[Whoops! Double update – sure you’ve read the previous chapter published a few hours ago? If not, make sure to check it out first so you don’t get confused :D]

Mari pushed the sleeves of her jacket back up her arms, glancing at the soundproof room at Park Manor. Chanyeol timidly approached her that morning to tell her Baekhyun requested her presence, and as much as she missed him, she didn’t understand why he insisted Mari dress into active wear. The room was laden with weapons and guns on the wall, a red mat covering the entirety of the floor, and the room smelled strongly of steel and sweat-but not enough that Mari felt unclean.

Baekhyun stood in the middle of the room, his lean, muscular body clad in nothing but a tight black shirt and black sweatpants. He wrapped some sort of bandage or protection around his fists before slapping them together until powder dusted the air. Although his back was turned to her, his presence was still powerful and had a tremendous effect on her. He looked gorgeous like that—unaware, jaw clenched tight, and biceps unconsciously flexing.

Mari her lips. “What did you call me here for? I have work to do.”

“This is important,” Baekhyun rolled his shoulders back, making his back muscles ripple. The sight looked so delicious and tempting Mari blinked back in surprise.

She’d completely forgotten about her near confession during the engagement party, just a few minutes before her Mother died, and the realization that the man standing in front of her was no one other than Byun Baekhyun himself—the man she truly adored—she couldn’t help but let out a soft smile. Things may not have gone well, but she still had him.

“I need to teach you self-defense. Just in case...I’m not there for you.”

Mari scrunched her nose at his insinuation. “What good will self defense do over a sniper?”

“Not much, but it’ll help you when your enemies confront you.”

Enemies, right. One more thing Mari had completely forgotten after a good night’s sleep. It baffled her that she could even sleep deeply like that, but perhaps it was the physical exhaustion and the mental toll that took over her that she immediately got welcomed into the abyss. For a few hours, she never thought about enemies or death or betrayals-it was just her and her slumber-but of course, she had to wake up.

“Thank you,” she looked down at her feet, fiddling with her fingers. Mari would’ve believed her life flipped upside down after the engagement party, though that hadn’t been true. Things had never been right from the beginning and her life’s dilemma remained one of her constants, just like how Baekhyun also remained her good constant. Mari wondered how she was able to not completely fall apart after everything that happened when she remembered Baekhyun had been there all along for every single moment, and he was still there with her. The fact made Mari feel reassured at least, that perhaps she could be strong enough for this. Mari sighed, “For everything.”

“Always, Mari. And I’m sorry about your Mother’s death.”

She shrugged. “I can’t mourn the death of a woman I don’t know much about. But I will find out the truth about everything, and when I do, I’ll make sure nothing gets in my way anymore,” Mari looked away from him with a timid smile. “When all of this blows over, when I’ve finally cured the corruption in my company, I’m divorcing Chanyeol and going back to Japan.”

“Corruption?”

“My father’s one part of it. He’s abusing his power and influence, hence my Mother’s mistreatment. I don’t know how Chanyeol controlled the media but word hasn’t gone out that she’s dead yet. But whoever is behind this, they’re not just after the money. Chanyeol checked the files Kyo gave us and his stock market was only damaged in America, but the Asian stockholders remained stable. If anything, my Father’s database was mostly corrupted. They’re not after Chanyeol, they’re after me.”

“What did Jungwoo tell you that day?”

What Jungwoo said had blurred in her memory due to the drastic turn of events, but his words played ominously like a dark reminder. If only Yui hadn’t shot that fire, he could’ve told her more…Mari’s brows furrowed. “That I shouldn’t trust anyone. And he said this isn’t what I thought it would be, that our enemy is so much bigger than that. He also said...Chanyeol was the only one who could protect me.”

Baekhyun took a step back, crossing his arms on his chest. His muscles bulged at the movement, and for a moment, Mari forgot that underneath the suit he always wore, Baekhyun had the strength to put her to sleep if he wanted to. Yet he’d been nothing but gentle around her, a huge contrast to what he was capable of. “Chanyeol? Why him, out of all people? He’s still in the process of making a name for himself.”

Mari pulled out her phone and scrolled down to the easy-to-read version of the stock market sheet, showing it to Baekhuyn who’d already leaned down beside her. “I know, which is why I looked into all his competitors. So far he’s the lead on the market when it comes to his perfumes and furniture, the hotels and residence complex he owns are stable, too. But then I saw this company from America—Limitless Tech. Kyo used to work there until he got fired, all because he fixed our malware.”

“But Limitless Tech is a military based tech company. Chanyeol doesn’t have much anything on them, but I still can’t say for sure since I don’t know much about the business.”

“Two years ago, the chairman of Limitless Tech went here in Seoul to ask Chanyeol to help him establish a Korean branch. Chanyeol refused since Yeonghwa doesn’t have much interest in technology, and Kyo’s office is nothing but a small department that rents from another building. If I were to take a guess, I’d say they’re scared of Chanyeol because he’s influential here in Korea, and this marriage was for my safety.”

Baekhyun’s eyes flashed with something like recognition and even fear, but Mari couldn’t be too sure. He only nodded towards her phone, still looking skeptical. “So you’re saying...Limitless Tech is actually after your family, but they can’t go against Chanyeol?”

“I checked my Father’s backlogged records. None of them show any contact between Limitless Tech and our company. Whatever happened between them, whatever my Father did that had to involve the military, it couldn’t have been good,” Mari pressed her thumb on her forehead when she felt the pressure of a headache forming again. “This could be related to politics for all I know. My Mother died without explaining things to me and Father won’t say anything either. Unless we find Jungwoo again, I’ll never know the reason why, or if I really was abducted as a child.”

“This sounds personal to me, Mari. But what makes you deduce it’s Limitless Tech out of all people? Chanyeol has so many more competitors than that.”

Mari pointed to a small emblem located on the far right bottom in a corner—a part of a layout code. “That’s the logo of Limitless Tech. Kyo told me he pinpointed the hacker who installed the malware, the real malware—not the one Jungwoo placed as a facade. He said he placed a firewall there to fight back a virus, and it pointed back to Limitless Tech. The hacker is in Seoul, and I think Kyo knows who he is,” Mari’s voice trickled down to a whisper when she thought about it. “Maybe that’s the reason he got fired. He found the mole who threatened our lives and now he’s kicked out for his silence.”

“Where was your brother during the engagement party?”

“He was at my office fixing the malware. Tana Kim didn’t go to the party because she doesn’t like me or whatever, but the police already interrogated her and she vouched for my brother’s alibi,” she tipped her head to the side at Baekhyun’s frown. “You’re not seriously thinking my brother was the one who killed my Mother, don’t you?”

“If Jungwoo placed a firewall, then what did your brother do?”

“He recovered whatever files could be taken. Plus, we already know it was Yui. I know my brother—he’d never do that. He can’t even hurt a fly.”

Baekhyun raised a brow. “And you trust Tana Kim?”

“She’s a scornful woman, but I think she’s too prideful to lie.”

Silence fell on them for a solid minute. Mari locked her phone shut and pocketed it in an attempt to forget about it for a little while. Too much had happened in such a short time that she didn’t know which direction to take, and frankly, she also didn’t know who to trust in these times either. Yui may have been proven guilty and imprisoned for her Mother’s death, but Mari had a strong gut feeling there was something more behind it.

Meanwhile, Baekhyun uncrossed his arms, and only now did Mari see the sadness in his eyes, his voice growing softer and even muted as he asked, “Are you really going back to Japan when all of this is over?”

It took a while before Mari could answer. The truth was, she’d pondered over its possibility right after her Mother’s funeral. Mari was never an