Who I've Been Searching For | Sungjoy

Chapter 9: Interruptions

Joy looked over at Sungjae, who was staring at her with a shocked expression on his face.

Did I scare him? she thought.

"Sungjae-ssi," Joy called out to him. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," he stammered, still unable to process what had just happened. "Thank you, Ms. Park."

Ms. Park.

He had called her Ms. Park again. Joy's heart felt a pang of pain as she heard him say it.

I guess I really did scare him, she thought sadly. Back to square one again.

Joy heard a flurry of movement behind her and immediately took a fighting stance. "Sungjae-ssi, stay behind me," she ordered him.

Sungjae did as he was told, moving behind Joy, who was surveying her options.

Bo-ah tapped Joy's shoulder, "Ms. Park, it's SM Research's security team," she announced as a group of uniformed men came running in.

"Ms. Kwon, are you alright?"

"Yes, fine now, thanks to Ms. Park's quick reaction," Bo-ah smiled at Joy, who smiled back shyly. She turned and nodded at the unconscious researchers and the assailant. "Take the wounded to the medical room. Get that scum to the police."

"Right away."

--

Changsub had been waiting outside for Sungjae and Joy, alongside several other uniformed police officers inside of a barricade. Many employees looked confused as they were escorted out of the building.

Finally, he saw them come out.

"Sungjae! Joyiah!" he shouted, running towards them. He hugged them both tightly. "I'm glad you're both safe."

"Hyung," Sungjae looked still looked slightly shaken. "You're alright."

"Of course, I am!" Changsub scanned Sungjae over quickly. "I came back and was waiting for you in the lobby when the alarm sounded." He turned over to Joy. "How are you, Joyiah?"

"You should be very proud of your employee." Three heads turned to look at Bo-ah walking towards them. "She did very well."

"Thank you, Ms. Kwon," Joy bowed her head as she accepted Bo-ah's praise. She raised her eyes and saw three teams of paramedics wheel out the wounded on stretchers. She looked at them with sad eyes.

"Will they be alright?' she asked Bo-ah.

"I believe so," Bo-ah replied. "I don't know how that man managed to sneak into our company though."

She turned away as one of the police officers asked for her witness statement.

"I know," Changsub pointed at a pair of women who were sitting handcuffed in a nearby police cruiser. "Those two."

"The receptionists?" Joy looked surprised.

"They aren't receptionists, and they don't work here," Changsub said grimly. "They were hired to separate us."

Sungjae finally looked at Changsub. "What do you mean separate us?"

"Someone knows that you have a bodyguard now, and that someone knows that you're also going to be the deciding factor of the merger deal we're doing," Changsub explained. "I overheard them confess to the police that they had been hired to separate you from your bodyguard and to activate the sleeper agent hitman when you had begun the tour."

In truth, Changsub had been the one who had interrogated the pair before the police had stormed SM Research.

If it was possible, Sungjae turned even more pale.