- forty four -

It's been about two weeks since Abigail had checked in with Project Kkum, and she's was strangely getting complete radio silence from Taeyong.

She could feel something slightly off, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Her brisk footsteps were heard in the hall with the click of her heels.

She quickly turned into the camera room that surveillanced Renjun's dorm.

It was about 9 o'clock at night, but she wanted to check to see if anything significant happened.

She was well aware of the relationships that were going to form eventually, although she and the board members hadn't figured out what decision they should go for.

There were some against the main relationship of Jeno, Renjun and Jaemin. They said that it wouldn't be traditional, and that it went against 'moral laws' that were created in the past, that others had still lived off with.

Abigail didn't care. As long as she had Renjun in a stable environment to where she had easy access to, she'd always be fine.

But the strange silence and no new records between both Taeyong and the boys, she felt something off-kilter.

She walked further into the room, looking at the screens that displayed the various rooms of the dormitory, all placed to keep tight surveillance on the boys, making sure every action was thoroughly seen and recorded.

The screens now showed most of the rooms in darkness, since it was past their nightly curfew, but it showed that the light was still in the room Renjun had always stayed in.

She directed one of the surveillance men sitting in their chairs to go to the video footage of Renjun's room, so the man did and it was in fact where the light was coming from.

The light was on, but the boys were shown to be all huddling in the big bed, sleeping together comfortably.

She nodded, watching the video feed for a little while longer, before letting the men get back to their work.

Turning around, she walked back to the hallway, heels still clicking.

Before she completely left the room, she turned to the men, gaining all of their attention when they didn't hear the woman's heels any more.

"If you see anything strange, don't hesitate for a second to report it to me," she said, making eye contact with each individual.

A collective "Yes, Ma'am!" rang out, making her smirk slightly, before finally leaving the room, heels clicking still.

. . .

It was about 00:23 when she got the call from the surveillance room.

She was ready in an instant, heels back on and clicking hurriedly down the hallway.

She made it to the surveillance room at about 00:34, wasting no time to get their quickly.

"What is it?" she said, voice even.

The monotone sound of her voice gave each man a cold shiver down their spine, before the head surveillance manager spoke up.

"We found something strange at the Project Kkum's dormitory," he started.

"Well, go on with it," she said quickly.

"As soon as it turned 00:00, the light switched off, but also they moved," he finished, nerves going through his voice as he internally trembled at the woman's piercing gaze.

"What do you mean 'they moved'," she asked, immediately turning to the screen, snapping her fingers. They quickly rewinded the tape, from 23:58.

The time went by, but as soon as it hit 00:00, the light instantly shut off, and then some of the positions of the boys were completely shifted. Before midnight had struck, Renjun had been in between Jeno and Jaemin on the far right side of the bed, but after the light had switched, the trio were in the center of the bed.

This instantly had Abigail thinking, connecting dots, and theorizing.

Some alarm bells were going off, and she knew the first she needed to do.

"Call the Main Office, have them prepare a car for me," she said, the surveillance manager stumbling to grab the phone nearest to him, her gaze causing him to drop it a second time before catching it in time.

He quickly made the call as Abigail walked briskly out of the room.

There was only one thing going through her mind.

Renjun.

Things were starting to make sense.

It was her mistake to have Taeyong speak to Renjun at the abandoned police station.

Because that's where it all started.

Trusting Taeyong was a bad call.

She hadn't known what he could do, just the fact that he was a Defect, one that had the privilege of not having to fall into her own clutches.

But that was going to change.

If Taeyong had actually made contact with Renjun and the rest of the Project boys, then that would make the strange radio silence from Taeyong reasonable.

But the main question was what Taeyong wanted the boys for.

She walked down the stairs quickly, already seeing the vehicle waiting there.

She walked past the familiar entrance desk, pushing past the glass doors.

She did not run, but she did not walk.

She did however push the prepared driver out of her way making sure that the keys were still in the vehicle.

"I'm doing this myself," she said to the driver, trying her best to keep the anger rising in her out of her voice at the man.

The man nodded quickly, before she shut the door, and immediately started out of the drive way.

She didn't hesitate to speed to Renjun's dorm, watching the lights whip past her in a blur, until she finally reached the large familiar building.

She slammed on the breaks, almost forgetting to put the vehicle in park, before rushing to the house.

She viciously tore the door open, only to be met with an empty kitchen and empty living area.

Groaning, she rushed to the hallway, going through the bedrooms, only to be met with emptiness.

It was until she finally reached Renjun's room, that she knew this was serious.

If she was met with an empty room, that'd be the end.

She held the cold handle, shivering at the temperature and tension of the situation, before pushing the door the rest of the way.

She forced herself to take a deep breath.

The empty bed with made covers greeted her, even though it was her worst nightmare.

She couldn't help but yell, so she did.

The name 'Taeyong' wasn't known by most, but it was definitely heard by the neighboring buildings as Abigail yelled it for all to hear.

. . .

Taeyong felt something coming in the back of his consciousness as he tried to sleep after the past couple of days of training.

The new boys were faring quite well, adapting and learning quickly. But it was almost as expected since learning was their tasks for the past decade or so of their lives.

The tingling came back, and instantly alarms went off in Taeyong's mind.

He searched where it was coming from, and instantly sat up in his bed, Jaehyun's arms being ripped off of his body from his sudden movements.

His eyes were wide, and sweat covered his body.

The echoing of his name being yelled seemed to be ringing in his ears, the tension building up before Taeyong faced a sleepy Jaehyun who was scratching his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" the younger asked, squinting at him in the darkness.

"She knows."