26 Tiger and Dragon

[Music Recommendation: "Darkside" by Neoni]

"What surprises me is how you're only figuring that out now. Took you long enough when all the facts have been there right from the start. You're a little slow, aren't you?"

"Then why did you act surprised when we received the mission? And why didn't you tell me sooner? We're supposed to be partners here, so we should be sharing equal information amongst each other."

"As I said, I am both the client and the agent for this mission, so I am entitled to my own privacy. If there are things I do not wish to discuss, then it's up to you to figure it out on your own or just do as the mission expects you to do."

"That's—"

'Damn it. He's right. With just a few words, he managed to turn the situation around. Hmrgh…, but that's what makes it too suspicious! Why did the three chiefs agree to this? Or maybe they know more and are all aware of the whole situation? This is frustrating. I'm the only one in the dark.'

"One thing I can say to you is that I prepared for this mission two years back," he said. "There are three scenarios I prepared, actually, and the reason why I was surprised when Assistant Chief Athena told us about the mission was that out of three scenarios I gave her, she picked and ironed out the "New Money Couple Bait" act instead of the other solo-agent missions. I could understand why, though, since it really is the most efficient scenario."

"So you… ordered this mission? If you're going to be the agent as well, why didn't you just do it yourself? Why did you have to involve Mythos? And you prepared this two years ago? Is that the reason why you came to Mythos?"

"Yes, that's right. And to answer your question, I had to involve Mythos because I need the three chief's intel and stratagem, all the connections, technology, and capabilities that Mythos could provide. There are many reasons, really, and I don't trust you enough to disclose everything to you."

"Hah! I could say the same to you," I scoffed. "Why did you even decide to become an agent? If you wanted to order a mission, you could have filed just like all the other clients. Why involve yourself in all this?"

"Let's just say that this mission is very important to me, and I'm not willing to disclose my plans if I don't find any suitable prospects. Turns out, I'm better than any other agent in Mythos, so I decided to do it myself. The only problem is that I'm stuck with you since Assistant Chief Athena chose this facade to carry out the plan. Maybe, she deliberately did that to keep an eye on me since my actions tend to look suspicious. Hence, also the reason why I can't trust you fully. Who knows? You might be their loyal dog for all I care."

"What? I'm not—ugh. No wonder manipulation is one of your top skills. Look how easily you turned the situation around, huh?"

"Don't think too highly of yourself. I don't even need to use my manipulation skills on you. You're rather careless for an agent—which makes me think that you might not be a dog after all. But still, just as Mythos don't trust their agents fully, I don't trust them that much as well. Who knows? The reason why they haven't caught Kraken all these years when they've got such skilled chiefs and captains and all the resources they could have might as well be because they're protecting them, right? You can't really rule out that fact, can you? And you, who don't even have an inch of doubt about the company you applied to, are careless indeed."

I clenched my fist tight, unable to refute him. All this information… it's too confusing. And most importantly, who was I supposed to trust? The company that I served for years or the man I just met two weeks ago and was about to marry for the sake of the mission, which turned out to be the client himself?!

'Calm down, Kim Ye-Ji, and think carefully. He does make a valid point, but his suspicions go against the core values of Mythos. The company is dedicated to eradicating all evils, and all the missions I have taken so far involved people violating the laws and are all criminals. It adds up to why they would accept a mission about Kraken—they're the biggest syndicate there is in the whole world. But then, it could be a facade as well. All the missions we did were just small fries compared to Kraken. It could be a way to gain leverage, credibility, and a lot of stuff to protect the bigger enemy. But no, there were missions where we took out their members. But then again, they were just members and not the heads.

'Meanwhile, Eun-Woo is the one who ordered the capture of the heads of Kraken, which means that his goal is to eradicate them from the roots. And by doing that, it ends Kraken completely instead of going after their minions. An organization won't collapse just by capturing the minions—it's their heads that should be captured. If that's his real goal, then that means he's not suspicious at all. But then again, what if he's the one protecting Kraken? What if this mission is a facade to infiltrate Mythos and learn how they work? What if there were many people like him in the past, hence, why Mythos has been having problems catching the heads of Kraken?'

It's all too complicated. And it sucks that I don't have an idea who to trust. All I wanted was to get to the bottom of my father's case and give justice to him, not to be tangled up in all this mess.

"Haaah…" I sighed deeply as I tried to think things out.

"What? Did your brain explode from all the information?" he mocked me.

"You know what?" I replied, rolling my eyes. "Both you and Mythos are suspicious, and I don't even care anymore. I have my own problem to take care of, so I don't want to join whatever game you're playing. I'll do my mission, be the Top Agent this year, get my reward, and that's it, you got that? Whatever it is you're playing, 'don't-get-me-involved-any-further' is all I ask of you."

He raised his eyebrow and thought for a moment.

"Alright. Then I expect you to do your job properly and stop asking unnecessary questions. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal," I said. Then, in a menacing tone, I added, "And most of all, don't EVER get my mother involved. The moment you do, I'll kill you for real. You won't get warnings from me—you won't see me stop when I aim the knife at your throat or point a gun at your head—I will just shoot and kill. You got that?"

"Ha-ha-ha," he chuckled and smirked like the devil once more. "My, my, how scary. I guess I'm right when I thought you're not a dog person, nor a cat. You're a f*cking tiger—and one that bites hard."

I smirked back at him with the same confidence he had.

"I really am. And you haven't seen my worst."

"How exciting. I look forward to seeing it."

"You will wish you never saw it."

"Ha-ha-ha. Really? Should I be scared?"

"You definitely should."

"Too bad I'm not," he shrugged like the cocky jerk he was.

Then, he lifted up my chin with his hand. His eyes stared down at mine like a predator playing with his prey—so cold and malicious. With his arrogant tone, he continued…

"If you're a tiger that bites, then I'm a dragon. I don't need to bite. I just burn everything to the ground."