“Mom, are you sure you’re ok?” Luhan asked into the phone pressed closely against his ear. 

 

He had woken up extra early and not wanting to wake up anyone with his phone call, he’d stepped outside. The sun’s overbearing heat was already starting to pour over him, but what was really getting to him was that his mother wasn’t listening to him at all. 

 

“Yes, I’m doing fine over here,” his mother repeated several times already. “Luhan, how are you? I was told you left school early. What is going on?” 

 

“Mom, are you sure you don’t want to go anywhere else? Maybe you could go stay with some friends for a few weeks,” Luhan was oblivious to her questions. “Aunt and Uncle work a lot so you’ll be left alone often. Go stay with someone for a while, ok?” 

 

“Why? What’s going on? Luhan, why are you in Korea? Just come back here and continue your studies,” his mother continued on what was most important to her. 

 

“Mom, listen to me-” 

 

“Have you gone there to see your father? Luhan, forget it. He’s a busy man so just come back.” 

 

Luhan opened his mouth to retort but thought better of it, “Mom, listen to me, ok? Go find some friends to stay with. You haven’t seen anyone strange over there, have you?” 

 

He lifted his head up from the ground when a familiar figure appeared from the corner of his eye. Turning to see who he is he saw Victoria walking toward him looking extremely flustered, yet he noticed she was still in yesterday’s outfit. 

“Mom, listen to me ok? Call me if anyone strange approaches you, I have to go,” Luhan quickly spoke into the phone before hanging up and turned just in time as Victoria neared. 

 

Without saying a word he waited for her to notice him first. When Victoria’s eyes rose up from the ground she looked like she wanted to scream when she stopped in front of him. All the expressions bottled up behind her angry and confused eyes lit themselves up before him. Victoria let out an angry heavy sigh before turning away and turned back to him. 

 

“Where’s Seohyun?” 

 

“Still asleep, I suppose.” 

 

Another angry sigh. 

 

“Lets go somewhere and get something to eat.” 

 

Luhan blinked back at her. 

 

“And talk about the that happened yesterday.” 

 

Victoria brushed by him, still angry, and Luhan turned to follow wondering where she just came from.

\ \ \ \ \

 

“Where have they gone?” Seohyun stared out the window then shifted her eyes over to the clock by the scrubby oven. 

 

It’d been almost half an hour since she’d been waiting for them and during that time she had visited the mart, and even bought a magazine on businesses. Seohyun had done a small research on Cha Tae Sung, whose name popped up quite often in several articles. Seohyun had even noted down the address of the company listed underneath the large picture of the 52 story building created from ash gray concrete and windows. Since Victoria had done a good deal of research and planning ahead of time for their last break-in, Seohyun wanted to help gather information for the upcoming one. Cha Tae Sung, the next target. Seohyun would have preferred talking to Victoria about it, but she didn’t seem to be around. 

 

Neither of them were turning up. The more she waited the more she pondered over the fact that both didn’t seem to care to ask her along. Feeling distressed and left out she strutted back into her room and came back out in a fancy short and a not too fancy shirt. Seohyun had to made sure she looked appropriate for her ‘job’. 

 

Clearing she pondered over wearing flat shoes or heels. In the end, since she figured there would less likely be any running for her to do, she chose the latter. The echo of her heels resounded throughout the old building scarily suddenly bringing to her an image of an old building haunted with the paranormal. 

 

After flagging a taxi down Seohyun handed him the address while she sat in the back glancing at the notebook in her hand. She hadn’t used her fake ID at all since arriving to the suburbs of Seoul. She hoped it would really come in handy this time. 

 

It was a long silent ride with the lazy radio announcer’s voice almost putting her to sleep. When the taxi finally brought her to her destination, Seohyun climbed out without bothering to give the driver a tip. Once the back door slammed behind her she craned her neck back to take in the magnificent sight before her. 

Ash gray material oozed together and dried for hours in order to develop a sturdy hold of the famous insurance company. Not only was that what made the building more interesting, there were also rows and rows of windows injected along each floor plan. Craning her head back to normal level she glanced in through the transparent first floor. What first came in sight was a marvelous gold front desk with a tall receptionist and just as Seohyun would expect to see from any other business daily, the employed going in and out busily. 

 

She almost doubted she’d be able to meet with Cha Tae Sung face to face without making a prior appointment, but she figured she could try. Clearing once to mentally prepare herself she stepped forward and through the revolving doors. Her heels started clicking against the fresh clean tiles the janitor had mopped early that morning when she started toward the tall woman behind the desk. During the time it took her to reach the desk, it felt like a million people had passed her by. All the people traveling back and forth looked so contently busy Seohyun started wondering if they ever had time for themselves, or if they ever ate. Bodies of blue, white, silvery, and black flashed back and forth until she stopped before the golden desk she’d seen outside. 

 

“Excuse me,” Seohyun politely called. 

 

The tall woman turned away from the binder she was looking through and smiled, “Yes, how can I help you?” 

 

“Is your president, Cha Tae Sung, in?” Seohyun wondered. 

 

“Do you have an appointment?” 

Seohyun took an extra note of her eyes shifting over to the binder. 

 

“No…” Seohyun hesitated to go on, “I’m from The Chosun Ilbo, I came unannounced. I was wondering if I can do an interview.” 

 

“Ah…” the woman nodded, “let me call up. The President doesn’t seem like he has anything on right now. Please hold on a minute.” 

 

Seohyun nodded and waited as the woman spoke into the phone, her voice a quiet whisper. 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

“A reporter? From The Chosun Ilbo?” Cha Tae Sung repeated into the phone gently pressed against his thick shoulder as he signed away at the forms in front of him. 

 

A dim gray glow from the sunlight’s reflection rebounding off the gray apartment behind his building shone in his office. After a morning call-in he hadn’t bothered to turn on the light. Kicking back into his cushioned chair he rubbed his chin amused by the uncalled visit. Was it the reporter from yesterday? 

 

“Her name?” 

 

A moment of silence before the receptionist answered, “Seo Joo Hyun.” 

 

A very slow surprise made him lean his elbows onto the desk, “Send her up. And, call The Chosun Ilbo to confirm the name of their employee, Seo Joo Hyun.” 

 

\ \ \ \ \

Seohyun watched the receptionist place the phone back into its receiver before smiling at her. 

 

“He’s on the 40th floor, he’ll be waiting for you,” the receptionist bowed kindly. 

 

“Ah…thank you,” Seohyun sincerely thanked with a broad smile before turning to walk toward the elevator. 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

Still having not received an answer from Victoria about her whereabouts last night, Luhan watched her gobble away the food on her plate as if she’d gone a whole day without precious foods. The silver utensils in her head clicked against the ceramic plate every few seconds and having lost his appetite while watching her eat away, all he did was grab his cup of ice water and took a long sip. No matter how he looked at it it something was suspicious and he believed Victoria didn’t want to share anything of her personal life with him. Well, of course he understood why, but he was still quite confused about why she wanted breakfast with his company. 

 

“Would you like another refill?” the waiter stopped by. 

 

Luhan nodded with a thanks and also pushed his plate near the edge of the table, “I’m also done with this.” 

 

He watched the waiter take his plate and walk away before turning back to look at Victoria who was now draining her cup of water. A loud gasp fell from her moist lips before she used the back of her hand to wipe her lips dry. A burp last escaped before she pressed her lips together. He’d never seen her in such an uncivilized manner that it felt as if he were staring at something he’d never seen before in his whole life. 

 

“You full?” Luhan handed her a napkin. “Most people would use a napkin.” 

 

Victoria took the napkin from him without word and used it to wipe her hands. 

 

“I eat a lot after a hangover. So, where did that guy take you yesterday that I couldn’t find you?” Victoria started without looking at him. 

“Just…a room.” 

 

“He say anything to you?” 

 

Other than the threat to his mother he tried to recall the rest Cha Tae Sung had said. 

 

“He was very straight forward,” Luhan remembered, “he’s caught on to why I came back.”

 

“Nothing else?” 

 

He wondered if he should tell her about the threat to his mother. However, telling her wouldn’t make any difference so he shook his head. Victoria made no more comment before she started drawing her finger along the edge of her glass cup as if amused by it. 

 

“I was followed last night,” Victoria almost monotonously told. 

 

The news surprised Luhan. They hadn’t been followed on the way back to the apartment. Where would they know to find Victoria? Unless the people who started following Victoria were of the same kind as the ones who were after him. 

 

“No, he wasn’t after me,” Victoria said, “he asked for you.”

 

Luhan could only stare at her for a few seconds before asking, “Is that why you stayed out all night?” 

 

Victoria flashed her eyes away as if she’d been caught red handed. 

“No,” she answered, “I ran into someone…who helped me escape.” There was a brief pause. “Yesterday…” Victoria’s voice became a tad bit quieter. “You saw, didn’t you?” 

 

His lips fell apart almost confused for a moment. The complicated scene in front of Choi Siwon’s car full of stares lightened up inside his head. 

 

“Don’t tell Seohyun.” 

 

\ \ \ \ \

 

A man with neatly combed hair smiled at Seohyun when she opened the door. His office held exquisite features of carved wooden models against the walls and prized paintings decorated neatly against the walls. A very broad desk stood to the left of the room, two bookshelves accompanying each other to the far right near the large window Seohyun had surely seen outside, and an area for relaxation and talking to the lower right of the room. That was where Cha Tae Sung invited Seohyun. Two fresh cups of tea had already been placed upon the black glass table with various magazines concerning insurance and health sprawled out mannerly. The clicking of her heels went unheard against the soft blue carpet which went along fairly with the pale white walls. 

 

“Have a seat, Miss Seo.” 

“First, I must apologize for barging in so suddenly,” Seohyun apologized. “Our column this month is featuring various industries, all other topics had already been assigned and picked and I was left with life insurance. I don’t deal much in this area, unfortunately. Would you mind to brief me about what you do and what kind of services you provide? Especially what kind of benefits people could receive from getting insurance.” 

 

With pen and notepad in hand, Seohyun was sure she looked like a stunning reporter. Cha Tae Sung would definitely be tricked. The man smiled at her in the most fatherly way possible that Seohyun found herself imagining her father in front of her. She blanked out before her conscience transitioned back to the present. There she found herself scribbling away in her notepad messily. What was this? It wasn’t the time to start feeling homesick. Seohyun wanted to yell at herself, shake herself, but all she did was write away like she should. Thankfully, the opening of the door brought her fully back to where she really was. 

 

“Sorry about this, I think a message just came in” Cha Tae Sung apologized before turning back to the strong looking man behind him. “What is it, Hwan?” 

 

As the built man leaned forward to whisper into Cha Tae Sung’s ear, Seohyun turned away from the sight to heave a sigh. 

 

“Get a grip on yourself,” Seohyun mentally scolded herself in the meantime while gripping hard onto the pen within her grasp. 

 

She heaved another sigh and quickly turned when Cha Tae Sung called her name. “Miss Seo?” 

 

“Yes?” 

“I’m afraid I’ll have to call off this interview,” he continued smiling at her, yet the wave Seohyun was feeling from him didn’t quite tell her he was being honest. Cha Tae Sung stood to his feet, “Hold her.” 

 

Before Seohyun could realize what was going on, she felt strong grips on both her shoulders planting her into the seat. She squirmed unsuccessfully. 

 

With hands in pockets Cha Tae Sung paced in front of her slowly, “Miss Seo Joo Hyun, who are you?” 

 

She stared at him refusing to answer. If she gave away her identity everything would end for her and Victoria. There was no way she was going to be the downfall of their job. 

 

“Oh?” Cha Tae Sung probed on. “Are you somehow related to a Victoria Song?” 

 

Surprise at how he knew Victoria’s name lit in her eyes. Immediately Cha Tae Sung reacted with a howling laugh. 

 

“Do you two work together or something?” he wondered running a finger under his chin. “What do you do? For what reason would two women try to approach me by lying about their identities? Would you care to answer, Miss Seo Joo Hyun?” 

 

Seohyun bit her lower lip when he grabbed her hair tightly within his fingers and pushed her head back. She could feel her scalp tingling, the roots of her hair screaming. 

 

“I, Cha Tae Sung, am not one for a fool,” he growled. “Who are you!?”