Daisies

"Even the brightest of flowers have the darkest of

meanings"

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PARTLY GLOVED HANDS placed the neatly wrapped mini bouquets of chrysanthemums at each gravestone.

She heaved a breath, blinking as her exposed fingers brushed away the dry autumn leaves on the cold stones, her eyes flitting through the names expertly carved onto them in order.

The first, Han SeoJoon, loving father, brother and Uncle written below the name of the deceased.

A few inches below the grave, two more, side by side with names, Kim Soohyun and Hong Ming Xia, loving father and mother. A few steps to the side two more, Kim Li An and Kim Li Na. Beloved brother and sister.

She moved to the final gravestone alone at a corner, it's stone looking newer since it had experienced fewer rainfall and sunlight unlike the others.

The masked female squats in front of the grave, replacing the wilted black rose with a single daisy, brushing away the autumn leaves covering the grave.

She let her fingertips slowly trace through the carved name on the gravestone, Kim Aeri, her eyes reflecting mixed emotions, pain and resentment clashing in her orbs.

At least, the government had the decency to dig her grave in the Kim's private graveyard, the whole family marked and dead as traitors.

The masked fighter and assassin takes a step back, head tilting upwards and her eyelids shut tight as she inhaled deeply, letting the breeze fan the skin of her neck peeking out of the black mask material covering the whole of her lower face, halfway up her ear, over her nose and stopping right below her closed eyes.

The wind intensified, ruffling her short, black strands, further exposing the styled undercut above her right ear as she picked up on the rustle of dried leaves being crushed and the light footsteps that followed.

Her eyes remained shut, even when the stranger had settled beside her as she felt the scrutinizing gaze of the person. The silence continued, strange familiarity breezing past both strangers as a soft voice broke the silence.

"I found you"

"A creepy location for a first meet, don't you think, one might think one of us is gonna get buried alive, odds are, it'll be you" she could picture the smirk on his face as she eyed his masked figure, squinting at the hood covering up most of his upper face and mask protecting the lower as his eyes, the only visible part held unblinking contact with hers as he continued.

"It was intentional, wasn't it...." he slid his hands into his hood pockets, eyebrows taking a curious curve "the backtrace on your location was too easy, at first I considered you an amateur" he clicks his tongue

"But no amateur would be able to find traces to the hack five years ago, especially when I left no evidence or traces, yet alone track the source and almost break into my system, on many occasions, not even the NIS could get that close" he sighs, bouncing on his heels.

"You exposed your location to draw me out" Jung Li Yan's chuckles were muted by the mask "Smart move".

"You're early" a curt statement was issued as a reply by the assassin.

The hacker, Jung Li Yan pulls his right hand out of his jacket, eyeing the smart watch "Hmm, thirty minutes early, do you find that rude?" he didn't give a chance to a reply, immediately letting his gaze run over her, head to toe.

"I could have been earlier, just got a bit held up digging up information on you".

"Kim Aemin, half Chinese, half Korean, brought up in Shanghai, China, moved to South Korea exactly four years ago for a diploma study in Sciences. Your social security number is 10557834. No social media, no criminal records, you're basically a clean slate, suspiciously clean since at closer look, it seems you didn't exist five years ago, only to me though because to the government agencies, nothing's out of place with your file since you had it all set up, from family members to schools attended" he pauses taking a step closer, the slight tilt of her head giving him permission to go on.

"That's what it says in your file and ID's, at least" he leans closer "but what about the other identity? The darker, dangerous one? Or is she only a product of the night, Kim Aemin, or should I say, Kim Minki"

"You were there" Ae Min takes a step away.

"I was, the underground arena, and was lucky to witness you being unmasked. lucky me because I figured out another secret identity after a lot of thinking" his statement had Aemin sharply facing him.

"I pinged your location in Incheon, the same day Lim Chul Do was murdered by the Black rose assassin, and the tattoo on your body just confirms it, a black rose, with an extra half bred petal, those are the exact types sent after each assassination, I'd be foolish to not notice the hidden detail"

"All evidence points towards one fact. You're the Black Rose Assassin"

Jung Li Yan adjusts his mask "You didn't think I'd find that out did you?"

"A wild accusation, I could just be obsessed with flowers" Kim Ae Min stares at the grave ahead.

"Why?"

He throws her a questioning glance.

"Why did you interfere?"

Jung Li Yan shrugs, kneeling beside the gravestone. "just thought she'd be better off as an asset alive than dead, too bad she did not survive"

"Did I intrude?" he continues.

"I can see the connection here" he points to the name on the gravestone "Kim Aeri" and turns back to the assassin "Kim Aemin, any relationship with the deceased Kim's?

"Distant relative" she sighs.

"Well, that complicates things... "