Strange occurrences began after the night she had encountered him approaching her from an isolated alley.
Struggling to piece together the situation she is in, Taehyung leads on to knowing more than what he is telling her.
When a bigger threat force...
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In a room filled with unfamiliar faces, Taehyung shifted uncomfortably in the leathery office chair. His hands were placed awkwardly on top of his lap for he felt conscious about being watched.
All eyes were glued onto him as his own eyes looked straight ahead, waiting for the door of the conference room to slide open.
Upon entering the glass structured tower earlier, he was greeted formally by high status nobles that knew of him by which his sidekick was completely awestruck by his popularity.
When Mark had attempted to pick at Taehyung's nose about his status and about who his parents were, he simply waved him off, the expression on his face dropping.
Taehyung did not want to be affiliated with his parents. But for the sake of Jennie, he was willing to do whatever it took. Even if it meant betraying her.
The door had finally slid open and a woman in her mid-forties had stepped in. Her black stilettos had clicked at every step and every sway of her black pencil skirt that hugged at her hips. Following after was a man around the same age, class and elegance nauseating the air around the couple, screaming authority.
Every noble figure in the room had stood up from their leather chairs, gawking at the duo with admiration and respect.
Scanning the room with her eyes, her gray irises spotted the two males out of place, fluttering her eyelashes slowly in acknowledgment.
A taut smile appeared on the man's face as he too had acknowledged his son's presence in the meeting.
Clearing his throat, the man had opened his arms and everyone had taken their seats.
"As you all may know, our only son has finally joined us in our meeting. It's good to see you where you belong." The woman flashed her pearly white teeth in contrast to her bright red blood lipstick.
Mark gulped beside Taehyung, feeling a sense of danger cursing through his veins as the image of her smile haunted him. The ambience had screamed a thick unknown, something was eerily off about this endearment. He just couldn't piece any of it together as he quietly watched Taehyung keep a blank face. Just who were his parents?
"Now." The man spoke, cutting off Mark's thoughts. "There have been whispers of the ancestor awakening and I want all of you to hunt him down."
Mark glanced at Taehyung.
"There has been a rise in panic for the ghouls." The man paused in contemplation of his next words.
When he took to long in formulating the right sentence, the woman finished for him.
"A group of ghouls have been recklessly turning humans into class D parasites." She stood from her own chair, heels clicking as she slowly walked over to the opposite side of the room where Taehyung and Mark had been seated.
Keeping the plastered smile on her face, she spoke smoothly, her graying hair glistening under the bright lights. "Although our own motive is to... slowly take over the human population, turn them into our blood banks and personal entrée," she stopped right behind Taehyung's chair and leaned down right in between him and Mark.
"We believe the Ancestor is planning to wipe out all ghouls into extinction."
Wrapping her thin fingers adorned with red nail polish around Taehyung's chin, she pecked his cheek, a red lipstick stain left on his skin.
"Our dear boy had been graciously keeping his end of the bargain." She clapped, proud of her son.
Taehyung had sat still, his hands in a fist on his lap.
Mark was beginning to piece it all together. He had believed Taehyung was a low-class ghoul without importance, but was indeed the only son and heir to the Kim's. The very prestigious group that had overthrown Jennie's family when they had found out about the plans of extinction years ago.
Stifling an exasperated sigh, Mrs. Kim shot him daggers, cracking her neck before fluttering her eyelashes at him again.
"What brings you to the opposing party, Mr. Tuan?" She smiled, causing Mark to hold in his breath.
"Perhaps, Taehyung has convinced you to join him on turning humans to ghouls?"
"He's not." Taehyung finally found his voice. "I'll be doing all the dirty work." He spat his words out like venom.
It was clear that Taehyung had an ulterior motive, despite disagreeing with the conditions.
Humming, she clicked her nails against the table.
"I'm afraid he knows too much." Referring to Mark, she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and paced back to her place in the front, sitting on the armrest of her husband's chair.
"What should we do?" She asked an open ended question, leaving the room silent.
"He's not deciding for me." Mark finally answered. Whispering to Taehyung, he turned his head towards his ear. "Whatever your plan is, the endgame has to be Jennie."
Standing, Mark had faced forward. "I'll work with you."
Everyone, including the nobles had the same striking smile plastered on their faces.
