Chapter 19: The Informant Dillemma
The crisp night air was a stark contrast to the neon glow of Club Zero as Kenzo and Damian moved swiftly, keeping a safe distance from the server who had just slipped through the back exit. The man's steps were hurried, his head turning every so often as if he sensed something was off.
Kenzo adjusted his glasses, his gaze sharp as he focused on the man ahead of them. Something about him felt... unstable. Not just nervous, but burdened. He wasn't merely a cog in the machine—he was running from something.
Damian, hands in his pockets, smirked. "You think he knows we're onto him?"
Kenzo kept his voice low. "He's definitely uneasy, but I doubt he knows we're right behind him yet."
The server ducked into a secluded alley beside a convenience store. Kenzo and Damian flattened against the wall, listening intently as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. His voice was hushed but urgent.
"They're onto us... No, not the cops—someone else." A pause. "Professor Kang said the files need to be moved tonight. If we don't do it now, it's over."
Kenzo's mind sharpened. Professor Kang. That was a name they hadn't heard before. Was he the one orchestrating the data leaks?
Damian exhaled sharply. "This just got interesting."
Kenzo didn't respond. His ability activated, the world around him shifting slightly as flickering glimpses of truth surfaced in his mind. It was like peeling back the layers of a hidden painting, revealing images underneath.
The server—no, the student—wasn't just working for Seong Jae's group. He was trapped. Blackmailed. Coerced. He had gotten involved in something far bigger than he anticipated, and now he was drowning in it.
Kenzo blinked, the visions fading. "He's not here by choice."
Damian raised an eyebrow. "You saw that?"
Kenzo nodded. "He's a Yonsei student. Forced into this. Blackmailed."
Damian's smirk disappeared. "That complicates things."
Before Kenzo could respond, the server tensed, his head snapping in their direction. His eyes widened in realization. Without hesitation, he turned and bolted down the alley.
"Shit," Damian muttered. "He's making a run for it."
Kenzo didn't even bother moving. "He's not getting far."
True to his words, Damian was already on the move, his enhanced speed making the distance between him and the fleeing student laughable. Within seconds, Damian closed the gap and grabbed the server by the back of his shirt, yanking him to a stop with effortless strength.
The student let out a strangled gasp, struggling against Damian's grip. "Let me go! Please—I can't—"
Kenzo approached slowly, his gaze unreadable. "We're not here to hurt you."
The student thrashed again, eyes darting around wildly, desperation seeping into his every move. "You don't understand! If they know I talked to you, I'm dead!"
Damian held him steady, his grip firm but not cruel. "Relax, kid. We're not the bad guys here."
The student swallowed hard, his breathing erratic. "You don't know what they'll do to me."
Kenzo's voice was calm, measured. "Then tell us what we're dealing with."
The student hesitated, his body trembling. Then, finally, his shoulders slumped, as if the weight of his secrets had become too much to bear.
"They have leverage on me," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "They have leverage on a lot of us. They made us do things... we had no choice."
Kenzo studied him, his ability allowing him to see the fear woven into his words. He wasn't lying.
Damian sighed. "Who's 'they'? Seong Jae's group?"
The student shook his head. "Seong Jae is just one part of it. He works under someone bigger—someone inside the university. Professor Kang."
Kenzo's eyes sharpened. "What's his role in all this?"
The student hesitated again, glancing around as if expecting shadows to close in on him. "Professor Kang... he's the one leaking classified research. But it's bigger than just him. He's part of a network. They use students like me to move information, deliver messages, transfer money—whatever they need. If we refuse, they ruin us."
Damian's jaw clenched. "Bastards."
The student exhaled shakily. "I don't want to be part of this anymore. But I don't know how to get out."
Kenzo exchanged a glance with Damian. This was bigger than they thought. It wasn't just corruption—it was an organized system, one that had deep roots within the university itself.
Kenzo adjusted his glasses. "We can help you. But we need to know everything."
The student looked at him, hesitation still present in his eyes. But there was also something else now—hope.
Damian patted his shoulder with a smirk. "Don't worry, kid. You just got yourself a couple of very dangerous allies."
The student let out a weak chuckle. "That... actually makes me feel a little better."
Kenzo nodded. "Then let's talk."
The shift in the atmosphere was subtle—but Audrey felt it like a tremor through her bones. The kind of energy that whispered of danger before it made itself visible. Years of navigating political minefields, of dancing with diplomats while dodging knives disguised as smiles, had sharpened her instincts into something nearly preternatural. And tonight, they were screaming.
The glint of metal from the bouncer's earpiece. The brief but telling nod from Seong Jae to the man in black near the velvet-curtained entrance. The way conversations near them subtly lulled, as if the room itself was holding its breath.
Audrey didn't move a muscle. She smiled, laughed at Seong Jae's latest line, even tilted her head just slightly as if entertained. But her voice, low and deliberate, slid through the hum of music toward Hana.
"Plan B?"
Hana didn't look at her. Didn't blink. Just gave a sharp, almost imperceptible nod. "Time to improvise," she said under her breath.
In that moment, their synchrony was seamless—born not just from shared goals, but from battles survived and a bond forged in vengeance. One the strategist with soul-deep conviction, the other the operative who moved through chaos like a blade through silk.
Audrey angled her body slightly, drawing Seong Jae's attention, keeping his eyes on her. She tilted her glass, pretending to sip again as her other hand gently tapped a rhythm against the table—three beats, pause, one beat. Their silent code.
Hana rose from her seat in one fluid motion, her combat boots clicking softly against the marble floor. She drifted toward the edge of the lounge, her path unassuming—just a girl looking for the restroom.
Then she struck.
A subtle hip-check into a decorative pillar. It was just enough.
The crystal tower of champagne glasses perched beside it trembled—and then, with a gasp-inducing crash, collapsed into a glittering avalanche. A chorus of startled yelps echoed through the room as golden liquid and shards sprayed in all directions.
Panic flared. Chairs screeched. Someone shouted, "Watch out!"
Seong Jae whipped his head around. Audrey used the moment to slide from her seat, slipping behind a stunned server. In the chaos, she was invisible.
Hana didn't pause. She was already weaving through the guests, eyes locked on a young woman in a black suit near the restricted corridor. A guard—barely older than herself, radiating nervous authority.
"Hey! You can't be back here!" the guard shouted, moving toward her.
Hana didn't hesitate. She closed the gap between them like a panther. Her hand shot out—not as a strike, but a brush. A fingertip to the inside of the girl's wrist.
Time bent.
The world slowed, the club's chaos fading into silence like a dream being wiped away. For a moment, Hana wasn't in Club Zero. She was inside someone else's mind.
Images flickered across her consciousness.
A hallway map sketched hastily in a journal. Seong Jae laughing as Professor Kang leaned over a tablet, displaying a list of encrypted files. A door—marked RED LOTUS—requiring a four-digit code: 9-2-4-6.
Then, fear.
The guard's memory of a man being dragged by two enforcers into that same room. Screams muffled. The door closing.
Hana's jaw clenched.
She moved quickly, implanting the suggestion—a false strand of memory, precise and seamless. In the guard's mind, Hana had bolted toward the front entrance, knocking over a chair. The guard would chase that illusion.
She blinked.
Reality returned like a slap.
The guard stumbled back, dazed. "Stop! Security! She's headed for the front!"
Hana was already past her, slipping into the side corridor like a shadow.
Back in the VIP lounge, Audrey was no longer at the table. Seong Jae, now surrounded by startled guests and irate staff, scanned the room.
"Where is she?" he asked one of the bouncers.
No answer.
He stood, drink untouched, his gaze sharpening like a blade. "Find her. And lock the back rooms. Now."
Audrey moved silently through the narrow hall behind the lounge. Her heels made no sound—an ability she'd honed, but now amplified by the half-reality she inhabited. She was not bound by human limits anymore.
Two doors. One marked STORAGE. One, unmarked but glowing faint red around the edges.
She tried the handle. Locked. But Hana had seen the code.
9-2-4-6.
The door clicked open.
Inside was a compact control room—monitors lining the wall, showing live footage from the club's different angles. Desks cluttered with hard drives, USBs, stacks of labeled folders. Audrey's breath caught. This wasn't just a hideout. This was a nerve center.
She moved fast, fingers ghosting across a set of USBs until one caught her eye—labeled only with a symbol. A lotus. She pocketed it.
Another had initials etched in delicate gold: K.SJ
She hesitated… then took that one, too.
Back near the main floor, the guard Hana had touched was shouting into her radio. "Target moving toward the lobby—northwest wing! Request backup!"
But Audrey was nowhere near the lobby.
Kenzo's voice crackled in Hana's comms. "Talk to me. What's your position?"
"Two rooms down from the surveillance hub. Audrey's inside," Hana whispered.
"I'm on the back stairwell. Ten seconds out. Damian's creating a distraction."
"Of course he is," Hana muttered.
As if on cue, a tremor shook the club—followed by the shriek of the fire alarm.
"WHO SET THAT OFF?!" someone bellowed from inside.
Damian's voice laughed through the comms. "You're welcome."
Audrey's fingers flew across the cluttered desk, grabbing two USBs—one with a lotus symbol, the other etched with golden initials: K.SJ. Her breath hitched. There wasn't time to question their contents now. Footsteps pounded in the hallway. She slipped the drives into a hidden pocket in her dress and moved to the door just as it creaked open.
Hana stood there, eyes sharp. "We need to go. Now."
Audrey nodded, brushing past her. "Seong Jae's on the move."
They didn't make it five steps before the air around them shifted. Heavy. Tense. Seong Jae appeared at the corridor's far end, flanked by two of his men. His suit was immaculate, but his expression was far from composed.
"Leaving so soon?" he asked, voice smooth but laced with warning. "That's rude."
Audrey straightened, her face unreadable. "You're not as charming as you think."
"But you are," he replied. "Too bad you poked your nose into something above your pay grade."
The guards moved.
Hana stepped forward.
She didn't blink. Didn't hesitate. Her voice was quiet, almost casual. "You talk too much."
Before Seong Jae could reply, Hana closed the distance between them. A flicker of surprise crossed his face just as her hand brushed against his wrist.
Time slowed.
Reality peeled away. Hana dove into the recesses of Seong Jae's mind. Images, memories, layered like sediment—schemes, secrets, whispers in dark corners. But she didn't need all of it. Just tonight.
She located the memory: Audrey and Hana entering Club Zero, the VIP lounge, the conversation, the drinks.
She rewrote it.
In Seong Jae's memory, Audrey and Hana arrived, were unimpressed, and left early. No surveillance room. No confrontation. Just mild disappointment and a shrug.
She planted the memory seamlessly, then pulled away.
Seong Jae's eyes fluttered. He blinked once. Twice.
His brow furrowed. "What…?"
Audrey held her breath.
The guards looked at him. "Sir?"
Seong Jae shook his head as if clearing fog. He stared at Audrey, unsure. "You… left already. Didn't you?"
Audrey didn't move. "Yes. We were just leaving."
A beat passed.
Then Seong Jae waved a hand, dazed. "Let them go."
The guards hesitated, but his voice was firm. "I said go."
The hallway cleared.
Audrey didn't waste time. She and Hana moved fast, turning the corner just as Kenzo reached them from the other end.
"He bought it?" Kenzo asked.
"He doesn't even remember the champagne tower," Hana said dryly.
"Nice," Damian's voice echoed from the comms. "Fire alarm's still doing its thing. Exit's clear."
Together, they dashed down the kitchen corridor. A lone bouncer tried to intercept them, but Damian intercepted him, appearing out of the shadows and slamming the man against the wall with bone-jarring force.
"You guys throw the best parties," Damian grinned, holding the door open.
They burst into the alleyway. Sirens echoed distantly. Somewhere, club-goers were still pouring out into the night, none of them aware of the battle just barely avoided behind velvet curtains.