Seungho stirred as he heard a buzzing sound near his head.  Squeezing his eyes, he yawned and reached blindly for his phone.  He peered at Joon, who was still fast asleep on his arm, and sighed.  He held the phone above his face and frowned.  It was only 7:14 AM and he was already getting a call from Hyunsik.  Deciding to ignore it, he closed his eyes and turned his face towards Joon’s hair.

It was never a good thing when Hyunsik called… especially on a day where he didn’t have training until nearly noon.  Seungho vaguely wondered if the results from the final selection were in.  The selection had been held over two weeks ago, before any of the recent mess occurred.  However, the judge at the time had said they’d post the results on the board outside the dance studio.  If Hyunsik was calling him, it could mean that he hadn’t made the cut… He frowned, and breathed in Joon’s scent to sooth himself.  If he didn’t make the cut, he would have to move out as agreed…

It could also be for other reasons that Hyunsik was calling him, Seungho reasoned with himself.  What if a sudden job offer landed on his doorstep?  It was unlikely… but who knows?  Or maybe Hyunsik finally grew a heart and decided to give them a vacation?

Seungho was brought out of his semi-consciousness when his phone buzzed once again.  He hadn’t even noticed when it’d stopped buzzing.  He glanced at the screen; Hyunsik sent him a text message.

[Stop pretending to be asleep.  I need to see you in my office now.  Important.]

Seungho groaned read the text message again.  Of course it was important; it was always important.  Seungho didn’t like the sound of that text message.  And that Hyunsik; Seungho swore the guy had eyes in the walls of the dorms.  It was freaky how much he knew sometimes.

Sighing, he gingerly pulled his arm out from under Joon’s head and sat up.  Gazing at Joon’s sleeping face for a moment; Seungho reached out and pulled the covers over Joon’s bare shoulders.  With a dramatic sigh, he stood and stretched before walking in to the bathroom to wash up.  Pulling on some jeans and a sweater, he put a red baseball cap on and slipped his feet into his sneakers.  

As he made his way to the offices, Seungho began to feel nervous.  The only other time he’d been called to Hyunsik’s office was when he was told to visit the Lee-Song estate.  There was no way it would be the same thing again right?  And what if Hyunsik told him that he’d failed the final selection?  What if he was asked to move out of the dorms?  Where would he go?  And what about Joon?

Stopping outside of Hyunsik’s office, he knocked twice before pushing inside.  The room was lit up with the rising sun and Hyunsik was behind the desk, his face furrowed into his usual frown.

Hyunsik looked up and waved him in with a sigh.

“You wanted to see me?” Seungho said, closing the door behind him.

“Actually,” Hyunsik said, taking his glasses of and rubbing his eyes, “Song Bangna wants to see you.  At her estate… again.”

Seungho blinked in surprise.  The Lee-Song CEO… wanted to see him again?  “I thought that was a one-time thing?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well me too,” Hyunsik said, walking over to his liquor cabinet again.  Pulling out a glass, he poured a drink.  Instead of giving it to Seungho as he had last time, he threw the drink back himself and swallowed with a hiss.  “But she’s requested that you visit again… and continue visiting once every two weeks,” he muttered, “What does she think I run?  An service?”

Seungho let the news sink in.  Should he be… perturbed?  It was understandable that she might want to see him because he reminded her of her deceased husband but… to have him visit every two weeks?  Wasn’t that… too much?

“You just played piano for her last time?” Hyunsik asked, offering Seungho a drink.

Politely refusing, Seungho replied, “Yeah, I just… played the piano all day.”

“I’m warning you right now,” Hyunsik said, leaning against his table, “If she gets frisky, you tell me right away.  I don’t care if she’s the Queen of England; I’m not going to let her make me a pimp.”

Seungho rolled his eyes.  It was clear Hyunsik wanted to protect his talents from inappropriate intentions but it was so like him to say it in a roundabout way that made it seem as if he didn’t care.  It would’ve been much easier if he’d just told Seungho to be careful.

“I will,” Seungho replied, “Did she want me to go today?”

Hyunsik nodded as he poured himself another drink.  “Suit up,” he muttered sarcastically, “The queen awaits.”

Seungho nodded and left the office.  As he made his way downstairs to the coordinator’s area, he couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious about Song Bangna’s intentions.  Unsure if he should feel flattered or disturbed, he sighed and walked into the change room.

Soyun woke to the sound of soft murmurs down the hall.  Rolling over in bed, she wiped the drool from with a grimace and sat up.  Scratching her head, she tried to tame her hair as she strained her ears to try and distinguish what the sound was.  With closed eyes, she frowned as she recognized her father’s voice floating down the hall.

She squinted at the clock; it was almost 8:00 AM.  Her father was an early riser but his breakfast usually didn’t end until around nine.  And what was he going on about?

Getting out of bed, she trudged over to her door and cracked it open.  Still squinting, she glanced down the hall towards her father’s study.  His door was open and the room was lit up with the rising sun.

“Yes…” she heard him murmur into the phone, “From what I gathered, it was suicide.”

Soyun’s eyes widened as she caught a few words.  Suicide?  She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and strained her ears to hear more.

“I’m not all too surprised though,” she heard him mutter, “She wasn’t right in the head.  She didn’t tell me much about the boy either, though she did say she found him on the side of the road.  As far as his background, she didn’t give me much.”

Soyun felt her heart race as she listened in on her father’s private conversation.  Who was he talking to?  And who were they talking about?  She suspected it was about Joon… but who had committed suicide?  And found on the side of the road?  Joon was?

“Yes, the funeral was yesterday,” her father sighed, “I had one of our guy send flowers wreathe.  The woman’s son was there too… yes, the boy-Park Cheondoong…”

Soyun’s jaw dropped as she clapped her hand over .  Cheondoong… his mother?  It couldn’t possibly his mother that committed suicide?  But… why?  And what did she have to do with Joon?

“We know for sure that Lee Joon’s history is unclear.  The brat lied to me about having family-” her father muttered in irritation, “He’s hiding something, hwajangnim.  If you ask me, it’s too much of a coincidence-”  He cut off and fell silent as he listened to the other side.

Soyun let out a shaky breath as she waited to hear more.  So her father was talking to the hwajangnim.  She had been right; the two were suspicious of Joon too.  And from the sounds of it, they had done quite a bit of research into his background but hadn’t turned up anything solid.  But… what did this have anything to do with Cheondoong’s mother?  Her father had mentioned the side of the road… was Joon picked up at the side of the road?  If… if that was true then…

“Do we need to go that far?” she heard her father suddenly say softly, his voice grave, “It’s true that I think he… I just… I don’t know if we should take him out of the picture until it’s confirmed-”

Soyun’s eyes widened.  Her heart pounded against her ribcage as she listened, all traces of sleepiness long gone.  Take him out of the picture… what were they referring to?  It was a phrase usually used when someone was plotted to be killed or made to disappear, wasn’t it?  Why… why would her father say something like that?

“Yes,” her father said quietly, “It was my mistake… but at the time, Sangki-”  He cut short again as he was, no doubt, interrupted by the hwajangnim.  “But don’t you think it was for the better, hwajangnim?  That Changsunnie… that things turned out the way they did?” he asked, his voice almost pleading, “No… no, I just-… Sukgyun… he’s Sukgyun’s son, hwajangnim.  I don’t know if I can do this again… we failed the first time but maybe, it was for the better…”  He fell into a brief silence again as he listened.

Soyun waited with bated breath, her hands shaking as she gripped the door.  She had a hard time processing everything that she heard but she knew she was listening to dark secrets from over ten years ago.  And she knew… her father had something to do with Changsun’s disappearance.  That itself had her reeling.

Her father sighed before saying in a defeated voice, “I… I understand.  I will have Yongjae keep an eye on him.  If I can confirm things… I’ll have things arranged… No, I won’t make a mistake this time.  If… he really is Changsunnie, I will make sure to remove him from the picture completely this time.  Yes… yes…”

Soyun heard the soft beep of the phone as her father hung up the call.  She heard him shuffle slowly towards the hall, sighing along the way.  Quickly and quietly, she closed her door and leaned against it.  Holding her breath, she heard him walk by her door before his footsteps faded into the distance.

She slid down to the floor and held a hand over her heart.  She could feel it pulsing madly, reflecting her shocked mind.  She had always complained and lamented about her bedroom being on the first floor and next to her father’s study, but now… it had given her a chance to hear something that should not have been heard.

Closing her eyes, Soyun frowned and tried to collect her thoughts as they raced around her mind in dizzying circles.  Of all of them, one in particular was hard to come to terms with.  Her father… her own, loving father had been involved in the disappearance of Lee Changsun.  And from the sounds of it, so had the hwajangnim.  They had talked about failing the first time… what had they intended to do?  Did they really plan on killing Changsun?  It was impossible to believe such a thing but it was the only explanation that made sense.  And Lee Joon… Soyun was sure now that they suspected him to be Lee Changsun.  She was almost positive in her own mind that he was.  But if she proved it, he could be in danger… because her father had promised, again, to kill him.  And thrown into all of this was Cheondoong and his mother.  What role did they play?

After what seemed like an hour, Soyun stood and took a deep breath.  Steadying herself, she walked over to her nightstand and picked up her phone.  It was time to get to the bottom of this; no more guessing.  She pulled up her contacts scrolled through the list.  Taking a deep breath, she dialed Cheondoong’s number and waited.  

Cheondoong leaned against the back of the seat as he waited for Soyun to arrive.  He sipped his coffee and sighed.  Her call that morning had sounded urgent and strained.  He hoped that nothing bad had happened; he wasn’t sure he could handle another misfortune after the week he had.  He already felt stretched too thin that he was sure even the smallest bad news now would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

He looked up as Soyun stepped inside.  Spotting him, she walked over with an upset face and sat down across from him.

“You sounded upset on the phone,” Cheondoong said, straightening up and waving a waitress over, “You okay?”

Soyun bit her lip as she stared at him with soulful eyes.  She glanced up at the waitress and quickly ordered a coffee before turning her gaze back to him.  “Should I be asking you that?” she replied softly, her eyes tender, “I… heard about your mother.  I’m so sorry…”

Taken aback, Cheondoong wiped the surprise from his face and sighed.  In the emotionally draining week, he had forgotten to tell her.  “Thanks,” he said, his gaze falling to his hands, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Soyun shook her head.  She reached out and placed a hand over his, surprising him.  Squeezing them lightly, she said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t at the funeral.  I’d only just heard about it this morning.”

Cheondoong nodded, his hand warm from her touch.  He turned his hand upwards and gave her hand a return squeeze.  He couldn’t help the small smile as her face suddenly flushed pink.  Shyly, she pulled her hand back and cleared .

“Are you holding up okay?” she asked, gazing at him with gentle eyes.

“Yeah,” Cheondoong replied, nodding, “I’m fine.”

Soyun nodded and accepted her coffee with a thanks as the waitress brought it over.  She fell silent as she sipped it slowly.  She looked at her coffee, her brows furrowing.  She glanced at Cheondoong quickly before looking down at her coffee again.

“What?” Cheondoong asked, sensing her hesitation, “You want to ask me something right?”  He sipped his own coffee and waited.  It was clear she was hesitating about something; it peaked Cheondoong’s curiosity.

“I…” she started but shook her head and started over, “You’re close with Lee Joon-shi right?” She looked at him with a brighter face.  “I… my sister is curious about him,” she said, “Can you tell me a bit about him?  S-so I can relay it back to my sister?”

Cheondoong blinked at her question.  Although she was doing her best to sound natural and honest, he could feel something off about her.  Her sister was interested in Joon?  It didn’t seem that suspicious but… something felt fishy here.  “Joonie-hyung?” he asked, raising an eyebrow, “What does she want to know?”

Soyun blinked and played with her cup before she said, “You know… where he’s from, does he have any siblings… the like.”  

Cheondoong frowned slightly as he gazed back at her.  Was it a coincidence?  That she would be asking the very questions that he was dying to know himself?  And come to think of it… wasn’t Kim Dongmin her father?  He had visited Cheondoong’s mother shortly before her suicide…

Cheondoong shifted in his seat and sighed with exhaustion.  He was tired of playing guessing games.  He had too many questions and not enough answers.  Enough was enough; he did not want this from Soyun too.  “Tell me the truth,” he said, looking at Soyun warily, “Why do you want to know about Joonie-hyung?  You said you heard about my mother… did you hear it from your father?  Did he tell you that he visited her before she died?”  

Soyun’s hands paused as she looked at him.  She was clearly taken aback by his honesty.  She opened but didn’t speak.  She seemed unsure of what she wanted to say so she closed again and dropped her gaze.

“Do you know why your father visited my mother?” Cheondoong continued when she didn’t say anything, “You must know if you’re asking about Joonie-hyung.”  He sighed and leaned forward.  “Tell me what you know,” he said softly, “And I will tell you what I know.”

Soyun met his eyes and bit her lip.  She sighed before she relaxed her hands and leaned forward too.  Determination appeared on her face as she said, “The reason I want to know about Lee Joon-shi is because… I think I know who he really is.” 

Cheondoong’s eyes widened as he gazed back at her.  Who Joon really is?  Wasn’t that the million dollar question?  “Tell me,” he whispered, his hands balling into fists.  

Soyun sighed and said softly, “It’s… probably better to start from the beginning.”

Author's notes:

Don't quote me on this but I'll be picking up the pace again with Love Me!  I need to get to a certain part in the next month and I'm nowhere near it!  Stay tuned!!  We're nearing the big reveal :D