Bang bang bang!

Ding-dong.

Ding-dong.

Bang bang bang!

Deep in the dark of late night, someone was pounding hard on the iron gate of one of the houses in Seongbuk-dong.

"Who's making a racket in the middle of the night?"

The steward who managed the Seongbuk-dong house threw on a coat and opened the iron gate.

"Is Seong-ho inside?"

"Who do you think you are, coming here at this hour asking about our President—? Oh?"

The steward checked the face of the man who'd been pounding on the gate and rubbed his eyes.

"Sir. What brings you here at this hour?"

"Never mind what brings me here — is Seong-ho inside or not?"

"Yes. He's in, but—"

Once he'd confirmed that Seong-ho Kim was there, Sang-jong Lee shoved the steward aside with his hand and strode in.

The steward watched Sang-jong Lee rush up the stairs with a bewildered look, then closed the gate.

Climbing the stairs and cutting across the courtyard, Sang-jong Lee hurried toward the house where Seong-ho Kim and his wife lived.

"Seong-ho."

"Brother. What brings you here at this hour?"

The moment Sang-jong Lee spotted Seong-ho Kim, he strode over to him and reached out his hand.

"Come with me for a bit."

"Come with you? It's two in the morning right now. Where would we be going at this hour—"

Seong-ho Kim asked, sounding puzzled, but Sang-jong Lee didn't seem to hear him at all.

He stepped inside, took hold of Seong-ho Kim's wrist, and said.

"Come with me for a bit."

"Brother."

Seong-ho Kim, his wrist in Sang-jong Lee's grip, pulled back with an urgent, flustered look on his face.

"Oppa. What's going on?"

Gyeong-eun Lee, who'd followed Seong-ho Kim out into the living room, asked, turning to Sang-jong Lee.

Sang-jong Lee raised a hand toward Gyeong-eun Lee as if to say he was sorry.

"Sorry for the late hour. I'm going to borrow your husband for a bit. Don't worry too much."

Where Sang-jong Lee usually called him "Kim" or "President Kim," he'd now called him by his given name, with an unusual…