Answer ||| Ateez

9

Mercer was distracted and he had been for a few days now.

Wooyoung watched him from the corner of the room where he had been ordered to kneel and not move.

He watched the man pace back and forth behind his desk with his hands clasped behind his back.

Something had happened, but it was too hard to tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Wooyoung guessed he would probably find out when he was taken back to their bedroom.

His knees were starting to hurt. It took everything in him not to shift or make any kind of movement.

From what he had been able to gather in previous meetings, Wooyoung knew that Mercer was on the trail of shutting down some kind of black market and a few other businesses that were supposedly a threat to him.

The door on the far side of the room opened. Wooyoung didn't turn his head, but he did raise his eyes to peek through his eyelashes.

He instantly recognized the thin body to be San's. His movements were smooth and calculated and he was light-footed enough that there was no sound made as he walked a crossed the hardwood floor.

"Is everything still in place?" Mercer asked, stopping his pacing long enough to look at him.

"Yes, Sir. They haven't removed the device."

"Good. Keep monitoring it, if it's who I think it is, then they will show their hand soon." Mercer nodded and started to look through a file on his desk.

"What is so important about this ring, Sir?" San asked, keeping his voice respectful. "Some of our men to there to destress at the end of the day."

"I know. It's not the ring I have an issue with. It's who owns it. Once I take care of them, I will keep the ring running and that will be one more source of income for us."

"The owners, Sir?"

Mercer let out a long sigh. "Yes. They could be problematic for me and I need to take care of them."

Wooyoung chewed on the inside of his lip. He knew Mercer well enough to know that for whatever reason, these people made him nervous. But why? He was the most powerful man in the city. All he needed to do was snap his fingers and he could get whatever he wanted.

Just like now.

At a single snap, Wooyoung stood up and walked over to his side, keeping his head bowed the entire time.

The man ran a hand down his back and ended with it resting on his ass, but otherwise didn't acknowledge his presence.

Wooyoung took this time to peek at what on the desk.

Most of it was files or random stacks of paper. But he did pick out a few names on top that had either a '+' or a '-' next to them.

Kim Hongjoong +

Jeong Yunho +

Kang Yeosang +

Choi Jongho +

Song Mingi –

What did that mean?

Then his eyes drifted over to where there were two more files.

Jung Wooyoung

Choi San

His heart started to beat faster.

What was Mercer planning? And why did he have a file?