Chapter Text
“Jake Hyung!” Manager Yang’s voice rang out in the stifling office, the fans on desks unable to prevent the humid Korean summer heat from getting to Jake or his colleagues. He was sprawled out on his desk, trying to keep it together as his shirt stuck to his sweaty back. The air conditioner had conveniently broken down last week, and only Manager Yang, also known as Jungwon, had a proper working AC in his little section of the office. How fate loved to play tricks on him. “Jake HYUNG!” Jungwon yelled again, his voice finally snapping Jake out of his summer daze.
“Why’s he calling for you again…?” Sunghoon, his best friend and co-worker slid back on his chair, fanning himself with a stack of papers as he looked over lazily at Jake, who was dragging his body up out of his chair. Manager Yang, or Yang Jungwon, was also a close friend of theirs, but he preferred to stay professional during work. Although he was younger than both Sunghoon and Jake, he had somehow gotten promoted earlier than the two of them.
Sure, he was a brilliant kid, but his personality needed work. Jake couldn’t name the number of times this guy’s sarcasm almost cost him a date. He was lucky Sunghoon always saved the disaster with a joke, dad joke or not, as long as he got the girls to laugh. Blind group dates truly weren't something he’d invite Jungwon to… he couldn’t tell if how he acted during work was to spite both Sunghoon and Jake, being both their managers. Jake had to call him sunbae during formal meetings, and every time he did, Jungwon wore a stupid smirk on his face. Now that he thought about it though, Jungwon’s higher position did make sense—he had joined the company before either of them.
“Must be the thing I asked last week. I wanted to write on… You know, those murders.” Jake stood up, stretching. It was so so so hot! His clothes slid against his skin uncomfortably as he moved, causing him to reach for his collar to air out his shirt. “Ugh… I hope he lets me do it. I spent so long thinking about it. If I don’t get that interview…”
“Ah, yeah… I’m sure he will help.” Sunghoon nodded, wiping his forehead with a tissue. Even though he was sweating so much, somehow the dampness of his skin made his princely visuals shine brighter. Jake was jealous, just how many girls had he gotten with just his jawline alone? He assumed Sunghoon’s old-man personality was his only flaw, but even then girls found that side endearing.
It was no surprise to Jake when Sunghoon revealed that he used to be a model and a prodigy figure skater. He’d always wondered why he'd leave such a career behind, but Sunghoon had brushed it off, saying that he got interested in journalism, so he quit. Jake suspected there was something more, but he never pushed.
What a loss… Jake thought as he made his way to Jungwon’s office.
The moment he stepped in, he was instantly hit with the cool air conditioner. Jungwon looked up from his computer, smiling. “Jake! Come on in.” He waved him over, pointing at the chair across from him.
“You look like you’re in a good mood.” Jake, sighed as he sat down, still enjoying the effects of the air conditioner that he had yearned for outside. Jungwon scoffed, rolling his eyes at his dramatic antics as he turned his computer around, showing Jake his screen.
“You really want to work on this?” Jungwon frowned, concerned about Jake’s safety. “You know it’s going to be dangerous, yeah? Especially when you are exposing them like that..”
“Wonie, I just need a big scoop, right?” Jake leaned forward, eyes bright. “This is it!”
“...Jake, you know what you signed up for, right…”
“Of course, Wonie. I’m a journalist, I know what the risks are.”
Jungwon nodded, pulling out his list of contacts. “You can trust these contacts. They’re people working in the government I’ve gotten acquainted with, just tell them you work with me.” He passed the notebook to Jake, tapping on one of the names. “I suggest you start with her.”
“Wonie, thank you!” Jake almost wanted to kiss him, to think that being such close friends with the sarcastic manager would grant him such benefits. Jumping up eagerly, he bowed as he walked out of his room, returning to the melting summer heat in the main office.
“How’d it go?” Sunghoon looked up at him as Jake sat back down at his seat, typing on his computer.
“Ah, it was fine! Wonie let me get an interview with one of his friends~” Jake could barely feel the torturous heat now that his plans were perfectly in motion. He started flipping through the pages, trying to figure out who was the best to contact (or to spy on). Jungwon had mentioned a woman he had the best chance of getting an interview with, and so he flipped to the page he had been directed to.
“Hwang Ye-ji…” Jake looked through the list of names, finding the picture of a fox-like woman. She was gorgeous, Jake could understand why Jungwon approached her in the first place. She held herself in a dignified manner, hair done in a high ponytail and eyeliner sharp. Even through the picture Jake could feel himself shudder under her presence. She must be quite high up in the government, or at least in business related to the government… But he didn’t have to stay curious for long. Jungwon had written her position in his notebook, showing her high status in some company… “LHS? Some equity company…?”
“LHS?” Sunoo poked his head out from his own desk, looking over the top of the screens. “Isn’t that some billionaire’s company? I heard he was one of the richest people in Korea. He’s… Second on the list, if I remember correctly.”
“Second?? Just who am I messing with…” Jake sighed as he wrote down Ye-ji’s number on a post-it. “Let’s see what this LHS company is really about…”
After a while of research and nothing much but basic information about the company, Jake couldn’t help but feel like he was going around in circles. All he had gotten was Ye-ji and some rich guy that owned the company. Lee Heok-min or something… But there was something shady.
Definitely. Jake just had to figure that part out… What was bugging him so much? Why did this company appear everywhere, even in government meetings that weren't even related to the private firm? Sure, maybe they were funding something the government had going on, but this was an equity firm. The most they would be investing in was some random start-up. And who was LHS?
Lee… Yeah, must’ve been someone’s name in the Lee family… Maybe it was the owner’s name? Jake fidgeted with his keyboard mindlessly, looking around the office as he tried to think of a reasonable explanation. After his fruitless attempts at brainstorming, he concluded that he had nothing, and went back to focus on his work. Stop daydreaming, Jake!
By the time he had even come up with anything, it was sundown already. All he had was the company website, some interviews people had done with the CEO, which showed that his name did not include the initials LHS. Those interviews were brief and vague, clearly he knew how to answer questions without giving too much away. However, Jake could spot a few slips of the tongue as he read through the full text, zeroing in on a certain comment about his son, whom the CEO had described as brilliant and a genius.
Why do rich people always talk about their kids like this? Jake frowned, rereading the interviewer's question. He couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at the amount of compliments the guy was giving to his ‘prodigy’ of a son.
He soon came across the owner’s Instagram after some intense, anger-driven digging. Feeling rewarded, Jake looked through the account, which was quite bare, consisting of only a few family pictures. What was a surprise, though, was that the account was public. Maybe the old man had forgotten to set it as private? The list of followers only added up to 30 people. With such a small amount of a following, it wouldn’t be that hard to find something useful, right?
A user caught his attention, and his eyes brightened, cursor hovering over the account name.
An account with the initials LHS.
Lee Heeseung.