52 | The Plan

***

Upon nearing his company's building, Taeyeon swiftly spots the gathering of journalists stationed at the entrance, poised and ready to approach him.

"Sir, do you prefer facing the journalists or should I drop you off at the ground park?" the driver asks, expressing concern.

"Let's go straight to the ground park," he confirmed, pulling out his phone to call his secretary. However, she beat him to it and he answered her call.

[Please refrain from coming to the office, Mr. Chairman. Journalists are not only crowding the front entrance but also the park grounds. It would be advisable to remain at home and conduct work through video conferencing.]

"Thank you for the heads-up, Ms. Kim. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please drive back home, Mr. Jeon. We won't be able to enter there either," he instructed his driver immediately after the call. The driver silently turned the car around. However, the journalists still caught sight of them and hastily attempted to give chase, but their efforts were short-lived as they swiftly exited the building.

Taeyeon adjusted his tie and pressed the button to lower the car window, sighing deeply as he looked outside. "Why is this happening?" he whispered to himself. Earlier, he had tried to contact his mother after discovering the articles, but she didn't respond. His attempts to reach out to his father were also futile; his father was clueless about her location. As her son, he was worried, but he also felt hurt. He had never imagined his mother would go to such lengths to prevent the wedding. Desperate to understand her reasons, he found her absence distressing and it weighed heavily on him.

Midst of the bustling ambiance, his phone chimed from within his jacket, prompting him to retrieve it with an effortless gesture. A soft smile graced his lips instinctively as Tiffany's name illuminated the screen. "Hey," he greeted, his voice gentle and warm.

[Heard from your secretary. I'm glad you're returning. I decided to go to work and left Da-On with Yuri. He's not going to the office as well.]

"Oh, glad to hear that. Um, are you alright?" 

[I do, don't worry about me.]

"I'm sorry about this."

[Ugh, I told you, you don't have to apologize.]

"But..."

[Consider this merely a bump in our journey, a temporary obstacle. We both understand we won't abandon the drive until we've smoothly navigated past this rough patch.]

Taeyeon nodded. "I understand. I love you, hon," he said softly.

[I love you, Kim Taeyeon.] Tiffany replied with a giggle and a smooch sound. [Oh, I'll call back later. Our supervisor has arrived.]

"Fighting!" He cheered her on as the call ended. "Well, looks like I'll have the day with my son." His spirits lifted knowing Tiffany hadn't brought their son along.

***

The moment the clock marked 10 a.m., Seohyun swiftly snatched her bag and exited the office, narrowly avoiding colliding with colleagues in the corridor as she rushed to the elevator. Inside, she glanced at her watch and tapped it twice, whispering to herself, "Thirty minutes, just enough time to get to the hotel and review the CCTV footage."

Her phone rings, and she hastily fetches it out to answer Tiffany's call.

[Call me when you get there.]

"Yes, Unnie."

[Don't forget to put on your mask araso?]

"I know what I'm going to do."

[Be careful out there.]

"I'm an expert at this, don't worry," she replied confidently. As the elevator reached the first floor, she said, "I'm out. I'll call you later," to Tiffany and ended the call while exiting the city hall. No need to hail a cab or catch a bus; a scooter borrowed from a coworker awaited her. She quickly mounted it and began riding toward the road. The hotel wasn't far from city hall, so it would only take a few minutes to get there.

Upon arriving at the front desk, she concealed herself behind the luggage cart as she moved past the desk and swiftly entered the elevator. She promptly unlocked her phone and launched an app that connected her to the hotel's Wi-Fi and granted access to the CCTV feeds. Scanning through them, she located the security room on the 7th floor. "Gotcha," she chuckled, pressing the elevator button.

After noticing that most of the office workers on the floor are taking a break, she grabs the chance to enter the CCTV room and quickly looks for the date of Yuri and Soonkyu's date while Tiffany is on the line through her airpods. "Oh, found it." she declared after three minutes of searching for the folder. "I just need to transfer the entire folder into the stick." she added as she inserted it into the CPU and started transferring the file. A total of 20 GB of videos is inside the folder. "Holy, this will take a while."

[WHY?]

"It's a 20 GB file storage. Aish, do you know what time they were on a date?"

[Jessica said 8:30 pm.]

"Okay, I'll just look through the videos." She canceled the transfer and instead looked through the videos that had corresponding times on each of them. "Ugh, I hate that they didn't set the CCTV into automatic."

[What do you mean?]

"You can set each CCTV camera to delete videos that don't have movements captured, but here, even if the restaurant is empty, it was still here."

[I see. But at least it gives you a challenge.]

"Yah, I have to return there before 11, Unnie."

[I know, I'm just kidding. You haven't found it.]

"Still review videos around 8pm." She mumbles while keeping her eyes on alert for every video she opens. When she finally opened a video around 8:18, Soonkyu was seen entering. "Found her." she declared and watched the video. "And Mrs. Kim entered with a tall guy, holding a camera."

[Omo, that's the photographer.]

"Obviously. He positioned himself behind a potted plant while Mrs. Kim leaves for the comfort room, I guess. And then... Soonkyu sits down... waiting for Yuri Oppa at this point." She added while watching the unfolding scenes before her. "Oh, Oppa arrived at exactly 8:30 pm. Damn, Mrs. Kim hasn't returned."

[I bet she returned when Soonkyu told her.]

"Oh, Soonkyu is on the phone texting. And..." She trailed off her words so she could fast-forward the video. "8 minutes later, Mrs. Kim returned and sat down behind her. Yuri Oppa saw her and was only surprised to see her. Tsk." 

[Copy the video now before any security personnel returns.]

"Wait, let me watch this more." She declined as she kept switching her eyes to Mrs. Kim and the two. Soon, she saw Yoona enter the place too and take his seat a bit far from the blind date. "Omo, Yoona took photos of them, I didn't know about this."

[Wait, so your boyfriend saw everything and has his real photos of them but we have no idea?] Tiffany exclaimed out of surprise.

"He left home early, Unnie. You know he has to catch a trip to Busan. Haven't reached him since I woke up."

[Yoona took photos of them? I thought he didn't because he only told me nothing bad happened.] Jessica also reacted on the next line.

"He had no clue what was going on because he hadn't texted me." Seohyun chuckled while transferring the video to her memory stick. "I'm going to smack his head later when he returns home."

[Aigoo, what a plot twist. Anyway, get out there before you get caught.]

"Still waiting for the video to finish transferring." She replied while scanning the security room with a small smile. "They have good CCTV cameras."

[Tsk, finish it now.]

"Just a few seconds left."

[That's taking long.] Jessica replied.

"It's done!" Seohyun exclaimed, just as she rose to her feet and she casually took her memory stick. At that moment, the door swung open, and a voice echoed through, halting her in her tracks.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" asked the man by the door.

She briefly bit her lower lip, turning hesitantly with an awkward smile. "Um, I was just looking around, Sir," she said. Before the man could respond, she dashed towards the door, slipping past him and sprinting to the elevator. The man gave chase, but she managed to slip into the elevator, and as the doors closed, he arrived just a moment too late.

Before she could unwind, she noticed she wasn't wearing her mask. She swiftly unlocked her phone and accessed the CCTV server to erase her traces, including the footage of herself in the elevator. The moment she stepped out of the elevator, she donned her mask and calmly walked out of the hotel without incident.

***

"Da-On!"

The moment he heard his name being called, Da-On turned and quickly ran to hide behind Mr. Butter as he ducked to the ground. Taeyeon chuckled went outside to the pool and approached the two. "Didn't I tell you not to get near the pool?" he reminded him. He can't believe he returned home just to see him already clad in his rash guard and goggles while Yuri's in the living room, glued to his laptop. "Aish, your Yuri Appa doesn't seem to look after you." he mutters as he glances inside the house.

Slowly looking up, a cute pout. "Can't I just swim there, Appa?" he pointed at the shallow part of the pool which was just on his waist.

"No, you have no adult with you."

"How about you?" Da-On sits on the ground and grins.

Taeyeon softly chuckles. "Your mother is going to scold me, Da-On."

"But mom's not here."

"He might learn about it because she's connected to the CCTV." He turned his head to his right and saw the CCTV attached to the wall. "I can see her furious eyes right now, shooting it towards us."

Da-On looked at his father and the camera confusedly. "Mom's not here."

"I mean, she can see us through that camera because she downloaded the app to monitor your movements." Taeyeon explained further.

"Chincha?" Rising on his feet, Da-On faces the camera and waves his hand with small jumps. "Omma, Hello, I'm swimming!" she called out her.

[Da-On! It's hot out there, honey. Go inside with your father.] Tiffany's voice suddenly was heard from the camera.

Da-On stopped from waving as it surprised her. "Omma is really inside the camera?" he asked Taeyeon innocently.

"I told you. She can even hear you, honey." Taeyeon replied with a soft chuckle, rubbing his son's hair gently. "Come on, let's change you into your clothes."

"Omma, can I make pancakes instead?" Da-On however didn't take his father's hand. "I want to make my own! Like Yihyun Noona's breakfast for us."

[Ask your father.] Tiffany responded.

"Yay! Thank you, Omma! I love you!"

[I love you too, honey.]

Da-On giggles and sprints inside without waiting for him instead of taking his father's hand. Taeyeon could only shake his head and walk with Mr. Butter inside the house.

***

"I got it! I found her!" Yuri exclaimed, the moment he discovered Soonkyu's social media account online—the very thing that had kept him engrossed in his laptop.

"What? What?" Taeyeon hurried into the living room from the kitchen, leaving Da-On behind. "What have you found?"

Yuri's grin widened as he eagerly turned his laptop toward his friend. "Check it out, Soonkyu. I can finally shoot her a message."

"You've been searching for this the entire time?" Taeyeon exclaimed, unable to believe what he had discovered.

"Why? Didn't Da-On tell you?"

"My son knows?"

"Indeed, ever since he awoke," Yuri said with a soft chuckle. "I'll send her a message and inquire about Mrs. Kim's location," he reasoned, smiling proudly.

Taeyeon scoffed in disbelief. "You're really dedicated to it," he said, then casually returned to the kitchen where he saw Da-On had just flipped a pancake. "Whoa, you got it right this time, honey," he complimented, patting his son on the chef hat perched atop his head.

"Thanks, Appa!" Da-On cutely giggles.

"Let me help you with the honey." Taeyeon said as he volunteered to get the honey from the cabinet.

Meanwhile, Yuri began to inquire Soonkyu through her social media account.

Hello, this is Kwon Yuri. I know you're anticipating my message, Ms. Lee, but I would like to inquire if Mrs. Kim has reached out to you, or if you happen to know her current whereabouts.

Please let me know when you get this message.

After sending it, he turned to his right where Pumpkin was lounging beside him. "Have you been here the whole time, Pumpkin?" he inquired, petting the orange cat. Pumpkin yawned and glanced up at him briefly. "Mr. But