Spoiler alert about Unknown in this chapter; please be advised.
Thank you! (And enjoy!)
Chapter 2
Hyperial Tower
Apartment 1429
January 31st, 2017
11:07 AM KST
Art was sitting on the couch, her laptop on the coffee table. The screen had a map on it, as well as a few lines of code, and she was constantly reminding herself that this was a room without any cameras. She was safe here. Luciel wouldn't be able to see her trying to find the RFA members' addresses, right?
The chat ended at around 10:32 AM, giving her a chance to try to think about her next move. She wanted to go straight for Luciel, before realizing that it was a terrible idea, and he would probably find out that it was her who tried to find his address.
She sat on the couch, her laptop on the Welcome screen, leaning back on the couch, and staring at the white ceiling, her legs resting next to her laptop. Her hands were behind her head, and she was thinking. Target Luciel, or just don't do anything at all? She only had four days - well, less than four days - and doing nothing may take a bit too long. While she wanted to just wait for the opportunity to come, it may come just a bit too late.
10:35 AM.
The curtains were pretty, in her opinion. They were white, and were held up by a bronze bar with an elaborate design at the ends of the bar. The sunlight from the window gave it a slight shimmer, and that looked beautiful. She thought that maybe, if she decided to open the glass door, the curtains would flutter in the slight breeze outside and look even better.
The view outside the window was beautiful too. She saw buildings and skyscrapers, and while she was just a bit terrified of heights, she loved being here and staring out the window.
Who am I kidding? This is terrifying.
Okay, so maybe she wasn't just a bit terrified of heights.
10:45 AM.
Her eyes would occasionally glance at the drawers. She wanted to open them so badly, although she didn't bring her lock-picking tools. Luckily, she always brought paperclips for papers, as well as opening doors with normal locks and not fancy number or ID scanning locks. However, it would probably be a better idea to break the locks at the end, right before she left. That would be her final smack in the face to RFA after killing Luciel.
10:55 AM.
She didn't know what type of person Luciel was, but she hoped that he cared about his friends. He seemed a bit playful and seemed to be the person who loved pranks and jokes, but she couldn't confirm that since the only "prank" he played so far was sending a photo of Jaehee to the chat after they asked for a photo of her. If he cared for the RFA members, she could use that as her advantage.
And now? It was 11:07 AM, and she was trying to find the address of the other RFA members to try to use it to her advantage. She was in his territory, which was already a disadvantage. She didn't know what was in this apartment - there were cameras already. There could be some security system, or anything of that sort that could easily report her to the police. There could even be a bomb in here, but who would ever decide that putting a bomb in the apartment was a good idea? Nobody, she hoped.
Her laptop was doing all the work for her - the easiest person she found was Yoosung. Twenty-one years old in Korea, twenty in the States. College student at SKY University. Dorm 482. Born on March 12th, 1996. Blood type A. Majoring in medicine? Surprising.
She was working on Zen now. If he was a famous actor, and she knew he was because of his photo, he should be easy to find.
There was a sound.
Vibrations? It sounded like something was vibrating, in a certain pattern.
Three buzzes, then a one second pause, before repeating. The pattern was familiar to her, because well, that was the pattern of her phone if someone decided to call her. She reached over for her phone, which was face-down on the wooden coffee table, and took a look at the screen.
101-9127-2357? She didn't recognize the number. She prepared herself to put on a fake voice, since she felt something inside her. A feeling that was crawling up her throat, and forcing her to sit straight up on the couch. She knew that feeling too well. Curiosity.
She held the little phone icon in the middle of the screen and dragged it to the right to pick up.
"Your bank account has been used for a fun prank. Were you aware of this? I must first confirm your cell phone number to verify your identity so please calmly follow the instructions." She understood every word of that - he spoke Korean, but there was some strange accent. But why would a Korean bank call her about her nonexistent Korean bank account?
Actually, maybe it was about the debit card? But why would they call her?
Or it could be a prank? She wasn't so sure, but she decided to assume it was a prank. Banks normally wouldn't use the word "fun" as a description word when speaking to a customer, right?
She would return the favor to whoever was calling her.
"Oh no! What am I going to do?" She made her pitch and volume suddenly go up, sounding more like a squeak toy than a human. "I feel my heart stopping! I don't think I can breathe now!"
There was laughter on the other side of the phone. The laughter sounded normal, but she couldn't recognize who it was. She eventually asked, still with the strange, high-pitched voice, "Are you dying, too? Do I need to arrange a funeral for the two of us?"
The laughter was even louder.
She waited, starting to count again. One... two... three... four...
The laughter was starting to die down. There was a small, joyful sigh, and a small cough. His laughter was enjoyable. She could probably record it and listen to it all day, and never get sick of it. It was loud, but childish and playful, and something about that made her want to know who he was.
Hahaha... God, your voice is so cute." The accent was gone.
"Cute? Who are you?" Still maintaining her high-pitched voice, she opened the door to the hallway, before walking to the kitchen. She needed water. The voice was starting to make her throat dry.
There was a small giggle from the other side that made her smile just a bit. "It's the Hacker God! 707, the Defender of Justice!"
Her smile immediately faded.
"I was going to call from the RFA app, but it wasn't working. Hm. Maybe something with the Unknown person you mentioned before?"
She was talking to Luciel himself. Her target. She nearly flicked herself while she was on her phone, but her free hand was opening every single white cabinet in hopes of looking for a cup or glass. There were an awful lot of plates for some reason, but no glasses. Strange.
She returned her attention back to her phone.
"I think so." Her voice was normal. "So, 707, how are you?"
Get close with him. That's your backup plan if finding the other members don't work.
She leaned on the white kitchen counter, which was right in the middle of the kitchen. Bright lights were hanging from the ceiling, and it was only about 4 feet higher than the counter top. The stove was electric, but it was dusty as well, just like everything else. There was a small window on the side of the room, with the same white curtains. There was a lot of white in the kitchen, other than the occasional black detail or the black paint used to paint the main body of the cabinets.
There was an audible sigh from the phone. "Unfortunately, the Defender of Justice must work. So much work to do!"
"It's alright, Defender of Justice! You'll finish it someday!" Get close. Get close with him. But don't feel anything for him.
"I will! Did you eat yet?"
She glanced at the clock. It was 11:12 AM, so not yet. "No, not yet. I will soon though. Am I allowed to leave? For food and stuff?"
"About that..."
"About what?"
"About that..."
"What does the Defender of Justice have to say about me leaving the apartment?"
"The Defender of Justice, God Seven, says that you are allowed to leave the apartment for food! Preferably for Honey Buddha Chips and Dr. Pepper!"
Honey Buddha Chips and Dr. Pepper? That was a little strange. She'd had them separately, and they were alright on their own. Not realizing that a small smile was back on her face, she replied, "Oh, God Seven, I'll be sure to get some Honey Buddha Chips and Dr. Pepper!"
Laughter. He was still laughing when he replied, "I want to give a bag of chips to you right now~"
"I would be blessed if you gave them to me." Her elbow was leaning against the counter top, completely forgetting about her need for water. She was smiling like an idiot, however, temporarily forgetting about how she was supposed to dislike Luciel.
"Haha, anyways, to the main point of this conversation! I hope you don't mind that I called you - the phone number didn't lead me to anything, so I had to make sure! I'll call you with the RFA app from now on."
"You can call with the RFA app?"
"Yep! You'll see our faces and names on the screen as soon as someone calls with the app!"
"That's pretty cool. And you made this?"
"Of course! God Seven can do anything for the RFA!"
She was smiling and laughing. She was bending over the counter, her face being greeted by the freezing cold top. She held the phone in her hand, and her index finger was constantly rubbing the back of her phone, which was a habit she had when she was happy.
"Duh."
"Unfortunately, the Defender of Justice, God Seven, must now leave to do more work. Please take good care of RFA, okay?" He sounded like he didn't want to stop talking.
"Of course! Have fun, God Seven!"
Click.
She was still smiling, her eyes illuminated by the bright lights as well as her joy, before realizing that she wasn't supposed to be like this.
She wasn't supposed to smile and laugh when talking to her target.
She was supposed to stay focused. To observe every flaw and to use it to her advantage. That was how she was successful. She would analyze, and then attack from the shadows. Analyze. Analyze. If she wanted to eliminate him, she would have to analyze him.
"Take care of RFA?" she muttered. Her fingers were tapping against the counter. "He cares about RFA. Finding their addresses was a good idea." Maybe that was the only thing she could use to her advantage?
"Playful."
"Talented."
"Funny."
She continued to think about more flaws, but all she came up were adjectives. Positive adjectives, too. She walked out of the kitchen, shutting off the lights in the process, and walked back into the living room. Analyze. Analyze. Analyze.
His voice was really nice. Not deep, like the agents back in New York, but somewhere in the middle of the range. It was nice to listen to.
No, Art, stop. Focus on his flaws.
His laughter was nice.
Stop. Now. You can't fail this.
He seems really nice; I can't understand why anyone would want to eliminate him.
He's an agent, just like you.
There was only one thought in her head right now, instead of the sudden rush of thoughts she had before.
But agents lie.
This single thought was repeating in her head, louder and louder, while she was trying to ignore it, but listen to it at the same time. There was no way he could be lying about who he really was, right? Maybe he was a playful agent.
Then again, he could be pretending to be playful. Maybe he lied about the tracing the phone call thing and actually knew that she was an agent. Maybe he was planning to eliminate her too. Maybe he knew that she was here just to kill him...
She stared back at her computer, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She couldn't lose focus. Definitely not, since everyone would be in danger if she lost focus.
Breathe.
Her chest rose and fell, and she began to focus as a small box appeared on the screen, with black text.
Address found - 1.25 km away from current location.
She wasn't smiling this time. She took note of the address in a small blue notebook nearby. It was filled, almost to the end, with mission information and memories she wanted to cherish. She looked at the title of the page.
RFA Addresses
Two down, four more to go.
C&R International Offices
Room 2394 - Office of Jaehee Kang
January 31st, 2017
11:15 AM KST
Jaehee Kang was lucky that she wasn't busy today.
Typically, she'd be greeted by mountains of paperwork when she walked into her office, at exactly 8:00 AM, and then she'd have more when she came back after Jumin's meetings, at around 9-10 AM. She'd have even more when someone stopped by to drop more off about her boss's cat projects and the occasional normal project at around 12:00 PM, and then a meeting again at around 2-3 PM, which meant paperwork and reports.
Luckily for today, there was no meeting in the morning, and there was only a few sheets of paper on her desk. That she finished in less than an hour, since she just needed to do a little bit of research about oil. Nothing more. She found a person nicknamed the Oil Prince who she was excited to reach out to. The economy was always changing, and establishing connections with the Oil Prince would be a good idea in case something about the economy went wrong.
She was now in her office, enjoying her free time. Jumin didn't text her yet, which meant that he was probably fairly free as well.
She was on the RFA Messenger, the familiar blue screen on her phone, with the messages from half an hour ago on her phone. Her eyes were still slightly wide from the memories of the chat. A new member? Jaehee still felt discomfort when seeing her messages. She still couldn't trust her yet, although V and Luciel approved her as a member.
Art has entered the chatroom.
And there she was, in the room. Just her and Art.
Art: Hello Jaehee! How are you?
That was kind of her to ask, she thought.
Jaehee Kang: I am doing well, thank you.
Jaehee Kang: I am glad that I do not have much work to do today. It is a rare treat.
Art: Aw, does Jumin give you a lot of work to do?
Jaehee Kang: Yes, but I can manage it.
That sounded right, right? It wasn't a rude statement... nor was it a statement implying that she couldn't do much work...
Art: Why don't you say something about it to Jumin? It's not good to have a lot of work to do.
Jaehee Kang: I am only a company worker with a low position.
Jaehee Kang: Anyways... thank you.
Jaehee Kang: Have you gotten used to the organization yet?
While I'd like to remain positive, I am certain she has not. After all, this is only her second hour.
Jaehee put her arms on the table, phone still in hand. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, looking around her office for anything that could entertain her while she was waiting for a response. Her office was plain - the walls were white, the desk and the drawers were all black, and the floor was grey. Nothing else. Jumin, after all, wanted a "modern" look for the office, and Mr. Chairman agreed to that as well.
She remembered when all offices could be customized. Her office would smell like cinnamon and coffee, although it smelled more like cinnamon, giving her a relaxing feeling when there was a lot of work to do. She took a small breath. Sometimes, she could still smell the cinnamon-coffee combination if she really wanted to.
Art: Hm... no. Everyone's really nice.
They are. I'm surprised by your answer though...
Jaehee Kang: I am sure everyone will be since you are a girl.
Jaehee Kang: To be honest, I do not fully trust you yet...
Jaehee Kang: But if I were in your position right now, I would have been more confused.
There was the sound of a knock on the door. She stood up, one hand massaging her neck and the other still typing. She began to walk towards the door.
Jaehee Kang: I enjoyed talking with you. I'll be off...
Jaehee Kang: I have to get the door.
Art: Okay, thank you, Jaehee.
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom.
She put the phone into her pocket and opened the shiny, recently painted white door. The metal handle felt cold as ice to her warm hands.
She took a look at the person standing right in front of her door. He had red hair and golden eyes (which were nice, but not as pretty as Zen's red eyes), with glasses that were reflecting the sunlight from Jaehee's office. His mouth was slightly open, as if he was in shock, and his phone, in its bright yellow case, was in his hand.
Jaehee noticed one thing that scared her.
His knuckles were white.
"Luciel? What are you doing here?"
"Where's Jumin?"
Jaehee opened the door even wider. "He should be in his office. What is wrong?"
"I need to talk to him." The more he talked, the more out of breath he sounded, and the more his grip on his phone tightened. He was standing up straight, with a sense of urgency that Jaehee never felt when Luciel was talking in the chats.
"What do you need to talk to him about?"
There was a long pause. Luciel seemed to be biting the inside of his cheek. Jaehee stood up straight, tilting her head slightly. She was glad she had time today. However, she felt her eyebrows raise the longer the pause was.
Something had to be wrong.
For Luciel to run all the way here, something was very wrong. If it was a situation that didn't require immediate attention, he would have used the RFA chat to contact them. But here he was, in front of her, panicking about finding Jumin.
Finally, the pause ended.
"I need you to send bodyguards to everyone's house."
"What do you mean? Come in. We cannot let anyone else know about this if it is an RFA matter."
He walked in, one hand fiddling with the cross necklace. Jaehee closed the door right behind him, quietly, in hopes of not disturbing anyone else nearby.
"Do you have water?"
She turned around, facing Luciel, who looked to be around the same height from here, when he was actually taller than her. He was still breathing heavily, and it was clear from the droplets of sweat on his forehead that he probably ran up the stairs to get to her office, all the way on the 23rd floor. She wasn't even sure how he got past security, but that wasn't important right now.
"Not here. It is downstairs. Would you like me-"
"There's no time."
"Luciel, an explanation would be nice, please."
He took a seat in her chair and leaned back, evidently trying to relax. "I received a message from 'Unknown.'"
"What?"
"Yeah. Here you go." He handed the phone to Jaehee. "Read the message and then you'll understand why we need bodyguards."
She took the phone and pushed her glasses up.
Luciel...
It's time for RFA to come to Magenta.
Watch your backs.
Korean phone numbers typically start with 010 or something with 01x, but I didn't want the phone number I put to accidentally trace to a real, actual phone number, hence the 101 beginning.
Please tell me if anything is OOC - I'm struggling with that aspect of the story and I'm unsure as to how I should fix that issue. I tried making Seven serious in this one, since, well, RFA is being threatened. By this "Unknown" person. I tried to make his reaction similar to his reaction in his route when (spoiler, so I won't say).
I tried making Jaehee formal, and although I know there's a clear, distinct line between her and Jumin, I rewrote her lines about 50% of the time because it sounded too much like a Jumin thing, and I'm not sure if her lines are more Jumin-styled...
Jumin-styled... haha...
From here on out, I will warn you about spoilers (like I did at the beginning of this one). Since you've managed to make it this far (thank you!), there will be spoilers about Seven's route, partially Yoosung's route, maybe a bit of Zen's route...
Actually, just spoilers for every single route, and secret endings included. Sorry if you want to keep reading but you don't like spoilers;;
Anyways, thanks for reading! Have a nice day!
-Teri
