While Nayeon knew that Seulgi was not telling her everything, she was mollified. Everyone had secrets. There were things that she could not tell Seulgi, too. She shrugged mentally.

  “OK. Tell me what you can,” Nayeon demanded.

  So, Seulgi told her what she could. She told Nayeon a bit more than she told the group. And with more fine details. But left out minor details like the guy coming at her with a knife or the resultant bullet wound to the head.

  Nayeon was smart. She knew that she could not match Yeji in the physical department. They have been at the gym together and Yeji was on another level of flexibility and athleticism. There was something feline and deadly about her movement. If they ever got into a real fight, Nayeon knew that it had better be verbal as Yeji could tie her into knots. She felt no shame in admitting it, Yeji just had an inherent predatory grace.

  Nor would she be a match for Bhuwakul for that matter. She never found him creepy, per se, but unapproachable would be a better way of saying it. If Yeji was an epee, Bhuwakul was a cymore. She had the distinct impression that if he did let her punch him, she’d just break her hand.

  So, why was she still annoyed? She still felt left out and disrespected. It may be more along the lines of that she was feeling untrusted when she pced all her trust in Seulgi.

  She knew this was not really the case. She knew that Seulgi was trying to protect all of them. She was Mama Bear and they were her cubs, but Nayeon was an adult and could handle adult responsibilities. That was the nub, she realized. She was not wanting to be treated as a child.

  Her brow creased as she thought how to say this with as much impact, but with the least offence as possible. She knew that she could not really offend Seulgi, but she’d like to avoid the possibility if she could.

  She looked Seulgi in the eye, leaning back. She kept holding Seulgi’s hand, too.

  Seulgi knew this look, her friend was thinking deep thoughts. And they were racing as fast as a computer while she was at it. Content that things were progressing, she also leaned back, content to wait.

  With the speed of light, Nayeon came to several conclusions.

  “OK. So, you were trying to protect us. I get that. But did you ever think that we might not want to be protected? Did you ever think that we might have been able to help you? To protect you? Maybe not in the way Yeji and Bhuwakul can, but each of us has our own strengths, too.

  “Ultimately, I think it comes down to you did not allow us the chance to be your friend. You robbed us of the chance to do for you what you always do for us. I understand that I am probably the only one that thinks this way, but I do resent it.”

  She pulled her hand back at that. She stood without another word and walked out. She quietly closed the door without looking back.

  Seulgi watched the retreating figure with barely a breath.

  Bhuwakul got to his desk and there was an envelope on it with his real name on it.

  He knew who sent it, there was only one person who would address him by this name. So, he opened it and read the contents. He smiled a predatory smile.

  The Big Boss, as he liked to refer to himself, was contemptive. He has a modest, mid-sized engineering firm. The company had a good reputation. Most of his employees excelled beyond even what he demanded of them. He was very proud to be their leader. He was pretty sure that the admiration was reciprocated.

  However, he wondered how his modest, mid-sized company could gather all of the screwball employees that he had. And nearly all of them gravitated to one central person. Seulgi. She was a screwball herself as well. She was loved like a daughter, but she really didn’t fit in this company. That being said, he would fight tooth and nail, blood and bone to keep her. There was no way he would let a charismatic leader like her go.

  So, he needed to find ways to entice her to stay without resorting to nepotism. And, by proxy, if he could keep her happy, he might keep the frightfully efficient group that she has collected happily. Maybe if he did more to make them happy, they might keep her happy and they all stay.

  He sat in a rge, comfortable chair with two fingers of bourbon in a crystal gss, staring at the ceiling, following this particur hair. This was a rabbit hole that he had been stuck on in the st six months, and it was a well-worn path.

  He was not above giving them extra-rge bonuses to entice them to stay.

  He stayed in this position for a while, thinking.

  Nayeon sat at her desk, deep in thought. She was annoyed, hurt, and angry. She knew herself well enough that she would get over this feeling in a day or two, but until then, she turned all philosophical as to why Seulgi would do this to her. And to the rest.

  Her squirreled thoughts had reached ADHD speed and agility. In computer terms, her CPU was dangerously over-clocked. She stared bnkly into space, just thinking.

  She did her own reputation no good, looking catatonic. Had she been aware of her appearance, she would have thought that the only thing that could have made her look any more ridiculous was if she started drooling.

  There were jokes being made that someone should hang a sign on her saying ‘BRB’. Another wit suggested a sign showing ‘Loading’. Had these jerks known what was actually going on inside her head, they’d have been ashamed of themselves.

  On the other hand, Bhuwakul had seen her in this state before. Looking at her, he knew what was happening. He went away for a moment and returned. He pced a candy bar on the desk in front of her. He knew how much brainpower she was using and that when she came back, she was going to need a serious boost.

  Bhuwakul would have liked to think that even if they did not have Seulgi, they would still have been friends, so he did not mind taking care of her, too. He did manage to stop himself from patting her on the head, too.

  Yeji got herself an envelope, too. From a different source, with different information.

  She crumpled the letter in her hand, id her head on her desk, and started sobbing. She finally got the official news that she had dreaded about her cousin. “In the line of duty” was such a hollow phrase when it comes to family. But it was not the first time she heard it. Nor would it be the st.