IF... [BOOK I]

IF... the mole is not dead yet!

It was the middle of the weekdays.

An usual slow day for our bocchama*. Nothing excited him more than the weekend, these days.

He had found her. An amusement to keep him busy.

Even so, no matter how much he wanted to slack off he could not neglect his duty as a model employee of the company.

Of course, Matthew's old man would nag him non-stop if he did not perform well, however, Jack was not doing it for anybody.

He was doing it for himself. He just wanted to feel good.

Playing around was an effortless, brisket game for the past few months back. So, for now, he tried "the good guy pretence" as a change of pace.

How do we say it, white is a new black or something along that line.

"Morning, Boss!"

Jack looked at his side and found his junior waving energetically at him from the end of the corridor. He posed his killer smile and waved back.

"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me that, Andy?!"

"But Boss, you truly are the best Boss! A role model! I heard from the neighbour team that you secured another work contract just yesterday!"

"Ah, that" murmured Jack while caressing the back of his head "the news travel at the speed of sound at this office, huh?!"

"But, it's freaking amazing, Boss! How many have you secured just for this month already, eh?!" asked Andrew with sparkly eyes. Jack had to step back a bit due to the excess brightness.

"I, uh, don't remember, haha" uttered him wishing that vague answer would tone the over-excited puppy before him down a bit. But, the plan backfired.

"Uwoooooo! So cool!" screamed him while extending both of his hand forward while making a winner pose.

Ah, wait, wait, wait. Why are you getting all excited, while I'm the one who did all the good jobs, ah?! Jack looked at Andrew with a new-found riddle.

"It's my dream to be able to pull off such a cool line, I don't know, it's probably a lot that I lost count of it, like that!"

Ah, no, no, no. I did not say it like that. You add the unnecessary lines by yourself! Now it's sounded like I'm a snob prick!

Jack stopped for a moment, then realised something.

Oh, well, for the matter of fact, I am a snob prick though.

"Ah, okay, that's it for today, Andy" mumbled Jack feeling exhausted so early in the morning "I gotta do some errand, alright"

"Eh, where are you going?"

"To Acacia meeting room"

"Oh, I'm heading there too. Are you also participating in the upcoming project deal with Mr. Big Shot from our long-life rival company?"

Ahhh-- He's also one of the team members, huh! Let's not say anything about the fact that I'm the one who got that slimy bastard down his throne or this guy won't shut up the entire evening!

"Uh, yeah, me too" answered Jack while avoiding eye contact.

Halfway toward the meeting room, Jack managed to minimise the conversation but it did not last long. The Junior started to ramble again.

"But, then Boss, I heard somewhere that before all this hardcore rivalry, their CEO was a different person. This current Big Shot who seems to hate our gut so much is rumoured to be taking over the post from previous CEO in such a short notice"

"Oh, really?" mumbled Jack a bit interested in the gossip.

"Yes! And they said that the previous CEO was actually has a good relationship with our Top Management. But things happened and he had to leave his post to the current Big Shot immediately. The tale was his retirement got something to do with the blow-up of the side project they worked on under the table"

"Oh, is that a bribery case?"

"Bribery would be too trivial to cause such an uproar, Boss! Unfortunately, the media were made shut within hours, so the news did not spread far. Seemed like some scary people held some shares in the project. I heard people were also gone missing, due to that!"

"You-- " mumbled Jack looking at Andrew with astonishment.

"Yes?" responded him with innocent eyes.

"You, telling me all this, knowing this much, are you sure you're gonna be okay?!"

"Hm?" responded him calmly "It's fine, I guess, it's just a baseless rumour anyway, haha"

Jack was stupefied by how nonchalant Andrew was after telling such outrageous story.

"Wh-- you--- haaah!" sighed Jack while halting his walk and looked at Andrew's sparkling, innocent eyes "Where did you get this tale from? Who are these they you've been referring to from just now?" 

Andrew tilted his head to the side and answered lightly "Well, here and there, I guess. It's been around for sometime now. Besides, this is meant as a joke and nobody really take this seriously, anyway"

"Uh, is that so?" mumbled Jack then continued the walk. His gaze was back to the corridor ahead but his ear could not help being aware of Andrew's continued ramble.

"Yep! The original source was said to be a notorious liar and charged for swindling case. It's all written in the media, Boss! Just do a little digging and you're gonna find it, right away"

"Ah, I see" responded him while trying to process the information.

"Though it's a pity that that guy had to take all the blame by himself, I kinda find his theories pretty amusing!" continued Andrew while adding some personal opinions.

"Ugh-- not one bit" Jack had lost for words.

"Ehehehe, really?! But isn't it such a thrilling story, Boss?! Imagine working for a company that seemed "normal" but actually running an illegal project underneath. Won't we be considered accomplices as well?! That would be pretty messed up!"

Jack did not say anything to Andrew's excited commentary. He was busy thinking. This story was too good to be a made-up one.

And if we were talking about his old man, nothing was too impossible.

They almost reached the front door of the meeting room. Andrew was about to enter the room when Jack pulled him to the side.

Andrew was surprised by the action.

"Ah, sorry!" murmured Jack while feeling apologetic, his gangster tendency got the better of him. After getting himself together, he then said "Do you have any plan for lunch? Mind joining me?"

Getting such a rare invitation from his idol, of course, it did not take second for Andrew to YEAH-ing to it.

"Ah, ah, OK. For now, let's get inside" mumbled Jack while pushing his junior inside the meeting room.

Short after, the meeting was started. Some big shots and important people were gathering in that meeting room.

The AC was set to the lowest. It was pretty cool and cozy inside. Even so, the tension between two rivals was pretty high, that one might feel suffocated in the middle of it.

However, Jack's mind was elsewhere. He combed the room with his darkened eyes and did not find the figure he thought would be around.

"Where is that old bastard?! He's supposed to be present today!"

--///--

Note (*)

Bocchama: Young master