Untouched [minsung]

Chapter 36

Felix POV

I held my breath as I waited for her to respond. She placed down the towel and turned slowly towards me. Her warm demeanor was gone. She looked serious, professional even.

"And what exactly do you know about Han?" Mrs. Seo asked.

"I know that he's your son. And I know earlier that you said it was important to you as a mother to see your son happy. Han isn't happy," I rambled. I needed to make her hear me.

Plus, the more time that I spent speaking and focusing on Han (or Changbin), the less time that I thought about how much I wanted her dead.

"Come," she said, taking my arm and leading me back to the others. Changbin's head shot up when we walked into the room. His eyes met mine and glanced at his mother's hand around my arm before looking back to my face with a confused expression.

"Changbin, we will be right back baby. I'm going to show Felix around the house," she smiled and patted my arm.

"I can come, too," Changbin said as he began standing.

"No, no stay. I want to get to know him better. A little one-on-one."

Changbin threw an apologetic look my way, and I gave him a thumbs up so that he'd feel alright about me going off with his mom. I wondered how he would feel about leaving me alone with her if he knew the truth.

We turned and left them behind. She didn't utter a word. She led me down hallway after hallway, and I truly wondered if their house was designed to make it difficult for intruders to find and kill them...or for families to find and rescue their kidnapped loved ones. Maybe the answer was both.

I wondered if Lily had ever walked where we were. Had she also seen the family portraits? The table of glass animals? Had she been snapped at and ordered to put flowers in their vases before?

"In here," she ordered. She dropped my arm once we got into the room, and she rounded a desk to sit at a large leather chair.

I went to stand by the window and looked outside at their backyard with its beautiful plants, flowers, and pool.

"Does Changbin know?" she asked and I was taken aback. She truly cared about her son. It was so different from the way the Hwangs treated their children.

"No. I didn't think it was my place to share that information," I told her.

"And why isn't Han happy? What's happened? Lee Know told me just the other day that they'd been doing well."

I had nearly forgotten Lee Know's lies. I'd have to build my story around that to keep him safe and out of trouble as well.

"Han was taken by the Hwang's," I began."

"What? When?"

"That's not important. What's important is that they have him. Lee Know went to save him but was double-crossed. They have Lee Know now, too."

"How could this have happened? I hired Lee Know to keep him safe," she looked more angry than sad.

"Han and Lee Know had a fight," I began but needed to underplay it so she'd not take it out on Lee Know. "A small fight and Han went out for a walk. Jeongin, the Hwang's younger son, took him. I guess he'd seen Lee Know hanging around him and got suspicious."

"Oh my god," she covered her hand with her mouth as she listened.

"Hyunjin, the eldest son of the Hwangs, found out where Han was being held and informed us."

"Why?" she asked. I knew that this was where it would get tricky. My choice to try to get them to rescue Hyunjin too was risky, but I couldn't leave him behind.

"He and I were friends in college, and he knows Han and I are friends now."

She eyes me suspiciously. "Do you know?" she asked simply. But I knew she was referring to the families' businesses.

"I didn't then, but I do now."

"Does Changbin know?"

I shook my head and she visibly relaxed. "Thank you. He's not made for this world. He's far too kind."

"You're welcome," I replied, a bit surprised she'd allow her son to stay out of the business. "Anyway, Hyunjin was our informant. The plan was for Seungmin and Hyunjin to kidnap Jeongin and lure him to Seungmin's for a 'party', and, once security was redirected for rescue, Lee Know would infiltrate their facility to save Han."

"Seungmin was involved, too?"

I nodded.

She reached into her desk and pressed a button. "Send in Chan," she said into the speaker. "Please continue," she motioned.

I hoped that Chan was not there to eliminate me once she got the information she needed.

"Lee Know was supposed to let me know once he had Han, but I never heard from him. I went to check his house to see if he was there but Seungmin was there. Hyunjin wasn't. And when Jeongin showed up..."

I paused and pulled out my phone to show her the picture I had taken.

"He and Jeongin are working together. I watched Jeongin pay him off, and they kissed. I'm unsure of the nature of their relationship, but I know that Seungmin tipped off Jeongin who then was able to stop Hyunjin and capture Lee Know."

"I had a bad feeling about Seungmin, but my husband wouldn't listen," she complained. I was surprised to hear her bad mouth her husband so openly.

"Where are they being held?" she asked.

"The Hwangs have an underground portion of their house. They're being held there."

"Do you know anything about how they're doing?" she asked.

I shook my head. "All I know is Hyunjin said Han was not doing well. I don't know to what extent."

She nodded with a somber expression. Someone knocked on the door behind us.

"Come in, Chan," she invited. She introduced us not knowing we had met before and had me repeat everything to Chan. She described him as her head of security. I knew him as the guy who asked sexual questions during games of never have I ever.

She explained everything to him. She even told him that Han was her son.

"What would you like me to do?" Chan asked with a determined expression.

"You are officially redirected to guarding Changbin. You'll also work with Felix to come up with an extraction plan that excludes Changbin. He's not to know anything. Understood?"

Chan nodded and stood straight as Mrs. Seo rose from her chair.

"And Chan?" she began. "Not a word of this to my husband."