Chanyeol had been silent the whole ride back.

His face remained stoic in the backseat, his chin cradled in his hand while the other thumb rubbed at his forehead. Ever since they’d gone back from their short visit to the victims of the explosion in Busan, Baekhyun watched his friend try his hardest not to fall apart in front of everyone.

They’d both known the extent of the damage caused, but seeing it in person couldn’t have amounted to just what actually people went through. Baekhyun had seen brief flashes from the photos Jongdae had brought weeks before Mari arrived and he knew it wasn’t good, but it had already been quite some time since the explosion and he was expecting the place would’ve looked recovered by now.

But the place was still full of rubble, a thick layer of dust covering the air and the buildings nearest in the direction of the explosion had completely collapsed, leaving nothing but debris and remains of what could’ve been once alive human beings.

Chanyeol, who always tried to be professional and appeared unfazed by the situation, had completely broken down when he arrived at the site.

Upon seeing the destruction and the amount of people and health professionals still scouring the place for any survivors they might have missed, Chanyeol fell on his knees, his palms scraping against the ground until he bled. Baekhyun wasn’t fast enough to prevent him from falling so he tried to comfort his friend instead by rubbing his back soothingly while Chanyeol kept whispering, “No,” to himself. There was so much agony and anger in his voice that made him tremble, and Baekhyun soon had to pick him up and make him stand before any paparazzis could see and write another false article about him.

That was why Chanyeol had grown up perfecting to pretend he was in complete control of everything, because the moment he even showed a moment of weakness, people would turn it into something they could use against him. As loved as he was by most of the country, there were still a good amount of people who would do anything they could to bring him down.

Baekhyun sighed, looking around warily to see if anyone suspicious was around. He couldn’t have Chanyeol go through that again — the false articles that defamed him, the rumors spreading of his ‘mistakes’ and the people he once trusted to turn his back on him — because he’d seen how his friend was damaged by it. Baekhyun had been there from when Chanyeol was excited to show the world what he made, until the world changed him and he started to become more reclusive and private, his eyes alert and his stature vigilant.

A familiar, warm voice called for Chanyeol near the destroyed building and the both of them walked towards where Jongdae was waving at them, his other hand firmly pressing his handkerchief to his nose and mouth. Chanyeol looked at him dubiously, and Jongdae pointed to the direction of the two buildings left mildly unscathed.

The remaining residents had worn masks to prevent breathing in the dust, their eyes devoid of emotion — a sign they had witnessed death. Bags of groceries were looped around their fingers and mothers shielded their children’s eyes from the mess before them, probably aware that at least a hundred bodies were crushed underneath it. A particular mother had her palms placed in her little boy’s head that was pressed beside her hip, her cold eyes travelling around the rubble when her eyes met theirs’. Her expression immediately changed into controlled fury, and Baekhyun placed a protective arm in front of Chanyeol when she glared at them.

She recognized who they were.

And the woman obviously blamed Chanyeol for everything.

They didn’t stay long after that as Jongdae had already talked to the rest of the staff who had given the heads up that they already retrieved all bodies salvageable, but some people had been too injured they couldn’t identify them anymore. Baekhyun knew Chanyeol wasn’t listening to a word his secretary was saying since he was gazing at the ground with sadness in his eyes, shoulders dropped in defeat.

Chanyeol and Jongdae hadn’t said anything the whole ride back, and the tension was becoming too much for Baekhyun. It didn’t help that Jongdae didn’t seem to care that much. The dark-haired man had worked for Chanyeol long enough to know it was best to just leave their boss be whenever he was feeling down, and Jongdae was lazily scrolling through his tablet when Baekhyun broke the silence.

“It wasn’t your fault, Chanyeol. You know that,” he said, making sure to look in the rearview mirror so Chanyeol could see the sincerity in his eyes. The taller man barely glanced at him before he turned his gaze back to the window again, and none of them said another word until they reached the office.

They were all greeted by the staff who noticed them with polite bows and shy smiles, but Chanyeol ignored them all as Baekhyun opened the lift strictly for Chanyeol’s use only. Usually, Chanyeol would smile back at all of them but he still looked dazed from what he saw, and he was obviously so out of it that he jumped a little when Jongdae’s phone rang. The latter apologized for the obnoxious salsa ringtone, his cheeks turning the lightest shade of red as he picked up the call. Jongdae kept nodding to whoever was speaking to him before he closed his eyes and released an exasperated sigh, causing Chanyeol to raise his brow questioningly.

“Sir, Miss Kim’s in your office,” he sighed.

“Unless she’s got a great idea for the latest issue, I don’t want to hear it,”

“It is regarding an issue, Sir, technically. It’s about your wife,” Chanyeol went rigid at the mention of her, and Jongdae immediately corrected himself with a clear of his throat. “I mean, fiance,”

Chanyeol snorted.

The doors opened with a soft ‘ding’ and Baekhyun went out first as he always did, checking the area and letting them out when he saw it was clear and empty as it should always be.

Chanyeol walked ahead of them, hands kept in his pockets as they all went inside his office. They were immediately greeted by a strong scent of perfume that Jongdae winced, while Baekhyun tilted his head down to his shoulder to avoid letting the pungent smell of whatever perfume the infamous editor-in-chief was wearing.

Tana shot up from her seat, her neon red stilettos clacking annoyingly against the tiled floors before she wrapped her arms around Chanyeol, the white fur coat brushing against his face uncomfortably. “Chanyeol, darling! Where have you been all day? And get rid of that glum face, it doesn’t suit you,”

Chanyeol pushed her away as gently as he could until she was at an arm’s length away, “What are you doing here, Tana? I don’t have time for your chit-chat,”

Her forced smile was immediately replaced by a dark look, her hands placed on her hips as she glared at him, “I know. You’ve made it more than clear you weren’t to be approached unless it was work-related stuff, but as your editor in chief, don’t you think you could’ve briefed us first before letting that woman of yours strut in like she owns the place?”

Chanyeol was silent for a moment. Baekhyun and Jongdae looked at each other slowly when Chanyeol pointedly looked at them both, his voice stern and his jaw set tight. “Leave us,” he ordered, and the two men walked out quietly. Jongdae shrugged when Baekhyun looked at him, and soon he left, muttering something about it’s already been a long day and he was in desperate need of coffee. Baekhyun looked around warily, his eyes landing on the cameras placed right on top of Chanyeol’s office, and he cleared his throat while pretending to assume his usual position when guarding Chanyeol. Then, he began to eavesdrop, his head tilted ever so slightly to the door as he listened to Chanyeol’s voice, “What do you mean?”

“You won’t fool me, Chanyeol. I’ve worked here far longer than you have and I know an impostor when I see one. I understand that because the two of you are engaged — which is complete bull, by the way — that that little woman must feel she’s above us. And given her spews about being an heiress, I can totally see where she’s coming from, but this is your company. She may be your fiance, but she has no more power than you do, but you’re not even doing anything to keep her in place, are you?”

“Will you just get straight to the point already?”

“The point is that you just let her run my meetings like she was the boss!”

“I didn’t— was this the meeting about next month’s issue?”

“Yes, the magazine’s fifth anniversary if you haven’t forgotten. My team and I have spent months preparing for this, and she just walks through the door acting all high and mighty when we didn’t even know who she was! And she had the audacity to throw away my ideas!” Tana exclaimed, followed by the sound of a palm connecting against a hard surface. On instinct, Baekhyun moved to open the door and see what was going on, when the voice of one of his guards from the team crackled through his earpiece, and he paused.

“Sir,”

“Byun here. What is it?” He asked, trying to keep the edge off his voice and sound neutral instead.

“There’s an unauthorized staff on her way to enter Big Man’s office through a common staff elevator. Female, in her mid twenties, no visible ID’s. Our security team is currently holding her back but she seemed upset, claiming she should be allowed to see the Big Man,”

Baekhyun’s eyes furrowed, “Copy that. Does the woman have dark, long hair and bangs?”

“Yes, sir,”

“Let her pass through. It’s the Butterfly,”

The man audibly took a sharp intake of breath from the other side, “, we’re sorry, Sir. Letting her pass through right now,”

“Make sure the Big Man never hears of this, you understand?” He glanced at the door.

“Yes, sir,”

Baekhyun took one step forward, his mind racing with questions as to what the guards could’ve already done to Mari. If they even so much as laid a finger on her — just the thought of it had him curling his fists already.

He ran to the nearest staff elevator and cursed the bloody floor for having at least three hallways, all designed to confuse any intruders and give the security team enough time to get Chanyeol to safety.

There were several possible entrances and at least two other staff elevators that Mari could’ve gone in, and he ran all around the hallways to get to the elevators as fast as he could. She wasn’t in the first, and she wasn’t in the second either. Baekhyun ran his hands frustratedly to his hair as he walked past the main hallway th