this, pretend I took my reward already and gave it to you as a form of gratitude, all of it",
"What? Ukraine, you can't be serious Do you know how much the team works just to get this type of motivation from our boss? Stop making this sound so easy for you",
"MD, all I'm saying is I don't need the money. I have enough_",
"Misaki is a daughter of a minister, their family is the third richest family in Knnew so, I think we can all imagine how much is in her bank account. But do you know how happy she was to receive this money?", Sue pushed the envelope to him, "Take that envelope, Ukraine",
Her words pinched his soul, smashing his ego like a worm. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the envelope from Sue's table. He felt so embarrassed that he wished to just vanish from the room
"Look, Ukraine, I know you and Kro are going through something right now, but whatever it is, forget about it. She's a bitter pill, but if you get to know her more each day, you'll see how angelic she is. Don't judge her from this one argument or what people say about her",
"This isn't _ this is not about her", he stammered, trying to defend himself,
"You've heard of Loro, right? I've been working in CC for 8 years now, and you have no idea how much Kro and Loro argued. They argued in elevators, meeting rooms, in front of people and privately, and it reached a point when everyone thought Loro would quit, but she never did. You know why?",
"Why?",
Sue saw the curiosity in Ukraine's eyes, and just like that, she leaned back, satisfied with what she saw,
"I don't know why", she shrugged, "We live in a world where meeting a genuinely nice person is a miracle. Kro might turn out to be that miracle to you",
Leaving the MD's office felt like opening a brand-new chapter of the book, filled with curiosity and revelations, but most importantly, Ukraine began questioning the mission.
...…
AFTERNOON
CAFÉ
Misaki carried the drinks to their table. It was their lunch break and both Misaki and Ukraine didn't feel like eating that day, just having a drink seemed to be enough,
"I know I sound nosy, but you really spent a lot of time in the MD's office today. I don't want to know what you were talking about; I just want you to assure me that everything is okay", said Misaki, concerned about her buddy who seemed blue,
"Everything is fine, it was just awkward you know, getting paid for something you didn't do. It felt embarrassing",
"Yeah, I know. But we decided to find jobs in order to get money, money for our needs, not depending on anyone else. As long as you didn't kill anyone and that money is clean, just take it",
"I'm grateful, very grateful, but_",
"You prefer being her PA, right?",
Misaki sipped her drink as she waited for an answer from him,
"If I say I prefer working with her it'll mean the marketing team isn't good, so the proper way to say it is that I'm already used to being her PA. It's going to take some days for me to fully cope with the change", he explained,
"You care about her?",
"I mean, I have to",
"That's not what I meant, Uk. I mean, do you CARE about her? Not as your boss, but as a casual friend",
"I do",
"You miss her?",
"I miss working with her, and I really wanted to keep doing that",
"Did you tell her how you feel?", asked Misaki,
"I did but she made it clear that I'm an asset for the marketing team, and she wanted to do justice to Sue. So, there's nothing I would do about it",
Misaki nodded, she agreed with him.
Her drink was now halfway finished, but his was untouched. He kept staring outside each second, his head clearly not having it that day. She was not convinced that Ukraine was alright, the atmosphere around the table was enough proof, she hated it.
She snapped her fingers in front of his face, bringing him back to reality with a mini startle
"What's going on man? You look miserable, what are you thinking about?",
"Can I ask you a question, Misaki?",
"Shoot",
"Between the person who worked for someone for many years and a person who watched that someone for so many years, whose story would you believe?",
"Is it the same person?",
"Yes",
"Well, I'll believe the one who worked for that person for many years. Because he knows the person better, the good and the bad, but the one who watched that someone might be judging her just by assuming, you know what I mean?",
"Believe me, I absolutely know what you mean. That's why I can't stop thinking about how stupid I am",
"Hey, I don't know what you're going through right now, but you still have a choice. You can still choose where to stand",
"And how would I do that?",
"By getting to know the person yourself, then you'll know what to believe",
Same advice, second time, same day!
He had all the reasons to want to keep being Kro's PA.
The nature of his mission sounded mild, but the aftermath was brutal. He knew what the higher ups will do to Kro once they got all her information from him. He didn't want Kro to suffer the despicable ending because of him.
What if she wasn't what his family said she was? What if she was just an innocent immortal who had no plans of endangering anyone? His head was compromised.
*****