Prologue

Hacked

Jumin Han

Perhaps the silk Massimo Bizzocchi tie would be better for meeting with the chairman of Worgas Inc. than the Charles Lavy tie. Italian tie for an Italian company.

Jumin picked up a silk black tie, identical to the twenty-four other that lay in the drawer.

Jumin grabbed his phone, dialing the number. A few rings later, she picked up.

"Assistant Kang, which tie do you think would be better for meeting the chairman of Worgas? The Massimo Bizzocchi tie, or the Charles Lavy tie?" he asked, completely serious.

Assistant Kang sighed audibly through the phone. "Mr. Han, I really don't think the chairman would care whether your tie is Italian or German. It's just a black tie, same as all the others in your drawer."

Jumin pressed on. "But he may not. I can tell the difference between a Korean tie and an American tie."

"But he's not you. Not to mention, Korean fashion and American fashion are two very different things."

Jumin looked at the silk tie in his hands. "It seems you're no help." He hung up.

Where is she? he thought.

"There you are. Now, which tie should I use? The German tie, or the Italian tie?"

Elizabeth the 3rd walked into the room in her beautiful, graceful gait. She looked at Jumin with beautiful sapphire eyes. Mystic eyes whose beauty could not be matched by all the jewels in the world.

She purred, her eyes flitting from one tie to the other.

Such a beautiful sound, Jumin thought with a smile.

Elizabeth the 3rd jumped onto Jumin's hand.

"The Italian tie it is."

Jumin's phone buzzed. He pulled out his phone to see a flash of green text before it went to his usual lock screen.

What was that? he wondered, unlocking his phone.

He looked at his messages and saw a message from an unknown number.

Unknown: STOP=x000000000000 8(3y=000)4

Unknown: 0== )8A&c

What in the-

The code erased itself, and Jumin's screen went back to normal.

Jaehee Kang

Jaehee sighed audibly through the phone. "Mr. Han, I really don't think the chairman would care whether your tie is Italian or German. It's just a black tie, same as all the others in your drawer."

"But he may not. I can tell the difference between a Korean tie and an American tie."

Jaehee rubbed her brow. This was not good. She was already packed with work-she didn't need her boss distracting her.

"But he's not you. Not to mention, Korean fashion and American fashion are two very different things," she said.

"It seems you're no help." He hung up.

Then why in the hell did you call me in the first place? Jaehee wondered furiously.

"Chief!" a co-worker shouted. Jaehee stifled another sigh.

"The representative of the German car conglomerate Mr. Han was supposed to see tomorrow arrived earlier than expected and would like to meet with him this afternoon."

Jaehee sighed, looking at the framed picture of Zen on her desk.

"I'll call Mr. Han."

A notification popped up on Jaehee's screen.

What's this? she wondered.

Jumin Han: Get on the messenger. Now. It's urgent.

Yoosung Kim

"All right!" Yoosung shouted into his microphone. "Blood Dragon for the win!" He checked the time on his phone.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!" he shouted, standing up abruptly. "I'm late! I'm late!" he sputtered, searching for his shoes.

"Guildmaster Yoosung?" he heard someone ask through his headphones.

No wonder I didn't hear the tone. I need to turn the volume down on those headphones, he thought.

"Uhb, um-I'm late for school, gotta run! Bye!" Yoosung ran out the door, leaving his phone by his computer.

Hyun Ryu

Zen took a deep breath.

I'm in love, he thought. His partner began to sing her part of the duet. We've finally realized it after so long. I finally get to be with the woman I love.

"I am in your eyes, and your arms," she sang.

"I am in your, eyes." Zen smiled lovingly. "And within, your, ar ~ ms. . ."

"Our touching hands, so very hot," Hana continued.

"A moment, becomes forever!" Zen took a deep breath.

"This feeling we have!" they sang out.

"Could it be love?" he asked, stepping forward and taking her hand.

"Oh, this feeling we have!"

"Must be love," she confirmed, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"STOP IT, STOP IT, STOPIT!" the director shouted, waving his copy of the script.

Zen took a step back in surprise. What happened? He thought it was perfect.

"You stepped in too late. I want you to step in RIGHT ON that bar's beginning-the moment before 'This feeling we have!'"

Zen took a sip from his water bottle, wiping his forehead. His phone buzzed.

Jumin Han: Zen, get on the messenger. It's urgent.

Luciel Choi

"It's done, V," Seven said. "The app should be completely, one-hundred percent safe now." He leaned back in his chair.

Finally. . . I can take a moment to relax, he thought, stretching. When was the last time he'd eaten a proper meal, or been able to get a good night's rest?

He looked at the clock.

11:11 A.M., it read.

"Eleven eleven, make a wish!" a voice echoed in his mind.

Old memories. Dead memories.

"I wish I could get a good nap," he yawned. "Maybe I should treat myself for getting this work done early."

The screen on his computer went black.

"What?" he muttered, shooting up in his seat.

Green code began to flash up on his computer.

His eyes narrowed. "No. Nonono. I just-" He leaned forward, tapping furiously on his keyboard.

Finally, a message appeared on his screen.

SAEYOUNG CHOI. YOU ABANDONED ME.

Bright red text flooded his screen, followed by a last message:

IT'S TIME TO PAY.

The screen went blank. Something in the computer sparked.

"No. . ." Seven murmured. "I didn't abandon you. You were supposed to be happy. You shouldn't remember me.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. . ." he whispered.