"Wait, can you explain why Raon is with us again? I wasn't listening and even if I was, I still wouldn't get it." Joohyuk asks before they are about to start.

The four of them are gathered at the kitchen counter, ready to discuss the plan to get Raon's money back. Taehyung and Joohyuk don't know about this at all, but they should be able to catch on once he tells them what they will be doing. For now, this situation only seems like a normal scamming related job to them. Baekhyun should've told them sooner because the slightest spill of their true identities will summon chaos.

"We're helping Raon get her money back. This naive girl here was scammed by some bastards." Baekhyun rolls his eyes at her. "Not sure if it's because she's extremely naive or plain stupid."

"Naive?!" Raon purses her lips together in an evident frown. "Excuse you, but if you were in my situation, you would have been scammed too."

"Baekhyun hyung? Getting scammed?" Taehyung smirks and holds in a laugh, glancing over at Joohyuk who is pretending not to hear anything.

Raon scans them since they have all suddenly gone silent. "What's so funny about that?"

"N-nothing, Taehyung's just being weird as usual. He's used to laughing at everything so ignore him. Joohyuk, the guys I told you to find the other day... You found them, right?"

"Of course, what type of con  " Joohyuk in a breath before nervously staring at Baekhyun. "What type of friend would I be if I didn't get the job done?" He places his laptop on the counter. The black screen lights up to reveal the profiles of the two people who scammed Raon. Everything to their full names, address, past records, is there.

As expected of Baekhyun nods in acknowledgment of his friend's expertise. I hope that mouth of his doesn't say anything dangerous.Joohyuk. 

"So," Baekhyun clears his throat, "Joohyuk, what did you find out about those guys?"

"Oh, right, that's the reason why we're here." Joohyuk lifts Taehyung's laptop off the table and places it in front of him. "Remember how I told you before that their names sounded familiar? I knew I definitely heard about them before, Im Jaebum and Park Jinyoung. You're not going to believe this when I tell you."

Baekhyun is impatient. "Spit it, who are they?"

"Well, we know they're con artists. But they work for someone. They work for Kim Woobin."

Kim Woobin. He is South Korea's second-best con artist, skills well above his. The first word that flashes in Baekhyun's frenzied mind is . After all these years of being a con artist, he has never gotten involved with him. He has never seen him either, Yunho has met him twice, but the other con artists treat him as a myth because people don't know much about him. No one knows how old he is, his birth date, where he's from, nothing. No one has messed with him, he's heard that horrible consequences will ensue if they do.

"Kim Woobin, who?" Raon frowns, looking at Baekhyun for an explanation. 

"Y-you think I know? Listen to Joohyuk, he's going to explain."

Joohyuk glances over at him while scratching his head. "You see, Kim Woobin is um, one of the best con artists in this country. He's ninety percent the one who has your money now. In fact, it's possible that he's loaded with millions, but what he does is unknown to a lot of people. I want to help you get your money back, Raon, but it's going to be a little risky dealing with someone like this."

"O-oh..." Baekhyun notices the girl's disappointment, eyes on the table and lips pressed together. "If it's dangerous  "

"We'll do it."

Raon, Joohyuk and Taehyung widen their eyes at the decision Baekhyun has just made.

"H-hyung... you can't be serious..." Taehyung is in utter disbelief.

"I'm dead serious, we'll do it. I wasn't joking when I told you that we would teach those guys to have a little bit of sympathy, Joohyuk. We're going to help Raon get her money back from those scumbags. Find out his schedule, whatever it takes."

Baekhyun knows signing himself up for this will automatically leave his name in Kim Woobin's death list. There are thousands of con artists in this country, why does it have to him? Baekhyun has dealt with danger numerous times so he has some confidence in being able to fool Woobin and his men. Joohyuk and Taehyung are super doubtful of their chances in succeeding. Whether they will ace the plan or fail horribly, nothing is certain. 

Baekhyun just doesn't want to have any regrets later on, he can't bring himself to reject helping Raon. Since he has this intelligent brain of his, he might as well put it to good use. The schemes that he has been taking on lately haven't been jogging the gears in his brain much.

Later, he finds Joohyuk at the outside terrace upstairs. His tall figure is under the matt black canvas of the sky with his back faced towards the entrance. Baekhyun scoffs at him trying to act all cool like he is about to take some sort of candid shot and rubs his hands together before going outside to join him. They stare at the colourful lighted scenes of the buildings scattered in front of them in silence. 

"Yah, what are you doing out here? It's cold." Baekhyun mutters, looking up at an expressionless Joohyuk.

"Are you still serious about helping Raon? You want to put yourself in danger?" Joohyuk asks again. "I'm not really against it, cause you know whatever you do, I'll be there to assist you. I'm just asking."

"I'm serious, Joohyuk. She's... a nice person, she didn't deserve to have her money taken like that." Baekhyun tells him. "So can you find any info on how we can get them?"

A small smile graces on Joohyuk's lips. "Wow, this is the first time you've been set on doing something that doesn't involve any money for you. I feel like you're changing into a different person little by little, hyung."

"Are you kidding?" Baekhyun turns away, hiding the flustered look on his face. "I'm still the same."

"If you say so~" Joohyuk hums. "But seeing you this way is fresh, and I like it."

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, he doesn't understand Joohyuk. Has he changed? He still has the same habits, the same personality. Perhaps is the only one failing to realise that he is changing, whereas his friends around him, can see what's different about him. Baekhyun can't tell, all this thinking about useless things is making him frustrated.

"Whatever, anyways about the pl  " Baekhyun stops when he hears the stepping sounds of footsteps on the wooden floorboards.

The two men turn around to find Raon awkwardly standing still in her place. Her eyes meet with Baekhyun's, for a short second she glances at Joohyuk, then she stares at him again. Baekhyun crosses his arms as he eyes the girl, and they wait for her to say something. He wants her to get to the point. A second longer in this frustrating silence is going to drive him mad.

"Raon, what do you want?" Baekhyun asks, his voice hinting of slight impatience.

Raon widens her eyes. "U-uhm, Baekhyun, can I   You and me, can we   Can we talk in private?"

Joohyuk takes her request as his cue to leave. He pats Baekhyun on the shoulder, giving Raon a small smile and returning back in the house. Baekhyun focuses back towards the illuminated view in front of them. From the corner of his eye, he notices the girl walking over to stand next to him, not too close, which he wonders why. They're friends, aren't they? She probably doesn't know, because Baekhyun has always referred to their relationship as acquaintances.

"Didn't you want to talk about something?"

"Yeah... Thanks, for you know, deciding to do this for me. I... promised my family that I would be the breadwinner of the family after my dad died, but I feel like I'm not making progress at all. My sister is working a part-time job, and my mom is still working six days a week, even after I told them to take it easy. I really want the best for all of them," Raon laughs dryly, "I'm aiming too high, right?"

"You should aim high. If you keep looking down on yourself and what you're working hard for, nothing's going to come out of it." Baekhyun says to her, and a question he has been thinking about ever since Raon showed up crying in front of him pops up in his mind. He wants to ask, but he's afraid that it will make her uncomfortable. Death is an uncomfortable topic to be on in general!

"Hey, Jeon Raon," Baekhyun turns his head to look at her, "your dad... about him... How was he murdered? I mean, you don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable..."

"He was in the same situation as me, he wanted to buy us a nicer house to live in, and he gave them the money in cash. They said they would contact him but they didn't for a month and he couldn't reach them because the number didn't exist anymore, all of a sudden. My parents fought a lot during that month, my mom would worry and my dad didn't like it when she kept talking about the consequences of his actions. It was on a Friday, I remember it. My dad happened to meet the man who conned him on the streets and he confronted him. He fell for that con artist's trick... he believed that he would really get his money back and followed him to the outskirts of the city... It was a gang up, they didn't show my dad any mercy." Raon chokes on her words. "His face... I couldn't recognise him when I first saw his face after his death because they'd beaten him up so badly."

Losing a loved one is something Baekhyun has not experienced. However, he and Raon's situations are quite similar in a way. Their fathers both had problems to do with money. Baekhyun is well off now, but the state Raon is in, she must be reliving her past again. Baekhyun observes her face closely, and he is surprised to see that no tears are being shed.

"Don't worry, I'm stronger than you think. I won't cry this time." She grins as if she can feel Baekhyun's slightly worried stare on her.

"Good, don't cry." Baekhyun nods, not because he doesn't want to comfort her and not because he'll get annoyed if she cries. "You don't need to cry, we're going to get your money back. I promise."

For the past week, Baekhyun has been living his life like usual. Even though it is supposed to be crucial for them to make a detailed plan in order to get back Raon's money, he still has other matters to take care of. There are so many corrupted scumbags in Seoul, he wants to get rid of all of them. Every time Yunho invites him to a formal dinner, the chances meeting them becomes certain. They have so much power in their hands and tend to get carried away by misusing this power to bring others down. It is extremely hard to tell since they look like regular citizens who work normal jobs, they try not to stand out, but Baekhyun has a good eye for them. After all, he has been doing this for six years.

When he is done with a day's work of being friendly acquainted with affluent businessmen years older than him over a round of drinks and settles at his study table at one or two in the morning, he doesn't quite stop there. I have to get back that money, I promised her. He tells himself everytime he feels like giving in to sleep. He battles through the exhaustion and scribbles on his notebook, downing cans of coffee as he does it.

Baekhyun doesn't know why he is so determined. Is it because this is the first time meddling in the affairs of Kim Woobin, so it is a given that everything must be carried out perfectly? His men are armed with weapons in their lavish suits and they're not dumb either. They will probably be able to notice if they sense the tiniest thing wrong about him. If Baekhyun stutters, if he isn't filled with background information about them and can't answer to a question from the higher-ups, a gun will be held to his head in no time. A gun held to the head. Not something you hear every day. That has only happened to him once in his life in his days as a rookie con artist and there is no way he is going to allow that memory to repeat itself a second time. 

At the back of his head, he fears. He fears that he is going to make a mistake and the thought of it is swallowing him up in the dead hours of the night. Baekhyun bites on his lip, tapping his pen on his desk. His eyes dart over to his phone when the screen lights up. Joohyuk has just texted him, saying that he has found the right time to carry out the plan they have been working on for a week, and as for the details, he will go through them tomorrow.

So, tomorrow will mark the day where his life takes a turn, for the worse, or p