Chapter 68 - Dinner (6)

Sam was now suspicious of the attack. How did the hacker manage to break in this far? 

Moreover, why on that day? The PM was home with his family and a couple of guests. Was it an inside job?

His tactical mind and years of experience made him a very cautious person. Sam Cheng never trusted the people around him and it was becoming more and more obvious that one of the guests that night was most probably the culprit. 

None of the guests had their phones except for the family members. But then he recalled that Myung and his little friend had an assignment to complete. They had gone to Myung's room where it was full of advanced gadgets. Could it be them? But Myung had no reason to hack into the system; he was not that much of an expert anyway.

The girl, however, could likely be involved. His gut feeling was now pinpointing her. He doubted that Myung had any idea what his friend might be up to and if the girl was smart, she would not be using Myung's PC. She probably had a different, untraceable device with her and to operate it, she would have to use a private place with no camera.

A washroom...

I must find out, he decided. He quickly left the security room and hurried off.

Inside the washroom, Orea was bitterly lamenting her luck. She did not expect Sam's system to be an easy one to hack into but the guy was ten steps ahead of them. He had placed a tracker to cause the hacker's device to self-destruct! If she had used a PC or a bigger device, she would have certainly died in the attempt.

That rat bastard! She cursed. This is not over.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps outside the washroom and she went rigid with fear. Was it Sam? 

She was now truly panicking. If Sam caught her there with Myung's phone, she was doomed. Quickly removing all traces of her usage in Myung's phone. The footsteps were inching closer and closer, making her heart race like a maniac.

Oh shit!

….

*A few minutes ago*

Downstairs, SD looked at the clock. It was 8:16 PM. Did she manage to hack it?

He had little doubt in his protege's abilities but Sam Cheng was a formidable foe. Not only was he the PM's right hand man but also a genius computer analyst. The man had created some of the most advanced security systems for the country and hacking into his software was not an easy task even for Orea.

But he still had to find out. If Orea was caught, then he would lose a very valuable asset.

She was at Myung's room but it was obvious that she would not be able to operate from there. And she had asked for his mobile phone earlier which meant that she might have obtained it somehow later on. He glanced around.

Everyone was engaged in a conversation about PM Lee's upcoming election.

"Dad, I was planning to increase your public appearances," Hyeri was saying. "Include a town hall meeting with the representatives of all the unions and show it on TV for the audience to see. Also, I've made a list of all the online influencers. If we pay them enough, they will endorse our cause."

Sunye wanted to roll her eyes. She was aware of all the tactics the politicians used to win elections so it did not surprise her. But she was not keen on sitting there and listening to it all. She glanced at SD who was surprisingly still causing her to frown.

Maybe after all these years, she had begun to read him well or was it a deviation from his usual calmness? He was cool and composed but the lines on his face had stiffened as if he was quite tense about something. Was it for that girl, Orea? Was he worried about her?

"That sounds like an obvious PR tactic," Jonghyun was saying. "Don't you think people will find it to be a farce? Why push PM Lee in front of everyone's faces everyday? People are gonna get irritated!"

"It's the elections and the more he stays in the spotlight, the better are his chances of winning," Hyeri stated.

"But-"

"Hyeri is right," Lee said. "I need to wash the stains Hyun had put on my party. Also, I want you to take a more active role in my campaign this time. Your firm will handle all the legal procedures. We'll work closely to come up with policies which will put me back into the good books of the citizens."

"We should work as per my plans," Hyeri said with a hint of self-importance. "I have concocted a carefully devised PR strategy which will ensure your victory, dad."

Lee smiled and nodded. He then glanced at the clock.

"Did the servants send food upstairs for Myung and his friend?" he wondered. "Myung had returned home after so long. In fact, why don't all of you stay at the mansion tonight with your old man? We'll spend some time as a family!"

"I have to drop Sunye home," Jonghyun said but Lee merely laughed.

"I'm sure our guest won't mind if Secretary Kim dropped her off!" he exclaimed. "Right, Ms. Han?"

"I don't mind at all," Sunye said clearly. At that moment, between Jonghyun and SD, she would take the latter. After finding out that Jonghyun had gone all the way to her house and even stayed all night to wait for her, she was not wholly comfortable with the idea of staying near him. Maybe she was overreacting but something about it ticked her off.

Then again, she would have to hear SD gloat about himself all the way so he was not exactly the lesser of two evils.

"Sure, sir," SD replied. 

"Good," Lee said. "Now, where is Sam? I wanted him to check on whether the kids ate or not!"

"I'll go and check," SD offered. "I'm sure he has other things to worry about."

"How kind of you, Haein," Lee said appreciatively. "The staircase is right off the living room. Myung's room is at the southern corner. Just go in and make sure that they ate."

He hesitated before adding, "Also, make sure that they are not...indulging in anything strange. Kids nowadays have no control over their hormones."

Trust me, if Myung laid a hand on Orea, I'd rip his arm off myself, SD added in his head. No matter how much they bickered, he had a brotherly instinct towards the kid. She could handle herself well on her own but SD would not spare any guy who dared to hurt her.

He nodded and left the room. Sunye's eyes followed him with suspicion. The sadistic duo was definitely planning something and she wanted to find out what it was.

"Please excuse me for a minute," Sunye said with a smile. The others nodded and continued to converse about the upcoming election. Sunye discreetly made her way towards the stairs. She saw SD hurrying towards the southern corner where Myung's room was but he was not heading there. 

Where's he going? She wondered. She silently followed him.

Up ahead, SD tried not to show his true emotions. He was calmly walking towards the washroom on the southern part of the house. If Orea had to get privacy to carry out their plan, it had to be from a washroom where there would be no camera. 

As soon as he came nearer, he saw another black figure approaching it. Quickly, he took out a small notebook from his pocket and pretended to casually read Jonghyun's schedule for the next day while hiding behind a wall. Sam was lurking outside the washroom, examining it. 

Sunye also watched from afar, confused by what was happening. Realizing that there might be cameras inside the house, she casually strolled towards Sam, who was still hovering outside the washroom. SD spotted her, but he did not react. Instead, he remained in his spot, still fiddling with his notes.

"Mr. Cheng?" she called. Sam stopped in his steps and turned around.

"I think the PM was looking for you downstairs," she mentioned it to him. "To check whether Myung and his friend had eaten dinner."

"Their dinner was sent to the Young Master's room," he said curtly, turning around to check the washroom. Just then, SD came out of his hiding place and feigned a surprised look.

"Mr. Cheng?" he asked. "I've been looking all over for you!"

Sam let out a frustrated sigh and turned to address Jonghyun's secretary. Sunye also stood there, pretending to be curious.

"I think the Young Master was complaining about the light in his room acting faulty," SD smoothly lied. "He was asking whether you could fix it."

"I'm not a mechanic!" Sam snapped.

"The son of the Prime Minister had given you an order," Sunye said in a smug tone. "Surely, you're not going to refuse it, am I right?"

"As far as I know, he holds precedence over all the citizens in the country," SD added. "Unofficially of course! If the PM's son orders me to fix his light, I'll have to do it whether I can or not."

Sam's face contorted into a scowl. He let go of the washroom's knob and hurried towards Myung's room. SD and Sunye followed.

"Is Orea in that washroom?" Sunye hissed at him on their way to Myung's room. SD did not reply out loud but curtly nodded, making Sunye wince. Did she become an inadvertent accomplice to something illegal?

God I hope not, she prayed. Sam marched towards Myung's room with SD and Sunye in tow, both of them hoping that Orea had managed to escape the washroom.

Sam barged through the door without knocking. 'Young master you asked for-"

He froze in his steps. Behind him, SD and Sunye were also shocked.

"I think we should design the guest check-in system first," Orea was saying to Myung as she drew on a paper. But he was not listening. His eyes were on the intruders.

"Don't you guys know how to knock?" he sneered.