quite excited as to what'll happen next ~

48 — DO YOU REALLY WANNA KNOW?

the truth lies in seungyoun's hands,
the only problem is,
does he really want to know?

—

that wasn't just the only surprise visit daniel did that day.

because before he encountered eunsang over the pretty illuminations of aijewon street, he drove into the exclusive gangnam neighborhood earlier on, in the approach to set up a deal with someone who probably had him as the last person he'd want to see. regardless of the situation, he tries to stay calm. there wasn't much he could do, he just wanted to regain the latter's trust, that's all.

it was half past ten. daniel drops off at the remarkable cho mansion, hoping that the owner was more of a nightbird like himself. he steps into the terrace and clicks on the bell. he wasn't expecting for a warm welcome whatsoever, all he need was just a few minutes to explain himself.

expecting for a guard to come open the door, he was quite surprised to see seungyoun going out to take the door himself. just as he expected, he did not look enthralled by the sight of him. daniel immediately raises a voice to grab his attention. "before you close the door, i just want to say—"

"get in." seungyoun cuts him at short, leaving the door open wide for him to enter. "and open your shoes on your way in, i don't accept savages."

daniel blinks a couple of times to make sure what happened was real before entering. it seems like it wouldn't be quite hard for him to explain himself after all. he awkwardly sits on the sofa at what it seems to be some sort of a mini living room. seungyoun carelessly grabs a cold can of soju from his refrigerator as he sits across the latter, his expressions blank. he opens up the lid. "there's no reason for you to come here without any veiled intentions."

"you can read my mind, you tell me." daniel coos, not wanting to appear too much like a person who has given up.

"you're here to change my perspective, offering a solution." seungyoun places his head on the table. "but i think you forgot that i'm not the one in charge here, seungwoo-hyung is. so stop sulking and get in here hyung, wooseok-ah, you guys know your thoughts are easy for me to detect."

because they got called out, wooseok and seungwoo comes out behind the curtains, smiling curtly in defeat. daniel freezes at the sight of them. "they're here too? what are you, housemates?"

"we come as a buy one get three deal, man. you can't separate us." wooseok mentions slyly.

"what's with the late night visit, daniel-ssi? we were quite concerned of your sudden departure this morning." seungwoo points out with genuine concern.

"i had my errands." daniel answers vaguely as he turns back to seungyoun. "anyway, this isn't going to stop what i planned to do in the first place. seungyoun-ah, please don't filter me just yet. i know you know that i'm here of genuine intentions, and i know you know the memories i've been recalling in my thoughts about you and me together are true."

"seungyoun-ah," seungwoo heads towards the latter. "i think we should start become less objective and try to listen what the guy's trying to say."

seungyoun glares at seungyoun. "he still holds a grudge on me up until this day, do you really think he came with good intentions? i'm the one who's able to read his thoughts, hyung. not you. i know deep down he despises me, so that's why he's been trying to slow me down with the 'fake, heartwrenching past' scenario he dreads for me to believe."

seungwoo sighs, eradicated by seungyoun's strong belief. wooseok clicks his tongue. "you know you're being a massive know-it-all here, right?"

seungyoun turns to him dramatically. "i stand up for what i believe."

"yeah, yeah i get it. go sit back down." wooseok heads towards seungyoun to give him a pat on the back as he tries to calm him down. "you have gone through a lot, i know why you're angry." he lifts his head up. "normally i disagree to this, but i think you have all the reasons to remain cautious, especially when junho's case still remains a blur."

"cha junho." daniel's eyes flutter open. "that's it. cha junho. you'll trust me if i'm able to return him back, right? you'll listen to what i'll say?"

seungwoo arches an eyebrow. "what are you talking about—"

"alright, fine. i'll go and get him for you. it was a mistake to come here first anyway." daniel grabs his bag and scrummages through the dozen files of documents. "but before i go, i want you to check this out. perhaps it'll jog your memory." he takes out a beige colored file and placed it on the table before he makes his leave. "alright, that's it for the day. i'll see you later."

seungyoun gets up from his seat. "where are you going?!"

"to save junho." he answers shortly. "none of you guys are going to believe me until i actually do something, so consider this as a genuine effort."

"daniel, wait!" seungwoo tried to call him back, but daniel was such in a hurry he wasn't able to get him back in. he scrunches his forehead. "wah, what's gotten into him? one second he tried to beg for our trust, and just a moment after that he's gone."

"should we try to follow him, at least?" seungyoun asks.

"no, perhaps we should at least check out what he's got in store for us." seungwoo shifts his attention towards the beige file sitting on the edge of the table. "maybe this could answer some of our questions and helpfully give us a picture of who he actually is."

"ah, the classic background check." wooseok grins. "this is going to be a long night."

—

"that's my laptop." seungyoun mutters.

"and this is your house, but that never stops me from corrupting your stuff." wooseok chimes, his fingers tapping rapidly on the laptop's keypad.

they were all geared up and ready: seungwoo had his eyes all over the beige file, wooseok and his brave attempt to snatch seungyoun's super expensive macbook without his permission, and seungyoun on the other side of the room sipping on his third can of soju (he was still close to sober— it seems like his immunity forbids him from even getting slightly drunk) clearly showing off the looks of judgement.

"seungyoun-ah, come here. let's open this together." seungwoo gestures him to come over.

seungyoun shakes his head. "no."

wooseok laughs. "seungyoun-ah, i don't think it's about you not believing daniel's perception of your past. i think you are refusing to believe it. very low of you to do that, don't you think?"

seungyoun shoots him a look. "strange. you expressed your hatred towards him not more than a few hours ago."

"i despised him because he targeted you, tried to harm you in many ways. it wasn't because i had a personal grudge on him, though." he responds. "i'm starting to think to that you're the one holding the grudge. are you?"

seungyoun glares at him sharply before sighing in distress.

"are you scared of what's inside that file, seungyoun-ah?" wooseok purses his lips. "i don't need mindreading powers just so i could read yours. your face shows everything."

"seungyoun-ah," seungwoo murmurs softly. "will it be okay for me to open this?"

"why are you asking me? of course, it's fine." seungyoun's voice doesn't seem as confident as usual, but he tries his best to cover his nuisance.

seungwoo sighs. "alright then. you're free to leave if you don't feel like it." he takes a deep breath before they begin their research starting from the first page.

"this document belongs to the beholders of a&b label. daniel's company." seungwoo recites the sentence written as the title. "classified information. signed by kwon boah, previous ownership later passed to current chief executive, kang daniel."

"kwon boah." seungyoun mumbles. sounds fairly familiar.

"kwon boah.. here it is." wooseok clicks into the woman's wikipedia page. "hm, seems legit. kwon boah, also known as boa, was the former ceo of a&b, is a well-renowned biologist with several notable works, and.. she died a few years ago." the situation quickly dampens the moment he says that.

seungwoo leans over to take a quick scan of the woman's biography. "blood cancer, stadium 4. spent the last few years of her life trying to find a cure. the ceo title was then passed down to her only child, kang daniel."

"orphan, depressing childhood and heartwrenching background story. next." wooseok turns to the next page quickly.

seungwoo snatches the file away from wooseok, not letting him to take the lead. "yeah, okay. slow down tiger. let's see here— seungyoun, are you alright?"

seungyoun didn't notice that there was actual tears streaming down his face until seungwoo had pointed it out to him. wooseok tilts his head in confusion. "wow dude, didn't know you'd be so affected beforehand. is that crying i see or are you just sweating?"

seungyoun heads towards them, grabs his laptop just so he could take a look of this kwon boah person they're talking about. he shifts his eyes immediately to the picture of the deceased woman. his heart was aching tremendously to the point he was having a hard time breathing.

he's incredibly, utterly, devastated.

but for what reason?

why is he feeling like this?

"seungyoun-ah, do you know who she is?" seungwoo puts his hand on the latter's shoulder. "hey, it's alright. just talk to us."

"i have no idea who she is.." he sobs quite frantically. "why am i like this?"

"i question that everyday of my life." wooseok comments rashly. he takes the box of tissue from the other side of the table. "want some?"

they had to stop for a while to make sure seungyoun was stable before continuing on.

"alright, let's start with the first page." seungwoo flips the page gently, not wanting to damage any of daniel's priced possessions. he carefully reads the content written. "2019. subject of interrogation: kim yohan. purpose: defending basic human rights and fighting against child exploitation. this party indicts further investigation against cj corporation's subsidiary institution, imnet. signed by kang daniel."

"is that when yohan got captured?" wooseok points out briefly. "that seems like a letter of dismissal. seems like he was the one who successfully got yohan out."

"the 'important guy' they were talking about in yohan's series of camera footages?" seungwoo says, recalling the memory. "sounds absurd, but when you think about it this way.. it doesn't seem as crazy as it sounds."

wooseok expects seungyoun to deny their spontaneous theory, but for some reason he ended up keeping his mouth shut. something about kwon boah made him hesitate.

they continued on to the next page. seungwoo reads the next passage. "subject: kim yohan."

"is this file really all about him?" wooseok scowls.

"accused of trespassing into the neighbor's lawn and disappearing into thin air afterwards, the netherlands, 2019. signed by the south korean embassy in the netherlands, and kang daniel."

"that was probably when yohan escaped." seungyoun says, referring to the first time they saw him frozen in front of the infirmary. "we simply forgot how much trouble he caused back then with the popping into different countries situation."

the next entry looks quite older. "subject: nam dohyon. accused by neighbors nearby for causing a tantrum with — in quotation — his 'telekinesis powers'. signed by kang daniel." seungwoo glances to the page right next to it. "ah, this one's an accusation for hangyul, also signed by kang daniel."

"countless times we've mistakenly shown our powers to the public, and he never fails to cover it up for us." wooseok mutters. "he's turning the tables in the worst ways possible, making us feel like complete clowns."

"this one's way out of the line." seungwoo points at the old entry. "2013. subject: han seungwoo. affiliated to cj corporation's subsidiary institution, imnet. any sense of disagreement towards these conditions could lead the institution's quick deterioration from the public's eye. wow, he threatened the company just to save my ass." seungwoo laughs. "signed by kwon jia, representative of the late kwon boah. wait, kwon jia-"

"hangyul and dohyon's mom." seungyoun quickly answers. "their connection with daniel must've been because of that. daniel's mom was their aunt."

"this document was signed a few days after she died." wooseok points out the small detail. "logically speaking, that means seungwoo hyung was held in captive when she was in a critical condition.."

"i didn't know why was i held captive, honestly. the next thing that happened was suddenly i got released, and nothing else really mattered to me at that point." seungwoo lowers his head, his mind clouded by the corrupted memories he rather not remember. feeling a bit disoriented, he moves on to the next entry. "this one's way older. 2006. subject: cho seungyoun. survivor in a hit and run car crash— seungyoun-ah, you've never told me about surviving a car crash."

seungyoun stares at the document blankly. "i don't remember either.."

wooseok grabs the file to see it for himself. "affiliated with ahn junyoung. dismissed by cho junseong, released in 2006. signed by kwon boah." multitasking, he also had his attention towards the laptop, hitting on the keyboard quite frantically. "woah, this issue must have been entirely covered away from the media, because i don't see a single article written about it in here. it's like as if it never happened at all."

"wooseok-ah, try searching for this ahn junyoung guy, he might be important."

"doing it." without even any earlier precautions, his eyes were already all over the wikipedia page. his eyes widen. "ahn junyoung. cj corporation's current ceo."

seungwoo huffs a sigh. "no surprise."

wooseok was not finished yet. "kang daniel's father."

seungyoun turns his head dramatically. "no way."

"yes, it's written here!" wooseok scrolls through the website. "boa and junyoung had already divorced a few years before her death, he claims to keep a close contact with her after the separation, though."

"he was involved in a car crash that almost risked seungyoun's life." seungwoo reiterates. "ahn junyoung, the ceo of cj, the corporation that controls imnet, quite questionable."

"a car crash i don't even remember." seungyoun mumbles under his breath. "god, i've never felt so clueless."

seungwoo turns to the latter. "we definitely have to meet up with daniel-ssi, seungyoun-ah. as soon as possible."

seungyoun hesitates.

"i'll come with you. i'll do the talking, you don't have to worry about him." seungwoo continues on as he tries to encourage him.

seungyoun wasn't quite intrigued by the idea, but he nods. "alright."

just before they could continue on their research, seungyoun's phone rings out of the sudden. he scrunches his forehead. "it's fucking 3am, which idiot is still up this late?" his eyes widen once he accepts the call without thinking. "oh my god, lee eunsang?"

-

are you starting to grasp the main plot or is it still too vague for you? 🤭🤭

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