Rule #3: Keep your enemies closer…much, much closer.

            Changmin grabbed Ryeowook by the neck and threw him against the wall of his office.  And Ryeowook let him because he understood.  But only for that reason.

            “What the hell were you thinking?  You could have gotten her killed!”

            Ryeowook winced at the pain.  “I know,” he choked out.

            “Max,” Donghae said, standing up, ready to intercede.

            Changmin released Ryeowook and swore under his breath.  “Damn you.  Why does she even listen to you?”

            “Because she wants to take them down as badly as I do,” he answered.

            Changmin ran his hand through his hair.  “That’s what she said too, but I won’t forgive you the next time you involve her in something like this.  I don’t care what’s at stake.”

            “So you’re willing to put the other four of us at risk, but not her?” Ryeowook questioned, holding his throat.

            “She’s not a ing field agent, R!”

            “Enough!” Eunhyuk insisted.  “I thought we had to move quick?”

            “I swear, you pull that again, and I’ll kill you myself,” Changmin warned, heading back to his desk.

            “Point taken,” Ryeowook said.  “Thank God she didn’t tell you that I kissed her, huh?  I guess I’d really be dead then.”

            Changmin turned towards Ryeowook with murderous eyes. 

            Ryeowook put his hands into the air.  “I’m just joking!”

            “That’s not ing funny!”

            Ryeowook laughed.  So did Donghae and Eunhyuk.  In fact, they laughed a little too hard, which made Ryeowook wonder if they hadn’t heard about the kiss somehow.  But he dropped the subject and sat down next to Eunhyuk. 

            “What’s going on, Max?” Eunhyuk asked, eager to change the topic, although he was still chuckling a little.

            “I’ve had my tech guys analyzing the disc since we got it, but it’s encrypted and we can’t break the code.  No matter what we do, it will take us months, if we ever manage to break it.”

            “So the whole deal was for nothing?” Donghae asked, angry.

            “Not necessarily,” Changmin said, typing frantically into his keyboard.  “All we need to break the code is to find the person who encrypted it in the first place.  We have a sneaky suspicion that the person who’s done it is the Head of Technology at Choi Corporation.  The problem is, they will know that he’s the person we’ll go after to get the code and they’ll either try to protect him or they’ll…”

            “They’re going to off him,” Eunhyuk said.  “Siwon already has the codes needed to access the program, so all he needs to do is eliminate the middle man and the information is safe from us.”

            “Right,” Changmin said.

            “He’s probably already dead,” Ryeowook said.

            “He left work early today.  Someone stole his car in the ramp.  A black Audi,” Changmin said, looking over at Ryeowook. 

            Ryeowook began laughing.  “No !  Well, little did he know that it was actually a god-send that I ruined his precious new car.”

            “Lucky bastard,” Eunhyuk mumbled.

            “So, he went to the police station to fill out a report and then took a taxi out of there.  No one knows where he went afterwards.  I’m certain he hasn’t gone back to his apartment, however.  I’ve had agents patrolling his apartment and Choi’s men are staking out the place as well, which tells me that they don’t know where the hell he is either.”

            “We have to find him first,” Ryeowook said, jumping to his feet.  “Show me pictures and tell me everything you know about the stupid bastard.”

            “His name is Cho Kyuhyun…”

            Heechul screamed when he saw all the blood, acting hysterical.  Choi Siwon sighed heavily and walked over, wrapping his arms around his frantic secretary.  When she began to cry, he pat her back as she rested her head against his chest. 

            “Were they trying to kill you?” she asked.

            “Probably, but we’ll up our security from now on.  Thank God you were at lunch at the time.  I can’t imagine what would have happened to you if you’d been here,” he said into her ear. 

            She sniffled, completely inconsolable. 

            “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?  We won’t get any more work done today with this mess.  I’ll have the place cleaned up.  Okay?” he asked, peering down at her. 

            Heechul looked down at the floor.  “How are you getting all that blood out of the carpets?”

            Siwon shook his head.  “We might have to rip it up.”

            Heechul leaned close to him.  “I never really liked that color, you know.”

            Siwon laughed at this and several people looked over at him and gave him funny looks.  They’d just found six dead guards outside his office, after all.  Siwon cleared his throat and whispered back to his y little secretary.  “Maybe I should let you pick out the new color.  Hmmm?”

            “Really?” she said, wiping the tears from her face.

            “Certainly.  You have far better taste than I do,” he assured her.

            “Well, it would make me feel better,” she said.

            “Good,” he said, squeezing her shoulders.  “You take the rest of the day off and relax.  Tomorrow morning, head to the store and pick out new carpeting.”

            “What if it doesn’t match the paint right?”

            “Then we’ll repaint,” he said.  “Okay?”

            “Okay,” she said, still dapping at her face as she headed to the elevator. 

            Kangin walked over to the boss and looked over at his stunning secretary.  “Still haven’t managed to get under her skirt, have you?”

            “It’s only a matter of time,” Siwon said with complete assurance.  “No woman can resist me forever.  Trust me.”

            “What did they take?”

            “The disc, but they won’t be able to access the information without the code.  The only one who could break into it would be Cho Kyuhyun.  Head down to his office and finish him off.  Then they won’t have a chance in hell.”

            Kangin rubbed the back of his head.  “As it turns out, the car that the agent stole earlier happened to belong to him, so he left early so he could fill out a report at the police station.”

            Siwon’s lips pressed together and his fists tightened at his side.  “Go find him and eliminate him, as soon as possible.”

            “Yes, sir,” Kangin said, heading out immediately.

            Kyuhyun was not having a good day.  He’d lost the gaming tournament that he’d participated in that day on top of having his car stolen by the people that had broken into the Choi Corporation.  Then, in his hurry not to miss the tournament, he must have left his cellphone at the police station.  He’d have to get it in the morning.  Could the day go any worse?

            Maybe he could have lived with the car being stolen and ruined.  He had insurance, after all.  It would be replaced.  And his cellphone was at least safe.  No one was going to steal it at a police station.  But gaming was the only thing he had left that made him happy.  He didn’t have as much time to game anymore since he’d ceased hacking illegally and started working for a legitimate company a year and half ago.  But the pay was good.  Damn good.  The hours , of course, but you can’t have everything.  Right?  All he wanted was to win a damn tournament.  Two years ago, he could have easily accomplished this.

            The taxi slowed down as it neared a traffic jam a few miles from Kyuhyun’s apartment, which surprised him.  It was long past rush hour already and unless there was some big event going on that he didn’t know about, this shouldn’t be happening.

            “Why are we stopped?” he asked the driver, leaning forward. 

            “Some kind of car search, apparently.  Something to do with that car race through the city earlier.”