Slow footsteps echoed across the white marble floors. The walls in each direction were also white, not a single window in sight. Passing through two doors, Henry Hirogori walked into the room where a man by a line of controls stood.
"How has she been doing so far?"
The man looked up from the table of controls and sighed faintly.
"To be honest, better than I imagined. It has been two days, but the girl seems to be holding up. Her heart and blood levels are stable. Everything has been silent for the most part."
As Henry Hirogori listened, his eyes narrowed. The room they placed Mimi in was where she was testing their new technology. To be more precise, their training advancement for the upcoming Hirogori family members.
Before, it was physical simulations where they would place the Hirogori children in a room with numerous obstacles, such as a kidnapping simulator. But after years, they advanced their technology and managed to develop a miniature computer they could implant into the person's head.
This implant would then give them the experience they selected by utilizing controls. It was to test and strengthen the mental and physical strength of the Hirogori members.
It was two days ago that Henry Hirogori placed Mimi in the simulation. Apart from eating or going to the bathroom, she hardly left the room. Based on what the worker before him explained, she was doing moderately well.
"What level are the settings on?"
"Three, sir."
Henry Hirogori looked at the girl sitting in the chair quietly, her head lowered. A hidden gleam suddenly lit up within his eyes.
"Put it to five."
"Sir?" The worker was stunned but closed his mouth when he received Henry Hirogori's sharp and threatening glare.
He nodded his head and swallowed. The highest setting was five. To increase the level to two more...he was certain the girl would either go mad or become permanently damaged.
Under the cold stare of his boss, he pressed a button on the controls and the board seemed to light up. Henry Hirogori shifted his gaze away to look at the girl in the room.
For the first time in two days, her body seemed to stir. The corners of Henry Hirogori's lips curled into a vicious sneer.
...
"Fuck the press and fuck the investors. If they have a problem, speak to my assistant." Tobias's voice roared on the phone as he paced. "At this point, all that matters is that she is returned safely. Let's end this dead-end bullshit. Kill them all if they refuse to talk."
Sitting on the couch, Alec inwardly cringed. He shifted his pale face up from his laptop to see Tobias ending the call to dial another number. His stomach tightened to see him agonizing over everything that was happening.
Tobias was at home letting his executives handle the fallout. For two days it had been like this, and in those days not once did he return to the company. His mobile and office phone did not stop ringing off the hook.
Tobias still worked, but all matters were attended online or at home, where he would be able to receive information on Mimi.
As of yet, nothing.
The information Juno received from Mimi's contacts was only able to recover the last files she had saved before her disappearance. It was hidden information on the Hirogori family and their underground work. Despite this ground-breaking information, they were left at a dead end with her location.
"Damn it!" Tobias slammed a fist against the wall.
It had been two days. Two days was enough time for him to finish his work, but not enough to numb himself.
The feeling of being alive. The sensation of breathing. These were sensations that he usually tried not to be conscious about, but there were times when he felt that what he was experiencing right now wasn't a nightmare... but reality. She was gone.
Tobias leaned both hands on the table and clenched his teeth. This was the first time since his father's company went bankrupt he was facing such an overwhelmingly, disadvantageous position.
Alec looked at him with concern and sighed, shutting his laptop.
"Tobias, it's been two days, you haven't slept or eaten anything properly since then. Maybe you should..."
"Alec." Tobias's cold voice sounded through the room, his eyes remained on the table. "To you, this may not be a big deal, but right now...I can't."
He couldn't. He couldn't take the risk and take a break. It felt dreary as if the support beneath his feet disappeared.
Hearing his words, Alec suddenly frowned.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Tobias gave a fake, cold laugh. "What do you think it means?"
Alec's frown deepened, and he stood up from the sofa.
"You think I'm not worried sick right now about her? She's my sister, how could I not be worried?"
"Your sister?" Tobias's voice was as cold as his eyes. "If she didn't try to reach out to you, would you ever acknowledge her?"
Ever since Mimi told him the truth of her childhood in the Hirogori family, Tobias developed a sudden bitterness for his longtime friend. Although things were different now, he couldn't help but come to the realization; Alec was among the people who neglected her as a child.
If she didn't reach out to him, would their relationship remain as strangers?
The moment Tobias finished speaking, Alec's expression twisted. His face grew green, and his hands were shaking with anger. Although he really didn't want to admit it, he knew in the back of his heart he would have continued to ignore Mimi.
It wasn't out of contempt or belittlement, but because he never knew her. To him, all members of the Hirogori family, including Emily, were heartless beings. Even if he happened to come across her, he wouldn't think much of it.
All matters concerning the family held no interest to him. Including Mimi at the time.
This realization haunted him once in a while, driving him to become more and more like the brother she never had. To hear Tobias reveal his darkest, most guilty thoughts, he experienced nothing but shame.
Nevermore did Alec feel like punching Tobias more than he did today.
"So what? Yes, I didn't treat her as a sister then, but I am now. I'm trying to make up for my mistakes! But what about you? You act as if you know her best when you've only been by her side for five years! I've been there for twelve years!"
Tobias raised an eyebrow. His eyes were vacant of any compassion. "And? In five years I was able to replace all those years you had the chance to understand her."
Tobias's words only made Alec's guilt heighten.
Filled with anger and frustration, he snapped: "Then if you care so much for her, why couldn't you protect her now?"
Tobias's dark eyes held emptiness as it lifted to Alec's gaze. Such dead eyes caused Alec to step back tensely. The way he looked at him was that of a coldblooded killer who would kill without hesitation.
It brought Alec back to when the man was in high school.
"I don't know..." Tobias's deep voice broke the awkward silence. His eyes had a subdued feeling of gravity in them.
No matter how many years of training and experience he had, his head was blank in this current situation. He felt helpless like an abyss was slowly eating away at him.
It was fear. His heart thumped with anxiety, growing louder by the minute until he felt suffocated. Even if he were about to die in the most gruesome way possible, he wouldn't feel this terrified.
Just thinking about the possibility of never seeing her again filled Tobias with indescribable fear.
How could he eat? How could he sleep? How could he live on when she was not by his side, safe?
As long as she was not here, he could not swallow his food nor close his eyes to fall asleep without waking up to realize she was still gone.
Tobias leaned against the wall with his head lowered and a hand covering his eyes. Alec saw the man's expression suddenly become dull before he grew quiet. It was only then Alec realized the gravity of his words.
While Alec deeply cared for and loved his sister, Tobias's love was on another level. Without the girl by his side, the man was bleak and cold. To be frank, Mimi was his drug. Without it, he was no longer sane. His world was no longer filled with color or joy. Just complete darkness.
Alec could never understand this love. He was certain that if something horrible were to happen to Mimi...Tobias wouldn't hesitate to follow.
"That wasn't fair of me to say. I'm sorry." Alec rubbed his pale and weary face. "No one and I mean it, no one is suffering more than you. I know that now. But still, if you want to find her faster, you need to try to be in your best condition. That means fighting through it and eating something or sleeping. If you need support, I'll be there like I've always been."
Tobias looked up at Alec, and for the first time in two days gave a subtle smile.
"All right."
Alec couldn't help but smile back and nod his head.
Sitting at the kitchen table, Tobias didn't complain as he ate silently, his expression still a little blank. Alec glanced up at him occasionally and sighed. By the time he finished eating, Tobias had only taken five bites of vegetables before him.
"Aren't you going to eat the rest?" He frowned.
"Not hungry." Tobias pushed the plate away from himself.
The corners of Alec's lips twitched. He suddenly felt his behavior was a little familiar. When Alec took the plates to wash them, Tobias shifted his gaze to the side to look at the pile of papers on the Hirogori they received from the warehouse. Besides these documents, everything else had been gone.
Tobias stared intensely at them for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up. Standing up from his chair, he grabbed a document and took out his phone, dialing a number.
Alec noticed his movements and furrowed his brows.
"What are you doing?"
Ignoring him, Tobias spoke to the caller on the other end.
"Find a media source without connections to the Hirogori family." He paused for a bit and looked at papers in his hand. When he raised his face, a trace of coldness flashed across his black eyes.
"All the evidence we received from the warehouse...send it to them and tell them to release it to the public. If they need it, we'll support them. Do whatever it takes to get their post at the top."
When he ended the call, Tobias picked up his suit jacket from the table and walked out the door. Meanwhile, standing in the kitchen, Alec watched as the man left his house without as much as explaining to him what just happened.