“Sir, we’re currently going through a sudden downfall.”

Hyunbin rubbed his temples, cooling off the heat from his head. It wasn’t good. Elite’s stocks were dropping, the company was at risk. He didn’t know the reason why there were abrupt changes according to statistics, but an economic bust has crashed upon them. 

He reached for the phone call and brought it to his ear. “Hello? Director Kang? Yes, this is Hyunbin speaking,” he resumed talking to one of the board directors. 

Nichkhun couldn’t believe the email he received. Their business partners in New York has terminated their contracts, meaning Elite won’t be plotting their own branch abroad. All of his effort and time put into that project led to this? A termination of contracts? What was going on? He dashed out of his office to visit his father. 

“Dad, what is this? What’s happening?” Nichkhun demanded, his breathing was deep and heavy. 

Hyunbin stared at his son awfully. “I don’t know son…”

“This is not happening? Why is our company failing?”

“I can’t believe this too. We are getting way too many calls from tons of partners, and even worse that the board of directors took notice of this massive decline.”

“Dad…if this goes on, we’ll shut down. Our employees will be facing layoffs.”

“I know that,” he stated. “But there’s nothing much I can do son. The directors want to call for a meeting about this and they will be the ones deciding.”

Nichkhun cursed to himself, storming off with heavy footsteps out of his dad’s office. There was no way they would end up like this. 

Hyunbin, Nichkhun and the rest of the Elite executives met up with the board of directors, in concern of the company’s stock market crash. They discussed a couple of points about the matter. Eventually, it concluded with a disappointing decision.

“I’m afraid to say that Elite shall be temporarily shut down, Mr. Kim.”

“What? Chief, please. I do not want to pull out the layoff notice for my employees.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it Mr. Kim. Unless the stock market gains certain interests of profits from buyers, the company has to be put on hold.”

Nichkhun closed his eyes shut at the director’s decision. “But sir, this isn’t fair.”

“We apologize young man, but our case here is closed. This meeting is dismissed.”

The father and son was left alone with the remaining executives who had their heads hanging low. “I’m sorry everyone,” Hyunbin broke the silence a while later. 

“Don’t worry guys, we’ll find a way to figure this out,” Nichkhun added, appearing determined. “Stay with us please.”

Tiffany nodded her head, glancing at her co-workers. “You have nothing to worry about Mr. Kim. We understand the situation, and we’ll try to help.”

Hyunbin rose from his seat, placing his hands on the edge of the table. “For now, we have to send layoff notices to our employees.”

Nichkhun and Tiffany met up with Yoona at a café to talk about the on-going complications. “What happened?” she asked. 

“Well, Elite will be closing down for a while. The layoffs will be sent out soon enough.”

Yoona frowned, stirring her drink slowly. “I hope you and your dad won’t be affected too much Khun. Don’t worry about us, we’ll get through it.”

“Thank you,” he managed to show a small smile. “We just didn’t know how this happened. But my dad told me it was probably about the prolonged rise in stocks for a long time frame.”

“Our co-workers would be looking for other jobs at the moment,” Tiffany sipped casually into her cup. “And I shall go back to studying fashion.”

“What about you Yoona? You’ll be alright?”

“School’s still quite far off. I’ll be figuring it out later.”

Meanwhile, Taecyeon was at his office receiving news from the net that Elite was in crisis. He clasped his hands together, scoffing to himself. The day had come where he finally witnessed an event like this. He took out the folder from his drawer, tossing it onto his desk. 

“Well well well,” he smirked. “I