Though he had managed to both shake off "Ace Detective" Hei-Ryung and avoid any other distractions with relative success, it seemed that Youngjae simply wasn't destined to make it to this meeting on time. As he rounded the final corner Youngjae started picking up the pace for the final home stretch but was forced to stumble to an abrupt stop when a waiting obstruction came into his mouth. Barely managing to avoid a collision with the man who had stepped into his way, Youngjae was about to mumble an apology and shuffle around the person when he noticed that this wasn't just any employee. Clenching his jaw to keep himself from making any undesirable comments, Youngjae straightened his back and waited for Bi Dul to spill whatever was so obviously on his mind.

     "In a hurry?" The company's COO asked, tilting his head ever so slightly to the left so as to add a level of innocence to the question. Forcing a taught smile onto his face, Youngjae nodded briefly before moving to step around Bi Dul. Almost in perfect synchronization, Bi Dul followed Youngja'e motion and placed himself directly in the younger man's way once again. "Then I'll make this quick. Not that any glowing reviews from the employees of this company are going to help you in finding a new job once you're removed from this one. That is, if you're even able to look for employment while behind bars." Smug didn't even begin to describe the look of satisfaction on Bi Dul's face. Jaw still clenched, Youngjae let out a low hiss of annoyance under his breath as he impatiently waited for Bi Dul to get on with it.

    "Right, I forgot that you were on a bit of a time crunch. So, before I delay you any further, I'll just get on with it." Had he skipped the formalities and the string of faux niceties, Youngjae was sure that the man would have been able to say whatever he so direly needed to say and have been on his way. Only one of them was pressed for time, however, and Youngjae doubted that Bi Dul really cared about anyone's time but his own- especially when it came to Youngjae. "It was only a matter of time before we caught him, you know. Especially since you so unimaginatively picked someone from the most obvious of places. After a thorough investigation of all those employed in the financial department, we've turned up the man responsible for helping you. We've found your accomplice." The triumph in his voice was almost pitiable when contrasted against Youngjae's lack of reaction, especially when one considered the amount of buildup Bi Dul had thought necessary.

     After a few awkward seconds of silence had passed in which Bi Dul waited expectantly for Youngjae to show some sort of reaction to his accusation, the younger of the two caved. "How do you know he's an accomplice? Maybe there's only one culprit in this crime." The suggestion very obviously fell on deaf ears.

     "None of the money ended up in his personal account. Instead, the final traceable destination is a bank account the police have assured us he has no access to. He hasn't given any names up, but the police are certain that he wasn't doing this for his own gains- he was helping someone else."

     "So the police are unable to find out where the money is going after it reaches this bank account? How do they know he doesn't have to pay someone off and the account belongs to a third party?" Though anyone other than Bi Dul might have taken Youngjae's words a serious suggestion, it was apparent by the immediate look of deep-seated suspicion on the man's face that he saw it was practically a confession to the crime. "I'm just saying, you really don't seem to have any evidence at all," Youngjae reasoned. Once more, though, his words fell on deaf ears.

     "The evidence will come soon enough. In the mean time, I would suggest coming up with a better excuse for why you've been stealing from your own family's company." Obviously, Bi Dul was unfamiliar with the phrase 'innocent until proven guilty'. "Now I believe I've detained you for long enough, so this will be where we part ways. Have a good day, Mr. Yoo," the venom dripping from his every word felt as though it could materialize out of the thin air and be used as a weapon against Youngjae. With a curt nod, Bi Dul stepped out of Youngjae's way and began briskly moving down the hall, perhaps off to terrorize some other unfortunate employee that got in his way.

     For reasons beyond Youngjae, though, he turned to face Bi Dul's receding back and opened his mouth, apparently unable to let things go so easily. "For someone who claims to be so invested in the company's welfare, you certainly seem more interested in pinning all this on me than you are in finding out the real culprit. I think your time would be better spent attending to your own job's duties, rather than attempting to do the police's. Sir." Seeing the look of unhidden annoyance on Bi Dul's face, Youngjae tacked on the sir at the end to avoid seeming too impertinent. In reality, however, it only made him seem even more out of line.

     "I assure you, Mr. Yoo, that I am doing everything in my power to find the person siphoning out company funds without overstepping my bounds and infringing on the work of the esteemed men and women of our police force. While I am open to the possibility of a criminal other than yourself being inside the company, I am certainly not going to rule you out as a possibility. Nor am I going to pretend that you aren't a prime candidate for the number one suspect. We may have personal differences, Mr. Yoo, but that doesn't mean I am blindly pursuing you in the desperate hope of pinning something on you when the company is facing a very real problem." And with that, Bi Dul rounded the corner and left Youngjae to mull over what he had said. Sighing, Youngjae ran a hand through his hair and turned to head into the meeting he was now late for, bracing himself for the certain irritation he was to face.

Author's Note:

Man this was short and rough. I wanted to get something out there, though, so that I didn't just keep procrastinating on getting back to updating this fic. On a happier note, the semester is finally over and I've got an entire summer to look forward to so updates every weekend will be resuming d(^-^)b Thank you for all the nice comments and for those who stuck with the story through these past few months! You guys keep inspiring me to continue pressing forward with this, even if I'm really slow about it <3