Slowly and reluctantly, Woohyun rouse from a heavy slumber. Streaks of sunlight penetrated the window and blinded him. He stretched his arms above his head and yawned. It was already afternoon and he felt peculiar, normally he would get up before sunrise because of Sunggyu.

He rubbed his knuckles against his eyes.

It tingled.

They were still slightly swollen.

“You’re finally awake after sleeping for 12 hours, such a pig.” Sunggyu mocked, he was wearing a suit. Last night he wore a casual outfit and it made him look approachable, probably the reason why Woohyun didn’t avoid him. The last thing Woohyun remembered was wailing involuntarily in Sunggyu’s arms. Somehow Sunggyu’s warmth and scent managed to calm his emotions down.

Did I fall asleep afterwards?

He was embarrassed.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Woohyun asked as he dragged his feet off the couch. Sunggyu stayed silent and pretended to be engrossed in his research, acting as though Woohyun’s question wasn’t directed at him. At the same time, Woohyun was glad that Sunggyu didn’t mention anything regarding last night’s incident.

He glanced at the clock, there was still enough time to make it for Ms Wong’s 1pm lecture. He dashed to the toilet, brushed his teeth and changed into his uniform hastily.

“Where are you going?”

Sunggyu raised his eyebrows, eyeing his untucked crumpled uniform and dishevelled hair. He seemed more like a hooligan than a student.

“School,” Woohyun answered while shoving an Economics book into his backpack.

“Forget it, I’ve already applied leave of absence for you today. You don’t have to go,” Sunggyu announced.

“Why?”

Woohyun was puzzled. Sunggyu kept quiet, he didn’t want to comment about his puffy eyes.

Didn’t he look in the mirror?

“Yah exam is coming, and didn’t you say I’ve to get good results to show the Chairman? I’ve to attend classes, otherwise, I’ll surely flunk it.” Woohyun grumbled and hung the strap over his shoulder.

He actually takes it seriously?

He headed towards the door.

“I can teach you.”

Sunggyu suggested, he was always first in class. Although Myungsoo and he had excellent grades recorded in their report books since young, he had inherited his intellect from his father while his brother had to be tutored to achieve the same result as him.

Woohyun halted in his footsteps.

Why is he being nice to me? Is there a hidden motive behind it?

His face scrunched up with worries.

Or is he pitying me because of last night?

He balled his fist and his nails dug into his palm.

“Besides, I need you to hack into YJ Company before this week’s presentation. I’ve told Dongwoo to get you a laptop.”

Laptop?

Woohyun’s eyes brightened instantly and his anger dissipated as soon as it started. A dark blue Asus ZenBook was placed on his desk. He has never owned his own notebook, Jungyeop only gave one each to Sungyeol and Hyunseung. Other members had to share a computer together.

Woohyun walked over to his desk and held the device to his chest. It was light, and the material was very cooling to touch. He squealed with delight, looking like a child with ice cream.

Finally, I have my own laptop!

“Stop wagging your tail, puppy,” Sunggyu teased and chuckled.

“I’m not,” Woohyun protested with his lower lip jutting out. He went back to the toilet to change out his school attire.

Sunggyu’s eyes fell onto the couch. The memory trundled through his brain like a train, with no intention of stopping. Woohyun had dozed off on his abdomen after weeping. Sunggyu gently laid his lethargic body on the couch. When he was about to leave, a hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist.

“Old man, I’m sorry for failing the mission. Please don’t leave me alone.”

Woohyun’s cheeks were damp and tears rolled down from the corner of his eyes, he was having a nightmare.

So, he was in tears because of that man. Was he abandoned because he was caught?

Woohyun’s current state reminded Sunggyu of his 12 years old self. He used to sleep next to the telephone in the living room, refusing to go back to his room. Salty drops fell from his chin, drenching his favourite shirt. It has already been a week since his mother left him, but she never called.

“Did Eomma forget about me?”

Maybe that was the reason why his heart tingled. He was able to empathise with him, the feeling of being abandoned and helpless.

It when the one who makes you the happiest in the world is also the same person who can make you the saddest.

Woohyun secured his laptop data to prevent anyone from tracking him down. Hacking into the company’s system wasn’t as simple as he thought, especially since he only learnt the basics, which was coding.

If only Sungyeol or Hyunseung were here…

He sighed dejectedly. He was alone in the office, Sunggyu had left to attend a meeting with Dongwoo. He rested his chin on the table. He has been trying to crack the password for the past few hours, using several methods but failed.

Did I miss out something?

The stress spread through his mind like an ink leaking on a piece of paper. He wanted to call Sungyeol for help since they had given him their numbers before they went separate ways. However, he didn’t own a phone and he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without his boss’s permission. He growled in frustration.

Suddenly, a knock came quietly. Woohyun heard the door open and shut. He turned his head over his shoulder, thinking that it was his boss.

Unexpectedly, it was Kibum instead.

“He’s in a meeting now,” he answered lazily and hided what he was doing from Kibum.

“I’m not looking for your boss. Instead, I’m here for you.”

Woohyun furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

What did he want from me?

There was this strong instinct that Kibum knew who he was. He had given himself away during their first meeting. Kibum smiled sweetly and handed him a tatty leather-bound book. It looked like it belonged to an underworld criminal and would be dangerous if it landed in the wrong hands.

“I think this will be useful for you. Don’t lose it.”

Words appeared and disappeared as his eyes moved swiftly across the fragile, yellow pages, picking out anything of importance from the jumble of sentences. He stopped at a dog-eared page.

Woohyun was horrified.

Although the letters all run into one another messily like a doctor’s handwriting that nobody could read, Woohyun was able to since Jungyeop’s handwriting was like that too. The page was related to hacking, guides on how to hack were written briefly but it was enough for Woohyun to know what to do.

This is old man’s…

He quickly looked behind, Kibum had already left. The book felt heavy on the palm of his hands.

Old man, how did you know? You didn’t really abandon me, right?

He rushed out of the room and sprinted to the special elevator. He has so many questions that he wanted to ask Kibum. However, he was nowhere to be seen.

Myungsoo heaved a sigh of relief.

It was finally his lunch break. He loosened the tie around his neck. He has been running back and forth from his office to the security department. It was tiring, and he regretted adding loads for himself just to win his father’s heart.

He headed to the canteen and ordered a kimchi stew. While he was looking for a place to sit, something or rather someone caught his attention. His lips quirked into a smile. That person was sitting alone and eating gimbap, stuffing his mouth full as he looked out of the window, scanning every passer-by.

Myungsoo took a seat on the opposite side of the table. Woohyun eyed him weirdly since there were vacant seats around them.

“Why are you here?” Woohyun asked in an annoyed tone since their first meeting didn’t end on good terms. Myungsoo smiled.

“Well it seems to me that you need a companion,” he answered while poking the straw into his cup of iced coffee. Woohyun choked on his food and quickly drank his drink.

“Looks like you didn’t manage to make a friend in your department. They didn’t organise a welcome party for you?” Woohyun rolled his eyes at his comment and ignored him.

“You shouldn’t have joined the Marketing Department. I’ve heard rumours about your department’s president, he’s heartless and doesn’t care about his employees.” Myungsoo insulted and observed Woohyun’s expression closely.

“Yah he isn’t that type of person!”

Woohyun defended after thinking back to the scenes when Sunggyu helped the ajumma and when he comforted him last night. If he heard this a week ago, he would’ve agreed with Myungsoo. Myungsoo chuckled.

“So just like Dongwoo hyung, you’ve also become his dog?”

Woohyun’s hand clenched into a fist but before he could retaliate, another voice cut him off.

“Woohyun.”

He looked up. Sunggyu was standing right beside the table. Woohyun’s eyes widened.

“Boss,” he panicked.

Did he hear everything L said?

He didn’t know why he was feeling nervous when the man opposite him should be the one trembling in fear and begging Sunggyu not to fire him.

“L-ssi was blabbering without thinking, don’t take it to heart.” He persuaded, forcing a smile.

“L?”
 

Sunggyu shot daggers at Myungsoo with a questioning expression, Myungsoo smirked cockily.

“He’s the Security Director,” Woohyun stated with confusion. How could he not know the security director? Myungsoo quickly changed the topic to prevent his identity from being exposed.

“Ahh, what makes our president come to the canteen? This place doesn’t seem to suit you.” He was being sarcastic, and it ticked Sunggyu off.

“Shin Woohyun, I’ll give you 10 minutes. Finish up your lunch and come up immediately,” Sunggyu ordered and walked off.

“Aish! Why did you make him angry? Now I’m in trouble because of you.” Woohyun groaned while ruffling his hair, visualising an angry Sunggyu. Myungsoo grinned, he loved to get on Sunggyu’s nerves.

“Yah! Shouldn’t you repay me? I just rescued you from getting fired.” Woohyun whined.

“What do you want?” Myungsoo asked, his expression was hard. He was sick of people flirting with him and trying to get into his pants because of his look and his status. Woohyun noticed.

“Don’t worry, I’m straight and have absolutely zero interest in you.” He reassured while he dug out something from his pocket. Myungsoo guffawed. I’m starting to like this kid.

“I know two guys who can help you to tighten the company’s security, they’re experts in this field.” Woohyun passed him the paper. Myungsoo glanced at it, there were two numbers written on the piece of paper.

“I’ll think about it.”

Sunggyu entered his office and slammed the door. Dongwoo gulped upon hearing that, he was mad.

During break, Sunggyu was told by Dongwoo of Woohyun’s gloomy expression when he dismissed him for lunch. Therefore, Sunggyu decided to check on him in the canteen, only to see him having lunch with Myungsoo.

“He’s so naive that he trusts people too easily.” He groaned with a scowl.

“Why should I even bother about him?”

Suddenly, the door was swung open. Sunggyu turned red with fury and glared at whoever stepped in. Nobody dared to barge into his office like that.

It was Woohyun.

“YAH! Learn to knock the freaking door before coming in, don’t you know basic courtesy?!” He shouted at the top of his lungs that Dongwoo had to rush in immediately.

“Boss, I’m sorry that I didn’t manage to stop him. We’ll leave immediately,” Dongwoo quickly interfered and dragged Woohyun out. It was his fault for not blocking his entry in time.

“No leave him here, I want to talk to him.” Dongwoo showed an apologetic expression to Woohyun before leaving. Woohyun stood in front of Sunggyu’s desk with his head down, he was like a puppy captured in a lion’s den.

“Why were you with him?” Sunggyu shot his question while lying back on his chair.

“We only talked once, I’m not close to him.” Woohyun reported obediently.

“Stay away from him, you don’t even know him,” Sunggyu demanded.

“Why are you so hostile towards him?” Woohyun asked curiously.

“I’m your boss, this is an order!” Sunggyu gritted his teeth and an angry frown creased on Woohyun’s forehead at his coldness. He’s back to his usual self.

“I believe whoever I made friends with is none of your business.” He argued rebelliously, his defy had provoked Sunggyu.

“Shin Woohyun!” Sunggyu’s face was contorted with rage, a chill ran down Woohyun’s spine. Dongwoo knocked on the door and came in hastily.

“Boss, the meeting is resuming soon.” Sunggyu closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

“I’ll deal with you later.” He warned and took his laptop with him. Dongwoo sighed in relief and exited the room.

“Wait, I’ve something I wanna ask you.” Woohyun stopped Sunggyu before he could follow his secretary.

“What?”

Sunggyu was frustrated and impatient.

“On the day when you caught me, how did you enter this building?”

This was the question that has been bothering him. There was no way old man didn’t notice Sunggyu’s figure with his eagle eyes unless Sunggyu had entered through a hidden door, which doesn’t make any sense since he has studied the map and knew there wasn’t any hidden door.

“Of course, through the main door.” Woohyun frowned.

“At that time, nobody was at the main door?” Sunggyu shook his head, blood drained from Woohyun’s face instantly. This is impossible. He stood motionlessly as if he had seen a ghost.

“Why?” He asked concernedly, forgetting about his anger earlier on.

“Boss, you are going to be late.” Dongwoo reminded from outside, afraid that the longer his boss stayed in the office, the more likely the two will fight.

“Wait for me, I’ll be back in two hours.” Sunggyu gave Woohyun one last glance before leaving him in the office.

“Yes, boss? You called for me?” His secretary, Onew, walked into the room.

“Pass this to the Security Director.” Myungsoo handed him the paper.

“Tell him to hire them.”

“Arrest all of them! Don’t let any one of them escape.”

Taehyun clutched the photo given by the police officer. It was a picture of the black van in a forest taken from far. They had managed to track down the location of the thieves.

Suddenly, a knock was heard.

“Come in.”

Taehyun was surprised when the person entered with a bow.

“I want to have a word with the Chairman, can you give us a moment?” The police officer nodded his head and left the room.

“Kibum, why are you here? Isn’t today your day off?” Instead of answering his question, his secretary headed towards his desk and placed a folder on it.

“Chairman, I have something that I must show it to you now.”

Taehyun knit his brows.