⠀⚘ dining area⠀

@❛⠀◎ : yi minyoung。 Derek is not even on duty when he spots Princess Minyoung. He has learnt to be aware of her presence by noticing her manners, her sense of fashion in a crowd even with sunglasses and masks on. Today's attire is so surprisingly discreet he follows from a distance to make sure he won't be ridiculing himself for scolding a perfect stranger.

By the time she walks in the famous noodle joint, he is blatantly following. The idea of seeing her operation through had been entertained but abandoned the moment she had picked this restaurant. It had too many of its regulars into messes bigger than the whole block Manwol's occupied.

Derek, dressed in blue fitted jeans and a light pink blouse walked in Manwol's, casually smiling at any servers on his path to join Minyoung. He sat down in the seat in front of hers a couple beats after her and beamed. "Hello, your Royal Highness." He greeted at a low volume, pride oozing from the mere posture he settled in. "Glad I made it in time to eat with you. It's been a minute." As in months since he was picked to be part of her detail security. Even with the guilt he'd carry, thinking of the fiasco surrounding her lover's death, he would still feel hurt that she doubted his skills now. He had come a long way after all. He picked the menu from a table nearby but restes it down, eyes on the young lady before him. "May I know which of the dishes brings you here? Or perhaps is it something off the menu?"

@❛⠀● : jung noeul。 Although the assassin didn’t have to wait long, she did enjoy people watching in the restaurant, chocolate gaze bouncing from person to person, perhaps lingering longer on the employees than the visitors. But really who could blame them? Manwol’s Ramyeon sure knew how to pick who got hired, and it was nice to see attractive people without all the glitz and glam of the nightlife she was used to.

Liwei visibly lit up at the sight of noeul, straightening his back and smoothing down his skirt again so he can properly wave in greeting. “You know I never mind being able to ogle the restaurant staff, but I didn’t wait long at all, so don’t worry your pretty head.” She signed back with a bright grin, movements not quite as elegant as her companion’s, but still fluent and very much their own style.

@❛⠀● : yin liwei。 today is a day that noeul might have preferred to spend inside the familiar comfort of the secret garden, surrounded by the scent of the flowers that he's grown too used to, but he would never say no to a meeting with liwei. despite working for the same side (kind of, sort of—liwei still doesn't know where noeul had come from, doesn't really know his motives for doing the things he does), their ranks are different, and as a result, neither of them can quite often see each other as much as noeul would've liked, though he supposes that he isn't one to initiate meetings like this anyway.

he finds his supposed companion almost as soon as he steps inside the familiar ramyeon house, and his expression easily softens, a rare sight to be seen especially on his features. with light steps and a small presence, he walks toward his friend, a hint of a smile on his lips, and sits across the other. "i hope i didn't make you wait for long," he signs with easy, elegant movements of his hands.

@❛⠀● : choi woogeun。 Looking at Woogeun like this, Yejun can so easily forget he's supposed to be Woohee's brother. His face is completely impassive, as if he's unsympathetic of the trouble that Yejun—and by proxy, all the other ramen chefs and waiters that deal with impatient customers—has to go through, simply because of... what, exactly? Yejun doesn't even know, isn't even offered an explanation or a solution to the stressed coworkers of his that are running around and have been running around all day, heads bowed in shame as they explain the lack of ingredients to disappointed regulars. All that Woogeun says is a vague "those will arrive tomorrow" as if somehow, these four words will magically fix the thinly veiled threats against this establishment.

And honestly, Yejun is astonished. The sarcasm laced in his voice is astounding, and he has to wonder where on /earth/ Woogeun gets this audacity when he hasn't even been working in inventory for a full year? And why on earth is he even openly bashing a customer where anyone can hear them? A forced smile makes its way to Yejun's face, the younger so, so close to dragging Woogeun to that cranky old man that had requested the limited special and demanding that the other handler be the one to apologize instead—Yejun no longer wants to deal with this bull. "Exactly!" Yejun says, perhaps a little too positively as he claps his hands together. "We're almost closing, and we haven't been able to make one proper limited special dish the whole day today. The least we could get from our inventory manager is an explanation, yeah?" If Yejun sounds patronizing, then maybe he is—because how the hell can Woogeun brush this aside so easily? Is Yejun going to have to explain everything to him? When Woogeun turns away from him, Yejun easily follows after the man, quickly stepping in front of the other handler with a grin so wide it feels like plastic. "And no, no royals here—but we /do/ have pissed customers that came all this way for the limited dish—which, by the way, we don't have the ingredients for. It looks bad if we advertise ramen we can't sell, you know?"

@❛⠀● : jung noeul。 5 a.m. — the house was empty like it was every single day. tossing her bag to a side, hyewon kicks off her pair of black skinny jeans and socks, sighing away the weariness of the night. she lets herself collapse to the ground, eyes closed but still very much awake. for most people, their day would soon begin in the next few hours but for hyewon, hers has just come to a close. dawn was the time where the demons of the night have all gone home and so goes hyewon, a fellow night dweller. since she turned 20, she’s been living her nights as days and her days as nights.

tonight was different, tonight marks the 1 year anniversary of her becoming the owner of this apartment— junwon’s apartment.

when he was alive, he had rarely let her in his home, preferring to visit her at hers or outside their homes, for safety, he used to say. he had a dangerous job and he did not want to put his precious little sister in any form of harm. his house kept many secrets, information she was never ever meant to find out. so when he died, she searched every corner of his nice uptown apartment, flipped every note and ledger, scoured every nook and cranny for some hint of what he was up to all this time.

she knew about the weapons business, her brother often went on “business trips” to procure weapons for anyone who wanted one. it didn’t take her too long to gather all his contacts, his henchmen and clientele, all detailedly recorded on paper in his many diaries. but he left no hint of enemies, anyone who wanted him dead. so to find out, she had to become him, take over the business and come face to face with whatever horrors he might have met.

she flipped the whole house upside down and knew all there was to know except — sandwiched deep between the tv console and a bookshelf, was a piece of something that looked like paper? only now made visible to her because she’s lying on the ground at eye level with whatever it was. jumping to her feet, she grabs a thin metal chopstick from the kitchen and carefully tried to drag it out. it takes her forever and a half and all her patience but she finally fishes it out.

it’s a polaroid.

no words, no numbers, just a picture of junwon with his arm fastened around a lady who looks like she would rather be anywhere but there. they look like they’re having a meal, on a date? and he looks happy.

who was this girl and why didn’t junwon tell her anything about having a girl in his life? he wasn’t a sentimental guy and yet he kept this polaroid that had probably fell off the side of the bookshelf after the tape that held it on lost its stickiness. hyewon also recognizes where they’re at. it’s a ramyeon shop that he had once brought her to a couple of months before he passed. she doesn’t remember what it’s called but she knows where it is.

7.45 p.m. — something tells her she should go to the ramyeon shop despite the improbability of the girl being there or anyone who would know who the girl in the polaroid is. it’s her only lead to another of her brother’s secrets that didn’t revolve weapons and she has to listen to her guy and follow it.

before she realizes, her feet are leading her down familiar streets to a restaurant she had only been once, just before her brother’s death. he had told her he liked the ramen here with a twinkle in his eye but she didn’t think he had meant anything more besides having a thing for ramen. certainly nothing related to his death, and certainly not a girl.

was she jumping into conclusions? nothing about this seemingly ordinary ramen shop seemed out of place or suspicious but when she walked into the store, polaroid in hand, she felt the hairs on her arm stand.

if junwon was a frequent customer here, surely someone would remember him. approaching the cashier, she tried to think of how she was going to ask about him. he had died a year ago, it wasn’t going to be easy to— and there she was, the girl in the polaroid, having ramen all by herself in a corner of the shop. by some coincidence or dumb luck, she really was here. maybe this was junwon’s spirit on her side, helping her find the polaroid and now, helping her find this girl.

without a second thought she’s moving past tables and dodging people, to get to the girl and without asking, she sits herself before her, with a breathless, “who are you?”

@❛⠀● : han yejun。 Yejun flashes him a smile to which he responds with a blink and a rather delayed nod as a form of acknowledgment. Woogeun then looks at his surroundings as he continued to listen to what Yejun was saying, still bemused by how mundane everything and everyone looked – it’s been almost a year since he arrived and started working at this place, but he still couldn’t shake away his anger from the falsity of it all. So, as soon as Yejun finished spilling out his concern, he looks at the younger male with a straight face and then briefly answers, “Those will arrive tomorrow.” There’s a matter-of-fact tone to his statement – the desire to cut the conversation short overpowering the civility Woogeun wanted to uphold.

However, the attention of the other party toward him didn’t falter causing his eyebrows to furrow and for words, he didn’t give a second thought about, spilling, “We’re almost closing, can’t you make up excuses to drive away whoever it is who’s causing…” Woogeun does a gesture with his hands, “...all of this.” For the most part, he wanted that to sound more mellow – to come across as a mere suggestion and not an order of sorts, but he was too fed up with everything to adjust. “Who is it even? Is it the king? The queen? One of the royal children? Who’s pestering you that you can’t—” He inhales deeply, rage threatening to slither out from his chest. “They can just return tomorrow. Tell them that,” The Handler turns to his heel after verbalizing his answer.

@❛⠀● : jung noeul。 although liwei would love nothing more than to go home to his comfortable bed in his less-than-stellar apartment, they would always make time to see the one person who felt more like family than anything in her mind. it didn't matter that her joints felt particularly sore that day, a soft pout adorning their lips as they pushed past the door of the familiar restaurant.

a softer aesthetic than what the lithe assassin would normally wear showed in a neutral color palette of brown tones, cardigan baggy and comfortable over a flow-y blouse with a low enough cut just to tease. a long maxi skirt and pair of well loved combat-style boots completed his look, face dusted lightly with makeup to make her feel slightly more put together while she located a table for his companion and him to sit at. they preferred to be tucked into the corner with clear view of all the exits, a habit she had carried over from their program days.

just the thought had liwei fiddling with the hem of his skirt after he sat down, pulling at fraying strings so they wouldn't catch and continue to unravel. it was another nervous habit to keep her hands busy whenever they didn't have anything else to draw their attention.

@❛⠀● : choi woogeun。 What's the matter, he says.

What's the ing matter.

Yejun prides himself in being quite the patient man. It's not a trait that comes easy, especially not when he's considered quite lax, a little more easygoing than what might be expected of a ramen chef or a handler that deals with many difficult clients and customers on a daily basis. But of course, Yejun has his limits; and the ing matter is that Woogeun is so, so close to crossing them.

Well, it's not just him, he supposes. It's that stubborn old man that had demanded the limited ramen. Despite that man's regular status at their little restaurant, Yejun can confidently say he's never liked him, and now there's a reason he does. Yejun had spent a little too long profusely apologizing for their lack of ingredients for the limited ramen, and the old man seemed to have enjoyed his time berating Yejun and claiming that his regular visits should give him an exception to the lack of ingredients, somehow.

By the way, what's the reason they're lacking in ingredients, you ask? Well, none other than the head that's just walked in without a care in the world, of course.

But Yejun plays nice, because one, they're in a fairly public area, and two, this is Woohee's brother (how the // is he related to Woohee? Yejun still doesn't understand), and out of respect for the older woman, Yejun will be nice.

"Woogeun-hyung," Yejun greets, a pleasant smile on his face. His voice is a little worn, a little exhausted, but that's neither here nor there. "It's not a big deal—" It is. "—But from what I remember, the ingredients for the limited ramen were supposed to have arrived today, weren't they?"

@❛⠀● : han yejun。 Woogeun is disturbed.

He was getting ready to meet clients—in case there will be a few—as it was almost evening. Though the Handler wasn’t formally expecting anyone, he still felt peeved being called to the most populated area of the establishment: the dining area. Just the thought of being around at least a dozen people, all with their own irritating expressions and mind-numbing concerns – it sends Woogeun into a dizzying sensation triggered by his irate disposition. The ambiguity of the reason for him being called to that godforsaken section of the ramen house is like light to a fuse: the countdown has started, and the male is feeling it resonate against his skull, each downward step he takes rhythmically similar to it.

Reaching the last flight of the stairs somehow paused the countdown—or just delayed it, Woogeun isn’t so sure himself, but the imaginary ticking has been hushed. Perhaps it was because he saw who was expecting his presence: Han Yejun – a fellow handler and a person Woohee explicitly mentioned in her letter. Now, Woogeun is as civil as he can be towards everyone in Manwol’s but somehow, because of the neverending feeling of being at fault consuming him slowly but wholly, he forces himself to be extra civil towards a couple of people – Yejun included. So, instead of his rage-laced words, he starts off with a simple question, “What’s the matter, Yejun-ssi?”