Lee Minho

You entered the warehouse through the side door like a shadow, disappearing into the dusty darkness where the air smelled of burning, old iron, and the betrayals of others. Today, someone's duty was to end here.

There's a barely noticeable scar on your cheek, left over from that night in Beirut when you first realized you were more than just a couple. That love is just a way to expose a vulnerable spot in someone. Especially someone like Lee Minho.

He was your partner. Your killer. Your weakness.

You don't remember when you started kissing between assignments. Maybe it was after Istanbul, when he dragged you through the bazaar, bleeding, or maybe it was in Marseille, when you shared a hotel bed and he called you by your first name, not your code.

You killed together. You laughed. And then... someone leaked the information.

You woke up in solitary confinement in Serbia. Five years without sun, humiliation, pain, loneliness and endless memories of how he held your hand in the pouring rain and whispered that everything would work out for you.

And now you stood there, pistol in hand, hearing his footsteps approaching. He had a gift for appearing as if you had never been apart—as if years of pain, imprisonment, and blood hadn't stood between you.

He emerged from the shadows—the same, but different. A little older, his features sharper, his gaze calmer, more dangerous. His hair was a little longer now, falling casually over his forehead. There was a fresh cut on his cheek, and his lips… still the same smirk.

You raised your gun. He didn't stop. You fired.

The bullet passed clean through his shoulder, just below his collarbone. He winced, but didn't cry out. He merely sat down on the beam, pulled an ice pack from his pocket, and lazily pressed it to his lip.

"Ouch, " he chuckled, looking at you from under his brows. "Still spot on."

You didn't answer. The gun was still pointed at him. Your hands weren't shaking. Your heart was. His smile widened. There was no mockery in his voice, but… almost tenderness.

"You still love me, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have shot me in the shoulder..."