Fatal Attraction | Yeonbin

49 | ʀᴇᴅ sᴏᴄɪᴇᴛʏ

* . °•☆|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° . *

➸

Half an hour has passed since Yeonjun had sat down on his table and tortured his mind to decipher the words on the black card. He hasn't made any progress, each letter looking different every time he tried to read over them again.

It's no use, he thought, slumping himself back onto the armchair as he helped himself to another sip of wine.

Wine.
Blood.

Feeling his weariness seep out of him, Yeonjun carefully poured a drop of his wine onto the card. Nothing happened at first. But then, all of a sudden, black pigment began to float off the card as words the colour of freshly-spun gold began to engrave itself onto its surface.

Yeonjun sat there, awestruck. The words glowing hot gold as he extended a hand towards it, wanting to touch it―

"Ah!" He gasped, instantly withdrawing his hand before watching the words glow dimmer and dimmer until they were nothing but ordinary written on a piece of card. Yeonjun held it up; it no longer read Salin Ui's wine bar. In its place, it read:

Red Society.

➸

On the same night, a group of people gathered together in the same room. There they sat, the silence slowly growing thicker besides the sound of drinks being poured or the clinks of glass softly being hit.

"Where is he? It has been 10 minutes since we were scheduled to arrive," Ji Woo started, growing impatient.

"Should be here any moment now. If he does come, that is," Da Eun muttered in the corner, swishing the glass held in her hand.

Just as she said that a knock came from the door as a man entered with an unfamiliar woman following behind him. She was a new face to the rest of the people seated in the room with her eye-catching curtains of dark red hair and youthful face.

She certainly looked a few decades younger than the people in the room as she walked in, earning intrigued stares from her soon-to-be co-workers.

"Choi Nam Gi, I assume this was the person we were talking about earlier?" Said Hee Suk, getting up as he looked at his recruit.

"Yes, she is―"

"Hello, my name is Kim Hyewon. A full-vampire, and I'll be turning 130 this year," she interrupted, walking forward as she shook Hee Suk's extended hand.

"130, hm?" Hee Suk repeated, "you are pretty young to be joining us."

"My age is only a mask to what I'm capable of, sir," she quipped, earning a look of interest from her boss.

"Well then, I'll be looking forward to working with you then, Ms Kim Hyewon," he said with a satisfied grin. "Nam Gi, you may show her the way to her office on the ground floor," he continued, turning to the latter.

"Of course," Nam Gi replied before gesturing Hyewon out of the room.

With the click of the door, they were gone.

"A recruit? So much for staying "low profile"," Jung Mo scoffed.

"Nam Gi is my best man, and I trust him much more than any of you in this room," Hee Suk said so sharply that Jung Mo had to keep his mouth shut. "Besides, I looked through her profile earlier, and there seemed to be nothing wrong. Just a promising young lady I certainly hope wouldn't disappoint."

➸

"'Kim Hyewon', really?" Nam Gi couldn't help but laugh once they were safely inside her new office.

"Better than that foolish 'Ji Yeon' name you gave me earlier," she quipped, "it sounds too similar to my actual name, I'm afraid Ji Woo would notice."

"She does seem a little dodgy of you―kept giving you weird looks," he continued, helping her place her stuff onto her desk.

"I don't care what she thinks. As long as Hee Suk doesn't question me, she wouldn't even dare come close," she continued.

Then, her auburn red hair started to grow jet-black on the spot. The length of her voluminous curls flattening, shrinking until they were shoulder-length. Her face began to morph as well, the chubbiness in her cheeks gone, replaced by a refined jawline. The curves of her figure became more defined as she grew a few centimetres in height. In the span of a minute, Kim Hyewon was gone, replaced by Ji Yeon Mi.

"By the way, I didn't get the chance to ask earlier, but what made you change your mind to help Aeri?" Secretary Ji asked, turning around to see Nam Il be caught off-guard by her sudden question.

Before he could even answer, a knock on the door is heard. In an instant, Secretary Ji quickly changed back to her undercover persona.

"Come in!" Nam Gi called out. Ji Woo entered the room, a sudden chill settling in as she walked in.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Hyewon squeaked, making sure her voice sounds higher than usual. Although her ability could help her alter her appearance, it did not affect her voice.

"'Kim Hyewon,' am I right?" She asked, her voice extraordinarily calm.

"Yes."

"Where are you from?"

"Suwon. Moved to Ansan recently."

"Family?"

"Deceased."

"Bloodline?"

"Kim―as my name suggests."

"And how did you know about Nam Gi?"

"We were friends in high school. Is there anything you'd like to ask, Ms Choi Ji Woo?" She asked.

"Yes, actually there's―"

"Ji Woo, if you're here to pull the detective card on our recruit here and doubt her loyalty, then I suggest you find other things to do," Nam Gi snapped. Ji Woo swivelled to him, looking bemused. With a final glare at Hyewon, she left the room. The sound of her heels following after her.

Secretary Ji slumped in relief, finally feeling able to breathe again. "You did do my resume properly, right?"

"To make sure Hee Suk doesn't suspect a thing," he reassured. "And to answer your question, it's simple: I know where my loyalties lie and who to trust. Hee Suk may be a long-term partner, but I've known Ji Woo for a lifetime. Besides, she did help me when finance for my family was a little messy. I'll never be able to thank her enough for that."

"I see," Secretary Ji replied.

"And one more thing; don't talk to me as Ji Yeon Mi here. Whenever we are here, at Hee Suk's workplace, you are Kim Hyewon, and Kim Hyewon only."

"Noted," she said, about to head out of the room.

"Leaving already?"

"Since my first assignment here starts tomorrow, I might as well head back to help Aeri. I'm still her best woman to handle her business while moonlighting as a double agent," she said with a mysterious smile before sashaying out of the room.