“I didn’t know there had been a change of faculty.” Jinki calmly replied as he ran his finger over Gwiboon’s cheek.

    “I’m not exactly something they are proud of.” The leader replied. He stood up from his seat to walk over and kick Kyuchul in the leg. “Go get coffee oaf.”

    “Yes, sir!” The big man was out of the door as quick as possible. The leader took the man’s spot on the floor, straight across from Jinki. So close if they straightened out their legs their feet would touch. It made Jinki uncomfortable and on edge.

    “They wanted to use the program for “good”, whatever that really means. The government told us that the project was meant to help prevent hackers getting into secret government stuff. It was meant as a precaution in a way. If someone or a foreign country managed to get through the program was to be enacted and the party responsible would be tracked and found. I voiced with my superior that another use could be to hack another government and find out their secrets and it seems that’s exactly what it was really supposed to be used for, but they couldn’t tell us because many civilians much like your husband wouldn’t have gone for that. They didn’t appreciate me asking questions and they replaced me. They thought since the project hadn’t really started it’s development that no one would believe me if I blabbed about it. I haven’t said a word about it, but with that type of power I could hack bank accounts unseen, drain accounts without an alarm going off until it was too late, and no one would be able to trace the transaction.” The leader smiled big, almost creepy, as he said, “You won’t tell anyone my plan will you?”

    “Of course not.”

    “Good boy.” The smile was definitely creepy.

    Jinki just held on to his sleeping baby girl and tried to not think about how this all was going to end.

                        -------

     Time seemed to be running as slow as it has ever done, but also so quick if he blinked it felt as if a minute had passed. The loading bar was at 96 percent, which meant soon the formula would stop working and his manual work would begin until it was time to hack into firewall 7. He didn’t know how he would manage to get through that last firewall just yet, but he had to. There wasn’t going to be a reason that he didn’t manage to get through that damn protection to get the files he needed and plant the virus onto the mainframe to delete all evidence and work pertaining to project waternew.

    Jonghyun’s skin was tingling with nerves as his fingers tapped on his thighs. Hunger gnawed at his stomach, but he wasn’t going to take time away to get food. His throat was dry, but he wasn’t going to go get water. Water meant needing to go to the bathroom, and that meant time taken away from his mission. Those 5 minutes could mean him succeeding in getting his family back unharmed or being handed them dead or beaten. His eyes flicked up to the screen when he heard the ding and his fingers were spread out over the keys a moment later moving through the code he needed to get through the next firewall. He was caught between thinking of Jinki and his smile, and his baby girl’s happy laughter and pushing them out of his mind. Having them there was motivation to get through, but it was also a reminder that he was doing this, they were in danger, because of his employment choice. If not for him they wouldn’t be in this position.

    He decided pushing them out of his mind was the best option. He drowned himself in the code flashing across the screen. His glasses were slipping from his nose, and he took a second to push them back before he was continuing where he left off.

    There wasn’t room for mistakes.

    32 hours to go.

                        --------

    The sun had risen about an hour ago and Gwiboon was laying on his thighs, holding his hand. Her tiny hands were trying to twist and pull his wedding ring off, and his lips curled into a soft smile every time she pouted when it wouldn’t come off. She’d look up at him with such big eyes, so much like her Pa. Through the night he had gotten a few hours of sleep. He tried to stay awake, but sleep tugged him into its dark clutches until he’d wake up in a panic that they had taken Gwiboon for him, but each time she was sleeping soundly in his arms. He was tired and hungry and he missed his husband. He wanted to be at home cuddled with him in bed before he would be forced out of bed by Gwiboon’s screaming. He wanted to feel Jonghyun wiggle back into him because of how warm he was, to smell his hair from his shower the day before, and to hear his soft noises of sleep. Instead. he heard a train in the distance and a car pulling up the gravel outside. His back hurt from his position against the wall, but he couldn’t risk laying down and rolling on Gwi.

    “Pumpkin that’s Daddy’s.” She blinked at him before turning back to try and twist it over his knuckle. She had her little tongue out of and he could see her tiny little teeth forming in the front of . Then the pout was there and she was looking up at him like it was all his fault. He looked through the diaper bag with his right hand to find something to put the ring through and luckily found a spare shoelace. He had stopped questioning things the second month they had brought her home. He wiggled his ring off and slipped the shoelace through it before handing it to her. The end was tied as she focused on the ring with fascination. She happily gurgled as she held the ring with two tiny fingers and her thumb, waving it around in amusement.

    His hands protectively went to her when the door was opened and they didn’t move from her as the leader walked toward them. Jinki snatched the diaper bag closer to himself when the man reached for it. “What is in here you don’t want me to see?”

    Jinki squinted at him. “It had the things I need to take care of my daughter. I don’t want you taking them.”

    The man hummed as he kneeled. Jinki tugged Gwiboon to his chest but kept his knees up. “I told you the babe will not be harmed.”

    “I’m sorry if I can’t exactly trust you.”

    He straightened and looked down at them, “You’re a good father.”

    Jinki wasn’t sure if he’d be good enough at the end of this.

                        -----

    Jonghyun’s wrists were beginning to ache from being held in the same place for about an hour. Firewall three was simple enough to get through. He figured that the designers thought not many would get through the first two, so why make the third one more difficult than it needed to be. He also figured that they would think again once he was done. Firewall four had different coding, a completely different style than the first 3, and that told him it was a different person behind each. If the pattern continued getting into the last firewall would be more difficult. He was hoping they were similar enough a formula could be made to quicken the process along, but if they were made by different people with different styles a formula couldn’t be made because there wasn’t a pattern to follow.

    It was becoming painful to hold in his pee, but he had to make it through firewall 4 before running to the restroom because if he stopped now all his work would disappear. That was time he didn’t have to waste. The little picture on the top right of his screen telling him how far into the building’s firewalls had the fourth section almost all the way filled. As soon as the sound dinged, he was pushing from the table and running down the hall. His chair slammed into the wall from the force he pushed it back with. When he returned he took a moment to take a deep breath, fix his chair and run a hand through his hair.

    4 down, 3 to go.

    And 31 hours to go.

                         -------

    Jinki softly chuckled each time Gwiboon hit his tummy with every growl of hunger that sounded. She gurled and made little sounds as she smacked her palm against his stomach as if scolding it. He had been escorted into the other room to heat up her formula. He was down to two and a half bottles of water used for her formula. When he last changed her he noticed he was down to 8 diapers. That wouldn’t last very long. He had changed her into different clothes after she had eaten and been changed, and he wondered what he did to deserve such a good baby. She never did cry much before, but it was like she understood the situation in her own baby way because no one scream was given from her lips.  

    He was only 28. It seemed odd to him to be so calm and okay with accepting that he was going to die soon, but realizing that his main purpose right now was to get Gwiboon to Jonghyun and make sure he didn’t see any of the people’s face, he figured dying was the only way to guarantee their safety.  He knew too much, and the leader was way too intelligent to let him go free knowing all that he did.  

    Gwi was pushing off his legs to climb up his chest. He held her middle and allowed her to believe she was doing all the work herself. She beamed at him as her hand slapped against his lips, tiny fingers curling in his bottom lip, and she laughed when she tugged. It wasn’t a hard tug, and he didn’t mind. She blew a little air in his face and erupted into giggles when he acted surprised. When he blew a little air back she was the happiest little baby ever as she tried to blow back through her giggles. He hoped she didn’t remember any of this. He hoped she didn’t feel the trauma of all this when she grew up. Her happiness and innocence was something that needed to be protected.

                        -------

    His formula used for firewalls one and two could be used in the background of firewall 5 as he worked along with it after a few tweeks. It made the process a lot quicker and easier, but he knew he couldn’t keep up this pace for long. Sooner or later the panic and adrenaline would fade and he’d be alone to his own devices to stay away and keep focused. He still had almost 30 hours left, but if he was going to get through firewall seven he knew it would take him a few hours. That had used his notes to build it, but he knew how well he built it and even being the designer would make it easy. Jinki always did say he was too good at what he did.

    He took a moment to glance at the spare laptop he had dug through the closet for before he had started. It was an old computer, Jinki’s from when he was in med school, and it hadn’t been used in ears since he got the new one when he graduated. It would be the laptop the program would be uploaded to once he was finished deleting everything about the project on every possible computer that could contain something about it.  “.” He growled as he remembered he still had to design the virus he was going to let loose once he got through firewall 7. That 30 hours was starting to look like even less time.  

30 hours to go.

                        ------

    Jinki wondered if Jonghyun would find the anniversary present under the bed. He wondered if Jonghyun would be able to sleep at night without him. His insomnia always acted up when he had conferences to go too far away. He wondered how Jonghyun would cope without him there, without the calls during lunch, and the hand holding as they went on walks after dinner. He thought about how Jonghyun would probably cry and Gwiboon’s graduation, no matter what she decided to do after. They had been with each other for such a big portion of their lives that Jinki was sure he himself wouldn’t be able to go on if something happened to Jonghyun. He didn’t want to think about leaving Jonghyun to deal with losing him and taking care of their daughter, but he knew it was a high possibility. Especially with the way the leader was looking at him from across the room.

    It was almost the halfway point and from what Jinki remembered Jonghyun would be called here soon to talk about his progress. 18 hours were gone, and while he had every faith in his husband’s abilities there was a lot of pressure on his small little shoulders.

    “Let’s see how that husband of yours is fairing.” The man’s voice still gave him the creeps, but he focused on him still. In his hand was Jinki’s cell phone, and the speed dial was quickly pushed and the phone held up to his ear. It rang once before the call clicked over. “Ah yes hello Jonghyun. How is the work coming?”

                        -----

    “It’s being finished.” Jonghyun said softly, without emotion, exhausted. He had stayed up the entire night working on breaking through firewall 7. His arms were covered with code and ideas for the virus he was going to unleash, written there as he waited for his programs to work or going to the bathroom when he couldn’t push it off any longer.  The code had just been finished and the virus completed when the phone had rang.

    “That is great news. I bet your husband is relieved to hear you actually love him enough to do all this.”

    Jonghyun growled, protective urge beginning to swirl in him at the mention of Jinki, “You have no right to think I don’t love him. I’m doing what you ask of me. Now let me go back and finish. You’re taking my time away from finishing it.”

    “Oh, you don’t want to talk to Jinki?”

    “I-” He did. He did so so badly. He wanted to hear his voice, the warmth and love, and comfort, but he knew if he heard his voice his focus would be shattered and the tears he had been holding back for so long would spill over. “ I will talk to him once I get him back from you.”

“Well, I’d hurry if I were you. He’s almost out of diapers.” The man laughed, amused, before getting serious again, “About 18 hours left. I do hope you manage to finish. I really don’t want to have to dirty my pretty new bullets.”

    The call was shut off a moment later and Jonghyun hurt his hand from squeezing the phone so hard.