Seonghwa walked casually between the crowd of people, pretending to drink the champagne in the glass he was holding in his hand. He sometimes quietly approached a group of people or got closer to eavesdrop their conversation, pretending to be focused on the music that the live orchestra was playing.
《I can't find Mr. Lee anywhere》 Hongjoong's voice came from Seonghwa's earpiece
He was monitoring the place's security cameras, looking for the man, but he couldn't see him in the crowd. Seonghwa looked for him too around the people, but it seemed like he wasn't there.
《I think he didn't come tonight》 Seonghwa said 《I've heard Mrs. Harris talking about him and it seemed like he said he couldn't come at the last minute》
《Way to waste a night》 Hongjoong mumbled 《We could have done something more useful than stalking rich people》
《It wasn't completely useless》 Seonghwa replied 《I heard some pretty interesting things about next week's auction》
《Did you hear where they'll hold it?》
《Yes, they will-》
Seonghwa was talking while turning around, but then he suddenly froze. He couldn't believe his eyes. From far he could see you talking to a man on the stairs to the second floor. Eight long years had passed since the last time he saw you, but you hadn't changed one bit. The only difference, was that you were a woman now.
《Seonghwa?》 Hongjoong called, worried 《Are you still there?》
《Yes》 he replied, not really listening to his friend
Looking at you, he felt a weird nostalgic feeling in his chest. He spent eight years looking for you, wondering if you were okay or if something happened to you. He spent eight years missing you. Having you in front of his eyes so suddenly felt odd.
While talking to the man, you looked around the room and your eyes met Seonghwa's. Panicking, he quickly turned around.
《Y/N is here》 he said, starting to walk away
《Y/N?》 Hongjoong asked, confused 《Y/N who?》
《That Y/N!》
He heard Hongjoong curse on the other side of the line.
《She's alive?》 he asked, his voice shaking
《Yes》 Seonghwa replied 《And I think she saw me. I have to get out of here》
《She never saw your human form, you should be safe》 Hongjoong reasoned
《Yeah but she knows my voice》 Seonghwa replied, trying to find an excuse to run out of that house 《We can't risk it》
《Just get out of there then, we already got what we wanted》
Seonghwa quickly glanced behind him and noticed you in the crowd. You were looking around, probably looking for someone. He didn't know if you were looking for him or someone else, but he couldn't stay there to find out. He turned around again and walked out of the house. When Seonghwa arrived home, Hongjoong was already waiting for him at the entrance.
《Was it really her?》 he asked, nervous
《Yes》
《How is she? Did she look okay?》
《She's... she's grown so much》 Seonghwa replied, frowning
《It's been eight years》
《I never thought I would see her again》 he confessed 《I can't believe it's real》
《At least we know she's alive》 Hongjoong said 《I've lived with that doubt weighting on my chest for all these years》
《We need to find out more》 Seonghwa suddenly said 《I don't understand why she was at that party. I have a bad feeling about this》
《Let's go to San》
The two walked into San's studio, where he was working on his computers.
《You're back》 he said, not even looking away from the screen
《I need you to do something for me》 Seonghwa said 《I need you to find everything you can about a girl named Kang Y/N》
Seonghwa spent those eight years looking for you, and he already knew that only looking for you knowing your name was not enough. But he had more clues now, which he hoped would be of help.
《She was at the party, her name should be on the list》 he continued 《I saw her talking with Choi Dohyun, so look if you can find something about her connected to him》
San started typing on the keyboard right away.
《Who is she?》 he asked while working
《She's an old friend》 Hongjoong replied
《There were other hybrids at the party?》 San asked, surprised
《She's human》 Hongjoong said
San stopped typing, then slowly turned to look at his two friends.
《Just find her》 Seonghwa said 《We'll talk about this later》
He knew San was going to get mad at them, so he ordered him to go back to work. Hongjoong and Seonghwa both chilled on the couch next to San, waiting for him to find something. In the mean time, Seonghwa informed him of the things he heard during the party.
《Guys I got something》 San said at one point
They got up so fast that San flinched back, surprised.
《What did you find?》 Seonghwa asked, impatient
《I couldn't find anything under her name, not even if she attended a school or bought something》 San said, typing something 《Apparently her name wasn't on the list either. She probably attended the party as someone's "plus one"》
《I looked for any connection with Choi Dohyun and I found this》 he said
He showed a blurry photo of a worker's ID card. The person on the ID was you, but the name was different. What bothered Seonghwa the most, was the fact that it was the ID of a company that was known for doing illegal business with hybrids.
《She works for Choi Dohyun under the name Min Chaewon》 San explained 《It seems like she's been working there for almost a year. She takes care of organizing the events. I hacked into their systems and I found out she'll be helping with the auction of next week as well》
Both Seonghwa and Hongjoong were too shocked to reply.
《You said she's a friend》 San slowly said, upset 《You are friends with abusers?》
《She doesn't work with them》 Seonghwa replied, in denial 《There must be a reason. She's not like that, she wouldn't do it》
《I think the facts prove otherwise》
《Seonghwa's right, there must be a reason》 Hongjoong agreed
San sighed.
《You'll see it with your own eyes at the auction》 he replied 《She'll be there》
Seonghwa kept staring at the screen, looking at your photo. He felt torn. Even though you only spent two months together, he knew deep inside that you weren't a bad person, but this new discovery was messing with his head. He told himself he wasn't going to believe it. He only wanted the day of the auction to arrive as soon as possible, so he could finally see you again, and find out what your intentions were.
