Mingyu was silent. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as the older man in front of him poured him yet another glass of water. He was going through yet another interrogation. He'd been in the room for almost three hours according to the red digits of the small digital clock sat on top on the table. He'd laid out every little detail of what had happened the previous day leading up to Jeonghan's accident...and yet the investigators were still convinced he was somehow responsible. Apparently all fingers were pointed at him, even with an alibi there were no witnesses to prove his story was legitimate and Jeonghan was still unconscious at the hospital.

Apparently his lover's breaks had completely given out while he was on the highway. The brunette's vehicle spun out of control and collided directly with the barricades. Jeonghan suffered a major head wound from making such harsh impact with the glass window; the fact that he already wasn't in one hundred percent physical health didn't exactly make things easier. The brunette was anemic and the blood loss took a hard hit on him. He wanted to visit the brunette despite what had happened between them but even then his simple request wasn't granted. He was immediately taken in for questioning. Sure he was a little hostile toward the police when they escorted him out of his apartment but he wasn't exactly in the best frame of mind. How was he supposed to react? Being blamed for stealing company funds was one thing but attempted murder was a whole other ball park.

"How many times do I have to say it?" Mingyu let out a frustrated breath. "I didn't do it."

"Well it can't be a coincidence, Mingyu-shi," the man in front of him tapped his pen against his clipboard. "Your lover suddenly chooses to work for the new CEO and suddenly he gets into a car accident? Yoon Jeonghan's vehicle was in perfect condition except for his breaks which were recently serviced just a month ago. Breaks don't wear down that fast, Mingyu-shi, especially when driving on such mild terrain such as Seoul."

"I'm not a psychopath, I wouldn't turn to murder just because of something like this!" Mingyu was beginning to lose all his patience. "Haven't you gone down the Avenue of me possibly being framed for all of this? Everything's happening too smoothly, don't you think? It's like all the clues are being presented to you on a silver platter!"

"This would all be over if you told me the truth."

"I am telling you the truth," Mingyu snapped. "I've told you the story from start to end over and over, I'm not going to confess to something I didn't do just so you can call it a day and put me behind bars."

The older man in front of him dropped his pen on the table and rubbed his eyes before looking at the clock. He then looked at Mingyu and sighed.

"You're free to go now, we'll follow up again soon," the older man simply said.

Mingyu grabbed his coat from the back of his chair and immediately headed for the door. He got in his car and sat in complete silence for several minutes. What the was going on? Nothing was adding up, first it was Jeonghan suddenly working for Hyunjin and now the brunette gets himself into a car accident during the most crucial time in the investigation. Mingyu started biting his nails. He couldn't think, he was worried about Jeonghan and he was still very much worried about his own fate. He didn't know what to do, he felt alone.

Mingyu staggered for the door, the sound of his doorbell ringing was making his migraine worse. Whoever had decided to show up at definitely had no intention of leaving. Mingyu wiped the sleep from his eyes and opened the door. He looked out into the hallway and frowned when he couldn't immediately see anyone.

"Down here, ," a voice said with audible irritation.

Mingyu lowered his gaze, oh, it was Jihoon. The shorter man didn't look happy.

"What do you want?" Mingyu's frown deepened.

"We need to talk," Jihoon pushed the taller man aside and stepped inside his apartment.

"Can this wait?" Mingyu sighed.

"Jeonghan's phone went missing the night of the accident," Jihoon folded his arms over his chest. "I overheard the investigators when I went to the hospital, there was a bruise in the shape of his phone on Jeonghan's thigh from the impact of the crash but it wasn't in his pocket when they brought him in."

"His phone?" Mingyu furrowed his brow.

"Yeah, wallet, watch and keys were still on him, everything valuable except for his phone was taken," Jihoon nodded. "They definitely think the person who took Jeonghan's phone was trying to hide it or possibly get rid of it."

 "You think I did it, don't you?" Mingyu's hand formed a fist at his side.

 "No, I don't," Jihoon shook his head. "I used to but not now."

 "Why the change of heart?" Mingyu was genuinely curious.

 "Because you've got a broken hand and you're nowhere near smart enough to pull off a plan this big," Jihoon said in a casual tone. "Look, I might not be a detective of any sort but I know someone with a broken hand wouldn't be able to physically move Jeonghan's body over using one arm especially in the kind of shape his car was in after the crash. There's no way for you to get any leverage with just one hand, then add the fact that you have to rummage through Jeonghan's pockets for his phone -- it doesn't make sense." 

"You thought about that?" Mingyu's eyes widened.

"I'm no fool, Kim Mingyu," Jihoon shot Mingyu a look.

"Sorry, didn't mean to offend you," Mingyu apologized, it was sincere.

"Look," Jihoon repeated, he ran a hand through his bleached blond locks. "Jeonghan told everyone to keep quiet but I think it's better if you know. He's been working with Jeon Wonwoo to help clear your name, he jumped at the chance to spy on Hyunjin when he got offered his job back at the company. Jeonghan told us to keep our mouths shut about his little endeavor since he didn't want you getting any sort of blame in case the plan failed. He wanted to shield you as much as possible."

"So he really was up to something," Mingyu looked down at his feet.

"My guess is Hyunjin probably found out about Jeonghan's plan and decided to take him out," Jihoon said. "Dead men don't talk."

"Jeonghan must've known something big if Hyunjin went to lengths as murder to keep him quiet," Mingyu noted.

"The only person who would know is Jeon Wonwoo," Jihoon nodded once.

"Have you heard from Wonwoo at all in the last twenty-four hours?" Mingyu suddenly felt a bad of sweat fall from his brow. 

"No, not a peep," Jihoon shook his head. 

"," Mingyu cursed.

"You don't think Hyunjin's planning on doing to something to Wonwoo, do you?"

 "If Wonwoo's working with Jeonghan, chances are he'll know something," Mingyu immediately dialled for Wonwoo's number.

 The phone rang and rang and rang for several moments until finally it went to voicemail. Mingyu felt more sweat pour from his forehead -- that wasn't a good sign.

 "Do you know where he lives?" Mingyu looked down at his screen then over at Jihoon.

 "Let's go," Jihoon simply nodded toward the door with his car keys dangling on his index finger.

Mingyu climbed into Jihoon's bulky black Jeep and they drove across the city over to Wonwoo's apartment complex. They rode the elevator in complete silence with only the dull sound of humming from the lift in the background. Both men got out on the right floor and headed for the door on the end. Mingyu rang the doorbell. He was immediately greeted by a pair of small slanted eyes on the small intercom screen.

 "Mingyu?" Soonyoung, the man he'd met on the ski trip with Jeonghan answered.

 "Hey, I just wanted to know if Wonwoo's here," Mingyu said.

 "Wonwoo? He hasn't been back since last night," Soonyoung replied, he sounded a little on edge.

 "Last night? Has he called you at all? Any messages?" Jihoon was a lot more straightforward in his approach.

 "No," Soonyoung shook his head.

 There was a light jingle and a beeping before the front door swung open and Soonyoung appeared holding a sleeping Siwoo in his arms. The preschool teacher held a finger up to his lips to keep his two visitors quiet before he stepped aside and let them enter the apartment. Mingyu and Jihoon stood awkwardly in the living room as Soonyoung settled the four year old boy into his bed. The preschool teacher returned a minute later rubbing his face.

 "Wonwoo said he was going to go visit Jeonghan in the hospital last night around six o'clock, he said he was only going to be there for a little while but he didn't come back. He usually lets me know he'll be late but I got nothing from him, I called too but it went straight to voicemail," Soonyoung informed. "Siwoo's been waiting for him on the sofa and poor guy finally gave in and fell asleep just before you two got here."

 "," Jihoon cursed.

 "Do you think something happened to him?" Soonyoung started twiddling with his thumbs.

 "Wonwoo's a smart guy, he's probably fine," Mingyu didn't know if he was trying to convince Soonyoung or himself.

 "He took his laptop with him when he went to the hospital," Soonyoung added. "He said he needed to meet someone after he went to see Jeonghan but he didn't mention who."

 Mingyu started rubbing his face, all the information he was getting were only small tidbits, the beginning without the end -- just a bunch of incomplete sentences. He was so very frustrated.

 "What are we supposed to do now?" Mingyu looked at the shorter man.

 "I think you should-" Jihoon was cut off by the ringing of Mingyu's phone.

 Mingyu's dark eyes trailed over to the phone vibrating on the artist's glass coffee table. It was a private number, Mingyu furrowed his brow. His thumb hovered for a split second until he finally decided to pick up. He was welcomed with white noise followed by what sounded like an exhale -- one that he vaguely recognised as a drag of from a cigarette.

 "Mingyu," the croaky voice greeted.

 "What the do you want?" Mingyu narrowed his eyes, Hyunjin's voice immediately made him ten times more irritable.

 "A little sensitive, aren't we?" Hyunjin's tone was on the verge of sounding condescending.

 "What the do you want?" Mingyu repeated.

"I have a proposition for you, my boy," Hyunjin suddenly said.

 "Proposition? You think I'm willing to listen? You think you can make me accept an offer from you? Are you ing brain dead?!" Mingyu shouted.

 Jihoon stood with arms folded as he watched Mingyu frantically pace back and forth. 

"I'm going to be this generous once, Mingyu," Hyunjin said. "I'll be waiting in my office until five o'clock, hear my offer and then make a decision. You can either make this easier for both of us or we're going to have to do this the hard way. You saw what happened to Jeonghan, didn't you? Poor boy thought he could outsmart me on his own, just look where that got him."

 "You..." Mingyu had no words, his injured hand forming a loose fist -- it was still very much broken.

"Think about it, Mingyu," Hyunjin's tone sounded all too neutral, it was chilling. "You're fighting a losing battle. Sign over your shares of the company, all you have to do is sign a little sheet of paper and I can give you a generous payout to help you start fresh. It's mighty generous if you ask me."

"All of this for the sake of money? You're disgusting," Mingyu spat. 

"You'd think those kind of words would hurt me but they truly don't, I'll be waiting," Hyunjin concluded. "You have until five o'clock, goodbye."

"!" Mingyu flung his phone down on the sofa.

"And the plot thickens," Jihoon shook his head, his jaw was tense.

"!" Mingyu started shrugging on his jacket.

"Wait, where're you going?" Jihoon began trailing after the CEO's son.

"I don't ing know but I can't stay here."

"You need to calm the down," Jihoon grabbed Mingyu by the shoulders. "You always end up doing dumb when you're up in your feelings, so just stay put!"

"Then tell me what I should do! My dad's in hospital and now my boyfriend's there with him! Guess what? It doesn't get any better! The company I'm supposed to be running was taken over by the same suits who helped build it! All I have now are some company shares and even then Hyunjin wants to strip that away from me!"

Jihoon didn't give a response.

"I appreciate you for standing by me but there's nothing you can say that can help me right now," Mingyu opened the door and left.

Jihoon watched the taller man leave before turning to look at Soonyoung. The preschool teacher's lips were pressed together in a thin line -- worry clouded his expression.

"This is all very ed," Soonyoung mumbled. 

"Yeah, no ," was all Jihoon could say.

He really hoped Mingyu didn't end up