“What?“ Baekhyun breathed out incredously into the phone. "T-They-- they know?.."

No. No. They can't know.

Chanyeol. Chanyeol can't know.

“They do. I know it's hard, but you have to try to find Chanyeol now, Baekhyun,” Jongin told him, sounding broken, tired, and desperate. “Find him, and explain everything before he learns it from somebody else. That’s the last thing we can do and… and then we only can hope for the best. That Chanyeol will understand everything.”

Although he listened to Jongin speak as though he was calm, inside Baekhyun felt like he was suffocating. His chest was contracting so painfully, and there was not enough air in his lungs no matter how hard he tried to inhale deeply. His head was getting dizzier and dizzier with every second. Somewhere in his chest, Baekhyun could feel his heart starting to hammer like crazy, panic instantly surging through his veins, as his body itself was getting ready to run, to get away from here, to get away from whatever it was that caused this awful fear in Baekhyun. But the source of that fear, the danger his body was preparing for wasn't here.

It was with Chanyeol. And Baekhyun couldn't escape it. He could just hope to outrun it.

Baekhyun didn’t even throw a second glance at the coffees he just bought. He jumped up and rushed out of the coffee shop. Although his body was going crazy, and his head was still dizzy from shock, his mind was working faster than ever, putting all the details together like puzzle pieces.

The talk in Jongin’s office, Baekhyun remembered as he ran. Somebody must have overheard it. That sound, that strange sound... it wasn't nothing.

There was someone there.

And the missing notebook. The notebook must have been taken, too.

It had to be the same person. The person who heard him talk to Jongin had to be the same person who took his notebook. After hearing that conversation, he probably went through Baekhyun’s things in the office, specifically to find something, to find some proof of what he had heard. And that notebook was proof. It was proof of what he and Jongin had started months ago, and Baekhyun knew - if Chanyeol sees it before he or Jongin talks to him, and explains why they did what they did, everything they had with Chanyeol could crumble to pieces.

The notebook was scaring Baekhyun the most. It was the same notebook he had filled in on the first days he and Chanyeol met. The same notebook where he wrote down the details of Chanyeol’s personality, the things he had heard from other employees and from Jongin. There were also his notes there, his plans how to change this or that, in order to achieve the goal – the goal of getting Chanyeol out of this prison he himself created.

But the worst was the way it was written. Baekhyun began writing in that notebook before Chanyeol became somebody more significant in his life. Baekhyun hadn’t written much after he realized he had started to like Chanyeol. Maybe because all his plans were breaking apart anyways, with the scandal and everything, or maybe because deep down, he knew that now that he was inlove, plans weren't going to work either way. This love wasn't in his plans, either, but it changed everything. It changed him, Baekhyun, and it changed Chanyeol too.

But nobody could know that, if they only saw the notebook, and didn't ask Baekhyun to tell the truth. Because to somebody else, the writings in that notebook would seem like that was all Chanyeol ever was to him – a project. No one important. Just another job, just another person.

And that was not true. God, how ing untrue that was. 

Baekhyun ran and ran, with his heart beating wildly in his chest, and his breaths short. He just hoped, desperately wished he would make it on time.

He couldn’t afford to be late.

***

When Jongin stepped into the office that morning, his spirits were high. He had spent a great night with Kyungsoo, watching movies and chatting about most random things, and that was enough to make him feel happy and all full of energy for the whole day next morning.

But as soon as he stepped into the marketing department Jongin instantly understood that something was very wrong. The atmosphere itself was screaming it. The usually empty hallway was now full of people, secretaries, other workers, all gathered in groups, and whispering about something vigorously. As soon as Jongin showed up, everyone’s eyes were on him. The whispers died down, but the stares stayed. Jongin felt really uncomfortable as he walked, and everybody was watching him.

“What the hell is going on in here?” he murmured to himself, half-annoyed, half-curious.

When he finally reached the marketing team’s office, Jongin sighed with relief. Finally, he could ask somebody from his team about what was going on, and why were people staring at him as though they were ready to strangle him with their ties. Because it really seemed like they soon would.

“Hey, Kibum,” Jongin greeted, stepping into the office with a confused smile. “Look, do you happen to know—“

“Team leader,” Kibum cut him off, throwing a glare at Jongin. “Shut up. Come here. You need to see this."

“What did I do?” Jongin frowned, even more confused now. “And why are you talking like this to me, Kibum? I am still your boss, you know.”

The blonde haired male pointed at his computer.

“This,” he told him. “Read it. The whole apartment got an email like this.”

Not knowing what damn email Kibum was talking about, Jongin took a step forward, and looked at the screen. As his eyes ran through the lines, his heartbeat seemed to have slowed down. The more he read, the worse he felt. His mind started working, trying to understand what was going on, and how bad the situation was. 

After reading it all, Jongin pulled away from the computer, feeling sick to his stomach. He didn’t know what to say, where to start. What to say to Kibum, what to say to Baekhyun and... Chanyeol. Chanyeol was the one who mattered most here.

“I can explain everything,” he whispered to Kibum. “I swear I can explain.”

“I’m sure you can,” Kibum sighed. “I know you, Jongin. I know you didn’t do it out of bad will or something. But it was still the stupidest idea you could have ever come up with, and now it got a thousand times worse. Does Chanyeol know about this?”

“No,” Jongin shook his head. “B-But I’ll tell him. I’ll explain everything to him. Just…”

“The whole department is roaring,” Kibum told him, leaning onto his desk, expression serious. “They hate Baekhyun now. They’re certain he’s the traitor. If he shows up in here, they’re going to eat him alive.”

Here, another blow. Jongin thought it couldn't get worse. But it could. It always could.

“Okay,” he breathed in deeply, closing his eyes and trying to gather his thoughts. He was a leader, this was his job. To be calm in situations like these, and solve them instead of losing his mind. “I need to warn him then. And he needs to stop Chanyeol from coming before it's too late. We need to explain everything to Chanyeol. Right.”

Silent, Kibum watched as he pulled out his phone and started searching for a number with shaking fingers.

“I hope you can fix this, Jongin,” the blonde haired male told him, still looking at the taller with that dark look in his eyes. It wasn't anger. More than anything, he looked disappointed.

And to Jongin, that was a hundred times worse.

“I have to, Kibum,” Jongin murmured, pressing his phone to his ear and turning around to leave. “I have to.”

***

Chanyeol couldn’t think about anything aside from Baekhyun. Maybe it made him a bit creepy, but he just couldn't. He kept worrying about him even as he parked the car in the parking lot behind the PKO building.

He took his promise to Baekhyun’s mom seriously. He decided to always be there to take care of Baekhyun, to make sure he's always safe, and then Baekhyun did this to him. Jumped out of the car. And he didn't even seem to think much of it, as though jumping out of the car in the middle of the street was completely normal. Except the fact that it wasn't. 

Chanyeol started to realize more and more of why Baekhyun's mom was so worried about her son. As he looked at Baekhyun, every time he noticed more of how fragile he was, how small his body was, and how dangerous the world could be to someone that delicate. Although Baekhyun never expressed fear of being hurt in whatever circumstances, it didn’t make Chanyeol feel any better. Looking around, and seeing all the dangers he never noticed before, Chanyeol just constantly felt scared for him, and everything seemed unsafe when Baekhyun was out of his sight and out of his reach.

Shooing these dreadful thoughts away, Chanyeol unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. He ran up the stairs to the entrance of PKO, walking inside the building with his mind all tangled up. 

He walked up to the elevator, mindlessly greeting the administrator girl on his way. She greeted him respectfully, and then quickly looked away, avoiding his eyes. Chanyeol tilted his head, surprised at her behavior, but then the elevator’s doors opened before him and he had to step inside. Throwing one last look at the girl, Chanyeol decided to just brush that weird act off as a result of morning tiredness.

The elevator door opened on the marketing department's floor, and Chanyeol was about to step out, when he bumped into Minho. The male stood before him with his hair messy and his face all red, as though he had been running. His already big eyes widened as soon as he saw Chanyeol, standing wide-eyed before him.

“Good morning, Min-“ Chanyeol opened his mouth to greet the raven-haired male, but before he could, Minho pushed him back into the elevator, and hit the ‘close the door’ button with great force.

The door closed.

“Why did you do that?” Chanyeol asked, eyes huge. “Are you okay, Minho?”

“You can’t go to the department now,” Minho answered, reaching out his hand and hitting the number of some lower floor. “We need to talk before you go in there, general manager. I need to tell you something.”

Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows, not knowing what in the world could be going on in his department for Minho to look like this. But the look on the raven-haired male's face didn't promise anything good.

“Is everything okay?" he asked worriedly. "Did the traitor gave himself out somehow?”

Minho tensed at the question.

“Yes, and no,” he murmured hesitantly, clearly not wishing to say anything, at least not now. “The door's opening, general manager, follow me.”

Avoiding his eyes, Minho walked out of the elevator, leaving Chanyeol no choice but to follow after him. Looking around, Chanyeol noticed that they were in the third floor, the floor of finances. Why would Minho bring him here, of all places?

“What’s going on?” Chanyeol asked more seriously, now really turning worried. “What are we doing in the finances? Did anything happen here?”

Still silent, Minho stopped in the corner of the hallway. There were no people around the two of them, just dark black doors and greyish walls. The finance department was one of the quietest and most empty places in the PKO, Chanyeol remembered, because everybody mostly worked with their computers. It was a place where two could hold a conversation in the hallway and not be interrupted, which was what Minho was probably after when he brought him here. But why?

Chanyeol was so confused.

“General manager,” Minho started, avoiding his eyes. “Something happened in the marketing department. And you...you need to know about it.”

“What happened?” Chanyeol asked, his heart immediately picking up pace. "Don't scare me, Minho."

Minho pulled out his phone, and reached it out for Chanyeol to take. Surprised and confused, Chanyeol accepted the phone with both hands. He looked at the screen, and saw an e-mail, adressed to the entire marketing department and sent this morning, around 7 AM. The sender’s name was not there. He started reading.

Subject: The truth

Good morning to everyone in the marketing department, I hope you are well.

Unfortunately, this letter is not one of those, meant to deliver good news. I am here to inform you about the unpleasant truth of what has been going on inside our department for weeks. Over a month ago, the leader of the marketing team, Kim Jongin, had hired Byun Baekhyun, the newest member. But, as I now know, he did not do it because of his marketing skills or future usefulness to the marketing team. Sadly, team leader hired him for the sake of getting general manager Park Chanyeol out of his introverted way of life.

I, an employee at this company, had accidentally overheard them talk about this in Kim Jongin’s office. During this conversation, Kim Jongin clearly expressed, that Baekhyun was hired to change general manager’s way of life, and not because he was going to be of help to the marketing team. In my opinion, that is very unfair not only to the general manager, who appreciated the honest relationship he thought he had with Byun Baekhyun, but also to us, all the employees, who got into this company after hard studies and work, through effort and sleepless nights. As opposed to Byun Baekhyun, who acquired a high position in such an important company just because of his questionable talents to ‘change people’. And that I consider very rude and absolutely unacceptable.

Also, dear colleagues, not only is this unfair, but it is also suspicious. Remember; around the time Byun Baekhyun entered the PKO, somehow very conveniently also began the plagiarism scandal that we are going through today. I am talking about the scandal, that tore the departments apart, broke our trust in each other, and set a foul mood in the company ever since the news of it first reached our ears. As a stranger to us all and the PKO in general, in my opinion, Byun Baekhyun was free to betray this company at the same time he entered it, as he never had any emotional attachement to PKO in the first place. That, however, is only my assumptions.

For the obvious reasons, I shall remain anonymous. To those, who will doubt the genuinity of my words, I will attach a picture of Byun Baekhyun’s personal notebook, where he made notes about this 'project' they planned with Kim Jongin. In my opinion, this 'project' is a terrible disrespect and betrayal to the general manager Park Chanyeol, but you are all free to form your own opinions on this matter. I think we will agree on one - hiring Byun Baekhyun for such a reason was wrong, and this mistake has to be corrected.

Thank you for reading this, no matter how unpleasant this truth was. I hope that in the future, we will be able to work with trust and respect for each other, and no other letters like this will be needed.

Chanyeol’s fingers were shivering so badly after the last line, that Minho took away his phone, and held onto his elbows tightly.

“Calm down, general manager,” Minho whispered, looking into his eyes seriously. “Breathe.”

“Baekhyun…” Chanyeol breathed out, his eyes aching, and his heart feeling like it was about to leap out of his chest. “Baekhyun, he’s…”

“He doesn’t matter,” Minho almost growled, his voice so low it was barely audible. “General manager, this does not matter. I am sure team leader was not doing this to hurt you. That Byun Baekhyun might have been doing this for whatever reasons, but team leader Jongin--" 

Chanyeol shook his head. He didn't know why, but that was all he could do. No words were coming out of his mouth.

"Please, if you would just listen,“ Minho begged. "Team leader Jongin is not a bad person, he's not a person who would do something to hurt you. Please, please don't panic, general manager."

But Chanyeol didn’t listen to him. He couldn’t.

Baekhyun.

Baekhyun, who kissed him. Baekhyun, who told him that he liked him. Baekhyun, who had the most beautiful smile in the whole world, and the person he wanted to change for. His Baekhyun, for whom he wanted to become the person he could be proud of.

Was it all a part of this? Of this deal with Jongin to help him?

Baekhyun is a good actor, his mom said to him. Baekhyun is a good actor.

Chanyeol’s head was spinning, but her voice in his head was clearer than anything.

Was Baekhyun good enough of one, to act out feelings that weren’t there?

Don't let Baekhyun sacrifice anything e