The moment Gyuri wakes up, she doesn't even have time to register that Max is gone. Her head is pounding, and when she balls her hands into fists, there's cloth where there shouldn't be; she looks down and realises that she's in bed, fingers curled around her blankets.

That's funny; she doesn't remember ever going to bed.

She might have had time to think about it more if two of her maids hadn't come bursting in at that moment without notice.

Gyuri scowls at them. "Didn't I instruct you to knock before entering?"

The maids drop her hasty bows, and it's only then that she realises that they looked terrified; well, more than usual. "We're sorry, Miss, but−"

But?

One of her brows quirks up and she narrows her eyes. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

The maid on the right−Gyuri can't think of her name right now−looks like she'd going to explode any moment now. "W-w-well, quite a few things happened, M-miss, and I don't think you'll be very happy−"

Gyuri lets out a shriek of frustration, grabbing the nearest pillow and tossing it across the room. "Do you think I'll be any more happy if you waste time telling me that I won't be?"

The maid who had spoken shrinks back, trembling, and the other comes to her rescue. Gyuri recognises this one−Ahn Hye Joo, her senior maid.

"We are sorry for the delay, Miss," Hye Joo says, in a much clearer voice. "This morning, Kim Eun Seuk went missing."

"She wasn't on an errand?"

"You never sent any of us on an errand, Miss," Hye Joo replies. "In any case, I should think none of us would have any reason to be out of the house at the time that she was discovered to be missing."

Gyuri frowns. "Where did she go?"

Hye Joo inclines her head in a sort of vaguely apologetic gesture. "We do not know; she may have run away, she may not have. She simply disappeared," she says. "On that note, your dinner guest also departed."

Gyuri's eyes widen, and her mind protests at the sudden revelation. She doesn't care, ignoring the way her brain throbs. "Max?"

"I was not aware of his name," Hye Joo says, "but you had no other guests, so I assume he is who you are referring to."

Gyuri squeezes her eyes shut. . Last night had been her chance to extract answers and let Max know that−

She gasps, remembering that she has no memory of ever getting into bed. Did I get drunk? Did something... happen between us?

Her mind reels at the thought, scrolling through a growing list of all the things that could have possibly happened, but Hye Joo briskly interrupts again. "There is another, more pressing matter, Miss."

"What is it?"

"Mr Huang is here."

Suddenly, nothing else matters to Gyuri. Her blood chills, and she realises why the first maid had stammered so much. "When will he arrive?" she whispers, her voice barely audible.

"He's already here."

***

Gyuri is downstairs, dressed and as ready as she'll ever be, in sixteen minutes, but as she catches sight of Zitao waiting in the entrance, she knows that it's a minute too late for his liking.

He gives her a brief smile, one that pierces only the first layer of his tunnel-like eyes. "Gyuri, my dear," Zitao says, raising her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss on the back of it. "It's lovely to see you."

"It's nice to see you, too," she forces herself to say. The words sound foreign in , like poison on her tongue. "But you must be busy nowadays. What brings you to Paris?"

This time, when he smiles, it pierces the second layer of those inky eyes of his.

There are four layers to Zitao's eyes; Gyuri isn't even sure about the last two because she hasn't seen them before.

The first layer is one that is revealed when Zitao is forced to display emotion of any kind; this layer is the one Gyuri is most familiar with. It's the one she sees when he greets her, or when the words that come out of his mouth aren't business.

The second, and the only other one Gyuri is familiar with, is the layer that is exposed when Zitao wants something. When he's looking at someone that's of use to him. When business or something he wants is involved.

"I've come to speak to you, my dear."

Right now, Gyuri sees the second layer as clear as day.

***

The moment the staff are out of the room, Zitao's sweet facade fades. His eyes become flat, black circles and he instructs her to sit.

This is the Zitao−Mr Huang, he insists− Gyuri knows.

He stands, behind the chair sitting across from her at the table, and just smiles at her, like he's waiting for her to speak, when he's the one who has something to say.

"Why are you here?" she asks finally.

"I'm here to give you answers," he says simply.

"Did T.O.P send you?"

The corner of Zitao's mouth quirks up and she realises too late