***

“What do you mean, broken into?!”

Ryo was beside himself with shock and disbelief and now the frustration was kicking in. He got the call early in the morning and the news startled him so much that he didn’t even have the time to properly shower or tell Yoona what had happened. He just couldn’t believe it. He was CEO for barely a month and everything went disastrous. He was a good man, wasn’t he? So why was he cursed with so much bad luck?

“Exactly what I mean, Mr. Miyano. Look, I know that this is a lot to take in but I need you to calm down,” the police officer said gently while Ryo paced about in front of the building, seeing the countless police cruisers and a small crowd of employees watching in awe- but he still couldn’t believe that this was happening. 

“Calm down? This is the most secure building on the island, officer-,” Ryo looked for the man’s name tag and the man smiled patiently, lifting the tag slightly with his thumb so Ryo could read it. 

“Officer Deepak,” Ryo nodded, tempering his outrage because he knew that the policeman was only there to help. 

“Officer Deepak, E.T. Corp is the most secure building on the island,” he said as calmly as he could. 

“Yes, so you’ve told me, sir,” the officer replied gently. 

“No, you misunderstand. That building is more secure than the local bank. It houses the finest and most advanced technology that isn’t even out on the market yet! No random thief could just break in unless they had - I don’t know - superpowers!” Ryo explained a little more frantically. 

“More secure than the local bank, huh? That’s disconcerting. Hey, you think I could deposit my money at your company from now on?” the amicable officer joked, but Ryo was not amused at all. 

“Alright, I jest, Mr. Miyano. I apologize, but really, as far as we can tell, nothing was stolen. It seems like someone was just pulling a prank. The guards on duty didn’t detect signs of forced entry on the doors and the surveillance footage showed nothing out of the ordinary - other than a few glitches here and there, but those can be explained by electricity spikes due to the crazy weather we’ve been having lately. Our own team hasn’t seen any signs of forced entry either, which is rather strange, I admit,” Officer Deepak mused, trailing off. 

Ryo was usually a patient man, but with the stress he was already feeling due to work, this news just added too much pressure on the kettle. 

“If that is the case, Officer Deepak, then why did you call me to tell me that the building was broken into?” he replied a bit agitatedly. 

“Well, because the security guards claimed that there was someone in the building after closing time, sir. But they weren’t employees working in late. It’s probably nothing, but we came just to check and to see if nothing is missing,” the policeman assured again. Ryo waited for him to say more, because it looked like the man had more to say. However, he didn’t continue. 

“And?” Ryo prompted, since he was good at reading people, especially when they were hiding something. 

“And it’s procedure that we come to check in on things after receiving reports of a break-in. That’s all,” Officer Deepak smiled reassuringly, but Ryo eyed him skeptically. 

“But you just said that nothing is missing and that there are no signs of a break-in!” he stressed, looking at the man to see if he was pulling his leg. For a short moment, Ryo really hoped that this was all an elaborate prank. But, as he found out, he wouldn’t be so lucky. 

The smile on Officer Deepak’s face faltered and he scratched his cheek before adjusting his cap. “Actually, Mr. Miyano, there is one thing…” 

“Hmhm. And what is that?” Ryo stood straight in front of the shorter man, using his air of authority on the policeman. It never failed him and wouldn’t do so now. 

“Well-, that is, um…Perhaps you should come with me,” he said quietly. 

Officer Deepak lead him into the building and the first thing Ryo did was check for any irregularities in the environment. Some officers were questioning a few employees that were helping them in the investigation. One of them was a panicked young researcher, with crescent eyes, hands in his blonde hair. 

“Dee?” Ryo called out, the young man jumping slightly at the mention of his name. 

“Oh! Sir!” he replied, excusing himself quickly to walk towards his employer. “Can you believe this? I even thought of staying the night last night, but went home anyway. Maybe if I had stayed-,” 

“Then you might’ve gotten hurt if people really broke in here,” Ryo cut in, placing a hand on the scientist’s shoulder. “You couldn’t have prevented this, so don’t blame yourself for anything,” he added, smiling to calm Dee down. The youth was obviously shaken. 

“Is anything missing, Dee?” he then asked. 

“I haven’t done a proper inventory yet, sir. The other departments haven’t reported anything to be missing, though,” he reported. 

Ryo nodded, thinking to himself what kind of people would want from E.T. Corp. Were there competing companies he wasn’t aware of that would go as far as thievery?

“Mr. Miyano?” Officer Deepak called and Ryo snapped back to reality. 

“Ah, yes. Sorry, I’ll be right with you,” he replied. “Dee, grant the officers our full cooperation. When you’ve the time, I’d like to see the security footage. Those glitches people have been talking about seem too coincidental to me,” he added softly, and Dee nodded, understanding Ryo’s discretion. 

“Yes, sir,” he answered resolutely. Ryo smiled. 

“Good man,” he patted him on the shoulder and went back to the waiting policeman. “Sorry. Please, lead the way,” he motioned. 

They walked to one of the personnel’s lounges on the ground floor, but Officer Deepak stopped before they got to the entrance. 

“Before we go on, you have to understand that the man’s been pretty shaken up. Whatever he’s saying might not make a lot of sense, but it might provide some answers to this case,” he explained and Ryo frowned. 

“What exactly happened?” he asked. 

The policeman took a deep breath. “Well, we don’t quite know the gist of it, but we found the poor man locked in the janitor’s closet in the basement. He wasn’t been making much sense since then, but he might be a key witness to this craziness. He seems to be the only proof that something did happen here last night.” 

Ryo seemed more confused after hearing the man’s cryptic explanation and only raised his eyebrow in question at him. 

“It’s better if you see for yourself, Mr. Miyano,” Officer Deepak ushered Ryo inside where he saw a distraught man sitting on one of the chairs at the table, leaning his head on his hand. He had the look of a man that saw something he shouldn’t have. 

“I cannot imagine how terrifying it must’ve been for you, Mr. Qiao,” a feminine voice suddenly cooed and Ryo took a reserved step back when Miss Kumiho came into sight, placing a cup of coffee in front of the security guard. The man took it with an obvious tremble in his hands. 

“T-thank you, Miss,” he said softly, his voice frail. 

Ryo felt sympathetic towards the man but he was rather on edge with Miss Kumiho in the room. He cleared his throat after regaining himself, alerting them of his presence. 

“Oh, Mr. Miyano!” Miss Kumiho called out, quite unlike herself when she walked over to give him a hug. Ryo’s eyes widened and he tensed up, his hands hovering awkwardly over the woman, never really touching her. 

“I’m relieved you’re here. This is all very frightening. To think that someone had the gall to just break into our facility, I’m shaking just thinking of it,” she exclaimed after pulling away. Ryo caught himself staring at her considering that he wasn’t sure this was the same Miss Kumiho he had known before. It was an entirely different side of her that he had never seen and it made him a little uneasy. Then again, perhaps it proved that she was human after all, being as shaken as she was. 

Provided that she isn’t faking this… he thought skeptically to himself, but shook his head once he noted how mean that sounded. 

“Are you alright, Miss Kumiho?” he asked gently, though keeping a straight, professional face. 

“Just a bit startled, sir,” she replied, straightening herself. “But I believe Mr. Qiao has had it worse. I was about to ask him what had happened. You see, as terrible as this is for everyone, Mr. Yok will want to know what had happened as well. Selfish of me, isn’t it? To continue my duties despite this ordeal-, but it’s the only way I know how to cope,” she explained, the lack of true emotion in her eyes making Ryo suspicious, but he gave her the benefit of the doubt. 

“Not at all, Miss Kumiho. It’s understandable. I’ve been meaning to call Mr. Yok myself once we know more,” he replied and then turned towards the security guard who had his eyes on his coffee this entire time. He seemed to be in genuine shock. 

“Would you like a cup of coffee, sir?” Miss Kumiho asked and Ryo nodded. 

“Thank you,” he said, as the woman went to the kitchen to make another cup. 

Ryo looked at the security guard and approached him cautiously as to not startle him further. 

“Mr. Qiao?” he asked gently, giving the man a smile when he had looked up. His eyes went wide and he attempted to stand up, but Ryo gently pushed him back down. 

“No need to stand, you take it easy,” Ryo assured, taking the chair beside him. “I hear you had a rough night. I’m sorry you had to experience that,” he apologized. 

“It’s part of the job, sir. I should be the one to apologize, I haven’t done my job properly,” Mr. Qiao lowered his head to show his regret, but Ryo would have none of that. He touched the man’s shoulder so that he would meet his gaze and Ryo gave him a warm smile. 

“No one could have foreseen this. To be honest, I’m glad no one got hurt,” he spoke softly. “I know this is a lot to ask, but do you think you can tell me what happened last night?” 

Ryo looked up briefly when Miss Kumiho placed a cup of coffee in front of him and took a seat beside him. Her gaze was focused on Mr. Qiao, her hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea. 

Mr. Qiao heaved a deep sigh, shaking his head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, sir. I told the police and they didn’t believe me either. Said I was in shock and I should calm down until my real memories came back,” he said, looking pained just having to admit it. 

“Why don’t you just start at the beginning? Take your time,” Ryo said calmly, waiting until the man was good and ready to tell him. 

Mr. Qiao sighed one more time and took a big gulp of his coffee. 

“I’m not crazy, sir, I swear. I’m a realistic man, a man of logic and reason. But I know what I saw,” he started and leaned forward. 

“It was a beast, red eyes, fur black as night! I can still hear it growling,” he said in an urgent whisper. “It caught me off guard. I didn’t even know how it got inside of the security room. Next thing I know, there was only darkness and when I blinked I was gagged and trapped inside of the janitor’s closet. I didn’t even know how I got there!” Mr. Qiao spoke, a wild, scared look in his eyes. “I don’t know what was in the building with us last night, sir, but it was there,” he drank his coffee with trembling hands, looking like he was about to have another breakdown. 

Ryo tried to process what the man was telling him, taking everything into consideration. There would be no reason for him to lie about this, but Ryo couldn’t help his skepticism. A wild beast? What would a beast want in E.T. Corp? 

He carefully glanced over to Miss Kumiho and frowned when she seemed so concentrated and focused on Mr. Qiao. Was she doubting his story, or was she believing it?

“Can you remember anything else, Mr. Qiao?” she asked, her eyes never lingering from the guard. 

“I’m not sure, Miss,” he shook his head. 

“Please, do try to remember. It’s important. A story like that is difficult to believe, after all,” she added, making the guard sigh. 

“I’m not making this up, Miss. Why would I? It overwhelmed me and the next I knew, I was locked in that closet.”

“Do you remember being brought there?” Ryo tried, but Mr. Qiao shook his head. “Perhaps you were drugged?” he then said, but the guard sighed. 

“I was wide awake and fully conscious, sir. You think I don’t know how this sounds? I’m speaking the truth!” he implored and Ryo was inclined to believe him. 

“And that’s all you remember? Maybe you’ve seen a face?”

“Just the eyes. They were red. It went so fast…” Mr. Qiao trailed off, lost in thought. He blinked. “I remember shadows. Swirls of black smoke surrounding me. I thought I was going to die.” 

Ryo frowned at this. Why did that seem so familiar? He startled lightly when he thought he heard the sound of a gun go off, followed by the whimpering of a wolf, but those were echoes of his memory. Next to him, Miss Kumiho had risen from her seat, her entire body tense. 

“Miss Kumiho? Something wrong?” Ryo asked, but she didn’t respond immediately. 

“The police said that an alarm eventually went off. Is this true, Mr. Qiao?” she asked the guard instead, ignoring his question. Ryo noted how she had paled. 

“Yes, that’s true. Long after I was locked up, though. I think the alarm went off in Mr. Miyano’s office,” Mr. Qiao said, to which Ryo startled this time. 

“My office?” he repeated while the security guard nodded. He blinked in confusion when Miss Kumiho roughly pushed her chair back and briskly walked out of the lounge. 

“Miss Kumiho!” Ryo called after her, but she had already left. “Thank you, Mr. Qiao. You make sure to get all the rest and care that you need. You’ve done well,” Ryo excused himself and ran after the woman. 

“Ah, Mr. Miyano-,” Officer Deepak called, having waited in the hallway. 

“Officer Deepak, could I trouble you in taking care of Mr. Qiao? The poor man is rattled and I’d like to see him taken good care of,” he instructed in a hurry. The policeman was overwhelmed a moment before he agreed. 

“O-of course, sir- is there something amiss? Do you require my assistance?” he asked, seeing the obvious haste Ryo was in. 

“Not at the moment, officer. But I’ll let you know if I do. Excuse me,” Ryo left to rush after a distraught-looking Miss Kumiho and that concerned him. She seemed genuinely frightened when Mr. Qiao mentioned what he had seen. He had to admit that the story was rather creepy, but the one thing he was mostly concerned about was the fact that whomever was in here last night, broke into his office. 

Naturally he worried about the dagger, but no one outside of himself, Miss Kumiho, Dee, Seunghyun and Mr. Yok, knew about its existence. Not to mention that he kept it hidden in a vault in a secret laboratory. Though, having seen the shocked reaction of Miss Kumiho, could it be possible she may have told someone about it? 

This thought struck panic into Ryo’s heart and he quickened his pace. By the time he was in his office, Miss Kumiho was already there, looking around. 

“They couldn’t have…They shouldn’t even know-,” 

Ryo heard her mutter to herself, alarming him. “They?” he questioned, startling her. 

“Sir?” she tried to regain her composure, but was too rattled to do so. “There’s no signs of a break-in,” she changed the topic and Ryo looked around. Someone seemed to have been sitting in his chair since the leaning was tilted slightly back. Mr. Qiao was right. There was someone - or something - here last night. 

He walked towards the hidden panel and revealed the door to his private laboratory. Miss Kumiho wasted no time and walked inside. 

“Hurry, sir,” she implored and Ryo opened the vault, his heart pounding in his chest. When the door opened, it felt like his heart had stopped beating altogether. 

Miss Kumiho gasped audibly, a frantic panic overcoming her like he had never witnessed before. She pushed him aside to look inside of the vault, shaking her head and reaching inside to empty space. 

“No,” she murmured. “No, no, no! Impossible!” she exclaimed, looking genuinely scared, which Ryo thought was remarkable. She wasn’t worried or startled, but afraid. 

“Miss Kumiho,” he stated firmly, forcing her to focus. “Does anyone outside of the core group know of the existence of the dagger?” he asked calmly, even though he was close to freaking out himself. 

“Of course not,” she nearly hissed. “No one else knows! It’s impossible!” she stated resolutely, staring back into the empty vault. 

“Are you sure?” Ryo raised his voice at her.

“Yes!” she yelled back, anger obvious in her voice. 

“Well, it’s gone, isn’t it?” Ryo shot back. “Who would steal from E.T. Corp? How would they know specifically where to find the dagger?” 

“I don’t know, sir,” she panted. “We need to get it back!” 

“You think I don’t know that? This is unbelievable!” Ryo breathed, sensing a meltdown coming up. This was elaborate. Had to be. Why ignore all the other tech and inventions? How would the thief or thieves know about the dagger? Did Miss Kumiho tell someone about it? Did Dee or Seunghyun accidentally mention the dagger to someone? No. They wouldn’t be so careless. 

“I need to call Mr. Yok,” Ryo decided, closing the vault with a bang and walking back to his office. “And then I’ll tell Officer Deepak that we’re missing a dagger,” he stated, Miss Kumiho hot on his heels. 

“You can’t do that, sir. We have to find the dagger ourselves. Mr. Yok-,”

“Mr. Yok won’t be pleased to hear that we’ve lost it in the first place. He’ll want professionals to deal with this,” Ryo interrupted. 

“Mr. Yok wouldn’t want outsiders to know about the dagger, Mr. Miyano,” she pressed. 

“Except that outsiders apparently already know!” he gestured towards the direction of the vault. “I want to get the dagger back just as much as you do, Miss Kumiho, but still trying to keep this a secret won’t do much good,” he tried to reason. 

Miss Kumiho defiantly crossed her arms across her chest. “Very well. Call Mr. Yok. See what he tells you,” she stated. Ryo made sure to meet her defiant gaze, unwilling to back down against her. 

“I didn’t tell anyone. I know that’s what you’re thinking, sir,” she added, making him step back. 

“Whoever took it found out one way or another. No use in pointing fingers anyway. Damn thing is already gone,” he muttered, turning around to call the founder, when Dee suddenly rushed into his office. 

“Sir! I got a hold of the security footage and you’re not going to belie-, oh. M-Miss Kumiho, hello, uh-, I-I didn’t realize you were here,” Dee mumbled, holding onto a glass tablet. Ryo thought he saw something flash in the woman’s eyes when she looked at the younger scientist. 

“No trouble, Mr. Kang. Looks like you have something important to tell the boss. Found something interesting on the surveillance footage, did you?” she questioned, as Dee glanced away, shuffling his feet a bit. Miss Kumiho was quite adept in making young men blush and uncomfortable, but there was a strange tone in her voice that Ryo couldn’t place. It nearly sounded like a threat…

“A-actually, I was going to say how you wouldn’t believe how- uh, messed up the system was, last night. The glitches distorted most of the footage. I don’t think that there’s anything we can do to restore it. I’m- I’m really sorry, sir,” Dee apologized. 

“You’re kidding,” Ryo sighed dejectedly. “Well, nothing you can do about it. I need to place an important phone call. Miss Kumiho will bring you up to speed. Excuse me,” Ryo walked away so he could place the phone call privately, knowing that Miss Kumiho would decide to linger. 

When Ryo had gone, Miss Kumiho turned a cold gaze towards Dee, who was still holding onto the tablet. “Well. I supposed I’m pleased that you at least remember for whom you work for, Mr. Kang,” she commented with a bite and extended her hand. 

Dee looked at her hand a moment in hesitation before giving her the tablet. 

“Did something bad happen, Miss Kumiho?” he questioned. 

She scoffed but said nothing as she went through the security footage. She hissed softly when she saw the vague figure of two wolves flash by in one video, but panic overcame her when she saw where they were running towards. 

“You went through the footage?” she asked, Dee looking up in surprise. 

“Only briefly. I saw some black smoke that Mr. Qiao mentioned having seen. Why?” he asked. 

“How is the other project doing? The one I asked you and Mr. Tabi to set up?” she ignored his question, deleting any footage that showed glimpses of those godforsaken wolves. She knew that they were behind it. Who else was there? Those little mongrels didn’t know what they started, and in how much trouble they were going to be when she was going to end it. 

“The prohibited area? It’s on schedule, Miss, though I’m not sure why you won’t let us tell Mr. Miyano about it. Don’t you think he should know?” Dee asked, biting his lip and stepping back when she looked up to glare at him. 

“Given, his suggestion that the dagger might react well with the earth’s natural ley lines was a of brilliance, but there’s no need for him to know. Not yet, anyway,” she smirked a little before she handed the tablet and its tampered security footage back to Dee. 

“Something bad happened, didn’t it, ma’am?” Dee then asked, noticing how tense she was. “It’s not the dagger, is it?!” he then panicked. 

“I’m afraid so,” she grunted, hardly looking up when Dee ran towards the hidden lab, checking the vault and letting out a yell. She had straightened out her hair and clothing when he ran back out. 

“What?! But,- how! The dagger it’s- oh no! No! The boss-, poor Mr. Miyano, poor us! Who could’ve- oh man!” Dee blabbed in his panic. 

“A minor setback,” Miss Kumiho breathed, but there was fury in her words. 

“What are you going to do?” Dee asked, seeing the determination in her eyes. 

“I’m going to get the dagger back, Mr. Kang,” she said, walking past the glass walls and checking her own reflection. 

“The dagger back… you?! But, Miss-,”

“Keep an eye on Mr. Miyano and keep him away from the prohibited area,” she instructed, looking at her reflection one more time and nearly jumping back when she caught a glimpse of Mr. Yok staring angrily at her. His eyes were glowing amber until they turned completely black. 

“Miss Kumiho?” Dee called out, seeing her so flustered. “Are you alright?” 

She still stared at the reflection that wasn’t her own and she swallowed, feeling a real sense of fear overwhelming her. 

“I will be once I retrieved the dagger,” she regained her composure and headed for the door. 

“But where would you even start looking?” Dee called after her as she was already walking away. 

“I’m going hunting,” she replied cryptically, disappearing from sight. She took the elevator down and failed to have noticed another figure lingering in the shadows, listening in on the conversation. 

Ryo felt sick to his stomach after deciding to eavesdrop on his employees, but his instincts hadn’t been wrong. He was disappointed that Dee kept things from him, though the boy probably did so because Miss Kumiho had her ways to be convincing. The fact that she seemed to know exactly where to look for the missing dagger unnerved him as well. 

Who had he really been working with all this time? Did Mr. Yok know whom he hired to be his liaison and righthand woman? His finger was hovering over his phone to dial Mr. Yok’s number, but he decided against it. 

Miss Kumiho knew who stole the dagger. Did it mean that she had told someone after all? Who else could have known? 

Ryo’s heart stopped a second time as the gentle voice of his daughter filled his mind. 

Wow, Dad, you got a lot going on at work, huh? Hey, how are things going with that thing you brought home the other day? What was it again? A pocket-knife? 

Ryo felt his entire body shiver at the memory, seeing his daughter smile sweetly at him. 

Oh no, wait. It was a dagger, wasn’t it? 

He crushed his eyes shut. Jae and Yoona knew about the dagger, but they were his family and they definitely weren’t thieves. They both knew better than to talk about his work to other people. Besides, Miss Kumiho seemed to know very well where to look for the stolen dagger. The only way for him to find out, was to follow her.