locked [chanbaek and kaisoo]

Chapter 25

"It's the marketing department."

Confused, Jongin looked up at Kyungsoo. He looked like he had no clue of what the shorter male was talking, and Kyungsoo knew he didn't. He had just stepped into Jongin's office, and hadn't explained anything to him yet.

He just didn't know how.

"What is?" Jongin asked Kyungsoo, puzzled by his silence.

Feeling the weight of the bad news on his shoulders, Kyungsoo sighed heavily, and took a seat across the desk from Jongin. From the other side of the desk, Jongin was watching him, worried and clueless.

"The traitor," Kyungsoo finally said, looking up at the other with worry. "The traitor works in the marketing department after all."

Jongin looked taken aback and shocked, and Kyungsoo couldn't expect anything else. After all, Jongin was the leader of the entire marketing team. He knew everyone here, every single person who worked under him, and most probably trusted every single one. His chocolate eyes were widened with shock at what Kyungsoo had just said, and his lips parted to let out a breath of disbelief.

Kyungsoo knew this was going to be hard on him. Loyal as he was, Jongin hurt a lot when somebody betrayed his trust.

"Nini," he reached out across the table, to take Jongin's hand in his. "Don't start thinking that it's your fault. It's most definetely not."

Jongin didn't answer for a second.

"How did you find out?" he asked, voice low and emotionless.

Kyungsoo frowned. That fake nonchalance in Jongin's voice did not trick him.

"One guy from the investigation team noticed a mistake in our assumptions," he told the other carefully. "He checked the timetables, and noticed, that around the time the song was sent, whole of the music department was actually in their department meeting. They always check attendance there, to know who yet needs to be informed about decisions taken during the meeting. And on that day, nobody from the entire department was missing. They were all attending. Which, sadly, left us with the marketing department employees as the only suspects in the case."

"I see," Jongin nodded, rubbing his eyes tiredly with the tips of his long fingers. "Thanks for telling me anyways. Am I the first to know?"

"You are."

"Not for long."

It wasn't a question, not from the tone it was said with, but Kyungsoo still felt he needed to answer.

"I'm sorry, Jongin. It's all part of the process," he explained, staring at the other worriedly, and a bit guiltily. "If the traitor knows that we've narrowed the list of suspects that much, he's more likely to do something rash and stupid, and hence give himself away. That's why, I'm afraid, it is quite necessary to inform all the departments about this, in order to catch the suspect as soon as possible."

Jongin listened to all that quietly, looking at his hands the whole time Kyungsoo spoke, and didn't react to his words in any way. Kyungsoo even doubted he heard what he said at all. But when a moment of silence between them passed, Jongin suddenly smiled sadly at him, and sighed.

"You truly sound like a lawyer now, Soo," he said.

Kyungsoo furrowed his eyebrows with worry. This fake, sad smile was bad news. Jongin was slipping away, slipping into the pit of self-blame and sadness, and Kyungsoo needed to stop him before it was too late.

"Come on," he stood up from the chair he was sitting in, and went around the table to Jongin's side. "You're going out with me. Now."

Jongin looked up at him.