Ciphertext – Chapter 14: Demons

Luciel and Eun-ji stayed up late the night of their first sexual exploration. They managed to get through a few bags of Honey Buddha Chips that they had discovered, to their amazement, right at the back of one of Rika's kitchen cupboards. Sitting on the bed in his UFO boxers, and Eun-ji in her underwear, they played games, drank some beer and just generally decided to have some fun. Luciel felt relaxed for the first time in years and was thoroughly enjoying telling his crappy jokes that somehow made her smile. This was the kind of man he could be when he wasn't trying to avoid people for fear of hurting them.

But as the morning came and they woke up in each other arms, reality hit Luciel as hard as his hangover. He opened his eyes with a start as he heard his phone ringing loudly and he sat upright in the bed wondering what the hell was going on. His head was spinning uncontrollably and it seemed impossible to focus on anything. Blindly feeling around on the bedside table for his glasses, he cursed to himself as he struggled to locate them. It took him a few seconds to pick them up and slip them back on. The din and vibration coming from his phone was unrelenting and he grew irritated.

"Seriously? It's 7:18am … gimme a break …" he muttered quietly to himself, aware that Eun-ji was still out like a light over on her side of the bed. He stood up and sauntered into the kitchen with the phone, half-asleep. Looking at the name on the screen he sighed and answered it.

"What do you want, Vanderwood?"

"Luciel! Where are you!? Why aren't you at home?" came Vanderwood's voice from the other end.

"I'm … out," he said, trying to be as vague about the details as possible.

Vanderwood was obviously not happy. "You're out? At nearly half 7 in the morning?"

"Sure, I had to run some errands," Luciel lied, grinning from ear to ear. "It happens every now and again."

"I don't think so, Luciel." Vanderwood had a knack for knowing how to read straight through his excuses.

Now just a little concerned, Luciel turned to face the fridge, playing with some magnets that were stuck to it. "I'm out. Why don't you believe me?"

"Because I'm inside your house."

"WHAT!? How the fuck did you get into my house? I programmed it to only respond to Arabic and binary code!" He tried to keep his voice down, despite his shock.

"Yes, well. I'm not employed by the agency for nothing either. And I can see you right now."

"Huh!?"

"On the monitor. You're in someone's kitchen doing something to the fridge. In your underwear."

Shit, I left the screens switched on!

Luciel freaked out. It would be trouble if he knew he was seeing Eun-ji. He was especially close with the boss after all. "I've been doing some cleaning for my cousin."

Vanderwood raised his voice a little. "Don't play dumb Luciel. I know that you're hiding something while not completing the work I assigned you."

"What did you see … exactly?" He wanted to be sure that Vanderwood didn't have access to the recorded material from last night. If anything, just for the embarrassing fact that he'd named his cock after him in jest.

"Nothing, since you set the recorder to delete any materials stored in the system up to a certain point," confirmed Vanderwood. "You're ridiculously cunning, you know." He paused. "Look, I don't know what's really going on and I'm sure you're not going to tell me. Maybe I don't really care about the facts. But know this - if you don't finish this work on time, I'll be forced to investigate further. I don't need to remind you that anyone who gets involved with you will face serious consequences."

Luciel sighed. "I know. I can work from this apartment, so please don't worry … tell Mr. P that I'll get everything finished by the end of the day."

"Are you really safe there? If you can't create a secure network with the tools you've got, it could be dangerous. What if a hacker tries to access the database? You'll be held liable in that situation and I won't be able to help you then." Vanderwood's tone was monotonous yet managed to communicate the gravity of things.

"Vanderwood, just-" Luciel knew the consequences if he made a mistake. The repercussions weren't going to be trivial. His life was hanging by an invisible thread that was prone to snap at any moment. "Just leave it to me. I'll sort it."

Vanderwood grumbled. "Fine. I'll believe you. But you have no choice but to remember your priorities here."

Luciel felt his mind being numbed by the contractual agreement he had with his work. All the fun that he and Eun-ji had shared last night might as well have never happened. She would want it to continue, but he knew that it was impossible. Everything had to come to an end eventually. Regardless, he wanted to think that he could lie to himself just a little longer. The demons in his life were back, slowly creeping into his veins to taunt him. He would do anything to get out of this treacherous cycle, but he knew too much and letting him go was a huge risk from their perspective.

"I know, Vanderwood." Maybe the guy had been secretly looking out for him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. "Thanks-" His lonely voice trailed off as he moved the receiver away from his ear and swiped to end the call, letting his arms just hang by his sides.

He sat down at the kitchen table to take a few moments to collect his thoughts together. Running his fingers through his hair, he held himself perfectly still, just staring at a fixed point on the table. "I'm damn lucky he didn't find out about last night … but what should I do now?" Talking to himself like this wouldn't solve his problems, but then neither would talking to other people. It was a lose-lose situation.

"Hey sexy… " came Eun-ji's voice as she entered the kitchen, loosely wearing the shirt he'd had on yesterday.

Luciel broke out of his trance and looked over at her, serenading over to him so sweetly with his clothes on. He was almost the luckiest man alive.

Almost.

"Good morning …" he tried, although his usual sense of enthusiasm had been dampened by the call with Vanderwood.

Eun-ji tipped her head to one side and observed his expression. "What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

"No, not exactly," he said, avoiding all eye contact with her now. "It's just work stuff."

"Was that your boss on the phone?"

"Yeah. I have to finish something by the end of the day, so …"

Eun-ji smiled and approached him. "Well, that's fine right? We can just spend some time together afterwards." She started to massage his shoulders, but he wasn't relaxing at all. "You feel so tense this morning."

"We can't-" he began, his voice dull and flat. "We can't carry on seeing each other. I'm sorry …"

Eun-ji shook her head in disbelief. "No … Saeyoung! What are you saying? If you're just busy with projects for work, I can be patient."

"It's not just that. I told you before, it's too dangerous to get to know me." He took a deep breath in and held it there for a few seconds before exhaling. "Last night was a mistake."

"A … mistake?" Eun-ji echoed, feeling very on edge. She took a seat opposite him.

Luciel's soul was being ripped in half. "Yeah. We just got carried away."

"Why would you say it was a mistake when we had so much fun?"

"I don't deserve to have fun."

Those were probably the saddest six words she'd ever heard someone say. It broke her heart.

What can I do Saeyoung? Please … just tell me.