The atmosphere in our small office was as thick as my mom´s knitted sweater. If I cut the atmosphere with a knife, I would get the biggest piece of air cake ever. And the cause of it? Leeteuk´s morning gathering of course. Most of my kind is supposed to be gone in a few years. I´m somewhere in the middle when it comes to the age so I should go sometime during the year after this one. I like to think that I´m the lucky one and go with the rest and not sooner, yet Heechul would always tell me that I´m the most unlucky person. But I don´t dare to hope to be between those forty percent that make it until twenty-five. From then on, according to the summary we were given, the survival is only uncertain. If I´m scared? Definitely.

But that doesn´t mean, I will throw everything behind. I got an extraordinary chance to do something for my equally unlucky fellows. You can´t cure being a chimera, this is no illness, it´s genetics. But I can at least find the justice for them and make them remembered. As their bodies are being burnt in silence without any family or friends, their names deleted, their presence forgotten, I will do my best to make chimeras acknowledged. I will take the revenge and uncover the Likya organisation. I will keep the promise I gave to Seunggi. Until I reach my limit too.

“I´m sorry, I´m late,” the door to the office opened and Shindong arrived. Two hours late. “What´s with the atmosphere?”

“Where have you been?” Heechul snapped and stood up harshly.

“Uh, my wife wasn´t feeling well,” Shindong´s voice disappeared as he was now under the stares of all his co-workers. Stupid cat-lover and his bad mood. He´s taking it at Shindong and ruining my plans.

“Do you even realise, what you just missed?” Heechul asked angrily and made the mood even heavier.

“I will update him, hyung,” I quickly said, “I need somebody to help me carry the paperwork from last week to the first floor anyway.” And I need to ask him something too.

Heechul frowned but there was nothing he could do about it, when it was me who asked. Everybody by now knew that the big star detective had a soft spot for his maknae chimera. It became a hot inside joke of all the agents as Heechul was known to be cold-hearted and didn´t really submit to anybody. But now there was this little boy, a chimera that managed to wrap the famous agent around his little finger. I grinned and pushed a box into Shindong´s hands.

“That was close,” Shindong sighed once we exited the stuffy office, “I owe you one, Hyukjae.”

“You better pay me back quickly back then,” I answered to the confusion of the elder.

We were walking through the big open-space office and I used the time to inform my sunbae about the sad news. Shindong didn´t take it well, just like I didn´t take well the glances I was receiving the whole way from the other agents. I didn´t like it when they looked at me with anger detest but I absolutely hated the pitiful glances now. It was irritating to nowhere. I was glad when the elevator arrived and the metal doors cut off the uncomfortable pressure.

“I´m sorry to hear that, Hyukjae,” Shindong in the end told me.

“There´s nothing to be sorry about, hyung,” I answered, “it´s nothing new for me honestly. I live from day to day for a few years now and I myself am surprised how diligent I manage to act all the time. I should just steal Heechul hyung´s Austin and go for a drive around Korean peninsula,” I laughed at my own joke. Shindong didn´t find it funny, though.

“Since I owe you, I will lend you my KIA,” he said. The honesty and sadness in his voice almost made me choke.

“If you insist, there is something else I would like to ask you of,” I turned serious too. If he can´t joke around, then I better go straight to the issue.

The doors of the elevator opened on the first floor and I walked out with the box in my hands. Shindong followed me to the main desk, where I filled the documentation about where these boxes should be placed and what is included in them. I gave the lady behind the desk a small smile and turned around. Shindong had still this dark and stiff expression on his face and followed me back to the elevator in silence.

“You are the only one, apart from Heechul hyung, who knows I´m actually Hyukjae,” I said when we were once again closed in the lift.

“Yes and I intend to take it to my grave if needed,” Shindong said.

“Holding it for two years would be just enough,” I couldn´t not add this remark. I guess I was a little affected by the announcement after all. “Anyway, there is a little favour I would like you to help me with.”

“What is it?” Shindong was very eager.

“I´m planning a surprise party?” I said after a while of thinking.

“Party?” Shindong didn´t understand.

“Yep,” I smiled with closed eyes.

“Uh, I would help you out of course but with what exactly?” He asked me confused.

“I will tell you later,” I cut it short because we were back in the open-office and I couldn´t talk anymore. Shindong nodded and followed me back.

Surprise party. What a good name for my big project. As I became aware of my limited time, I decided to put my plan into motion as soon as possible. If I wanted to stop Likya, I had to go strong. The chess pieces were slowly gathering and the net was tightening around them. I was also prepared for a failure but that would put me in dangerous position. Now that I think of it, even having my plan succeed would automatically made me their target. That is only if I´m right and the agents following me from the time I escaped to Andong were indeed Likya. I have to trust the evidence and also, I have Heechul by my side. Nothing to fear. Well, accept for the detective himself. What the hell was he doing this morning?

“Hyuk, are you alright?” Shindong asked me and only then I realised that I was spacing out. “Your cheeks are red, aren´t you sick?”

“N-No, I´m fine,” I chuckled and blushed even more by being caught thinking about, uh about, yeah. Hastily I entered our office with worried Shindong behind me.

“What´s with you?” Heechul threw another question the instant I appeared back in the office. What´s with me? What does he mean? For some reason my mind was currently a little gobbled, which didn´t happen very often to me. Unconsciously my eyes didn´t quite follow Heechul´s face as his satin red shirt and black sleek pants. Hyukjae, for the god´s sake, get yourself together! “Your face is all red,” he added.

“It isn´t,” I protested against something that was as apparent as the Sun and the Moon.

“Oh, really?” Heechul rolled his eyes and gestured me to come closer. I gulped and did as told. Suddenly he put his hand on my forehead to check, if I wasn´t really sick. And guess what? I remembered something completely unrelated. Where these hands were last night and also this very morning in the shower. The result?

“Hm, you´ve got a fever, Hyuk.”

Asa! In the next chapter the secret will be out, either expected from you or not. :D I will see, I´m not being very secretive, sigh. Also, what do you think about Heechul´s and Hyuk´s behaviour. Seem like the detective wasn´t the only one affected. Thank you for reading! Choki wa! - PandaHero