Mirrored Match // ATEEZ ✔

= 20 =

Living in the mansion doesn't mean that the two housemates - Hongjoong and Mingi - stopped working altogether. They know that despite having the privilege of tagging along with Danbi to their new place to stay doesn't mean that they can stop generating their own income; the money won't flow to them unless they work. The only one whose life might have changed, either slightly or drastically, is Danbi's.

First, it's her name. If she were to present herself as Wonshik's daughter, keeping her surname as 'Kim' would definitely raise some eyebrows and that unnecessary attention to that detail is not what they can afford. She feels it's a shame to be letting go of the name that had made her feel like she's really related to Hongjoong, but she knows that it's her end of the deal.

What does surprise her is how fast they came up with the documents for her, when Wonshik's secretary came to have a somewhat official meeting with her, only a day after they've moved in. It took them only two days to prepare all her identification card that shows the name 'Bae Danbi' instead of her usual 'Kim', just two days before the election. They sure do work fast; even the photoshoot to get her passport photo feels a lot longer than the actual processing.

By the second day she's living in the mansion, she's already known as Bae Danbi, addressed as such by the workers there. Still feeling detached from the name, she feels more at ease when the boys call her Kim Danbi instead. Yeosang on the other hand, flat out refuses to attach the 'Bae' surname to her, claiming that it's only legible for his best friend who's still gone without any news.

Even though the driver's hatred towards the three, and to Danbi especially, seemed strong, his treatment towards them is much milder than what they'd expect. Despite looking like he's had enough of them, he still helps them more than what they expected from him. He shows them around the house, even though his face is tight throughout, only saying that he's helping because he didn't want them to 'ruin the house' while they're there.

So far, they're allowed to roam the house as much as the bodyguards, and just like the four, they're not allowed to the floor where Soyeon's bedroom is.

The bodyguards resume their work as such, but it truly seems now that Danbi and Soyeon are interchangeable; they have stopped searching for her altogether with the instruction from Bae Wonshik. Only Wooyoung is having the search continued, but the intensity is obviously reduced, even more so as Wonshik is already subtly telling him that with the elections around the corner, things might not be the same anymore.

With her new surname comes new responsibilities; that means learning how to act properly as the daughter of a famous candidate, getting ready for the possible swarms of people about to be up in their business.

She's currently sitting in one of the rooms where they call a 'meeting room' in the mansion, where back then in their house a 'meeting' would only be held in their common area while watching TV and munching on some nuts. Right now, she's sitting in the closed room with her bodyguards around her, with Yeosang shoving the whiteboard to her face as he starts to brief on the important people she needs to know.

"So what you're saying is I have to know the names of all these people, because they're my..." she still finds the word foreign to her, "...father's acquaintances. What next, what they like to eat and whether they're a morning or night person?"

"Essentially," Yeosang grumbles. "To put yourself out there, you'd need basic information on these people. You can't just go to them and be like, 'Hey, you seem familiar, but I don't remember your name'. In politics and business, it's all about connections. To get people on your side, you learn about them, make them feel flattered that you remember even the smallest details about them. That's how you can move up, because you have support from the people. How do you think your father gets to be up in the social ladder? Flattery works best."