“Look, all this stuff you’re telling me is amazing, but at the end of the day, it’s still only circumstantial evidence. If we really want to build a good case against Xiumin, we need physical evidence.”

“So, what, you need a body or something?” I asked, as Suho broke my train of thought.

“That’d be great, but I doubt he has one of those just lying around.”

I let out a heavy sigh as I ran my hand through my hair out of frustration. “I might be able to find something.” I said as I thought back to the mounds of paper which sat in Xiumin’s office. A few of them were bound to house incriminating information.

“Do you want my men to get involved?”

“No, I need to do this alone. Xiumin would know if your guys got involved. Which reminds me, you’ve got a mole within your ranks. So you should probably refrain from telling people that we’ve spoken, at least for now.”

“I’m going to need you to elaborate.” Suho said, his voice turning stern.

“I’ll tell you more when I go to the station to write out my official statement.”

“What?”

“It might take a few days, now that I have to get evidence.”

“Chloe, this can’t wait. What do you mean when you say there’s a mole?”

“I have to go. Someone’s here to pick me up. Remember what I said about keeping this to yourself.”

“Chlo-. Who’s picking you up? Chloe?” Suho spoke, his voice rising as he realized I wasn’t listening.

“And don’t call me. I’ll make contact again when I’m ready.” I said before hanging up to meet with Tao.

“The more I think about it, the more it seems like Xiumin and Chloe are a couple.” Chanyeol said with his hands clasped together as he stared at the transcripts in front of him. 

“Do you think Xiumin’s trying to undermine Kris?” Baekhyun suggested, entertaining the idea. “It could be a mutiny.”

“The way I see it, Xiumin’s not the type. No, I believe, either Xiumin’s a really good actor, or we’re missing something.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Why would Xiumin and Chloe be in a relationship? Haven’t we already established that Chloe isn’t doing this by choice? So why would they bother getting Xiumin a wife? Unless he just craved a more domestic lifestyle?”

“Well her father’s incurred debt was just a guess. But if we assume that that is correct, then it would definitely come with more questions than answers.”

Chanyeol rocked back and forth in his chair as he ruminated over his thoughts. He played with the pictures in his hands, his eyes fixated on Xiumin’s demeanor in his candid photo. He seemed relaxed, uncaring of whether others saw him, unlike Kris, who looked like he had something to hide. But that made sense. Kris was wearing a giant target on his chest every time he stepped out into public. He had every right to be weary.

The movement of his chair ceased as a thought suddenly occurred to him. 

“Wait. What if we’ve had it wrong this whole time? What if…and hear me out on this, what if…Kris has just been acting as a front.” Chanyeol sat up as he started hashing out his theory. “We’ve known Xiumin is the real brains of EXO for some time now, and anyone with the slightest bit of foresight would realize that those in power are going to be targeted the most. So, what if Xiumin anticipated all this years ago? He then decides to hire a guy to act in his place, that way he can run operations without risk to his own life. It’s actually pretty brilliant if you think about it.”

“No ing way.” Baekhyun muttered, suddenly enthralled by the theory.

“I looked into it a bit more and found a few things that stand out. Like, for one, every day, Tao drops Chloe off at this apartment complex in the Gangnam district. Want to guess who else lives in the same apartment complex?”

“Xiumin.” Baekhyun answered, following along effortlessly. 

Chanyeol pointed at Baekhyun, giving him a nod of approval. “At first I thought maybe they had just gotten some sort of package deal on the apartments. You know, two for one. But maybe…”

“They’re living together?” Baekhyun finished his thought for him.

“Wait, what about Kris? Where does he live?” Sehun asked.

“As far as I can tell, he spends his nights within their headquarters.” Chanyeol filled in. “But do you want to know what’s even more interesting?”

“What?” Sehun asked, his eyes getting wide as if he were a child being fed a killer bedtime story.

“According to public records, neither Kris, Xiumin, nor Chloe are legally bound to anyone. They’re still listed as being single.”

“What?” Baekhyun repeated, his tone even more uncertain. “Why the hell would they make such a big fuss about all this marriage crap then?”

“This is just another theory, but I think they just wanted to avoid leaving a paper trail for us to track. Without a doubt, Chloe is most certainly married to someone, at least conventionally speaking. But to who, still remains unclear.” Chanyeol concluded, his voice trailing off as he fell back into deep thought. 

After my usual classes, I was surprised when Tao took us down the same route to headquarters instead of home. It seemed Tao hadn’t heard about Xiumin and I’s latest spat, which made sense. Xiumin rarely involved others in his personal business. It was one of the many traits I found attractive in him.

I then realized that this just made my job easier. If I played my cards right, I could obtain all the necessary evidence by tonight, which put me that much closer to ending it all for good.

I took in a deep breath as I exited the car, greeting some of Xiumin’s men who bowed at me.

“Chloe! Just the person I wanted to see.” Chen said as he rushed to greet me.

“Mmhmm. Who’s the lucky girl who’s gotten your attention this time?” I muttered as I set my backpack down on a random ledge.

“A little touchy, aren’t we?” Chen asked, noticing my slight attitude. “Bad day?”

I ticked my head in disagreement before responding, “Not at all. In fact, I feel great. Never felt freer.”

“Oh really? What’s got you in such high spirits?”

I locked eyes with Xiumin who had been seated at the far side of the room.

“I just found out I aced my midterm.” It had been the one piece of good news that I had gotten today, and I intended on capitalizing on it.

Xiumin narrowed his eyes at me as I took a seat between Chen and Kris on a nearby couch.

“So what do you say we have a few drinks to celebrate?” I suggested, smiling victoriously as Xiumin’s men immediately jumped at the excuse to get wasted.

Luhan joined in on the gathering rather late, though he immediately noticed the awkward air between Chloe and Xiumin. They kept a noticeable distance between themselves, which was even weirder, considering that lately they had been practically attached at the hips. But then again, it did help to explain why Xiumin had spent the night at Luhan's house last night, instead of his own.

It was a disappointing progression to say the least. Luhan had been secretly rooting for the couple. Partly because he figured a happy Xiumin, would mean happier work environment for everyone else, but also because he genuinely thought they were good for each other. Luhan had never seen Xiumin smile as much as he had for the past six months.

But here they were now, refusing to meet eyes with each other. No doubt because they had another stupid squabble about furniture or something. It was pathetic and childish. He would consider intervening, if it wasn’t for Xiumin’s overly secretive nature, which notably had been getting better under Chloe’s influence. 

Luhan let out a sigh as he sipped from the beer in his hand. For now, all he could do was hold back his frustrations as he watched their stubbornness from afar.

ing Fireball. Of all the wretched drinks they could have chosen, they just had to choose Fireball. I swear it’s like donkey piss in a cup. I plastered a stupid smile on my face, waiting until they weren’t paying attention, before pouring the contents of my mug out into a potted plant.

“One more?” I quickly suggested, lifting a bottle of Bacardi in the air.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get me drunk.” Chen said, with a slight hiccup.

I let out a terse laugh before refilling Chen’s cup.

The rest of Xiumin’s men seemed to be doing a good enough job getting hammered, all on their own. Thankfully, Xiumin seemed just as carried away by the mood as the rest of them. Tao was diligently refilling Xiumin’s glass with his favorite scotch every time the meniscus threatened to reach bottom.     

“So what do you think about this new girl?” Chen asked after taking another swig of his drink.

I thought about how to word my sentence, before responding, “It sounds to me like she’s not interested. You’ve given her multiple opportunities to reciprocate, yet she hasn’t acted on any one of them.”

A childish pout took over Chen’s lips in reaction. “Well maybe I wasn’t being clear enough.”

“Trust me. Girls can always tell when a guy is interested. If they aren’t reacting, it’s because they’re just playing dumb.”

“