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Jonghyun's eyelids fluttered open to find himself inside his car. Yawning, he looked around, racking his brain to recall where he was only to remember that he had slept in his car which was parked outside Sunye's building. After waiting for her for hours, he had returned to his car and decided to stake outside in case she returned home late.
I must have fallen asleep, he groaned inwardly. But why didn't she return home? Or did she return while I slept and I missed her?
He tidied his hair and washed his mouth with water before returning to the concierge.
"Is Miss Han home yet?" he asked the concierge of the building.
"No sir," the concierge replied. "She has not returned home yet."
Jonghyun nodded and left the building again. Where is she? He wondered. Why wouldn't she pick up her phone?
He checked his watch. It was almost 9 AM, time for his office to start. Deciding to return home and freshen up before going to the office to check if she was there, Jonghyun got into his car and drove off. He was highly disappointed to have not met her that night and for a moment, he wondered if she was with another man.
He felt his heart wrench upon imagining Sunye with another man. It had been a long time since he had disappeared from her life and they were barely nine years old when they had separated. Many years had lapsed and it was obvious that she would be dating other men. What did he expect? She would wait for his return?
It was a pipe dream but there was some part of him which wished that she had waited. The very thought of her with someone else was making him boil in jealousy and he gripped his fingers around the steering wheel.
"Focus," he groaned to himself. "Don't think about all that. Focus…"
His phone rang up and he was grateful for the distraction. It was his assistant, Haein.
"What news do you have?" Jonghyun asked as soon as he answered the phone.
"Shin Hyun refused to talk," SD said from the other side. "He's taking the matter to court."
"What about the suppliers' list?" Jonghyun demanded. "Did he tell us who has it?"
SD held up the list in his hand and casually crossed his legs on the table.
"No," he lied. "Shin Hyun refused to tell us where the list is. Besides, their transactions had been paperless. The list is in their heads."
Too bad Kibum was stupid enough to write it all down, he added in his head.
"I'm coming to the office," Jonghyun said shortly. He paused before asking, "Is Sunye there?"
"She arrived an hour ago," SD stated, not missing the worry in Jonghyun's tone. It irritated him.
"Alright," Jonghyun sighed. "I'll be there by 11. Have some things to take care of."
He hung up and SD stared at his phone. "I hope he doesn't arrive with morning breath," he muttered. Putting his phone aside, he went through the list in his hands.
It was the same list for which he had started a civil war in a far off land. President Rihan was secretly corresponding with Kibum to supply extra gold to them, keeping the information hidden from the Company. However, that was not all.
The document he had collected from Rihan's office also mentioned the date, 24th September 19XX. It was the same date when the palace coup had taken place and Rihan had referred to it in one simple sentence.
"The night the Emperor and his family were taken care of on 24th September 19XX, the shipment of our gold bars were sent to the Company's headquarters within the palace. However, only ninety percent of the shipment were received while the other ten percent were sent to the current Finance Minister, Shin Hyun's quarters."
"So he's got gold too, huh?" SD sighed. "I guess I'd better start finding the traces to it."
He had a hunch that Shin Hyun had probably hidden away his stack somewhere abroad so he would have to put his informers on the job. It was obvious that someone within the palace was working with the Company and he wanted to know who it was.
And there was only one man who could lead him to that person. He glanced at the TV, which was on. A thin man in his seventies wearing a neat grey suit with a warm smile etched on his lips was walking through a school, swarmed with reporters and bodyguards. The man had fine white hair and even though his face was wrinkled, one could see how handsome he was in the past. There was a regal elegance about him, a charismatic aura which he conducted with every step. The children smiled as they saw him approaching, carrying large bouquets to welcome him.
"Prime Minister Lee!" the reporters were shouting. They were tailing him to get a good shot of his and the old man obliged, smiling at the cameras while waving at the people watching him.
"Prime Minister, don't you have anything to say about your Finance Minister's deeds?" one reporter asked. "He's awaiting trial!"
"Did you know about his deeds?"
"Isn't the scandal going to cost you your next election?"
Lee politely smiled and addressed their questions. "Hyun is being duly punished for his crimes," he announced. "My cabinet had sacked him following the allegations and even though the trial is pending, I have made it clear that a person accused of such grave crimes cannot be trusted."
"I had no idea about his deeds," he went on. "And I can provide every receipts to prove my innocence. I don't believe that the actions of that man would affect my election because the people love me. I welcome the opposition party to challenge me if they wish but I am not scared. I am only saddened that someone who had been with our party for so long, turned out to have such a nasty heart."
"You would know," SD murmured, turning off the TV. Prime Minister Lee's PR team had come up with every strategy to keep him clean from the scandal. They did not have to do much because Lee was never directly involved in any of the Company's deeds. Their relationship was fraught with complications and Hyun was a scapegoat against Lee, set up by the Company itself.
But there was no denying that their interests had been mutually beneficial at times. And the palace coup was the start of their long and fractious relationship. They would not reveal each other's secrets easily unless one attacked first. All SD needed was some gasoline and they would turn against each other.
"Now...where do I find the spark?" he wondered.
Just then, Sunye barged into his office. She was surprised to see the gleeful look on SD's face.
"You look like you're planning someone's murder," she said suspiciously.
"I'm thinking of the numerous ways to tie you up once you agree to my kinky fantasies," he winked.
Why did I ask? Sunye wondered for the millionth time.
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