Apologies for the sporadic updates. I'm afraid work took over for a bit. Anyway I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Little by little we will reach the conclusion

- Mel

Ciphertext – Chapter 12: Reboot

Eun-ji logged out of the app and wandered back into the other room. It was already nearly dinner time and her stomach had started grumbling its complaints whilst she'd been talking with Zen and Yoosung. She noticed that Luciel looked tired but he was still carrying on with his work, tapping away on the keyboard relentlessly.

Remembering that he had specifically told her not to disturb him, she decided to fumble around in the kitchen, hoping to find some nice fresh ingredients for a nutritious meal. Even if Luciel was too busy to eat right now, he could at least warm his portion up later.

But as she was taking some of the leftover kimchi from the fridge, she noticed a dark shadow forming across the kitchen units in front of her. Turning to face the other direction, she saw Luciel standing in the doorway, casually leaning against the wooden frame with one arm. His aura seemed different now. A rather sudden change.

Eun-ji felt her pulse quicken as she hurried to pick out utensils from the drawer. "Um … Saeyoung? A-are you finished with your work?" she managed.

"No. But I'm done for tonight," he said, taking off his glasses and placing them onto the worktop. "Since you're being so patient, I thought maybe … we could do something else?" he smiled, a little hopeful that they might finally be able to spend some time together.

Eun-ji blushed a little and tried to change the subject. "What about that photo that got uploaded to the chatroom? Someone hacked into my profile while I was offline …"

Luciel sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I need to find out what's going on with that, but I doubt there's any hurry. This is why I needed to investigate Cheritz in the first place. They're the ones who sent the photo."

"You deleted it from the chatroom?" she sounded a little suspicious.

"Yeah. It was just a precaution, since there could have been a virus attached to it and-", he paused, trying to think of the right words, "-I mean … just for a sense of decency, you know."

"To think that someone would post a photo like that using my login! It just really frustrates me!" Eun-ji fumed, twisting the lid of the kimchi jar forcefully.

"I read your latest messages in the chatroom, so I guess our little secret is out now," he laughed a little. "Listen, those guys can suspect me all they want, but what reason would I have for posing as the other hacker?" he looked at the floor. "You trust me, don't you? All I want to do is protect you now that you're part of the RFA."

"But why would I end up here? It's just too strange. One minute I'm studying for my exams and the next I wind up in this apartment."

Luciel pondered this for a second. "Wait. So you're saying that you weren't actually led here, but you … woke up inside the apartment?"

"Yeah. I was at home in my room, when all of a sudden I felt drowsy. When I came to, I was lying in bed, still fully clothed but someone had definitely placed me there. That's when I phoned you."

This didn't make sense. "How did you even get my number?"

She showed Luciel the phone that had been in her pocket. "That person must have left me this smartphone. It already had everyone's contact details pre-loaded onto it. Yours was top of the list. It's all just so … mysterious. I don't know what to believe anymore." Eun-ji looked up at him, her vulnerability bleeding through, but broke eye contact almost immediately.

Feeling even more confused now, Luciel scowled. "What do you want me to say? That I am the one behind all this? Would that satisfy you? To know that it was me all along?"

Eun-ji was a little annoyed that he would assume such a thing. "Where did that come from? No, of course not. I don't think you're trying to trick us", she said, stroking her arm bashfully. "I mean, what I want to say is … I just … I just want you to be honest with me …" she paused, "…about everything."

Luciel took her roughly by the shoulders, which forced her to gaze up at his tall, slender frame. He brushed back a few strands of hair that had fallen across her face and stared deeply into her hazel eyes. Eun-ji could already sense that he was starting to reveal his true intentions, and that felt reassuring.

"Eun-ji. Ask me anything. I'll give you a straight-forward answer."

Eun-ji gulped as she felt Luciel's slightly clammy hands hold her shoulders still, his grip gradually tightening by the second. A heavy pulse thudded through his fingers, the blood pumping its eager way around his body. She prepared for the worst, feeling herself grow hotter and hotter with every breath she took. "Are you … sexually frustrated?" She just came out with it.

"Ehhh?" Luciel jolted backwards. He definitely hadn't misheard what she had said. Truthfully, the past few hours he'd spent sat at that computer had been torture for him, and not because of the screen time – he could deal with that aspect. It was much more about where his mind had been going. His limbs suddenly felt weak and numb knowing that she was reading him like a book. His personal security system being hacked into on the spot. "W-what are you talking about?"

Eun-ji smiled in the knowledge that she had flicked a switch somewhere. "You said you'd give me honest answers." He couldn't lie to her anymore.

"Yeah? W-well, I didn't expect a question like that!" he retorted, defiantly.

She put her hands up front of her to create a kind of cat paw stance. "Meow! He is feeling sexually frustrated meow! Maybe you should give him some attention meow! If you don't, it could be really dangerous meow!" her voice was the epitome of ridiculous.

Luciel chuckled at her impersonation. "Seriously, that was SO bad! Please just make sure no-one ever lets you become a voice actress!"

"That's not exactly going to ruin my life plans, but the robot cat really said those things about you! It scared me …"

"It scared you? Why?"

"Because I feel like if I don't do something to help, what is my purpose in the RFA?"

It took Luciel a minute to digest this information. "Wait …. WHAT?"

"You heard me. What good am I here if I can't do something to help?"

"But what do you mean by 'help'? This hacker business is something that only I can fix right now."

"Yes, I know. But I wasn't referring to that …"

"Then what were you-?" he began, but Eun-ji put a finger to his lips to silence him.

"You want me, don't you?" she whispered. "So let's do it."

"Lets ….do …'it'?" he echoed, still unsure of the context all this was supposed to belong in. "You mean … let's fly to the moon together in a rocket full of PhD Pepper and Honey Buddha Chips?" he winked, playfully, knowing fully well what she was inferring, but he was trying as best he could to fill the conversation with at least some meaningless drivel to hide his embarrassment.

She cut right to the chase. "If that's what you want to call it, then yes." Then, walking forwards, she stood up on her tiptoes so she could speak softly into his ear. "What did you really want to do earlier when I brought your coffee over?" The dulcet tones of her voice tickled the hairs on the inside of his ear and he felt a brisk chill coursing through his bones. As she pulled away, she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and tipped her head to the side. The cutest look ever.

"Tell me what you're thinking, Saeyoung."

Luciel's mind immediately clouded over. The information stored within his internal memory seemed to silently fall away from him, byte by byte, as he struggled to make sense of it all.

"I'm thinking … you're just too cute to ignore."