lost and found | qian kun
PAIRING: private investigator!ex!kun x ceo!fem!reader
GENRE: fluff, private investigator au, exes to lovers, mystery
WARNINGS: mentions of blood and death, kidnapping, cursing, pet names (babe), making out, suggestive, drinking
SYNOPSIS: one of your employees is missing, and you want to find out where he could be and who did it. you decide to hire a professional, but will your history make you regret it?
WORD COUNT: 16k
A/N: can you guys tell i really like kun in a suit and glasses. THIS IS SO LONG OMG
"Here are the final records of last quarter. Is Winwin okay? I haven't seen him return since his vacation." Chenle, your Chief Accounting Officer, asks, softly dropping another folder of your company's accounting records. You smile at him, but your eyebrows knit together.
"To be honest, I'm not sure. He was supposed to return on Monday, but he hasn't responded to any of my texts all week." You answer, scratching your chin as you lean back on your chair. You look at the mini calendar on your desk, seeing that it's now Friday.
Your company, despite being in operation for less than ten years, has achieved continual success. You had a lot of people working under you, including Winwin, your Chief Financial Officer. You had allowed him a long vacation because he had been with your company since it started, and yet, never used his vacation days.
It's been a week now, and Winwin hasn't returned to the office or responded to your messages.
"I'm worried. He always responds immediately." Chenle frowns, and you just nod, face stoic. Chenle and Winwin worked closely, both being the heads of your finances, and you knew he felt weird coming into your office without his usual coworker.
"How is no one else, other than the finance department and HR, concerned? I feel like the other Chiefs don't care about Winwin." Chenle asks, more to himself than you, as he goes to sit on one of the chairs in front of your desk. You look over his trembling body, remembering the day Winwin was supposed to come back to work.
"Where's Winwin?" You inquire as you sit on your chair. Most of the Chief officers who report to you are standing across from your desk, except Winwin. Chenle's face mirrors your concern. You two had briefly spoken earlier, commenting on Winwin's unexpected absence. The other officers, though, looked like they couldn't care less.
"What? Is he gone or something?" Hendery, your Chief Information Officer, teasingly asks with a smirk on his face. Yangyang, the Chief Technology Officer, who worked alongside Hendery, chuckles. You quickly look over at Chenle, whose eyes are wide at their behaviour.
"Chenle's here, he can just tell Winwin whenever he's back." Ten, your Chief Marketing Officer, dismisses with an eye roll, turning towards Chenle, who flinches slightly and looks at you with an expression that reads "Am I the only one who cares?"
"Let's just get on with our check-in without him." Xiaojun, your Chief Operating Officer, suggests, waving a hand. You look incredulously between the unusually nonchalant Chiefs, ones who would usually bicker or annoy each other at any given moment.
"None of you are curious as to where Winwin, the most punctual one here, who's in my room sometimes before I even get here, could be?" You slowly ask, and Chenle has a look of relief on his face, as if he finally found a sane person in the room.
You and Chenle watch as all the other men in the room shrug, and you keep quiet, not wanting to make your suspicion more obvious, getting on with the small, weekly meeting.
"I know they're not the closest, and you, me, and Renjun are the only ones who actually talk to Winwin about things other than work, but the way they just didn't care was so weird." You reflect, looking at the folder on your desk before looking up at Chenle, who nods in agreement.
"Can I say this? I don't think any of them even liked him." Chenle states with a serious, slightly angry face. You take his words, not wanting to show any emotion that shows you agree.
Winwin was never included in your other Chiefs' conversation. You always saw how their faces would turn sour, and words would go silent when he looked at them, and you always wondered what the problem was.
Suddenly, the door burst open. Chenle jumps from his seat, stands, and turns to the door, while you stay seated and look at who has entered. Your Chief Human Resources Officer, Renjun, holds the door open and pants as he tries to stabilize his breathing.
"Y/N! I think something bad has happened to Winwin." Renjun breathes, moving to the seat beside Chenle. You don't think about reprimanding Renjun for not knocking since you were busy trying to remain composed, as Renjun had scared you.
"Holy fuck, Renjun, you scared me!" Chenle exclaims, slapping Renjun's shoulder, who is unfazed. Usually, Renjun would laugh and tease Chenle, but his face has concern all over it, so you and Chenle know he's serious. "Are you okay? Why do you think that?"
"I saw him on Sunday, when he came back from his vacation." Renjun, who happens to be Winwin's neighbour, describes, "He didn't have that smile people usually have after a vacation. I walked up to him and asked him how his vacation was, and I realized he looked so stressed."
Renjun puts his face in his hands to cover his eyes, but not his mouth, leaning on his elbows on his lap, "He could barely speak. It kinda felt like he was running? His phone buzzed, and when he saw it, his eyes went wide. He started stuttering before saying he had to go, and he slammed his door when he entered his home."
"Did you see who texted him, or what it was?" You ask, leaning forward. Renjun looks up at you, then looks back at his feet, and you can see the gears in his head shifting.
"I think it was one of the other Chiefs. I know for a fact that Winwin doesn't have the three of us as 'Chief,' but he does for the ones he's not friends with." Renjun theorizes, looking between you and Chenle. You scratch your head, overwhelmed.
"I think we need to do something." Chenle urges, standing from his seat. "I really don't think the police will be enough. I think we need a PI."
"A private investigator? I don't know..." You trail off apprehensively. Chenle looks at you questioningly.
"I think hiring one would be the best bet. I know a really good one, and I can give you his number, but only after you think about it." Chenle informs you. You look at Renjun, who nods, signalling he thinks Chenle's idea wasn't bad.
"Alright, I'll let you know soon. Come by before you leave." You accede. Chenle softly smiles as he nods, and Renjun gets up too. They lightly bow before they leave you alone in your office.
The silence is deafening. You were used to sitting alone in your office, but the severity of Winwin's situation hits you. Could he have been kidnapped? Murdered, even? By one of my staff?
You shake your head slightly, getting rid of your thoughts. You did not want to think about what horrible things might have happened to your friend.
You think back to Chenle's words. A PI... You've never needed a private investigator for any serious business, but you remember the PI who was once integral to your life.
You take off your shoes as you enter your small rental, gently pushing the door shut. You try not to make too much noise as you walk over to the kitchen counter and unpack your lunch.
As you finish putting your dishes in the dishwasher and open the fridge for something to eat, you feel hands wrap around your waist. You slightly jump, though you know who it is.
"Welcome back, babe." Your boyfriend, Kun, greets you with a smile as you turn to face him. You wrap your arms around his neck, and he pecks your cheek. "How was work?"
"Exhausting, same old. What kind of internship makes you work 10 hours? I can't wait for this work period to be over." You complain into his chest, placing kisses there. Kun laughs as he pulls away, grabbing a box of fried rice out of the fridge.
"I made fried rice for dinner. Go get ready for bed, I'll warm it up for you." Your boyfriend smiles, squeezing your hand. You nod, pecking his lips before going back to your shared room.
You're wiping your makeup off as Kun walks in with your food on a plate, along with a small bowl of fruit and a glass of water. You signal for him to place them on your nightstand as you get up from your vanity to throw your wipe.
You eat as you watch Kun study on his side of the bed, notes for his private investigator license test sprawled as he switches between them, sitting against the headboard. When you finish eating, you hurry to put the dishes in the dishwasher.
You come back to your bed clean of notes, and most of Kun's body is under your covers. His laptop is on his chest, and he smiles at you as you lift the covers to join him. You snuggle up to his side, and he adjusts his laptop away from your head.
"Tomorrow, let's go out to eat after I come back. We need a break from our work." You hum, your eyes closed. You feel Kun's body vibrate as he giggles at your words, placing a kiss on your forehead.
"I can't say no to that. You need a break. I'll study for a bit more, but you go to sleep. I love you." Kun softly says, and you open your eyes briefly, catching his smiling face looking at you. You peck his lips before going to sleep.
You lightly smile at the memory of your ex-boyfriend. You suddenly get a notification on your computer, and you start your work for the day. You're less worried about Winwin now, your brain occupied by questions about how Kun is doing.
You hear knocks from your door, and you look at the time. 5 P.M. It's probably Chenle. You realize you hadn't thought about the proposal to hire a private investigator. You get up, opening the door for Chenle.
"So? Did you think about it?" Your employee asks, returning to the seat he had occupied that morning. You go to stand behind your chair, turning your back to him and looking out at the almost pitch-black sky through your skyscraper's windows.
"Yeah, I did. I think we should do it." You articulate, then sit back down in your chair. Chenle straightens up at your words, placing his bag on the floor. "You said you knew someone. What's their name? Are they good?"
"Yes, he's one of the best in the field right now. He's had a bunch of success in the past few years. His name is Qian Kun." Chenle explains. You inhale a sharp breath through your nose. What were the chances he would recommend your ex-boyfriend?
You look down, tapping your knee. Your mind is racing with questions. Would it be awkward? What if he suddenly hates me? Will we be able to find Winwin?
"Wait," you suddenly wonder out loud, "Why do you know a PI? Did something happen?" Chenle lets out a snicker and shakes his head.
"No, I'm okay. He's a family friend, actually, but I'm not recommending him to you because of that. I wouldn't suggest Kun if I didn't think he could find someone, especially Winwin." Chenle solemnly swears. You look over his figure, feeling bad about the absence of his close partner.
"Okay. Let me just look at other PIs online and compare. I'll text you tonight if I make a decision, but if not, expect an answer soon. I don't wanna delay looking for Winwin." You smile as you approach Chenle and place a hand on his shoulder. He smiles and nods, muttering a goodbye before leaving with his bag.
You sit back down and decide to do some research before you leave. In the search bar, you look up private investigators for missing persons. You scroll through websites of firms, as well as those of individuals.
You look up Kun's name, raggedly breathing. When you open his website, you can see many services offered, some of which you remember him studying hard, and others which he hardly studied. You see some testimonies and court cases in which he has brought about evidence and witnesses.
As you scroll through his website, you can't help but smile at all the good things people have said about him and the awards he has received. We've achieved our dreams...
After an hour of research, most of it spent looking at Kun's portfolio, you realize it's time to go home. You pack up before going to the elevator, where you write your text to Chenle, then send it as you reach the parking lot.
Y/N: Send me Kun's contact. I'll text him tonight.
While driving, your stomach erupts with butterflies. You were nervous to text Kun and didn't want to seem creepy. Wait, what if I've met Chenle before, when he was still a kid?
You drive with the image of your stressed-out boyfriend at the time, conversing with a child version of Chenle, who was probably very annoying. The funny image stays in your mind for the entire drive, calming down your nerves.
You enter your home and open your phone. You click on the contact that Chenle sent, specifying that it was Kun's work number on his second phone, so he would respond quick.
You sit on your couch, ready to finally text Kun. You keep rewriting your text, trying not to be too formal or too casual. You remember when you were nervous to talk to Kun before you started dating, and in the early stages of your relationship. That was over a decade ago...
You decide to stop acting like a teenager in love, just sending a text.
Y/N: Is this Qian Kun, the PI?
You close your phone and exhale. You walk to your kitchen, grab some leftover rice and stir-fry from your fridge, and put them in the microwave. As the microwave starts, your phone buzzes, and your heart skips a beat.
You take a deep breath before responding professionally.
Y/N: CEO of Y/L/N Group.
PI Kun: Y/N?
PI Kun: What's wrong?
Your microwave beeps, and you jump from the sudden noise. You mutter out a small curse before taking the bento to the living room. "What's wrong?" feels more personal than "What happened?" You eat your dinner while texting your ex.
Y/N: Some of my coworkers and I believe we have a missing employee: Our Chief Financial Officer, Winwin, or Dong Sicheng. There's also suspicion that it was one of four Chiefs.
Y/N: My Chief Accounting Officer, Chenle, recommended you. He worked very closely with Winwin.
PI Kun: Ah, I see. I shall look into Dong Sicheng.
PI Kun: Is it okay if we meet soon? Preferably in your building before other employees come in. You can tell me everything you know about him, as well as information on your suspects.
You finish eating and put your dishes in the dishwasher, realizing that you and Kun have been texting slowly. You wonder if he was acting like you, rewriting texts and staring at the contact name in disbelief.
PI Kun: Do you have a master key?
Y/N: Yes, I have a key to every door in the building.
Y/N: Is 6 A.M. okay with you? I have tomorrow off, but everyone who works tomorrow doesn't come in until 9. Meet me in the back.
You look up at the time, and see that it's 8:50 P.M. You live close to your workplace, and it only took you an hour to get to work once you've woken up. You decide to go to bed soon, as you have to get up at 5 A.M.
Y/N: You can have a quick look around tomorrow, and this weekend, you can get down as much as you want.
PI Kun: Yes, that sounds good.
PI Kun: I'll let you sleep, then. Good night, Y/N.
Your cheeks warm at his words, and you grab some water to drink to stop acting childish. You didn't want to care about whether he was being unprofessional on purpose. You know he wasn't sleeping any time soon.
He still remembers that I like to sleep exactly 8 hours a night.
You park in the parking lot beside your building. You woke up with a clouded brain, wondering if Kun has changed, wondering if you've changed. Looking around, you find another car parked. It looked quite vintage, yet inconspicuous. You assumed it was Kun's car, knowing he'd probably gotten there a few minutes before you.
You walk to the back of the building, by the trash bins. Near the door, you can see a head of raven-coloured hair and a broad back covered by a long, dark grey coat. I wonder if he still works out... You blush at the images of Kun's muscles back when you were dating appearing in your mind.
You step towards him, and he turns around at the sound of leaves crushed under your shoes. You try not to gasp at how your ex has changed over the years. You find his face has matured in a flattering way. His circular glasses add to his sophistication.
His eyebrows are slightly raised as he waits for you to approach, and you wonder if you have the same expression. You smile at the little hoop earring on his left ear, a decision you made for him when he wanted a change when he turned 20.
"Hi, Kun." You lightly smile, and you can feel your heart hammering against your chest. You hoped your smile was more professional than nervous. Kun flashes you a smile, too, but it doesn't match the soft look in his eyes.
"Hey. Here." Kun hands you a coffee cup, and you hadn't noticed he had two in his hands. You brush your fingers against his, trying to see if he reacts. You could see in your peripheral vision that his tight smile softened up. "I assumed you still like two cream and one sugar. Sorry if you don't."
"I do." You respond, looking into his eyes. He's wearing the same glasses after all these years? You try not to make it awkward between you, but the tension in the air is undeniable. "Do you still drink it black?"
"Now more than ever." Kun confirmed. He holds eye contact with you for a few seconds, looking you up and down fast, before turning towards the door. You suddenly snap out of your trance, going towards the door to open it with the master key.
"I'll take you to his room first. It's in the same hallway as all the other Chiefs. Mine is at the end of the hallway." You say as you open the door for him, turn off the alarm, and lead him to the elevator.
During the trip to your floor, you tell him all you know about Winwin: his personal life, his relationships in the office, and his upbringing. While you were with Kun during your undergraduate studies, you met your friend Winwin during your graduate studies, both under the same mentor.
You try not to look at Kun, who has been looking at you softly in the eyes the entire time. He barely looked down at the notepad he was writing in, and you were shocked when you glanced at the somehow neat handwriting.
"Oh. I had a question," You slowly say as you unlock the door to Winwin's office, "Chenle said you were a family friend?"
Kun nods, taking a quick survey of the room before stepping in, "Do you remember how sometimes, when you visited, we were told to stay in my room while my dad held lunch with a mentee and his father? That was Chenle's brother and dad. He's a whole 13 years older than Chenle."
You raise your eyebrows in surprise as Kun looks through the drawers in Winwin's desk, trying to find important files. You remember spying on Chenle's brother and father through the stair rails when Kun told you their grandfather was a big entrepreneur. Although you knew about his grandfather when you hired Chenle, you had forgotten that you'd seen most of his family already.
"I hope you know I have to go through a lot of company information in order to help you. Do you have anything confidential I should know about?" Kun smirks, and you try not to roll your eyes as you stand beside him on Winwin's chair, but you laugh. When you first told your ex about your dreams of being a CEO, he always made jokes about you turning into a corrupt, money-hungry leader.
"I have nothing to hide. You're allowed to look through them. If there's anything suspicious, tell me. I trust Winwin, Chenle and Renjun, though," Kun turns towards you and cutely tilts his head at the new name, "HR Chief. The other Chiefs have always been more like coworkers; they never really were warm or friendly with each other. They argue a lot with everybody but me."
"Tell me more about them." Kun asks as he opens the financial report from last year. You make a note to give him the ones from this year, which were in your office.
You tell Kun about the other men. Xiaojun, as he was in charge of operations, worked very closely with you. He was, to you, the least likely, as he was the most professional one out of all of them. Ten, in marketing, was snarky. He made passive-aggressive comments to everyone who pissed him off, but he knew to stay neutral to you.
"Wait, is that the same Ten from all your marketing classes who would eat half of your lunch I made?" Kun asks, looking back up from the papers to you. You let out a small laugh as you nod. "It's a good thing he listens to you, or else."
You shake your head, but wonder what Kun would have done, considering you're not dating anymore. You tell him about Hendery and Yangyang's dynamic. They worked with technology and systems, but they were also very carefree and loud; you didn't mind, as they got the job done and brought about a degree of liveliness.
You ended your explanation as you told him about what they each had to say about Winwin's disappearance that day. You hadn't noticed that Kun had slowly moved on his chair, gravitating towards your frame standing behind him.
"I can see how they'd seem suspicious. You've got a cast of characters working for you." Kun sympathized, and you could see him try not to smile. Is he kind to all of his clients? "Do you have access to Winwin's account?"
"Yeah, I have his office login details on my computer. I'll go and do that real quickly." You told Kun. He gets up from his seat immediately at your words, and is about to grab your wrist, but stops before he can touch you. You look down before up at his expressive eyes.
"I'll come, too. You know, in case of anything." Kun volunteers. You try not to smirk, but nod, even though it would have taken a few minutes.
You silently walk to your office together, and once you reach, Kun looks around your room. He notes some pieces of furniture and technology that he knew you dreamed of having in your eventual office.
"Just like how I imagined it, huh?" You remind your ex-boyfriend. He nods as he stands behind you at your seat. He lightly smiles at how your hard work has paid off, getting the job you've always wanted.
"I'm proud of us," You turn around in your seat to find Kun smiling down at you, "I remember when Chenle first told me he worked for you. Our families were having dinner together at his house. My parents were shocked and asked how you were doing. I made sure they didn't mention us. He was probably a little confused."
"Oh. Thank you." You mutter, returning to the spreadsheet of everyone's account information. His parents always loved you, and you knew your breakup hurt them. "I didn't know about your work until I contacted you. You have a good reputation and a lot to show for it."
"Thanks." Kun smiles, watching as you pull out a notepad to write Winwin's account information. "If it's not too much trouble, can I get your four Chiefs' information, too?"
"I feel like this is super illegal. I can't believe this is your job." You huff. Kun visibly tenses, but you don't notice. He lightly laughs as he sees you find Ten's email and password next, hoping you didn't realize the weight of your words.
Kun watches in silence as you write down every suspect's credentials. He stands close to your chair, happy to feel your familiar presence after a long time. I wish I could talk about something with her, he thinks to himself, but he doesn't want to make you uncomfortable.
"And... done." You sang, getting up from your chair and ripping the paper from the pad to hand to Kun. Your breath hitches at how close you are; his breath fans your face, and you can see each detail in his face clearly.
Kun steps away from you slightly, and he raises his hand towards yours, gesturing for you to hand him the paper. You slowly hand it to him before leading him back to Winwin's room.
Back at Winwin's setup, Kun enters his information and opens it. You observe him pull a USB drive from his pocket and plug it into the computer's USB port.
"Need all the information I can get from Winwin's computer so that I can look through it at home. I brought a lot, so I can do it for everyone else's computers as well." Kun clarifies, turning to you as the screen of Winwin's computer shows the files slowly transferring onto the USB.
If this were any other private investigator, you wouldn't allow this to happen. You know Kun was probably surprised by your letting him do all this without any apprehension or objection. You trusted him, though, and you knew you had no reason to think he would try to do anything malicious.
"Might as well start on the other computers while you wait; this will take a while." You suggest, gesturing for Kun to follow you to the other offices. He nods and gets up, following you to each suspect's office.
No words were exchanged between you and Kun as you went through this process, but it's not awkward at all. When you put the USB in the last computer, Yangyang's, you head back to Winwin's office.
"His should be done now," Kun informs you as you approach Winwin's door, "I didn't realize Hendery and Yangyang's offices would be in the basement; it should have given all the USBs time to download everything."
"Oh, good. I always told them they should be up by the other Chiefs, but they preferred being down by the servers. Makes sense, though, that is their job." You respond, and Kun nods as he clicks the "OK" button on the screen and pulls the USB out.
You write down everyone's initials on small white stickers to label each USB in case you forget. Kun smiles at your idea; he forgot how resourceful you were. You label Winwin's USB, then walk back to each room and attach the appropriate sticker to each USB.
You look at the clock in Winwin's room once you've returned, reading that it's 7 A.M. It's been an hour? Time's so fast, you think to yourself. Your tasks didn't seem to take so long.
"To be honest, I don't think there's anything else I need now. I have the USBs, the login credentials, and I know how to log in without informing them." Kun strains, as if he were conflicted. You feel your heart sink; you didn't want him to go just yet.
"Oh, okay." You sigh, looking at your feet. Kun sees the frown on your face and pouts at the sight. He wanted nothing more than to spend some time with you.
"Sorry I made you wake up so early today. Are you... also off tomorrow?" Kun asks, and you nod, "I'll do some digging today, and I'll let you know what I've found at lunch tomorrow?"
"Are you sure?" You ask cautiously, slightly squinting, and Kun can tell you're not asking just to be courteous. He nods slowly, and the serious look in his eyes and confident demeanour let you know he's not playing around.
"Okay. Just text me when and where." You agree, and you can see Kun's stiffness fade. The elevator ride to the main floor no longer feels like you're stuck with someone you have to work with, but rather, like an old friend. As you walk towards Kun's car, he stops you.
"Let me walk you to your car first." Kun flashes a handsome smile at you, and you feel yourself melt at the sight. You felt like you were 18 again, meeting Kun and being enamoured by everything he does your way. You nod, nonetheless, and his smile grows when he sees the shy one appearing on your face.
You stop at your door and look back at Kun, who waves at you with an earnest smile. You wave back and enter your car. Feeling his eyes on you still, you quickly back out of the lot. As you drive home, you can't get the doubts out of your head.
Is it a good idea to go out with Kun, my ex-boyfriend, whom I might still have feelings for?
At home, you're bundled up in a blanket on your living room couch. You scroll through different movies and shows, but none of them seem interesting, or you have already seen them. You know the real reason you haven't been able to pick one out.
Kun had occupied your thoughts ever since you had seen him. His face was all you could see, and you wanted nothing more than to see him again. I miss his warmth under this blanket, you reminisce. You remember the last time you cuddled with him under your throw blanket.
"Ugh, why have we watched everything on here?" You complain as you tighten your grip on Kun under the blanket. He smiles down at you, looking back at the TV as he uses your remote with his arm outside of the blanket to scroll through selections.
"Maybe it's a bad thing we've graduated. All we've done is purge through everything on here." Kun half-jokes, squeezing his arm that was around you.
You graduated together last week, and you are now at your family's house. They insisted you bring Kun over, and he agreed. He found it cute how your family loved him as much as his family loved you.
"I know something we could do instead." You smirk as you trace a nail along Kun's abs through his shirt. He uses his hand inside the blanket to hold your wrist, but lets you continue moving.
"Your parents only just left us alone for the night. What would they think if they knew their child wanted to do it on the couch?" Kun teases, but drops the remote on the side table, turning towards you.
You move to wrap your legs around Kun's sides, sitting on his lap as he stretches his legs to lie on the couch. You bring your hands to his face, taking off his glasses as he grips your waist. You brush your thumb over his lips and whisper, "You act like we've never done worse. In your house."
Kun just hums as he stares at your lips, leaning in to capture your lips in a kiss, and you feel his tongue immediately try to slide in. You let out a small laugh against his lips, opening your mouth slightly to let it enter.
You blush at your memory. You missed yours and Kun's intimate moments together; you had never felt so vulnerable yet so comfortable at the same time, and you found it was thanks to his presence and attention to your preferences.
Your phone abruptly rings beside you, and you check it immediately. You feel yourself falter a little when you realize it wasn't Kun, but Chenle. You pick it up, putting it on speaker as you continue your search for entertainment.
"Hello?" You greet, holding the phone to your mouth, eyes trained on the TV.
"Did you meet with Kun? I saw his location at the office this morning, but I thought I was tripping." Chenle asks on the phone, and you raise your eyebrows in surprise.
"You guys are that close?" You quiz. You start to suspect Chenle knows about your history with Kun.
"He's like my brother if he were younger. We didn't get that close until I started university, though, and he started doing his master's. After that, he's let me annoy him with open arms." Chenle responds, and you feel yourself let out a small breath of relief, careful to not let your junior hear it.
"Oh. Well, yes, we were at the office together this morning, doing some snooping. I'm not telling you the details, but I trust Kun will be able to find everything out soon. We're meeting again tomorrow to discuss anything new he's found." You inform Chenle. You figured you'd let him, the one who suggested bringing Kun on, know how it's coming along.
"Oh, that's good." Chenle breaths, pausing. You wait for him to continue, and you can hear the smirk forming on his face, "And what do you think about him as a person?"
"There is no way you're asking me, your boss, this. Wait, do you have Winwin's location?" You ask, deadpanning. Chenle laughs loudly and takes a few seconds to calm himself down.
"No, he doesn't use an iPhone, Anyways, you don't think Kun's handsome? I need him to find a girlfriend. I shouldn't tell you this, but apparently, he had a really good, stable relationship with a girl he thought he was going to marry during his undergrad years." Chenle starts, and you feel your heart beating furiously. What the fuck is happening?
"Anyways, I can see it still affects him sometimes. He has this kinda mournful look on his face whenever anything dating- or marriage-related comes up. I need someone to distract him and make him move past it. I don't wanna see him sad." Your brain short-circuits at Chenle's words.
You had felt the same. You couldn't get Kun out of your head ever since you broke up. Your family tried to support you, especially when the breakup was fresh, but you knew they missed him, too. Any person you tried to date since couldn't compare; Kun gave you the world, and no one else could provide anything close to it.
"So? You think you'd fuck him?" Chenle laughs, and your sad memories instantly are gone; now you're embarrassed.
"Oh my god, never contact me again. I'm telling Renjun you're talking weirdly to your boss." You roll your eyes, a smile still on your face.
"We're not at work, and I'm your friend. I just think it's time you and Kun get some bitches." Chenle lectured before saying goodbye, ending the call. You close your eyes and rub your forehead. That kid is so annoying.
The call made you wrap yourself up in your blanket more. Your thoughts are back to Kun, not that he had left your mind anyway.
You stand outside the diner that Kun texted you to meet him in. You were thankful he suggested a new restaurant and not one you've been to together; you might have been too overwhelmed with emotions to go in.
You enter the restaurant, bells chiming signalling your entrance. You see a head of black, almost blue hair turn to look towards the door, and you smile at Kun's relieved expression when he sees you. You take off your coat as you walk up to him.
"Hey, I hope you're hungry and haven't changed your favourite breakfast plate, cause I just ordered for the both of us." Kun smiles as you settle into your seat in front of him in a booth.
"You're lucky I'm starving and it's the same." You tease, but you feel a pang in your chest when you realize how it's like you never broke up. Your smile falters, and Kun notices, but doesn't say anything.
The diner is filled with people, and the sounds of loud conversation are everywhere. You had been skeptical of coming to a public place to discuss Kun's findings, but now you had no doubts. You were sure your suspects weren't around as you scanned the restaurant quickly.
"So, I looked through Winwin's documents. There wasn't anything too fishy, but I guess I'm not qualified to know what's suspicious or not, so I'll email them to you tonight through his account." Kun starts. You nod, hoping to hear something good.
"I saw that he had a group chat with all your suspects. I looked through it and-" Kun is interrupted by the waitress. She sets down your breakfast plates in front of you, and you both smile and mutter a thanks before she leaves.
"To be honest, your employees are kinda ass to him. Your descriptions of each of them were true. Yangyang and Hendery kinda gang up on everyone to make fun of them. Ten's quite rude, and Xiaojun tries to mediate by telling everyone to stop and focus on the task." Kun explains, and you shrug. You know you should care about your company's dynamic, but they're also adults and should know their behaviour is tied to their job.
"Those were work chats, though. I couldn't find too many personal details in them. In the suspects' computers too. I'll send you Winwin's documents though, let me know if there really is anything suspicious." Kun suggests, and you hum as you eat a spoonful of your food. "Do you have access to your cameras? You think you could get me footage from days before Winwin vanished? We can see if anything suspicious happened, or find a witness to something strange."
"I could get it from the security office tomorrow. I'll just go in a little early." You offer, and Kun nods. You eye him as he uncharacteristically eats his food quickly. "Did you eat dinner last night?"
"No," Kun blushes, and you try not to smile at his shyness, "I was busy looking through everyone's emails to find something for you." You breathe in a sharp breath through your nose, and you hope he didn't hear it.
"I know this is your job, but you should take care of yourself. You've always overworked yourself, I don't want you to do it all your life." You murmur, and Kun presses his lips together. It's only worth it, he thought, if you're there.
"I'll remember that," Kun notes, and you look at him to find any trace of lying. His eyes are not genuine, and you see some sadness in them, prompting you to look away. "So, how are you? I realized I haven't asked that at all."
"Um, good?" You answer, squinting your eyes at the weird question. Kun laughs at your expression. "My job's pretty stressful at times, but right now, it's okay. You?"
"You're my first client in a while. I don't get missing persons cases too often, but I was defintely gonna take this one on." Kun lets you know, scratching his neck. You wonder if it was for a challenge or for you. "How's your family?"
"Good. Still in the same house all these years. I call them once in a while." You disclose, and Kun nods. He remembers that house like the back of his hand. He wonders if it's decorated the same. "And your parents?"
"Yeah, they're good. I helped them move to another house recently, so they're actually living closer to me now." Kun says, covering his mouth to hide his chewing. His plate is empty, and you realize you were too engrossed in the conversation to eat at your usual pace, your plate still a bit from being cleared.
"What do your parents think of your job now?" You query as you take big bites of your food. Kun's parents had always supported their son; they were never disappointed in his choices. Their biggest concern was about his safety; something you worried about too.
"Oh," Kun starts, feeling a little awkward, "They're okay with it now. I don't get myself into crazy muddy waters. And the cases I've worked on aren't too high-profile, so it's not like I'll have a target on my back." You try not to react in any way at the thought of his life being in danger, something you both had discussed many times before.
Kun watches as you finish your food silently. When you finish, he tells you he already paid for it earlier, so you thank him and get ready to leave. He walks you to your car again, remembering which one it was. Before you enter, though, you finally speak, as you had been mulling something over.
"Do you wanna come in with me tomorrow morning?" You offer, and Kun is surprised. It's the first time you've initiated his involvement in the case. "We can look at the footage over early morning, like yesterday. If there's a witness, you can talk to them after. If not, you can go... or stay? Bring your laptop, and you can work in my office."
"Okay," Kun quickly agrees to your bold offer, and you wonder if you should regret it. "No one will be suspicious?"
"I'm the CEO; who cares what they think?" You half-joke, nudging Kun's shoulder, prompting him to laugh.
"Wow. I thought you were better than that."
"Good morning." Kun greets you as you walk up to him by the back entrance again. He immediately hands you your coffee, and you thank him.
"You know, I knew you were gonna get me coffee," You start, "so that's why I got us some pastries." You sing as you raise the white bag higher in your hand for Kun to see. He laughs, and you feel warm at the sound. This feels so... normal. Right.
"Let's hope we don't leave any crumbs around." Kun teases as you open the door. You wonder why the two of you were in good moods today. You lead him to the other side of the lobby, unlocking the security door.
Many TVs, large and small, are lined up along the walls, offering a glimpse inside many rooms. You sit in one of the chairs and open the large computer, motioning for Kun, who sits beside you, to hand you a USB drive. You insert the one he hands you and start downloading all the footage from the three days leading up to Winwin's disappearance.
"It might take a while. Might as well start now." You say, leaning back on your chair as you move to let Kun sit in front of the monitor to expand the footage. He moves to your spot, and you turn toward the monitor to watch him start his analysis of the footage from three days before Winwin left.
After half an hour, you put your elbow on the armrest and rest your head on it. Kun notices and turns to you. "Tired?" He whispers, and you nod. "You don't have to bore yourself here. You can go to your office if you want, work or take a nap."
"No, it's okay. What if you mess something up?" You tiredly joke, and Kun lets out a teasing scoff. "I'll just rest my eyes. If I sleep, though, don't wake me up until it's time to go or if you find something."
"I know. How many times have you almost killed me for waking you up for no reason?" Kun reminds, and you let out a laugh.
Before you can close your eyes, though, you can see Kun lean close to you, moving his shoulder to be at the same level as your head. You mentally debate whether you should take his shoulder, which is much more comfortable. Fuck it, you think as you bring your arm to your side and lean on his shoulder, feeling his shoulders ease.
Your nice rest is suddenly interrupted by a hand lightly shaking your shoulder. You let out a small groan, hesitatingly opening your eyes. Your eyes immediately open at the sight of Kun's face directly in front of yours. He leans away, and you get up from his shoulder to look at the monitor.
You can see Winwin and Ten standing around in the marketing wing. Kun presses play, and the footage rolls. Ten is discussing something seriously with Winwin when a junior walks up to them. You watch as Ricky asks Ten a question. After Ten answers, Winwin enters the conversation, saying something with a smile.
Ricky and Winwin are laughing, but Ten's eyes squint as he slowly turns to the financial chief. His frown is evident, and it makes Winwin stop laughing. Ricky stops laughing, but before he clarifies something with Ten and leaves, you can tell from the way he looks at the two seniors that he suspects Ten is angry with Winwin.
"That's Ricky," You say before Kun asks, "he's part of marketing. Ten likes him; Ricky isn't scared of him like every other junior. I can call for him to my office when he comes in so you can question him."
"Alright. Is he coming in at 9 A.M.?" Kun asks, writing something down on a notepad beside him. You look over a little and see that he's already halfway through the pad, scribbles and diagrams everywhere.
"10 A.M., I think." You clarify, looking down at your watch. It's 8:30 A.M., "We should get going. People should start to come in. You can use my computer if you need to, I can just use my phone. I'll just notify all my Chiefs not to come in for our weekly meeting. Maybe I should let Chenle and Renjun see you, though." You say, getting your things ready. Kun nods as he takes the USB drive, which has been ready for a long time, and puts it in his pocket, then gets up.
As you go back to your office, you text your group chat with the Chiefs to say you have an emergency and can't hold the meeting. You switch to a group chat with Winwin, Chenle, and Renjun to tell them to come straight to your room.
Chenle: ??? What's the emergency you were talking about
Y/N: Do you wanna see Kun or not?
Kun moves one of the chairs in front of your desk, placing it in front of your computer. You look at him, confused, "Take my chair, it's more comfy."
"No, it's okay. You can sit on it and watch. This is already more comfy than my chair back home." Kun smiles as he sits on the accent chair. You just shake your head, but listen. You lean over as he continues to watch footage.
You feel sad seeing Winwin in the footage. You wish he were around, or at least knew where he was. But I wouldn't have seen Kun again...
The door opens, and you see Chenle and Renjun immediately enter, startling you and making you move back from Kun. Kun looks up, stoic as ever. You look down at your phone and see it's exactly 9:00 A.M.
"Hi, Kun." Chenle greets, and Kun nods before turning to you, seeing if you were okay. You give him a small smile before glaring at Chenle's smirking face.
"Kun, you know our accounting chief, Chenle, and that's our HR chief, Renjun. I wanted to at least show you two that Kun and I are working together to look for Winwin, and that we are making progress." You speak more professionally than friendlily.
"Hi, Chenle. You're Winwin's neighbour, too, right, Renjun?" Kun greets. Renjun nods at the question, and Kun asks him for information about their living situation and for more details on anything suspicious. Renjun sits on the accent chair across from you, spilling details, and Chenle stands behind him, listening.
You look at Kun's hand as he writes down the details Renjun gives, which are general and not helpful for identifying the suspect. You can see Kun's focused face in your peripheral vision, and if Chenle weren't standing there, eyeing the two of you, you would be less subtle. You always thought he looked handsome when he was focused on writing down things he heard.
"And I think that's about it." Renjun concludes, and you feel guilty when you realize you hadn't heard anything from that point on. Kun nods, and Renjun gets up. You look to see that it was now 9:50 A.M. Chenle and Renjun bow before they leave, and you see Chenle's annoying smirk again.
"Would you kill me if I asked you to come with me and break into Winwin's house?" Kun asks sheepishly from beside you, a while after your two employees left, and you whip your head to look at him with wide eyes.
"Are you serious?" You bellow, and Kun scratches his neck, nodding slowly. You didn't think private investigators actually did that.
"It's not really illegal, you know? We're just trying to help. It's not like I'm asking to break into Ten's house." Kun explains, lifting his hands up beside his head, feigning innocence. You raise an eyebrow as you contemplate the offer.
"Do you really need me there?" You suspect, watching the man's face.
Kun looks down at his feet, his voice barely above a whisper, "You know the answer to that." You bite your lip, still thinking. Kun returns to the footage, hoping to fill the awkward silence.
"Okay," You answer after a long time, surprising Kun, "I've always wanted to do something crazy with you." You answer, but widen your eyes after admitting the last part. Kun's lips parted, signalling he was speechless.
You look at the time and see it's 10 A.M. You take the opportunity to lean over and pick up the phone to call the front desk. "Hey, Yuqi, could you bring Ricky into my office? I need to talk to him about something."
"Yes, Ms. Y/L/N." Yuqi obeys, ending the call to contact Ricky. You look over at Kun, who was looking at you before turning to you.
"After talking to him, shall I go?" Kun timidly asks. You really didn't want him to go, and you're sure the way your fingers were drumming on your thighs gave it away.
"You probably can look at the footage easily at home. How are we gonna get in anyway? Do you use lock picks?" You tease, but you think you already know the answer.
"Yeah." Kun answers nonchalantly, making you laugh. You find it funny that he isn't too concerned about breaking the law, and Kun looks at you strangely. "Breaking the law is so funny to you, huh, CEO?"
Before you can argue, you hear a knock on your door. This causes you and Kun, who were craning your necks at each other, to sit up straight. "Come in!" You instruct loudly, and the door opens.
Ricky's tall frame enters the room, closing the door behind him. His white shirt's sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and you can see his neck tattoo peeking out, framed by his shaggy blond hair. He bows to you before looking Kun over, bowing to him as well. "Good morning, Ms. Y/L/N." He greets with a small smile.
"Good morning, Ricky. This is Kun," You introduce, gesturing to the man beside you. "He's a private investigator. You've probably heard about Winwin?"
"Yeah," Ricky's deep voice lets out, and he sits down on the chair you motion towards. "I heard he hasn't come in for a while. Hao in finance said it's been hard without Winwin around to monitor everyone."
"Yes, we've been working together to find out what's happened to him. Which is why we've called you here." Your voice falters as you turn to Kun, and he takes the queue to speak.
"While monitoring security footage, we saw that you spoke to Winwin and Ten the day before he disappeared." Kun continues, and he turns your monitor to show Ricky the footage from earlier. "We suspect it could help us in finding out what happened. Do you remember what was discussed at all?"
"I think so. I needed Ten's help with designing the new billboard. I went up to him to ask about the fonts, cause I couldn't find them. When he helped me, Winwin said like 'Oh, this is a much better idea than the Instagram hashtag.' I don't even know how he knew about it, but it was funny. Nobody liked the idea, but we're all scared of angry Ten. I laughed, pretending to be nice, but I did find it funny. Ten was pissed, though. We stopped laughing, and Ten looked like he was gonna kill Winwin. I left after that." Ricky recounts, and Kun writes it down at rapid speed.
Your heart skips a beat at the word "kill," and you don't know how to feel. You purse your lips, and when Kun looks over at you, he knows you won't be able to say anything.
"Do you have information on Ten's idea?" Kun asks you, and he places his hand on top of yours, away from Ricky's view, to grab your attention. It works, and your heart starts beating faster for another reason.
"Yeah, I have the proposal he sent me." You breathe, and Kun softly smiles, nodding at you. He turns back to Ricky, who's slightly anxious.
"Thank you, Ricky. You've helped a lot." Kun smiles, and you look over at the junior.
"Is Ten guilty?" Ricky asks, and you feel bad. That's his boss, too, and you knew he didn't have much of a problem with him.
"We're unsure yet, but we will find out." Kun gently tells Ricky, and he nods. He stands up to bow, then leaves your room.
"So, we've got one person to be extra cautious of." Kun notifies you, and you look down at your hands.
"Fuck." You whisper, bringing your hands to your face. Kun watches and hesitantly puts a hand on your back. You slouch, and he starts rubbing it.
"I know it's hard. I'm here for you." Kun soothes, but quickly scrambles to reword his statement, "I'll help you the best I can." You nod, leaning closer to him. "Did you look over the documents I sent you from Winwin's computer, by the way?"
"No. I've been a little overwhelmed. I really should, huh?" You say, looking up at Kun's face. He nods with a tight-lipped smile before getting up from his seat. "Where are you going?"
"Home?" Kun quizzically answers, as if it were obvious. You suppose it was.
"Stay with me?" You ask, and you cringe at how vulnerable it sounds. Kun looks at you with concern, knowing you wouldn't be so unguarded in your office. "I can just let you know if there's anything weird now that we have time."
Kun takes one last look at you and smiles before nodding. His hand that was on your back was much lower now, and you didn't say anything about the arm that was now around your waist.
Kun moves his chair so that you're sitting in front of the keyboard and mouse. You scroll through the monthly and yearly reports, with your own sales records to cross-reference.
"I feel invasive. Like I shouldn't be allowed to look." Kun kids, causing you to let out a small laugh.
"Yeah, you aren't. But I know you would have dug it up anyway. Might as well make the process easier." You respond. "You know, we can leave if we find stuff for lunch. Wanna find somewhere to eat?"
"Of course. I don't mind at all." Kun agrees, and you don't see the way he's been staring at your face, memorizing every detail. He can see how your makeup has changed and wonders if your skincare routine has as well.
Kun goes on his phone, looking for places nearby that you haven't been to together. He wonders how things will change once his job is done. Would you still contact him? Do you still think about your old times? Would you be willing to try again?
Kun's thoughts are disrupted as he hears you whisper, "Whoa." He looks over to your screen, and you've highlighted some of your recorded sales. "Look at the sales from September-December here, and look at how he managed them."
The monthly spikes in sales generated significant revenue, and your document showed the desired transactions. In Winwin's document, though, you can see that he broke down the large transactions into many small ones.
"Why wouldn't he do the transactions you told him to do?" Kun asks, turning to you, as he didn't know your company policy.
"When we reach a certain revenue in sales, we have to do bigger transactions so that it cuts a certain amount to help fund the businesses around our building. We've got a good relationship with them because of it. When I first chose this building, I promised I would help them cause they were on the verge of shutting down." You explain, and Kun's heart warms at your kindness.
"Well, it's weird why he wouldn't do that." Kun hums as he writes down all your information.
"I know. He's not the type to do that." You frown, "I feel like I don't really know my employees as well as I thought." Kun smiles sympathetically, bringing his hand to your back again.
"I found a spot for lunch. Why don't we go now?" Kun offers, and you nod slowly. "They have a lot of dessert." You perk up with a wide smile, and Kun laughs as you quickly get ready to leave.
After lunch, and Kun paying yet again, you agree to get picked up before going to Winwin's apartment that night. You hoped to finish early so you could get your sleep, but you have no problem being late. You lived a few minutes away from Winwin, thankfully, so you could quickly sleep afterwards.
You stand outside your apartment building when you see Kun's car approaching. He stops in front of you, but gets out of the car. You try not to laugh as he quickly comes to your side to open your door, flashing a smile. You get in, and he runs back to the other side.
"So romantic. Is breaking into Winwin's house a date?" You ask, and although you shouldn't joke about dating, you couldn't help it.
Kun laughs before driving away, "I thought it would be perfect."
A few minutes later, you reach the building. Kun helps you get out again, and you follow a group into the elevator so you don't look suspicious. You thought about telling Renjun, but as the head of HR, you don't think he would like to hear about anything illegal you were up to.
The elevator stops at Winwin's floor, and you and Kun exit. He looks over at you to see if you're ready, and you smile back, which assures him. You weren't as nervous as he thought you would be.
Kun leads you to Winwin's apartment, which he had written down on his phone. He then gets on his knees and pulls out a lock pick set. He analyzes the lock, and you think he looks funny when he looks in the hole. He pulls away with a shocked face, and when he twists the handle open, it opens immediately.
"Has it been open the whole time?" Kun theorizes as he motions for you to enter, and you do. You had been in Winwin's apartment once before, but briefly. You were about to have a company dinner and were supposed to pick up Winwin and Renjun. They both took the time to let you enter their apartments while they were finishing up.
"Oh, wow. Was looking into doors to know which lock pick works part of your training?" You tease, and Kun laughs as he locks the door behind you. He's about to respond before he notices something. You were facing him, your back to the apartment, when he grabbed your wrist before you could step back any further, pulling you into his chest.
You look back and see tiny porcelain shards on the floor. If Kun hadn't caught you, you would have definitely hurt yourself. You look back at your saviour, his face close as he eyes you.
"Thanks." You breathe, and Kun snaps out of his daze, nodding. He lets you go and bends down to inspect the shards. He pulls out a mini plastic bag and tweezers from his backpack to collect the samples.
"Do you have something to find DNA on them." You mutter, wondering how much your ex really had access to.
"I don't. My friend Minghao does, though. I just pay him to find out for me." Kun cooly responds, focused on picking up every piece. When he gets up, he finds that you're not behind him, but rather, in the kitchen. "Don't tell me you're hungry?" He teases.
"Please," You scoff. "I'm just checking something." You turn to the counter under the sink, where you think Winwin's trash can is. When you opened it, your suspicion proved true: there, in the trash can, you found the rest of the porcelain. "Look! I found the rest."
Kun comes up behind you, looking in the trash can. "Oh, that's what you were doing." You can hear the warm smile on his face, "So smart." You blush at the compliment. Anytime you did something before he thought of it, he always called you his smart girl. You wished to hear it again.
"I think it's supposed to be a bowl?" You hypothesize that the decorative bowl was almost perfectly split in half, save for the shards you found on the ground.
"Yup, and I think..." Kun says as he puts on latex gloves and picks up one half of the bowl. He turns it around, and you gasp. There were a few drops of old, week-old blood along the broken part. "This might be our key. Get me a bigger bag, please."
Walking back to his backpack, you search for the clear plastic bags that can fit the ceramics. You bring one back to Kun, and he carefully puts the halves in it.
You and Kun explore the rest of Winwin's apartment, but don't find anything else that could help your investigation. You were thankful to have found a damning piece of evidence, as you would have been disappointed without it.
Kun stuffs the evidence into his spacious bag before motioning you to quietly leave the apartment. You quietly go back down, and he opens his car door for you.
"Did you actually get to eat dinner, though?" Kun asks, turning to you as he starts the car.
"Yes, I did. I should be asking if you've eaten dinner." You smirk, leaning slightly towards him.
"No, I haven't." Kun mocks, and he finds the frown on your face cute. He always thought it was adorable how you hated it when he didn't eat, but you both knew he would get angrier when it was you who didn't eat.
You hesitate before offering, "Why don't you come to my place? I have some leftovers." You had no problem asking him to come over, but you didn't want him to reject you and make things awkward.
Kun's eyes widen, looking at you for a couple of beats. He didn't know whether to say yes so he could stay with you a bit longer, or no because of the nervousness on your face. Is it a good nervous? Nevertheless, he nods, wordlessly driving to your house.
You fumble with your keys as you open the door to your apartment, hyperaware of Kun's warm body next to you. When you open it, you let him look around your apartment, which he thinks perfectly reflects you, as you prepare to heat up his food. You check with him if the portion is enough, and he nods.
"You kept a lot of things from our old place." Kun mumbles as he sits on the barstool across the island, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"I wasn't just gonna throw them away," You shrug. "they're still in good condition. It's not like I hated you." You whisper the last part, and silence ensues. You don't need to look at Kun to know he was looking down too, remembering your breakup.
You sit on a bench in a park, waiting for your boyfriend. Living at your parents' homes, but not with each other, has been hard. Your new job and Kun's training made it hard to meet up.
"Hello." You hear a familiar voice sing behind you. You get up to turn around, but Kun is already standing in front of you. You replicate the warm smile on his face as he puts a hand on your cheek and pecks you on the lips.
Plopping onto the bench, you tug at Kun's arm, and he falls down to sit beside you. You sit together, your head on his shoulder and his hand resting on your thigh. You sit in silence for who knows how long.
"Babe..." Kun starts. You look up at him, knowing the tone in which he said it meant it can't be good. "I don't know how to say this, because I didn't think I would ever say this."
You turn to Kun, concern evident on your face. His heart breaks, and he holds your hands tightly. "I love you. I love you so much, Y/N. Ever since we started dating, you're all I wanted. I don't want you to think I don't love you anymore or that I think we're incompatible."
"Then why are you doing this?" Your voice cracks as you ask in a whisper. Kun frowns, bringing your hands up to his face to cup his cheeks.
"My field is dangerous, babe. This past week, I've been learning how to keep myself safe at work and at home. I can't be too careful. I have to move out soon because I don't want anything to happen to my family. And I can't imagine anything happening to you because of me. You don't deserve that. You deserve to be happy and safe." Kun explains through sniffles, and you look down, hiding your tears in your eyes.
"But I feel happy and safe with you." You whisper, and you're grateful you two were alone in the park.
"Me too, babe. But I can't risk it. I don't want you to get caught up if something bad happens." Kun snivelled, and his hands on your shoudlers makes you look back up at him. He places his thumbs on your cheeks, wiping away tears. "I still love you, which is why this is so much harder. I will never find anyone like you. Maybe, if everything is fine in the future, I can be with you again. If you'll have me."
You nod vigorously and lean towards his face, placing your forehead on his, "Of course, Kun. I wish this wasn't happening, but I understand. I would never hate you."
The microwave beeping interrupts your thoughts, and you place Kun's food and two wine glasses in front of him. You couldn't think straight; questions flooded your mind. You can feel his eyes burning into you as you grab a bottle of wine and pour it into your glasses.
Kun raises his glass, and you silently make a toast before taking big sips. You motion towards the couch, taking your glass and the bottle, and he follows you with his plate and glass. Kun eats while you put on an on-demand channel and find a random movie starting. As it starts playing, though, it doesn't feel random.
"Did we watch this when it first came out?" You ask as you sip more of your wine, and Kun nods with his mouth full.
"I wanted to watch it so bad, but you ended up liking it more than me." Kun laughs as he swallows his last bit of food, and you laugh at the memory. You remember your boyfriend at the time being mad at the video effects, but you were enamoured by the story.
You silently watch the movie together. You smirk as you see Kun watch it, like it's his first time, much more delightful than he was years ago. He had set his plate aside and filled up both your glasses. You grab your old blanket, and you don't see his warm smile when he recognizes it.
At the beginning of the movie, Kun sat beside you, keeping a good distance. Approaching the middle of the movie, however, your thighs were touching. You were slowly scooching closer to him while the movie was playing, and hadn't realized that he was doing the exact same.
You're unsure how many glasses of wine you and Kun have drunk, but your mind is no longer paying attention to the movie. You're aware of how warm your breath is. Your eyes are trained on his fist and how hard he's clenching it to not put his hand on your thigh. You could feel his clothed bicep, which he was unintentionally flexing, on your bare arm.
You can see Kun quickly turning to look at you through the corner of his eye. Biting your lip, you turn to look at him head-on. He turns to you as well, his eyes flickering to your lips.
"I've missed you, you know. I didn't think we would see each other again, but I'm happy we have." Kun confesses.
"Me too. I was scared at first, but I knew I wanted to see you and know how you're doing." You mutter, looking over Kun's face. He smiles as he does the same.
"My job isn't that dangerous..." Kun breathed. "At first, it kinda was. But recently, since my clientele has been paying me a lot for things that aren't too dangerous, it's been okay. I'm very protected. I have untracable methods online and real life. I do the occasional illegal thing, but I guess you could say the law doesn't apply to me. So..."
"So?" You repeat, prodding Kun to say what you've been wanting to hear. He smiles, and the nerves leave his face once he realizes you weren't going to get angry.
"So..." Kun starts, bringing his hands close to yours. You lift your hands so that he can hold onto them. "I want to try again. We can go slow. I'm not expecting much. Our lives are very different now, and I wanna find that rhythm again. I haven't stopped thinking about you, and I've been working hard to get to where I am now. I was scared that you would try to push me away, but I swear, I can't lose you again."
You smile at Kun's words, and even if you couldn't hear the raw emotion in his words, his crushing grip on your hands was enough to know he wasn't lying. His eyes search yours as he waits for an answer.
"I love you." You whisper before kissing Kun. He lets go of your hands, takes off his glasses in between a kiss, and immediately latches onto your hips. You put your hands on his cheeks, wanting to keep his face close to yours.
Kun lifts you onto his lap, and you break off the kiss to let out a small laugh. He takes the opportunity to insert his tongue into your mouth, and you happily let him explore your mouth as you wrap your legs around his waist.
"Fuck," Kun whispers as he takes his lips off yours to breathe. He can't get enough of you, it seems, as he peppers kisses along your neck. "I've been waiting for this for so long."
"Why don't you show me?" You tease. Kun brings his face back up to yours, staring into your eyes darkly.
"Are you sure?" Kun whispers, looking down at your lips and back up to your eyes. You give him a warm smile and nod softly. "Where's your room?" You laugh as he lifts you up, your legs still on his waist and your arms around his neck, carrying you to where you point.
You wake up, your body aching. You pry your eyes open to find yourself alone in your bed. The blanket falls from you as you sit up, looking at the clothes, apart from Kun's underwear and pants, scattered along the floor. Quickly grabbing your phone, you see that it's 7 A.M. You text Yuqi that you won't be in the office today.
You blush as you get up to put on your underwear and Kun's button-up shirt. Every morning, after a night with Kun, he's always the first one up, making breakfast for you. Most of the time, you wake up to find him mid-cooking. If you don't wake up when he's finished, he'll bring the food to you and feed you.
"Wow, I missed you in my clothes." You hear from your door. You turn to find Kun leaning against it, shirtless, staring at you as you finish buttoning up the rest of the shirt. You playfully roll your eyes and approach him. He leans down to kiss you, and you cling to his shoulders.
"Good morning to you, too." You whisper as Kun leads you to the kitchen. He grabs your plates and takes them to the couch. You pick up your blanket and lay it across the two of you. You sit close beside each other, his arm around your shoulders and your head on his chest as he looks through channels on your TV.
"So, this is actually happening, right? You're willing to start again?" Kun asks, mouth in your hair. You look up at him and nod with a smile, and he pecks your lips. "I woke up really early to drop the samples off at Minghao's, by the way. We won't get it until tonight."
"Oh, great. I told my front desk I won't be at work today." You say while you chew your food. "I guess we're stuck together until then."
You and Kun spend the whole day on your couch, talking about major things that have happened since separating. You look through each other's camera rolls, commenting on how much you've changed and how much you've kept the same. Your hands are always on each other, wandering.
Finally, Minghao texted Kun saying he had the results. You and Kun dress up before he drives you to his friend's house. Kun helps you out of the car once you arrive, but you spot Minghao standing at the door.
"Good evening," Minghao greets, nodding at you and Kun, "Come in, my lab is in my basement."
Minghao leads you through his very white, modern house and down to his basement. It's quite dark in some areas but highly technical in others. He stops in front of a computer.
"I found two main fingerprints on the shards. I assume one was the victim and one was the perpetrator. The bits of blood were all linked to one person, so I assume that one was just the victim." Minghao explains as he motions for you to put in your email. "These are the fingerprints. Is there any way you can get your suspects' fingerprints?"
You stop to think, then your eyes widen. "I have everyone's fingerprints." You gasp. "We collect them when they first join, in case of any fraud or laundering." Kun smiles from behind you. He remembers you saying that if you owned a company, you would do everything possible to prevent crime.
"Oh. Well then, there you go. You're almost done." Minghao smiles, and you nod. You turn to Kun with a look of disbelief; you couldn't believe you were so close. He squeezes your hand.
"Thanks, Minghao." Kun smiles at his friend, who smirks in return after looking up from your interlinked hands. He nods and leads you back to the front yard.
You enter the car as Kun finishes talking to Minghao. So much has happened in the past few days, you thought, and now... it's almost over.
Kun enters the car, smiling as he places a hand on your thigh. "We're so close. Where do you want to go now?" You look over at the time. 9 P.M. You pause as you fiddle with his hand.
"Would you kill me if I asked to go to the office? I wanna get this over with." You plead. Hearing the car engine start and feeling Kun's hand squeeze your thigh, you smile.
Arriving at your office yet again, you quickly go to unlock the back door, turning off the alarm. Kun follows as you speed through the hallways, urgently press the elevator buttons, and run to your file cabinet. As you flip through different files, he rubs your back, soothing you.
"Relax, babe." You feel Kun whisper against your ear as he leans over your bent position. You shiver at his body so close to you and his warm breath on your cold neck, and you slow your movements.
You pick out each suspect's employee information sheet. Whenever you hire someone, you would conduct a criminal record check and have them place their thumbprint on the employee contract. Most people think it's too much, but a few, like Xiaojun and Yuqi, appreciate how secure working for you is.
"Okay," You huff, standing up straight and logging into the computer. "Time to find out who it is."
Kun slides his arm around your waist and stands beside you. You open the picture of the thumbprint that Minghao sent you and compare it to each contract.
You start with Xiaojun, the one you hope it's not, and Kun starts with Ten's, the most suspicious one. You let out a sigh of relief as you find that Xiaojun's thumbprint is very different. You reach for Yangyang's paper.
"Babe..." Kun calls, and you feel your heart sink. You look over to Ten's paper and compare the thumbprints. "It's... the same."
You feel your heart race, and your eyes get cloudy. Kun can feel you start to shake a little, and brings your head to his chest. You begin to let out tears as you weakly wrap your arms around him.
"I-I can't believe it," You stutter. "I've known him for so long. I never thought he would do something like this." You remember meeting Ten on your first day of university. He sat beside you and immediately started a conversation. You always gave him your food when you saw that he would never buy food. He was one of your first employees because he served as head of marketing for many clubs.
"I'm sorry, Y/N," Kun whispers. He lets go of you to bring his face in front of you as he holds your shoulders. "Let's rest now. You need to be ready for tomorrow. I'll help you confront him." You nod, and you let Kun turn off your computer, put the papers back in your drawer, and turn off your lights. He holds your hand as you go to the elevator and to his car.
Before you went to Minghao's home, Kun quickly stopped by his apartment to pack things to stay with you for the next few days. He knew that he couldn't leave you alone to cope, but he also just wanted to be with you.
You wipe your makeup off as you watch Kun unpack his suitcase. You were happy to have him with you. He starts changing his clothes, smirking when he sees you silently observing his every move. You look down at his suitcase, and happily gasp at the sight of your favourite shirt of his. You always used it when you slept over at his place.
Kun throws the shirt at you. "I brought this just for you. It was my favourite shirt to sleep in; it felt like you were still with me." You change into just his shirt as he lies in your bed. You turn off your light before crawling over to him and pecking his lips.
"Thank you. You always know what to do, what I want. I love you." You smile as you hover over Kun. He smiles, taking off his glasses and holding your cheeks.
"I love you, too. Always." Kun whispers, bringing you into a real kiss. You drop down beside him during the kiss, and he turns his body to you to continue the kiss.
You pull away. "We can talk about what to do tomorrow. Good night." You sigh contentedly. Kun nods, kissing your forehead before resting his head atop yours. He rubs your back to soothe you to sleep, and you can feel it working.
You wake up before your alarm and realize Kun is cooking breakfast yet again. You freshen up before leaving your room.
"Hello." You mumble as you slither your arms around his waist, resting your cheek on his bare back. Your boyfriend turns around in your arms and places a small kiss on your nose.
"I'm almost done. You can wait for me by watching TV or you can keep hugging me, I don't mind." Kun smiles as he turns his attention back to your food. You stay, closing your eyes as you rest against his warm skin. You place occasional kisses on his back, revelling in the way his back would slightly tense at the sudden sensation, before he melts and vibrates as he giggles.
Kun plates your food and brings both of your plates back to the TV. You silently eat your food, feeling his eyes on you.
"What are you gonna do about Ten? Are you gonna call the police?" Kun asks. You take a deep breath.
"That's probably the best thing to do. After we find out where Winwin is." You respond.
Kun rubs his thumb over your thigh. "I can call some officers I know. We can extract information from Ten before they come in. Your security cameras will record it." He brainstorms. You nod and continue eating, making small talk about the show on TV.
As Kun's car approaches your office, your nerves, once eased, return. His hand squeezes your thigh when he notices your leg shaking incessantly. While you were getting ready, you heard him on the phone with an officer, arranging Ten's arrest. It's starting to feel too real.
In your office, you sit on your chair as Kun kneels in front of you. He holds your hands, looking up at you as you calm your breathing.
"It's okay, babe. I'm here to help you. The officers are disguised right outside the door. We're all ready when you are." Kun whispers.
"Did you ever think being a therapist would be part of your job?" You joke to lighten the mood.
"I'm your boyfriend. That job is way more important than being a private investigator." Kun assures you with a kiss on your cheek. You smile as you reach for the landline, and Kun stands up. "Do you want Chenle and Renjun here, as well? Ten won't be able to do anything if there are many of us in here."
Your heart hurts at the thought of Ten doing something bad in front of you. "Yeah. I think they also deserve to know everything." You call both of their lines and tell them to come to your office.
Kun moves from beside your chair to the edge of your desk as Chenle opens your door, and Renjun follows right after. Chenle waves at Kun, and Renjun bows.
"We know who did it." You announce, and the two boys' eyes go wide. "I'm gonna call him soon. You guys deserve to know everything. There are officers outside the office, and with you guys in here, it'll be safer."
"Oh, okay," Chenle responds. "Call him. Let's not delay this so we can find out where Winwin is." Kun moves to stand right beside you, and Chenle and Renjun stand at either side of your desk. You're surprised that Chenle doesn't comment on Kun standing so close to you. You nod as you reach for the phone yet again, asking Ten to enter your office, which he agrees to.
When Ten walks in, you can see him stiffen before he closes the door. He looked to Chenle and Renjun, both visibly angry, and Kun, whom he didn't recognize, standing right beside you with his arms crossed.
"Yes?" Ten says once he's bowed to you. Kun looks down at you to see if you had the heart to speak. He watches your chest rise and fall as you take a deep breath.
"Ten," You start. "Do you know what happened to Winwin?"
Kun observes how Ten's breathing halts and shoulders tense. "No. Has he been found?" He answers. Kun notices Chenle's fists balls up. Kun calmly walks behind Ten, urging him to sit on the chair in front of you as he stands behind him.
"We believe you may know about his whereabouts. After all, you were in his apartment when Winwin came back from vacation, no?" Kun intigates. Ten looks up at him with disbelief. You can see anger start to bubble in his eyes.
"Ten," You mediate, and Ten turns to you. You can see his shoulders drop as he looks down at his lap. "Please answer his question."
"Fine. Yes. You got me." Ten admits, and you're surprised at how quick he was to confess. "Winwin pissed me off when he made fun of my Instagram idea. He kept bringing it up for days, and it started getting under my fucking nerves. Then, one day, I found out he wasn't recording your sales properly because he got into a fight with one of the business owners nearby and used that to blackmail him into shutting up."
"We saw you with Winwin and Ricky before he left. Did that make it worse?" Kun asks when he sees you bring a hand up to your face to rub it.
"Ugh, yes. Winwin swore never to talk about it again, but he decides to bring it up in front of a junior. Do you know how embarrassing that shit was? I was so fucking angry, but Winwin got out of it with no consequences." Ten angrily expresses himself, and you're worried for Kun's safety, as he's the closest to Ten.
"So you made him deal with the consequences when he came back?" Kun leads, trying to get closer to the end of the story.
"I kept texting his phone while he was gone. He never read them. I made sure that if he didn't feel my anger through the phone, he'd know in real life. It was stupid of me; I regret it so much. When he came back that night, I went to his apartment. He was so scared, and I was so angry. I just yelled at him the whole time. At one point, he started yelling back, and that's when I saw red." Ten continues.
"What the fuck did you do?" Chenle seethes. You feel anger like your two other Chiefs; Winwin was a close friend and didn't deserve any of this.
"I... grabbed the closest thing I could find. Some bowl. And I... hit him with it. His head." Ten chokes up, reliving the moment. "Fuck, I really wasn't thinking. I never hated him. He fell, and that's when I got scared. I threw the bowl away. I grabbed Winwin and ran."
"To?" You urgently ask, hoping Winwin is safe.
"My home. He's there right now. I've been trying to help him recover because I feel so guilty." Ten tells, and you feel shocked. "He woke up soon after it happened, and I begged for his forgiveness for so long. He's been letting me take care of him, and only recently has he forgiven me."
"Wait, he's okay? And he's fine with you?" Renjun asks incredulously. You can see shock on everyone's face, even Kun, though you know it was only evident to you.
"I know. It's weird, he's a little too nice. He just didn't want me to tell everyone because it would make me look horrible, and he wanted to come back when he was fully okay. He's not too hurt, just a few cuts. He said he would return home and to work very soon." Ten sighs, combing his hand through his hair. You look at Kun, who does the same.
"Can you call Winwin? So we know if he's okay?" You ask, and Ten nods. He pulls out his phone to call Winwin, who instantly picks up.
"Hello?" You hear Winwin's voice say. It felt like you hadn't heard his voice in years. Chenle and Renjun gather up beside you.
"Hey, Winwin. Y/N, Chenle, and Renjun wanna talk to you." Ten hesitantly says. You hear Winwin gasp slightly.
"Winwin?" Renjun and Chenle ask, still doubtful.
"Renjun? Chenle? Hi." Winwin quietly responds. "Y/N? Are you there?" Your eyes look to Kun, unsure if you should talk. Kun nods.
"Hi, Winwin." You mutter. Ten looks at you sympathetically, knowing you're probably feeling a whirlwind of emotions.
"I'm sorry, Y/N. You probably know about the transaction thing, and I truly apologize for that. I know I shouldn't have let my anger jeopardize my job, and that's what happened to Ten. I saw that he was essentially the same as me; that's why I forgave him. I hope you forgive us." Winwin apologizes, and you feel your heart start to race.
"To be honest, I don't know what to think right now. I don't want you to go to jail, Ten, and knowing that Winwin is okay with you makes me think you should be fine. But I can't keep you here. And I'm not the professional." You spill, and Kun wants nothing more than to hold you in his arms.
"Fire me too, then. Ten and I are on the same boat. Just please don't take us to the police." Winwin begs over the phone. You hear Chenle let out a sigh, and Renjun has the most guilty look on his face.
"Renjun, Kun, what do you guys think?" You ask, looking between the two men. Kun can see Renjun's internal conflict and decides to speak first.
"Well, if Winwin forgives Ten and they both feel regret, firing them seems okay. I can tell the officers outside that we have the wrong guy." Ten turns around to Kun, fear in his eyes at the information. "If they do enough redemption, who knows, they can come back. But if you want to keep them and just have them watched, that's okay, too, Y/N."
"If you do want to keep them," Renjun slides into the conversation, "we can just demote them for the time being. I don't condone their actions, but it doesn't seem too serious. I do think Winwin and Ten can be the good employees they once were. This is seriously against everything I stand for, though." You laugh at his last sentence.
"Okay. I trust your decision, Renjun. Maybe give them some unpaid time off, then bring them back under a lesser role. We can have someone sub in." You conclude, and Renjun nods. You look to Ten, who nods as well. Kun signals to you that he's going to step out to talk to the officers, and you let him. "Is that okay, Winwin?"
"Yes, Y/N. Sorry again. Ten and I will make sure to be on our best behaviour." Winwin says over the phone, and you nod as if he could see you. You rub your forehead as Renjun leads Ten to his room, still on call with Winwin to determine what to do.
Chenle stands beside you, jaw clenched, "Wow, I'm so confused and conflicted. I can't imagine how you feel right now." He says, putting a hand on your shoulder. You put your elbow on your armrest, holding your head with your hand.
Kun opens the door, "The officers are gone." He shortly says, coming to stand at your side as Chenle lets go of you. You smile warmly at him.
"Thank you, Kun. For everything." You earnestly tell your boyfriend, who tries not to break out in a big smile in front of Chenle. "Thanks for recommending him, Chenle." You turn to your junior. You squint when you see that smirk on his face again.
"You're welcome. It looks like I got you a new boyfriend, huh?" Chenle teases, and your eyes widen. You turn to look at Kun, who looks aghast. "Did you forget I have Kun's location? I've seen that he's not staying at his house. And I know where you live."
Kun rubs his forehead as you laugh. Your boyfriend looks back at you, feeling himself smile. Chenle looks between you two like you were incredibly cute. "Did you take my advice, then?"
"No." You huff before Kun can ask. You make a note to tell him what his friend said a few days ago. "Kun's ex-girlfriend you were talking about was me. We're just back together again." You explain, and Chenle's jaw drops.
"No fucking way!" Chenle exclaims, running to Kun and shaking him, "Why wouldn't you tell me? Especially after I told you she was my boss. Wow, that's why your parents always ask about her. I can't believe it."
"Yes, yes, but don't tell anyone. Especially not my family, I want us to be the ones to tell them." Kun laughs, finding Chenle's reaction absurd.
"Get ready," Chenle giggles, "They'll get on your ass for not getting married yet."
"Yeah, yeah." You sigh as you get up, pushing Chenle out your door. "Go do your work. You've got a lot to do now. I need your help appointing a new CFO. I need Xiaojun's help finding a new CMO, as well."
"How do I know you're gonna do your work when your boyfriend is here?" Chenle teases, but lets himself be escorted. Kun wants to roll his eyes, but just laughs at the scene in front of him, following you.
You turn back around once you close the door, throwing your arms around Kun. "Finally. It's over." You sigh in his neck.
"And how do you feel about the decision you made?" Kun asks, one hand on your waist and the other patting your hair.
"My therapist is back." You smile, pulling away from the hug to smile at Kun. He laughs, placing a peck on your lips. "I'm okay with my decision, and I trust Renjun to deal with it appropriately."
"I don't wanna take up your time, then. Maybe it's best not to let your Chiefs know you suspected them. You also probably need to think of a lie to tell everyone why Winwin and Ten are demoted, so I'll leave you to work." Kun says, and you groan as he lets go of you.
"Leaving me to do the hard work. You have my spare key, right?" You ask, and Kun nods as he gathers his stuff. "Can we go on a date tonight? Like old times?"
"Of course, babe. I was just waiting until all this was over." Kun whispers as he approaches your figure, placing a longer kiss on your lips before heading out your door.
