“Did you find anything?” 

Mark’s voice was low, a slow murmur into his phone as he stalked through the night. His hair was tucked neatly under the hood of his sweater, dressed in all black he might as well be camouflaged in the night.

He wasn’t sure what time it was, he dropped Haerin off at her hose a while ago, drove in circles until the sun had set and now he was walking down a neighbourhood that had long fallen asleep.

Except for one man.

Choi Youngjae.

Mark tracked from the other side of the street, watching him walk his dog while music was blasting in this earphones. 

Jinyoung’s sighed from the other end of the phone, “Nothing and this guy uses his phone for personal and business stuff. All his emails, texts, deleted messages, phone call, all of it. It’s clean.”

Mark frowned as he tugged the hood closer over his eyes, “Nothing? That doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, I’ve ignored all other responsibilities to scrub this phone, so you’re welcome, actually.”

Mark rolled his eyes, watching Youngjae bend down to clean up after his dog. It was so empty and quiet, if he wanted, it would’ve been easy for him to just take him out. 

“I’m not thanking you, no one asked you to do this today, you would do anything for Heiran.” He grumbled. 

Jinyoung giggled childishly that even Mark was tempted to smile, “Whatever, all I’m saying is that based on the contents of this phone, there is nothing that suggests he knows about our association with the company. It almost seems like this audit was random.”

“I don’t buy that.” Mark said, staring at Youngjae, trailing behind him, “He’s been getting involved more than a normal auditor would. He must have a second phone.” 

Jinyoung clicked his tongue, “I mean, maybe, but I really don’t think so. Oh! Also, didn’t you say you were going to be Heiran’s date for some event?”

“Why are you reminding me?” Mark hissed, his brow twitching in annoyance. 

“It’s cause Youngjae has an invite too.” Jinyoung snapped back.  

Mark stopped walking, watching Youngjae who was talking to someone on his phone. Mark frowned, “It doesn’t make sense, why the hell would any company invite an auditor to a closed event like that?” 

“He was sent an invite directly from the company. Someone wants him there and honestly, I don’t think he wants anything to do with it, he replied saying that it was unlikely he would attend.”

“Huh…”

“Doesn’t really sound like someone who is looking for dirt because of some vendetta, right?”

“No…I guess it doesn’t. Still, I want to see if he’s hiding anything else, keep digging.”

“Fine bu—“

Mark ended the call, slipping his phone away as he took in the scene before him. 

“Babe!”

A woman wearing a linen summer dress and thin cardigan wobbled up to Youngjae, who quickly darted towards her, his hand gently grazing her arm. Mark didn’t realize he was holding his breath when he noticed her hand softly smoothing over her swollen belly.

“Sweetie, what are you doing out so late? How are you feeling?” Youngjae mumbled, tenderly caressing her face.

Mark didn’t make sense of the shift in his gut when he stared at the way Youngjae was looking at this woman. The moonlight reflecting in his eyes, revealing every inch of emotion on display for anyone paying attention. How could someone who seemed so skivvy and obnoxious be capable of looking at someone with so much love?

At least, that’s what he thought it was. 

The woman beamed up at him, leaning close to steal a kiss, “I’m fine, you’re lucky I’m only 3 months in or else I would’ve been huge.” 

Youngjae smiled, not the snake-like grin he’d give Haerin, but a real smile, “I can’t wait.” 

She laughed and hooked her arm around his as they continued their stroll, their dog seemingly more alert now that a pregnant woman was near. Mark followed them for a few blocks before they turned into a cute little house with a thriving garden and a literal white picket fence. 

How perfect. 

A young couple, a little dog, a quaint house, and a pregnant wife. 

It was such a normal, pleasant life. He bet they were friends with their neighbours, attended block parties and had date nights. 

There’s no way that someone could have a life that quiet and mild-mannered while also balancing some sort of criminal scheme. If Mark couldn’t manage to do it, there was no way a small fry like Youngjae could have it all. 

Mark tugged down the lip of his cap and watched the living room lights come on. The curtains weren’t drawn so he had an unobstructed view of Youngjae turning on an old record player before pulling his wife into his arms, swaying her back and forth while she laughed. 

Utterly, unabashedly, in love.

Mark looked away, unable to watch any longer.

-----

“Nothing?” She gaped at Mark. 

Heiran had decided to work from home the next day, too exhausted to be around her employees and colleagues who were breathing down her neck along with Youngjae. Everyone wanted answers and her superiors were getting confused and antsy that the audit was taking so long. 

And she had nothing to tell them. 

Mark leaned against the desk in her home office and stared off at the window, “No. Jinyoung’s still searching but as of now, based on what’s in his phone, there’s nothing pointing at him coming after you and your company for something personal or related to us.” 

“So…” she started softly as she stared blankly at her desk, “I guess he just started looking into us randomly, or hell, maybe something in our financials was a red flag. That’s good then, that I didn’t send that email. He’s just a guy doing his job, we can’t harm him for that.”

Mark couldn’t exactly agree, but he didn’t say it out loud, “Did you know he might be attending that gala thing?”

“What the hell? That’s weird. Why would he be invited?” She scoffed. 

He shrugged, “He said he wasn’t planning on going but he could change his mind. And I still don’t think we should write him off just yet, he could still be hiding something.”

“Why?” She breathed out. 

He blinked at her, “What do you mean?”

“Why do you think he’s still suspicious when everything we’ve seen says otherwise?” She asked.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, “People like him aren’t just in it for the greater good. No one has a life like that.”

“A life like what?” She asked curiously.

“Like…like out of a suburban ing nightmare.” 

Heiran fell silent, turning in her chair to follow his gaze out the window, “Lots of people have a life like that, Mark. I used to. It doesn’t mean they have an ulterior motive or are secretly evil. It just means…they’re normal. Just because you’re used to everyone being a certain way doesn’t mean they actually are.” 

Mark didn’t comment, he wasn’t sure he believed her just yet, “What are you going to do about work?”

“Nothing. I’m looking through our financial records now to see if anything sticks out that Youngjae might notice and look into but other than that, I’m not going to do anything. I’m not going to search for a loophole or lie my way out of this. That’s not who I am.” 

“That’s incredibly risky and your father won’t be satisfied with that.”

“Well, I guess he can just go himself then.” She said bluntly before turning back to her desk. 

Mark’s lips quirk as he glanced down at her. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she was dressed in sweatpants and a sweater, looking more like a keen grad student than a powerful executive. Still…pretty. 

“Where’s the little troll?” He asked. 

She rolled her eyes, “Her name is Lucy and I’d ask you to keep your nicknames to yourself, I don’t need you annihilating her self-confidence at such a young age. She’s at piano lessons.”

“That’s horrifying.”

“It’s a rite of passage. She’ll take lesson until she’s 12 before she decides she hates them and wants to go into something else.” She said mindlessly as she lined her pencil up with the numbers on the sheet in front of her. 

“Is that the maternal instinct stuff people are always talking about?”

She tried to hide her smile, “Yeah, I’d like to think so. Don’t you?”

“I wouldn’t know what maternal instincts looked like.” 

She brought her gaze up to him, searching his face for an explanation but Mark wasn’t here to swap family stories and he was grateful when the doorbell rang. 

“I’ll get it.” He said, quickly exiting her office and heading to the door. He was spending too much time around her, he knew it. It is difficult to remain aloof when you spend nearly 12 hours a day with someone. 

Shaking his head, Mark reached the door, glancing at the monitor before frowning and opening it.

He stared at the man in front of him whose excited smile slowly faded when he found Mark staring him down. Mark glanced at the stuffed animal tucked under the man’s arm before looking back at his face. He seemed young but his height made up for it a little.

“Who are you?”

Mark narrowed his eyes, “You rang the doorbell, I think I should be asking you that.”

“Yuggie!” 

Mark jerked back to look up at the stairs where Heiran stood. She raced down them, nearly wiping out on the last step before pushing past Mark and launching into the man’s arms. Mark could only silently watch as he dropped the stuffed animal and spun Heiran around, both their laughter echoing throughout the house.

Heiran shrieked loudly, flailing her legs until he set her down. He squished her cheeks with his palms and shook her head side to side, “Surprise!”

“I can’t believe you’re back and you didn’t tell me. I could’ve picked you up from the airport.” Her face was lit up. 

Yugyeom grinned, letting go of her to pick up the toy, “It was so worth seeing the look on your face.”

“Come in, come in. Lucy won’t be back for a few hours but I bet she’ll be so excited to see you.” She gushed. 

Yugyeom snorted, “She better, I don’t even want to tell you the dirty looks I got trying to get this thing through customs.”

Mark continued to stay silent, following the two of them like a shadow. It was out of habit, to stand in the background, observing potential threats and apprehending them before they became viable. 

But it was the guest that finally addressed him, “Who’s that?”

Heiran looked over at Mark before reality had sunk in. Mark watched, alarmed, as her smile dropped and panic flashed over her face, “That’s Mark, my personal assistant.”

Yugyeom raised his brows, “Finally, I wondered when you’d hire one.”

He turned to Mark and held his hand out, “Nice to meet you, Mark, I’m Yugyeom, Heiran’s best and only friend.” 

Marks eyes dropped to his outstretched hand and he was about to return the gesture when he noticed something glinting by his hip when his jacket shifted. Suddenly, Heiran’s panic made a lot of sense. 

Yugyeom was a cop.

-----

“Are you ing kidding me?” Mark barked when Yugyeom finally left after what seemed like forever. "You didn't think this would've been helpful to know?"

Mark spent Yugyeom’s entire visit rigid, keeping the hand with GOT7 tattooed on the knuckles tucked in his pocket and did his best to dodge any personal questions Yugyeom threw his way, especially after the awfully corny joke he made about Heiran hiring someone attractive to work for her. It wasn’t until he left that he felt like he could breathe. 

Heiran chewed on her lip as she paced back and forth in her kitchen,”I’m sorry, okay? I don’t really think of him as a cop, he’s just my friend from university, I forgot how complicated everything is now.”

Mark pressed his fingers into his hair, “What unit does he work in?”

“He’s a profiler, so like, not a real cop, I guess. He just bounces from unit to unit based on whoever needs his expertise.” She explained. 

At least that was good, a profiler wouldn’t have much need knowing about organized crime syndicates. But at the end of the day, he had a badge and knew people who probably wanted GOT7 locked up. “Why is he back?”

“He asked for a transfer. He’s been living abroad and he’s hated it for a while, long before I knew anything about GOT7.” 

Mark shook his head, “We have to be so careful around him. He’ll start asking questions, especially when he sees how often I’m around you or if he pokes around your security system. If that man sees my gun or is with you when DS tries something, we’re as good as ed.” 

“I know! I’m sure he’ll be busy readjusting and I’ll make sure he doesn’t notice anything, can you just stop raising your voice, I’m getting a migraine.” She muttered. 

Mark scoffed, "It's like you're playing a game to see how difficult you can make my life."

"I hope I'm winning." She deadpanned just as Lucy padded through the kitchen. 

Mark huffed and turned away but Heiran scurried over, her voice softening as she reached for her, "Hi sunshine, is everything okay? Did we wake you up?"

"No, can't sleep." Lucy replied before squirming out of her mother's arm to sit on the stools by the kitchen island. 

Heiran ran her fingers through her hair, "Want me to make some tea?"

Lucy nodded so Heiran started putting things together as Mark moved pressed close to her so that he could whisper, "Is there anything else I need to know about him or anyone else in your life?"

"No. I swear, I'm not as well connected as you." She said sarcastically. "Yuggie barely talks to me about work and as close as we are he's never been overprotective or nosy unless it has to do with Lucy. I can deal with him."

"Says the woman who practically ran to the cops the first chance she got." Mark muttered. 

Heiran resisted the urge to throw the boiling water in Mark's face, "Says the woman who you work for." 

"Whatever, I'm going home." He said grumpily.

He tried to walk away but she caught his arm and pulled him back, "Please don't tell my father about him. Maybe he already knows but in case he doesn't, can you just keep it between us?" 

"Why?"

She gnawed on her bottom lip and he resisted the urge to tug it out, "I just don't want him hurting him. I can't have him take another person away from me."

"Fine." Ma