...

In the Eastern Sea International Airport, a young man was attracting a lot of attention from the girls who were walking past him.

He was wearing a long coat in deep blue color which somehow matched his grey-colored hair. Moreover, he also had sunglasses which made him an eye candy for every girl who was passing by. Though, his real purpose of putting those glasses on was not to attract those unwanted attentions.

Seeing that actually had an opposite effect, the young man couldn't help but shook his head bitterly as he started to feel uncomfortable at the gazes that were being thrown at him. He felt like a panda being displayed in the zoo.

The young man looked at his Advance Watch and saw that he was already waiting in there for more than one hour.

"Tsk! She said that she is going to arrive around an 8 a.m. – it is past 9 a.m. already, so how come she hasn't arrived yet? Don't tell me her flight got delayed?" muttered by the young man on himself while frowning his eyebrows. And so, the young man turned out to be Shin.

Shin endured the 'suffering' for another half an hour before a sweet voice suddenly called out from a distance.

"Shin!"

The corner of Shin's mouth suddenly twitched quite stiffly when he heard that voice. He was very familiar with that voice so it was natural for him to recognize its owner without even looking back.

But he was also too ashamed to turn his head towards that direction because she shouted his name quite loudly. And due to that, she attracted a lot of attention from the people who were present in the area.

Adding the fact that she was actually a head-turner, it was impossible to avoid the attention of the other guys who were looking at her. And if ever he turned around, those gazes would surely be redirected at him.

"Hiss! This girl, Cloe!" Shin gritted his teeth while shaking his head a little when he realized the current situation. Because of his annoyance, Shin chose to ignore her for a moment.

Unfortunately, that decision resulted in an even more 'disastrous situation'. The owner of that particular voice started shouting Shin's name repeatedly with an even louder voice. And that led her to create a scene that attracted even more attention.

"Shin!"

"Shin! I'm here!"

Hearing that, the expression on Shin's face suddenly turned weird as he didn't know what to do. "Hiss! She let me wait for one and a half hour, and this is what I am going to get?"

If he continued ignoring her, he was sure that she was going to continue shouting his name until he turned his head at her. But if he chose to turn his head right now, then the attracted attention of the people present in the vicinity would surely be going to be directed to him.

Caught in that difficult dilemma, Shin failed to do anything until Cloe finally arrived behind him.

"Hey! Shin! Are you deaf or something? How come you can't hear me no matter how hard I yell?" said Cloe with a very annoyed tone.

Hearing that, Shin slightly tilted his head to the side before turning around to look at her.

"Heya!"

But right after he turned his body around, Cloe suddenly hopped forward and quickly hugged him. She was aware of Shin's 'Immediate Response' talent, so she was only relying on these kinds of situations to catch him off-guard.

Unfortunately for her, Shin just got back from a hellish training which was why this kind of trick was not going to work on him anymore.

Regardless, he still chose not to dodge nor prevented her from doing what she wanted because he felt guilty for ignoring her earlier.

Then the soft body was pressed him.

"Hehe, I got you this time! Did you wait that long for you to ignore me?" said Cloe in an apologetic tone since she knew that Shin had waited for her longer than he had expected since her flight was delayed earlier.

And that was when Shin looked at her face directly.

Shin was a head taller than Cloe. His greyish hair showed more of its color in the passage of time making his skin paler. Cloe somehow wondered how Shin was able to keep his creamy skin despite the rough training he had suffered just recently. His jaw turned sharper and refined. However, there was still a bit of youthfulness.

But what made Cloe stumped was Shin's grey eyes under those glasses. They were discerning and piercing. Those two grey eyes seemed like it had gone through mature times.

She blinked.

'How come Shin changed a lot?' Thought Cloe to herself as she felt that the chest that she was hugging was broader and wider than before.

Cloe realized then that Shin had truly become…a man.

She quickly let go of him as her heart was somehow starting to beat faster.

"Yeah, I waited for more than an hour. My legs seemed to be hurting. How would you make up for it?" lied Shin. Of course, he would not make a fuss about making him wait. He just wanted to see how this naughty friend of his would react and 'compensate' him.

Cloe looked at the side, calming her heart. And quickly after that, she immediately answered. "Is that so? Then I supposed I owe you a date?"

Shin was stumped for words. 'A date…? What a date would do?'

Being able to read what was running inside Shin's head, Cloe couldn't help but pout her lips a little before starting to walk away. "Hmph!"

Shin was stunned at Cloe's sudden change of behavior. Not understanding what she was thinking, he could only release a helpless sigh before catching up to her. "Let's go together. I know that you are also tired."

After that, Shin took her luggage from her and started to walk alongside her.

Seeing his actions, Cloe suddenly narrowed her eyes as she was thinking that Shin was a man truly hard to conquer. His denseness was really on a whole other level.

What should she do to make him see her as a woman? She was quite upset. But seeing how Shin waited for her more than an hour and dragging her luggage did her heart turn soft.

"Fine, I will just do the job by myself. If the man is so dense, the woman had no choice but to push forward." She muttered.

"What?" Shin turned his head to her when he heard her muttering.

"Nothing!" said Cloe before turning her head away for another time.

"..." This time Shin became too speechless at her quick-changing mood.

"By the way, what's gotten to you earlier? You could easily dodge me if you wanted to," asked Cloe all of a sudden.

"I can't react that time since my legs are hurting for standing too long," replied Shin almost immediately. Though, he actually did not want to admit that he was guilty of ignoring her earlier which was why he let her do what she wanted.

Cloe's heart felt guilty. She clung on his arm while saying. "Come on~! Don't be upset now. It is not my fault that my flight got delayed~."

Shin couldn't help but chuckle when he heard that. But since her mind was still bothered by what he did earlier, it made him want to tease her a little. "But you could just have informed me earlier, so that I didn't have to stand there for more than an hour."

While the two of them were walking away, Shin suddenly felt some gazes that were locked at them. He was sure that the owner of those gazes were not people sent by Cloe's father since he was already familiar with her bodyguards' auras.

Moreover, he could also feel some ill intentions from those gazes which made him frown his eyebrows a little.

But what troubled him even more was that those gazes suddenly disappeared the moment he sensed them. It was as if they knew that he became aware of their presence.

Feeling that there was something wrong with Shin, Cloe suddenly tugged his arm and asked. "Hey! What's wrong? You seem to be dozing off."

Coming back to his senses, Shin immediately put up a smile and replied. "Oh! Sorry, I just suddenly remembered something."

"What is it? Is it a girl? You dare to think of another girl when a beautiful girl is right beside you?" said Cloe rapidly as if she was interrogating Shin.

Hearing that, Shin couldn't help but chuckle and immediately forget about those gazes that he felt earlier.

...

Meanwhile, a man in black suit suddenly walked out behind a concrete wall and watched Shin and Cloe walk away.

A moment later, he tapped the earpiece on his right ear to answer a call.

"How was it?" asked someone from the other side of the call.

"I am sorry, Sir. But it looks like the job that you give us is going to take some time," answered the man in tux without removing his eyes at Shin and Cloe.

Hearing that, the man that he was talking to from their other side of the line suddenly yelled. "What are you talking about! I need you to wrap it up as soon as possible! What is the point of sending you there if you can't even do this job?"

The man in tux immediately lowered his head and apologized for another time before explaining their current situation. "I'm really sorry, Sir. But an unexpected variable suddenly showed up. Aside from that mysterious dude that we still can't see, all of her bodyguards hiding in the dark shouldn't be a problem-…"

Then he trailed his words for a moment to look at Shin's fading figure before continuing. "But this new variable doesn't look so simple either. So, we need to observe for quite some time before making our moves."

"I don't have time for any excuses! All I need are results. And don't you dare f*cked this up, or else you are dead," said by the man from the other side of the line before ending the call.

After that, the man in black suit took another look at Shin's back before a cold gilt suddenly flashed on his eyes.

...…