Joohyun is already seated at her desk when Luhan exits his office the next morning. He watches her turn to him, and then watches as her smile slips from her lips, and her face shifts into an expression of concern.

“Sir,” she says, her voice just barely heard over the hum of her computer. “Are you okay?”

Luhan allows his lips to tug upward, he knows it isn’t a smile, but he hopes its reassuring regardless. “I’m fine,” he says. “I’ve done all that’s needed to be finished by today, and left what you need to do in my office with a set of instructions.”

Joohyun nods her head to his words, glancing over to his closed office door and then back towards him.

"Will you not be returning to the office," she asks.

"Probably not," Luhan admits. "You don't have to lie on my behalf today. If someone needs to talk to me just give them my number."

"Okay," she says, her smile returning as she bids him goodbye.

****

Luhan doesn’t drive off right away once he gets to his car. He sits hunched forward, hands sweeping down the length of his face, and dragging back up as he thinks.

He tries to remedy the emptiness within, tries to think of Minseok as the lover he knew him as, but that doesn’t work. Those former feelings of happiness, of hopefulness and adoration, have gotten lost. So, he tries to see Minseok using President Kim’s eyes, as the Imperfect scum he was supposed to be, or as the pawn in a game of dominance, but the disgust never comes.

When he closes his eyes he sees Minseok in his childhood home, sitting beside him on the dusty tiled floor underneath the kitchen’s broken window, but he hears President Kim’s voice, condescending and vile. The emotions that should be there fizzle into a numbness, and the little voice in his head that sounds so similar to President Kim's but Luhan knows it's his own, is telling him to give it all up, to let the emotions swirling in his gut curl up and die. It whispers, reminding him of all the times he's been humiliated, and he listens and allows himself to believe that his newfound apathy is for the best.

****

Luhan’s apartment is empty when he opens the door. Minseok doesn’t have any personal items lying around, but Luhan can feel him in the apartment as if he’d embedded a piece of himself there for good.

He should have agreed when Minseok had said he could move out. Luhan could have ended things, and then went on pretending he never existed. At least then Minseok’s essence would have evaporated from his apartment, he wouldn’t have to deal with memories of sitting in the kitchen eating Minseok’s breakfast less than 24 hours ago.

Luhan pushes the thoughts out of his mind instantly. Instead he focuses his attention on getting himself cleaned up. Joohyun had looked at him as if he was on the edge of death, and from the few glances of his reflection he couldn’t blame her.

He’d spent most of his night in thought, and even if he had wanted to sleep his mind wouldn’t allow it. His insomnia kept him awake, kept him thinking even when his body ached with fatigue.

It takes ninety minutes for him to look more alive, most of the time spent under the warm spray of his showerhead, contemplating his next move. Once dressed and ready, Luhan walks over to the nightstand beside his bed, pulling things from the top drawer until all he sees is the smooth polish of wood. He glides his fingertips along the wood until his fingernail scraps a microscopic indentation.

He pulls with his nail, lifting it up until it reveals a hidden compartment. He takes out the only items within the compartment, and rearranges his drawer.

He sits on his bed, holding the possessions he’d retrieved. They’re both ordinary white packages, adorned with a tiny speck of color on each. The woman he'd brought them from had promised that they'd work as he wished, but he had been wary of testing them, worried that the side-effects would affect him differently. He drops the box with the bit of blue and opens the one left in his hand, wondering if Minseok had his own secret box stashed somewhere. Junmyeon, or was it Yixing, had said before that Imperfects were great at pretending, and Luhan had only just found out the length Imperfects went to impersonate Perfects.

He leaves both boxes on his bed, he sees no point in hiding contraband, when he’s been unwittingly harboring an Imperfect.

****

Minseok is at his desk when Luhan enters the office, his brown eyes are trained on his computer monitor as he types away.

"Is President Kim alone," Luhan asks, watching as Minseok lifts his head to look at him.

“Yes,” Minseok answers, he starts to say something else, but Luhan walks around his desk and enters the office, before the secretary can say more. He closes the door with more force than intended, watching as President Kim lifts his head to glare at him.

“What are you doing here,” the older man asks, the annoyance dripping from every word that leaves his mouth.

“Oh Sehun, one of the models I worked with has run away,” Luhan answers, stepping farther into the room. He’s sure President Kim doesn’t know Sehun by name alone, but specifying that Sehun was managed by Kyungsoo as well, would at least help him along a bit.

“What do you mean he’s run away,” President Kim asks. “Where has he run off to?”

“A compound,” Luhan replies swiftly, “Apparently he met an Imperfect and decided to run off with it. He’d left a letter to his roommate, also one of your models.”

“Have you told the authorities,” President Kim asks next.

Luhan shakes his head in answer, “He’s probably long gone by now, and I figured it would be better for our image if we told the public something different. We can’t be the company endorsed by Great Ruler and have our talents turning traitor, can we?”

President Kim stares at him, gaze hard and examining as if trying to read Luhan’s mind, and Luhan stares back. A spark of defiance alights within him, his eyes narrowing by subconscious demand in an act of challenge.

“Very well,” President Kim says with a nod of dismissal. Luhan tries his best not to smirk as he leaves the office, walking with his head high, refusing to spare Minseok a glance as he passes him.

“Luhan,” Minseok calls out to him when he’s steps away from the door. Luhan turns just a bit so he can look at the secretary. “Are you okay,” Minseok asks him, eyes bright with curiosity.

Luhan purses his lips in thought. He turns back towards the door and shakes his head. “No,” he says, turning fully to Minseok. “I don’t think I am.” He pauses once he’s standing beside Minseok, staring down at him with a ferocious intensity. “I’ve been trying to find answers to a few questions I’ve had since last night.”

“What questions,” Minseok asks him with a tilt of his head.

“The one I’m really curious about is, why would an Imperfect date a Perfect that detests their very being,” Luhan says. His eyes roam along the length of Minseok’s face watching for the slightest hint of a change of features.

Minseok frowns, but responds, “Why would a Perfect date an Imperfect if he detests them so much?”

“That’s a good question,” Luhan replies, “so let’s say this Perfect was conned into it. Unwittingly tricked into believing this Imperfect was not actually what they seemed to be. I can’t understand why the Imperfect would choose to stay with him though, especially if he says such nasty things about Imperfects.

“Coercion, maybe,” Minseok says, “or protection. If his hatred of Imperfects is so well known, no one would imagine he’d date one.”

“But,” Luhan starts, “What happens if the Perfect finds out? I imagine a person wouldn’t be able to keep such a secret for long. Does the Imperfect assume he’d be so smitten he won’t react rationally? Or does the Imperfect assume his hatred will just… stop? Like a fairytale?”

Minseok doesn’t say anything in return, his gaze is lost as he looks pass Luhan’s shoulder. Luhan bites his bottom lip, hating the emotion that passes over him as he softens his stare. “Sehun has run off with Tao,” Luhan says, watching as Minseok’s gaze snaps back towards him. “It happened two days ago, that was the emergency I had to deal with. I spent most of the day looking for him, instead I found just how far Imperfects were willing to go to leave the city and pretend to be Perfects.”

“Can you blame them,” Minseok asks. “Even the dumbest of animals will try their hardest to survive if they’re hunted, why should Imperfects be any different when they’re treated as such? Even Perfects have been known to do what they can to survive when threats emerge.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Luhan replies.

****

Kyungsoo's glare is as strong as it was when Luhan had walked out of Jongin's apartment days before, but he moves aside to allow Luhan to enter his apartment.

"What are you doing here," Kyungsoo asks him.

"Taking a personal day," Luhan replies. "I told President Kim about Sehun. We're thinking of some lie to feed the media when the time comes. Where's Kai?"

"He went back to District Five, I think Sehun's departure reminded him of their families."

"Hopefully he doesn't tell Sehun's parents about the situation. No mother wants to hear that her son has become a traitor."

"What are you doing here," Kyungsoo asks. "I know it's not to make small talk and I know it's not to apologize about being an .”

"I'll apologize about being an the moment you do," Luhan retorts in a childish manner. He falls down onto Kyungsoo's couch, leaning his head back and closing his eyes as he tries to gather his thoughts. "How long have you known?"

"What–" Kyungsoo starts, but Luhan continues speaking.

"I figured you found out before our flight to Phoenix City, but at your dinner party you told me not to trust him, so did you know sooner?"

"You're talking about Minseok," Kyungsoo asks.

"Yes, I'm talking about Minseok," Luhan says, opening his eyes just so he can roll them at the younger. "Of course I'm talking about Minseok, or do you have more things you're hiding from me." He pauses drawing in a deep breath and continues to speak.

"You know, I didn't want to do this in person. I thought if I saw your face it would make me angrier. It's one thing to be lied to by President Kim, it's another to be lead on and lied to by a man I just met, but to be lied to by you… When Sehun ran away you looked at me as if I had planted the idea in his head, just because I never told you about his relationship. You acted like I betrayed you, yet all along you were hiding even worse things behind my back. Did President Kim promise you a nice big promotion, or were you just happy to pass along your duties to someone new?"

"Luhan, I don't–" Kyungsoo starts, trying to speak once more.

"Don't lie, Kyungsoo," Luhan retorts. "Let's not play pretend. You knew, and even if you didn't, you had a theory that you didn't believe was important enough to tell me about. So I want answers. Why did you feel as though I didn’t need to know what Minseok was hiding? You can put on that mask that hides your emotions and I won't get upset, I'd prefer it. President Kim wants me to be a better Perfect, so you should show me how the perfect... Perfect has no qualms about betraying friends."

"I wasn't trying to deceive you," Kyungsoo says. "I thought it was strange, some of the things Sehun and Jongin were telling me about him, and then I found out about your infatuation and it made me suspicious. I know how our people work, Luhan, they're conniving and willing to do illegal things to achieve their desires, so I got someone to find out some information on him, but the things I was finding out didn't make sense. The person that was helping me said that it meant that he was hiding something."

"Who was the person helping you," Luhan asks, feeling as if Kyungsoo was hiding something else.

"Junmyeon," Kyungsoo answers. "One of the first things we found out was that Minseok has a sister that lives four houses down from Jongin, but her chip revealed nothing about a brother, and they usually have adopted and biological family members. From there, all the information begun to point to the same conclusion. Junmyeon and Yixing don't care about every Imperfect that lies to live, they care about the Red Devils and those that aid the Red Devils, so when we found out that Minseok was an Imperfect, we left it alone. I was going to tell you to stay away from him, but then you told me about President Kim threatening him, so I made a different decision."

"A decision that had you standing on the side watching as I fell for him," Luhan says. "What makes you think that I haven't informed anyone about him being an Imperfect?"

"Because you're too in love with him," Kyungsoo says. "We were working on a way to extract him from under President Kim's hand, and we didn't tell you because your hatred of Imperfects could have had you doing something irrational."

"When did you grow a heart," Luhan asks sarcastically. "It doesn't matter that I got hurt because of him, it doesn't matter that he's spying on me for President Kim, because he's the poor weak Imperfect, and I'm the irrational, too emotional First Generation Perfect. Do you even realize that your reasoning for not telling me was the reason why President Kim thought it was a good idea to use him to spy on me?"

"This isn't about you being a First Gen," Kyungsoo says.

"But it is," Luhan replies. "Me being a First Gen, is an integral part of it. I've resolved myself to that fact by the way, I'll always be a First Gen. While you saw two outcomes, one more severe than the other, you justify your choice by saying that my pain is smaller than Minseok's, you ignore everything in between, because you're main objective was to help Minseok and keep me from hurting him, regardless of rather he was lying or spying on me.”

"I didn't want you to be the reason Minseok was brought to one of the detention centers for Imperfects," Kyungsoo says. "If you knew what they did and had him go, you wouldn't be able to live with yourself. I did it for you as well."

Luhan laughs. "Thank you for the betrayal Kyungsoo, that's what you want me to say right? I'm not mad at you for keeping Minseok safe, I'm mad at you for not trusting me enough to tell me about what he was hiding. I'm mad that you allowed me to fall in love with him when he was using me. Even now, you keep saying that telling me would have led to him being sent away, which means you still don't believe that I would have been objective about the situation. You believed, just like President Kim, that I was ruled by emotions and moods, and so, you had no problem watching me fall for him because like you said now I can't hurt him because I'm 'too in love with him'."

When Kyungsoo doesn’t speak up again, Luhan rises from his seat. “I’d hoped that you were hiding Minseok’s secret for a different reason,” Luhan says. “I won’t be reporting Minseok, not because of what you think, but because it would hurt him and not President Kim. That man would love for me to turn on Minseok, he doesn’t care about him or any person’s life he ruins as long as it doesn't affect him, and I’d hate to bring him such happiness.”

He doesn’t tell Kyungsoo the true reason why he won’t report Minseok, he’d lost all chances of that information after having his lies revealed. Luhan had no clue what he was going to do with Minseok, and it was worrying. He couldn’t stand to look at Minseok any longer, and yet he wanted to hear his side of the story even though he doubted he’d be able to forgive the secretary easily.

“If our roles were reversed I would have told you,” Luhan says, “It Jongin was the one lying to you I would have told you the minute I suspected something. Maybe that’s a flaw too, Maybe First Gens think too highly of those we call friends.”

****

Luhan picks up Minseok hours later, noticing the look of surprise and relief that crosses his features when he sees Luhan’s car. It makes him inquisitive, wondering what had went through Minseok’s mind last night when he saw Luhan’s car but couldn’t get in contact with the former model.

Had he returned to their… Luhan’s place?
Had he been worried?
Had he been relieved?

The car ride back to his apartment is quieter than it’s ever been. Minseok sits silent more so than usual, his eyes lingering on the surrounding buildings and the passing cars, fingers playing with the cuff of his sleeve.

When Luhan isn’t sneaking glances at Minseok, he’s thinking about the inevitable confrontation. He can barely focus on the drive, the lights of the city and the cars are giving him a headache, and so he pulls over.

His mind is overloading with thoughts until he yanks forward the one thing that’s been consistent since the night before. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What,” Minseok asks, voice barely above a whisper and barely heard over the rush of traffic around them.

“Why didn’t you tell me,” Luhan asks, turning towards him. “It’s the one thing I’ve been wondering since last night, and after talking to Kyungsoo I think I know, but I want to hear from you. Why didn’t you tell me President Kim was threatening you, Minseok?”

So I'm soooooooo sorry about this cliffhanger, I stopped where my brain told me to stop and if I tried to continue on it would take two months before I was done with this chapter. I'm also sorry this chapter took so long it was actually really hard to write and I scrapped a lot of my original ideas for this.