A/N: before we begin, I just wanna say that the scenes in the next few chapters are definitely not my strongest suit but I am trying my best so I hope you’ll still enjoy them, amen :’)

“Careful with the flowers. If you break the vase and ruin my plan, I’ll detonate the bomb I’ve set up in my precious grandson’s daycare center. And if you try to cross me in any way, I’ll detonate the one you’re holding in your arms too.”

The words trickle into Iseul’s ear like poison that numbs her brain, heart, and limbs.

What?

Did he just say… bomb?

And how come this isn’t Jongin?

The thought of Jongin in trouble defrosts her, and with a million different scenarios racing through her head, Iseul begins looking left and right. “Who are you? Where are you? Why do you have Jongin’s phone—”

“If you want to know what’s going on and make it out of today alive, stop acting like you’re in trouble before the guys Jongin sent to follow you picks up on our little conversation here.”

“Are you his father?” Iseul hisses through gritted teeth. “Why do you have his—”

“I don’t, Iseul,” the crackly, modulated voice replies. “At least not his current one. He switched to a new number when he ditched you last time, didn’t he? It’s not my fault you still had the old one saved under his name. I played a hunch and resurrected his old number, and it played out perfectly.”

. The realization of her mistake—not double-checking Jongin’s number in her haste—lands with a dull thud in her gut. , , . Now she just helped this psycho, whoever he was, with the first step he needed to carry out what must be a diabolic plan.

“There, there. Don’t blame yourself too much for that. Now, if you don’t want to make any more mistakes, I suggest you keep walking and get back in that building.”

What can she do at this point? She doesn’t know what this psycho is using her for yet, nor does she have the slightest idea of what he’s planning to do overall. Right now, complying seems to be her best course of action.

With a deep, shaky breath, Iseul slowly resumes her steps. As she approaches the entrance, a sudden realization comes up to her—long enough to give her a glimmer of hope.

“There’s a security scan at the entrance,” she tells the person on the phone. Of course, a huge office building would have basic security measures in place. “You’re going to get caught as soon as I enter—”

“No, I’m not. The alarm won’t go off and the security guard will welcome you right in.”

“What?!”

“The guard is onboard with our plan, don’t worry.”

Iseul’s jaw drops in realization. The young security guard is one of this psycho’s men as well.

“You haven’t answered my other question,” Iseul points out, narrowing her eyes at the guard as she passes the walk-through metal detectors soundlessly. The security guard simply smirks at her.

“You guessed correctly.”

His father. Iseul clenches her jaw.

“What do you want from me?” she manages, hoping she sounds tough and demanding enough. “W-What are you doing—”

“First, I want you to put on the earpiece I’ve hidden in that flower vase. I can barely hear anything through this crappy call.”

“What?” Iseul peers at the vase of flowers hesitantly. Somewhere in there, there’s a bomb, and somewhere in there, there’s an earpiece?

What if the bomb is the earpiece?

Youngmin sighs deeply. “I want you to put on the earpiece I’ve hidden in that flower vase so that I can hear what’s going on better. Chop chop, Seo Iseul, if you keep wasting my time by stopping every 5 steps you take, you’re really going to blow my patience away.”

Iseul’s heart lurches, and the psycho over the phone suddenly bursts out laughing. “Hahahaha! Blow? Get it? Because I put a bomb in Jongguk’s daycare center—”

“Whatever is going on between you, your son, and the HOC, Jongguk has nothing to do with it,” Iseul hisses, her lips trembling. “Keep Jongguk out of this, Youngmin, he’s one of your own blood.”

 The idea of Jongguk in trouble is wringing her heart dry. But between talking to this psycho and remembering that there’s also a bomb in her own arms, Iseul could barely concentrate on walking properly, let alone saving Guk.

“Did I ask for your input Seo Iseul? Or did I ask you to put the damn earpiece on before my fingers slip and set off one of the bombs early?”

“Y-you’re not—” Iseul stutters, her lips that suddenly feel very chapped. “There’s no way that you—you could’ve—”

“Don’t believe me?”

“Do I have good reason to?”

“Hold the vase closer to you again.”

Iseul does so, and this time, she hears a faint beeping. Suddenly, she feels nauseous.  

“If you’re still not convinced, I can allow for a grander demonstration.” Youngmin giggles maniacally.

“No!” Iseul yells, trying to blink away the tears. God, what has she done? How is she stupid enough to single-handedly endanger the lives of everyone she cares about like this?

“I’ll put the earpiece on,” she says reluctantly. “I’ll do it once I get back to my desk. Just don’t do anything to Guk.”

“No, do it now. Go to the bathroom in the lobby, the one to your left—”

“Wait, how do you know where it—”

“Iseul, do I have to keep reminding you every two seconds of what I am capable of doing?”

Her voice immediately vanishes. “I’m heading to the bathroom right now. Just don’t touch Guk. Or Jongin.”

“Bah!” Youngmin lets out a bark of laughter. “It’s cute. It’s so cute how you think you can protect Jongin.”

Iseul holds her tongue this time. Questions about what this monster has done to Jongin are rushing up , but she manages to keep them all in. Deep breaths, Iseul. Try to figure out what’s going on first, then try to do something about it.

Luckily—or unluckily, the lobby bathroom is empty. With shaking hands, she places the flowers on the sink counter and reaches between the stems to pluck out a small, skin-colored earbud.

“If I put this on, can you promise that Jongguk and Jongin are going to live?”

“If you don’t, I can promise you that they aren’t.”

The scream is right there—at the tip of her tongue, gripping the edges of her teeth. Hope is seeping out of her like air leaking out of a punctured balloon. If they die and she somehow makes it through today alive, she’ll blame herself till the day she meets her own grave.

“I put it in,” Iseul informs, her voice empty. “Hello?”

“Your earpiece is in already?”

The voice enters both her ears now. Her right—crackled and slightly fuzzy courtesy of the phone, and her left—crisp and eerily clear thanks to the little device.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now hang up the call. If I find out you’re lying and you’re just trying to disconnect yourself from me, it won’t be pretty.”

Iseul disconnects the call on her phone and stares at her reflection in the mirror. Get a grip, Seo Iseul. You’re not all dumb. There may be a way you can still get the Jongin, Guk, and yourself out of this alive.

“Alright, now get out of there. I need you back where I can see you.”

“Where are you?” Iseul whispers, looking around. Was Youngmin somewhere in the lobby?

“I’m everywhere, darling,”

The way he said the word Jongin has so often used with her in bed makes her grit her teeth. Jongin. Iseul squeezes her eyes shut and takes a couple deep breaths to steady herself.

There is no way she is going to let this psycho win.

“I’m waiting, Seo Iseul.”

She needs to focus. She can’t mess up again.

“Then wait,” Iseul replies, the strength in her voice returning. “I’ve got soil on my fingers.”

She washes her hands in resolution. She’s not sure what to do yet, but she’s going to make damn sure that she won’t make another mistake.

“Fine, but I’m not waiting more than 30 seconds. Unless, you know, you’re okay with a certain something happening.”

Iseul was out the door in twenty. Hugging the flower vase to her chest, her determined eyes scan the lobby keenly this time. “I’m out. What, are you going to meet me here somehow?”

Youngmin cackles again. “I like that you’re looking forward to that idea, but unfortunately, I’m not.”

She can’t make out anyone suspicious in the lobby. So there’s only one other possible answer.

Iseul lifts her head and glares straight at the closest CCTV to her. “It really is my lucky day, isn’t it?”

“At least smile if you’re going to crack a joke at me like that!”

So he is in the office’s security system. Wordlessly, Iseul starts walking. “You can’t see how excited I am already?”

More psychotic laughter.

“So cooperative!” Youngmin praises, clapping. “Tell you what, Iseul – if you keep this up for the rest of the day, I guarantee you’ll be alive and well for work tomorrow!”

Iseul ignores him. “What are you doing, Youngmin?”

“You’ll see,” Youngmin dismisses in a sing-song voice. “For now, let’s talk about what you’re going to do. First, I want you to go back to your desk and act as nothing happened. In the next thirty minutes, you’re going to contact Suzy and your sister and tell them to come to your apartment—”

“Jae?” Iseul stops dead in her tracks again. “Why Jae?”

“She and I have some unfinished business, don’t you remember?”

Jae’s involvement in that burning warehouse incident many years ago. No, no, no.  

She can hear his voice in one ear and her thundering heartbeat in the other. After threatening Guk and Jongin, he can’t possibly come for her sister too.

It’ll be the end of her world.

Her voice is as hollow as a shell when she finally manages to speak again. “What are you going to do with them?”

“None of your business, my dear.”  

Iseul lungs feel like they’re on fire. She grips her phone until her knuckles turn white. Acknowledging her short end of the stick, she says, “What do you want me to do?”

The first leg of his diabolical plan unfolds. “The point is this – I need you to lure some people out for me. First Jae, then Suzy, then inevitably Jongin. You don’t even need to do anything to Jongin! I just need your help with a few calls that’ll help me reach Jae and Suzy. Easy, right?”

“And if I cooperate and do all that, will you spare them?”

Youngmin bursts out laughing. “I have to applaud you for your persistence, Iseul. You know damn well that you’re not in a position to negotiate here.”

That malicious playfulness in his voice–, it’s so infuriating. Rage fills her veins.

“Youngmin, if you do anything to Suzy,” Iseul says, trembling, the rage leaking from her skin, “I swear to God it’s not going to end well for you.”

“I’d beg to disagree, but you know what, Iseul? This time I agree with you. I’m not going to do anything to Suzy just yet. That you can take my word for.”

“What do you mean by ‘just yet’?”

Youngmin snaps. “Was that another question, Iseul?”

Iseul clamps her lips shut.

“Anyway, you have the next 30 minutes to accomplish this. I’ll send a cab for you and once it arrives, I want you to take the flowers with you and get in it. The car will take you back to your apartment.”

“Then?”

Youngmin laughs. “What, you want to do more? I told you I’d only need your help to reach Jae and Suzy.”

“So you’re just going to send me back to my apartment after that?”

“Well, if you did everything I asked then why not?”

Something is amiss but Iseul doesn’t know how to coax it out of Youngmin yet. But she decides against digging into it. For now, at least. Right now, what she needs is to buy herself more time. More time to think, maybe to send some type of signal to Jongin or Mark or anyone else she can reach—whatever it will be, Iseul has a feeling that the only thing that can help her right now is time.

Iseul steps into the elevator. “And if I don’t, you’ll…”

“You know what I’ll do.”

Iseul sighs long and hard. “I don’t think 30 minutes is enough,” she mumbles. Hesitating for a second, she tries to choose the next few words wisely. “Jae and Suzy don’t typically reply instantly, and if I hurry them too much, it will look suspicious. I don’t even have Suzy’s new number. If I have to get that from Jongin first then—”

“I have Suzy’s new number,” Youngmin boasts like a child. “So don’t worry about that. And I need you to call them, not text them, Iseul.”

.

“But I have work,” Iseul argues weakly, hoping this will convince Youngmin she’s not trying to buy time for her own side agenda. “Besides, if I leave too early, it’ll look suspicious to Jongin…”

“Are you genuinely interested in helping me out now, Seo Iseul?”

“I have lots to do, okay? I’ve wasted like, the past 20 minutes already. You said that if I did everything right, I can come back to work tomorrow. Well, I want a job to come back to. I can’t look like I’m slacking off in my first month here.”

Please let that be convincing enough, Iseul begs silently.

“You’re right about the Jongin part, I guess… what about 45 minutes then?”

“One hour.”

“One hour?” Youngmin spits in contempt. “I’m beginning to think you’re planning to rat out on me!”

“Won’t you know if I do?” Iseul challenges. She raises her head defiantly at the security camera in the elevator. “Aren’t you able to see and hear everything I do?”

“You’re right, I guess. Fun fact, I can actually see everything you send from your phone and email too.”

What a strange piece of information to find so comforting, Iseul thinks as she breathes a sigh of relief. But at least it’s information. Thank God this man is talkative. She knows what her options are, at least.

Limited.

But still, if not text or mail – there will always be something.

“But I hate waiting,” Youngmin snarls all of a sudden, making Iseul jump. “Why should I? 45 minutes, take it or leave it.”

“An hour,” Iseul insists. “You don’t know how long data processing takes, do you?”

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this day, do you?”

Iseul clamps shut. “Fine,” she finally says, regretting it the moment the word leaves her lips. She’ll just have to think fast, and she’d rather do that than get Jongguk’s daycare center blown up because Youngmin thinks she’s acting suspiciously.

45 minutes it is.

The gears in Iseul’s brain start to turn. Now that she has bought herself a bit more time, what can she do that’s not on her phone and incomprehensible to Youngmin?

The elevator dings and like it or not, Iseul has to step out and return to her desk. With every step she takes, she can feel her precious time ticking. It’s taking her a whole lot of effort to not break into a run.

“So within these next 45 minutes, I’m going to need you to call Suzy and your sister, telling both of them that you want to meet.” Youngmin’s voice pinches into her flesh with every move she makes. “Tell both of them you want to meet with them at your apartment and don’t let any of them think there’s something wrong. Especially Suzy. She can’t let Jongin know that she’s meeting you. So I don’t know what you’re going to say, but that’ll probably be the trickiest thing you’ll need to do today. You can handle it, right Iseul?”

“Do I have a choice?” Iseul mutters under her breath, heartbeat quickening as she approaches her desk. Her colleagues seem engrossed in their own work thankfully, and as usual, most of them are working with headphones on. Only Bom looks up briefly and wiggles her eyebrows at the sight of her flowers.

“If you’re colleagues suspect anything it’s game over too, you know that right?” Youngmin sings.

Before Iseul can respond, suddenly her phone buzzes with a text. Iseul’s eyes bulges. “It’s Jongin,” she says without thinking.

“Yes, I can see that. Did you text him about the flowers already, Iseul?” Youngmin’s leering voice accuses.  

“No, that was in the elevator while I was heading down to pick up the flowers, I swear.” Iseul looks at her screen again. All Jongin sent was a short ‘No?’

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense according to the timestamps. Alright, ignore him then.”

“I don’t do that. I need to reply if you don’t want to start ringing alarm bells in his head.”

“Alright then, what are you thinking of replying with?”

Iseul finally sits at her desk again and puts the heavy flowers down. “Never mind. Receptionist mistake.”

“Fine. Go ahead. And chop chop Iseul, time is ticking.”

.

Iseul’s fingers ache to type out a long paragraph and tell Jongin about everything that’s happening to her, but thankfully she has just enough self-restraint left. Instead, her fingers navigate to press call on the new number that a blocked number just sent to her phone.

“Is this Suzy?”

“It sure is!”

“I can say anything to get her to meet up with me?”

“As long as it doesn’t result in Jongin sniffing our little deal out.”

you, Iseul thinks. But she presses call anyway.

“Woah. Confident, are we? I thought you asked for more time to think before making your calls.”

“I know Suzy,” Iseul retorts curtly, holding the phone up to her ear. With each passing dial tone, a new knot forms in her stomach. Hopefully what she just said is still true.

“She’s not picking up.”

“She will. She doesn’t have much to do today.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know Jongin isn’t with her.”

Just before Iseul can ask where Jongin is in confusion, the waiting tone stops. There’s a split second of silence where Iseul feels like she can hear her heartbeat through the phone. Then comes an old friendly voice that she used to hear daily before things turned sour.

“Iseul?”

Iseul’s eyes widen in surprise. “Hi, S-Suzy! You have my number?”

This is her cue to act like she just got a call and move to a more private place to take it. Apologetically pointing at her phone when her teammate Heechul eyes her curiously, Iseul hurries towards the deserted pantry area. Not many people are looking for a snack or coffee this late—most of them are just trying to wrap up their work and go home.  

“Everyone around Jongin has your number,” Suzy replies, sounding like it was a chore to her. “I should be asking you that. How do you have my number?”  

“Jongin once gave it to me in case of emergencies,” Iseul fibs smoothly. “He—he told me not to call you unless I really needed to and I don’t think he’ll be very happy to hear that I called you especially because we started today on the wrong foot, so can you not tell him that I called?”

“What?” Suzy sounds perplexed. “What’s going on? Why are you calling?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” Iseul chewed on her lip. “I think we have some things we need to straighten out between us too, don’t we?”

Suzy sighs deeply. Then comes the familiar voice of an old friend that Iseul once knew. “I know, I know, we do. But Seul, now’s really not a good time. Especially not when we’re talking over the phone like this. Wait, aren’t you at work too?”

“Yeah, but I just wanted to call you before I chicken out again.” Iseul mentally winces at her own excuses. “Do you think we can meet after I get off work this afternoon?”

“Iseul, we’re not in uni anymore. I can’t just hang out whenever you or I feel like it.”

Youngmin scoffs softly in Iseul’s other ear. Iseul feels her panic meter start to rise, twisting her guts as it went.

“I—I know, but—once more for old times’ sake, maybe? I think it’s about time we talked, plus I… I actually wanted to talk to you about something because Jongin and I have been fighting a lot recently and I just…” Iseul exhales audibly, hoping her act is convincing, “I’m starting to rethink this.”

“What?” Suzy sounds incredulous. “You mean now you’re thinking of leaving him? After a few fights? You didn’t even budge when he lied to you, fired you, and left you broken-hearted for months. Seo Iseul, can you even hear what you’re saying right now?”

“No, no, I’m not saying I’m going to do it, I just… I could really talk to an old friend right now. Jongin told me that he was going to be away with the Aces today so I thought we could meet this afternoon.”

Iseul checks the time. , how did another 5 minutes pass already?

“I don’t know, I can’t really just walk out and meet people whenever I wanted to–“

“Do you even want to?” Iseul cries, turning to a different strategy: guilt-tripping. “After all that you’ve done, don’t you think this is the least you could do for me? Just to come and straighten things out with your former best friend? Or did our time at SNU mean nothing to you?”

There’s a delay in her response, Iseul notes in disbelief. it. At this point, she wants to get Suzy to meet up with her just for the sake of accomplishing it. Iseul wanted to believe that she still meant something to her college best friend.

“You even wished me well before you left on convocation day. Do you hate me being part of your secret life that much?” Iseul continues, speaking as harshly yet as quietly as she can. “Well guess what? I’m not exactly having the time of my life either. But straightening things out with an old best friend who hurt me quite a bit could really help.”

The words race out of Iseul’s mouth naturally, like a bullet shooting out of a gun. Iseul would never admit it to Youngmin, but that was almost… cathartic. Maybe she has needed to say these words for a while now.

In her other ear, Youngmin whistles softly, reminding her of his presence. Shoot. Maybe he already knows

After a few seconds of consideration, Suzy finally sighs. “You’re right. Yes, of course we should meet and talk about things. I really considered you a good friend, Iseul, that’s why when I found out you were involved in this ed up world that I’m in and refused to leave I just… I was furious.”

Iseul remains silent.

“That, and just the fact that these past few months have been a really bad time. You probably know what I mean.”

“I…” Iseul swallows, inwardly kicking herself for her stupidity, “I know. I’m so sorry for your loss, Suzy.”

Suzy sighs. “Thanks.”

Iseul checks the time again. “So… how does 5.15 sound? I know it’s unsafe for you to roam around in public too freely so I figured we could order in.”

“I’m okay with us meeting up,” Suzy says slowly, “but I don’t think I should go behind Jongin’s back, Seul. You know that if anything happens to me, he’ll pay for it too, right?”

Youngmin giggles. He knows as well as Iseul does that this is the tricky part – getting Suzy to meet her without telling Jongin.

Iseul claws for another lie. “If you tell him beforehand, he’ll just get even madder at me,” she pleas, hoping she sounds desperate enough. “He probably thinks I shouldn’t even be talking to you no matter how much feel like I need to.”

“If I tell him afterward, he’s just going to be furious at the both of us.”

“I’ll text him first, and then you can tell him when you get here. I think it would help if he heard about this from me first. Plus,s isn’t he still on a mission himself?”

It takes a few seconds of tense consideration, but then somehow, by some miracle, Suzy agrees. “I still think this is stupid but fine. I owe you one, I guess.”

Iseul’s shoulders sag as she breathes a sigh of relief. Thank she’s gotten one thing out of the way, at least.

“I still have to bring my guards with me, though. That’s non-negotiable. It’s the only way they’ll even let me set foot outside of this building.”

Iseul readily agrees. “Yes yes, bring them, of course.” Bring plenty, she mentally adds. “Thanks so much, Suzy. I really appreciate you doing this.”

“Thanks for calling me too, I guess,” Suzy replies, somewhat awkwardly. “You’re right. We need to talk and this was long overdue.”

Iseul wishes Suzy didn’t sound so sincere—at least not when her hands are dirty with betrayal.

“You know where my apartment is, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright then. I’ll see you soon, Suzy.”

Now that this part has been accomplished, Iseul just needs to figure out how to inconspicuously alert someone about what was going to happen to Suzy. And of course, who.  

“Nicely done!” Youngmin cheers like the psychotic bastard that he is. “One down, only one more to go.”

Endangering Suzy’s life, and by association Jongin’s, is one thing. But consciously handing over her sister to Youngmin was another.

Iseul’s skin feels hot all over. For a brief, fleeting moment she contemplates just ing things up and letting him kill her, but the problem is that her life isn’t the only one that’s at stake here.

Iseul knows how much Jongguk means to Jongin.  

“Ticky tocky, Iseul,” Youngmin sings.

“I can’t…” Iseul tries one last time. “Please, this is my sister we’re talking about—“

“No worries, I understand. Well, since you did one of the two things I asked you, I guess it’s only fair that I just set off one bomb—”

“You’re sick,” Iseul chokes.

“Well, I guess that’s not entirely incorrect. So what’s it gonna be, darling?”

“Can you promise me that you’re not going to do anything to Jae either?”

“Iseul, I’m not here to chat, alright? If you can’t do this, then—”

“Wait, fine, fine!” Iseul begins dialing Jae’s number. She can’t afford to waste any more time; every second wasted is a second spent trying to come up with a plan to save them lost in vain.

“You people just love being difficult for no reason,” Youngmin mutters.

Unfortunately—or is it in fact a fortunate thing?—Jae picks almost immediately. “Hey Seul?”

“Hey Jae!” Iseul’s chest constricts upon hearing her sister’s bright voice. “What are you doing?”

“I actually just got back from… a job. What about you? Aren’t you working?”

“I’m working, I’m working! Are you… were you with Jongin?”

Youngmin coughs intrusively in her other ear.

“No, he’s with the Aces. Why did you call?”

“Oh! I just called because I… wanted to see if you’re free to have dinner with me tonight. My company gave me several vouchers to the new Chef Paik restaurant but they expire today so it has to be tonight. Are you free?”

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