` when i say i'm back, i mean it this time. this is a longer chapter than usual and i think it's one of the more exciting chapters i've wrote. or at least, i hope you guys can feel the excitement. please enjoy! once again, not proof read. HAHA

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Jihyo wasn’t as ignorant or innocent like they thought she was. She knew what’s going on and she knew that Jeongyeon, Jinyoung and even Taecyeon were tired. They were all just putting on a strong front for her even though it’s her father who did all these to them. Even when she’s just an outsider.

She lifted her head from her hands which were tightly clasped around Jaebum’s, a sad smile forming on her lips.

“You really found yourself a real family, Jaebum.” Jihyo whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. How lonely had it been for him before he met these friends? Even back then when they were studying, Jihyo never tried to understand him deeply; she thought she did but in fact, she didn’t. Thinking back about it, she really did act like a spoilt princess and he’s always okay with it. She even got the cheek to get mad at him for breaking up with her.

Jihyo scoffed at her own thoughts.

“All these while, you were protecting me.” Jihyo stood up but her gaze was still on the unconscious Jaebum. “This time, I will protect you.”

With those words, she left the room and headed to where she thought Taecyeon would be in. 

---

“Are you very sure about this?” Jeongyeon sat down in front of her and asked after Taecyeon filled her and Jinyoung with Jihyo’s decision.

Jihyo looked at her then up at Jinyoung who’s standing behind Jeongyeon with his arms folded. She recognised that expression, it was the same expression Taecyeon had earlier when she told him. 

Like Jaebum, they didn’t want her involved but she’s not the spoilt princess as she was before now.

“I’m sure.” Jihyo gave them a firm nod. “You guys might think that I’m oblivious or is still the spoilt princess—“ She caught the apologetic faces of the other three and laughed. “Don’t feel sorry, I indeed was but I don’t want to be one anymore. I want to help you. I want to…” Jihyo took in a deep breath and continued. “I want to help you bring my father and Jaebum’s uncle down. And you’ve got to admit it, I’m the one who would be able to make getting information easier.”

Taecyeon, Jinyoung and Jeongyeon stayed silence for a while, taking in Jihyo’s words which honestly took them by surprise. But at the same time, their brain was working too.

“You guys already had some plans, right?” Jihyo asked and once again, the others were stunned. They did discuss about it before.

“Well…” Jeongyeon started hesitantly but Taecyeon beat her to it.

“Welcome to our team then, Jihyo!” The man smiled. “But there’s no rush yet; there are a lot more things we need before we can have you involved.”

Jihyo returned the smile; this time, it’s a smile filled with determination.

And thus, while Sunmi’s side was hectic, Taecyeon’s side didn’t get to rest either. They needed more evidence, more details and a new program which means, more work for Taecyeon and Jeongyeon. Although it ended up becoming all on Jeongyeon since Taecyeon’s needed on the other side. Which was why Jinyoung ended up being the one as a messenger and along with Jihyo, he had to take care of Jaebum.

 Until one day, things had to be on hold when they received that message from Bambam.

“Jisung woke up.”

---

When Nayeon reached the empty store, she spotted Jinyoung and Jeongyeon running towards it too. It seemed like they’d all received the same message. It’s been a while she had seen Jeongyeon and she could tell that the latter hadn’t been resting much. The eye bags and weight loss gave them all away.

“Are you okay?” Nayeon went up to Jeongyeon and asked. Even though it was a stupid one, no one’s okay right now.

“I’m alive.” Jeongyeon gave her an assured smile then gave her a pat on her arm. “Let’s go in.”

Nayeon nodded as they head towards the basement with Jinyoung in tow.

Even before they stepped into the bunker, they could hear Mark’s raised voice.

“No, I said no!” He was standing in front of Jisung who was hiding behind him. The way he was gripping onto Mark’s shirt didn’t seem like what a young man would do. Instead, he was acting more like a lost child. 

All three of them walked towards the helpless Bambam who was just standing by the side.

“What’s happening?” Jinyoung took off his sunglasses and asked in a whisper.

“Jisung’s memories are stuck in the year he got separated with Mark. Taecyeon and Sunmi wants him to remember what had happened but Mark disagreed.”

“He lost 10 years of his life, Mark. He needs those memories to be able to continue living as a human boy!” Taecyeon’s loud voice made the four of them turned to the argument.

“He doesn’t need to know what he had done!” Mark bellowed. “It could be painful for him!”

“Mark…” Sunmi stepped forward but before she could even say anything, Jinyoung interrupted and stepped in front of Mark.

“We can discuss about this next time.” Jinyoung stopped the two older adults from approaching, giving them a look for them to stop.

“Alright.” Taecyeon and Sunmi both sighed at the same time, knowing that this was going nowhere.

“There won’t be a next time.” Mark said coldly and brought Jisung back to where the mattress was. As much as he wanted to bring Jisung out, he’s still logical enough to understand the danger of exposing Jisung.

---

Taecyeon and Sunmi gave the brothers a quick glance then joined the others by the side of the room. Maybe it’s too fast to make a decision.

“The both of you should rest.” Bambam stated the moment they stood in front of them. “You haven’t been resting much ever since we got Jisung back and that was more than a month ago. I’m surprised none of you had collapsed yet.”

“You’re one to talk.” Jinyoung flicked his fingers against Bambam’s cheek. “Nayeon was complaining to me that you weren’t eating much.”

“As if you were.” Jeongyeon scoffed right after.

“I heard from Jinyoung that you’ve been working non stop tho.” Nayeon interrupted her. “Before any of you decided to point their fingers at me, I do rest and eat!”

“Liar.” Jinyoung, Bambam and Jeongyeon all said at once.

“Your eye bags are darker than mine.”

The four of them narrowed their eyes at each other and that scene made both Taecyeon and Sunmi chuckled. 

“All of you should rest too but,” Sunmi turned to look at Mark and Jisung again. “I think someone should get Mark to rest.”

“I will prepare a baseball bat!” Jinyoung suggested, stepping in front to block Nayeon from Sunmi’s gaze. The older woman didn’t know anything after all. “That would be the last resort I mean.”

Jeongyeon smacked him on the back of his head as Jinyoung smiled nervously and shrugged. His actions did earned him a few confused look but it’s better to separate Mark and Nayeon for now.

---

Jinyoung walked towards where the brothers were and sat down beside Mark whose gaze followed him as he did so. Jisung looked at the newcomer and smiled.

“Hello, I am Jisung.”

“Hello Jisung, I’m Jinyoung.” The older man returned a smile then pat Jisung’s head gently. “But you really shouldn’t be going around telling strangers your name.”

“But you’re not a stranger.” Jisung looked at him with a confused look. “I saw you earlier, you are a friend of Mark.”

Jinyoung blinked and smiled again, this time a little more playful as he hooked his arm around Mark’s neck which the latter protested but Jinyoung just pulled him closer to himself.

“Actually, we are best friends!” Jinyoung grinned at Jisung but before he could continue, someone jumped onto the two of them.

“I thought I am Mark’s best friend!” Bambam exclaimed, his two arms hooked around Mark’s neck from the back. “I’ve been with him longer than you! Right, Mark?”

“You guys—“ Mark muttered as he tried to get himself out of their hold, in vain. “Get off me!”

A scoff reached the ears of the three men and when they all turned back to look, it was Jeongyeon who had her armcrossed that greeted them. Nayeon was just standing beside her, looking amused.

“As Jaebum’s assistant, I feel the need to defend his position too.”

“Jeongyeon, you too?” Mark looked at her with a rare look of disbelief. 

“Not me, my boss.” Jeongyeon shrugged.

And thus, the argument between the three of them started again with Jinyoung and Bambam refusing to let go of a very annoyed Mark. Watching by the side, Nayeon giggled at the scene. It might not be obvious to Mark but it was obvious to her that the rest of them were just trying their best to ease the tension Mark had earlier. Which she thought they succeed since Mark’s body and face weren’t as tense as before. 

Her gaze then shifted to Jisung who’s smiling widely and laughing whenever Jinyoung or Bambam talked to him. That innocence in his smile, maybe that was what Mark was trying to protect. With that thought, Nayeon’s gaze subconsciously went onto Mark, despite his protests and complaints, he did not push Bambam, who’s still clinging onto him, away. Seeing that Mark seemed a little more relaxed than the past months, Nayeon couldn’t help but smile.

She only realised that she was staring when her eyes met with Mark’s. Her smile faded immediately as she cleared , her eyes darting everywhere except on him. 

If she had not looked away that quickly, she would have realised that Mark’s gaze lingered on her for a short moment.

That, however, did not escape from Jinyoung’s observation.

---

After a short discussion between Taecyeon and Sunmi, the topic on Jisung was never brought up anymore. They had all agree that the priority now was to protect Jisung and Jihyo. Also, they still had three main bosses to bring down. 

Jisung was sent to Jinyoung’s resort first along with Mark and Udon. It’s dangerous to put Jaebum, Jihyo and Jisung together in one place but all of them had also agreed that it’s the easiest way to protect them. Sunmi had also compressed most of the programs in all the other equipments and desktops so they could just work on their own individual laptop.

And thus, both the truck and the bunker was abandoned.

It was fortunate that it was summer vacation for Nayeon and Bambam since they were both very wanted and needed on the team for their new mission.

“What am I supposed to tell my parents?” Nayeon questioned when they asked her to stay at the resort together. But that was an easy issue because Jeongyeon was the one who went to talk to them, coming up with a lie saying that the company had a special project for Nayeon as an intern. 

It’s time to end this war and win it. 

---

The different broadcast stations were in chaos when both the idol Junior and the Im Corps announced a sudden press conference on the same day and same time. Both with breaking news too.

Im Jaebum’s sudden disappearance and the truth behind Chairman’s deteriorating health.

The reappearance of idol Junior. 

“Jihyo, are you sure you can do this?” Taecyeon asked one last time.

“You’re such a nag.” Jihyo’s haughty self appeared although everyone could tell that it’s a pretense she put up. “I’m ready to do this.”

“Well then…” Taecyeon looked at Sunmi who walked up to Jihyo. She then helped put a small brooch on Jihyo’s white blouse.

“What’s this?”

“Spy cam.” Sunmi smiled. “You will know later.”

Confused, Jihyo stared at Sunmi but the latter turned to Jinyoung before she could asked more question.

“You nervous?” 

Jinyoung looked at everyone who was looking at him and chuckled.

“I’m not.” He shrugged but added on. “But that would be a big fat lie. This is like an exaggerated resignation letter but I will do it well. It will work right?”

“Don’t worry, they know we are after them. Humans won’t be enough.” This time it was Taecyeon who assured him which Jinyoung gave him a firm nod as a response. Seeing his determined look, Taecyeon then turned to the rest of the team.

“Ready for war?” He half joked and at the same time observed everyone’s expression which already gave him the answer. “Let’s go then.”

---

After the sudden announcement, it was only the media that was in chaos. That was enough to catch Im Jongmin, Park Sangwon and Yang Jungseob by surprise. What made it worse was the fact that both press conference had already started when they knew about it. 

“Just what are those lunatics trying to pull again?” Park Sangwon walked towards his main office with big steps. KC Telecom had only recently calmed the public with the previous controversy and Jihyo had been missing since that day.

“Hey Daddy.” The voice of his daughter was what greeted him when he opened the door to his main office.

“J-Jihyo?” Park Sangwon stared at his daughter, completely taken aback by her sudden appearance. “Where have you been? Did those lunatics take you away?”

“Lunatics?” Jihyo scoffed, her tears unconsciously welling up in her eyes. There wasn’t even any need for acting. “You call them lunatics when all they done was to protect me!”

“I don’t know what they’ve told you but don’t believe what they said. What I’m doing was for you too!”

“For me? Really? How was killing Jaebum’s father for me? And the program that’s installed in all the wifi system of KC Telecom? The schemes you have with Im Jongmin and Yang Jungseob! Did I ask for all of these? How are those for me?”

“Jaebum’s father was too weak to handle anything—“

“Because you guys tried to kill him! Just like how you guys tried to kill Jaebum too!”

“Jaebum’s accident wasn’t part of the plan! He found out too much about us, he took you away from me, he— He had to die.”

Jihyo stared at her father in disappointment, her tears flowing down. She’s angry that those words came out from her father’s mouth and he didn’t seem to have any remorse too.

“The person who was supposed to get hurt was me…” Jihyo spoke quietly. “Jaebum saved me.” Her eyes never left her father’s face which was now filled with shock at this revelation. “Jaebum saved me, he saved me!” She yelled out her last few words before she finally broke down into tears. 

Right at that moment, the door of the office slammed open and a small group of detectives walked in, one of them putting handcuffs on Park Sangwon, leaving him no time to react. The rest of the detectives went around his office and confiscated all the documents and computer.

“Park Sangwon, you’re now arrested for attempted murder, national privacy intrusion and illegal business practices. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney.”

“Jihyo you—“

Jihyo watched her father being brought away by the detectives. She had no idea why but for some reason, she couldn’t help but feel relief.

In the conference room of the Im Corporation building, a large screen was behind Jeongyeon and on it, it showed Park Sangwon being taken away by the cops.

A while ago…

“Thank you everyone for coming here on such a short notice. I’m Yoo Jeongyeon, Im Jaebum is my boss and I’m sure you’re wondering where he was. Today, you will be getting your answers.”

“Ms Jeongyeon, did Im Jaebum sent you here?”

“Is it true he kidnapped Miss Park Jihyo?”

“What about the controversy about the competition between him and Im Jongmin?”

Jeongyeon simply smiled and turned to her side, speaking in a quiet tone.

“Mark, ready?” 

“Enjoy yourself.” Came Mark’s short reply.

The screen behind Jeongyeon light up and that was her cue to walk to the side. On it, it showed Park Sangwon and all the conversation he had with Jihyo was shown. When Jihyo mentioned about them attempting to murder Im Jongsoo, the screen switched. 

This time it showed the CCTV footage they had seen before. However, this time it was followed by the faces of Park Sangwon and Im Jongmin. 

“What’s your mission?” Im Jongmin was the one who asked.

“To stay in the hospital and to add this substance—“ The screen now showed a hand holding up a bottle. “Into Im Jongsoo’s medical drip.”

More murmurings came from the reporters this time.

The sound of sirens could be heard soon after and Jeongyeon who’s by the side spoke quietly again.

“What did you do?”

“That’s Sunmi’s present to Jaebum and you. As for me, I simply make this press conference live for half the nation. The other half is probably on Jinyoung’s press conference.”

“All of you are ruthless.” Jeongyeon grinned.

Back in one of the resort room, Mark smiled at those words.

---

The light from the camera flashed non stop when Jinyoung stepped into the conference room. His manager had appeared to stop him but Jinyoung ignored him as he continued to walk up the stand.

Giving the reporters a bright smile, Jinyoung greeted them in his own cheeky manner.

“Hello everybody, miss me? Or rather, do you miss digging dirt on me? However, you don’t have to worry anymore, I’m giving you all the information you want.”

Many hands from the reporters shot up in the air, wanting to ask questions. But Jinyoung stopped them.

“Before you ask any questions, let me show you something really interesting.”

The lights of the conference room dimmed as the screen light up. Loud scream echoed the room which shocked everyone; right there was the footage Bambam and Taecyeon saw on the night they rescued Sunmi and Jisung. The footage soon zoomed in to Im Jongmin’s face.

“004, just in case she managed to snap out from the brainwash when she meet those pests again, kill them all. Including her.”

The footage stopped there, they had made sure to not include Jisung in their plan no matter what.

“What was that about?”

“Why are you not giving us clear answers? Is that your way of avoiding—“

“Be patient.” Jinyoung still had the same cheeky smile on his face. “That was a brainwashing process. They turned a living person into a controllable humanoid.”

“That’s not possible! How do we know if you’re lying or not?”

Before Jinyoung could answer, Bambam’s voice came from the ear bud he’s wearing. 

“Large frequency can be found now, I will tell you the androids’ position.”

The short silence from Jinyoung made the reporters even more doubtful but Jinyoung took control of the situation right after once more.

“I can show you proof.” Jinyoung smiled wider, pointing at the man in black standing in the corner. “That guy over there, he’s going to be turned off.”

And as what he said, the man’s head dropped down first and same goes for his previous serious posture. 

“That cameraman too!” This time Jinyoung pointed at one of the cameraman who dropped his camera right after he pointed him out. Similar to the previous android, his head dropped too.

“Ah you there, the reporter sitting by the side on the third row!”

The same thing happened.

Right at that moment, four guards walked into the conference room and headed towards Jinyoung.

“All of them too!”

It happened again as the four androids stayed at their spot, not moving at all despite being right in front of Jinyoung. Silence filled the room after they witnessed what had happened.

“Do you believe me now? If you still don’t, maybe it’s time to really interrogate each and everyone of the staff in this building. There are still humans of course but androids are walking everywhere.”

Just as he finished speaking, sirens could be heard from outside the building. Jinyoung grinned again then bowed before he walked out from the room.

“Taecyeon made your press conference live for half a nation. The cops are probably heading towards Yang Jungseob with a group of mannequins greeting them as they walked.”

“We managed to shut down all the androids in this building.” Nayeon added on to what Bambam had said. “Sunmi were on fire.”

“I’m heading back to the van now and you guys weren’t kidding about mannequins all around the building.”

“Good job all of you.” Taecyeon spoke up now that everyone’s communication network are linked again and that included Mark and Jeongyeon. “Someone should pick Jihyo up, she’s probably still in shock.”

“I’ve already sent Udon over.” Jeongyeon responded. “We have way bigger issue now.” 

Everyone stayed silent at how serious and solemn Jeongyeon sounded.

“Im Jongmin escaped.”

---

i can't let all the bad guys get captured so easily right? after all he's the final boss. i hope you have enjoyed the chapter and comments or votes are very very very welcome and appreciated because i want to see who's left HAHA. i will see you guys in the next chapter!