“What?” It wasn’t just Nayeon who found the idea ridiculous; Jaebum, Jinyoung and Bambam had all reacted similarly. Mark and Jeongyeon both turned to look at Taecyeon, feeling as confused as everyone else in the room.

“Are you sure?” Mark asked in a low tone. “She’s not like the others.”

“She has no choice.” Taecyeon turned to look at Mark who’s standing by his side. “They know how she looks like; unless she learns to protect herself, she’s going to be in danger.”

“Wait wait wait.” Nayeon held a hand up, stopping the conversation before she took in a deep breath. “I am not agreeing to this.”

“Like I said, you’ve got no choice.” Taecyeon repeated himself. “The ones who caught you earlier were probably androids. Androids that were programmed just to capture you.”

“This is insane.” Nayeon shook her head and messed up her own hair in frustration, unable to think properly. “Why am I dragged into this?”

“Taec’s right…” Jeongyeon spoke up which caught the boys’ attention. “Nayeon’s the only one they have seen. The rest of us are still unknown to them; we had always clean up all the possible data memories that might have captured our faces. Unless she learns about the androids and their system, she would eventually end up dead.”

“Do you have to be so direct?” Nayeon sighed at the truth which Jeongyeon had shown all of them. But Jeongyeon ignored her words and continued.

“Also, Nayeon had seen the man behind these right?”

Nayeon nodded slowly.

“Do you still remember how he looked like?” Jinyoung asked this time.

“Well…” Nayeon fiddled her fingers nervously now that all the attention was on her again. “I only remember he has a very annoying smile.”

There was silence for a quick moment but Jaebum’s voice broke it.

“Udon,” he called out which Udon gave him his attention right after. “Show her the photos.”

Nayeon blinked, clueless of what Jaebum’s talking about. However, that didn’t last very long when one of the computer screen lit up.

“This is the CEO of Mystic Entertainment; Jinyoung’s under them.” Udon explained when the screen showed a photo of a man in his 40s. “Is he the one?”

Nayeon shook her head. “He was slightly older.”

“Next suspect then,” Udon smiled and the photo on the screen was switched. This time, it showed a man who looked even older. It was a photo taken when KC telecom’s new branch at the mall was opened and no one noticed how Jaebum’s expression turned grim.

“This is the chairman of KC Telecom. We rescued you from the basement of this branch of theirs.”

“Not him too.” Nayeon shook her head again.

“Aren’t they like super important people?” She couldn’t help but asked.

“They are also the main suspects.” Jaebum answered her question in a serious and cold tone. “Udon, next one.”

Udon nodded at his request and this time, on the screen, it showed a photo of a family. In the middle of it was an old man in a wheelchair; Udon then zoomed into the face of the man standing beside the wheelchair.

“Is it him?” Taecyeon was the one who asked this time.

It took Nayeon a while as she took a closer look but eventually she confirmed that it’s him.

“That annoying, creepy smile.” Nayeon muttered, a look of disgust in her tone. “That’s him.”

“That’s Jaebum’s uncle.” Jinyoung said and took a quick glance at Jaebum whose face looked even darker than before. “Im Jongmin, one of the directors in their company.”

Nayeon looked up at Jinyoung and then at Jaebum whose expression scared her again so she turned to look at Udon instead. The android then zoomed the photo out again and this time, Nayeon noticed Jaebum on the other side of the wheelchair.

And he wasn’t smiling in the photo at all.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Nayeon mumbled, looking everywhere except at Jaebum’s direction. “But yes, it’s him. They knew about this group, right?”

“Yes.” Taecyeon answered her question. “Mark and I have been on their tails for years. The men who captured Sunmi were probably under one of them too. They were the only few big corporations that have the ability to make use of androids.”

“So all of you are trying to bring them down?”

“Yes.” Everyone answered Nayeon’s answer at the same time.

“And now I have to be part of it?” Nayeon continued, still unable to believe what is going on in her life right then. “Is this how you recruit them too? By not giving them a choice?”

“They all chose to be part of this.”

---

“I know you’re lying about Sunmi studying overseas now.” Bambam followed Taecyeon around the bookstore as the latter ignored him. “You know something about it, don’t you?”

There was no reply from the older male.

“Tell me!” Bambam demanded in a louder voice. He had been pestering Taecyeon for almost a week but he still couldn’t get an answer from him.

“Bambam.” Taecyeon finally turned to face him finally acknowledging his presence. “If I tell you that she got captured, will you believe me?”

“What—”

“See, this is why I didn’t tell anyone the truth.” Taecyeon calmly said and turned away, heading towards the exit of the store.

“Wait, I believe you!” Bambam called him back. “So tell me more about it.”

---

Jaebum walked out of the hospital alone; he had forbid anyone to come after him. He knew the relapse of his father’s sickly condition wasn’t by chance but there’s no proof and his own mom didn’t even believe him.

What can he, someone who just graduated, do alone?

Dragging his feet, Jaebum walked to the nearest bench by the road and sat down. A loud groan of frustration escaped from his lips as he messed his hair up in a harsh manner and buried his face in his hands, gaining some weird eyes from the passerby.

It was only when he felt someone sitting next to him then he looked up. Wanting to be alone, Jaebum slowly started.

“Excuse me... can you move to the other—”

“Hello Jaebum.”

That caught his attention; why would a stranger know his name?

“Who are you?”

“Don’t be surprised, I’m Taecyeon and I’m not someone bad.” The man spoke with a small smile on his face.

“How do you know my name?” Jaebum questioned warily, obviously not believing the other man. “What do you want from me?”

“I want to help you and I want you to help me.”

---

New growing star, Park Jinyoung fiddled with his phone in his backstage waiting room. His first solo concert just ended and the excitement he felt earlier all subsided when he recalled what he found out recently.

Those people weren’t humans. It was by accident but he saw the metal structure and the surveillance videos it was playing. Does that mean everyone’s being watched right now? What about the female artistes with their female guards? Are the guards not humans too?

What about their privacy?

“Hey.” A voice interrupted Jinyoung’s thoughts. He turned to look at the guy who sat down beside him. He’s taller and bigger than him but it’s the fact that he’d never seen this man before that first crossed Jinyoung’s mind.

“I’ve never seen you.”

“That’s because I’m not a staff here. I’m Taecyeon.

“Are you a hater?” Jinyoung asked which he will regret soon after because Bambam would bring it up to sometimes.

“I am not.” Taecyeon gave him an assured smile. “I’m here wanting to know more about what you’ve found out by accident lately.”

“What are you—” Jinyoung paused for a moment before realisation hit him. “You knew about the robots?”

“Androids to be exact.” Taecyeon confirmed with a slight nod. “Tell me what you know and I will show you what I’ve found out. We need your help and I know you need ours too.”

---

“I’m surprised Jaebum agreed to join so readily.” Nayeon blurted out again which made Jinyoung and Bambam snorted.

“You are really against Jaebum, aren’t you?” Jinyoung asked with an amused smile on his face as he took a brief glance at Jaebum.

“Not really..” Nayeon muttered and looked at Jinyoung. She could feel the deadly stare from Jaebum and she knew she had to save herself from this situation. “It’s just he’s usually careful with everything.”

Nayeon made sure her words were chosen right and that they sounded nice. However, Jinyoung and Bambam were not helping at all.

“You mean suspicious of everything?” Bambam teased, totally unfazed by the glare Jaebum just shot at his direction.

Nayeon took a quick scan at the group in front of her and noticed that other than Taecyeon and Mark, everyone seemed to be agreeing with Bambam. Even the loyal Jeongyeon was biting back a smile.

“We can’t exactly blame boss.” Jeongyeon managed to compose herself and put on her usual straight face again. “Im Jongmin is one of the biggest reason he’s like this.”

“Jeongyeon.”

Jaebum’s firm voice shut her up immediately. His darkened expression was proof that he really didn’t want to continue the topic. Thankfully, Taecyeon seemed to have noticed that.

“We will teach you everything.” He started again. “Our equipments here which were built by Mark and I, with Bambam’s help at the later part. The programs too, Sunmi and I programmed them to hack into the system of the androids so we could have a proper study on them. Jeongyeon will teach you some self defence skills.”

Nayeon sighed, realising that the man was being really serious about this.

“In the mean time, Mark will continue to stay by your side.”

“Can Bambam or Jeongyeon be the one?” Nayeon could never keep her thoughts to herself. “I mean… yeah.”

“Because Mark is too quiet?” Again, Jinyoung was the one who had to translate her words in a more direct way. If not for his handsome face, Nayeon swore that she would punch him in the face.

Of course, she blurted that out too.

“If you’re not the idol Junior, I really want to punch you now.

“Taecyeon, she’s a perfect addition to our team.” Jinyoung shrugged, the smile still on his face. 

“She’s violent enough.”

“Bambam will join Mark if he’s free.” Taecyeon leant back against the chair, ignoring the comment made by Jinyoung. “Jeongyeon had to be by Jaebum’s side to not create any suspicions.”

Nayeon frowned and shifted her attention at Mark who didn’t seem to ever have an expression on his face. She sighed in defeat and looked around the place.

What kind of mess had she gotten herself into?

---

It’s been a week plus since Nayeon escaped from Jaebum’s uncle. Now that it’s confirmed that he’s involved, Jaebum’s blood boiled everytime they met in the company. As what Taecyeon had instructed her, Jeongyeon was always prepared to stop Jaebum from doing anything that would raise any suspicions from his uncle.

Thankfully, Jaebum was a pretty good actor.

“Jaebum!” Im Jongmin smiled when he saw his nephew walking towards him with Jeongyeon following behind.

Jaebum’s face darkened immediately but he assured Jeongyeon with a slight nod when she shot him a look.

“Uncle.” He bowed politely with a straight face. But Jongmin didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

“A Chairman like you shouldn’t be bowing to me” The older man joked but both Jaebum and Jeongyeon could hear the underlying message in his tone.

“You’re after all still my uncle.” Jaebum replied, keeping his tone as cool as possible. “It’s only right for me to show respect.”

“How are things with Jihyo?” Jongmin changed the topic which caused Jaebum’s face to darken even more. However, the older man looked delighted at Jaebum’s response and showed no sign of ending the conversation there.

“She’s the precious daughter of Park Sangwon, the Chairman of KC Telecom, right? I’ve heard that both of you have a really close relationship during your study days at UK.”

Jeongyeon sneaked a worried glance at Jaebum when she noticed his fist clenched tightly. Im Jongmin’s definitely doing this on purpose.

“Where did you hear that from?” Jaebum finally managed to force a small smile. “Jihyo and I just happen to be schoolmates, nothing else.”

“Is that it?” Jongmin asked even though he had seen through Jaebum. “That’s a pity then, it would be good to be family with their company. Don’t you think so?”

“Maybe.”

“Sir,” Jeongyeon started in a soft whisper but loud enough for Jongmin to hear. “Your schedules.”

Jaebum turned to look at the girl and gave her a slight nod with a small smile, knowing her motive behind the statement. Especially since he knew well enough that there weren't anymore meetings for him that day.

“Uncle, I guess I will have to get going now.” Jaebum gave Jongmin a slight bow and walked away before he could make any reply.

The smile on Jongmin’s face faded away completely as he watched the back of Jaebum.

That evening of the same day, Jaebum received an urgent call from his mother.

---

happy friday everyone! i've been writing a little slower these few days but thankfully, i'm still a few chapters ahead. how's everyone doing so far? are you guys enjoying this? or are you guys getting bored? any characters that caught your attention and that you want to know more?

i will probably have another "characters q&a" on instagram soon. and since the high school au is about to start, i must say my instagram might be getting interesting, so do give it a follow!

that's all for this evening, once again, happy weekends!! ^^

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