a/n Warning! This chapter contains loads of explicit languages.

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From: unknown
Are you ready for the truth?
12:01 am

From: unknown
Your friend is a loser.
12:02 am
seen 6:07 am

SHE REFUSED to reply to the weird messages, no matter what. Who knows what kind of virus it may give her phone? She can't afford that! But she couldn't block it too, she's kind of interested since the text messages seem to have a concrete story line of an angst-y kid. It's too intriguing.

Regardless the texts that she randomly received again- which she shrugged off for the nth time-, her day started just fine. Seoyeon woke up very peacefully, her alarm clock didn't sound as annoying as it was. She was able to cook delicious breakfast for herself today, unlike those lazy mornings where she would go to work with an empty stomach. The traffic is not that bad compared yesterday too. Also, she has this promotion waiting for her- or the other way around, whatever.

Sure, yesterday was a bit dramatic, but strangely she feels so good today. The cause might be the fun she had with Jeongguk at the pub last night. They talked about a lot of things and the younger turn her into a laughing machine at the process. She can still recall how bad his jokes were. Jeongguk insisted to pay the bill last night too, even though it's supposed to be her celebration. The young lad is broke as heck, and that makes him a gentleman for doing so. Perhaps the said memories are the reasons why she woke up with such a huge smile.

Everything feels so nice, and that lasted until she stepped in the office.

"Mara?" Seoyeon called her name, eyeing the latter who's apparently occupying her seat. "Why are you-"

"Good morning, Seoyeon." Surprisingly, Minjun suddenly speaks up for Mara. With his forearms on his armrests, Minjun turned his office wheelchair around to face Seoyeon who is still standing. "I let her used your computer." He said bluntly.

Seoyeon assesses the words she heard for a moment, blinking and blurting out. "Why?"

"I-"

"She is tasked to print out some papers and disseminate it to us for the meeting later on." Minjun explained. Mara rolled her eyes as she tried to speak for herself, but Minjun won't let her to do so, he's acting like her spokesperson or something. "Her computer had an authentication problem apparently, she can't access the internet and open her email as of the moment. Hence, I let her use yours."

"O . . . kay." Seoyeon acknowledges the situation, awkwardly. Her gaze keeps shifting from Minjun to Mara, then vice versa, completely confused. "Why mine though? And not yours?" She queried.

"Well-"

"I'm using my own computer. I'm making a PowerPoint presentation for the said meeting."

"Can you let me speak?" Mara suddenly spoke with a low voice. She darted him with sharp gazes.

"Okay, okay. Sorry." He chuckled.

"You always interrupt me."

"Okay . . . okay." Minjun cheekily surrendered, turning around once again and now facing his computer. "She says thank you by the way, Seoyeon." He teased.

"Minjun!"

Seoyeon is not mad at all. Why would she get affected by it? The computer belongs to the company in the first place and she bets that nothing will go wrong. However, she's utterly confused. Since when did they become close?

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The piano lesson is supposed to end like their normal sessions. Normally, both of them will just wait 'till the clock's longer arm hits seven, and the shorter hits six. After the one-hour-and-thirty-minute session, Jia would immediately pack her things up and go home so that Min Yoonki will have time to prepare himself for work. They might be sitting hip-to-hip while playing piano, but they are almost strangers outside Yoonki's apartment. They are on their own.

But this evening is different.

Yoonki took a day off. It was that something he rarely does, but after his heated conversation with his father yesterday- too heated for his taste that it got his blood boiling and he almost punched a reckless driver-, he decided to lay low on the next day. A part of his lay lowing is to eat dinner with Jia after the piano lesson.

Strange it is. Jia never thought Yoonki could be thoughtful enough to treat her a meal, for in fact she is just burden on his shoulders. She begun to feel guilty in every piece of food she takes in. They are awfully quiet too, making the atmosphere a lot worse. She does like silence, but not like this. Should I talk to him? What topic? Should I focus on the food instead?

Abruptly, she steals glances from the young man in front of her. The silence doesn't bother him at all, he just quietly munches and drinks like there was no hint of awkwardness between them. Maybe he just wanted someone to accompany him in tonight's dinner, not someone to talk with. Yoonki has been alone for a quite long time just like her, she can relate to his feelings somehow.

With supposedly one last stolen glance, her eyes landed on different direction. From there she saw someone over the latter's shoulder, it was a muscular man- her father's age- staring straight at both them. Their eyes met but the certain guy didn't even flinch a bit, Jia is the only one affected by it. It's not a big deal as it supposed to be, she got Yoonki on her side, but the muscular man is not alone, he is accompanied by other three strong-looking men.

"Just look at me." She then heard Yoonki's voice suddenly.

"Yeah?" She averted her gaze almost immediately, looking back to the cop in front of her.

"Just look at me." He repeated. The quietness of his voice almost lulled her like an ASMR, but his gaze treats her otherwise. His commanding visage flushed before her eyes. "He's been looking at us since the beginning, don't make it worse."

Jia nodded. She understands it now, the reason behind the quietness and awkwardness between them. Yoonki has been sensing the other guys without her knowing, perhaps he was trying to eavesdrop too. She is unsure of that, but she's glad to know that she's not the reason behind the unwanted atmosphere.

The cop and the musician quietly eat their food once again, until the certain group stood from their seats. Jia felt nervous at first, until she saw the dudes walked past them. They did nothing, surprisingly but fortunately. They went over the counter and paid their bill. Sure, the muscular man took one last glance from their table before exiting the restaurant completely. And that was weird, really.

Jia felt so relieve, like it was her very first time to breathe.

"I apologize. We shouldn't have proceeded to eat here." Yoonki finally spoke once again, still soft spoken. He gently dropped his utensils on his plate as he lifted his hand to his nape, scratching the back of his head.

"No, it's fine." Jia shook his head, smiling. "Who are they? Specially that old man who kept an eye on us?"

"That was Kim Taepyung, a former NIS agent. The other guys are a part of his . . ." He pauses for a moment, unsure how to call them appropriately. ". . . gang."

"I knew it."

"You knew?"

"He looked familiar to me. I heard his name and saw him before. My father shared drinks with him for a couple of times." She uttered. She's now poking her food with her chopsticks instead of eating it. "I wonder what happened to him to be a former NIS agent."

"He's a fucktard, that's why." Min Yoonki snickered. His head is suddenly heated up, reminiscing those poor victims, especially those minor ones. He feels utterly disgusted. "Until four years ago, he was assigned to catch nightclub owners and other businesses that are related to human trafficking. He was so good at it, so smart, he was able to catch the culprits by hacking hidden CCTV cameras. But my father caught his bad acts, he was caught selling the collected sex videos online."

"Really? He's disgusting."

"Yeah. And he just got fucking two years in jail."

"Then, you mean, he's been wandering around freely for two years already? And he's forming a gang?" She cringed at the last word, then laughs. "But I bet he's scared of you, knowing that your father was the one who caught him. All he can do is staring."

"Right. Fuck him, a pedophile pervert."

Jia couldn't contain her smile. She really likes it when Yoonki becomes so talkative and brutally frank. She loves how he doesn't filter his words. He's just being so straightforward and honest. Somehow it makes her feel that they're friends, even though he made it clear once that she's just his student, nothing else.

"Right." Jia nodded. "Fudge him."

Fudge him? Yoonki thought, he smirked secretly. How cute.

"I apologize for my language. I wasn't able to control my mouth." He said, finally realizing how sharp his tongue has been, it must have been hard for the latter to listen to.

But Jia shook her head and smiled. "It's alright." She said, her attention is anchored on the food again, now completely dwelling upon it.

Little did she know, Yoonki's eyes are still planted in her. She looks too innocent, he couldn't unattached his gaze from her. Poor girl. She doesn't deserve to continue suffering as her father's daughter. She needs to know that she's different from that old man. She has nothing to do about the crime.

That's what made Yoonki more skeptical about his own father. Jia is innocent, she has no further connection to the case except being the prime suspect's daughter, so why does his father keep an eye on her? What makes him so intrigued about her? The chief even knows what she does, where she goes. As if she's either a key . . . or a bomb.

What's the matter between her, the case, and Mr. Min?

"Jia." He calls her name while drifting his gaze away from her to the plate before him.

Jia hummed in response.

"Call me immediately when you feel you're being stalked, or anything, okay?"

Her heart suddenly pounded. What's up with him, really? What makes him so thoughtful in all of sudden?

"M'kay." Jia shrugged, nodded.

Then they eat the rest of the food peacefully, and he paid bill.

Just like their usual routine, they got separated and went on with their own lives right after.

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It was twenty five minutes past nine o'clock when Jeongguk reached their alley. He got too tired from his part time job, he decided to plop down on his bed and sleep immediately. Usually, he will study first, but tonight he would rather wake up early to do it. He got this schedule on his head and all, he only needs follow it, until then he's good. But then he saw someone standing in front of a gate next to his own.

It's Seoyeon, leaning against the metal gate with closed eyes, hands stuffed in her hoodies' pockets, and earphones plugged in her ears.

Jeongguk didn't hesitate to walk towards her, obviously. She was too busy listening to the music to notice the young lad. He moves beside her quietly, taking off his backpack and tossing it on the ground near him. Coldness hits his back when he leaned against the same gate. He then took off her left earphone and plugged it in his left ear.

Her eyes fluttered open, pretty surprised by his sudden appearance, but she didn't complain. She calmly shares the music with him.

"Jannabi?" Jeongguk said, recognizing the song and the singer. Seoyeon hummed in response. "It's night and you're listening to his songs . . ." He muttered, almost whispering. He didn't want to ruin the mood, but he can't help it. ". . . who broke your heart?" He joked around.

And because of that, he earned a smack on his stomach from the back of her left hand. Sweet chortles slipped out of his lips. With her skin still sticking against his clothe, he moves his right hand over the said spot and trapped her fingers with his. He then pressed soft circles at the back of her hand using his thumb.

"What happened?" He softly asked, neither of them would like to face each other yet, their eyes are still locked on the horizon- which is just another gate of their neighbor.

"I went to the police station earlier, after work . . ." She pauses, and took a deep sigh.

"And?"

"And there's still no progress. They also told me that they have to take off all the wanted posters since they got damaged badly over the years. It's not a problem, I understand that, but why won't they replace it? So I told them I would be the one to print out new ones and stick them, but they said it would be illegal for me to do it. But those are wanted posters, not just any kind of advertisements!"

Jeongguk remained silent and let her continue to rant. He continued to listen to her words, attentively, since that is what can make her feel better.

"I even told them about the man I saw yesterday, but they ignored it because I got no proof. They're just searching a single man, you know, a single man without power! Then why . . ." She scoffed. Unconsciously, her hand tightened its grip on the latter's hand out of rage. ". . . why the hell can't they succeed? Why can't they find him?"

Jeongguk sighed as he heard the hopelessness in her voice. He has asked the same questions for numerous times as well, and he too is not able to find answers. Yeah. Why can't they find a single man without power? He suddenly felt hopeless too. Both of them have no capacity to catch the culprit on their own. All he can do is to form a friendship with Jia so he can get information about her father, and all Seoyeon can do is to dwell on the police. Indeed, they're hopeless.

"It's been two years." Jeongguk finally speaks again, head hanging low. "Do you still think he will suddenly show up?"

Seoyeon looked at him, eyes frankly assessing him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if he can manage to hide for two years straight, why wouldn't he do that for ten years more?"

"Are you saying we should give up?"

"No, but-"

Seoyeon yanked his hand and pulled out her earphones. Jeongguk's eyes landed on her back as she stepped forward. He witnessed how stressed she's getting, harshly shoving her hair at the back of her head. Then she turned around, her eyes flashed anger. "But what, Guk?" She queried.

"I'm sorry." Jeongguk knew that it's not like she's really mad at him, she's mad at the situation, but he still apologized softly. "I worded it wrong, what I'm trying to say is that I think it would be better for us if we stress out a little less about it, hm?"

"But it's b-been two years, their death anniversary is near, yet justice is still not . . . served." She tried not to get her eyes watery, she tried not to sound weak, but her voice still hitched towards the end as she held her emotions back.

Jeongguk drew himself forward, he grabbed a handful of the latter's hoodie from her nape, sliding it over from the back to the top of her head, covering her eyes with the said clothe. "You can cry, stupid." He said and gave a soft flick on her forehead.

But of course, Seoyeon is stubborn and too embarrassed to do it. She's not a crybaby! After a few dry sobs, she calmed herself down.

"I'm sorry." She uttered, feeling guilty for barking at the younger who's only trying to comfort her.

But Jeongguk didn't mind that, he pulled her in a hug.

"I'm sorry too." He said. His smile grew when he felt her arms wrapping around his waist. Because of the warmth of their hug, he is now determined, he will not give up on their fathers' case. No matter how impossible it seems, no matter how little they can do, they will keep aiming for the justice, together.

"Noona?"

"Hm?"

"What should I wear for tomorrow's school batch reunion?"

"Did I say you're still invited- yah. YAH! L-let go of me! YAH!"

Jeongguk's tightened his hug even more. He started to laugh when the elder begun to hit his back, and no, he would not let go until she admits that he is still invited. Being trapped in his embrace, she can barely see anything as her face is completely pushed against his chest. She tried to slip in her hands between their stomachs and tried to push him away, but to no avail, Jeongguk is stronger. She cried out with giggling laugh.

And the hug ended with her squeal, "Formal attire!" She exclaimed, "Just wear any formal attire!"

And that's how you persuade a Park Seoyeon in a Jeon Jeongguk's way.

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a/n Hm . . . so we got a new character, eh? Kim Taepyung. ;)