“It was actually Jaehyun.”

It was just a split second, but Yeri was sure she saw something changed in Seonghwa’s expression. 

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you that it wasn’t the police who told me about what happened in the past.”

“So you were lying to me the whole time?”

“No, I was telling half lies and half truths. He requested me not to tell it to you.”

“So which of those were lies and which of those weren’t.”

“I’ll just tell you later. We’re running out of time. We have evidence to collect, remember?”

She sighed.

“Fine, but be sure to talk about it later.”

“Let’s go.”

The trio entered the tunnel near their university’s parking lot. Seonghwa led their way. According to him, only a few of his teammates were there since most were asked to be on standby during the whole campaign. He was actually assigned to be one of those who will guard their headquarters while the program is ongoing, so this gave the trio a head start in their investigation.

The problem is, Seonghwa wasn’t the only one who was left at the headquarters. He also had two teammates who were assigned to guard it. There could be other members who will stay. Who knows what was waiting for them inside.

 Of course, they didn’t go unprepared. Apart from wearing masks, they also brought guns, just in case. Actually, all of their guns were Seonghwa. Two weeks earlier, he gave Yeri his brother’s gun which she doesn’t want to use, but ended up using due to the unforeseen circumstances. It was her third time using that gun, the first one was used during the event six years ago, the second one was used using Sooyoung’s kidnapping, and the third one is today. Just in case. Mark, on the other hand, received the gun just yesterday. Seonghwa actually took both of them to the firing range for practice shooting. Just in case.

Days before, Seonghwa gave them the layout of the hideout. There were different rooms inside the hideout: meeting rooms, lounge, lobby, arsenal, repair rooms, bedrooms, prisons, communications rooms, storages, computer rooms, offices, control room, and many, many more. 

There were several rooms of interest Mark wanted to infiltrate. The first one was the communication room. 

“I’m almost a hundred percent sure that there will be someone in that room. I haven’t met him though. We’re lucky that the one in there was a newbie since the previous one escaped.”

Yeah. Hyunggu. I think he’s Hyunggu. I don’t think I could tell them. I don’t want him and Yeeun to be involved again. They suffered enough from them.

“Escaped?” Mark asked.

“Yeah. He was actually kidnapped. I don’t know which family he was from since he was already there before I became a member. Maybe they kept him alive in hopes of ransom.”

You’re probably right.

“Do you have any idea where he might be?”

“No. Actually, I was the one who tried to catch him, but someone accidentally ran into him.”

It was us.

“Do you know them?”

“No.”

He’s lying.

“Did they bring him somewhere?”

“Probably to the hospital. Why are you invested in this?”

“We could use him to testify against them. He could also help us infiltrate the base.”

“Give up. I can’t find him. We may never find him. Let’s go back to our topic.”

As Seonghwa explained, the communication room is where the middle man of the organization stays. The middle man then was Hyunggu and it was unknown who’s the new one. As it was the communication room, it contains records of the transactions inside and outside of organizations. It also contains records of several of the organization’s missions and operations. This information would be futile to their quest in bringing down the organization.

Days after their talk, they were here, standing in front of the door which leads inside to the headquarters. 

The plan must be executed carefully. They made sure that it wouldn't be traced to them. They wore masks, changed their clothes, before and after going riding in the car. They made sure to leave at separate times, and arrived at Seonghwa’s car at a separate time. They also visited the mall first then changed their cars in the blind spot of the mall’s camera. They are almost impossible to be caught.

This plan must work. Once they arrive at the doors of the headquarters, the next step must be executed. The communications room was located in the fourth level of the organization. Since the headquarters is underground, the fourth floor means that it is four levels below the ground. It was located near the offices of the top families since it was as important as the boss. It is indeed the communication room. 

Before going there, they need to make sure that no one is in there, and no one would have a chance in finding out their identity. To avoid blood spill, they need to avoid an encounter with the members. The plan was to sneak into the control room, and then turn off the cameras and anything that could possibly bust them. All of these while being wary of the members.

The three of them sneakily went to the fourth floor where the control room and the communication room were located. Along the way, they saw a teammate of Seonghwa on the first floor. Yeri actually recognized who he was. 

Jeong Yunho? He wasn’t wearing something so she was sure it was him. Mark was also shocked to see him as it was they’re classmates. Yunho was actually a member of the volleyball team and was one of those who pressured Yeri into doing well in volleyball. Of course, Yeri remembers those days. 

The three of them were able to get past him without noticing. It helps that he was busy doing something in the lounge. Seonghwa led them to the elevator then pressed the number four for the fourth floor. Mark was afraid that the elevator would create a noise, but surprisingly, it didn’t. The whole elevator ride was seamless. When they were planning, Seonghwa actually told them that a top member of the organization was the one in charge of the engineering of the hideout. That member was Jonghyun

When they were on the fourth floor, they decided to split up. Seonghwa headed towards the control room, while the other two went to the communication room. Seonghwa knows almost every corner of the hideout so he is the perfect one for the job. He then reviewed the footage.

We’re not alone here. Aside from Wooyoung and Yunho, there were also other members here. The middle man, and the siblings were here.

After turning off the cameras and erasing every possible record of them, he locked the door and went to the communications room.

“God, you scared me.” Mark exclaimed

“There’s no one here?” Seonghwa asked.

“I was also confused that no one’s here.” He said as he continued packing the hard drives from the computer of the communications room to their bags.

 “The middle-man possibly went on a break or something.” Seonghwa said.

“Good. Then go guard us outside.”

He nodded then went outside.

“What were you saying again?” Yeri asked as she continued searching for every file that she could bag.

Mark checked the door making sure Seonghwa wouldn't hear their conversation.

“As I was saying, not all of what I said was false. My meeting with Seonghwa did happen, but it happened before I talked to him. It wasn’t easy making him talk. I was able to gain an advantage when I read between the lines. He seems to not care about being caught. That’s when I knew he didn't like being there. I told him my identity then boom.”

While Mark was talking, Yeri found a folder which seemed to contain information about the members.”

“After Seonghwa mentioned Jaehyun, I went to confront him. Then he told me that he remembers everything that happened, and asked to keep it secret from you. Were you even listening?”

“Since when? Did his memories come back or was he able to remember it all the time?”

“He didn’t say. Hey, what's that?”

They started scanning the folder. They saw a lot of familiar faces. 

“Doyoung and Jungwoo, were also members?” Mark was shocked to see his friends.

Right, they were Minjeong’s brothers.

The door suddenly opened. Seonghwa quickly entered, then closed the door.

“What’s happening?” Mark asked.

“Take a look at this.” Seonghwa said as he presented Mark and Yeri with two familiar bodies lying unconscious on the floor.

“Doyoung and Jungwoo?!” It was a reunion Mark didn’t expect.

“Oh right you were friends. Unfortunately, their family is one of the bosses here. I can’t remember what their roles were. I think they were in the planning committee. They must be here to hang out at their cousins’ office.”

“They’re just unconscious right?” 

“Yeah, help me hide these bodies.”

“Where?”

“Just in the electrical closet in this room.”

“Fine. Yeri continues searching.”

The two guys went to pick up bodies then delivered them to the control room. They proceed to lock the control room afterwards. Seonghwa then returned to guarding while Mark returned to searching.

Yeri has been thinking about this since her memories returned. Seeing that the coast is clear, she asked Mark for advice.

“Hey, when do you think I should tell Seonghwa the truth about his brother’s death?” 

The door opened.

“My teammate went to this floor. He was about to call me. Good thing I turned my phone off before going here. And now I hid here just to end up hearing things like this?” Seonghwa was furious.

The door closed.

“Mind explaining what I just heard?”

Should I lie?

“Why are the two of you silent? Don’t you have tongues to speak?”

“How much have you heard?” Mark asked.

“How much are you hiding?”

“A lot.”

“Tell me about it now or I’ll blow your head off.” He then points his gun at Mark.

“We’ll tell you everything later after we finish this.” 

“Tell me now or I’ll kill you.”

“Stop it. “ Yeri intervened as she pointed her gun at Seonghwa.

“I thought you don’t want violence. I guess I was mistaken. You seem to have used my brother’s gun very well.”

Very well.

“So are you gonna tell me or I’ll shoot you?” He asked Mark again.

“Let’s finish this first. We don’t have time.” She said as she lowered her gun.

They sure don’t have time. The campaign program was almost done. That’s when Joohyun noticed that Yeri was gone. 

A few minutes later, Yeeun received a phone call from Aeri, while they were on the way to the hideout. She was also about to call her so Aeri calling first surprised her for a bit.

“Aeri, why are you calling?”

“Where’s Yeri?”

This isn’t her.

“Who’s this?”

“Joohyun, Yeri’s friend.”

.

“Where is she?”

Should I tell them?

“Where’s Aeri? Why are you using her phone?”

“Met her during the campaign. I asked her where Yeri was, but she also didn’t know. She suggested calling you since you too were quite close. Now answer my question.”

“I need to speak to her.”

“You’ll be speaking to me.”

She’s scary.

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“You seem to know. God, I was just asking where the she is because the program is almost done.”

“Like I said, I don’t know.”

“It seems that this is a dangerous situation based on your answer. Tell me where she is so we could help you resolve this.”

Fine. I also need extra help.

“The university. Send police or backup on the way. “

“What?”

“This could be a potentially dangerous situation.”

“Yet, you’re hiding it from us.”

I was about to call Aeri, but you interfered.

“Just come there discreetly. Don’t let others know. And also, bring a medic with you.”

“What the hell is happening?”

“We’ll explain once the situation is over.”

Yeeun dropped the call. A few seconds later, the car halted to a stop. They’re here. She called Hayi this time.

“Are you there?”

Before going to the headquarters, she figured out that she needed help from her cousin. There are several entrances to the headquarters and one of those is the tunnel where the incident from six years ago happened. The entrance will lead to the second level of the headquarters, it wil be easier to reach the fourth level from there. She asked her cousin and BI to infiltrate the hideout from there.

“Yeah we’re here. There’s no entrance however.”

“Try to press something in the walls, maybe something will emerge.”

It wasn’t something that emerged, it was someone. 

“Ilhoon?”

“Hey, what's happening there?” Yeeun is confused.

“Hayi, what are you doing here?” Ilhoon asked, unaware that Hayi is still on a call.

, he’s making the same mistake Yeri did. Yeeun groaned in frustration.

It seems that she has no choice, but to tell the truth.

“We’re rescuing someone.”

“Who?”

“We’ll explain later.”

“It’s dangerous to go in there.”

“We know, that’s why we need to rescue them out of here.”

“Who is in there?”

“We’ll explain later. After we unlocked this door.”

“Oh that’s easy. I guess you already learned that I’m a member of this. This is how it works.”

He put his pin close to a brick in the wall, and then it opened. 

“I kept my pin even if I left in case