Y Hello my cutie readers! It’s been a while hasn’t it? Anyhoo, I just wanted to apologize for the long chapter last time. Honestly, I had no idea where to stop it without dragging the story or making it sound choppy so I just made it long. I will shorten the chapters from now on though! Oh and to avoid any confusion, I decided to make all of Donghae’s thoughts in blue while your thoughts will be in pink. Once again thank you all for your support! Enjoy! :)

It was an extremely exhausting day at work and Secretary Jin did not want to do anything except sleep the night away. Unfortunately, his slumber was cut short since he had to first deliver the client information for the cuisine business to his boss.

Aish! I have to come after a day full of endless meetings and crazy rants about inaccurate marketing techniques! When will I ever keep my promise to my little boy to read him a proper bedtime story? Aigoo!!!

Jin was the only member of the entire cuisine business that was close with the Lee family. This was mostly because he was the only one who was able to walk in and out of the household. Although, Mr. Lee has had many secretaries over the years, he seemed to value Jin due to his strong work ethics. 

Jin finally reached the Lee residence around 9:00 pm and noticed most of the lights were out.

"I wonder if everyone is sleeping," he said softly before turning off the engine. He parked the car and proceeded to march towards the back entrance of the house. He walked through the paved pathway within the rose garden which was lit up by Chinese lanterns and fireflies. While walking up the main stairs to the back door, he turned around to see a parked car with the lights on near the front black gates.

“I wonder who that is,” Jin thought but then saw the car take off into the night. He managed to catch a glimpse of a bumper sticker in the back but assumed it was some crazy teenage kid driving through town.

Jin shrugged and entered the house with the spare key that his Boss gave him in case of informing him about business issues and dire emergencies. The door softly creaked open and everything remained quiet and only thing that could be heard were the crickets chirping outside.  It was quite strange. The house seemed as if it has been inhabited for decades. There was no one in sight. It was possible that all the maids were either in the servant quarters or had gone home for the night. He was certain that Mr. Lee was home since he had just called him thirty minutes ago to arrive at his office.

"Hwe Jang Nim ?" Secretary Jin spoke into the intercom mounted on the wall of the living room, “I have arrived with the files you wanted.”

Silence.

He shuddered as an icy cold wind sped through the house from the open windows. Still, he saw no sign of his boss. By this time, Mr. Lee would have definitely heard him and ordered him to come upstairs to his office. But strangely enough, Jin heard absolutely nothing. He made his way towards the front of the house and took the elevator to the top floor. Upon arriving, what he heard next made him cringe in fear.

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop.

All the lights were turned off, thereby adding to the strange and daunting atmosphere. Even the office was empty. By this time, his body began to quiver and all the color drained from his face. He walked closer to the wooden banister where the dripping noises intensified. Breathing heavily, he peaked over the edge and saw a body laying unconscious on the floor with blood seeping across the granite floor. His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat.

“Hwe-Hwe Jang – Ani. It-It can’t be!” he stammered and tried making his was down the stairs as quickly as possible. He tightly gripped the banisters as his feet began to grow numb. Blood dripped from one step to another until it eventually formed a large pool at the bottom of the staircase. Once Secretary Jin reached the granite floors, he bent down and slowly turned the body over.

Please don’t let it be him!

He slowly opened his eyes and saw that same soft face he had been seeing for the past few months. Immediately, his heart began to beat rapidly and tears began forming in his eyes.

“Ani,” he whispered while dipping his ear towards Mr. Lee’s chest to hear a heartbeat, “Aniyo! Na otteoke?” Mr. Lee’s heart had stopped beating which further increased his alarmed state. But there was no time to panic! He had to do whatever he could to save his Boss! Jin gently placed Mr. Lee onto the cold floor and wiped his tears away. He then dialed his cell phone with his blood stained fingers and proceeded to call for help.

Two Hours Ago . . .

            Donghae rested his forehead upon the steering wheel of his car. He decided to drive to class by himself today instead of taking the usual limousine. This was mainly because he had to do his routine check up of his restaurants as instructed by his father. He ran his fingers through his hair completely aggravated by the situation he was in since he would rather be at home laying on his bed and stare at the ceiling. It was much more productive! Can this day get any worse? He turned the engine off and lazily sauntered up the sidewalk and into the restaurant. Manager Jung instantly greeted him as did Ae Young and Bong Cha who stood watching in curiosity behind the counter.

He began questioning the manager regarding the financial issues of the restaurant as well as the worker salaries. He also spent a couple of more minutes auditing and inspecting the restaurant as a whole before leaving. Donghae prepared to gather all his paperwork when a group of college kids caught his eye. They seemed to look awfully familiar. Weren’t they in the same seminar with him? How could he even forget? You were in his class as well! Talk about 80 minutes of pure awkwardness! Donghae made sure to sit as far away from you as possible within the class. This did come with its setbacks since he was always surrounded by those annoying girls who kept pestering him with their fake aegyo, showering him with gifts and trying so hard to touch him or start up some conversation.

The group of guys were casually sitting and laughing in the corner of the restaurant while drinking some soju and eating so ko gee (beef). Donghae gazed upon them with a questionable look in his eyes. As he walked closer to the reception desk, he found their conversation to be extremely intriguing, especially because they were all talking about you.

            “So what did I tell you?” one of the tall guys asked, “I told you I’d find out where Mei Ri worked.”

            “Nice job Brian,” a guy with single eyelids spoke up, “Did you get to talk to her?”

            Brian played with his chopsticks and answered, “No, I don’t even think she recognized us.”

            “Have you tried Kevin?” the third guy asked in his Satoori accent. Kevin shook his head.

            “Why don’t you befriend her Brian?” Kevin asked.

            “Me? Ask Simon to do it.”

            “No way, you are better with them than us,” Simon replied.

            Donghae discreetly looked through the fliers on the desk while focusing on their conversation. He did not like where this was going.

            “And after y