Who I've Been Searching For | Sungjoy

Chapter 18: Departure Ceremony

Wendy considered herself to be a patient woman, but she felt Seoul's traffic pushing her to her limit. She tapped the steering wheel irritably as she watched the cars in front of her move slowly.

"This is ridiculous," she growled under her breath.

On her right, Changsub chuckled good-naturedly as he checked his phone for any new messages from the rest of the team waiting at Incheon International Airport. Satisfied that there weren't any new developments, he glanced at the back and saw Sungjae staring at his phone.

"Waiting for something?" Changsub asked him, a smile forming on his face. "Perhaps... something from your wife?"

As expected, Sungjae's ears immediately turned red as he tried to splutter out a coherent response.

"We're not... that is... I mean... she's not my..." Sungjae tried to get back at Changsub, but nothing seemed to stick.

Changsub only laughed harder while Wendy's lips curled up in amusement. Who said bodyguard duties didn't have perks?

"Where is Joy anyway?" Sungjae asked once Changsub had finally calmed down.

"She'll be meeting you at the airport," Wendy replied, her eyes still fixed on the traffic ahead of her. "She went ahead with a small team to sweep the terminal to make sure it was safe."

"So why isn't someone from the Close Protection Unit here with me?" Sungjae asked them, a slight frown on his face.

"Ah..." Changsub and Wendy exchanged covert looks. Irene had instructed them to remain undercover until the mission's end.

"That's because Irene said that I could probably take care of escorting you to the airport," Changsub thought quickly on the spot. "I was in the military too, remember?"

"I forgot. It seems like all I remember you doing was getting in the way of my experiments," Sungjae grinned.

"Yah, this kid!" Changsub grinned as well. "There's no respect for loyalty nowadays."

Sungjae shrugged in the backseat as he sent off a quick message to Joy.

--

Incheon International Airport – Seoul, Korea

--

Seulgi walked up the escalator in a hurry, quickly scanning left and right. "All clear at the check-in area," she spoke into her lapel microphone she said as she flashed her clearance badge to one of the airport security guards, who let her into a restricted zone.

"All clear in the duty-free zone," Hyunsik's voice came though her earpiece.

"All clear in the boarding area," Peniel checked in.

In the airport's security room, Irene watched everything from the screens in front of her. "Yeri?" she radioed the youngest member of the team.

"All clear," came Yeri's cheerful voice.

Yeri and Joy were currently sitting down in the departure terminal, waiting for Sungjae to arrive. Like all the other Close Protection members, Yeri was wearing comfortable clothes that allowed her ease of movement.

Yeri looked over at Joy, who was replying back to Sungjae's message. "Bride is currently texting Groom," she told Irene, ignoring Joy's withering glance before Joy hid herself behind the sunhat she was wearing.

"Who thought up these call signs?" she asked Yeri pointedly.

"I think it was Changsub," Yeri said, placing the blame solely on her former instructor. In truth, Yeri and Changsub had been responsible for the names. Yeri watched as Joy's expression slowly became darker.