In the silence of the dark, Doyeon sipped her iced coffee. The clock read 03:04, and Doyeon sighed before throwing her head back, a satisfying crack sounding from her neck. She was currently hunched over her desktop monitor, leaning forward dangerously from her chair with the lenses of her glasses illuminated by the sole light source of the computer screen. Doyeon hummed quietly as she accessed her email, to which she raised her eyebrows to. She had a new inquiry.

Final-ing-ly.

Doyeon never outwardly advertised herself on the internet. It wasn't that she was doing anything illegal— of course, she did bend around the rules sometimes— but more so that those who desperately sought her service always ended up finding her. It wasn't very difficult to find her website. What made reaching her difficult was getting through the encryptions that would allow one to truly use the website for what it was— submitting requests for Doyeon to fulfill or deny. To simply put it, if you knew, you knew.

The requests Doyeon received varied from simple things such as deleting an embarrassing photo of a client, from which Doyeon had gradually built her customer base off of; to spending months in order to delete revenge for those who were suffering in fear that they would be recognized. Of course, Doyeon had her own set of boundaries and work ethics when it came to undertaking.

Doyeon wasn't dumb. She wasn't going to risk a chance to sleep in a jail cell for some pocket change.

Doyeon had morals. She would never allow someone to use her service maliciously.

Doyeon was a perfectionist by nature. Well, she also had a reputation to live up to.

And the most important rule of all:

Doyeon had been doing this for years now, starting from her freshman year in university. She built her pseudo-career up from scratch. Doyeon didn't consider herself an amateur anymore, which meant that she would not allow herself to be paid like an amateur. She became more selective with the cases, now simply ignoring the small, cheap ones that piled up in her inbox everyday.

her lips in anticipation, Doyeon easily skimmed through the email. Her eyes were solely glued on the number that took her breath away.

₩ 200,000,000.

Leaning back into her chair, Doyeon read the vague note that was disclosed in the email.

Delete my social media profiles. Delete all data stored in my electronics. Make me into a virtual ghost.

This would be an easy bag for Doyeon to secure. A knowing smirk grew on her face—only for it to falter when she read the last sentence of the note.

Remove me from the government database.

"God, you look like the embodiment of hell."

Doyeon lazily flipped her middle finger up as her eyes snapped to the taller male towering over her work space. Doyeon's hair was tied in a low messy bun with hair sticking out everywhere, and her eyelids were mismatched from having stayed up too late. She sat in her signature Nike grey joggers matched with a light blue school hoodie that flaunted a big coffee stain down the front.

"Geez, someone hasn't reached their daily threshold of espresso yet," murmured Yugyeom, one of her lab associates at KAIST— the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

"I already downed 6 shots, Yugyeom," Doyeon sighed out, holding her head in her hands as her elbows rested on her desk.

"Wow, you're almost near the halfway point of your daily consumption level," Yugyeom chortled, glancing at his watch. "And it's not even noon yet."

Despite technically being in different years of study, Yugyeom was probably Doyeon's closest friend at her university. They had been admitted to the School of Computing in the same year, yet due to Yugyeom serving his mandatory two years in the military and Doyeon taking a co-op term in the previous year, Yugyeom was now studying as a 3rd year student and Doyeon as a 4th year. Somehow, as the two returned to their studies, they had found themselves catching up in the same research lab as the only two undergraduate students part of the latest project— researching quantum cryptography and information security.

Breaking the silence of the lab, Yugyeom spoke again, "So why do you look like you want to smash your head through the monitor already? We haven't even had our meeting yet."

"Trust me," Doyeon grimaced as she banged her head against the wooden surface of her desk. "You don't want to know."

Yugyeom only raised his eyebrows at Doyeon but began typing away on his own computer.

Truth be told, Doyeon's brain cells were nowhere near working on her task for the day. They were too busy taking up space in her brain, screaming at Doyeon to come to a decision on whether she would undertake the new case or not. If Doyeon had learned a thing or two during her time as a research assistant in a cryptology lab, it was that she was more than capable of not only accessing, but virtually hacking the government system. Besides, Doyeon had a knack for these things. It wouldn't be very difficult for Doyeon to locate and access the national database, she knew that much. It was the extensive security measures that Doyeon was apprehensive about. Would she be able to complete the job undetected by the government?

Assuming that she could complete the job undetected, it would take no longer than three days for her. Then 200 million won would be sitting in her bank. Oh, the things she could do with that money.

She could buy approximately 50,000 medium iced americanos.

Or 65,000 iced doppio espresso shots.

Of course, Doyeon knew better that to harbour all that money towards her caffeine addiction. She would only end up putting the money towards her student loans as well as her parents' debt.

Looking up to Yugyeom who seemed to be engrossed with his own task, Doyeon asked, "Coffee break?"

Yugyeom clicked his tongue as he shook his head.

"I think you mean lunch break," Yugyeom corrected Doyeon as he got up from his seat, which was directly across from Doyeon. "You're not allowed to drink anymore coffee today. Not on my watch."

"I hope I die from caffeine withdrawal symptoms," Doyeon joked, jabbing Yugyeom as they left their lab. "Then you can be charged for my death— something about negligence or denying me of my basic needs or whatever."

"First of all, I'm pretty sure you don't die from caffeine withdrawal," Yugyeom said with the roll of his eyes. "Though I'm pretty sure overconsumption of coffee can lead to death. Second, coffee is not a basic need for humans. Third, what are we feeling today— sushi?"

Doyeon made a face at Yugyeom as he held the door open for her.

"Not feeling fish. How about the school cafeteria today?"

"Too crowded," Yugyeom cringed, faking a look of terror. "I'd rather eat in the washroom than to sit between two social science students arguing about what the superior social science is again."

Doyeon snorted as she ran her pale fingers through her bangs.

"Brunch café?"

With Yugyeom's approval, the pair began heading towards the café which was in close vicinity