August 15, 10:02 A.M.

"Boss, can you stop sulking already?" Yoon shakes Dae Ho, the man wrapped in a comforter on the bed like a burrito roll.

"Pandora, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that," comes a muffled grumble from under the sheets.

"Tch, you still have the energy to complain but not manage the business."

"Leave me alone."

"Alright, alright. I'm leaving." Pandora heaves a sigh standing up and slipping his hands into his pockets with a smirk. "Since you're sending me away, I guess you don't want to hear about the new information I've on Vee."

"What!" Dae Ho's body shoots up, already moving away from the bed to catch the hacker. "Tell me everything!"

"First of all, eww." Yoon takes a step back. "I've been seeing you in this tracksuit for four days and your hair looks like a bird's nest. I want to talk to Park Dae Ho, our alpha-like leader, not some..." He points his hand towards the fighter and moves it up and down. "Not some hobo from the streets." The older walks into the living room and settles on the armchair with a satisfied hum. The living room has a burgundy eight-seater set placed in an L shape, with a large coffee table in front of it and a television stuck to the wall on the other side.

"What does my appearance have to do with the information?" Dae Ho scowls combing his unkempt hair with his fingers and rubbing his face thereafter. He's been living with Shadow since that day, rolled up in blankets on the man's bed. "I'm your boss, you answer to me."

"Didn't you just tell me you're not my boss?" Yoon quips with a glint in his eyes.

"That's differe—"

The main door opens, revealing ChangMin with some grocery bags in both his hands. "Yoon, you're here early."

"Yeah, I think we have a chance to finally get a lead on Vee."

"Is that so?" Shadow joins Dae Ho across from Yoon and puts down the bags by his side.

"There's a party a week from today and I got us two passes for it."

"What do you mean?" Dae Ho leans onto the couch and folds his hands over his chest.

"This party is held thrice every year where they auction information."

"Auction?"

"Yeah, there's this site on the darknet where you request information. I have been sending a request asking for information on Vee for months now. Yesterday, they sent the invitation, meaning the request was accepted. The auction is basically just as items are sold but instead, it's information. But let me warn you, the party has all sorts of dangerous people and the information is going to cost us."

"That's not a problem. I'll do anything to get my hands on that man," Dae Ho growls with tightened fists, knuckles turning white.

❛ ━━━━━━✦❪✥❫✦━━━━━━ ❜

Haneul pushes the glass door and exits the hospital. It's been a week since he heard about Minji's death. Although he doesn't want to accept it, he could do nothing to change the truth. The meeting with Dae Ho that day still seems surreal to the doctor. The words exchanged or the emotions he had displayed after months felt as if Dae Ho had finally let the mask he'd been wearing crack for a moment.

"Haneul!"

The doctor stops in his tracks and turns to the voice.

"I've been calling you for some time now," the man wearing a similar white coat says, rolling a pen between his fingers.

"I know. I was ignoring you on purpose, Dr. Kim."

"W-what?" The man gawks with raised brows, taken back by his answer. "That's a bit harsh."

"For a man who threatened to ruin my career, I think it's more than justified."

"Look," Kim Ryeong starts with a lick of his lips. "That's what I'm here to tal—"

"Do whatever you want. I'm leavin—"

"Wait!" The cousin gets a hold of Haneul's sleeve. "I-I'm here to apologize."

"What? Is it a new game you're trying to play?"

"N-no, no. I'm serious. I don't want the director position anymore." Ryeong rubs his hands together nervously.

"You are a persistent man, why'd you change your mind suddenly?" Haneul is skeptical of the man's behavior, just a few weeks ago he acted all confident and cocky about turning in his photos to the media.

"I...I don't want to see him again."

"See who?" The doctor tilts his head in confusion.

"A reape— harabeoji! I mean I don't want to see that old man's face again." Ryeong titters. "I'll not ruin your career is all I want to say." He jogs away into the hospital before the younger could ask anything else.

"That didn't make any sense at all. Is he alright?" Haneul pinches his eyebrows together.

The doctor licks his lips, he has been feeling eyes on him, like someone is watching him, since the morning. He whips his head to scan the area but only finds parked cars and a few nurses by the bus at the corner. A ping on his mobile phone jolts him and Haneul chuckles at his paranoid self.

Haneul slips his phone into his pocket and raises his arms in the air, stretching and twisting his wrists to unwind. He walks to his car, and once again he feels them on him. Watchful eyes. His ears strain at the sound of steps that match his walking pace. It's an open public space, it wouldn't go unnoticed if someone attacked him here. The doctor takes in a long breath and sighs. "How long do you plan on tailing me?" he asks craning his neck to the side.

A man comes into light from behind a car. The man standing in front of the doctor is lean and shorter than him, his skin pale, contrasting well with his long, black overcoat and mop of blond hair. Haneul recognizes him as one of Dae Ho's men.

"You're keen," the man cracks up. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm ChangMin, Dae Ho's friend."

"Yes, I remember you," Haneul replies clearing his throat. "Not to be rude but why are you here?"

"I want to talk about something."

"And what would that be?"

"Dae Ho."

"I don't—"

"Please, there's something—"

"I honestly don't care about him and his life anymore."

"Just hear me out once."

Haneul presses his lips together in a thin line and stays silent.

The man takes it as his answer to talk further. "Would you like to go to the park nearby? It's better for you to be in a public place."

The bluehead raises an eyebrow at the comment. "Why?"

"Because you'd not be comfortable going to a secluded place with someone like me. I don't have ill intentions, just want to talk with you."

"...alright." They walk to the park in silence, Haneul maintaining some distance from ChangMin. He knows he's here to talk about Dae Ho, but isn't quite able pinpoint what exactly the blond man wants to have a conversation on. There still are a few families in the park, enjoying the breezy weather. Haneul spots three children by the swings, some sliding down the slide. Their carefree faces refresh the doctor, a small smile curving up his lips.

"Let's sit over there." ChangMin points at an empty wooden bench nearby. He dusts the space and seats himself on it.

"I've been in this line of work since I can remember. Fifteen years ago, my little sister was taken away from me one day." The blond starts, crossing his arms over his chest. "She was taken by a gang for child trafficking and I couldn't find her. I was devastated and felt helpless, almost got killed but still couldn't find her. Until a week after, she stood in front of my doorstep, both her hands clasping a teenage boy's hand." ChangMin turns to Haneul, nodding his head. "Yes, that boy was Dae Ho. He was supposed to transfer my sister to the client but instead, he sneaked her out and brought her back home. He told me he couldn't put her through that, because the thought of someone doing that to his sister boiled his blood. Minji was about the same age too." His body sags and gives a half-clenched smile. "Dae Ho asked me to punch him a few times so he'd have bruises and could make up some excuse for losing Chaeyoung. I don't know what punishment he received but it must've been tough for a kid his age." ChangMin shifts uncomfortably on the seat, eyes focused on the grass under his feet.

"...w-what?"

"Dae Ho has always been a fighter. I knew with a heart like that, he'd either be killed or do the killing. We met only once but his face was etched in my memory. He was my sister's savior and a boy I owed everything to. So, when I saw him after years on the media as a model of a well-known brand, I was happy. I was content because Dae Ho was living a respectful life just like he deserved."

Haneul presses his lips into a thin line. He and Dae Ho used to talk about his past life, how he struggled. He does remember talking about how his loved ones were an anchor to not lose his sense of morality during hard days.

"About four years ago, on a rainy night, I was trying to take shelter from the pour but found a man lying unconscious in front of an abandoned building. He was battered with fresh wounds, his shirt torn in various places. Even though the water had washed off most of the blood, the marks on his body glared at its spectator. And again, it was Dae Ho. It was as if fate had planned everything."

Haneul feels his heartbeat rising, the sound audible in his ears. He parts his lips in disbelief, no words leaving his mouth, swallowing his spit. "Was...was it near...Insadong area?"

"Huh? How do you know?"

"Two weeks after we couldn't reach him or Minji, my mother filed a report and the authorities tried to track him. His phone was last active when he was with me the night before and then disappeared completely. When it switched on again, it was near an abandoned building in Insadong. But...that was it, we couldn't find anything further from that point."

Shadow has a pensive face, slowly absorbing the details Haneul gives him. "Oh...I see. When I turned the body to check his pulse, I was shocked to see it was Dae Ho. My first instinct was to take him to the hospital but I knew his marks were not ordinary nor were they accidental. I did find Dae Ho's phone near his unconscious body. It was cracked and switched off. I slipped it into my pocket. I didn't know what exactly to do. His condition could ruin his career by bringing his past to light. So, I took him home. And then..."

ChangMin observes the injured man sleeping in his bed. White bandages cover more than half of his upper body, one hand held in a cast. The model's face is littered with bruises and he sports a swollen black eye.

'Who did this to you, Park Dae Ho?' The thought is persistent in ChangMin's mind till he dozes off on the chair. About half an hour into his nap he hears a groan.

"Nghh." Dae Ho grunts slowly, his eyes still closed. "M-Min...Minji...let her—" The model sits up abruptly, his breathing heavy, vision rippled. "Minji!" he shouts, standing up but falls back.

ChangMin stands on his feet and jogs towards the man. "Park Dae Ho, relax."

"I'll kill you!" the raven-head yells, head frantically moving in search. He gets a hold of a pair of scissors from the nightstand. "Where the hell did you take her!" He points the scissors at the ChangMin.

"I don't kn—"

"Minji! Minji!" Dae Ho calls out and lurches forward to attack. "Don't you dare lie to me!" Yet again, he loses balance and falls to the floor, clutching his stomach. Spots of blood appear on the clean band-aid.

"We just patched you up. Don't move, or else your wounds will open again." The older man states raising his hands in surrender. "I'm not going to harm you."

"Agh! Shut up, I'll end a-all of you!" The model winces but still crawls over to ChangMin, holding the open scissor tightly in his injured hand. "Minji...bring back my...si-sister." His vision turns dark, body motionlessly toppling over.

"W-why...why are you telling me this?" Haneul asks playing with the rings on his fingers to distract himself.

"Because Dae Ho never once accepted Minji's death. He has always stayed in denial, hoping one day his sister will appear out of nowhere. But last week he came to me in the middle of the night, crying his eyes out just like the day he told me what happened with Minji. No, it was even worse than before. I've never seen him so devastated and vulnerable. He finally swallowed the fact that she wasn't ever coming back. And that was after he met you."

"...oh," Haneul has no words to put his feelings into. He's confused, the news of Minji making him doleful again.

"I can't tell you what happened to him the last time you saw him as it's not my story to tell. But all I'm going to say is people who don't know Dae Ho enough might think he's stoic, a heartless piece of robot pulling the trigger but he's as much of a human as you all. The guy might have a flat affect on his face but his—"

"—his eyes speak volumes. Always did." Haneul has mixed emotions about the fighter since the recent meetings. The Dae Ho he had seen in the basement was stone cold, alcohol-induced. But later every time Haneul encountered the younger, his eyes held guilt and longing. A silent apology and surrender asking for forgiveness, a plea to make things right. His eyes asked for one more chance, a ruptured hope. But Haneul shot down all possibilities, not wanting to fall into the game of facade once again.

"You're right," ChangMin smiles, placing a hand on the doctor's shoulder. "His eyes tell, you just need to look closely."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing."

"Huh?" Haneul grimaces, his brows squishing together.

ChangMin chuckles, shuffling on the bench. "I'm not going to put ideas into your head on what you should do. I'm simply here to talk about facts and events that occurred. Whatever you want to do with the information I gave you, depends on you completely, no one will hold you accountable for it." He stands up, hands slipping into his pockets, and starts walking off.

The man dumped information on Haneul but didn't bother to answer his questions. The doctor runs a hand on his face in frustration. 'What am I supposed to do?'

"Kim Haneul!"

Haneul looks up to see ChangMin standing a few meters away from him. "Yes?"

"You've got some fancy taste in hair color!"