ATZ Special Unit

twenty-five

Chapter 25: "I Am Much Worse."

It was a late night for Wooyoung, finding that there were endless files of trades and stocks to sift through on the USB. The rest of the unit headed out pretty early after finding this out, knowing that nothing could be of note until Wooyoung was done.

Well.. the unit minus San, who decided to stay behind to keep Wooyoung company. 

Wooyoung's brain works fast, but so far this felt grueling. Whatever was hidden in these files was extremely well buried and for a while, despite his will to keep going, he started to think that there wasn't anything to take note of. 

"What if this anon just sent us on a wild goose chase?" Wooyoung grumbled, leaning back in his chair while cradling an iced coffee against his chest. 

San shrugged, "They could be.. Should you be drinking that?" 

Wooyoung narrowed his eyes at San and took a sip before muttering, "No.. But Yuyu made it for me.."

San rolled his eyes playfully, taking the cup from Wooyoung's hands. "Here, we'll split it so you don't have too much caffeine in your system this late." 

Wooyoung pouted, "Finee.." 

When San returned with two cups from the break room, Wooyoung was still pouting. The older had to resist the urge to kiss it from his face. Though maybe it'd be a good time to admit his very obvious feelings for the other..

Handing the cup to Wooyoung, San opens his mouth to say, "Woo-"

"Wait! There's an anomaly here!" Wooyoung exclaims. 

San sighs internally and looks at the screen, "What is it?"

The younger sifted through and saw a zipped file that was password protected. "A zipped file.." Wooyoung mumbled and San gave a questioning look. 

"Aren't there a lot of those?"

"Well, yes and .. no. This one is password protected. None of the others are like that.." 

San could see Wooyoung's brain work, "So.. how do you unlock it?"

"Easy!" Wooyoung smiled mischievously wide, "This is where my ultimate hacking skills come to fruition!"

"Nerd." San said with a laugh.

Wooyoung ignored San and got to work, typing fast on the computer and entering multiple possibilities into his generator. Ultimately, the process took five minutes. Not his fastest time yet, but it was done!

San felt dizzy having watched it all. 

"Okay so.." Wooyoung said when the file finally loaded in, "It's a.. kids tale? And by the looks of it, it's really cryptic. A lot of the words are in the wrong order.." 

San took a closer look before the screen glitched and the screen went black. "Is that suppose to-"

"Shit, I think they had extra measures I didn't check for!" Wooyoung was back on the opposite monitor working away when San asked, "What does that mean?"

"It means that if I can't get through this block, they could easily locate us. The file could set off alarms."

San watched as Wooyoung became frantic again, this time with less calm than before. Once he was done, he slouched back in his chair with a sigh. "Just made it.. I'll have to take a picture of the kids tale and anything else I can find quickly."

"Is the kids tale even important?"

"I dunno.." Wooyoung mumbled, "But the fact that they cared enough about it to set alarm bells on it.."

"It's gotta be important to someone."

***

"Sir we've been alerted that an outside source has opened an unknown file from our data base."

"Which file was it?"

"An unnamed one, sir. One from your personal data base."

"Thank you.. Mina. I'll see to it that it is dealt with."

Mina smiled warmly and bowed before leaving out the door where she'd come from. The man seemed to chuckle, a hearty and sarcastic laugh as he ran a hand through his hair. "I know you're there, no need to hold your thoughts."

The office room was dark, despite it being the middle of the day. The blinds were always drawn and the air dry. To the unimposing, it would seem like a simple office space, one where a business man often schemes. 

From the dark corner of the room, another man creeps forward from there. His eyes shining like a cat as he smiles mischievously. His hair was a blood red and skin pale as the moon. A simple assassin just waiting for his next mark. 

"You know exactly my thoughts, boss." His voice comes out soft yet higher in pitch. The sound of a crazed man. "You and I both know exactly who it is."

"I've been watching and the informant has been helping him, just as I said, but it seems .. their relationship is more than I first assumed."

The older man narrowed his eyes at the figure still shrouded in darkness. "How so? What have you seen..?"

"They're friends. They care for each other."

"And how do you know that for certain?"

"Hm.." The younger thought out loud, "I suppose visiting the informant on his birthday and calling him while in emotional distress could lead to that assumption.."

Then the red-head smiled, baring his half silver and sharpened teeth. "But I could always test the hypothesis in another way, if you'd like." 

"Do as you wish." The man said boredly, "If Kim Hongjoong has already seen what's on this file.. I know where he's headed to next and I know he will be able to find what I have been searching for."

"Will you be following him there then?"

"No.. It'll be easier once he's returned." 

The younger man tilted his head, "So what shall I do while he is away?"

"As I said.." The older man smiled wickedly, "Do as you wish."

The younger man smiled wide and intimidating again, this time a look of understanding in his eyes. "I'm on it, sir."

"Oh, and one more thing.." 

"Yes, boss man?"

"Be a dear and try not to get yourself behind bars like that idiot Minhyuk."

The red-head's smile widened, if it was even possible. "Minhyuk was a poser, a murder hungry dog who never used his head."

"I am much worse."

--------

any guesses on who lyn's assassin is? 👀

i hope y'all are ready for the chaos to come bc it will be plentiful LMAO 

my uploading schedule is a little fried at the moment bc it turns out mondays are now my more busy days haha, i will be uploading on saturdays for this book now :) next saturday with hopefully be a double update!

i just got a new job at a botanical gardens and it's just so lovelyyy

i love you, i hope you are doing well and drinking water! remember that you are so loved and so wanted <3