May 1, 2020
Book Two of the UNDONE series, following unrivaled
Jeon Jungkook is one of the youngest security experts in the country and he is working to keep his boss's company out of crisis. He is not alone. His friends are all professionals and d...
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Her anxiety spiked as she walked into the building. There were too many people milling about for a weekend morning. All of them were too busy to speak to her as she made her way up to the suite.
As she entered her office Mr. Kim brushed past her to catch the elevator. His hair was still damp from a shower and he did not take the time to speak to her.
She sank down at her desk, at a loss as to what she should do next.
She searched her desk. All her work had been completed before the Gala.
She filed. She cleaned her office, the private breakroom, the bathroom, anything to keep moving.
There was nothing else to do. She sank to her desk, afraid to pick up her phone.
There was a message waiting for her, just as she feared.
Watch the press conference at 3. Stay till everyone has left. Report everything your see or hear.
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Press conference? She checked social media to see that rumors were flying about both companies, speculation from everything from merger to security issues with the government project.
Security breach, that was what this was all about.
She sat motionless, sick to her stomach, overwhelmed by the implications, frightened of what she would be forced to do.
She sat until the news broke with the live conference. She watched SeokJin stride to the microphone and give assurances in his calm, confident voice.
Dae followed and did the same.
As Jimin finished, all beautiful smile and charm, the public went about their business, wondering what the fuss was about.
The fashion the three were wearing trended longer than the security issues.
Lyra did as she was told. She stayed in the office until the sun set, until the parking lot emptied. She never saw another soul.
She reported all of this as she was told, then made her way home, feeling defeated.
JK had the complete opposite experience.
All hell broke loose as they gathered to share intel.
The briefing was tense, Jin and Jimin at each other's throats, Dae in tears.
At some point it got sorted out and the rest of them gathered in the back of the room to watch Jin and Dae sell the explanation Jimin had crafted.
It seemed to work.
He lost the next week to non-stop investigation.
He had no idea that Jin and Dae were no longer allowed to communicate. He and Tae had security on lock. His only focus was to trace the leak and punish the one who put then in jeopardy.
Progress in the investigation was excruciatingly slow. Tae and JK shared the few small incidents as they found them. They all grew more tense and frustrated.
And then the bottom fell out.
SongDae disappeared and NamJoon, her brother, took over control at iNovis and his transition was rife was problems.
SeokJin managed to simply function, only JK knowing how badly he was struggling.
The two friends spent hours pouring over logs and videos. Their nights ended late, usually with Jin drinking alone as he dismissed JK.
As time continued, Jin had to give his full attention to the company. The government project was falling dangerously behind and NamJoon was refusing to cooperate.
All of that tension isolated Jungkook even more, and fired his determination to end this quickly.
He thought of Lyra often. Some days the stolen thought of her was the only thing that gave him peace, hope that soon things would be different. But then someone or something would drag him away again.
He felt guilt that he had not contacted her. Honestly, he lost all track of time and had no idea how long it had been.
One day the memory of her in her bathrobe popped in his mind.
His body flushed as he thought of her pulling the edges close around her throat, not realizing that she was more clearly outlining her breasts.
He also thought of how sweet and vulnerable she was that night. As his mind drifted, he remembered the flowers!
He had promised himself he would make it up to her, and like an ass he had forgotten!
He quickly called Hobi for the number of the best florist in town.
As he made the call, he was wondering what to order.
Flowers all had meanings, but he was more of a “give me that one" guy. He wanted this time to be special.
As he waited, he thought of the couple he had seen leaving the Gala and the way her eyes lit as she turned to look into his face. Like a sunflower, he had thought.
Lyra made him feel like that. Like she was seeking his warmth when she looked at him, like she needed his protection.
He was trying to put those thoughts into words when an urgent call came in for him.
In the end, he had been left with telling the florist “JK" when she asked what he wanted on the card and hastily hanging up to attend the other matter.
It was much later that he had time to think about that. Lyra would understand what he meant, right?
Lyra had been functioning on auto pilot.
She readied each morning to go into the office, she did the work Jin put in front of her, she went home and slept, only to wake to repeat it exactly the same way the next day.
She hated the way Jin was grieving. She felt powerless to help him. She was worried about Kim SongDae.
More than these things, she had not seen Jungkook in weeks. He had not been in the employee cafeteria or the breakroom where they had laughed over the vending machine.
She had looked for him every day. She had checked her phone constantly in the beginning, hoping against hope he had dropped even a brief text. She finally stopped checking, unwilling to risk the disappointment.
One day, out of the blue, there was a delivery for her. It was a charming bouquet of sunflowers.
Her heart began to hammer in her chest. Her favorites, how did he know?
She flushed as she remembered his embarrassment the night of the Gala because he forgot flowers for her.
She vividly recalled later than night, once again feeling his hands and his lips warming her body, feeling safe with him, trusting him, wanting him.
She searched the bouquet for a card, her hands tearing it open as she found it, hungry to hear from him, hoping for some time with him.
Her heart plummeted as she looked at the card in her hand.
It was expensive cardstock with thick black lettering flowing across it. It simply read “JK".
She sat staring, cursing herself for being disappointed, calling herself ungrateful for expecting more.
But in her heart, she decided it was the last task on his list from that night. He had completed his list, closed that chapter and had easily moved on.
From that day on Lyra felt she was merely existing until whoever was tormenting her decided it was time to end this damned game.
And she found she no longer really cared what happened to her. It would be over and she could sink into oblivion and the pain and fear would be gone.
