*Yejun is the name of Yerin’s brother in this story. It is not his actual name in real life*

“Jinhee, call the HR department down in an hour. I need to brief them on the new intake of staff.” Yejun told his secretary as he looked at the calendar on his phone.

“Sure.” She bowed and turned back to her computer.

“I’m going to get some lunch.” He smiled and left the office. He took his phone out to send a text to his sister as he walked to his car.

Just as he reached his car, a black Nissan NV200 screeched to a halt in front of his car. Yejun watched in shock as the door slid open and a group of masked men jumped out.

They grabbed him roughly by the arms and pulled him towards the van.

“Wait! What are you doing?” He yelled as he fought back. He managed to push one of the men away and sock another in the face but was quickly subdued by the group of masked assailants. One of them grabbed him from the back and picked him up, tossing him into the van and shut the door. The masked men worked in the darkness to tie Yejun’s arms and legs up as well as to blindfold him.

The tyres screeched as the van drove off, taking Yejun away.

“Wait. That’s wrong.” Junseo said, pointing vaguely at a bunch of wires.

“Would it kill you to be more specific?” Sojung asked, waving her pair of pliers at the wires.

“This red one. Don’t connect it here. It should go here, where it can connect directly to the current.” He said as he removed the wire and switched it from one input to another that was just a centimetre away. “I think you’re tired.”

“It’s hard looking at a bunch of wires that look visually the same for hours on end.” Sojung sighed and took her glasses off.

“We should take a break. We did a lot today.” He said and Sojung nodded. The moment she stood up, a series of cracks could be heard as her joints popped.

“What?” she said when she saw the boy looking at her.

“No, nothing.” He said quickly. “Are we getting lunch?”

“Let’s find out,” Sojung said and opened the door, walking out of the study. They saw the girls talking on the couch but Yerin was not with them.

“Where’s Yerin?” Sojung asked. “Are we getting lunch?”

“She’s in her ro-” Eunbi said before she was cut off by a loud bang.

“What was that?” Eunha asked but everyone looked confused.

“!” Yerin cursed as she ran down the stairs, slamming her palm against the metal handrail, causing it to resound with a metal gong.

“What?” Eunbi asked, clearly worried at Yerin’s sudden change of mood. The latter was happy when they woke up this morning but now Yerin was far from that. She had a deep scowl etched on her face and her eyes were red-rimmed as if she was about to cry. Her face was flushed, and her hair was a mess. She shoved her phone into Junseo’s hands and the boy took it in shock.

“Watch.” She ordered and Junseo looked at the screen. It was a video sent by an unknown number. He exchanged glances with the other girls and they gathered around to watch.

The video started, and they saw a man bound to a chair in the middle of a dimly lit room. He had ropes tied around his chests and his arms were bound his back. A sack was over his head as if to prevent him from looking at his surroundings. They could hear the sound of an indistinct conversation happening in a hushed and low voice behind the camera before someone came into view. With his back to the camera, he yanked the sack off the man’s head to reveal a middle-aged man.

“No…” Sojung muttered when she realized who it was.

“Jung Yerin.” A deep, disembodied voice boomed. It startled Junseo and caused the other girls to exchanged nervous glances. “Do you really think you could get your revenge?” the voice asked in a mocking fashion.

“Do you really think it is that easy to get back at me? I’ve been watching you and your brother for years. I know you would return for this sole purpose of killing me, but I am well prepared for this. You will have to try harder to even lay a finger on me. I see you’ve found the kid from back then who framed you. Yes, I know your parents were framed. Why did I kill them, you may ask? Well… Why not?” the voice said, and a maniacal laughter was heard. Eunbi looked at Yerin who seemed to be trying to level her emotions.

“YOU’RE A FOOL, YERIN!” the voice shouted and the man that was standing beside Yejun grabbed him by the collar. “You will never get to me! Your efforts will be in vain!” the voice bellowed, and a swift jab was delivered to Yejun’s face, causing the girls to flinch from witnessing the sheer impact of the punch.

“I’m a cartel leader!” the man yelled from behi