Chapter 5: Chapter Five: A Game of Shadows

Joong's POV

Joong exhaled as he ended the call, staring at his phone for a moment longer than necessary.

Zee.

The man had a presence even through a phone line—calm, calculated, and just a little too sure of himself. Joong didn't like that. Or maybe he did, and that was the problem.

He rolled his chair back, stretching his arms behind his head as he stared at his laptop screen. The financial data he had just sent to Zee was still open in front of him. A clear link between Thanapon and Nattapong. The deposits, the timing, the carefully structured injury claims—it was all there, right in front of them.

But something still didn't sit right.

It was too easy.

Joong had been around fraud long enough to know that staged accidents didn't happen in isolation. If Thanapon and Nattapong were working together, chances were this wasn't their first time. And yet, there was nothing in the system. No prior claims, no previous connections, no history of fraud under either name.

Which meant one of two things:

They were exceptionally good at covering their tracks.They weren't working alone.

Joong sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He needed to get his hands on more data. If this was part of a larger operation, there had to be other names. And while Sownpo had strict data-sharing policies, there was one person who could help him dig deeper.

But that meant working with Zee.

The thought made his jaw tighten. He hadn't expected Zee to be like that—sharp, confident, with an infuriatingly steady voice that made Joong feel like he was being assessed with every word he said.

Zee had already known about the financial transactions. He hadn't been surprised, hadn't even reacted much. That meant Joong had called him before he had the chance to call Joong, but not before Zee had already figured things out himself.

That irritated him. Joong had spent years proving himself in an industry where people constantly questioned his abilities—because he was young, because of his family's history, because insurance fraud wasn't exactly seen as thrilling work. He had learned to be fast—to anticipate moves before anyone else could.

But Zee? Zee was just as fast. Maybe even faster.

Joong drummed his fingers against the desk, contemplating his next move.

Zee had said they needed to dig deeper. That much, they could agree on. But what Zee didn't know was that Joong wasn't planning on waiting around for him.

His fingers moved quickly over the keyboard, pulling up a request form for additional claim data. If Nattapong and Thanapon were part of something bigger, there had to be similar claims, similar injuries, similar payout structures. And Joong intended to find them before Zee did. A small smirk formed on his lips as he hit submit. If Zee thought this was going to be a smooth partnership, he was in for a surprise. Because Joong didn't just play to win. He played to outsmart.

Zee's POV

Zee glanced at his watch. 5:58 PM.

Joong was cutting it close.

He sat at a quiet corner table in a café near the Mosaic Insurance building, his fingers wrapped around a cooling cup of black coffee. He hadn't wanted to meet in either of their offices—too official, too many eyes. And something told him that Joong wouldn't want that either.

Zee had spent the last few hours running additional checks on Thanapon and Nattapong. He'd gone beyond the financials, searching for anything that could confirm his suspicion that these two weren't first-time fraudsters. And now, sitting here, he had enough to prove it.

The real question was—how much had Joong figured out already?

The café door chimed. Zee glanced up, and there he was.

Joong stepped inside, scanning the room briefly before his gaze landed on Zee. Sharp eyes. Confident walk. He was younger than Zee expected—he already knew Joong was 24, but seeing him in person made the gap feel more obvious. Yet, there was nothing uncertain in the way he moved.

Zee watched as Joong approached, setting his phone down on the table as he slid into the seat across from him.

"You're early," Joong remarked, pulling off his jacket. His voice was just as level in person as it had been over the phone.

Zee smirked. "You're late."

Joong raised a brow, glancing at the clock on the wall. 6:00 PM sharp. He huffed a quiet laugh and leaned back in his chair. "Guess we're both right."

Zee's smirk deepened, but he didn't argue. Instead, he studied Joong for a moment. Dark eyes, observant. The kind that didn't miss much. Joong was younger, sure, but Zee could already tell that he was used to people underestimating him—and used to proving them wrong.

Interesting.

"So," Joong said, resting his elbows on the table. "You wanted to meet. What do you have?"

Zee took a slow sip of his coffee before sliding a folder across the table. "Thanapon and Nattapong have never officially committed fraud before—but that doesn't mean they're new to it. I ran their records again and found something interesting."

Joong opened the folder and scanned the pages quickly. Zee caught the slight narrowing of his eyes—the subtle shift that told him Joong had already suspected something similar.

"Fake businesses," Joong muttered, his fingers tapping against the paper. "They've both registered multiple businesses over the years, none of which have any real activity."

"Exactly," Zee said, watching him closely. "I found at least three shell companies between them. If I had to guess, insurance fraud isn't their only source of income. They've been laundering money too."

Joong exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "This is bigger than a staged accident, then. If they've been setting up fake businesses, they're likely connected to others doing the same."

Zee nodded. "That's what I'm thinking. And if we dig deeper, I'd bet we'll find more fraudulent claims tied to these businesses. We're not dealing with two isolated fraudsters—we're dealing with an entire network."

Joong sat back, running a hand through his hair. "Damn," he muttered under his breath.

For a brief moment, Zee saw it—the thrill in Joong's eyes. The same rush of uncovering a scheme, of putting the pieces together. It was the same thing Zee felt every time he got close to exposing a case.

Joong liked this. The chase, the puzzle, the challenge.

And Zee couldn't ignore how much he liked that about him.

He leaned forward slightly, resting his arms on the table. "So," he said, "what do you have?"

Joong tilted his head, his smirk almost playful. "Who says I have anything?"

Zee chuckled. "Please. You wouldn't have agreed to meet if you didn't."

Joong held his gaze for a moment before shaking his head, amused. He reached into his bag and pulled out a folder of his own, sliding it across the table.

"Fine. Take a look."

Zee flipped it open, his eyes scanning the data Joong had compiled. A list of insurance claims—some from Sownpo, some from Mosaic, others from completely different companies. All of them had one thing in common: the same pattern of injuries, the same type of staged accidents.

Joong tapped a name near the bottom of the list. "See this claim here? It was filed six months ago with a different insurer. The accident report reads almost identically to Thanapon and Nattapong's case. Same type of injuries. Same payout structure. But here's the kicker—the policyholder? He used to work for one of Thanapon's fake businesses."

Zee exhaled slowly. Bingo.

Joong sat back, watching him. "This isn't their first time. It's a cycle. They bring in new people, stage accidents, file claims, get paid, and disappear before any company catches on. But now we have a name to trace."

Zee looked up from the file, meeting Joong's eyes. "Looks like we're onto something big."

Joong smirked. "Took you long enough to catch up."

Zee huffed a quiet laugh. "Cocky, aren't you?"

Joong shrugged. "You'll get used to it."

Zee wasn't sure if he liked or hated that answer. Maybe both.

He closed the folder, tapping his fingers against the table. "Alright, Joong. Looks like we're in this together."

Joong tilted his head. "For now."

Zee chuckled, shaking his head. This was going to be interesting.