𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚. ♚ 𝙣𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙛𝙞𝙖 𝙖𝙪

~ IX. ~

March 22.

8:24 p.m.

     "What's this I hear about letting someone else into our workplace?" Yuta asked after bursting into Taeyong's office. Taeyong looked up from the mass of paperwork he was reading through and over towards the Japanese man. 

     "Someone claims to have information that can help us work on this mission," Taeyong responded curtly, not bothering to make eye contact with the other. Yuta frowned and took a seat at one of the chairs opposing Taeyong's side of the large wooden desk.

     "So, what, you just thought it would be a good idea to let this person in without completely knowing if they're trustworthy?" Taeyong ignored the question, giving a very obvious answer. Yuta rolled his eyes. "What are you working on that's keeping you so focused, anyways?" he pestered once more. 

     "I'm currently reading through several sources to test the credibility on the newcomer," Taeyong replied, glancing up at Yuta briefly. "He states that he's the nephew of Black Queen's leader. According to Lucas he checks out, but standard procedure is for me to research myself to verify." Taeyong tapped his fingers on his desk as he explained. Yuta scrunched his nose is displeasure.

     "Is there a reason that's all you're bothering to tell me? Because normally you let me know what's going on if I ask," Yuta questioned. He stared at Taeyong, waiting for an answer, but he remained silent. "Don't tell me you're questioning my credibility and how much you trust me now that someone new is here," Yuta said, his eyes widening as he spoke.

     "It's not just you. No one is being told anything until we have the information we need and we can fully rely on the new guy. The only people that know anything about anything he has told us so far are me, Jaehyun, Lucas and Renjun," Taeyong said to him, setting down the papers he was reading  and folding his hands together over them. "If I were you, I wouldn't try to ask any of them either. They're under strict rules for confidentiality," Taeyong added.

     "Why are you trusting Renjun with this instead of me? You should be able to trust me more than that Chinese rat!" Yuta shouted. He watched Taeyong's eyes move from him to the door of his office. Yuta turned to see Renjun standing in the doorway with more paperwork. The young male pursed his lips together.

     "Here's some more paperwork on the newcomer," Renjun said bluntly, as he walked by Yuta to quickly place the papers on Taeyong's desk. Taeyong bowed slightly in thanks as he turned to exit the office, glaring at Yuta on the way out. Yuta felt a rush of guilt as the younger boy left the office.

     "Renjun is being used as a translator since he understands the newcomer's dialect. If I were you, I would go apologize to him before Sicheng finds out what happened," Taeyong suggested, picking up the new set of papers and beginning to flip through them. Of course, Yuta knew how close Sicheng was to Renjun and he knew that his lover would fight him if he find out what happened, so he sighed and exited the office to apologize to the younger boy.

     Taeyong stared blankly at the wall, a jumble of thoughts loudly presenting themselves in his mind. He rubbed his temples and skimmed over all the new information Renjun had given to him.