ISEUL’S POV

“You’re Seo Iseul, aren’t you?” His eyes are twinkling mischievously now. My brain halts to a stop.

No, actually, it’s working in overdrive. Half is freaking out over how good this guy looks now that I think he did something different to his hair, and the other half is short-circuiting over the fact that he knows my name. HOW. HOW??? HOW—

“I swiped right now you.”

It takes a second for those words to click. Once they do, my knees nearly buckle in embarrassment. “Oh—oh yeah that—um, you saw my profile on… on…”

“Tinder!” Lucas finishes very helpfully.

, I don’t know why this is making me want to dig myself a hole and jump into it. It’s not like being on a dating app is something to be embarrassed of or something. Although it’s a bit (read: a million) times more embarrassing when you’ve been caught by a new work colleague who’s also a stranger…

But anyway, that means he’s single. Okay. Oh, or a cheater. But also possibly single. And you know what? He’s really cute. Now in this essay I will—

“You look exactly like you do in your photos so don’t take this the wrong way!” Lucas, starting to sense that I’m malfunctioning hard, peers at me carefully. “Sorry, I think I surprised you. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I’m not asking you to swipe right back or anything—”

“I didn’t come across your profile yet!” My brain unfreezes and I jump back into motion. “I—yeah, I’m not on it a lot. A friend of mine got me into last week to, uh, yeah and I… I—yeah, I just haven’t found your profile.”

Seo ing Iseul! Learn to speak dammit!!!

“Oh, okay. Thank God then, this would’ve been really awkward.” Lucas laughs a bit, and we stop talking for a while as we step into the elevator. As soon as we reach the IT department floor and the group starts to spread out again, Lucas turns to me.

“I think with how things are now, it would be better if you never came across it, don’t you think? I’ll change my region to Daegu or something so you won’t be able to find me.” Lucas wiggles his eyebrows playfully. , I’m so glad he’s taking this really naturally. I can’t be already stuck in an awkward situation with a colleague on the first day of work. I’ll seriously quit, I tell you.

“What are you going to find in Daegu? Don’t worry, I’ll swipe right on you too. Think of it as a thank you.” I smile, the speech neurons in my brain finally rising from the dead. 

“Ha, it’s nothing.” Lucas smiles a bit sheepishly, touching his nape. "Also, don’t worry. When I swiped right I admit I… um, but with us being work colleagues I’m obviously not going to.”

He trails off but I catch his drift. “Yeah, I know. Thank you.”

I try to ignore the tiiiny tiny tiny feeling of disappointment I feel in my stomach. Would it have been better to not meet him as a work colleague then? He seems nice and decent enough, he’s in engineering too which means we’re probably on the same wavelength, and not gonna lie, he’s really cute. Like, maybe-I-can-forget-about-a-certain-someone-with-him-in-my-life cute.

“Great. So... Pretend that never happened?”

I blush a bit. “I mean, sure.”

“I’m a bit curious as to how you’d actually respond if you came across my profile on Tinder, but that’s a question for later.” Lucas smiles. “Which team are you on by the way?”

“Data engineering. You?”

“Software!”

And just like that we moved on to a different topic.

“Oooh~” I sing teasingly. Software kids were always the coolest, back in school. “That’s cool.”

“It’s just a bunch of Googling and Stack Overflow.” Lucas rolls his eyes good-naturedly. He’s referring to a popular community site where technical people get help from each other. “Data, though. You know what they say—data is the new oil.”

I laugh. “I know this is an entry-level position—are you a recent grad?”

“Yeah, I just graduated this year from Korea University. You?”

“Oh cool! I went to SNU. What did you study?”

“I took Computer Engineering. You?”

“I studied Maths.” I say, making a face.

“You didn’t like it?” Lucas laughs.

“No, I’m actually fine with it. I just hate the way it sounds out loud. It sounds so boring.”

“What, do the words computer engineering get your heart racing or anything?”

“Well not exactly.” I chuckle. “But it does sound cooler.”

We pass by rows and rows of busy desks and enter a large meeting room with two rectangular tables and one long table in the front of the room with rows and rows of laptops lined neatly on them. Behind it stood 3 employees.

“Okay!” Bo Ah claps her hands. “In one of the files that you were asked to fill out during your onboarding process, you had to indicate your laptop preference. That’s what you’re getting today. Our team here will take your name and hand you your device, and once you have it, take a seat at one of these tables. We’ll be going through initial setup together to make sure you all can access company resources with no issues, but please connect with your manager or team for role-specific programs and other requirements.”

“I wonder when we’ll be meeting our team.” Lucas, standing behind me, whispers. I turn around and nearly let out a foul word in surprise. I knew he was gonna have to lean down a bit to talk to me, but hoooly crap I did not expect his face to be this close. The more I look at him, the more handsome he gets. It hasn’t even been two hours but being around Lucas is seriously gonna take me out anytime now.

“Probably just before lunch.” I say, looking away and at the wall clock that says 9.20.

“2-ish hours then. I wonder how much there is to set up…?”

The answer is a ton of things. Between setting up single sign-on on your laptop, phone verification, connecting to VPN, and getting access to internal resources and apps, time flies by without us noticing and suddenly the clock is pointing at 10.30.

“So we need to reboot this thing again?” A guy on my left asks, sounding incredulous. “Sorry, I’m Yuta by the way.”

“Oh no worries! I’m Iseul. And yeah, you do.”

Yuta blows on his bangs but does so anyway. “So are you a recent grad too?”

“Yeah, straight out of SNU this spring. You?”

“Oh, cool! Me—I actually studied in Japan. You ever heard of Waseda University?”

“Yes! Of course! That’s a good university, isn’t it? We had an exchange kid from there once and he was super smart. I mean, other than that I know the university ranks really well too.”

“Yeah.” Yuta grins, obviously liking the praise. “We do have quite an extensive exchange program.”

“So… your name, and your background—are you Japanese?”

“Yes, but my family moved to Korea a long time ago. I just wanted to experience studying abroad and the country I was born in for a bit, which is why I chose Waseda.”

“Ooh, nice.” This guy’s probably rich then, studying abroad and all that. “Did you like it?”

“Studying abroad?” Yuta raises an eyebrow, and I nod. “Yeah, it’s awesome. It’s always so interesting to experience a different culture—even though, you know, it’s not too too different—and I love independence. So.” Yuta shrugs. 

“I bet.” I agree, involuntarily thinking of my Hong Kong trip that took place nearly two months ago now. Whoa, with everything that has transpired since then you would’ve thought that was 5 years ago…

“Anyway, what’s your role?” I ask.

“Software engineering. You?”

“Data.” I smile. “Oh but you should talk to Lucas—”

“Yes?” Lucas’ head snaps around so quickly, it’s like he was waiting to be invited into the conversation.

“Um, this guy—Yuta—is in software too.”

“Oh hey!” Lucas’ lips easily stretch into a grin, and I barely stop a drop of drool from slipping out. How has he not been scouted by an entertainment agency yet?!

Just before they start a full-on conversation, Bo Ah claps her hands. “Alright, by now you should’ve been asked to reboot again and your laptops should be good after that. In about five minutes, we’re gonna head down to grab your badges, and then after that, we’ll do a short tour of the engineering floor before you join your own teams. I wonder if we can start sending half of you down first—anyone done with set up already…?”

“You guys wanna go?” Yuta jerks his thumb at a group of people who were starting to close their laptops and get up. “You’re all done, right?”

“I am. You good, Seul?” Lucas asks to which I nod in response. Before long we were walking out of the meeting room and heading down to the security and administration level.

“They hired a lot of engineers.” Yuta whistles, watching as Bo Ah makes her way to the front of the group which, after being split, brings us down to about 10 people. “Anyway, hey. Do you know what team you’re on? Like what product?”

“Mobile banking. You?”

“Same!” Yuta’s grin widens and the boys high five. I smile but can’t help worry about my social life. What about meee? Am I ever going to make any friends here? Like real friends? Yuta and Lucas look so comfortable with each other already and I just want what they have—

Okay time to shut it, Iseul. Maybe your team will be awesome too. Maybe you’ll meet your new best friend there, because your last one… yeah, no, we’re not going down that dark rabbit hole today.

“By the way, did you two previously know each other? You went to SNU too?” Yuta asks.

Lucas shakes his hands. “No no, she—we bumped into each other before. Here, actually, when we had our interviews.”

I silently exhale in relief. I mean, I didn’t think Lucas was gonna say the T-word, but good to know that he actually has some sense. Don’t ask why I’m so embarrassed about it—the T world shall be the only way I ever refer to it.  

“Oh, that’s so cool. I don’t think anyone who interviewed with me is here today.” Yuta scans the room. “By the way—Seul—Iseul right? How was the data engineering interview? You know to be honest, I’m really interested in data roles too, and so I told my interviewer that I’d love for the role to have like a machine learning component to it…”

The three of us fall into an easy, natural conversation and for a split second, I feel like I’m back in my first year of university—fresh yet filled with a dizzying concoction of excitement, anxiety, and curiosity while I try to make my first three friends. And I’ve already got two with me.

We pick up our badges and follow our group as we head up to the engineering level. I get a feeling that Lucas and Yuta are feeling as nervous as I am, although they hide it pretty well.

“Ah, crap. My eye looks weird in this photo.” Lucas complains, peering at it closely. “Hey, does my eye look weird here?”

“Where?” I ask and he turns his ID badge over to me. I make a face and shake my head. “You look completely fine, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“For real?”

“Yeah! You don’t have anything to worry about! I… on the other hand…” I tsk-ed, looking at my own picture, “am disappointed but not surprised.”

“You look good! Anyway, everyone knows you’re pretty in real life. All ID pics do is lie.” Lucas reassures, and I try to ignore the heat creeping into my cheeks from the compliment. I quickly lower my head, pretending to look closer at my picture.

“I can’t wait to see what the engineering floor looks like… must be really big considering how many new hires they brought in at once.” Yuta says once we’re in the elevator, and Bo Ah turns around to face him while chuckling.

“You’ll see in a bit.”

“Is it huge?”

“We had to move to this building because our engineering team was growing so fast.”

“Wow!” One of the other guy cheers.  

“Damn! I mean, nice!”

Bo Ah smiles just as the lift dings, indicating out arrival. “Yeah. You guys ready?”

It takes us nearly 20 minutes to finish the floor tour, and at this point, I know nearly as much as I did at minute 3. I can’t. I’m gonna need a map or a GPS or some . There’s no way my bird brain is gonna remember all this!

“So to simplify things a bit—everything behind that wall is cybersecurity, this section behind me is data and infrastructure, and then on my left is mobile, and starting from that desk there—” Bo Ah even has to tiptoe a bit, “is everything web. Under web and mobile there are smaller teams, and you’ll find that your team will also have more roles like product managers and UX designers. Everyone good?”

The group utters back half-assed remark and I don’t blame us, because I think everyone else is pretty much like me and overwhelmed by the amount of new information we have to process.

“Don’t worry, you’ll learn it all by your first week!” Bo Ah laughs, clasping her hands in front of her chest. “Now, that’s it for the tour! In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been joined by some additional folks who are now at the back of the group… and they’re your buddies! You may have remembered them from your interview, or from an email they should have sent you last week. They’ll help you get oriented into your individual teams so make sure you ask them any and all questions you have. With that… have a great first day!”

Lucas whirls around immediately. “Oh right! I forgot we were going to get buddies! My buddy’s name is Taeil…

“Yeah, mine’s Park Bom—”

People were starting to break off into smaller groups. I dart my eyes around wildly, trying to find a familiar face or basically anyone who looks like the Park Bom I connected with on LinkedIn… ah! I think I see her! There she is, and she saw me too! She’s waving at me!

I start walking over to her before remembering the friend who I was with. “Hey Lucas, I found my buddy! I think I’m gonna take off, have you found yours?”

“Yeah! Same, hey—before we split—”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to—what do you say we meet up again before going home? I mean, I don’t know which way you’re headed towards but, you know, I think it’d be cool to not lose my first friend at work on my first day.” Lucas laughs, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

I smile, a flood of relief washing into my stomach. I ignore the urge from my K-drama-damaged brain to read deeper than necessary into this and just be glad that I’m not the only one scared of being friendless here.

“Yeah, of course! Should we just meet at the lobby?”

“Yeah, if I don’t bump into you on this floor or by the elevators,” Lucas grins, wiggling his eyebrows meaningfully, “I’ll see you at the lobby.”

“Okay.” I smile. I’ve decided that I’m game for whatever this might be. “See you.”

He replies with the same and I start walking towards my buddy again.

Alright. Focus, Iseul, focus. You are work colleagues. In fact, you’re about to meet more work colleagues now! Don’t think about Lucas, or any boy for that matter, or dwell on which is right and which is wrong. Right now you are Seo Iseul, Junior Data Engineer, and you are here to kick in this role. 

“Hi!”

“Hi!! Iseul, right?” Park Bom, a cheerful, petite woman who looks about my age greets me enthusiastically. Bom seems like someone who would be capable of singing a happy song even as she’s walking through hell and I’m just glad I got paired with someone who, at first encounter, is already a lot more extroverted than me. “So glad to finally meet you! Welcome to the company!”

“Thank you, I’m so glad to finally meet you too.” I laugh, grabbing her hand and shaking it back with what I hope is the same level of energy. I’m feeling a bit more at ease already and it’s all thanks to my warm and welcoming new buddy.

“You got your laptop and set up everything already right?”

“Yeah.” I smile, and Bom gives a thumbs up.

“Awesome. Let’s have you meet the team and then we’ll all head down for a team lunch. Are you excited?”

“I’m slightly nervous, but…” I chuckle, “yes, I’m super looking forward to it!”

“Don’t worry, our team’s pretty cool! Mr Shin may seem like a really serious guy at first but he actually cares a lot for everyone—you’ll see. By the way, if you ever get confused—here, the data engineering section is the one by that meeting room called Fir, okay? All the meeting rooms here are named after a tree. Weird, but don’t ask. Our main team sits by that potted plant. You see it? Anyway—hey guys, look who I bumped into!”

Bom is talking at double the speed of light and before I can register what’s happening, chairs are moving, laptops are being slammed shut, and about 6 different faces pop into my line of view.

“Whoah! Bom! You met our new team member already?”

“Hi!”

“Awesome, does this mean it’s time for lunch now?”

“Call! Let’s go, I’m starving!”

“Should we ditch the cafeteria and go out? This is a special occasion right?”

“Everybody wait!” Bom screeches.

I find myself grinning at the chaos. Maybe this isn’t going to be so scary. I’m loving the vibe already!

Bom turns to me. “Iseul, welcome to the team. With you, there are 6 of us in our core team and we all report to Mr Shin, our team lead. You might remember him from your interview?”

At her gesture, I turn to the bespectacled man that I quickly recognize. He’s standing by his desk at the back of our little area, which faces two rows of three desks facing away from each other.

I bow quickly. “Ah, yes! Glad to see you again Mr Shin, thank you for this opportunity~”

Mr Shin’s straight face breaks into a gracious smile as he acknowledges my greeting. Clapping his hands, he walks closer to the rest of his team.

“Thank you Bom for helping Iseul get settled in and Iseul, welcome to the team! Hmm, let’s start with some introductions first, shall we? I’m Manager Shin Donghee, but everyone just calls me Mr Shin or Team Lead. We’re excited to have you onboard. Iseul, do you want to introduce yourself first, and then everyone else can do so afterwards? Then let’s have pork belly for lunch. Everything’s on me today!”

The team erupts into boisterous cheers. Man, I love it here already. Grinning, I push the last remaining sliver of doubt out of my head because like it or not, it has to go now.

Taking a breath, I bow deeply, embodying the stereotypical K-drama office rookie. “Hi team, my name is Seo Iseul! I’m so excited to join the team. Looking forward to working with all of you!”

KAI’S POV

“You ready yet, Guk?” I yell, dumping the plates and my almost-full cup of coffee in the sink. It tastes like crap and you cannot make me drink that. Is this the brand we always had? How come it tastes like piss?

“Wait!” My son screams back from the bathroom. Suspiciously, I head over to the source of the panicked sound. Why does he sound so stressed…?

The bathroom door is slightly ajar and I push it open without knocking. “Gu-“

“AAAAH!” Jongguk literally bounces to the back of the bathroom, nearly tripping into the bathtub. “Aish, APPA!!”

“What are you—”

“NOTHING!”

I stare down at the raging little midget in front of me. The heck is going on?!

“Okay, that means there’s definitely something…” I push the door wider and step in, looking around. It doesn’t take long for me to figure out the source of delay. The answer is right there, lying upturned in the sink, its bright pink body making it impossible to miss.

“Guk, were you trying to style your hair… with gel?” I question, half in disbelief, half in amusement. Where does he get these ideas from?! Where did the hair gel even come from? It’s not mine!

“I didn’t steal it!” Jongguk harrumphs, his chubby fingers plucking the small pink tub out of my fingers. Closing it and setting it up properly on the bathroom countertop, he washes his hands. “It’s from my friend Hoshi.”

“Hoshi?”

“Yeah, I slept over at his place last time!”

“Oooh. Why do you want to use gel today Guk?”

“Class picture!”

“Class picture?” My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Today? Do you need anything? Did you need me to get you anything?”

“No.” Jongguk turns to the mirror again and pats little patches of shiny black hair down. “There’s nothing to prepare.”

“Are you sure? Do you have one of the nice uniforms on Guk? And your tie—”

“Jae noona helped me with it yesterday. Iseul noona also told me which one my nicest uniform is before.” Jongguk mumbles.

“Oh, that’s good.” I try to ignore her name, even though it feels like an arrow skirting right past the hair of my skin. “Here, let me help with your hair.”

I set Jongguk’s shoulders straight and stand behind him, both of us looking into the mirror. Dabbing three fingers into the little tub, I start working my fingers through my son’s thick, short locks, shaping the sleek black hair into an upwards sweep that looks effortless yet put together at the same time.

“There. Let’s go! You’re gonna be late. What if you miss the class picture because of this?”

“Whoah! Where did appa learn to do that?”

“You just learn it as you grow up.” I say, turning off the bathroom lights so he follows me out. As expected, Jongguk shrieks and dashes out behind me.

“You keep doing that! Jae noona never does that but you and Iseul noona always do!!” He huffs, stomping his foot dramatically as he marches over to the couch to pick up his school bag. “No actually, Iseul noona is more annoying. She turns it on and off until I get a headache and need to get out!!”

“Iseul—” I clear my throat, trying to clear my head too, “she does that? That’s gonna break the switch, Guk. Don’t do that, okay?”

“I don’t.” Guk says quietly. “Jae noona doesn’t either. Where’s Jae noona anyway?”

Ah, . Here it comes.

I bite my lip and silently utter an apology to the sky, in case there’s someone to hear it.

. I’m sorry, Guk.

I’m sorry for taking away the things you love, one by one. I promise that when the time comes, I’ll bring them back. If you still want it. If she still wants… us.

“Jae’s noona busy these days, Guk.” I fib, trying to sound casual. “Dae and one of the other hyungs will be with you, and appa will try to be around more too, okay?”

“Oh.” Jongguk says glumly, and I don’t know whether to be worried or pleasantly surprised at the lack of an outburst. “Can I go have a sleepover again then?”

“With who? Why are there so many sleepovers these days? Here—come on, put on your shoes.” I talk while grabbing the pickup card, his water bottle, my keys, and a billion other things. I’m exhausted, really.

Like, you know how the media always portray mafias as someone whose daily routine is to sit on a balcony overlooking a great big vineyard with a cigar and a glass of whiskey in hand? Yeah, don’t make me laugh.

“There were always sleepovers.” Jongguk grumbles quietly, finally walking out the door. “I just usually stayed home with noona because that’s fun too.”

“Oh.” I say quietly. “I… I’m sorry, Guk. I know you miss Iseul noona, and that you like Jae noona very much too. I.. I’ll try to be around more okay?”

“I still don’t get it, appa.” Jongguk says in a small voice. “You like Iseul noona too. Appa was always happier when Iseul noona was around. Why is appa not trying to bring Iseul noona back now? And why can’t Iseul noona visit when Jae noona takes care of me? They’re sisters! Why does Iseul noona have to go?”

For nearly about two months now, Jongguk has been asking different versions of this question, but this is the first time he really connected the oddity of this set up – Jae being able to see us but Iseul being strangely banned at all costs.

“It’s different because Jae works for appa’s company too… Guk. Iseul noona—according to some of appa’s bosses, Iseul noona did something wrong to the company. So… appa’s company doesn’t like Iseul noona.”

The something wrong being trying to look for her friend who, from her perspective, suddenly fell off the face of the planet so actually no—she didn’t do anything wrong. The HOC is just a that’s in a state of internal chaos right now.

“But then why can’t we still meet Iseul noona?” Jongguk pushes, his eyebrows furrowing. “Like meet her at the ice cream shop or something? Just as friends!”

Every time Jongguk asks this, pain grips my heart and wrings it dry. But maybe at some point pain needs a rest too and so today, all I feel is nothing. I tell him why in the simplest way I can manage.

“I don’t think we can, Guk. Appa’s company doesn’t want us to meet her even as friends, and appa made her sad and angry when I fired her. I don’t think she’d want to come back.”

“So… so…” Jongguk starts, internalizing this information as we ride the elevator down. “So… Iseul noona really cannot come back? And she doesn’t want to meet us?”

“Well, yeah—”

“What about after a long time? 4 months? 6 months? 1 year?”

I glance sideways at my son and smile. Sometimes, when I least expect it, he turns out just like me. “That’s what I’m still counting on too, buddy.”

“Oh, really?” Jongguk’s eyes widen, and a glimmer of hope appears.

“Now don’t get your hopes too high yet, but I think it can be done. Appa just needs to fix some things for the company… and then I’ll fix things with Iseul noona.”

“But how long will it take?” Jongguk presses on, his forehead creasing. “Appa likes Iseul noona right? Iseul noona liked appa too but appa made her mad. That if she likes somebody else now??”

I shake my head sadly, knowing that that was the question indeed. “That’s the thing about life, Guk. You can plan for some things, but for others, it will be if it’s meant to be.”

Jongguk thinks about it for a while.

“Do you think it’s meant to be?”

My son sounds a bit worried, and little does he know that I spend my mornings and late nights agonizing over this question. The thing is, I don’t know. have my men making sure she’s safe on a daily basis, but I don’t keep tabs on her 24/7 anymore. She wouldn’t like it if she knew because it would be incredibly unfair to her. So I don’t know if it’s still meant to be, or she’s already with someone who’s not me…

.

“I think… most of the best things in life are meant to be.”

And Iseul was inarguably one of the best things that happened to me.

“Bye appa! See you tonight, okay?” Jongguk sings, skipping towards the entrance of his school.

“Of course. Bye Jongguk! Have a good day at school!” I reply, waving back. Mental note to self, home today, sleepover tomorrow. Jongguk’s sleepover is not until tomorrow, don’t get confused okay Kai?

Jongguk’s little head bobs up and down as he continues skipping along, and I watch him fondly as he catches up with two of his friends and intentionally bumps into them. It’s kind of funny seeing his hair sticking in place and holding its shape—normally it bounces along with its energetic owner.

Okay, time to work now.

This morning my schedule is basically Suzy’s—she’s shadowing the initiation of a new cohort of RABs, who are ordinary members of the lowest rank in the HOC system, and of course as her Guardian I’m legally obliged to be there as well.

Dae drives us to the Seoul Trimage Apartments where she lives and we pick her up from the basement. Wordlessly, I open the door for her from the inside and Suzy gets in. She immediately turns around, checking for the 2 black cars filled with her other guards who are also supposed to follow behind us.

“Initiation today?” Suzy checks, and I nod briefly to confirm. Just then, my phone cuts through the silence and rings to life.

“Hello?” I say, picking up. It’s Chanyeol.

“I think I got something.” Chanyeol’s voice is firm and low and instantly, I sit up.

“For which one?” I ask, referring to the two main open cases the Aces are focusing on. #1, hunting down the Joker’s killer and the ring, and #2, my (seemingly undead) father.

“Number one.” Chanyeol replies. Nothing fancy, we’ve just agreed amongst ourselves that #1 would refer to the Joker since that’s the biggest issue of all. “I found something interesting at Incheon.”

“Incheon?” I repeat, and Suzy looks at me with growing curiosity. “Are you all heading there?”

“Yes, in a couple hours. We’re meeting with one of our guys here.”

“Wait, if this is Incheon—do we have time to spare?”

Incheon, as you might have already guessed, has everything to do with the Incheon International Airport and Port of Incheon where thousands of aircrafts and vessels come and go from each day.

“Yes, and no. You’ll see what I mean.”

“Ok.” My mind runs through the possibilities, but Chanyeol’s words can only mean one thing. I don’t really like the sound of it, but…

“I’m with Suzy at the RAB initiation ceremony this morning. I’ll join you after.”

“What’s going on?” Suzy asks as soon as I hang up. I bite back my irritation. I used to spit out a sarcastic remark every time she does this, but now I know there’s no point already. Suzy seems committed to being interested in the affairs of us Aces and there’s no doubt that I’ll be bringing her along today too.

“A lead at Incheon.” I reply. “I’m not going to sit this one out, so we’re going after your initiation ceremony.”

“Ok.” She agrees, looking straight ahead. There’s a momentary lapse of silence. “Also, don’t think I forgot, by the way. I still want what I told you last time. For you and my team to arrange a… networking event for me.”

Party. She basically wants to party.

“Tell Dongwook then.” I scowl in annoyance. “I’m not your party planner, I’m just going to make sure nothing there is going to kill us.”

“Fine.” Suzy yawns, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

I resist the urge to punch window in annoyance. Something about being with her is just so, so infuriating—

“Stop that. You’re supposed to be my Guardian, not plotting w