Dark clouds were looming under the sky, the sun was hidden behind them. According to the weather forecast, today was supposed to be sunny without any hint of rain. But perhaps the weather turned disarray due to the man's cloudy mood.
In the President's office of Fuse Corporation.
A brooding figure was analysing the report which was displayed on his computer screen. He disregarded all the piling documents on the mahogany desk, focusing only what appeared on the screen. His brows furrowed, signifying his unhappiness with what had been presented before him.
Ren reached out his hand, taking his personal phone from his left side. He punched in Akashi's number. Once the call was connected, he bombarded the hacker and private agent with his questions.
"Yagi Takashi disappeared without a trace? There was definitely a third party involved in this and you're sure they were not them?"
Akashi swore he could feel the temperature around him dropped even further with each question coming his way. He crouched on his messy bed, scratching his head with his free hand.
"Calm down, dude. Please don't fire me with questions like that. Just calm down and let me finish what I'm about to say, okay?"
Ren just grunted his reply. His patience was wearing thin but he had to endure it. He needed to let the poor friend of his giving out his points first. He swore he would let Akashi felt the killing intent directed to him from the top floor of Fuse Corporation if he dared to mess around this time.
And maybe Akashi already felt Ren's killing intent towards him, he started off with his rare serious tone.
"After the last time I contacted you, Yagi Takashi suddenly vanished like he never even existed on earth. Poof! Like a smoke. He ran away at night. I have already checked all the routes he needed to use in order to escape, but I couldn't find anything. Even with the help of the CCTVs or the dashcams. Tracing him by using his cards is already out of the questions since he has been barred since ages."
Akashi caught a breath after talking nonstop. He got off from his bed and walked to his work desk. He opened a book and flipped over to a page.
"But at this point, it's already clear that the rats you want to chase out aren't involved in this. I've closely monitored their activities within this week and there was nothing suspicious going on."
"They just want to topple me over my position." Layers of frost hardened Ren's gaze. He clenched his jaw.
"Those old men do not have the capabilities to cover Yagi Takashi's track. Not when you're in power." Akashi pointed out.
If five years ago, the sleazy old bags succeeded in tracking him down and brought him over to the company in order to serve as a puppet figurehead, they wouldn't succeed for the second time.
They had wanted to control him like a puppet, seeing his lack of interest in succeeding the business. But they certainly did not expect that the Fuse Ren would become ruthless once he gained power.
From an aloof boy who was indifferent to anything around him including power, he transformed to be an untouchable king of the realm once they provoked him.
He needed the power to protect all those dear to him.
"You should know what lies ahead if Mr. Yagi has indeed disappeared without a single trace, right?" Akashi's voice disrupted his thoughts.
Ren nodded. "Either the mysterious man has already caught him or..."
"He died."
It was the one possibility than Ren hoped wouldn't happen. Without Yagi Takashi, he would lose one piece of the unsolved puzzle.
"If he was murdered by that man..." Akashi trailed off, couldn't think of any better solution at the moment if the important person in this quest wasn't alive anymore.
"If that was true, find his body."
Ren hung up, didn't give Akashi a chance to retort. He stood up, walking to the glass wall overlooking the city. His eyes were like a hawk's, searching for the one place his lover was currently be.
He missed her. He felt like it was hard to breath when the one person who could put him at ease wasn't around.
It had been a few days since Ren took Tsubaki home. He had even scheduled a meeting with her regarding his grandmother's birthday celebration. They would meet in less than a day but...
He couldn't take it anymore.
Ren took his jacket and quickly buttoning it when he strode out of his office. Assistant Matsuzaki was arranging files on his desk. He stood in attention once he saw his boss coming out of the President's office.
"Push forward my visit to the factory. I'm heading there."
After giving his order, Ren swiftly left the floor. His assistant was dumbfounded but couldn't object it since he has already aware with his boss' temperament.
"Yes... president..." Assistant Matsuzaki mumbled weakly even though his boss had already entered the private elevator. He took the office phone, dialing number of the head manager at the factory. He needed to inform the poor man with their president's sudden visit.
If possible, Ren wanted to ditch his work completely today and went straight to see Tsubaki but he knew she wouldn't like that. She often nagged him whenever he decided to play truant with his work just for the sake of seeing her earlier. Remembering the old times, he smiled.
Well, he needed to compromise a bit longer and rewarded himself by meeting her after this.