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“Do we seriously have to do this?” Ihwa groaned in annoyance, the sides of her mouth forming a curt frown. She scratched the back of her neck, already feeling somewhat irked from the uncomfortably tight dress she was forced to wear. She fiddled with her skirt, her eyebrows furrowed. It was utterly suffocating, leaving her barely any space to properly run, only allowing her to walk slow, methodical steps if she didn’t want to trip and fall flat on her face. She usually didn’t complain about such arrangements, but this dress was pushing it. She’d definitely give the idiot who had given her such an inconvenient dress an earful when she got back.
Engen, her partner, appeared beside her, having donned on an elegant suit that seemed much more comfortable. He sighed in response to her complaints, scanning her figure with a collected expression.
“It’ll just be for a few hours and we'll have finished our mission if everything goes well. Stop complaining so much.” He replied coolly as he checked his watch, his eyes flickering back down to her face. “Why don’t you indulge in the buffet like you always do?”
She scowled, feeling the rising urge to kick him in the shin. “I can’t. Not in this. It’d be too uncomfortable and I think I’d puke my guts out from how unbearably tight it would be.”
“Then I suppose you’ll have to live with it.” Engen shrugged, indifferent to his partner’s concerns.
Maybe kicking him in between there would be better , Ihwa briefly thought before focusing her attention on something else instead of her stupidly infuriating partner. She bemoaned the fact that she was somehow married to this man, who seemed far too indifferent to care about her plights.
Of course she had to be married to him, the man with the scar and the woman with her terrible attitude and appetite too unladylike for the masses. What a perfect match. She practically sneered at the thought. Though even with the scar, he still looked somewhat handsome. She caught herself gazing at his face a little too long, and snapped her head back at the enticing buffet, determined not to give him the time of day.
“I’m gonna eat something.” Ihwa informed him, already turning her back towards him. Engen raised an eyebrow, as if questioning her from her previous complaints.
She ignored him, leaving the man to his own vices. She proceeded to eat some snacks, but decided to put them down else she really may puke. The tight fabric on her stomach was truly getting to her, and she didn’t even have a handy distraction to boot. Perfect.
Her gaze landed on the drinks, her interest suddenly piqued. She eyed the champagne greedily, before Engen took her from behind, leading her away from it as if he knew what she was up to.
“What are you doing?” Ihwa hissed, looking irate.
“Getting you out of trouble.” Engen replied, still holding onto her wrist.
She yanked her wrist out of his hands, sharply looking up at him. “I’m not going to cause any.”
“If you get drunk and cause a ruckus, I’ll be responsible for it. You aren’t getting a drop of alcohol tonight.” He snapped, glaring at her. She was being so unbearably troublesome that he was starting to regret bringing her along with him in the first place. Not like he had a say in the matter, but still.
She started opening her mouth to protest, but froze, looking across him before tugging his sleeve. He quickly got the signal, and stopped the ceaseless bickering with her. Their target was standing across from them, engaging in some conversation with another. They needed to get to him, and fast if they wanted to quickly get their mission over with.
However, as they tried to make their way through the crowd to better find their target, Ihwa had been caught up by some acquaintances from the hero clan. Engen cursed under his breath at the interruption, contemplating just going by himself and getting the job done quickly instead.
“Who’s this handsome gentleman with you, Ihwa?” Lyca inquired, studying Engen curiously. “Is he your boyfriend?” Suki piped up, clearly having seen their closeness from before.
Ihwa could feel herself cringing at what she was about to do.
“Even worse- ahem ...better, this is my husband, Engen.” Ihwa tugged on his sleeve, hugging his arm as she tried to put on a convincing smile. She could feel him stiffening in response to her uncharacteristic behaviour. It wasn’t as if she wanted to act like this, she huffed under her breath.
She had to keep up the act, especially in front of them lest they suspect something.
As her acquaintances exchanged greetings with them, she could see the target slip away from her sight, to her dismay. Suddenly, Engen put his hand to her waist, pressing her closer to him, showing such a gentle and fond expression as he started to talk about her like an adoring husband- that she was almost unsure whether he was the same man who had scolded her for wanting to indulge in some drinks.
But damn, could he be a gentleman at times. If he wasn’t so stuck up all the time she might have found his presence tolerable.
A suave tune entered the ballroom, signaling that it was time to dance, presenting the perfect opportunity to get closer to their target.
“Ah, we should get going, since my wife and I would like to dance.” He smiled, tightening his grip on her waist. He quickly excused themselves, hiding them in a crowd of people. She was admittedly impressed by how skillfully he had managed to deflect their attention and make up impromptu excuses. They quickly spotted their target once more, and were not about to lose their chance to get closer to him.
“Can you dance?” Engen asked her, his gaze flickering back to the target impatiently.
Ihwa nodded, before being led by Engen, his hand placed on the small of her back.
One step at a time, they made their way closer to their target, her dress fortunately not too much of a hindrance as she carried her steps methodically, slowly adapting to the restricting fabric.
“Should we get him here?” Ihwa whispered before leaning backwards, her gaze briefly searching the target.
“No. It’ll cause a commotion. We’ll wait for him to be alone to strike.” Engen responded, pulling her back gently as he spun her, catching her in his arms again with practiced ease.
Ihwa frowned, already looking impatient. “And when will we be able to catch him conveniently alone? We might as well be doing nothing the whole night.”
“Be patient.” Engen warned her, stepping out of the way of her well-intentioned stomp.
“I am.” She retorted, tightening her grip on his shoulder. “But still, when does it ever get so convenient?”
As if on cue, their target slipped behind a door, going by themselves, conveniently enough.
“Like right now.” Engen pulled her along with him closer to the door, making sure not to bump into anyone or cause any attention to be brought upon them as they slid past the crowd.
They followed along silently, slipping behind the door and inspecting the path that laid beneath. It was empty, just their target walking along the path, unsuspecting of any that followed. How convenient.
Ihwa unsheathed her dagger from her sleeve, aiming for their head. However, her partner stopped her, his arm holding her back. She glared at him angrily, exasperated with his behaviour. What the hell did he want now? Their target was already there, in a perfect spot where they were alone and defenseless. She could practically imagine slicing through their flesh;the stench of blood that would soon stubbornly linger on her clothes no matter how much she tried to wash it off. Yet he was seriously stopping her now?
Before she was about to protest against his actions, Engen closed the distance between him and the target, and skilfully finished the job, and a sickening crack disrupted the tense silence. Ihwa sighed, searching for any possible witnesses before ensuring there was none, and got up from her hiding spot. Now all that was left to do was to dispose of the body.
“I could’ve done it.” She muttered, propping the body atop her shoulder.
“That would’ve gotten blood everywhere. Doing this ensures the least amount of mistakes.” He replied stoically as he dusted his hands off, as if he was wiping away his sins.
Ihwa’s lips pressed into a thin line, deciding not to argue before handing the body to Engen. “Here. You dispose of it then. I’ll wait for you at the ballroom. Don’t take too long.”
He took the body from her, his eyes studying her expression before nodding. Once he was done with the task, he returned to find her popping shrimp into her mouth. She was acting quite unperturbed and was eating despite seeing a corpse. He didn’t know whether the tendency to act so unbothered after such acts was admirable or straight up weird. Engen cocked his head slightly, signaling to her that he was finished with disposing of the body.
Ihwa followed him to the back of the building, exiting to a sleek black car, where Engen sat in the driver’s seat, and Ihwa beside him in the front. She scrolled through her phone, acting indifferent while burning memories of her showing her husband off to her acquaintances etched themselves into her memory.
And what was that grabbing on his arm? She had probably acted so uncharacteristic that they were bound to be suspicious. Ihwa cursed inwardly, sinking back into the car seat.
As he held onto the steering wheel, Engen’s thoughts drifted back to him acting like some sort of devoted husband to her- acting in a way that had surprised even himself. Her warmth felt scalding to his palm, the way she had looked so bewildered at his change of behaviour- made him want to forget the entire interaction. He inspected the ring on his finger- a reminder he was officially married to her, even for a little while. She had the same ring on, he noted as he looked back at her. Funny how she hated being bound to him legally while still wearing the ring- a mark of their marriage, even if it was arranged. He wished he didn’t assume the role of some gentle, loving husband. But stuff like this was hard to rectify.
Ah, it didn’t matter anyways. It was only for the mission.
Right?