Mission

"You said it yourself; you don't want that kid to grow astray. Now, why won't you use force, so she won't think so lightly about these things, dad?!"

Chronicles' throat dried when she heard her brother's voice through the gap of the slightly-opened door of her father's office. Fidgeting, she leaned against the wall near it.

Although she knows what she will hear will tarnish her soul, she still wants to listen otherwise.

"Shawn," Mr. Whitlock heaved a deep sigh. "You must understand that your sister is still too young to be in the industry. She still has too much to learn and forcing everything might only break her, and I can't afford to do that."

"If you could only stop being so considerate, dad!"

"ENOUGH, SON!" Mr. Whitlock's voice sounded authoritative this time that Chrishawn had to dismiss himself, which took Chronicles aback when he suddenly stepped out of the room, and almost dislodged against her.

"Sh-Shawn," Nic stuttered, not sure to whether or not she'll approach him or scram off. Her voice clearly resonates despondency and Chrishawn despises that part of her along with her naivité.

"Shawn, please give me more time to prove myself. I-I'll do everything for me to be worthy bearer of our family name."

Chrishawn's eyes remained neutral and didn't even bother to say anything; he left without a word and Chronicles could only follow him with her stares until he completely disappeared in the darkened part of the hallway.

Finally, she let out a lungful of air she didn't know she was holding.

"Are you just going to stand in there, child?" Mr. Whitlock's voice instantly became serene; a complete opposite of what he resonated earlier.

Her lips thinned, fixed the ends of her floral dress, and entered the office. There she saw her father, smiling so lively at her. "What seems to be the problem, my princess?" He asked as soon as she stopped in front of him.

"Dad," Chronicles sighed. "I understand that you're scared about me following our family's tradition since I'm the first daughter of the Whitlocks for so many generations, but this is what I also want."

Mr. Whitlock leaned his back against his expensive vintage chair. "Truly, that is what I'm really scared of. Entering this world, you must understand that your safety, let alone your life, won't be guaranteed. Are you ready for that?"

"Yes, I am."

"That was a quick answer, child."

"It's because I am really eager, dad."

"No, you're not," Mr. Whitlock, this time, became serious. He rested both elbows on the table in between them and intertwined his fingers.

"You're just being pressured by the tradition. Let me remind you that you are a woman; on top of that, a minor."

"But dad—"

"Listen to me, Nic," Mr. Whitlock cut her off. "You need to know something first, and if you still wish to continue afterwards, I might reconsider."

He stood up and slowly walked towards huge casement window. Chronicles followed the direction her father is looking and there's nothing out there but darkness.

The moon has been dimmed by dark clouds; no stars emerged either. Just nothingness.

"I had a friend once. He's someone that I trusted so dearly. Even with my life, to that extent," Mr. Whitlock began. "I thought of him as the sun; he shines so brightly that he even shed light to someone like me—someone with low hopes."

"I was doing great in academics back in the old days. I excel almost in everything that when I failed one exam and got pressured and humiliated by my own family, I almost took my own life. I was fortunate he was there."

Chronicles remained quiet and carefully comprehending what her father is saying. Clearly, he wants her to learn something out of his words.

"He saved me. Since then, our friendship has grown stronger to the point that we started planning and dreaming our future job together and that's to be the protector of peace. We held the same hopes for years, but then a month before we graduate high school, he—my only friend—disappeared. Words circulated around the campus that he transferred. Without a word from him, I got truly depressed."

"Even so," he heaved a deep sigh. "I survived the remaining month alone. It was hard as I became too dependent at him; however, I still held onto our dream. I graduated college, eventually, and got to where I am now. I became a high-ranking officer, solving all kinds of crimes which was so rampant those days, and out of nowhere that friend of mine suddenly appeared before me. He invited me out for dinner and we got to talk."

Mr. Whitlock turned to Chronicles. "It was so sudden, I had a hard time processing things as that very moment, I found out that the person behind all of those crimes is the man sitting in front of me—my friend," he finally turned to her completely. "What I am trying to say is, things could change so easily; whether it could be plans, goals, and even feelings."

"The people you will be facing if you decided to follow our path are far more twisted than you could ever imagine. You'll see horrifying deaths, you'll experience excruciating pain that would and could waver your faith," he'd walked closer. "You might get ordered to punish innocent people, even a friend—even a family, a lover. Are you prepared for that?"

Chronicles took few seconds to nod. "I-I am prepared whatsoever, dad. I'll prove to you that I am worthy of our family's name."

"Very well, then I have a very crucial mission for you. This is Chrishawn's plan and you're the only one he thinks who could do it," Mr. Whitlock mirthfully mumbled, gently tapping his daughter's head. "Your brother trusts you after all and from now on, I will, too."

•••

Shane shove her phone out of her purse. She didn't plan to open it entirely; she just looked at it and trace random patterns on the screen.

An exasperated sigh escaped her lips. It's been years and she hasn't found any solid tracks yet for them to be able to find the shadow boss.

She looked at the LED clock placed on their bedside table.

5:24 PM, it read. "Young Jun will be here any minute from now," she sighed and closed the folder she was checking.

Slowly, she stood up, walked towards the unused fireplace, and pressed a random brick on the inside part.

Screeching sound circulated the entire space of their room as a secret compartment shows up from the back which supposed to be where the fuel liner is.

Carefully, she pressed the passcode, and waited for it to open. Piles of documents are hidden inside which were all The Shadow Boss's unproved evidences.

Chrishawn already asked her to dispose each of them; nevertheless, Shane is still hopeful that one day, some of them will definitely shed them some light.

Shane placed the folder she was holding and watched the secret compartment being hidden by the bricked wall. Just like that, it vanished from her plain sight.

"Eommaaaa!! We're hommeee!"

Shane chuckled when she heard her son slamming the door open which followed Young Jun's whining.

"Sean-ah! I always tell you to always be careful with our things."

Shane's lips curled, stopping herself from giggling before she greets her precious possesions.

"How's work?"

Young Jun was carefully closing the door when Shane hopped to greet her husband with a warm hug.

"Ahh! Just what I needed," Young Jun hugged Shane back so tight, she almost gagged.

"Hmm... t-tired?" She asked, gasping when Young Jun let go of her.

"Yes," Yong Jun sighed. Truly, he looked 0.02% less attractive than the normal days with his hair being a little out of place as what he describes it.

"Problems, yes?"

They walked towards the dining and sat on the couch to where Sean is attentively playing on his phone.

"Pretty much. Something happened at the hospital. One of Mr. Yang's patients claimed to be misdiagnosed and caused commotion. We'll be having an urgent meeting again tomorrow to mend the issue," he scooted down the couch, leaned towards Shane, and placed his head on her shoulder.

"Maybe, I really should just stay home like you said," he moaned.

"Really?" Suddenly, Shane's eyes glistened that Young Jun had to snap a finger in front of her to pull her back to reality.

"That was a joke, love," he faked a laugh, obviously teasing his wife.

"Okay, Mr. Kim!" Shane snorted and flick her husband's head away. She's about to stand up to prepare them food when Young Jun spoke again.

"Have you seen the recent news, love?"

"Hmm?"

"Two dead bodies were found again near Myeongdong street."

Shane's throat suddenly dried that she had a hard time making up a word as it hurts to speak.

"They're mother and daughter," Young Jun added. "They've been sent to our hospital and I was able to personally check on them and they had similar marks left on their bodies."

Shane's lips opened but words kept evaporating at the top of her tongue. Just by Young Jun's last words, she already knew who the person behind.

"Finally, you showed yourself up again," Shane thought.