Her Tempestuous Villain

Sunye was in a daze. Who was that masked man? Why did he feel so familiar? Her heart was racing and she was unsure of the mixed emotions which were creating a havoc inside her.

Maybe he's a random guest, she thought. But her gut feeling was disagreeing with that statement. The man had clearly chosen her for the dance. But why?

​​

"What are you thinking about?" Jonghyun asked.

"Nothing!" Sunye quickly said. "Just wondering when the Minister would show up…"

She picked up a drink from a passing waiter and took a sip. Her mind was still on the mystery man who had danced with her and for some unknown reason, her heart was still pounding loudly against her chest. Calm down, she scolded herself. He was just a random guest.

"The Minister should be here soon," Jonghyun said. He checked his watch. It was 8 PM and they needed to corner the Minister for his connection to Lim Byungsoo.

Jonghyun scanned the place and his eyes fell on a strange foreigner who looked alert. He frowned because the man seemed a little too suspicious. He was dressed in a black suit but with slightly unkempt hair and the wrong bow tie made Jonghyun feel that the man was a fish out of the water. The guests at the party were high profile people who knew how to dress up for a formal party such as this. Which is why that man stood out more in Jonghyun's eyes. It was subtle but visible.

"Doesn't he look a little suspicious?" he muttered. Sunye followed his gaze and she also noted the oddity in the man. He did not seem like someone who would mingle with the elite class.

Before she could say something, there was a loud applause from the crowd. Startled, she looked at the stage where the Finance Minister, Shin Hyun was ascending. He wore a black tux, properly designed and ironed to suit a man of his calibre. His grey hair shone under the white spotlight while the lights in the room began to dim. He flashed a wide smile at them, waving at the crowd.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed. "Thank you for your kindness and welcome to my humble party."

The audience clapped harder, appreciating his gesture.

"As you all know, this party is a fundraising event for the children of our National Hospital, " he stated. "I've been working towards financing projects which would benefit our children and their future. As a father myself, it pains me to see that millions of children are out there on the street, prone to violence and crimes. Many of them take up drugs, sometimes even selling them to support themselves."

"I want to help those children," he continued. "Show them a better and brighter path. Away from drugs and violence. They deserve a fun fill and happy life. Not a life of disgrace!"

His words were met with warm appreciation. Clearly, the Minister knew his priorities.

"Too bad he's been dallying with a criminal himself," Jonghyun muttered. The guests were beginning to write checks for the funds and dropped them into a deposit box placed in front of the stage. The Minister was smiling widely at the guests when his eyes fell on Jonghyun.

The Prime Minister's son? He wondered. Even though he had invited Jonghyun, he had not expected him to actually come.

"I think he noticed us," Jonghyun muttered to Sunye.

"I hope he comes this way," she said. Her wish came true. Upon noticing Jonghyun, the Minister was walking towards them.

"Jonghyun!" Hyun greeted. "I'm so glad to see you here boy!"

He hugged Jonghyun. The latter smiled, masking his true feelings. "And who is this lovely young woman?" Hyun asked, indicating Sunye.

"This is Han Sunye," Jonghyun said. "The top prosecutor in my firm."

"I still did not prove my capabilities," Sunye said in a modest tone. "You're being too kind."

"Han Sunye…" Hyun studied the woman in front of him. "Are you the coup survivor, Han Sunye?"

Sunye shifted uncomfortably on her spot but did not avoid his gaze. "Yes," she replied. "I am. I am that Han Sunye."

"It's so strange," Hyun mused. "You're standing in front of a man who took over the government from your family's employer."

Sunye did not reply but took a sip from her drink. She desperately wanted to change the topic but Jonghyun stepped in for her.

"Sunye is a very talented prosecutor," he supplied. "She's the one who's handling the Lim Byungsoo case. As soon as she entered our firm, she managed to fess out a confession from him."

If Hyun was affected by the news, he did not betray his emotions. But he was now studying Sunye more carefully.

"Really?" he asked. "But he died, didn't he? I've read it in the papers that he committed suicide in his cell."

"But we are now investigating if it's a suicide or murder," Sunye said. "You see, someone must have given him the knife and forced him to commit suicide. It's obvious that someone wanted him dead. We've checked the alibi of the victims' family members and all of them were cleared. But we received an anonymous tip that Lim Byungsoo had secret liaisons with someone very powerful."

She sipped her drink, watching the color being drained from the Minister's face. He was now uneasy and glanced sideways.

"Of course, we're still looking for that man," she went on. "Aren't we, Mr. Lee?"

"We are," Jonghyun confirmed. "The man Byungsoo was associated with was involved in some shady deal which the late doctor knew about. We had our IT team check Byungsoo's bank transactions. They're going to send us the report anytime. It seems that Byungsoo had been purchasing some dangerous drugs for his hospital from an illegal source. We're looking into that angle as well. Maybe a deal went wrong and he was coerced into killing himself."

Hyun maintained a poker face at their findings. "I hope you catch the culprit," he said. "Lim Byungsoo had a lot of people to answer to and yet, he chose to kill himself rather than face the music. It's a pity that the world is full of such men."

But Sunye was not listening to him. Her eyes fell on the foreigner who was watching them with his beady eyes. There was something odd about that man and it felt as if they were in grave danger. The man then turned around and began to walk away.

Jonghyun, on the other hand, was eyeing the minister. He knew that Hyun was not going to confess to them and they would have to corner him with those photos. But before he could threaten Hyun, another person stepped in to whisper something in Hyun's ears.

"Excuse me for a minute," the minister said and followed the other man towards another VIP guest.

"I think we should show him the picture-" Jonghyun was telling Sunye but as he turned around, she was gone.

"Sunye?" he frowned. Where has she gone off to? he wondered.

Outside, on the deck, Sunye was following the foreigner. He was carefully treading along the long deck, heading for the cabins underneath. She quickly tailed him, keeping enough distance in order to avoid suspicion. Walking through a long, narrow corridor, he stopped in front of a room. Sunye quickly hid behind a wall to avoid detection.

Looking around to make sure that no one was around, he typed in a passcode. From afar, Sunye saw the code he had typed in. The man entered the room while Sunye waited outside. After a while, he came out of the room.

He glanced at his surroundings and once he was sure that the coast was clear, he headed in the opposite direction. Sunye waited until he was out of sight. Coming out of her hiding place, she darted towards the room.

​ "3-8-9-0," she muttered, typing in the code. There was a small click and the door opened.

The room was dark and suffocating. All the curtains were closed and so were the windows. It was pitch darkness, so she took out her phone to turn on the torch.

It looked like an ordinary study with expensive wooden furniture and persian carpet on the floor. Shelves were lined up on the sides with various books while archaeological artefacts sat on the desks, adding a traditional aesthetic to the room. But why did that foreigner come here? She wondered.

Scanning the room, her eyes fell on something white which was lying on the floor. Inching closer towards it, she picked up the substance. It was a small packet with a strange white crystal inside it. She took a short sniff and instantly winced.

"Meth?" she realized in disgust. It was an illegal substance in their country and it was nearly impossible to come across it. Since it was a private party, the Finance Minister must have been aware of the existence of this highly dangerous drug at the event.

"I must show this to Jonghyun," she muttered.

"If you stay alive, that is."

She turned around to find a long haired foreigner leering at her. "You're courting death, missy," he grinned.

Before Sunye could react, he hit her head with his bare hand. Sunye staggered as her vision began to blacken and she fell on the floor, unconscious.

Kirishima picked up the phone and dialed Hyun's number.

"Minister," he said. "We have a spy on board."

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