Standing Right Next To You - Chapter 393

Trigger made preparations according to his boss’ instructions and waited for the time to move faster.

‘He should be here any time now.’ He tried to curb his eagerness while constantly taking peeks at the clock mounted on the wall.

Assistant Mathew Kim had handed over the list of all the restaurants that their boss preferred to get his meals from so as to not inconvenience his fellow subordinate.

Trigger was grateful for his considerate actions as he truly had no clue about the Emperor’s daily activities other than his movements which he monitored for safety purposes.

Their boss was still in his office with the files that needed his attention so Trigger decided to stay outside and wait for the hacker whom his boss had invited for lunch.

Thinking of the hacker, Trigger had some conflicting thoughts in his head.

‘If Master is cordial with the man then why would he hack into our system?’ He wondered and took another peek at the clock.

A couple of minutes had passed and in no time it would be lunch hour.

‘Does he have evil intentions towards Master?’ He speculated and a scary aura took possession of his body.

The other secretaries who worked on the top floor shuddered when they felt the scary aura that was now surrounding the Emperor’s latest assistant.

‘We miss Assistant Kim!’ They had the same thoughts in their hearts as they lowered their heads to minimize their presence.

They had seen the new assistant visit the boss on multiple occasions but he had never stayed for more than an hour at best.

But now, they had to face this scary-looking man all day long which was troublesome for them.

While they were in their thoughts appreciating Assistant Kim’s cheerful personality in comparison to Trigger’s fearsome and cold aura, the doors of the elevator split open.

Everybody’s attention shifted to the one who had entered the floor and their eyes landed on the man they had all seen before.

‘Wasn’t he the one who came with that lady before?’ They recalled the foreigner’s face they most certainly had seen before.

The memory of this man arriving on this floor with Assistant Kim and their boss with the woman was still fresh in their minds.

Therefore they weren’t surprised to see him here again.

However, the one who was surprised after watching this big man entering the floor was Trigger who was also aware of this man’s identity.

‘Madam’s assistant is the hacker?’ He stared at the man incredulously.

Benji wasn’t wearing his suit today, instead, he opted for casual attire as it was his day of rest.

Black jeans and a white shirt which he did not bother to tuck into his pants was his outfit of the day.

The dark circles on his face were evident after his night-long activity which had consumed his entire energy.

‘That 4-hour nap did nothing for me!’ He scowled and stifled a yawn as he moved towards the office.

Reuben had called him for lunch so he had spent his time sleeping then washed up and reached this office building in his brand new car.

Just when he was about a few steps away from Reuben’s office, his path was blocked by someone.

Looking up, Benji’s eyes collided with the other man’s eyes and there was silence in the entire room.

The secretaries present were the spectators and if someone were to ask them to describe this scene right now, they would swear that they could see sparks of fury erupting from each other’s eyes.

The two men stood before each other and stared unblinkingly, waiting for the other to give way.

However, neither of them was willing to give up first and they stood in a stalemate without moving an inch.

Trigger was trying to gauge the man standing before him and Benji was frowning as this was the first time he had met someone who appeared to be just as trained as him.

Similar people would always feel a sense of threat coming from the other and this was exactly what the two of them were feeling right now.

The silence in the room was broken when the sound of a phone ringing was heard.

Upon taking a look, Trigger understood that his Master must have called him to ask about the whereabouts of the guest who was supposed to arrive by now.

Benji smirked when he caught a glimpse of the name on the screen and raised his brows in challenge at the other man as he watched him answer the call.

“Yes, he is here, Master… I will send him right away.” Trigger spoke on the phone and hung up soon after.

“Please, follow me.” He requested after remembering Reuben’s orders to be nice to the hacker.

Even when he did not like Benji right from this first meeting, he would never disobey a clear order given by his Master.

Thus, he led Benji into the office room without further delay.

___

Inside the office room,

Reuben was seated on the couch with a file in his hand when he saw the two men entering his room.

The Emperor put the file aside when Benji reached the couch with Trigger behind him.

“I shall get the secretaries to serve the lunch, Master.” The assistant announced and soon left the room.

Benji turned his head to watch the other man leave and then fixed his gaze at Reuben.

“New guy?” He inquired the most obvious question to which he received a nod.

“Isn’t he a little too trained in martial arts to be just an assistant?” He scoffed while remembering the prime physical condition of the new man.

Reuben in answer chuckled and looked at Benji with a mocking gaze.

“Aren’t you just the same?” He taunted as they were two birds of the same feature.

Tall, physically fit men with immense knowledge of martial arts and other skills yet they were working as assistants due to certain circumstances.

Benji was agitated when he heard the comparison being made and he scoffed in response.

“That was because of Master Wi…” He paused in his words when he realized that he had almost spilled vital information.

Reuben smirked as he was aware of the person to whom he was referring to.

‘I was wondering how I would bring up this topic but he’s made work easier for me.’ He appreciated the loose tongue of Lina’s assistant.

“You mean, Lina’s elder brother, Windsor Yang?” He questioned and chuckled when he saw Benji’s widened eyes.

“How do you…” Benji blurted out and his eyes narrowed in suspicion at this man.

He was sure that he had stopped before revealing the name but Reuben had called out the entire name which was shocking for him.

‘I cannot call him by his nickname as I am not too familiar with him.’ Reuben kept the propriety in relationships in his mind when he revealed Wind’s name.

Lina’s assistant did not have a single clue about Reuben’s stay at the same hotel, more less about them sleeping in the same bed.

He was also ignorant about his boss talking to him about her family’s details so the shock on his face was acceptable.

Reuben could understand that he was taken by surprise when he realized that the Emperor knew about Wind.

But what had drawn his suspicion was why Benji seemed so restless after Wind’s name was taken.

‘Just who are you, Windsor Yang?’ He thought while narrowing his eyes at the man who sat opposite him.

Before Reuben could interrogate Benji’s obvious suspicious reaction, the door was knocked and Trigger entered with two secretaries behind him.

The competent employees did not waste my time as they ranged the dishes on the table between them and left just as quickly as they had arrived.

Though Trigger appeared reluctant to step out of the room, he did not have any other option but to lower his head and leave with the ladies.

“So, mind talking about Lina’s brother?” Reuben investigated once the room regained its silence.

Benji stared at the man without making any sign of opening his mouth to reveal the secrets that he held.

‘Why would I speak about the Master to you?’ This was clearly written all over his silent face.

Comprehending his unwillingness to speak, Reuben sighed and decided to reveal another piece of information to him.

“Do you want to find him or not?” He quoted him lazily as an indifferent air surrounded his body.

Leaning forward, he began serving himself and even started eating while giving Benji some time to wrap his mind around what he had just said.

After listening to Reuben’s words, it felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck Benji as he could not speak for quite a few moments.

‘He knows!’ He claimed that Reuben was aware of Master Wind’s MIA status.

It was a well-kept secret that their Master was declared missing after all means of communication had been cut off for a couple of months now.

Benji had been trying to contact Master Wind and his best friend, Tristan but to no avail.

This morning’s phone call with Madame Yang provided him with further disheartening information as she too had not heard a single word from him.

Since this information was kept a tight-lipped secret, he could not figure out how Reuben had caught word of it.

“How?” A single-worded question left his lips.

The grave look in his eyes demanded the truth as there would be hell to pay if there was an information leak somewhere in their group.

“Lina.” Reuben’s truthful answer brought out a sigh of relief from him.

But soon the relief turned into startlement.

“Nana knows that he is missing!?” He blurted out as this was another reason for him to panic.