The temptation to swing a punch at that ugly mask was as strong as ever.

Shownu's body was ready, but his mind wasn't. Even though he was standing less than a few meters away, something other than Kihyun's warning eyes stopped him from raising that fist.

"Thanks for playing, you can leave now. I hope you learnt a valuable lesson." Maybe he didn't want to sound like it, but those words were dripping with sarcasm.

Till this moment, Shownu still couldn't believe that the game ended that easily, that they were released just like that. But he placed that thought aside for now. What Smiley said was weird and still slightly annoying (anything coming out of his mouth was annoying), but it also made Shownu think of something that he still didn't quite understand.

Maybe he did learn a lesson.

Maybe that was why he was still standing in his place; instead of beating up the person he hated most. Like Jooheon said, maybe the people culpable right here should be themselves and not him.

"Really? We can leave now?" Minhyuk asked, a little doubtful. It was the question everyone had in their heads.

"Yea, why would I lie?" Smiley said, pointing towards the exit. It was a different door from where they first entered. "One more thing to add, you are the first group to win so far. And you are also the only group that managed to impress me. Thanks for you time. I really appreciate it."

Shownu ignored the fact that there were more victims before them, and probably even more to come after they leave. He was more interested in the weird behaviour of the man that forced them to play games in the cruellest way possible. He wanted to believe that Smiley actually meant no harm from the very beginning till the end, but heck, it was hard to comprehend even the concept of that.

How can one change so quickly? Or rather, how can one act so well?

"Ok, let's go." Minhyuk said, leading the way in the front of the group. Changkyun quickened his steps to catch up, as if they were magnets that couldn't be pulled apart.

Jooheon hesitated for a while before bowing. "Um... I did learn a lesson, so...thank you." Changkyun turned around and smiled when he heard it, but hurried to catch up to his friend again.

"Well, I guess I still hate myself for agreeing with a stranger in the first place. Why did I even listen...?" Hyungwon trailed off when he remembered Smiley was within earshot distance. He immediately swallowed the rude words he planned to say and wondered how Smiley reacted. But of course, he had no way of knowing with that comical mask in the way.

"All of us share a part of the blame." Wonho said, looking at Hyungwon. "I didn't have a choice about being scared of heights, but I did make the choice of listening to a..." He lowered his voice so only Hyungwon could hear him. "...handsome stranger like you."

Hyungwon flushed at Wonho's boldness and turned around hastily to leave. He didn't need everyone seeing his flustered expression, his face looked bad enough from the lack of sleep.

Wonho smiled cheekily, said a final "goodbye", and then followed Hyungwon.

Suddenly Kihyun felt slightly awkward being left alone with Shownu. He didn't manage to get over the previous event yet, and it was annoying him greatly, even though he had to say he was grateful for a permanent end to his intermittent headache.

He could fit another person in between himself and Shownu, but he like it was still too close. Taking a quick look at the direction of the exit, he waved nonchalantly to both Smiley and Shownu, muttering something about getting sunlight after two days of darkness, and then walked away.

Shownu knew he should probably leave too, return to his life behind the big double doors waiting for him right across the room, and most importantly sort out the matters that his life made for him while he was gone.

But he still wanted to know.

"Why did you make this game?" Shownu asked, all the anger he had previously dissipated.

Smiley looked towards the exit before turning back. "Why aren't you leaving?" Shownu exhaled harder than normal. He just had to accept that not answering questions wasn't part of Smiley's acting.

"Because I still have unanswered questions."

Smiley took off his mask to show his smirk. "As long as you don't mind keeping your friends waiting, I'm fine answering. The next game doesn't start in a few weeks anyways."

"First question, why did you make this game?" Shownu asked again.

"To teach people a lesson, and to see if people learn at all."

Shownu raised his eyebrow. "Good intentions?"

Smiley nodded. "Good intentions." He didn't seem to be afraid of his actions getting exposed.

Shownu wasn't fully convinced, but that was good enough. Actions speak louder than words. "Next, why do you have to be so psychopathic during the game?"

"So I can see people work under stress and fear, and see how their actions and behaviour change."

Shownu cringed. "Are you doing experiments on humans?"

Smiley laughed once and walked closer. "I am if you think I am."

Shownu was displeased by the ambiguous answer.

"Any more questions?"

"You know that we can just tell the police about what you did, right?" He could intimidate the other by reiterating his occupation, but after everything, it wasn't necessary to clarify his identity as a police officer anymore. Smiley probably knew the whole time.

"Of course, but I know you won't. None of my contestants did."

That was even harder to believe, but oh well, he was right. They didn't plan to report this to the police.

"Did you plan out the group of contestants for each game?"

Smiley tsked and pretended to be disappointed. "Did you forget what you just learnt?"

No, he didn't. "But..." It was too coincidental how he and Kihyun ended up together.

"Things aren't as simple as you think. One thing leads to another. What you chose a year ago affects the choices you have now, the choice you have to make."

Shownu sighed. He still couldn't grasp the intentions of the man in front of him.

"Any more questions? I actually have a date with my friend later." Smiley said, just like any normal person would. "I have to say, you're the first contestant to ever ask questions like this."

Shownu couldn't believe that a person like him had friends. But he mustn't forget, Smiley was a human too.

And yes, he still had one question. "What's your name?"

Smiley, well...he smiled.

-

A/N: From this point on everything is just extra content (ships) that doesn't really contribute to the story line, so if you don't like these kind of things just skip it. If you want to know Smiley's real name scroll down to the end.

One week later

"Are you an angel 그대 등 뒤 숨긴 날개가 없다면 이럴 순 없겠지~" (a/n: lyrics taken from IZ's Angel)

Jooheon saw the caller ID, received the call and switched to his left hand so he could write with his right.

"Hello?"

"HI JOOHEON!" Jooheon jerked at the loud noise, pulling his phone away from his ear and groaning at the line of ink across the whole page he created with his pen.

"What do you want?"

"Oh wow, is that how you talk to hyungs now?" Jooheon sighed and threw his pen on his desk, leaving the work behind to deal with the caller. He was already starting to regret picking up, considering all the schoolwork he had plus the test scheduled at the end of the week.

"Minhyuk-hyung, I have a lot of work to do." Jooheon kept his voice serious, hoping Minhyuk knew the boundaries.

But of course he didn't. "But it's a public holiday tomorrow! You need to relax and play with your friends, just do your homework tomorrow!"

Jooheon looked at the clock. 6:30pm. He had been working for almost three hours after school ended at 3:30pm. He did get through a lot of work, and he could do some rest. It was almost dinnertime anyways.

"Want to get dinner together?"

After 30 minutes, Minhyuk, Jooheon, and Changkyun met up in a restaurant that was closest to Minhyuk's home. He insisted that he would pay for the meal for everyone, so he needed to save some transportation fees.

"You guys don't mind right?" Jooheon asked, swallowing a mouthful of rice.

"Of course I don't, I really want to meet your friends." Minhyuk replied, already planning what to say when they arrive. He still didn't get why Jooheon stayed with people who ditched him.

Changkyun shrugged. "Sure." He took a sip of his drink, looking indulged in his plate of food because he didn't need to pay for it.

Jooheon smiled at them and answered his phone, confirming that his friends would arrive in 10 minutes. They either shared apartments or lived close together.

"Hopefully they don't ditch you again like last time." Minhyuk joked, stealing some of Changkyun's food.

"Hey!" Changkyun slapped Minhyuk arm, but the food was already in his mouth.

Jooheon giggled. "They won't, they already apologized to me through the phone. More than once, actually. Besides, I'd still have you even if they don't come."

"Ha, that's right." Minhyuk replied, giving Changkyun some of his food as an apology.

"Oh by the way, don't you have homework like Jooheon?" Minhyuk asked Changkyun, slapping his head gently.

Changkyun almost choked on his food, but he looked like he was used to the action. "I do, probably even more. But I whizzed through the Computer Science stuff already since I'm such a pro. I left the Psychology assignments for tomorrow."

"Yea, sure, you're totally a pro. I saw you break two computers in one semester." Minhyuk said, ignoring the punches on his side. "You even broke the school record."

Changkyun groaned and rolled his eyes. "I told you so many times, I was just trying to know more about computers. It's not my fault the school computers break every time I try and reassemble them." Changkyun went on for a while, explaining what he did to the computer and the apparently slow and out-dated cables their school uses.

Minhyuk shook his head playfully and pushed a plate of food towards Changkyun. "Just eat your food."

Once again, Jooheon was impressed by Changkyun's intelligence. He always had a thing for smart people. Too bad Changkyun wasn't into boys. Jooheon was a bit disappointed, but he had to stay respectful after all. Besides, he still didn't know how to deal with the kiss Minhyuk stole from him.

The restaurant door opened with a welcome song (the really annoying ones) and a group of noisy boys entered, earning disapproving glares from the customers.

Jooheon waved at them, while Minhyuk asked a waiter very politely to add more chairs.

"See, told you they won't ditch me." Jooheon said, shifting to his left just in time for one of his friends to collapse onto the couch. He would've gotten squashed if he reacted just a second late.

"Hello! I can't believe Jooheon actually made new friends!" The boy next to Jooheon said. To Minhyuk, he acted and looked so much younger, but at the same time he was in the same year level as Jooheon. "I'm Soonyoung, by the way."

Changkyun stopped eating and greeted them. Jooheon helped introduce them one by one.

"This is Soojung, Hyunjun, Minseok, and Junyoung." Jooheon said, pointing to each person respectively. "And he already said just now, he's Soonyoung. This kid is so smart he skipped a few years of primary school."

Minhyuk widened his eyes and applauded him. "Wow...you're so awesome!" Soonyoung beamed at the compliment, while Jooheon laughed awkwardly.

"Nah, he's not that awesome sometimes. He can't help me with Mathematics and Physics, and his excuse was because he didn't choose those subjects." Minseok said.

"Oh, then let Changkyun help you!" Not waiting for permission, he stood up and changed seats with Minseok. Changkyun had no say in this.

Jooheon smiled sympathetically at Changkyun before he was bombarded by a bunch of Maths questions.

"Hey Jooheon," Soonyoung started. Minhyuk noted that he was probably the closest to Jooheon.

"Yea?" Jooheon stuffed the half eaten dumpling into his mouth.

"Changkyun's cute, does he have a boyfriend?"

Jooheon barely kept the food inside his mouth when he started coughing violently. He looked at Changkyun nervously and sighed, relieved that Changkyun heard none of that.

"Soonyoung, just because we like the same gender doesn't mean everyone feels the same as we do. This is why you don't get along with most boys."

Soonyoung laughed awkwardly and scratched his head. "Oops, I'm sorry...But he is cute. I would date him if I were a girl." Jooheon smiled, but he could totally relate.

Still, Jooheon closed his eyes and take a deep breath. "How about you say that louder and see what happens."

Everyone but Minseok and Changkyun heard it, sending them into fits of laughter. Minhyuk knew they were really close to being banned from the restaurant, but who cares when he got friends like this?

-

"Why are we always eating lunch together?" Hyungwon asked after swallowing a mouthful of risotto.

Wonho placed down his cutlery. "Why? Do you hate eating with me?" He sounded a bit upset, but the smile on his face clearly stated otherwise.

"No," Hyungwon smiled too, as if it was all a joke. "I usually make my own lunch and eat it at my office. I'm not used to spending so much on my afternoon meal."

Wonho stared at the plates in front of them, the small quantity probably amounting to ridiculous prices. "I was going to say it's boring to eat at the same place everyday, but after visiting your office, I understand why you don't mind staying there for the majority of the day, five days a week."

Hyungwon scraped up the rest of the rice and put it in his mouth. He didn't allow even one grain of rice to stay on the plate.

Wonho took this chance to say something. "I don't mind paying for your lunch if you're willing to leave your office everyday."

Hyungwon raised an eyebrow while taking a sip of soda. "Do you like me that much?" He seemed to be asking this question a lot the past week.

Wonho smirked. "Of course, I did say I'm your boyfriend, didn't I?" He was fully amused by Hyungwon's reactions, leaving the half eaten food on his table as if it wasn't important.

Hyungwon almost choked on his drink, though he managed to swallow it painfully before coughing. "Wait, no, you have you get this straight, okay? You said you were my boyfriend to my boss so I won't get into trouble. That doesn't make things real."

For one second Hyungwon thought he upset Wonho, but the cheeky smirk on his face just got larger. "But one thing that's real is that I like you and you like me-"

"Wait a min-"

"You don't have to deny it, it's obvious." Hyungwon shut up after that, having no defense against his probably red face. "So what do you think we need to do before we are boyfriends?"

"I just...I don't...it's my-" Hyungwon hated when he stuttered, but that was something he had to deal with. He just didn't understand how he became a lawyer with this level of social skills.

"It's your first time?" Wonho said, completing Hyungwon's sentence. "Everyone has his first time. Though I'm surprised you haven't dated before. I thought you'd have a lot of admirers."

Hyungwon sighed. "Don't even remind me about them. You have no idea how much effort it took me to shoo them away."

"Are you going to shoo me away too?" Wonho took a sip of his own drink, giving up completely on his food.

Hyungwon opened his mouth but closed it before any sound came out.

"I'm going to take that as a no." Wonho said, earning an eye-roll from the other. "You wouldn't have come out today if you wanted to."

"I guess you're right." Hyungwon looked thoughtful, as if he didn't know that until someone told him. He wouldn't have agreed on this lunch date if he didn't like Wonho. Was he giving him a chance? Or has he already decided?

To keep the conversation going, Wonho commented, "I don't understand how you are the most valued employee as your boss said, and yet you struggle to make a conversation most of the times."

Hyungwon looked like he wanted to bury his face with his hands, but he didn't. Instead he cleared his drink from the almost empty cup to hide his discomfort, and to buy time. "I can't help it, okay? I don't know why I act like this in front of you either. Maybe it's because I don't get to practice and prepare like before a court..."

You. "Are you saying you only act like this in front of me?"

"What? No!" Hyungwon said a bit too quickly. This time there weren't any drink left to hide his real emotions.

"Stop lying, it's written all over your face." Wonho said, biting back his chuckles. "By the way, you can take my drink."

Hyungwon hated it. He hated it when he was so transparent and people could read him like words on a paper. It was so frustrating and flustering. "I don't want your drink." He turned on his phone lying on the table and checked the time. "I have to go soon. And thanks for your offer, but I'm paying for myself."

Wonho looked pleased at his successful attempt to annoy Hyungwon. He didn't know why, but Hyungwon looked cuter when he gets flustered and irritated.

Wonho waved a waiter over and signaled for the bill. "Can you just tell me, what I need to do before I can call you my boyfriend?"

"Jeez...why are you so straightforward and bold?" Hyungwon half expected Wonho to give up, but Wonho nodded his head and prompted him to go on. "I'm only answering so you won't tease me with more of your silly comments."

"Sure." Wonho replied, taking out the exact amount of cash and giving it to the waiter who came back, ignoring Hyungwon's request to pay himself.

Hyungwon didn't even bother to say anything about it. "We're not boyfriends yet, not until we..." Damn, it was so much harder to say it out loud.

"We...?" Wonho asked, standing up and getting ready to leave.

Hyungwon stood up too, heading towards the exit while he tried again. "Until we...kiss..." He lowered his voice into a whisper. Why was it so hard to say that word? He wasn't a kid anymore.

"What? I didn't hear you." Wonho asked, though he heard it loud and clear. And he knew Hyungwon knew he heard it too. How could he not, when they were standing right next to each other?

Hyungwon pushed open the door, not planning to answer Wonho's question.

Wonho laughed and followed Hyungwon out the restaurant. "Hey Hyungwon, I seriously didn't hear you that time. Repeat it please."

"In your dreams." Hyungwon shouted, speeding up his pace to leave Wonho behind.

Wonho chased up easily and grabbed Hyungwon's wrist. "Why are you in a hurry? Your lunch break lasts for at least 30 minutes more."

"My boss gave me a lot of work to do. I have to finish it before today ends." Hyungwon didn't turn around so he could smile without Wonho knowing. It was a constant competition of who could annoy the other more.

"Oh my god...I know you're lying Hyungwon." Wonho couldn't keep in his laughs.

Hyungwon turned around, revealing his widened grin. "But seriously, I want to finish my work as soon as possible so I can get off earlier."

"You can do that? Your boss is so nice." Wonho said, remembering his encounter with Hyungwon's boss, Jinho. (a/n: read the bonus chapter if you want to