Chapter Twenty-Three

The loud sounds of children yelling and screaming were the first things that hit me as we walked into the building. The bright flashing lights and coloured screens were the next. The third thing to hit my senses was the strong sour stench of sweat and perspiration.

Where am I?

I’m in an arcade.

Why am I here?

To finally solve who is the one responsible for the fake reports.

How will this place help?

Well, it’s more about the person who owns it that will help.

‘Are you sure that he is here today?’ I asked Minki.

‘He’s here everyday. He says he doesn’t trust others running it when he isn’t here,’ he replied, scanning his eyes through the hustle and bustle of the dimly lit arena.

‘Okay, well what does he look like?’ I asked Minki. Perhaps if I could help try and locate this computer genius then maybe we could get out of here soon. This smell of sweat is invading my senses and is quite sickening really, and yet Minki doesn’t react one bit to it. Maybe it’s me, then? Maybe it’s just the pregnancy hormones.

‘You’ll hear him before you even see him. He has this psychotic laugh – it’ll literally give you nightmares,’ He shivered.

‘Why do I feel like I should be dreading this?’ I slightly sighed. Do things ever seem to make sense anymore? Should I even bother questioning it?

‘Ah, Minki-ah, you’re only saying that because you miss me,’ a loud voice popped in from behind us.

‘This Kyung Mi, is my evil genius friend, Jaehwan. Jaehwan, this is Kyung Mi, my work colleague,’ Minki introduced us as I nodded my head slightly. This isn’t the usual place I would expect a genius – an arcade full of children. I would have imagined a genius either sitting in his millions after selling whatever knowledge products they have or in some sort of lab or other stereotypical place.

‘I’m assuming this isn’t a social call, is it?’ Jaehwan asked with a brow raised.

‘Not really, ‘ Minki responded, ‘We need some computer help.’ Minki hinted.

‘Alright, well I have my laptop in the office. We can go in there and discuss it,’ Jaehwan said, leading us to a small cramped office with stacks of paper everywhere. Have you ever seen a college dorm during final week? That is what this office looks like but even worse.

‘Sorry about the mess, I don’t really use this office much,’ he sheepishly apologized as he cleared the chairs surrounding the only table in the room.

‘Sorry for dropping in unannounced,’ I apologized, ‘this isn’t that messy. I have papers all over my desk.’ It’s true, if our desks weren’t so in the open, all my files and folders would be as chaotic as this room. Being organised isn’t always my biggest strength. But it’s not that I can’t find my things, I know exactly where each page is. The untrained eye would not be able to find things but I know where each and every thing is, well that is until I actually need it. When I don’t need it I find it within a second, when I do need it, it takes a little more time.

‘What is it that you guys need help with?’ he asked, as he his laptop and cracked his knuckles in what Minki described as warming up for some seriously fast typing.

‘We need to locate where these files are being entered from,’ I began to explain, ‘their on our work database but anyone with a login to our cloud can upload a case file there. We need to know who exactly is uploading them.’

‘I just need to make sure that you know what you’re asking for,’ Jaehwan asked, looking me dead straight in the eyes, without that slight playfulness from before. ‘You want me to break the law, and potentially go to jail and bring you along with me,’ he explained the consequences.

I want to know the reason why these cases have been uploaded; I want to know why someone has been using Chaeyeon’s identity.

But am I willing to break the law for it? Am I willing to send someone to jail if we get caught? Am I willing to spend time there? Who knows how long I will need to be there for. If I go to jail, my baby will be born there. They’ll take him away from me – they’ll label me unfit.

 Maybe I don’t want this anymore – maybe I sho