Chapter 66 - Dinner (4)

A deathly silence resonated throughout the dining room. SD pretended to be oblivious to the storm he had brewed while everyone else stared at him. Hyeri was outraged while Jonghyun seemed very intrigued by his secretary. Sunye was mortified by his words, scared that he had crossed a line.

"Further accuse?" Lee asked politely. "What do you mean, Mr. Kim?"

"Oh you know how the media keeps on making up stories about possible corruption within the government," SD snorted. "I remember that there were rumors about your involvement with some mafia gang. Some people even speculated that more people from the government were linked to this mess with Shin Hyun. How come the higher ups did not know about the Finance Minister's involvement with the Yakuza and his drug deals? All those talks."

"Ahh…" Lee said. "But that's all they are. Talks. What my ministers do in their lives is not usually my concern but I do put a lot of faith in their honesty. Too bad that Hyun took it for granted."

There was a hint of sadness in Lee's words. "After all, we fought together to keep this country intact," he went on. "Imagine how I must be feeling upon hearing of his arrest. The decision I took to sack him is every bit painful as it should be, I can assure you that."

Lee looked down, hiding his sadness. He looked like a broken man who had lost something precious to him. Instantly, Hyeri reached out to console him.

"Father, please don't beat yourself up," she said softly. "I'm here for you."

She threw a dirty gaze at SD and added, "Why should you care about a low level secretary's words? He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Haein simply pointed out what the other people are talking about," Jonghyun stated. "He quoted the media. Surely, it's his right as a free citizen?"

Hyeri was about to snap back but Lee held her back. "He is every bit as right to question me," Lee said. "The people are talking about it and I should address the issue."

"I am sorry if I hurt your feelings," SD apologized. "It wasn't my intention."

"That's alright!" Lee laughed. "As long as Hyun gets his due punishment, all is good."

Upon hearing that, Sunye felt more nervous. She could not even touch her food anymore and simply took small bites. Was it her nervousness or the food itself, it was quite tasteless. She forced a smile and tried to focus on dinner but it was useless.

The others were talking with each other but she barely heard them. In her nervousness, she noticed that SD was not eating either. He was simply cutting into it and before taking it in his mouth, he would add something to the conversation and put the food down, pretending to chew. 

It struck her odd that a big eater like SD would not eat such a lavish meal which was laid in front of him.

SD, on the other hand, did not care about the food. His eyes went to the clock hung on the wall. It was 9 PM. What was Orea doing?

From the corner of his eye, he saw Sam move. 

"Sir, I'll have the servants send food to the Young Master and his friend," Sam said.

"Do ask his friend whether someone will pick her up or should we drop her off after dinner at her home?" Lee instructed. 

SD instantly knew the meaning behind those words. They would use every opportunity to know more about Orea and that was not good. Moreover, if they drop her off home, they would know her whereabouts and one day, they would find out that he lived there too. 

Luckily, Orea was smart enough to know that and he was sure she had an ace up her sleeve. He would rather not know what it was. The less he knew about her escape plan, the better. If one gets caught, the other one can strike at the right moment. It was a simple trick they had learnt from the Order.

Just don't get caught, he prayed.

….

"Woahhh!" Orea marveled in awe at Myung's room. "Is this seriously your room?"

She was completely swept away by his bedroom. It was a gamer's paradise!

The walls were decorated with creative graffiti which contained phrases from all the famous games. She recognized many from D&D, COD, Assassin's Creed, Demon Souls, Cyberpunk and many more. They were drawn with precision, every brushwork intrinsic and smooth. The borders were done with neon paint which could glow in the dark. A bunk bed was stashed against the wall with a bed on the upper layer but not beneath it. Instead, there was a large gaming PC and a series of consoles around it, carefully lined and kept in order. 

Three more gaming PC's were placed against the opposite wall which did not have graffiti but triangular neon lights were placed on it in a diagonal format. Orea instantly recognized that these were the latest models of gaming PC's and probably were not even in the market yet.

The latest P25! She squealed inwardly as she gazed at one of the PC's which had red lining and was turned on. The crystal clear visuals were flashing through her eyes as she awed at it. Her hands itched to take it apart and look inside the CPU. She could visualize the complicated motherboard already, attached to colorful wires which were designed by the most famous people in the gaming industry. Her heartbeats quickened as she tried to touch one of the PC's.

"Don't touch it!" Myung snapped. "They're expensive."

"I can't help it!" she squealed. "This...this is paradise!"

"Stay here for 18 years and your definition of paradise will change," he muttered but Orea was not paying any attention to him. She was too busy gawking at the heaven she had landed in. If the rest of the mansion was a stuffed zoo, Myung's room was the only place where she felt free.

"We're here to study!" he reminded her. "Our assignment is due next week. We need to focus!"

"Uh huh," Orea said, still distracted by the fresh machines around her. Myung was annoyed by her inattentiveness and pulled her ear.

"AHHH!" She cried when he twisted her ear.

"FOCUS!" he yelled.

"I can't help it!" she said crossly. "Machines are my weakness."

"And that is exactly why we're stuck here with extra homework!" he scolded her.

Orea pouted as he let go. Myung was puzzled by the girl. Was she the shy and timid Heo Orea who would not dare to look at him in the eye at school or the machine freak in front of him?

She rubbed her ear and took a seat next to him. Myung turned on one of his PC's and opened the software their teacher had given them.

"Now, we have to make the hotel's database," he said. "It might be difficult for you but I have a good idea of them so I'll be able to make it-"

Orea snorted. Was he seriously saying that to a world famous hacker?

"I can make the software all by myself!" she claimed. "You shouldn't get in my way."

Myung was incredulous at the tiny girl who was trying to make big claims. He sarcastically patted her head and said, "How cute. Now move over, little kid and let the grown up takeover."

A nerve twitched on her head. She wanted to rip out the pretty boy's hair but had to control herself. There was another important mission she had to complete. 

"Fine!" she conceded, albeit reluctantly. "But I need your phone to call my brother! He doesn't know that my phone isn't with me and will be worried if I don't call."

Myung rolled his eyes and handed her his cellphone. Orea frowned.

"There's no network here," she complained. 

"I kept this room network free so that people don't call me when I'm playing," he shrugged. Orea shook her head and headed outside. Once she was out, she looked around her to make sure the coast was clear. Casually strolling through the hall, she stumbled across a pair of servants who were bringing food to Myung's room.

"Madam!" one of the servants exclaimed. "What are you doing out here?"

"I was looking for the washroom," Orea replied. "Myung is using the one in his room so I came outside to search for one. But I seem to have gotten lost." 

"Oh," the servant said. "Go straight till the end of the hall and you'll find it on your right."

Orea thanked them and walked towards the washroom. Once inside, she locked the door and quickly took out the mobile phone. She took off one of her shoes and upturned it. 

A tiny microchip fell out of it. Picking it up, she inserted it into Myung's memory card slot.

Instantly, a detailed GPS map showed up on the phone. It held the map on every location Myung had visited over the course of one year, including his own mansion. She navigated through the map, memorizing the locations in her mind.

"What's this…" 

She zoomed in on one of the rooms which was labeled the security room. This is it! She realized. This is the room!

She tried to zoom in further but to her shock, that was where the GPS stopped working and a security code popped up on the screen. Orea pressed a button on the chip to allow it to scan all the possible codes of the system.

Instantly, a red light appeared on the screen. The system had detected her attempt to hack it!

"Uh oh!" she muttered.

Downstairs, Sam's phone vibrated. He took it out and smirked. A rat in the midst, he thought in glee. Let's see if he can escape.