The Scarlet Saga: Denouement

12: Son Chaeyoung Attacks

A few hours before Son Chaeyoung's attack

Songhan didn't know what made his legs move his body to where he was now, the general finding himself inside a fancy hotel as he was standing right in front of a door with the room number '167'. A few minutes, approximately ten, had passed by filled with him pressing on the doorbell several times only to receive no responses, and he was starting to get impatient added with the way some people were looking at the military attire he was wearing. Of course they'd be confused, it's as if he was here to arrest someone, and all of a sudden most of them got inside as if they were afraid of being 'suspected', a natural instinctive response.

A few more knocks to the door, the knocks Songhan terribly wished to be the last ones. When he received yet another round of silence, Songhan silently growled to himself and was about to try forcefully opening the door before the doorkob spun on itself, the wooden structure pulled back to reveal Haejoon dressed in a nice fancy suit of black. The man had his hair neatly done with a little bit of makeup applied to his cheeks for good measures. Songhan stared at him weirdly

"Apologies, General, I've been prettying myself." Haejoon chuckled and made space for Songhan to get through, the general walking deeper inside the man's hotel room which surely screamed the aura of luxury. He looked at several fancy glasses of beer and turned to face Haejoon with a small frown. "How do I look? I need to look good too for my own festival, you know." he grinned and posed for himself, rather stylishly.

"You told me to come here yourself yet look how much time I wasted just waiting for an open door. Why did you call me here anyway?" Songhan hummed and comfortably seated himself on an empty couch just by the window.

"Oh umm, just want to see how my partner in business here is doing." Haejoon shrugged nonchalantly and poured a bottle of champagne into a small glass with the letter 'H' imprinted on it, handing it politely to the general. "Care for a glass of Louis Roederer Brut Premier?"

"I drink whatever drink I can." Songhan muttered mindlessly and grabbed it from Haejoon's hand anyway, sipping on it and exhaling in satisfaction. "I assume you called me here to check on how the military is doing now?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, but Haejoon remained silent, the middle-aged man staring at the window with an empty glass of wine in his hand, though the view outside the window wasn't his exact main focus.

"Do you remember the first time you and I met?" Haejoon mumbled all of a sudden, not quite the words Songhan expected to come out of his mouth. It sounded serious, if he were to be honest. Haejoon then turned back to look at the confused general. "It was a rainy night. You first came to my doorstep during the early days of war five years ago, handing me over a crumpled paper telling me to use the Hagaris we kept in our labs. We were both desperate men back then, Songhan, you desperate for protecting our country, and me desperate for a purpose that will help improve humanity." he breathed out, looking at Songhan with a thin smile.