Jongho and San look around as they hear the passcode to Byul's unit being punched in, momentarily forgetting where they initially came from. The former pulls the latter's shirt to urge him to make a move, almost looking like he's about to throw him outside the window in the haste. He picks up the bag; both of them throw open both window panes so they can get out at the same time. As soon as their one foot is out on the windowsill, they halt when they hear an old man's voice shouting.

"Hey you! How many times do I have to tell you to leave Han Byul alone?"

The two agents look at each other, confusion taking over as the sound that signals the passcode being punched in stops after the man's voice. It sounds like whoever was trying to open the door has been stopped by the old man. It also sounds like the intruder is looking for Byul, and it doesn't seem like it's the first time.

They lower down their legs, drawn by the skirmish happening outside. They still can't point out who the intruder might be, but it seems unlikely that it's Maddox, or anyone with the Bifidensis. In a brief moment, they feel guilty for being suspicious of Byul.

"Mr. Dayniel, how many times do I have to tell you that it's none of your fucking business? I'm just here to meet my girlfriend."

San's face changes at this. Girlfriend? So Byul is currently in a relationship...

"Watch your language young man, or I'll call the police and you'll be sorry that you disturbed her. She's not your girlfriend and will never ever be; someone like her will not want to be with a wimpy man like you."

There is a laugh, one that sounds so ugly coming from the intruder. "Mr. Dayniel, you're lucky you're an old man or they will find your body somewhere in a ditch, I'm not kidding you."

As soon as he hears this, Jongho starts to look pissed but San stops him. They can't give away the fact that they're strangers who broke into Byul's house; no amount of explanation could justify that. They keep on listening, aware of the fact that there is only a thin barrier between them and the two outside.

Mr. Dayniel seems to have lost the ability to reply as the young man keeps pressing on, thumping his fist repeatedly against the door. "Now just tell me where she is right now, or else, she won't be so happy the next time she meets me."

"She's never happy when you're around-" he gets cut short as the man lands a slap on his cheek, making the old man drop to the floor and shout in pain.

Jongho balls his fist and his hands reach out to open the door. He can't stand by and hear the scuffle anymore; the man has crossed the boundary the moment his hand lands on the man's cheek.

"We can't," San firmly whispers to him, shaking his head. "I want to confront him too, but we can't expose ourselves."

Jongho pulls his hand away from San's, already putting down his hand again on the doorknob, not caring about what will happen next. He grips the doorknob, but stops as they hear footsteps and voices coming to the old man's aide.

"Hey you," a gruff voice comes into the frame. "Apologize to our landlord before I break your arm. And leave Byul alone."

"Hah, break it if you dare; you won't like it if I get all of you sued. You good-for-nothing, poor, deprived students living in a shithole. I'm just looking for Han Byul, you don't have to get involved."

"Thank the skies she rejected you when you were all over her, or else she'll be suffering. Get lost before I kick your ass and beat you up until they can't recognize you anymore."

"Byul!" a thump on the door as the asshole raps on it. "I know you're in there, you can't run away from me forever you know? What more do you want? I can give you all the money and you won't even have to work a day in your life. How dare you reject me; do you know who I am? I'm the only son of the biggest car manufacturer in the whole damn country, I'M YOON DAEWON YOU BITC-"

The sound of a punch being thrown against a solid surface before a loud thump and someone being held against the door reach the two agents; it's either the asshole or the saviour who was punched. They can't tell.

"Call her that again and I'll be glad to go to jail over a murder. How many times do I have to tell you to leave her alone? Go, before I lose my patience."

A shout of frustration arises from whom they deduce as Daewon from behind the door, the shadows under looking as if they're in a scuffle. Punches are thrown to each other but it's clear that the man with the gruff voice is in the win as they hear Daewon's voice getting fainter each second, claiming how he will sue each of them and that they will regret ever laying a finger on him. Apparently his father will hear about it, and there will be a lawyer who will contact them soon.

They are pretty sure that Daewon is gone, because the saviour then asks Mr. Dayniel on how he is. There is reassurance from him before they hear the old man walking away, leaving the saviour alone in front of the door.

San and Jongho freeze as the saviour knocks on the door softly, his gruff voice slipping through the cracks. "Byul, are you okay? It's me, Leedo. He went away, and don't worry, we'll make sure that he won't come back again. I'm sorry that we can't do anything more than scare him away." There is a loud sigh, but they sense sincerety and kindness in his voice as he continues, "If he ever comes back, you can call me or find me at my unit, alright? Through the, uh, number that I gave you." He sounds embarrassed as he mentions about it. He receives no reply. "Well then, I'll get going. Oh and uh, good luck in finding a job."

After making sure that he has left Byul's unit, both of the agents scamper to the window, careful not to put down any loud steps. They close the window and skillfully descend the building, minds reeling with the need for answers.

"He must really like her a lot, that Leedo guy," Jongho comments as their feet touch the ground. "His voice automatically went soft when he thought he's speaking with Byul. What are you thinking about?"

San purses his lips, "A lot. At first we were suspicious of her, because nothing in her room could have given away how her life is like. It's as if there's barely anyone living in it. We recklessly jumped into a conclusion and we thought that it was just a fake room she made up to set it as a trap. Then the asshole came and made a scene; I can't imagine how scared she must have been, to be living with someone like him stalking her around and threatening her just because he was rejected."

He continues, "When we were searching for her details, her life seemed pretty lonely that we thought no one would miss her even if she's gone. But what about that guy, Leedo, or even the landlord? We assumed a lot of things about her, but so far it seems like each one of our assumptions are wrong. She must have went through a lot, and is still going through a lot. Byul is definitely not who we think she is, but I can't even start to make a guess on who she really is."

---

Seonghwa and Yunho wait patiently in front of Byul's door, the oldest holding a tray with a bowl of chicken soup and a cup of plain water. Yunho has his hands behind his back, feet tapping nervously as they still don't get any answer from her.

Ever since she returned to their dorm together with Yeosang, who apparently found her wandering aimlessly at their headquarters because she's lost, she hasn't went out of the room and she hasn't even had lunch. She only mentioned briefly about having a stomachache before disappearing into her room.

"What if... something happened to her inside? She didn't even come out for lunch and we haven't heard anything from her," Yunho's voice starts to fill with worry. He's feeling somewhat guilty that he had thrown her away carelessly onto the bed, scared that the stomachache was just an excuse for something bigger, something more painful.

Hwayoung is at the cafe with Wooyoung, Yeosang and Hongjoong. The kid is telling her uncles stuff that she learnt in kindergarten, which includes doing additions and subtractions. Hongjoong always pretends to get them wrong, so that Hwayoung will laugh and proceed to excitedly tell them the correct answer. They are happy seeing her happy; she is their only source of what they feel is a 'normal' life; having her around is a blessing for them.

"Maybe she's just sleeping the pain away," Seonghwa tries to think positively. "That's what you always do anyway. You sleep the pain away. Did she get a stomachache because of my pancakes or waffles?"

It's nearing 6 p.m. but Jongho and San haven't returned to their dorm, and even Mingi is stuck at his control room, still keeping track of both of them. The journey from the main city would have taken around 1 hour; Seonghwa and Yunho have no idea what is going on with the three of them, but they believe that the ones on the current mission have everything under control.

Seonghwa raps on the door, trying to knock loudly as to make sure they'll be getting a response from her. He has his fringe down, the ash blonde hair covering his forehead that's creasing every second it goes by without an answer from her.

"Would it be rude to just open her door? We have the key," Yunho suggests. "I'm just scared she fainted or something."

"That'd be invading her privacy. What if she's not decently dressed and we suddenly go into her room?"

"She hasn't even eaten anything else since breakfast."

The door unlocks and is left ajar, with Byul's sleepy face put in between the crack. She looks questioningly at them; she covers her mouth as she yawns, mumbling, "Is there something that you want me to do? I'm sorry, I fell asleep."

The oldest shoves the tray to Yunho before pushing him forward towards the room, before Byul, still groggy from sleeping, subconsciously opens the door wide to let him enter. Yunho stands rigidly like he's never held a tray in his life, looking at her bloodshot eyes as she yawns yet again.

Seonghwa titters, "Are you feeling alright?"

"I didn't feel quite okay hours ago but after I slept, it seemed to go away." She smiles as she sees the soup. "Is this for me?"

He nods vigorously. "Yes, I made it for you because you didn't eat lunch." He nudges Yunho further forward, sloshing the soup around. "Yunho go and feed her."

"Ye- wait what?"

Yunho turns around as he realizes what he's hearing, but Seonghwa only smiles and gives him a discreet wink that he doesn't know what for. Seonghwa's wink failed miserably as it looks more like he was blinking with both eyes. The latter then hums as he walks away from them, claiming that he has more housework to do.

Yunho whips his head around to face Byul again, who looks like she still hasn't registered reality. She looks sleepy, that she wordlessly walks towards the mattress and plops herself down sideways, eyes droopy. Her eyelids are halfway closed.

"Uh, can I come in?" he asks, his feet stuck at the door.

She nods slowly, making rustling sounds as her hair brushes against the mattress every time she moves her head.

He ambles towards her, balancing the tray, which shakes slightly as he's feeling awkward. He puts down the tray near her, gritting his teeth as he remembers Seonghwa's instruction that he almost agreed to. He hopes that with Byul's sluggish condition, she'd not heard what he said.

"Aren't you scared of people misunderstanding?" she sleepily says in an attempt of making a joke, but it becomes incomprehensible as she slurs the words.

"I'm leaving the door open so no one will misunderstand. If Hwayoung gets the wrong idea, it won't be nice."

"You're scared she'll get upset."

"She won't get upset, we will."

She cocks her eyebrows.

"Hwayoung gets excited whenever she sees me talking to any woman because she likes the possible idea of having a mother. So you'll probably get upset if she starts pairing us up. I'll leave now; make sure you eat the soup. Don't go to sleep on an empty stomach, Seonghwa gets emotional and questions everything when people don't appreciate his cooking."

He approaches the door to close it behind him. Before he clicks the door completely shut, he leaves a small gap for him to say, which seems more like it's directed towards himself due to the low volume, "You're not alone."

She heard it anyway because she quickly replies, "What?"

"Your eyes are red because you've been crying, not because you've been sleeping," he says over his shoulder. "Something must have happened when they were at your house." He pulls the door to shut it but she stands up, stopping it.

"You always like to assume things about me, don't you?" she tries to ask with a normal voice, but it sounds more like her trying to stop her tears from flowing. "You think that you know all about me because of your fancy hacking skills or whatever you have up your sleeves. You treat me like I'm an open book, that whatever information you find about me tells everything about my life story."

"Then do you care to tell us exactly who you are?" Yunho turns around to face her. As she's shorter, he looks down to her eyes, which are still bloodshot. Tears are pooling at the brim, with one blink it could break the dam. "Because it's obvious that we don't know who you really are."

She blinks, and the tears cascade down her cheeks. She doesn't wipe it away but she breaks away from his gaze, her chest feeling constricted. Her nose is blocked and she struggles to take in air, inhaling sharp breaths through her mouth. "I- can't-"

He nods. "I understand. Everyone has their own secrets; you don't have to say anything. You don't owe us any explanation; if anything, it's us who have a lot of explaining to do. Eat the soup before it gets cold and rest."

"Has it really been a day..." she trails off as she looks at him. Her face is sticky with her dried-up tears, and her cheeks are puffy, nose is red.

She finds herself caught in the moment as she studies his features; his boyish look reminds her of high school children who have yet to know the harsh reality of the adult world. If she doesn't know any better, she wouldn't have guessed that Hwayoung is his daughter, for he seems more like a brother than a dad.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You look funny when you're serious."

"I look funny-" he protests but she only giggles before lightly pushing him out of the room and closing the door.

Confused, he looks at her closed door, trying to register what just happened. She went from crying to teasing him in a flash, and that makes it harder to guess her actual personality.

Right now, Han Byul is a person swathed with multiple layers, putting up a defense that only the right person at the right time could unravel. She needs time to let herself out bit by bit, but that is exactly what he doesn't have.

Behind the closed door, with her smile gone, she sits down on the floor and stares emptily at the bowl of soup. She doesn't have the appetite to eat, nor does she have the energy to move around. The closed box that Jongho had found in her wardrobe brought back bitter memories; ones that she wished she could erase.

As she stared at Yunho, took a good look at his face; she came to a realization that his eyes are those she had seen before. A long time ago, way before the mess happened at the cafe. Everything else may have changed over the years, but one thing for sure is that he never did. Her memories of him might be blurry, tainted by the increasing years; but she will never forget those eyes.

Those were the eyes that gave her hope when she only thought of dying. Those were the eyes that told her everything's going to be alright, even when the whole world is crashing down. Those were the eyes she remembered as she made up her mind to run away.

Even though she does remember everything now, one thing for sure is that Jeong Yunho doesn't. He won't be able to, because the person he knew back then was gone, replaced by an empty shell that goes by the name Han Byul.

That's what he told her every time, one that made her heart do somersaults even when she didn't understand what it was at that time; how she reminded him of a star that shines brightly against the night sky.

What he didn't tell her was that stars don't live forever, and that they are bound to explode in due time before collapsing.

---

[A/N: Y'all... I welcome any theories,,,, just dump it on me because I love reading them u w u I love all of you... bye.]