Summary: IRIS is the one thing you cannot destroy, and it is the one thing you cannot hide and escape from… alive. Or is it? What if the ending everyone thought happened was not how things really went down?
Timeline: The story takes place post-Season 1 of IRIS. Most of Chapter 1 takes place during (more like un-seen/alternative scenes) Episode 20 – The Season Finale.
I'm going to make it clear that if you did not watch the entire series or you are not aware of which characters are still living and which characters already passed away, you will find it hard to understand what's going on in the story. Also, this fiction is written in a TV episode-like format. :)
Please review my work since I'm the first to attempt writing for IRIS here at :) Enjoy!
I want to thank Sooji-ya, my Beta, for all her time and effort. Love you, girl!
Disclaimer: IRIS is too awesome to belong to me so… although I wish Kim Hyun-Joon belonged to me – heh. Some 'lines' have been extracted from the drama and used here to add that K-Drama nostalgic effect.
Spoilers: Bits and pieces – from all twenty episodes.
---************---
Chapter One:
Stop. Rewind. Re-write.
Three Months Later…
Enough. It's enough... for now.
As she closed her eyes, drowning her senses to the smell and the feel of the flowers he had given her, Seon-Hwa smiled, contented.
She was a soldier, a fighter possessing skills not acquired by many. She would know from a distance if an enemy were approaching her, about to attack her... yet... and yet...
Kim Hyun-Joon, you're the only one who had ever invaded my heart like this.
"Look at the state of that thing, Seon-Hwa. It's withering already. Are you not planning to throw it away?"
Seon-Hwa's head snapped up, turning to meet the gaze of that all-too-familiar voice.
"You have arrived, Sir," she bowed toward the nodding Park Chul-Young.
"It is truly the most dangerous place to attack, isn't it?"
She smiled weakly, aware of the implications of his cryptic words.
"I don't know what you mean by that, Sir," she stared at the parched petals on her table, sighing.
"I'm sure Kim Hyun-Joon does, and hence why he'd decided you'd be better off," Chul-Young ignored Seon-Hwa's pretense.
"Pardon?"
"Kim Hyun-Joon cares a lot about you, Seon-Hwa, and he doesn't want you to get hurt any more than you've already been because of him, physically or emotionally. So, I-"
Kim Hyun-Joon…
"Sir, please allow me to go to the South," Seon-Hwa interjected, her eyes pierced like burning metal against her superior's.
His expression turned from astonishment to concern.
"What's the matter?"
"Kim Hyun-Joon..." Seon-Hwa clenched her fists, her lips trembling.
I won't let it Hyun-Joon-ssi… I won't let it…
"What about him?" Chul-Young asked, shaking Seon-Hwa by the shoulder. "What about Kim Hyun-Joon? Seon-Hwa, answer me!"
"Sir… I think… Kim Hyun-Joon's life is still in grave danger."
---************---
"Don't try to look for them. They won't ever be coming back…"
Section Chief Park Sang-Hyun was swamped with paperwork behind his desk. He was attempting to organise next week's training preparation schedules for the new NSS employees.
He had draft pages circling him and when he'd erase something out of one, he would immediately curse and send the rest of the papers crashing to the floor.
"Aigoo.. How am I supposed to finish at this rate?!" Sang-Hyun muttered under his breath, "This is meant to be Team Leader Choi's work and not mine."
"Section Chief-"
"What? WHAT?" he screamed at the easily startled Hwang Tae-Sung.
"Sec-Section Chief… Ki-Kim… Seon-Hwa is on Line 3. She says it's urgent," Tae-Sung informed swiftly, leaving the room without waiting for the Section Chief's reply.
"Kim… Seon-Hwa...?"
With a quizzical brow, Section Chief Park picked up the receiver and greeted Kim Seon-Hwa with caution.
"…"
"If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to know where he is?"
"…"
"Not to say that this is just your paranoia playing with you because of all the things that you went through, Kim Seon-Hwa-ssi, but it is unlikely that IRIS is to strike soon after what happened..."
"..."
"To be honest, Kim Hyun-Joon and Choi Seung-Hee didn't tell me where they'd be living from now on."
"…"
"They left the NSS about a week ago. They only waited for their papers to be finalized and for their names to be cleared and they resigned."
"…"
"Yes. But Kim Seon-Hwa-ssi- I'll-"
But Kim Seon-Hwa had already dropped the line.
"-say to you what I said to everybody else. Don't try to look for them. They won't ever be coming back," he finished.
Park Sang-Hyun put back the receiver and sighed deeply. It's really none of my business, he thought, but what's so surprising about Hyun-Joon being with Seung-Hee?
He shook his head frantically and went back to his paperwork.
"Aigoo… whatever that might be about, I'm sure it won't mean anything…"
---************---
Seung-Hee's attention was caught by a crowd gathering at the road near the resort she and Hyun-Joon were staying at.
"What could that possibly be," she wondered, pouting slightly. "Must be a car accident or something..."
I hope Hyun-Joon's not going to be stuck on that road. He should be getting back by now...
Seung-Hee decided that she won't bother to check it out but within a couple of minutes, the number of on-lookers doubled and this got her even more curious.
She took her time walking to the scene. She could see a couple of police cars heading toward the area and surprisingly, more people arrived to pry.
When she finally made it, she stood behind the crowd and tiptoed peeking at the site. Much to her dismay, she only saw the heads of the passersby.
"Excuse me, excuse me," she politely said, snaking her way into the crowd.
Seung-Hee could finally see the policemen taking notes and holding evidence bags and flashing torches over a vehicle. It was definitely a car.
So it is a car accident, she thought. Where's the other car?
The crowd in front of her continued to hover over the perimeter and with her height, she knew she wouldn't be able to see anything clearly so she decided to listen to the buzzes of the bees that flocked around her.
"It's a man," murmured the lady standing three people away from her left.
"The window was smashed, what the hell... how did that happen?" the man in front of her turned to his lady companion.
"Poor thing died on the stirring wheel," the lady replied to the man, shaking her head in shock.
Seung-Hee sighed, turning to make her exit from the pack when she heard a voice saying, "The name of this guy is Kim Hyun-Joon, sir."
"Pardon?" Seung-Hee asked out loud, bewildered by the words she processed.
"Miss, are you alright?" questioned the woman facing her.
Seung-Hee whirled on her spot so fast, asking, "What... who said... what is the guy's name?"
When everyone within her immediate circle stared at her, she knew that they didn't hear what she did so Choi Seung-Hee pushed them as if she was splitting a tide, repeatedly uttering her question.
"What did you say his..."
Hyun-Joon's car.
"... name was...?"
No.
NO!
"Miss, excuse me, this is a crime scene, you're not allowed to be here..."
"You're mistaken, aren't you? It's not Kim Hyun-Joon, right?"
As she was jostled and shoved to keep away by one of the policemen, she saw it. Over the policeman's shoulder, she saw it.
She saw him...
Seung-Hee heard the distant sound of an ambulance and heavier murmurings. She heard the continuous rambling of the police telling her to back off.
Seung-Hee heard the roar of the sea, splashing against the stoic rocks. She heard the faint noise of her iPod she had forgotten to turn off.
Seung-Hee heard every little noise around her, everything, except her own breaths.
Seung-Hee heard everything except the life of her heart.
"Hyun-Joon-ssi..."
Her knees wobbled, her feet aching to give out.
Her hands reached out, touching nothing, feeling nothing.
"Miss, are you alright? Do you know him?"
"Kim Hyun-Joon..."
His eyes... his eyes...
He was looking at her standing at that lighthouse.
"Hyun-Joon-ssi..."
Tears fell from his eyes.
"Kim Hyun-Joon..."
Blood trickled down his face and then… and then…
"HYUN-JOON-SSI!"
Her horrific scream echoed all over as she reached out for her life.
Keeping her out, she fought the police, repeating her screams, and using strength she never knew she had.
"HYUN-JOON-SSI, HYUN-JOON-SSI, HYUN-JOON-SSI, PLEASE… PLEASE… OH GOD, IT'S NOT REAL… NO… HYUN-JOON-SSI, PLEASE… PLEASE!"
"I don't know what to say or where to begin..."
"Hold me."
"Hyun-Joon-ssi, please… look at me. This is not real… It's not right so look at me. Hyun-Joon-ssi! I'm beg… I'm begging you…"
"As long as you're with me… you will be in danger. Go home."
"If you die, I'm going to die with you. I can't return home by myself."
"Please..."
You cannot possibly put me through this again, Kim Hyun-Joon, please... don't.
"Sir, the ambulance just arrived."
"Tell them to take the body away."
"Yes, Sir, I understand."
"Miss, I suggest that the best thing for you to do is to identify the body at the morgue. I'm really sorry for your loss..."
"No..."
"I'm sorry, Miss, but you can't go near him just yet."
"I said no!"
Retaliating against the police who restrained her, she mustered all the strength she never knew she had.
"Let me go, let me go," Seung-Hee yelled, thrashing. "I told you to back off!"
"Miss, stop!" shouted the policeman, pushing her hard and fast onto the asphalt road.
Why…
She could only stare as the paramedics approached the car, wheeling the stretcher. She could only stare as, with gloves on, they lifted his lifeless form off his seat. She could only stare as they dragged him on his feet, placing him on the stretcher. She could only stare as they pulled the white cloth...
Get up.
"Don't."
Get up!
"DON'T DO IT!"
Struggling, she stood up. She clutched her chest as she battled to make every step toward him.
"Don't… don't do it… please, you can't… don't…"
"Who are you?"
Blood was all Seung-Hee could see on Hyun-Joon's face.
She sobbed, trudging as she felt the cold metal of the stretcher against her bare hands. Quietly, she stroked Hyun-Joon's disarrayed hair. Her hands quaked as she caressed his cheek.
And tears...
Tears finally flowed uncontrollably from her eyes as she held him.
"Why... Hyun-Joon-ssi... what happened? Who did this to you?"
She closed her eyes and wept.
"You promised... we promised..."
"Why exactly are we leaving NSS?" she asked, jousting him away from his deep thoughts.
"What?"
"I asked you..." Seung-Hee smiled, "why we're leaving NSS."
"Aren't you suppose to be a smart person?" he chuckled.
"Aish~" Seung-Hee punched his arm.
"Aw! What I meant was, you already know why," Hyun-Joon laughed. "We're leaving NSS so we won't have to be involved with those kinds of incidents and tragedies anymore. So that we won't have to know about the hidden evil that lures in this world, and so that..."
Seung-Hee cocked a brow at Hyun-Joon who simply smiled.
"Aish~ Tell me, quickly!"
"If you threaten me again with those nasty slaps of yours then I won't tell you!"
"Ah, really! Oh, tell me now, quickly!"
"Fine, fine.Aigoo... you're never contented with what you're given. You keep asking for the rest."
"Yeah, yeah, that's how I am. Got a problem with that?"
"Fine. The reason why I want us to leave NSS is so we can finally make that promise that other couples make."
"And what's that?"
"The promise to never leave each other again..."
"You said it, remember? We promised..."
"Miss, I'm sorry but we have to take him away."
"Hyun-Joon-ssi, you promised..."
"Hold her. Can someone hold her, please?"
"You, hold this lady so we can take the body away."
"HYUN-JOON-SSI!"
---************---
"I TOLD YOU TO DELETE THEM ALL, NOW DELETE THEM ALL!"
"Sir, I apologise. Please calm yourself."
"Just... delete them, Tae-Sung. As many as you can, as fast as you can."
"Yes, sir."
"They all need to be wiped out from every single media device and search engine everywhe-"
"Section Chief Park, Section Chief Park! Have you heard...?"
"Yes."
"But... how...?"
"I don't really know myself."
"Have you contacted Seung-Hee yet?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"What do you mean, 'why not?'"
"What do you mean by what I mean 'why not?' You know what I mean, punk."
"For obvious reasons, Chief Oh, I'm giving Seung-Hee some time to grieve and with the way that it hap-"
"The way that what happened? That's what you were going to say, right?"
"Forget it. Just go back to your office, Chief Oh."
"Leaving, punk. I'm going. Aigoo..."
"If Mi-Jung was here, she could have fixed all of this by now..."
"What are you muttering there, Tae-Sung?"
"Nothing, sir."
"Why do you have to bring up dead people in conversations for?"
"But, sir..."
"WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?"
"Why do we have to delete all information on Hyun-Joon Sunbae's death? Don't we want to find out who ambushed him?"
"Tae-Sunga."
"Yes, Section Chief?"
"You and I are the only two from NSS, aside from our Director, that know about this. Anything related to this subject must stay between you and me, is that understood?"
"Yes, sir, I understand."
"What we don't need right now are people, the public, the media, other government agencies, sticking their noses in over Hyun-Joon's horrific death. What we need right now is peace and some security for our investigators to move freely and safely while they study the incident and take due action. It's a terrible tragedy for all of us who knew him, and to Korea and the world for we just lost a great warrior. Kim Hyun-Joon is a hero and don't you forget that, boy. He saved your life and mine, many times over. Also, we don't want to impose another panic attack on our citizens telling to their faces that the man who saved thousands of lives just a few months ago was shot right after going into retirement."
"Yes, sir."
"Now, let's get back to work. Tell me the locations of the four people I asked you to track down..."
---************---
"Sir, it's me. It's done."
"..."
"I agree, sir. I'm glad you sought for me as soon as Vick was executed. It's pathetic how he wasn't able to serve you for a long time, sir."
"..."
"Yes, sir, I'm just waiting for the ambulance and police escort to move."
"..."
"Yes, I'm sure, sir, and I won't need back-up."
"..."
"I understand, sir. The second phase of your plan will be done."
---************---
To be continued…