feel me | yeonbin

012

present day

"I was with a customer last night," Soobin cuts in. He's sick of this. They're not here to help him or Yeonjun. This meeting is damage control for their company and nothing else. If answering their questions gets him-and Yeonjun-out of here quicker, he'll cooperate. A little bit. "I worked late. I think we finished around midnight and then I worked on cleaning the place up for the next day."

"Is there any evidence of this?"

"Monetary transactions and security footage," Soobin says, and Minhyuk nods as he scratches something down on a notepad.

"We will be looking into that further."

"Have fun. I'm sure the footage is riveting," Soobin says, earning himself a look from Taehyun. He holds in a sigh and bites his tongue. This Minhyuk guy is on his last nerve, acting as though Soobin wouldn't have Yeonjun's back through thick and thin, no matter their relationship.

"We will be moving forward with an investigation with the Digital Sexual Crimes Response Team," says Minhyuk, "until we find the perpetrator. I don't think I need to remind you what the punishments for revenge porn are in this country. This is not only an offense one can be fined for, this can lead to prison time."

"Good thing that's not something my client needs to worry about," Taehyun says as he stands up. "I appreciate your time here today and I will leave my contact information for you, but for now I would like to discuss next steps with my client privately. And I'd like to see that statement before it's shared to the public."

Minhyuk smiles, a fake, smug smile as he stands as well. Beside him, Jaejoong paces, hand over his mouth and head shaking. Everyone seems on edge, everyone on their feet now. Except Yeonjun. He stays right where he's been the whole time, eyes on the table.

"Fantastic. Glad we resolved nothing here today," Soobin says, then gives the team around them a halfhearted bow before he leaves the room. Taehyun follows, footsteps echoing down the hallway. Soobin glances back to see him yanking his jacket straight and fixing his tie. "They're gonna throw me under the bus."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Taehyun says. They come to a stop at an intersection of hallways and he turns to Soobin. "Trust me."

"Oh, I do," Soobin says, hands in his pockets. He glances down the hallway as others begin to pour out of the room, deep in discussion with each other. "Do me a favor?"

No one even seems to notice Yeonjun slip past them and start down the hallway toward Soobin and Taehyun.

Taehyun hums, his eyes also locked on Yeonjun, who keeps his head down as he walks.

"Look out for Yeonjun, too."

"Trust me," Taehyun says again as Soobin looks at him, "I know. I will."

There's a noise down the hall, pulling their attention to Yeonjun as he clears his throat. He nods to the right, and then darts down that hallway. They follow him with a glance back at the others until Yeonjun spins on his heel to look at them.

"Hi," he says to Taehyun, like it's a relief to finally speak to him. "It's good to see you. I'm-Listen, I'm sorry to do this, but can you buy us a little time?"

"I don't think you two should talk alone," Taehyun says, an apologetic smile on his face. "For legal purposes, I don't want to risk anything. I don't..."

But he falters as Yeonjun stares at him. Yeonjun gnaws at his already raw lips, the bottom one clasped between his teeth, and Taehyun sighs.

"Okay," Taehyun says. He reaches out and squeezes Yeonjun's shoulder with a tiny smile. "It's good to see you, too. Wish it was on better terms. I'll go harass that asshole about the public statement."