The High-Tiers // Monsta X

Chapter 35

Shownu

The guards stationed at the main entrance gave me a small dip of their heads as I entered the main wing, holding Kihyun by my side with my hand around his upper arm.

We walked into the lobby, looking even more spacious without a single soul inside. The CEO had kept his word and sent everyone except the guards away.

The echoes of our footsteps were the only sound that accompanied us as we went past the empty reception desk, through the gates, and into the elevator hall.

I loosened my hold on Kihyun while we waited for an elevator, but still felt rock-hard tension in his muscles as if he was being constrained by something else. His wrists, tied together with cuffs in front of his body, had barely moved.

A soft chime sounded and the doors slid open. I nudged Kihyun gently and we entered the box, turning around to face the door as they slid shut. My new uniform chafed my skin as I did the maneuver. The material was still too foreign to my body, the belt too heavy, the sleeves too tight. It was a reminder that this was all just a disguise.

"Do you have any idea where the potions are?" I asked quietly, swiping my ID on the reader under the rows of numbered buttons lining the wall of the elevator.

Instead of answering, he raised both of his hands in a stiff motion and pressed floor 34. The floor that led to the cells I was supposed to bring Kihyun to. I looked at him with surprise and my heart sank when I saw the despondency in his glassy eyes.

Despite everything we spoke about yesterday night, I was afraid the despair would return to Kihyun overnight, that he would lose all the hope I had managed to give him and give up. So far, it seemed like my concern was valid.

I had to convince him again. Not because I didn't want to be the one who brought him here and ruin his life once and for all, but because I realised I couldn't bear to watch him give up his own life to VALER when he still had a chance.

I had to talk to him, but not now. I cast a discreet glance towards the ceiling, aware of the CCTV camera pointed at us. I couldn't risk making a scene.

We ascended in silence. I kept a light touch on Kihyun's arm as we walked out the elevator, but he was the one who led the way. I was wondering what I could say and when to say it when Kihyun stopped suddenly, head slightly tilted towards the sky. I followed his gaze and saw another CCTV camera.

"The lights went off."

I noticed it the same time Kihyun spoke. There was no blinking red light on the camera.

"Is it them?" Kihyun asked.

I nodded, knowing he was referring to Jooheon and his friends.

I took out a key from my pocket and reached for Kihyun's hands. As I cuffed him, I said, "We can go look for the potions now."

Kihyun let his freed wrists fall to his sides and looked up at me impassively. For a second I feared he was going to tell me to tie me up again and throw him into a cell, but then his eyes sharpened with a fleeting moment of menace and ferocity, and he asked, "Will I finally meet him? The person who hurt Sungwoon?"

I hesitated. I wasn't sure if Changkyun was even working with Jooheon to infiltrate VALER, but I remembered what I told Kihyun yesterday. This was what Kihyun came here for. It was his driving force.

"I don't know," I replied truthfully. "But I hope you do. You need that closure."

A flash of pain crossed his face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. I watched Kihyun's facial features harden gradually into a stoic expression. "What's your plan? You're here to find evidence to incriminate VALER, not to help me."

I understood the message he was trying to send by changing the topic so abruptly. Even now, after everything I found out about Kihyun, he was still keeping me at an arm's length, away from his personal life and problems.

I knew he wasn't trying to hurt me on purpose. I understood he was just keeping everything to himself because that was what he was doing his whole life. There were a lot of times where my help was not appreciated or straight out rejected, but somehow, with Kihyun, I couldn't help but feel hurt and inadequate and wronged that he refused to accept me, despite me probably being one of the few people who knew all about Kihyun's story.

"You can't do this alone," I started to say, but the mini tablet strapped to my wrist—part of my bulky uniform—buzzed, notifying me of an incoming call.

The name on the display informed me that it was Hanjae. I gave Kihyun a grim look and pressed the button to pick up the call.

"Hyunwoo, where are you?" Hanjae's anxious voice crackled through the compact speakers. "The men at the entrance told me you brought Kihyun in a while ago. What's taking you so long? Those bastards hacked our whole surveillance system. Our CCTVs are down. We lost track of them. The CEO is going to be furious. Throw Kihyun in the cells and report to me, now."

The call ended with a low beep.

"Go." The single word from Kihyun's mouth sounded more like a command than all the things Hanjae had said just now.

"You can't do this alone," I tried to say again. This time, Kihyun interrupted me.

"No, you have to go. You have to keep playing your role as an employee. How else are you going to get the intel you need and find the evidence you're after?"

Kihyun gave me a push on my arm that barely had any force in it.

I didn't say anything to argue. He was right, and he wasn't going to give in no matter what I said.

I let my eyes linger on Kihyun's stern gaze for a moment before I finally acquiesced.

"Be careful," I said.

Then I turned around and walked away.