It took a while for Nayeon to calm down even when she’s back onto the truck. Bambam had wanted to send her back home but she objected to it since she didn’t want her family to worry.

Especially with all those injuries. 

Jaebum and Jeongyeon was notified and out of concern, the two of them arrived at where the truck was parked. Despite Jaebum’s cold appearance, he sat down in front of Nayeon the moment he arrived.

“This is why I told you not to run away.” Being the type to not show his concern openly, that was the first sentence that came from him. 

“But I didn’t—“ Nayeon muttered when she looked up at him; her eyes red from all the crying.

“Translation of what boss had said,” Jeongyeon stepped into the truck’s compartment and placed a cup of chilled bubble tea into Nayeon’s shaking hands. “He was asking if you’re okay. And, you love bubble tea right?”

Nayeon said nothing, surprised with both Jaebum and Jeongyeon. She remembered only telling Jeongyeon once that her favourite drink was bubble tea but she had never expected the girl to remember. Jaebum surprised her even more, she had never thought that Jaebum would ever worry about her.

“Jeongyeon, how’s your mother?” Bambam asked as he looked up from a computer screen. Udon had needed some reprogramming because of the hacking earlier.

“Yeah,” Nayeon finally spoke again. “You didn’t have to come…”

“She’s better now.” Jeongyeon gave everyone an assured smile, specifically to Nayeon. “When Bambam called us about the situation, I couldn’t just leave it like this. Right, boss?”

Jaebum cleared his throat awkwardly knowing that Jeongyeon had seen through him. He had always put up a cold and strong front but truth was, he had always worry about everyone in the team. 

Yes, even Jinyoung.

Speak of the devil, the truck’s back door opened again and to almost everyone’s surprise, Jinyoung stepped into the small compartment. 

“What?” He asked when everyone stared at him. “Bambam called me too and since my schedules ain’t packed now, I skipped practice.”

“How’s our newest member’s doing?” Jinyoung stepped forward slightly and stood behind Jaebum, right beside Jeongyeon. “It must been quite a fright.”

Nayeon looked around at everyone; she had only wanted to answer Jinyoung’s question but instead, she burst into tears again which made everyone flustered. Bambam stopped what he’s doing, Jinyoung’s jaw dropped; Jaebum blinked and turned to look at Jeongyeon for help but she was as lost as him. 

Even Mark who was resting on the foldable chair opened his eyes.

“Jinyoung, you made her cry!” Bambam accused and got up from his seat, walking to Nayeon to give her head a few pats.

“Why is it always you?” Jaebum added on, a hint of accusation in his tone too as he grabbed a tissue and handed to Nayeon. 

“All I did was ask a question!” Jinyoung got flustered at all the accusation then turned to look at Nayeon. “Nayeon, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry anymore?”

Unexpected by everyone present, Nayeon giggled.

“I’m getting scared now.” Bambam spoke quietly and shared a glance with Jinyoung. “Did she hit her head? Should we send her to the doctor?”

“No no.” Nayeon shook her head and wiped her tears with a hand, looking up at everyone. “I just wasn’t expecting everyone to be this concerned of me. I wasn’t even supposed to be part of this and you guys know how much I complained. You guys should hate me. Heck, I thought Jaebum hates me.”

“Why—“

“So when all of you came and asked these questions, I couldn’t help crying. For the first time, I thought that maybe what happened wasn’t so bad after all.” Nayeon finished her short explanation then tried to laugh her embarrassment off. “This is embarrassing. Wait, will I get killed if the girls in my class finds out that I’m talking to the Park Jinyoung now?”

“This is confidential.” Jinyoung answered her question and added a wink at the end. “A secret between you and I.”

“Someone shut him up.” Jaebum rolled his eyes and stood up from his chair. “He’s acting up again.” 

—

The enemy side hadn’t make any move since their failed kidnapping attempt. Taecyeon had came back not soon after without any good news on Sunmi which disappointed Bambam greatly. When he was updated on what happened to Nayeon, Taecyeon brought up something that none of the younger ones realised earlier.

“Their aim wasn’t to kill Nayeon.” Taecyeon stated; it wasn’t a guess nor a question, it almost seemed like he’s sure about it.

“Then what was their aim?”. Bambam asked, looking up from his cup noodle.

“They were trying to get one of you kids to reveal themselves.” Taecyeon explained after taking a sip on the soup of his cup noodle. “I think they succeeded.”

Mark lifted his gaze from… his cup noodles too. 

“Is that why you told me to stay hidden for a while?” He asked in his low voice then took a glance at the stacked up cup noodles in the middle of their table.

“So it’s Mark’s fault that we are stuck with eating cup noodles for the past two days?” Bambam interrupted as he opened another cup. “We need at least 4 cups each to be full. I miss proper food!”

“Well,” Taecyeon crossed his arms and looked at the younger boy. “Delivery is a no for now. Do you know how to cook?”

Bambam shook his head.

Taecyeon then looked at Mark who shook his head too.  

“Neither do I, so shut up and eat.”

“This is why three grown men should never live together.” Bambam sighed in despair.

Due to what happened, Taecyeon had halted all meetings and discussions. Beside, things had been quiet so everything else could be discussed through their own communication programs.

It was almost like how everyone was back to their own usual life before they were all dragged into this situation. 

Nayeon was still hanging out with Mark and Bambam but she complained less now, knowing that she really needed the protection. Jinyoung’s schedules were getting packed so the only time and place the others could see him was on the television screen. 

Jaebum still had his company to manage even without Jeongyeon’s help. He had given the girl a month off; it would eventually tire his assistant out if she had to juggle between the team, him and her mother. It wouldn’t affect him much anyway except that maybe he would have to go back to his own apartment to feed his cat, Nora.

Jeongyeon had always been the one doing that whenever he had to work late in the company. He just couldn’t let his precious cat go hungry.

Stretching slightly, Jaebum looked at the analogue clock on the wall of his office. Half past seven and he still had a pile of documents to look through. Especially after the whole first kidnapping incident and finding out that his uncle had made his own decision to work hand in hand with Mystic Entertainment, he knew that he couldn’t just miss out anything from now on.

Who knows what the three heads had in mind right then.

But first, Nora had to be fed. 

Pushing his pile of work aside, Jaebum grabbed his jacket and headed out of his office. He could just come back and finish them later. Maybe he should hire a temporary assistant for that one month, just to feed his cat. But on second thought, he trusted no one but Jeongyeon. 

“Jaebum?” 

His thoughts were interrupted when a female voice called his name. He looked up at the front since that’s where the voice come from.

“Jihyo?” The name slip out from his mouth automatically. It’s been a while since he had last seen her; the last time was at the hospital and it seemed like she’s still mad about what happened. “What are you doing here?”

“Why do you care?” That was the haughty reply the girl gave after she regained her composure.

“Oh, there you are!” The familiar voice of Park Sangwon interrupted the question that was hanging on the tip of Jaebum’s tongue. “What are the two of you talking about, Jihyo? Jaebum?”

“Nothing much.” Despite him finding the whole situation bothersome, Jaebum still managed to be polite. “We just bumped into each other.”

“What are you doing here, Mr. Park?” Jaebum continued, careful not to show any irritancy in his voice.

“I’m here to have a quick chat with your uncle.”

Of course, that’s the only reason he would be here. Were they plotting another scheme together? 

“Where’s that assistant of yours?” Jihyo interrupted his thoughts once again. “What’s her name again?”

Jaebum blinked at the sudden question, wondering why she would be interested. 

“Jeongyeon?” Jaebum asked in return. “I gave her a month off. Something happened at home.”

“Oh?” Jihyo crossed her arms, a look of unhappiness on her face that went unnoticed to Jaebum. “That’s a really nice treatment from a boss.”

“I didn’t want her to overtire herself.” Again, Jaebum answered carelessly, still not noticing Jihyo’s darkened face.

“Jaebum!” Bambam’s loud voice attracted everyone’s attention which all three of them turned to look at him at the same time. 

“Yo.” Bambam half ran to where Jaebum was and the latter noticed the ‘up to no good’ grin on the younger boy. 

“What.” 

“How rude,” Bambam scoffed and folded his arms which Jaebum recognised it as him mocking Jihyo’s actions. “To think I went to your place and fed Nora for you.”

The last sentence softened the expression on Jaebum’s face.

“Jeongyeon called me —“ Bambam paused for a while, taking a quick glance at Jihyo who was trying hard to pretend she’s not listening to the conversation. “She passed me your keys and asked me to feed your cat.”

“Your assistant has the key to your apartment?” 

“Apparently so.” Bambam answered for Jaebum who had an eyebrow raised. Bambam then continued despite Jaebum’s annoyed eyes on him. “Jeongyeon had been feeding his cat everytime he works overtime.”

“And why are you answering her question instead?”

“Well, she asked. I answered, what’s wrong?” Bambam gave Jaebum a mischievous grin and added on. “Jealous?”

If looks could kill, Bambam would have been dead by the way Jaebum was glaring at him. However, as usual, Bambam lived as if there’s no tomorrow and simply ignored that.

Jihyo cleared instead, pretending to have not heard that question. 

“How did you manage to make Jeongyeon talk?” Jaebum pulled the younger boy closer and whispered in a harsh tone.

“I have my ways.” Bambam shrugged, obviously unaware of the murder schemes going in Jaebum’s head.

“Since your friend is here,” Jihyo put up a front again and walked up to her father who had walked aside to pick up a call. She hooked her arms around her father’s. “Let’s go, daddy. You must be hungry.”

With those words, Jihyo half dragged her father away while he was still on the phone, not looking back at the two boys at all.

“Bye bye!” Bambam waved with a stupid grin plastered on his face even though Jihyo never once looked back. Once he’s sure that they’re both far enough, his face darkened immediately. 

“You noticed, didn’t you?” Jaebum asked, his gaze fixated on the main entrance of the building where Jihyo and Park Sangwon just stepped out from. 

“That phone call.” Bambam started then continued after a short pause. “They’re planning something; something related to you.”

“What—“

“You were too focused on your princess,” Bambam said without thinking of the consequences. “But Park Sangwon had thrown you a few glances while he was on the phone.”

“Do you want to die?” Jaebum glared at him, speaking in a dangerous warning tone.

“No thanks.” 

—

Struggling with the heavy groceries, Jeongyeon managed to dig out the key from her pants pocket. Because of the month vacation Jaebum had given her, she was able to take care of everything at home. Her mother had slowly gotten better and seemed a little healthier; her younger sister who were in high school was able to focus on her exams. 

Now that everything was back to place, she thought it’s time to go back to work since she knew Jaebum wouldn’t be able to handle everything himself. That was the main reason why she was dragged into the whole android mess. 

Although part of it was also because Jaebum found out that she was good with computer and coding. 

“Hey I’m ba—“ 

Her actions stopped momentarily.

The door wasn’t locked.

Knowing that something wasn’t right, Jeongyeon put down the groceries bag and rushed into the apartment. 

No one was home.

There was only the mess which was evidence of the futile struggles her mother and sister had probably made.

---

just when you think there's peace at the start of the chapter, i give you more . okay no, that's just my wish. it's best if you end up cursing at the end bc of the cliffhanger but hm. i'm not sure too! HAHA. happy weekends everyone! votes and comments are reeeeally welcome! <3

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