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( song of the day :
nonstop - nct 127 )

"this is not working."

youngmi told taeil, a heavy tinge of melancholy slipping through her lips. she held a paper bag that consisted of food she made for his lunch and extended her arm to give it. they currently stood at the office's secluded area.

"what's not working?"

". . us," she continued, "i mean, you didn't do anything. i just don't feel that spark anymore. usually when i see you my initial reaction is to smile but . . that feeling's not there anymore. i gotta say that it was fun while it lasted."

in fury, he threw the paper bag away, making the tupperwares of food scatter all over the marble floor. don't worry, the food was still intact. it seemed that his ego was severely bruised though.

"you're just gonna play with my feelings like that huh? what, you think it's quirky? you think commitment is something thrown in the air? way to hurt someone right inside their office," taeil spat, not even caring to pick those scattered tupperwares up. "i won't need you, you'll see."

he threw her a subtle wink.

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"there! there!" kiki exclaimed with a pointed index finger once she saw a female's figure stand near the scenario of the act. she hid behind a wall, her phone camera capturing the entire fight.

mark laughed before saying, "holy shit, that was it? that was all we needed to do to catch them?"

"don't celebrate too soon."

while quietly walking towards their suspect, jace smiled to himself, proud of his successful plan. via hand signs, they signalled taeil and youngmi to shortly wrap the act up once they get ahold of the person.

"you bitch," haneul mumbled as she suddenly pulled the female culprit by the back of her hair without indecision. thankfully, saerom was able to pull her hand away before her actions could bring more physical pain.

. . . and haneul might've regretted those words a bit upon seeing who it was.

once the photographer of networkly's alleged dispatch turned towards them with a grimace, all of them showed expressions of shock.

"yoo jeongyeon?"

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everybody in the group either fumed in anger or still couldn't move on with the shock regarding their oh-so sweet colleague being twisted with wicked doings inside the office.

"i beg of you, please don't . . please don't fire me," jeongyeon said, her tone reeking desperation. if you take a deeper look into her eyes, you'd see the sincerity she held. her emotions were pretty convincing to their sights. "they threatened me that . . if i don't do this i'll lose my job and i can't risk that, sir. no office other than networkly is willing to accept me, and being fired means that i'll have to lurk in the streets to earn money. i need to work for my children's wellbeings as a mother. i'm the only one my family depends on. please accept my apology. please."

her and the twenty of them were currently inside a meeting room for interrogation. she received numerous glares from people whose arms were crossed judgmentally. they just wanted to get straight to the point.

taeyong decided to walk towards the girl in hopes for his curiosity to be fed, sliding himself into one of the office chairs.

"who's they?"

instead of answering with the exact culprit's name, jeongyeon hesitantly played a recording of the oral threat from her phone, revealing a voice they recognize so well.

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♤ gabrielle's note

happy 4th year to the men who deserve more than everything 🤩