Author's Note: Woww I know it's been so long since I last updated this story but trust me; school is being a pain in the right now (crunch time, almost done the semester D:) So updates will be slow so sorry T.T I will try hard though! In turn, please keep reading and sending me reviews, I always love to read them (:

PS. Sorry for any grammar mistakes...I kinda got lazy with re-reading XD

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next day, as I had expected, was busy. We wake up in the early hours of morning and swiftly and quietly, we pack our things and check out of the hotel. We leave no trace of us behind; even went as far as getting rid of the black BMW sedan. We stuck with the mini cooper that Cat and I rented though (taking that as a temporary mode of transportation) as well as the van we used on the first day of our stake out.

Derek decided to move our ‘base’ to a grand looking hotel that was situated right in the middle of the Trade Centre. It was fitting I guess, seeing as the how the hotel was well known to house business travelers for more than a week so that was an advantage for us. We made sure we weren’t being followed; being hyper alert to the point it can almost be called paranoia. As soon as we settled into our new accommodations, we set to work on getting that last phone conversation…Well, mostly Cat.

“I managed to track down that last call In-Su made before he was taken out. Listen to this…” Cat hands Derek and me a pair of ear buds that is connected to her laptop. Taking a side, we listen as the conversation played out.

“…I went through hell to get it, so before I give it you I want to raise my profit share on this. I want to get 25%...25% or I’ll rat you out; you know how bad that would look on the corporation you’re under.”

I recognized In-Su’s voice but then came the voice of his accomplice.

“That’s the least of my worries. As if anyone will believe you when you accuse a national entertainment business company of such crimes. But if you insist on getting such a raise then fine, have it your way.”

The agreement was made and when In-Su gave the magic passcode that was when things changed.

“It was lovely doing business with you. Unfortunately with this, circumstances have changed; I no longer need you. Good-bye.”

We didn’t need to listen to the rest of the conversation, as we all knew what happened afterwards. The three of us sit back, each wearing a look of deep thought; no doubt trying to recall all the events up to this point to piece together a net educated theory. The cogs in my brain work double time to the point I came to a conclusion quite quickly. I glance at my colleagues, not wanting to say what I had thought up because well…it’s a little drastic.

“A national entertainment business company…” Derek begins.

“Have you come into contact with any chairmen of other ‘entertainment’ companies during that whole gathering thing?” Cat asks.

“…I think a Cube entertainment agent was there. Along with JYP…”

“We spotted a couple of SM artists there; was there a representative or the actual chairman there?” I question next.

Derek seems to give it thought but then replies, “No I don’t think I’ve met with a representative from SM there…nor do I think Lee Soo-Man himself would have the time to show up or else there would have been an uproar…”

I give a knowing look at Cat and she seems to have caught on. She gave me a ‘you’re crazy’ look but with a hint of ‘but it just might work.’

“So…why send only the company’s artist there as the representatives and not even an agent or a vice-president…” I start to say.

“Are you implying that it was some sort of strategic distraction?” Cat says, catching my drift quickly. I shrug and gave an innocent expression.

“I’m just saying that because there was no ‘real company’ representative it would call for an easier, private meet up for a trade. I mean it would be suspicious for two businessmen to waltz off alone for a private talk…”

“Wait, wait…” Derek jumps in. “Don’t tell me you’re suspecting SM Entertainment to be behind this.”

“The least an important pawn or player in this game.” I defend. “After all, the speaker who took out In-Su did say a ‘national entertainment business company’.”

“…This just all seems a little too far fetched for me I mean…We’re talking about one of Korea’s biggest entertainment industry…there’s just…” Derek says, trying to organize his thoughts.

“No way an entertainment company would be part of a big crime like this.” Cat finishes. “But if you really think about it, this is the perfect cover. Like really, who would suspect an entertainment company this big and well known to be part of something so scandalous. The most they’ll do is scam their artists but monopolizing for world domination? Ridiculous most would say.”

“Exactly my view.” I nod. “I’m not as crazy as I sound.”

“There’s obviously more than one way to be subtle when trading information if you’re creative enough. So why…?”

“Simple; whoever is pulling the strings on this already planned on getting rid of In-Su once they got what they wanted from him.” I answer.

“…So if SM really is behind…or at least a big part of this case, then how will we know for sure.” I could see that Derek is still highly skeptical about this theory but I guess it’s understandable.

“There’s only one way to find out…” I say.

“Pull a ‘Master of Disguise.’” Cat finishes, smirking a bit. “This case isn’t called ‘undercover’ for no reason.”

“…I still think this is all really crazy.” Derek concludes, leaning back in his chair and massaging his temples. He pauses and then gives us a questioning look. “Why SM? Like I said, I did see a JYP representative and a Cube Entertainment rep. it could be them too.”

“We’re kinda taking a gamble on this. We don’t know if SM as a company is involved or just someone in it and as much as we try to come up with an explanation for the whys, none of them seem to really cut it; might as well start somewhere.” I say. Actually I want to see SM’s headquarters for myself but for the most part it’s true!

Derek heaves a sigh. He gives this situation one last thought before he caves in. “Alright, we’ll need to figure out a way to get into SM’s headquarters inconspicuously. Since I’m pretty sure King’s men are on high alert and keeping a sharp lookout for us.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out; for now should we do a little scouting around the perimeter?” Cat suggests, typing away on her laptop once again.

“Sounds like a good idea.” I reply.

Soon we found ourselves staring up at Korea’s renowned entertainment company. I shift my shades up so they rest on the tops of dark bob cut wig and squint a bit at the building in front of me.

“Somehow…I imagined it to be a bit more…shinier.” I start. Cat who’s standing beside me nods in agreement, staring up at the building also through her own pair of shades, sporting a curly blonde, shoulder length wig with front bangs. For million dollars worth entertainment company building, it sure looks pretty normal, blending well into the streets around it as well as showing signs of age.

“Well we’re not here to admire the choice in architecture for this company. What’s important is what’s on the inside of said building.” Derek points out.

“Highly doubt they’ll let us waltz through the front door without some kind of appointment. I don’t think we cut looking important enough…” I remark, looking down at our casual street wear; we basically look like foreign tourists.

“Quite frankly I don’t think the front entrance is an option…”I add, looking warily at the clouded glass doors, proving that sneaking a peek isn’t gonna happen.

“I guess that means it’s either a side or a back entrance...or above.” Cat takes out three Blue tooth-looking earpieces from her small messenger bag. She didn’t have to tell us what they were as we take one each and secure it to our ears. “I call rooftops!” Cat exclaims before scurrying off. I sigh and glance at Derek to see where he wanted to go.

“I’ll go around back…” He says before strolling off quite leisurely, looking for once, not a businessman but a dandy gentleman.

“Guess that leaves front to me.” I mutter to myself, slipping on my shades again before starting my own little stroll. I pull out my camera from my own bag, snapping quick pictures of anything that might be of use. There’s nothing really interesting at the front (few security cameras) so I round the corner to the side. Still nothing except for a strange jut of the building (this random cube like structure that just sticks out from the main building; a garage maybe?) and then from there it leads to the back. I snap a picture before tapping my headset.

“Cobra what’s your position?”

“I got a clear view of the north-eastern part of the building; lots of windows... I see no side entrance from where I am. Derek what about you?” I scan upwards on the rooftops around the company building, trying to spot Cat and just spot her barely peeking out over the ledges with a pair of binoculars in handy. I shook my head, smiling to myself. I kinda learn not to question how she does things because as she always says, ‘doesn’t matter how I did it, as long as it works and gets the job done.’

“I got a back entrance but looks like they have a fingerprint recognition scanner as well as a passcode lock. They’re really adamant on keeping the fans out…” Derek replies his voice low. Go figure, I think to myself. I stop in my tracks as I spot a security guard seemingly emerge from a couple of parked cars at the back entrance Derek was talking about. I pull on the tourist act and pretend to admire my surroundings.

“We got a security guard on patrol too.” I mutter, glancing out of the corner of my eyes to see the man in his late thirties turn his back to me. I squint at him, trying to see if he carries any kind of weaponry. So far, just a baton.

“Yeah I see him. Doesn’t look too threatening…” Cat comments.

“Don’t judge so quickly now.” Derek reprimands. “Anything from above?”

I hear Cat let out a huge breath of exasperation. “Unfortunately this time, I don’t think parkour-ing it would do the trick for a roof access. All there really is is that little cube sticking out from the building that really doesn’t lead to anything higher, unless you want to break into one of the windows there then go ahead.”

I almost laugh out loud as I listen to Cat talk, heading back to the front again to check the other side of the building. Honestly she can somehow manage to scale and plant herself on a rooftop that overlooks the SM building well but she can’t fathom to scale the building itself? I take a quick peek to the other side of the building; chain fenced, can be scaled but looks like it was a dumpster/garbage disposal area. Maybe there’s an entryway there…I snap a quick photo before scuttling back in time to see Derek casually making his way towards me.

“This place is like a fortress…” Derek comments. “There’s only two entry way so far as I see; the back which no doubt the artists of the company uses but tightly secured and the front but we know that’s always most likely occupied by the front desk people. No sneaking in there unless we really do pull a ‘Masters of Disguise’.”

“There might be a possible entry on the other side of the building, a dumpster alleyway of some sort. Chain fenced but nothing we can’t climb over.” I said, nodding towards the direction I was referring to.

“You guys aren’t thinking broad enough.” Cat says, joining us at last. “We could always break and enter ninja style.”

“I like to keep that as a last resort Tran.” Derek says firmly. “Our objective here is to be able to tag and tap into Soo-Man’s communication lines and also get a hold of a live security monitor feed. Maybe go as far as to hack into his company’s computer network system to find any clues as to who the suspect might be.”

Cat clicks her tongue and looks at us with an unsure expression. “I’m good at hacking but I don’t think I’m that good. For sure SM has like high tech anti-hack protection system or something for their networks for corporate reasons. I can poke around and see what I can get but no guarantee.”

We start to stroll down the street since we spot the security guard peering around the corner at us. I sigh in frustration; clearly we’re stumped on how to go about this mission. I’m pretty sure Cat and Derek was just as frustrated. My eyes start to wander as my mind tries to piece together a plan; I almost miss a stark white sheet of paper pinned to a tree not too far down from the building. The contrast of it shocks me at first back to my senses but then that was when I start to take in the words that were printed on it and I did a double take. Cat must’ve taken notice of my sudden interest on the sheet of paper because gradually she and I came to a halt.

“What’s up?” Derek asks, stopping also and taking a glance at the sheet of paper.

“I think…” I start to say, ripping the piece of paper off from its pin and holding it so that Cat and Derek could see. “What we really need to do is think like a criminal; operate from the inside-out.”

“…It’s plausible…” Derek says slowly. “I think the appropriate saying would be ‘crazy enough to work?’”

“I think so my dear Derek.” Cat says with a smirk adorning her face. She takes the sheet of paper from my grasp and holds it in front of her, lowering her shades a bit so the tops of her eyes peers out. “This may just be our ticket in…in the most civilized form yet.”

I don’t know how long we’ve been staring at this sheet of paper for (we must have look like total idiots), or if I really believe what I’m seeing but despite mine and Cat’s a little below average Korean, we understood enough to be able to read some very important, almost God-sent words in bold;

COORDINATOR ASSISTANT WANTED.

Attached below was the last slip of paper that contains the call number.