Chapter Sixteen

Ouroboros
 
Chapter Sixteen
 
 
“Hey, have you seen my phone?”
 
“Weren’t you using it in the cafe?”
 
“I was, maybe I left it there. I’ll go back to have a look, I’ll meet you up back in the office.”
 
“Alright, hope you didn’t lose it, that would be really bad.”
 
“Don’t tell anyone, I’m sure it’s still there!”
 
Turning back around on the small crowded side street and leaving his co-worker to return to the office without him, Sang-hyeok raced back towards the cafe where he had enjoyed his lunch not long ago. Luckily they hadn’t gotten far before he realized he didn’t have his phone with him. This was the first time this had happened to him.
 
“Excuse me; have you seen a white iPhone X around? I think I may have left it here just moments ago,” Sang-hyeok asked the barista as soon as he entered the café.
 
“Yes actually,” the barista replied surprised before ducking behind the counter for a second and standing back up.”A customer found this in the bathroom and brought it over. Is this it?”
 
“Yes it is.”
 
“Could you open the lock screen for me, just so I can see that it is yours?” The barista asked just as she handed a white phone to Sang-hyeok.
 
“Ah of course,” Sang-hyeok scanned his fingerprint and showed the unlocked front screen of his phone to the barista who nodded back with a grateful smile.
 
“Thank you, have a wonderful day,” she said as Sang-hyeok returned the gesture before dashing back out to return to the office.
 
Sang-hyeok berated himself as he stepped onto the busy narrow street, power-walking back to the office. Losing his phone like that was extremely bad and risky; it even posed a possible national security issue. Even though all the sensitive information was behind an encrypted and password protected folder on his phone it was still hackable. To think of the repercussions of him losing the phone; he really needed to be more careful.
 
His thoughts quickly drifted on the incident a couple weeks earlier and Seulgi's daring escape. Her frantic pleas of innocence had stuck with him and in his heart he wanted to believe. Even though he had seen the charges and evidence given against Seulgi there was something that bugged him about it. Upon a second, closer inspection of the evidence after Seulgi’s escape he found discrepancies that made it highly unlikely that those specific things could have been done by her. Whether it meant that only those specific ones were trumped up charges or all of them were was still unclear to him.
 
Ever since then his mind had been preoccupied and he found himself out of focus and losing things which was unusual for him, he wasn’t the type of person to ever lose his belongings or misplace them. Just a few days earlier he thought he had lost his laptop only to find it in his room soon after. He had started to forget where he was leaving his things.
 
Added to these facts he kept feeling like someone was following him or watching him. He had chalked it up to just general paranoia considering his disbelief towards all the evidence that had been provided against Seulgi; however it was possible to imagine that Chief Eonyeong had arranged people to watch him considering that he had been Seulgi’s best friend.
 
Luckily there was something to keep his mind occupied after all the recent shocking reveals. Their office as well as probably every other intelligence office around the world had been busy for the past week. The hack that had brought down the front pages of all major news networks around the world still baffled them. Nobody knew the motive, they didn't have a clue who had done it, where it had been done from, and they didn't even know what the weird squiggles and symbols that had appeared meant, if they even meant anything. Sang-hyeok was quite frankly thankful for this hack; at least it kept his mind off Seulgi and the sense of foreboding and stalking that followed him around.
 
By the time he reached the office his mind was back to work focusing on the tasks he had been given, primarily focusing on the security pathways that had been used to hack the news websites and whether these similar weaknesses existed in the government systems. He was not allowed to investigate the Seulgi matter which was understandable due to his close relationship with her, only allowed to assist with knowledge that he may think was useful. Hopefully they would find some answers soon on where she was and why she had done it.
 
 
---
 
 
Thwack.
 
Sang-hyeok’s head shot up from his screen with surprise and he looked to his right where his co-worker Jonghyun was standing idly next to his desk.
 
“Isn’t that your wallet?” Jonghyun asked before Sang-hyeok could say anything.
 
Staring wide eyed at his co-worker for a second he then followed his gaze down to his desk where a black leather wallet had been thrown. It looked familiar and as he opened it he noticed it had all his cards and cash. It really was his wallet.
 
“Wha- how did you have this I…” Sang-hyeok twisted in his seat to go through his pockets and his bag, almost a hundred percent sure that he had put it there.
 
“It was in the lost and found downstairs. Some kind soul had returned it there for you,” Jonghyun leaned in closer to whisper. “Are you alright? First your phone two days ago and now your wallet. It’s unlike you to lose stuff like this.”
 
“Yeah… it really is,” Sang-hyeok scratched his head utterly confused how he had lost his wallet in the first place. He was certain it had been in his coat pocket when they got back from lunch. He had been growing increasingly careless with his belongings and he was beginning to wonder if the stress of everything was getting to him, not that he actually thought that he was particularly stressed at the moment. “Thanks for bringing it to me. Can you not tell-”
 
“I won’t tell anyone. Everything still in there?”
 
Looking through the wallet it seemed like all of his cards, coupons, money and personal items were still in there. Nothing had been taken thankfully. “Yeah, looks like everything is still here.”
 
Jonghyun leaned on the wall behind Sang-hyeok giving a gentle sigh at his friends recent carelessness. “You should really take your evenings well off and de-stress you know. Let’s go out for some drinks tonight? Get some of that mind untangled for a change.”
 
“Yeah… yeah sure. That is a good idea actually. The usual place after work?”
 
“I’ll come poke you when we leave.”
 
As Jonghyun left Sang-hyeok to his own devices, he kept going through the wallet double-checking that everything really was in order. It was all there. He opened his backpack and stuck it down deep into an internal pocket making sure multiple times after putting it in that it was in the right pocket. Jonghyun was probably right; he had gotten so stressed that he was losing his focus and in that state of mind losing important personal items. He needed to be more careful.
 
What really confused him was where he had managed to lose it. He hadn’t gone out for lunch today as he had bought it all in the morning and that was the only time besides using his travel card that he could remember taking his wallet out and using anything from it. Had he dropped it in the store after paying for his food? Because that was the only time he really could have lost it today.
 
If he indeed had dropped it there it had been good luck for him. The storekeepers knew them well and would have returned it to them as soon as they noticed that the wallet had been left there.
 
 
----
 
 
“...and that’s all we know so far. We are fairly certain that the original signal that sent the worms into the web-domains was from somewhere within Mumbai in India.”
 
“But no motivation for why it was done, or a clue what the symbols or picture is for?”
 
“None so far sir. It also seems that this security leak isn’t present in our government domains.”
 
“Well, keep at it. If someone was able to hack into so many places at once with such ease of escape and make a public event of it… well we don’t want our national security information to leak or be at danger, even if this specific method can’t be used.”
 
“Of course, Chief Eonyeong. I will report to you as soon as I know more.”
 
“Very good,” Chief Eonyeong tapped the table with his finger for a short silent pause before looking back up at Sang-hyeok. “I think that’s enough for today.”
 
“Sir,” Sang-hyeok bowed and was on the verge of leaving the room before he swivelled on his heels to look back at the Chief. “Sir, if I may ask.”
 
Looking up from his laptop screen the Chief rubbed his eyes. ”Yes?”
 
“Has there been any news on Seulgi?”
 
Chief Eonyeong gave a long and heavy sigh, one that to Sang-hyeok appeared one of sadness more than frustration as he rubbed his temple a little more. “No, unfortunately. We are still looking for her very actively. Don’t worry I will let you know when we find her and have her in custody.”
 
“Thank you sir,” Sang-hyeok said a little sheepishly before bowing and leaving the Chief to his own devices.
 
This latest revelation of the possible origin location of the hacking signal that had shocked the world was a boost to his morale. He had been so unfocused and was losing his items in the past weeks but now he was back on track and well focused. The drinks he had with Jonghyun the day before had helped him relax and given him an opportunity to lament the state of things and how disappointed and sad he was for Seulgi’s treasonous acts. It had helped him unload, something people in their field or as a man he didn’t get to do often and he felt a lot lighter for it.
 
Turning off his workstation Sang-hyeok left home quietly, deciding to just stay in for the evening. He had taken Jonghyun’s advice and was doing his best to relax in some manner after work, anything that helped him separate his thoughts from his issues at work when he was home. Lately that had been being playing his long underused console.
 
Luckily for him he didn’t live too far away from work and within half an hour was already entering his apartment, the familiar unlocking tone ringing as he entered the code of his apartment’s front door’s lock. He stepped in and took his jacket off before he realized it; his coat rack was missing. He didn’t remember moving it.
 
Sang-hyeok slipped his shoes off and walked further down the corridor towards the darkened living room and just as he could see the full back wall of his living room he saw an outline of a figure with a cap on top standing in the darkened corner of his living room.
 
Instinctively Sang-hyeok leaned back against the wall out of sight and immediately reached over to grab something longer than his arms for self-defence; he found a long aluminium shoehorn. He wasn’t built to fight; he was a computer analyst not a physically exceptional fighter.
 
Steeling his mind he opened his phone and dialled the number for the police, ready to call the moment things turned south. Slowly inching closer to the edge of the living room he quickly reached around the corner and the lights simultaneously jumping out to face this intruder.
 
“Who are you?! Show your han-”
 
In the corner of the room stood his coat rack with a cap on the very top of it and one of his jackets dressed over the coat rack as if it was wearing it. Immediately Sang-hyeok turned around to face his bedroom and bathroom prepared for an intruder. Listening carefully, he didn’t hear any sounds anywhere at the moment. His shouting hadn’t roused anyone.
 
Slowly one by one he entered each room, turned all the lights on and checked all of his cupboards and every little hideout that existed. The apartment was completely empty and at first glance it didn’t seem like anything was taken either. So this wasn’t a robbery.
 
Thoroughly spooked Sang-hyeok kept holding onto the shoehorn he had been carrying around with him as a weapon as he finally approached the coat rack that was standing in the very corner of his living room, still wearing his jacket and cap. With more time to focus he realized there was something on the jacket that he had missed at first glance. Pinned to the chest there was a single piece of paper with one single word written with large letters on it. He recognized this handwriting.
 
“Bilbao.”
 
He knew where he needed to go.
 
Immediately darting out of his apartment Sang-hyeok hailed a cab and told the driver to go to a little restaurant close to Yonsei University. It was the place where him and Seulgi had celebrated when she had first passed the exams and had been employed in the department where Sang-hyeok worked. It was a restaurant they had visited quite a few times during study days. A place whose name was of a place where Seulgi had repeatedly said she wanted to visit; Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
 
The pit of his stomach churned even further. This had to be Seulgi. There was nobody else that knew about the significance of that place except the two of them. Or was someone playing him, testing him, trying to see if he would call the police with information on Seulgi and if he didn’t he would be set up? Unlikely. His gut said this had to be Seulgi. Now the question really was whether he would inform his superiors and co-workers that he was possibly being contacted by Seulgi or not.
 
There was this nagging sensation in the back of his skull that said not everything was right with how she had been charged with treason. She deserved to be heard fairly, she deserved his trust in a private conversation at least once before he decided whether he would report her or not.
 
The little restaurant had a few customers in it and upon arrival Sang-hyeok sat into a corner seat well out of sight of most people giving him some privacy. At first glance nobody appeared suspicious to him and soon enough the owner of the establishment arrived to take his order.
 
“Sang-hyeok it’s been a while, nice to see you here. What would you like?”
 
“I’ve been so busy with work. Can I have the Alubias de Tolosa, it feels like that kind of a day.”
 
“Any drink?”
 
“I’ll have an Estrella Damm, sure.”
 
“Alright, good to see you,” the owner laughed patting his shoulder affectionately.
 
As the owner turned around to go prepare the food Sang-hyeok called out. “Ahjussi, sorry one more thing. Have you seen Seulgi recently?”
 
“Seulgi. No she hasn’t come around either. The last time I think was when she was here with you a couple months ago. How is she doing?” The owner replied with a great big smile. He had a soft spot for Seulgi, treating her as if she were his own daughter.
 
“She is great, really doing her part in the department.”
 
“Well that is wonderful to hear. When you see her tomorrow tell her to come by. It’s been too long and I’ll begin to worry if she doesn’t drop by,” the uncle laughed and gave another friendly pat on Sang-hyeok’s shoulder before walking off to prepare the food.
 
Not a minute after the owner of the shop had taken his order Sang-hyeok’s phone rang. He looked at his screen to see who was calling; it was an unknown number. Normally he would avoid answering such numbers, but his situation right now warranted an answer.
 
“Hello?”
 
“Sang-hyeok sunbae.
 
“Seulgi,” Sang-hyeok whispered as his heart jumped into his throat. It really was the so called fugitive traitor that had played him like this and lured him out all the way here. He glanced around the restaurant once more, looking at all the corners and nooks in the place. Nobody stood out as someone that could be Seulgi in disguise or like they were watching him in particular.
 
“When I saw the message in my room I knew it had to be you," Sang-hyeok said in a low tone, instinctively lowering his voice even more. Even though his feelings of paranoia and being followed had eased up over the past few days he was once again alerted and heightened to the fact and possibility.
 
"I knew you would get it."
 
"How... are you doing? I heard you were shot during your escape." On the other end of the receiver Sang-hyeok heard a puff of air and he could swear that Seulgi was smiling.
 
"You were worried; it's good to know that. I'm fine now, thank you for asking. Indeed I was shot and it was a bit precarious for a moment but all good now. The reason I wanted to talk to you is..."
 
There was a long pause as Sang-hyeok waited for Seulgi to continue. Whatever it was that she wanted to tell him must be difficult. She went through all this trouble to make sure that neither herself nor Sang-hyeok were followed and that they were both in safety before she reached out to him.
 
“It’s hard to believe and understand without seeing the proof, but there is a larger conspiracy at play that intricately involves Chief Eonyeong, and to which I was unwillingly dragged into.”
 
“A conspiracy with Chief Eonyeong? How do you know this? Do you have proof?” Sang-hyeok perked up hearing these charges and lowered his voice even more. These were some serious allegations to be making. Of course it was convenient for someone who was charged with treason to blame others, but this was Seulgi. For all intents and purposes he still trusted her and thought he knew her. She wasn’t like that.
 
“There is proof. I’m still gathering more because whatever he is charged with must be ironclad.”
 
“Is it corruption?”
 
“Among other things, the full truth is a lot worse.”
 
Sang-hyeok swallowed as he thought of the worst possibilities; human trafficking, slavery, extortion, murder. If the Chief was involved in something so bad, then how was implicating Seulgi with treason and forfeiting states secrets helping him? Seulgi must have discovered the truth and she needed to be taken care of. However, wouldn’t murdering her have been simpler for the Chief if that was the case?
 
Like with Seulgi, Sang-hyeok got along well with the Chief. He had been a trustworthy man always looking out for his subordinates, putting his job on the line at times to back them up. He was the type to hire new and fresh graduates to mentor them into positions of leadership. Sang-hyeok felt like he was in between the grip of a vice; on one end was one of his best friends Seulgi, on the other the ever reliable and trustworthy Chief Eonyeong, and if he didn’t choose which side to move the vice would clamp down and break him in two.
 
All these questions rolled around in his brain and he wanted to ask her for more details, but the longer he talked on the phone the more his paranoia was beginning to get the best of him and he quickly attempted to divert his thoughts elsewhere.
 
“Where are you now Seulgi?”
 
There was a pause in the call before he heard faint sounds of plastic hitting something solid followed by clattering.
 
“Sunbae, you really can't leave dishes in the sink like this. It stinks and is going to bring bugs.”
 
Sang-hyeok shot up from his chair; Seulgi was in his apartment right now. “Seulgi, stay there and wait for me. Let’s talk face to face.”
 
“Sang-hyeok please, you know I can’t do that.
 
“Don’t you trust me?”
 
No.”
 
There was a pause in the call as Sang-hyeok felt his heart sink, a knife twist in it from the words. Of course she wouldn’t be able to trust anyone at this moment if she was innocent and being framed with crimes that served a life sentence.
 
“...is what I would love to say, but clearly I’m here calling you and trying to convince you of my innocence so…”
 
“Thank you, Seulgi. I know it’s hard to trust anyone right now but believe me, I really didn’t know anything about these charges brought up against you and even I find them unbelievable. They are also keeping me away from your investigation.”
 
“I know sunbae, trust me I know very well.”
 
There was another pause in the call as Sang-hyeok heard what he assumed was the front door opening and closing, locking behind it. As the familiar tune of his front door locking jingled in his phone receiver he realized what Seulgi meant; she had hacked him, she had hacked everyone.
 
His feelings of paranoia from being followed these past weeks, misplacing his laptop, losing his phone and wallet, it had all been Seulgi. She must have been the one stalking him to make sure he was innocent and uninvolved. She was the one who had stolen his phone and wallet to go through things or to access the department’s servers. He had been the conduit to get to the department and Chief Eonyeong. He had been played.
 
Although this surprised him and normally there would have been a hint of betrayal, somehow he didn’t find himself angry with her. She was doing what she needed to survive. It did put him in a difficult situation, but it was clear that Seulgi wasn’t trying to implicate him with anything. If she wanted to she could be blackmailing him right now, but Seulgi did none of that.
 
If Sang-hyeok revealed to the Chief that the department had been hacked he would have to reveal that he was used as the patsy to get into the system which would be troublesome for his career. On the other hand if he didn’t reveal they had been hacked and the department found out about it, it could either implicate him further as a collaborator or completely prove his innocence. Neither choice was easy.
 
“You’ve put me in a difficult spot Seulgi.”
 
“I know, I’m sorry. It was the only way.”
 
“So what do we do now?”
 
“I left you a little present in your apartment. It has evidence that corroborates what I’ve told you and proves my innocence and that I was framed by the department. Do what you will with it, but I hope you do have a look at it.”
 
“What will you do?”
 
Another long pause as Sang-hyeok heard the front door of his apartment complex open and close before the familiar sounds of speeding cars reached his phone.
 
“I’ll keep fighting and trying to find a way to bring them down. I just wanted to warn you and tell you to stay away from me and all of this. Stay safe. If they get wind or even an inkling of a thought that you might know something more than you should, you will be in danger. You’ll hear from me again if and when the time is right. Goodbye.”
 
“Seulgi!” Sang-hyeok shouted into his receiver but all he heard was the tone of an ending phone call and then silence. He looked at his phone screen where it showed that the call from the unknown number had ended. Sang-hyeok leaned back in his chair, his order arriving soon after. What a mess they had been pulled into.
 
Across the city, pulling her hood up further and tucking her cap to further obscure the face, Seulgi walked into the dark side streets disappearing quickly into the shadows and leaving Sang-hyeok's apartment behind her.
 
She had been struggling for a while now trying to decide whether to pull Sang-hyeok in or not. Even after her week of reconnaissance and spying on him, wiring his laptop, stealing his phone and wallet to hack the department and finding out that he was uninvolved with the Cult she still had doubts. Now that she had told him about the greater conspiracy involved Sang-hyeok was automatically dragged into it whether he liked it or not.
 
But she needed allies in Korea. Right now she was all alone as her Sister's gathered in Scotland and until they received her package and messaged her there was no way to contact them, no way to receive their help. Even then if they decided to physically come help her it wouldn’t be immediate as they would have to fly back and find her hideout which was well out of the way of any direct connections.
 
The information package that she had left with Sang-hyeok revealed that Chief Eonyeong had fabricated the charges against her. It also showed that Chief Eonyeong was in contact with certain elements of an unsavoury group called Bongdan, one that Seulgi knew was a cover for the Children of the Void cult activity, a subgroup that allowed them to do things unseen. There was one single direct mention of the Chief and his link to the Children of the Void; she hoped Sang-hyeok would pick up on it.
 
Even though she had now spilled the proverbial beans there was still doubted whether it would have been wiser to just not tell him and this way ensure that her hacks of him and the department would stay undiscovered longer. If Sang-hyeok revealed to the department that they had been hacked then all her work would be uncovered and she wouldn't have a backdoor into their systems anymore. However, she had gambled that Sang-hyeok would keep it to himself and hopefully would help her by becoming her inside man. Only time would tell.
 
Soon she was at the bus stop that would take her out to Banpo where she could take another long distance bus out of Seoul. Now that she had revealed her existence and location in Seoul, even if only to Sang-hyeok, she needed to quickly disappear once more. Even if Sang-hyeok wouldn't betray her she didn’t know if he was being followed and if so how closely.
 
Seulgi opened the back cover of her cheap burner phone she had used for the call with Sang-hyeok and snapped the SIM card in half before dumping it all into the bin by the stop. Even if she trusted him she couldn’t be too careful about a trace by the department. All they needed was to know that Sang-hyeok had answered a call from her, which would reveal this number and could be used to trace it. If the department was smart they probably already monitored his calls, even if that was illegal without a warrant. Chief Eonyeong being at the centre of the operations however probably made acquiring a warrant for anything a piece of cake anyway, so it all probably looked above board. He was a dangerous foe.
 
As the bus pulled up and Seulgi boarded the bus, she silently wished good luck to Sang-hyeok. She hoped he would find his way to the right conclusion, stay safe, and eventually once needed, be able to help her bring the Chief and the whole Cult down. Until then she would have to trust him to keep things quiet and hopefully not find the bugs that had been planted into the system. She could only hope.
 
 
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Dahrene7
#1
Chapter 23: Wish this was still going, is such an unique story truly
Hope everything is okay Author!
poplarbear #2
Chapter 23: Ah reached the latest, I'm sorry to spam your comments section over again with my thoughts but i just love this story so much you don't even know :') thank you. I hope you're doing good and in a healthy condition, see you!
poplarbear #3
Chapter 22: I want to guess that Sukkagirl is Seulgi's first name? Did some research its Aramaic? If so it's around tenth century BC..
poplarbear #4
Chapter 21: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/1390872/21'>Chapter Twenty One</a></span>
So did some searching and i found out that the era that the era they were in at the beginning of this chapter is in early bronze age (fifth or sixth millennium BC) and judging from their names they are Sumerians, and it seems they weren't that far from the first cycle
poplarbear #5
Chapter 20: Ah this chapter never fails to put a smile on my face, i want to imagine where they all would meet, Seulgi would be so overjoyed and her oldest sister instinct would kick in making her checking them from head to toe for any injuries in a gentle way and when it's Tzuyu turn she would full-blown breaking down blabbering apologies.. I'm sorry :')
poplarbear #6
Chapter 18: Tbh I've saved their old names and its meaning on my notes as i find it very interesting how you decided to give them names from old languages:)
poplarbear #7
Chapter 17: Oh I'll be waiting for the day all of this will end :')
poplarbear #8
Chapter 7: God i want Seulgi and Tzuyu to meet up soon
poplarbear #9
Chapter 5: Reading this story always fills me with melancholic nostalgia about things that never happened, longing, and yearning.. beautiful :')
poplarbear #10
Chapter 4: I love that you choose Jannah as Jeongyeon old name, means paradise or garden in arabic.