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“Did you know how fond ______ is of wine? And it’s not just about enjoying the drink itself or the culture, but the entire art of wine-making itself,” Yoongi shares with his parents. There is a hint of pride in his voice when he says all this. He glances towards you when he adds, “She’s been studying the wine-making process and the business for years. She has also been planning to build and develop her own winery and start her own production.” 

“Is that so?” His father asks, leaning forward in his seat and looking genuinely interested to hear about this. “Wine-making? And you want to build your own winery? Is that true?” 

His excitement upon hearing this seems so pure that it catches you off guard. You would be lying if you say that you aren’t happy and proud to be sharing this fact with him. “Yes, Sir. What Yoongi just said is true. I’ve shared everything about it with him a while ago,” you say this with a smile. Throwing a quick glance at Yoongi, his subtle nod encourages you to share more about it. 

“I found the passion while I was traveling right out of university and that was how I began studying about it. In fact, I already spent a few years planning and building the business before I had to return home.” You skirt around the reason why you actually had to come home and simply continue, “I had to put off the production plan and the plantation development when my father requested my assistance in the company, but I will admit, that I am still passionate about it. I’ve never lost interest in continuing the business, and have already told Yoongi so.” 

Your soon-to-be father-in-law nods his head as he takes this all in. The proud look in his eyes lingers, causing a myriad of emotions to rise in your chest upon finding support and respect in his reaction. And then he catches you by surprise when he tells you this—

“Then you should continue chasing that dream of yours.” 

You are left speechless. Especially when you hear how genuine he sounds when he says this. “I’ve always believed that a person should follow their passion when it comes to business, and if there is ever an opportunity to build that passion into something profitable, it would be the best accomplishment a person could ever have.” His gaze suddenly shifts, filled with longing, as if he is reminiscing a different time and is placing himself in your shoes. 

You feel a shiver running through your spine, your mind is suddenly filled with questions when he seems to be mourning for a part of his life that he once had to let go of. But everything fades when he looks at you with a more resolved look in his eyes to say, “Perhaps you can find the opportunity again after the wedding and once you are officially married to our son.” 

Your future father-in-law turns to his son, nodding. “Yoongi had shared with me about his intention of filling the late Park Jinyoung’s shoes in the near future, hoping that he can assist your father in dealing with the loss of his trusted assistant. I know that my son is capable enough to at least share the responsibility you still have in your father’s company so you can get back on track with building your winery.” 

“That is a splendid idea,” his wife chimes in. “Please tell me you’ll willing to let her chase her dreams.” 

Noticing that you are stunned to silence by this sudden development, Yoongi lets out a chuckle and takes your hand in his. “I’ve actually been thinking about it ever since ______ talked to me about her dreams,” he gently says, surprising you with how easy he is to announce something like this, when it has been a while since you last talked about getting back to your old business again. “Unfortunately, since _____ has left the property that she was developing into the winery for too long, she has already sold it to a very interested buyer. But perhaps I can coax her into considering finding another way of starting over again once we are officially married.” 

Surprised, and touched, you can almost feel your eyes burning in tears. After what happened during the turmoil that has overcome your father’s business, seeing no light on the other end and no hope of getting back to the land that you had once put your heart and soul into, you had given up your dream. You didn’t even tell your father when you finally decided to sell the property, hoping that someone else could continue your dream.

But now, not only is the man you are to be married to promising to find you another chance of reliving that dream one day, but even his family seems to be pushing you towards it. 

“Please say you’ll consider it,” Yoongi’s mother says, convincing you with a smile. “I think the entire idea of having your own business—a winery, no less—is so brilliant for a young, promising woman like yourself. You were always a bit smarter and more determined than my son was back when you were teenagers—” 

“Oh, come on, Mom!” 

You nearly laugh when Yoongi’s mother waves her hand dismissively at him to continue, “So I know that you’ll do well running your own business rather than following your father’s footsteps when you don’t have the heart to do so.” 

Your breath is caught in your throat when it feels like she can see right through you. “I will consider it,” you find yourself answering before you can process any of this. “I promise, once there is a chance for me to start over, I’ll talk to Yoongi about it.” You turn to Yoongi next to say, “But we’ll also have to talk to my father about this if you truly mean it.” 

“Trust me. It’ll be taken care of.” There is something in Yoongi’s gaze that feels unsettling when he looks at you while promising you this. You see his unspoken promise, yet you try to ignore it before you can start feeling hopeful. 

“Good, then that’s settled it,” Yoongi’s father says with a nod. “Having you focusing on your own business might be the perfect way to get you away from those ugly predators in corporate business vying for your father’s company. As much as I trust you to be most capable of running your father’s company in the future, seeing how talented and skillful you are as a young woman, the field is still too dangerous for you to dive into it yourself with how many people are still following their old ways in handling their business and the competition that they are having with one another.” 

He turns to Yoongi next, addressing his son with a firm tone of voice. “Once you are married, you need to remember that ______ will be your responsibility, so you promise me to do well in keeping her safe and let her have the kind of life she is most comfortable in.” 

“You have my word, Dad,” Yoongi calmly answer him while keeping his thumb running circles on the back of your hand, easing the tension that has been rising through your body. 

Taking his wife’s hand in his, Yoongi’s father adds with a gentle, weary voice, “Trust my words when I say that it’s a jungle out there”—he steals a glance at his wife—”we’ve learned firsthand from our experience in the past.” 

“To be honest, I have a feeling that is why my father planned to have my future husband running the show instead of handing the responsibility directly to me,” you respond with a chuckle. “Not only did he figure out that I had no passion in the business, other than to keep it running, he must’ve sensed the pressure that I’d find myself in if I was the one taking his position in the future.” 

Yoongi’s father laughs at the mention of your father. “Your Dad is a smart and wise man. Always has been,” he says, as if they are old friends instead of old rivals. He brings his glass of wine to his lips before commenting, “If there comes a time for you to rebuild that winery of yours, rest assured that I will give you my full support.” He stops with a sly grin. “And if your father refuses to sponsor you in your dream winery, then I definitely will.”

Your mind is still spinning with the sudden turn of mood that you can barely express your gratitude to your future in-laws aside from a simple, “Thank you.” 

Thankfully, only lighter topics are shared when Yoongi orders one last round of drinks before ending the night, and everyone begins to bring up talks surrounding the Country Club events and promises about spending more time with Yoongi’s mother and her socialite friends in the near future so you can get closer to her. But when a few more sips of wine are shared and a moment passes and you have yet to find calmness, you quickly excuse yourself to the powder room to find some peace of mind. 

The silence that accompanies you as you walk down the restaurant’s hallway feels calming. Everything that happened during dinner and the moment you shared with Yoongi and his parents feels too intense. You were growing anxious the more you sat there, listening to the conversation, the words that were said, and the promises made at the table. 

Things hadn’t gone as you had expected them to, and it almost seemed as if everything you had planned for this arrangement had gone off the rails. It makes you feel like you are losing control, and the conversation you shared with Yoongi’s parents only made you start questioning everything. You also cannot help but feel guilty about how welcoming they have been with the idea of you marrying their son, nor were you ready to find just how genuinely kind they have been. 

Too kind. 

Another thing that was making you feel uneasy had been Yoongi. His entire presence, his demeanours; how easy he was to show some affection; how he kept holding your hand through the talk over dinner; how he kept stealing touches when you weren’t looking; and how your knees kept nudging against your bare knee which kept peeking through the slit of your dress. 

Or perhaps the wine is the reason why your head is spinning. When the more you drank, the closer you were to shedding your front and your facade. Even if Yoongi’s actions and words had often pulled genuine reactions out of you, and that not all of what you shared and shown them had been lies, you kept feeling like you were coming close to stripping down every layer of secret you had until only your truth was left. 

Not ready to return so soon, you spend a few more minutes in the powder room. 

You take your time to gather yourself before facing them again. By splashing water on your face, you try to rid of your troubling thoughts. By taking a moment to fix your makeup, you gather your composure. And by spraying fresh perfume on the curves of your neck and at the spot between your breasts, you find calmness to steady your breath again. 

Once you feel like yourself again, you finally make your way out. 

To reach the main dining hall of the restaurant, you will need to pass a long hallway filled with framed pictures and trophies lined up on the walls. The first time you walked down this way, you hadn’t taken the time to pay attention to your surroundings, too focused on finding your escape. 

Now, in your calmness, you take a moment to take a look at each one, trying to find anything or anyone that you might recognise from the pictures. 

One specific photo catches your attention. In it, you see some familiar faces; your father sitting on the long loveseat at the center, together with some of his colleagues who are also exclusive members of the Country Club. Yoongi’s father appears sitting on the other end of the seat. A smile appears on his face, and for the first time, you realize how similar his smile looks compared to Yoongi’s. 

“There you are,” Yoongi’s deep voice gently calls to you as he walks down the hallway to reach you. “You took quite a while getting back, my parents are getting worried,” he explains to you before you even get the chance to ask why he is here. As he reaches you, Yoongi offers his hand, which you instinctively accept as if your body has gotten used to the connection he is offering. 

“I feel bad for making your parents wait.” 

Yoongi’s lips curl to a grin. “To be honest, they’re not the only ones who got worried.” 

Your cheeks heat up with his confession, so you look away before he notices you getting flustered under his attentive gaze. “I’m sorry. I just needed a moment to myself.” 

To your relief, Yoongi doesn’t question anything more other than, “Are you feeling better now?” 

“I am now. Thank you.”

Yoongi smiles apologetically and nods. “I know that my parents can be intense,” he says with a chuckle. “I probably should’ve warned you.” 

“It’s fine. I’ll get used to it, I’m sure.” 

With a soft chuckle, Yoongi slides a hand around your waist to pull you close. “So, did you find anything interesting from these photos?” 

“Just this one,” you answer, pointing at the photo that you have been looking at. “When was this taken?” 

Yoongi looks closer with a knowing smile. His gaze looks over at the sight of your father and his sitting on the same loveseat, not by each other, and continues to the back, which was the reason why you were so drawn to it earlier. Standing right next to your father at one end of the loveseat is Jinyoung, looking tall and built with his crisp blue-grey suit, while Yoongi appears standing on the other end of the group, right next to his father, wearing a bright-colored suit which makes him stand out among others. 

“I remember this one,” he says. “It was taken a while ago. Looking at the decor hanging behind us, I would guess that this was from the Country Club’s anniversary luncheon. I remember this was the event when I first met Jinyoung. This was when your father first introduced him as his new right-hand man.” 

“Then it was long before I got back,” you muse quietly, wondering about how the interaction would have been between both of your fathers, and between Yoongi and Jinyoung. It feels like a different world, a different life, compared to what you know. 

“And what about them?” you ask, pointing at the three young men standing at the back, shadowing the group of older gentlemen sitting in the front. “They seem to be on the younger generation, but I don’t recall ever seeing them before.” 

“Those three men? They are the Kims.” 

“Brothers?” you ask, drawn by the curiosity tickling at the back of your mind upon hearing their family name. Looking closer, neither of these three men shows any similar traits, much less any sign of them being directly related. But they all appear tall and built, each one holding different air and aura between them, drawing you more to them the more you look.  

And then there is the tone in Yoongi’s voice that seems—unpleasant. It is subtle, but you have grown to know him well enough to notice that something is amiss. 

“No,” Yoongi answers. “They claimed to be cousins, related through marriage bonds. They have been pretty much keeping to themselves, remaining in the shadows of their company’s success without stepping directly into the spotlight. But they have been showing up at different parties and galas until recently. From what I heard, they have been spending time mostly away, focusing on their business expansion going on in Japan, where one of their main offices is located.” 

He turns to you with a curious gaze. “If I recall correctly, they seemed to have built a pretty good connection with Jinyoung from the time he was active at the Country Club. Have you truly never heard of or met them before?” 

Cocking your head, you try to recall ever hearing their names mentioned by Jinyoung in the past. But you remember nothing so far. Nothing as significant for them to be people that Jinyoung may have been closely acquainted with when he was still alive. 

But then again, how much have you truly known Jinyoung before?  

“They killed Jinyoung.”

Keeping your expression calm, you only shake your head to answer. “No, not that I recall. At least, not during the time I’ve been working alongside my Dad or Jinyoung. But perhaps Jinyoung mentioned them before when I wasn’t paying attention, because I seem to have heard about a certain family business built by newcomers. I just never paid real attention to those things before.” 

You continue to look closely at their features, trying to memorize them in change of trying to recall if you have had any chance of seeing or hearing more about them before. And you cannot help but wonder just what kind of relationship that they may have with Jinyoung for Yoongi to remember them as acquaintances when you knew nothing of them. 

“Are they coming to the party?” 

Yoongi quirks an eyebrow, noticing your curiosity. “I can see that you’re intrigued with these men. Should I be worried?” 

Scoffing, you roll your eyes at him. “As if there’s anything you should worry about,” you mock him with a nudge against his side. “I’m trying to be meticulous. In case you forgot the main part of our deal—”

You turn to face him, crossing your arms as you remind him of your expected role. “I’ve been taking over Jinyoung’s place in the company with your assistance and soon, I’ll be standing by your side to deal with your business. Shouldn’t I begin looking around, perhaps tying up loose ends while looking over the things that Jinyoung used to be in charge of to know which sides I can trust and which people I should be wary of?” 

Smiling proudly, Yoongi takes your hand and kisses the back of it, showing his respect. “Smart thinking,” he praises you, drawing more warmth to your cheeks which you hide by shaking your head at him. 

“Very well. We can arrange for us to meet them as soon as there’s a chance to. Maybe I can have my assistant send them an invitation through their office in Seoul to see if they can make an appearance at your engagement ball,” he offers with a smile. “What do you say? Will that work for you?” 

Grinning widely at him, you nod to agree. “That would be perfect.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you up?” 

Yoongi drives you back on his own, after dismissing his driver hours ago when he realized the dinner was going to finish longer than expected. You have asked him to drop you off at the main entrance of your building, yet he seems reluctant to let you go. 

“It’s late, and I’m sure you’ll have to be up early. I’ll be fine. There’s only a lobby left to go,” you answer him with a tilt of your chin, pointing at the security guard already waiting by the door to the lobby. 

“Then I’ll see you soon,” he says, taking your hand to kiss the back of it. You walk up to the door and stop to watch him return to his car and then quickly drive away. You wait for a moment until his car is far gone before walking across the lobby, finding your way to the side entrance door and hurrying out through a different gate. 

Looking at your watch, you nearly curse out.

9.40 PM.

You hadn’t expected to return so late. 

Perhaps both you and Yoongi had done too good of a job to please his parents that they were reluctant to end the night. The night is late, so you can only hope that you can still have enough time to reach downtown as you wave the first taxi that passes by for a ride. 

“Da Capo, please,” you instruct the driver. Leaning back in your seat, you nearly tuck yourself in your thick coat, as if it can help hide you from sight, worrying that there are eyes around you to see what you are doing. 

Your worries are soon gone when at merely five minutes to ten, you look out the window to see the taxi turning around the corner of the block leading to your destination. The car soon stops, parking on the side of the road, right across a nightclub with quite a line of waiting guests appearing outside. 

“Keep the change,” you say to the driver before stepping out of the car. The driver, an older man with permanent worry lines on his face, takes one look around the dark street and the old, shady nightclub before offering to stay for your ride home. 

“You don’t know if this place is safe for a young woman like yourself,” he insists, to which you answer lightly with, 

“Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be all right,” you promise, knowing that it would be better to avoid any chances of Yoongi or anyone else around you finding out about your late exploit by taking the same driver back and forth. 

Once the car drives away, you remain to stand across the street from the nightclub, looking up at the neon sign above the entrance which reads ‘Da Capo.’ The lights shine brightly in vibrant red, illuminating the dark street, the line of guests that is slowly dwindling, and the sidewalk leading away from the club. 

The club isn’t the place where you need to be tonight, so after scanning the street one last time, you turn to walk half a block away, keeping your eyes open as you briskly make your way across the street. Ducking down at the corner, you enter a dark alleyway which passes around the back of the nightclub until you reach an area that is wide enough for a car to pass through.

There, right before the end of the alleyway, you find a black sedan surreptitiously parked in the shadows. After taking one last look around the area, you walk closer to the car and enter through the passenger side. 

“Good evening. I wasn’t sure you’d show up,” the man sitting in the driver’s seat greets you with a side grin as you settle down on the seat beside him. “But you’re right on time, just like always.” 

“Good evening,” you answer with a deep exhale of breath. The night has been cold, but the walk has gotten you feeling warm under the coat that you can barely catch a breath. But inside the car, you manage to find some solace. A small relief to find in such a peculiar place, under a peculiar circumstance. “So,” you continue once you are calm, “where are they?”   

Your companion, Merlin, starts chuckling. “Straight to the point. You never care about having a small talk before business, do you? I thought you’d miss me after not seeing for a while,” he teases you, making you roll your eyes. 

Despite his teases, he still follows as requested, pulling a thick brown envelope and a folder of files from his glovebox. He hands them all to you with a small grin. “Here you go, as promised.” 

“What is all this?” 

“In the folder are the printed files, all exclusive ones that have been hidden in our archive room. It took me a while, but I managed to find them through the old archives and make copies of them. One for you, another one for me,” he explains as you gingerly open the folder, shifting through the files briskly. 

“This is pretty old school,” you comment as you look closer at the contents. You might need some time to look through each one, and you won’t get what you need by studying them in this dark place. 

Merlin nods. “A lot of the files you asked me are no longer in the main database, and I had to print out the ones I did find when I made copies of the archive to avoid them tracking me down. I know that they would already have my metadata while I was searching through the database computer, so copying them directly might draw some unwanted attention.” He looks at the worried crease forming between your brows and reassures you, “Don’t worry, they won’t be able to track down my IP address to find out who dug into and downloaded those old information. But I might have to lie low for a while after this. Just in case.” 

Having your mind put at ease, you close the folder and set it aside, turning to the envelope next. “And what’s in this?” 

Merlin looks over with a nod. “In the envelope, you can find two flash drives. One containing more details and some old files that you wouldn’t find from our archive or any of our databases.” He stops for a moment, grinning proudly when he adds, “The other one contains some magic.” 

You look up at him curiously just as he explains, “Inside that tiny thing, you’ll find all the encrypted files I took off Jinyoung’s phone before the police got their hands on it.” 

You turn to look at him with wide eyes. “He had encrypted files?”

Merlin’s face turns grim when he nods. “All stock full of it,” he says. “I went through hell and back to decode them. I’ve got most of it done, yet I still have some more to work on. So we’ll probably be seeing each other again once I get through them all.” 

You have reached into the envelope to pull out one of the flash drives, staring at it as if you can look into what it contains. You have no idea what to think, or to expect. To be fair, you never expected to find out about all of this. 

As if Merlin knows what you are thinking, he continues to speak his mind and says, “Like I previously said, your man had a ton of secrets, and he was cautious about it. You have every single fine I found from his phone inside that drive, both the encrypted ones and the ones I already broke through. I also traced his calls, both incoming and outgoing, from the past six months.” He stops for a moment, gauging your reaction before adding, I should warn you that you might not like what you see.”

You silently nod, still having a hard time letting this all sink in. After everything that had happened, you had thought that nothing else could surprise you. You have never been so wrong. 

But then again, you have been finding yourself dealing with all the unexpected things more often lately. “And the files that you haven’t gotten yet? What’s wrong with them?”

Sighing, Merlin shakes his head. “Strangely enough, the file you asked on the oldest son of Min family is sealed. I have no authorisations to open the ones currently locked in our database.” He stops briefly, waiting as you slip the flash drives back into the envelope before continuing to say, “The same goes with the case files from the accident.” 

You turn to look at him, furrowing your brows. “From Jinyoung’s accident? But why would they—” 

“It can mean that I was right all along,” he cuts you off. “Something is off about the accident, and it’s starting to look like someone is doing all the length that is needed to hide something crucial about the accident.” 

You look away as the dull ache of your anger and grief twists the insides of your chest. Closing your eyes for a brief moment, you try your best to push it away, to ignore it, and to silence the echo of your mother’s words that always emerge from the back of your mind when you think about Jinyoung’s death. 

Once you manage to find some calmness, you look at your companion with a grim smile. “I have to hand it to you. This is still quite a feat for such a short span of time searching,” 

A proud grin appears on his face. “They don’t call me the Wizard for nothing.” 

You raise your brows. “Then perhaps you can use your magic to dig up some more information. I need to know more about the older brother’s case and the accident. See if you can find all the information that was never released to the public.” 

Merlin laughs, amused at how brazen you are in challenging him to do more work for you. But judging from the look in his eyes, you can tell that he is up for it. Just like how he promised to work alongside you the first time he came to you with this arrangement. “I’ll do my best,” he says, with a twinkle in his eyes as if he is enjoying this challenge. 

There is a weight in your chest that is slightly lifted after hearing his promise. You never had any reason to doubt him, and he is the only one you know who can help you with what you need to find, all you need to do, without risking anyone else’s safety. 

Yet it still doesn’t stop the unsettling feeling rising in your chest with what you are about to do next, once you have all the information you need to move forward with your plans. 

“Thank you,” you whisper to him after a moment of silence falls. “Now that our business here is done, I think it’s time for me to go,” you say as you slip the flash drives into your purse and hide the folder of files under your coat. 

Merlin looks out the window and nods. “That sounds like a good idea. It’s dangerous for you to run around so late, with the current circumstances and all,” he murmurs while glancing around the area. You have noticed this habit of his for a while; how he has always been cautious, worrying about someone who might be following his movement. And you are beginning to realize that his habit is already rubbing on you, seeing that you have been doing the same thing lately.

Secrets are too heavy a weight to carry, after all, you wonder bitterly as you are reminded of all the secrets that have been kept from you by the people you trusted. 

“I should congratulate you again for the engagement,” he turns to you with a sly grin. “Am I invited to the ball?” 

His question draws a smile to your face and you lightly laugh. “You may come if you want. But no guns are allowed. I’ll make sure to write it down on the invitation so you won’t miss it.” 

Merlin laughs. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he says with a low voice. “I’ll let you know if I ever find anything else from my search. Until then, please be safe.” His eyes grow dark and intense when he adds, “I mean it.” 

Sensing the urgency in his warning, you look at him straight in the eyes as you promise him, “I’ll be careful. Don’t you worry.” His gaze softens, showing that he doesn’t doubt your words at all. Which helps alleviate the tension rolling in your body as well. “I’ll be waiting for your call.” 

Without waiting for his response, you reach the door handle, twisting it open while bidding your goodbye on your way out. “Thank you again for everything. Good evening, Detective Jeon.”

He gives you no response as you step out of the car—nothing more than a small grin in response to your taunting—and shutting the door behind you with a gentle click. Tightening your coat, you wrap your arms around yourself, keeping the thick files tucked safely against your chest, your purse secured to your side, and your secrets hidden deep inside yourself, as you make your way back to the main street so you can find your ride home. 

You make no move to look over your shoulder when you hear him—Merlin, the mysterious young detective, and your partner in your mission—driving away towards the opposite direction.