Chapter 21
The air in the room felt too still, like everyone had paused mid-scene. Gyu In blinked at Eun Wol, the lines of sleep still softening his face, while Ryu Chan leaned back on the sofa, arms crossed and lips pursed as though he were watching a romantic drama unfold.
No one said anything for a beat. Even the clock seemed to hold its breath.
Gyu In looked between the two of them, his gaze sharpening as his mind caught up with the situation. There was a sudden alertness in his eyes, too sharp for someone who had just woken up.
"You told him?" he asked finally, voice rough.
"I guess I'm really not getting any sleep," Ryu Chan muttered, half-heartedly flipping through a pile of documents. "The thing about this whole digging-up saga is there was nothing suspicious."
"Impossible!" Eun Wol blurted out.
"Hush," Ryu Chan frowned. "Lee Dong Yeo is too clean. Too quiet. It's either erased, or it's being protected."
"Which means…" Gyu In settled beside Eun Wol, expression darkening.
"There's someone bigger," Ryu Chan said. "Someone with power. The kind that makes records disappear." His eyes slid toward Eun Wol, lazy but sharp. "Now my question back to you. Do you know anyone other than Lee Dong Yeo who might be involved in whatever mess you're suspecting?"
"You know I have almost zero information to work on." Ryu Chan sighed and jerked a thumb toward Gyu In. "And when I asked this guy, he also doesn't know anything."
Gyu In clicked his tongue and glared. "How is it our fault your skills have gone rusty from hanging out with too many girls?"
"Shut up. If I can't find it, no one else can." His fingers danced across the keyboard without pause, each tap sharp and deliberate. Folders opened, files blinked to life, and a dark interface spread across the screen.
"But I did dig something out," he said, turning the laptop toward them. "A bar. Name's MUTE."
The glow from the laptop cut through the dim room, washing Gyu In's face in cold light. He squinted, eyes narrowing. "…Never heard of it."
"Exactly," Ryu Chan said, fingers tapping against the trackpad. "It's under a shell company. No website, no public records. Just an address buried under fake owners. But guess who's one of the latest stakeholders?"
"Lee Dong Yeo?" Gyu In guessed.
"Dang," Ryu Chan sighed, feigning disappointment. "Park Su Min."
"…Manager Park?" Eun Wol repeated, the name catching oddly on his tongue.
"Yep. One of the managers handling TiARA - your sister's group." The grin slipped from Ryu Chan's face, his tone softening. "And here's the kicker. One stakeholder just got removed, or left quietly not long ago."
"Let me guess. Lee Dong Yeo this time?" Gyu In muttered.
"Ding ding. But the reason's a blank." Ryu Chan turned the laptop back to himself. "And he's not just drinking there. The place has back rooms, cash-only nights. You don't run a bar like that unless you're hiding something or someone."
"I'll go," Eun Wol said suddenly, leaning forward. His pulse seemed to echo in his words. "To the bar. I can find something."
Ryu Chan blinked, then let out a flat, unimpressed, "Nope. Not you. Don't even think about it."
"But why?" Eun Wol's eyes caught the laptop light, sharp and burning. "I've seen how they work behind the scenes. I know their patterns. The way they talk, the way they act when they're covering something up. I'll notice what others don't."
"He's right," Gyu In said quietly, though his voice carried weight. "It's not safe. If Eun Bin was involved with them… they know your face. You walk in, you won't walk out the same."
"Are you expecting me to sit here and wait?" The words tore out of him. "You don't understand. If they dragged her into this, if they hurt her—" His voice cracked, low and uneven. "I won't let them get away with it."
Silence gathered again, heavy and unbroken.
Then Ryu Chan exhaled and muttered, "Jesus. The dramatics. Could've warned me I was working with a chaebol drama script."
He didn't even look up from the laptop. "Look, I get it. You're pissed, and you want blood. But you storm in like that, they won't even need to cover it up. You'll disappear so fast, even your ghost won't find the way home."
Gyu In glanced at Eun Wol, voice low. "He's not wrong. I know you want to protect her, but charging in blind won't help. It'll only break you more."
Ryu Chan stretched, yawning as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Alright, I'm beat. But I'm not just gonna nap on this." He tapped the laptop once. "Might need someone on the inside. I'll see what I can pull, but for now, keep your heads down. No reckless moves."
He gave them a crooked smirk. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, yeah?"
He tossed a lazy salute toward Gyu In and disappeared into the spare room. The door clicked shut, leaving a silence that pressed in from every side.
Eun Wol didn't move. His reflection stared back from the dark screen. "You told him."
Gyu In turned slightly, caught off guard. "Yeah."
"That was meant for you." The words came quiet, almost calm but there was a fracture beneath. "I told you because I trusted you. And you handed it off like it was just another report."
"I needed help," Gyu In said, his tone careful. "I didn't do it to hurt you."
"But you didn't tell me." Eun Wol's gaze lifted to meet his, steady now. "You didn't even ask. You just decided for me."
Gyu In's jaw tightened. "If I didn't, we'd still be in the dark. You think I wanted to drag you into this again? I'm trying to help—"
"I never asked you to."
The air went still. The quiet between them stretched thin, fragile as glass.
"Look," Gyu In said at last, his voice low, worn at the edges, "we're in this together. So maybe… don't tear yourself apart trying to do it alone. I'll do my part. You do yours."
Eun Wol's shoulders eased slightly, though the anger still simmered under his skin.
"Alright," he muttered. "No more snitching behind my back."
Gyu In's mouth twitched into something faint, almost a smile. "Fair."
"But no more hanging up on me either."
"You deserved that."
"Yeah." A quiet huff escaped him. "I did."
The silence that followed was different this time. Tired instead of sharp.
Outside, the city had softened into blue-grey. Somewhere beyond the window, a bird called once and went quiet again. Eun Wol stood first. He didn't speak as he brushed past Gyu In toward the kitchen. The refrigerator light flicked on, spilling pale blue across his face, but even that cold didn't touch the heat in his chest.
Gyu In watched him for a moment longer before turning back to the desk. The screen glowed to life again. Ryu Chan's program was still running, lines of code racing down like rain, relentless, uncaring.
He glanced at Eun Wol again, at the faint crease between his brows, the way his shoulders stayed tense, as if he was holding something that wouldn't stop trembling.
"Maybe you should rest," Gyu In said quietly, voice careful, like he was afraid it might push him further away. "You've been running on empty."
Eun Wol's jaw clenched. His eyes stayed on the fridge light, refusing to turn. "I'm fine."
The words hung there—flat, unconvincing. He walked out moments later without another word, leaving the sound of the door and his fading footsteps behind.The space he left seemed heavier somehow, the air itself thick with everything unsaid.
Gyu In stood still for a long time, fists tightening once before he forced himself to breathe.
"Why can't I ever get things right…" he muttered.
*
Hours later, Gyu In sat at his desk, the hum of the city faint through the window. His phone lay cold beside him, untouched until the screen lit up.
[Ryu Chan]
Received: Heh, next step we need your valuable face. Time to play detective.
Gyu In stared at the message, a faint, bitter smile ghosting on his lips. His fingers hovered above the keyboard, then fell away. Part of him wanted to tell Eun Wol everything. To warn him, to bring him into the plan. But the silence between them still lingered, heavy enough to choke the words before they formed.
Not yet.
He needed to fix this first. To pull the pieces together before dragging Eun Wol deeper into the mess.
Maybe once I have answers, he thought, I can make things right again.
Outside, the sky had turned pale, early light spilling across the desk. Gyu In didn't move. His thoughts ran faster than the city waking below, tangled between guilt and resolve.
He wasn't just fighting the shadows beyond these walls, he was fighting the distance growing between them.
And he wasn't going to lose.