Wonho was stretching his arms as he went down from his office, he made his way towards the Camaro that came in yesterday. The chassis needed some tuning, and he wasn’t sure if he’d done a good job on it. He wanted to have Shownu come over to check, but he had a feeling that the other male was busy.

He checked his phone briefly, Heesoo asked him to come by and pick her up from a meeting. And she hasn’t texted him yet.

Wonho was about to pop the hood open when he heard a car pull over outside, he paused, recognizing the Mercedes Benz sedan that Chaeyeon usually used for work.

He smiled and waved at the vehicle, but it wasn’t his headache that stepped down. Secretary Yang hurrieldly stepped in the shop, Wonho tilted his head.

“Did…Chaeyeon asked to be picked up here?” He said while looking around, the male shook his heade.

“No, sir. I came by…hoping that you’d heard from her, or..has she been here this morning?”

“No, I haven’t seen her since..that dinner with Sophia and Minhyuk. Why? Did something happen?” Wonho put his toolbox down, he heard his phone vibrating on the counter.

“I’m not so sure, sir. I heard from young master Oh that she…left their house this morning, and he simply assumed that she headed out to work.”

“She never got in her office?” Wonho asked as he got his phone, he noticed that Minhyuk was texting him.

“Yes, sir. Actually, no one’s heard from her since this morning.”

Wonho was about to speak when he opened Minhyuk’s text.

Please tell me if Chaeyeon comes by. I can’t find her.

She won’t pick up any of my calls.

Wonho looked at the male, his brows went up.

“Secretary Yang, it’s already almost five. Are you sure no one’s heard from her?”

The male could only nod in reply, Wonho pressed his lips together and shook his head.

“Could this be about that Song Kang thing? That boy has overstepped his boundaries.” He commented.

“The president has kind of…dropped it as soon as it was fixed. Matters about Song Kang never really…bothered her. He’s not as important as he thinks.” Secretary Yang replied, Wonho nodded back.

“Of course, what about Shownu? Have you~” Wonho halted when his phone started ringing. He saw Shownu’s name flashing on the screen and he immediately answered.

“Hyunwoo~”

“Have you heard from Chaeyeon? I can’t find her. Can you dispatch some people now?”

“Oh no.”

Shownu leaned back on the couch, his secretary was on the phone speaking with the Samsung’s head of security. Normally, he wouldn’t have them do this. He knew Chaeyeon, he knew that there were times when the girl wanted to be alone.

But this felt different, she may not want to talk to him, but surely, she’d reply to her brother’s texts or take Minhyuk’s calls. Even Sophia’s messages were being ignored.

And that put him on edge.

He knew he ed up. He should have cut Aerin off like Wonho told him, but he didn’t know how to. In his mind, there really was nothing else to do since they broke up years ago and he never expected her to break into his house like that.

“Sir,”

He looked up.

“Miss Baek is being detained at the police station now, I already have our legal team here in Busan cleaning it up. How would you like it done? If she requests to settle~”

“No. No settling. That was breaking and entering, right?” Shownu gruffly said, the male nodded.

“Then tell them I will be pressing charges.” He stood up and buried his hands in his pockets.

“Chaeyeon?” He spoke just as one of his family’s bodyguards walked back in the living room.

“We cannot reach her phone, I checked with the phone company, the last ping on her cell’s signal was here, sir. In Busan.”

“So, she’s still here. Driving to Seoul will be pointless.” He said, his men could sense the tension in his voice and they knew that most of them were walking on eggshells now.

“Was the young miss....president driving herself today?”

“Yes, she drove the Ghibli.”

Shownu pressed his lips together and crossed his arms. This was all his fault, and it hurt him to know that he hurt her. Aerin was nothing to him now, that’s how it will always be.

“May we ask for permission to track the car, sir?”

Shownu grew silent, his forehead creasing.

“We were already tracking her phone, director. Maybe..the car can help us?”

The room grew silent and his secretary eyed the bodyguard warily, Son Hyunwoo was never the type to “track” people. Especially Chaeyeon. He respected her space.

“I~”

The veranda doors burst open, it was another one of the guards.

“Sir, you have to see this!” He frantically said as he grabbed the remote control and the TV was powered to life.

“Abeoji, you were being too much.” Sehun said, Mrs. Oh remained quiet, but worry was etched on her face.

“Why? She was being careless.”

“Do you think she wanted that to happen?” Sehun shot back, annoyed.

“But she didn’t have to meet the man by herself. She has people for that.”

“Abeoji, you and I both know that…that’s how Chaeyeon is. She may have staff to do things for her but she’s always chosen to have things done differently. She’s not that..typical boss who has people running errands for her.” Sehun pointed out.

“She’s always done things on her own.” Mrs. Oh stated with a sigh.

“And, do you think she wanted that man to kiss her? She slapped him for crying out loud!” Sehun groaned and pushed his plate away from him.

“Did you take care of that?” Mrs. Oh spoke.

“Yes, and Minhyuk made sure that it will never leak out. He said he’ll be coming over in a bit. He still can’t reach Yeon. Nobody has.”

“Not even Hyunwoo?” Mr. Oh asked, Sehun shook his head.

“All I heard was that Chaeyeon…was there in Busan. But only for a short time, she immediately left.”

“For a short time? Did she come to see him?” Mrs. Oh grew worried, she glanced around them.

“Yes.”

“But why would she immediately leave? It’s a long drive, I’m assuming she went there to see him.”

Sehun grew quiet and he shrugged. That was all Minhyuk told him, and he also sounded confused himself. It was normal for Chaeyeon to drive to Busan to see Shownu. But leaving right away was strange.

Shownu even sounded weird on the phone earlier when he called to check in on them.

“I don’t know, eomma. Maybe something’s really bothering her and she…she just wants to disappear for a bit.”

“But not like this.” Mrs. Oh exhaled again, and then she stood up.

“I think it’s time we call the police. Officially.” She said, Sehun leaned back on his seat. His father had called the chief earlier, but he had asked him to keep it quiet. Inquiries were made, but they still didn’t get anything.

“We may have our own people looking for her, but I think…something’s wrong.” Mrs. Oh continued, she got her phone and started dialing.

And then Mr. Oh looked up as his secretary barged into the room.

“Chairman, madam, you…I think you have to check the news.” He said, Sehun stood up to get to the living room television. He could hear his parents walking behind him and then he stilled.

On the TV screen, the news was showing live footage of a painfully familiar Maserati sedan, being swallowed up in flames right in the middle of an expressway.

“W—Wh….What is that?” The Chairman of Kia Automobile Group sputtered as his wife staggered back.

The local Daegu police officers could only watch with discomfort as Samsung’s private security personnel cordoned the burning car. Some cars would stop and stare at the vehicle while others took videos. In the middle of it all, a tall male was staring at the vehicle, there was permanent frown on his face as people rushed to control the flames.

He finally looked away and ran his fingers through his hair, clearly frustrated. They have confirmed that the car was empty when they arrived, and Samsung men immediately took control of the scene. But it didn’t change anything.

Chaeyeon was still nowhere in sight.

Shownu could hear a helicopter approaching in the distance, he crossed his arms and walked towards one of his men.

“Sir,” They bowed as he reached them.

“The car was seen leaving Busan boundary just twenty minutes after it arrived there, sir. It means that president Oh didn’t stay in the area for long. And, we checked CCTV footages of her at your residence,”

Shownu slightly flinched, but he nodded for him to continue.

“After leaving the residence, she didn’t pass by anywhere. She..simply drove back to expressway, meaning, she was probably heading back to Seoul.”

“Did she make any stops?”

“We’re still checking on it, sir. The police would like to ask~”

Shownu heard Minhyuk’s voice amongst the crowd, the guards made way for his cousin. He paused, seeing the car still in flames.

“Why…Why is that…still burning?” He asked, his tone shaky as he spoke.

“It’s gasoline. It may take some time.” Shownu spoke as firemen worked on the flames, he looked away again.

“Well?”

“It is assumed that she’s…she’s not hurt. There’s footage of the car speeding into the expressway while being in flames. We have yet to confirm that it was her who was driving.” Shownu replied, Minhyuk looked at his cousin, he was still in his office clothes, but he looked disheveled.

“It was in flames while running?”

“She probably hit a post and…didn’t stop. I…don’t know, Minhyuk-ah. Things…haven’t cleared up yet. And…I..” Shownu trailed off and buried his face in his palms. Minhyuk nodded in reply, he looked up and saw another helicopter circling around.

“Sehun’s here.” He said, Shownu didn’t speak.

“Hyung, you met her in Busan, right? I mean, you met up with her? She went to your place.”

“I~”

“Fire out!”

The guards looked up, the two cousins rushed to the vehicle just as the firemen began to inspect the front seat. Shownu recognized Chaeyeon’s purse and cellphone on the car’s front seat floor. Both were burned and covered in soot.

“Is..that blood?” Minhyuk’s question made him halt, his eyes went to the driver’s seat.

The firemen turned silent and glanced at each other.

“Is that blood?” Shownu repeated the question, unable to control the harshness of his voice.

“Yes, we noticed that while we were trying to control the fire. There’s blood on the seat and some remains of what looks like…human skin, sir.”

Shownu staggered back from the vehicle, his secretary rushed to them. Minhyuk’s fingers stared to shake.

“We can’t confirm anything yet until the NFS has taken samples. Can we request them to be allowed in, sir?”

Minhyuk was about to speak for them when Sehun appeared.

“What’s going on? Did you find her phone?” He asked as he walked towards them, he was followed by two men dressed in dark suits, Kia goons.

“Sehun-ah~”

“Sir! Someone called in a report!” One of the police officers called out.

“They found an unconscious person behind a gasoline station a few meters away.”

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