Gateway [ONF FF]

Mistakes by moonlight

“So, back to yesterday,” Seungjun started a few hours after breakfast. Since banging on the door multiple days in a row, he had gained free entry to Changyun’s office whenever he was there. And he made great use of that. “Who were you avoiding at the ball?”

Changyun looked up from a hand-sized parcel he was about to unwrap. “As I said, no one.”

“While it would be flattering to believe you would go to those lengths to steal a kiss from me, I highly doubt that to be true,” Seungjun sang and walked along the shelves like usual.

Changyun swivelled his chair to follow the other’s movements. “It was just someone I didn’t want to meet.”

“Who? And why?”

“Not information you need.”

“But it’s information I want.”

“Which makes it sound more like your issue than mine,” Changyun sighed and turned forward again, hunching over a newspaper, “so please leave me be.”

“But don’t two brains work better than one?” Seungjun argued further and walked up to the desk, putting one hand on the wood. “And since your brain knows the information, I definitely need it on this issue.”

Changyun looked up and laughed, pushing his package aside, gaining the other’s curiosity.

“What’s in there?” Seungjun asked, surveying the crudely wrapped letter that bulged slightly.

Changyun only glimpsed at the item. “I don’t know.”

“Then look.”

“Maybe it’s private,” Changyun guessed and Seungjun pushed himself off the desk again.

“If it is, I’ll leave,” Seungjun said as an empty promise.

In disbelief, Changyun arched his brow. “The information you want is also private, yet you’re not leaving that alone.”

Seungjun clenched his jaw as he crossed his arms, lost on further arguments. Changyun celebrated his victory with a chuckle and also put his newspaper away to grab paper and ink pen to start a thank you letter for the host of the ball.
Not getting what he wanted, Seungjun decided to gather clues himself and waited out the day.

It wasn’t that the staff had grown lax, quite the contrary; they seemed busier than usual, but it caused them to sometimes leave Seungjun alone for a few minutes, accidentally creating perfect opportunities for some investigative work.

The parcel, however trivial its contents might be, became Seungjun’s objective. Yet, he didn’t know how to obtain it, so simply stayed in the room and took a random book before settling in the chair next to the chess table. He often saw Changyun play with the parcel, but always rethought himself when he checked if Seungjun was still paying attention. It became another game. An easy one for Seungjun — who had nothing better to do, and a frustrating one for Changyun — who just wanted to get through his tasks.

From lunch through to dinner, Seungjun made his way through multiple texts, occasionally rehashing the same questions for information, but to no avail. However, he did manage to distract Changyun long enough that nighttime struck again, the affluent man’s stupid pride not allowing him to appear to care a lot about a small package by asking for privacy.

Seungjun pretended to do all his newly acquired routines like normal, getting ready for sleep as always. Yet this time, he kept his eyes open and listened to the gentle heels walking up and down the hall. He stayed patient until there were large intervals in the taps leaving and arriving. Only three different maids had walked by a few times, giving away that most were still busy or asleep.
His door was unlocked for him to use the bathroom, but that day he made use of the luxury by walking to the other side of the hallway to inspect the keyhole Changyun’s office had. Every step he set he made sure to not make a single sound, testing each floorboard for a creak. And while a few lights were still on to guide his way, Seungjun kept to the shadows. The handle and its lock were of strong metal.