[CONTENTID1]Chapter 17[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]           "Wait, so you think that Yifan's right hand man was made in this laboratory?" Kai frowns, trying to wrap his head around the idea. He swipes left and right on the smooth tablet screen to look back at the pictures taken of the journal that Sehun and Yixing took, reading them carefully. He didn't notice the tense in Sehun's hand that was interlaced with his as they sat next to each other in Jongdae's office. They were all summoned in the spacious room a week after Sehun and Yixing's trip to Beijing, and Kai guesses it was because the two found more clues that would lead them to the mysterious man that worked for their emperor.

           "Chanyeol seems to think so," Jongdae sighs, massaging his temples. “I, however, don’t think it adds up. Baekhyun doesn’t, either. It just doesn’t make for a man who’s as paranoid as Wu Yifan to have a right hand man. With the information we have on Yifan, it would make more sense for the emperor himself to use multiple assassins and kill them all after they’ve done the job to keep his dirty secrets buried. The closest to a right hand man would be his advisors, and even they don’t know much about his life. Besides—there were two survivors. Even if he did have a main lackey, it could be the other survivor.”

           "Are you saying Skull Reaper isn't real?" Minseok scratches his head thoughtfully, trying to take in all the new information, "Jongin and I have been looking through the web during Yixing's trip to Beijing, and we've found a lot of rumors about that man. They're all groundless gossip; an urban legend. However, they do sound eerily similar to each other..."

           "His name is constant, but the physical appearance and background of Yifan's lackey is constantly changing," Kai adds wearily, remembering the countless amounts of articles he had to go through. "Some say he looks like the angel of death. Others say he's a hideous monster formed in a pod."

           "I say Skull Reaper is very much real," Sehun his head to the side, staring at his superior with knowing eyes. "He just isn't Yifan's right hand man. Most likely just a servant of Zhang Lab Corps. A boy trained to do whatever he's ordered to without any information given to him."

           He's lying through his teeth. The double agent is trying to remember the exact lies he told the Resistance about his identity back then, and trying to remember the lies he told them about the test subject a few days ago.

           A part of him wasn't ready to commit to this organization completely—to fully immerse yourself into this seemingly bottomless abyss of suffocating water in such a short time, without any life jackets or any way of knowing you'll come up alive... that part doesn’t sit well with him. It's best to balance his life with the Resistance and his life with Great China so he can betray either one at any time without drowning to death. Sehun is already swimming in the water, his unsure chest deep in the scorching, burning water, and he wasn't looking forward to sink in deeper.

           Sehun has never been unsure since he became Skull Reaper. This is what he has become. From a lethal, emotionless instrument made for Yifan to wield, to a sixteen year old boy with very real, very confusing feelings.

           The boy with jet black hair turns his head around and looks at Kai with fond eyes. He squeezes their interlaced fingers gently, trying his best to memorize everything about that alluring boy: his beautiful skin that had been kissed by the sun god himself, his soft chestnut colored locks, his dazzling smile, his pure, bewitching amber eyes.

           This boy might even be the catalyst to his decision, the pull of the trigger to his undecided mind. Sehun can't predict the future, but what he does know is that whatever side he ultimately chooses to be on, it'll be the side that protects Kai's life.

Sehun unwillingly tears his eyes away from the tan boy and listens to Minseok's next question. He throws Yixing an indescribable look, before turning back to Jongdae.

           "If the two subjects weren't made for Yifan, then what do you think their reason for doing the experiment was?"

           "I say," Jongdae takes a deep breath, and continues, "I say it's for ZLC's personal gain. The company's notorious history tell us that the survivors may just be used as common weapons for the company. It also tells us that those two aren't the only guinea pigs ZLC has. There are definitely more, and those could be Yifan's man—after all, the experiment you uncovered was a failure; sure, they're strong, but it doesn't change the fact that they're defective. The chances of Yifan using an unstable weapon is low. We need to keep our minds open, and don't rely too much on the same source."

           "Do you think the people who worked on that lab are still working with ZLC?" Yixing asks. "If they are, then I could probably—"

"It's a safe no," Jongdae smiles sadly. "It's an open secret that if an experiment as dangerous as that fails, the scientists who worked on it are either dead or being watched 24/7 to ensure secrecy. Besides—judging from that clip we got, I doubt any of them survived the attack."

           They all nod their head at that, trying to absorb in as much information as they could. Yixing lowers his head in disappointment, but says nothing else.

           "Is this all you wish to say?" Sehun his head to the side.

           "That is all," Jongdae confirms. "Meeting adjourned. I will let you know if I come across anything else. Be thinking about this—I may not even be close to right. It's up for your interpretation. Be prepared to gather more intel on these two test subjects... you might be able to find some valuable things."

           The rookies get up to leave the office, Jongdae still in his seat, watching the scene in front of him with a smirk.

           "Sehun and Jongin, huh?" He mutters thoughtfully to himself. "It looks like your son might be the key to guaranteeing Sehun's loyalty, Kim. As long as we have Kim Jongin on our side, the ace card is ours to take..."

           "So, Sehun," Kai clears his throat nervously and fans his hot, red face, "D-do you want to uhm... I don’t know... go get some cof