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rough edges pt. 17 (m)

pairing: jungkook | reader genre: college!au word count: 27k warnings: mentions of death, drugs, executions, drinking, anxiety, weapons.

a/n: i am terrified of posting this!! a couple of surprises at the end...sorry in advance heh

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 6.5 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / part 17 / masterlist

RE asks tag / pinterest board

“We have something.” Detective Woohan bursts into the conference room and the others lean forward, interest piqued by the sudden energy boost. The team has been studying paper trails for the last few hours, trying to figure out Kim’s next move. “Kyun came through and gave us a location.”

“We had our analyst do some digging.” Seokjin continues, pointing to the map and sticking a thumbtack on the given location. He goes over the details, knuckle pressed against his lips. “It’s private property. A warehouse and by extension a plane hangar. It also opens up to a large landing strip, owned by one of Barome’s contacts.”

“So you think he’s flying out tonight?” Detective Woohan asks.

Seokjin nods. “We have to assume so. He’s not going to stay long now that we’ve compromised his hideouts.”

“What if it’s a distraction?” Jun shrugs. “Kyun could be playing us.”

“I doubt it.” Seokjin says. “Kyun doesn’t trust Barome, and he’s not about to let the man get away scot-free. Besides, he knows he’d face serious consequences for misleading us.”

“Well it’s a lowkey, private area with its own runway,” Jun skims through the information report, “checks all the boxes.”

“We can’t risk letting him go this time.” Seokjin insists. “Barome’s a slippery one, he’s more difficult to get a hold of than Kim. This might be our only chance.”

“Alright, let's update the teams then." Jun nods in agreement.

"As for Kim, we’ve confirmed he’s back downtown. The two men who were with him last night own a club right smack in the middle of that area, popular with college students. Our informant tells us he’s wounded, so they’re laying low for now. But there's a high chance he’ll also be moving tonight, especially if he finds out about Barome."

“There are several other areas we’ll be covering,” Jun says, “we’re waiting on our informant to give us more details.”

"Okay everyone," Seokjin says, standing, "we have a second shot at this tonight. I want no mistakes. Jun, you and your team will work together with Alpha team, go after Barome. Meanwhile, my team will continue surveillance at the club."

The agents in the room acknowledge their assignments, listening closely as Seokjin and Junsuh run through the plan one last time.

𝄖

By midday, a plan is formed. One which is kept strictly between Kim and the Captain. Despite the police shutting down most of their operations as of last night, Kim still believes they’ll be able to get out of this mess. Besides, now that he’s kept their plans known to as little as possible, there’s no way the police would be a step ahead of him this time.

After making some calls, he finds out the plane he and Barome had secured hadn’t taken flight last night. Which means Barome is still here too. News of the attack must have spooked him back into hiding.

This is a good thing for Kim. He still has a ride out.

“Who do you think it is?” Kim mulls over it.

Only he and Captain remain in the room. “Can’t be sure. No one else knew we’d be at the port.”

“Barome knew.” Kim says. “Where is he now?”

“He’s still in the country.” Captain says. “Rejecting my calls.”

“That idiot,” Kim huffs, “he only cares about himself. But he’s smart. Now that the police are focused on us, he’ll use this chance to escape. He’s gonna leave tonight.”

“You think he set us up?”

“We have to consider every angle. He could have been working with one of our members. Although, we didn’t find any trace of that, did we?” Kim gives it another thought and someone comes to mind. “What about Hongjun?”

Captain hums, entertaining the idea for a while, reminding him of something Hongjun had mentioned before. “He did say he had info that we’d find useful, but he’d only tell me if I agreed to meet up with him. But we don’t have time for all that now, I don’t even know where he is.”

“He sure picked the right time to disappear…” Kim shoots him a knowing look. “Find him.”

“You think it’s him? Or…you think he knows who it is?”

“If I had all the answers would we be having this conversation right now?” Kim’s patience grows thinner every passing hour they remain in hiding. The stress and frustration of it all, and the pain he’s experiencing causes him to snap at every little thing. “For all we know he might have pissed off the wrong people. Hasn’t he been causing trouble with his clients?”

“I’ve already settled things with them.” Captain says. “Unless of course he has clients we don’t know about.”

“Go and find out.” Kim says. “Might be worthwhile to hear what he has to say. Either way, we’re not going to be able to sit this one out. If we don’t get a chance to get out of here, I want the person who got us in this situation dead at least. ”

“But sir⎼”

“Do it.” It isn’t up for debate, and Captain backs down. Even if he doesn’t think it’s worth it. “And before we fly out tonight, I need you to cash out some of our money from the reserves.”

“Alright, I’ll get the boys on it.” Captain says, getting up. But Kim pulls him back down, whispering. “No, you go.”

The captain pauses and looks around the room, “You don’t trust them? The three of them have been really helpful…”

“Don’t underestimate anyone.” Kim shakes his head. “I’m not risking it.”

𝄖

“This is a bad idea.” Namjoon says, but continues to drive anyway. Jungkook focuses on the GPS to check if they’re on the right route. He had discreetly gotten the location of Hongjun’s whereabouts from Suga’s phone earlier, and left as quickly as he could before he could be stopped. “Suga’s going to kill us.”

“No he won’t.” Jungkook says mindlessly. “Not if Hongjun kills us first.”

Namjoon snaps his head to look at Jungkook who then puts his palms up. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

“I’m kidding, relax.”

Jungkook cracks a smile at the disapproving head shake from Namjoon. He rolls down the window and closes his eyes as the fresh air greets him. “I’m so glad to be out of there…”

“What?” Namjoon snorts. “You don’t like being around Kim? Your boss? The most wanted man on the run? Aren’t you all about loyalty?”

“Shut up.” He says without looking at Namjoon.

“Oh shit. Speaking of loyalty.” Namjoon’s phone starts ringing and he glances at Jungkook, nodding to the flashing screen on the holder. “It’s Suga.”

Jungkook straightens up as if he could see them on the other line. “Hey.”

“Where are you guys?” Suga asks, though he already has an inkling. “You left without telling me.”

“We drove Bella home.” Jungkook says quickly. “She was worried after last night and wanted some company. And we wanted some air so⎼”

“You think I’m an idiot?” Suga scoffs. “Bella left six hours ago. Where are you?”

They don’t respond and Suga can only hear soft whispers as they push for the other to speak. That itself was confirmation enough for Suga.

“You’re going after Hongjun, aren’t you? Fucking idiots.” He mutters.

“We’re just going to check out the area,” Jungkook says, “it’s not like we’re gonna go in without a plan.” Namjoon scoffs because that’s exactly what they were going to do.

On the other line, it sounds like Suga’s moved to a quieter area. Jungkook recognises the sound of the shelf dragging against the floor, meaning he’d snuck into their secret room in the office. “Listen. You need to get back here.” He speaks in a whisper. As if he’s being listened to.

“Why, what’s up?”

“Something’s up. But I don’t know what.” Suga says. “I overheard Captain talking to the guards; he’s headed to the centre to cash out some of Kim’s money.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Namjoon asks.

“It means there’s a plan and they’re not letting us in on it. That’s a big problem. An even bigger problem is that I heard Hongjun’s name thrown in the conversation.” Jungkook frowns at Namjoon. “I think they’ve set up a meeting.”

“Now that’s bad.” Namjoon slows down by the side of the road. There’s no point in staying on this course if Hongjun is on the move.

“So I checked y/n’s location. And it looks like they’re headed for the centre too.” Suga says. “He’s definitely bringing her to the Captain.”

Namjoon doesn’t miss the way Jungkook’s knee starts to bounce vigorously. “Shit. Why now?” Jungkook says, fingers tapping on the console.

“I don’t know.” Suga’s voice shrinks. “They’ve been real quiet over the last few hours, so I can’t tell you what they’re up to.”

“They’re probably looking for someone to blame for last night’s attack on HQ.” Namjoon says.

“And remember what Kim said last night? Hongjun kept asking to meet with him.” Suga adds.

“We need to stop them.” Jungkook’s brain conjures up every possible scenario he could imagine. None of which have a good ending. “We can’t just let them have y/n. She’s not⎼she can’t⎼ we need to go and stop them!”

“You need to get your asses down to the centre.” Suga says calmly. “That’s probably where the captain and Hongjun will be. Don’t make a scene⎼”

Namjoon starts the engine again and makes an abrupt turn into the lane going in the opposite direction. Several cars honk their horns at the narrow miss, fortunate to have reacted in time and avoided skidding off the road. Namjoon raises his palm as an apology to the drivers, earning dirty stares.

Then he speeds off.

“You coming?” Namjoon asks, completely ignoring whatever Suga was saying before, not even allowing him to complete his sentence.

“It’ll be suspicious if I leave right now.” Suga says, sighing. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on Kim.”

“Alright.” Jungkook says, “Keep me updated on the location.”

𝄖

Captain steps into the recreation centre, going straight past the reception and weaving through the other visitors. He ignores the array of activities going around him; the sound of sneakers squeaking against the floor of the indoor court, faint music blasting from dance classes on the second floor, and the laughter of kids echoing the walls as they run about.

He heads for the restricted section at the back of the building, going down the steps leading to the basement where he was told to wait.

After some time, the centre manager appears. He’s a little older than the Captain, with greying hair by the sides of his head.

“Captain.”

They stand to greet him, lips pulled into a tight smile. “You don’t have to be so formal with me Donghyun.”

“Of course I do, Changmin.” Donghyun smiles, giving him a once over. “Sorry to hear about your business.”

“We’ll be fine.” Captain says. “I’m sure you received a call earlier?”

“Yup.” Donghyun walks across the room to where a mini bar is set up. Reaching for a couple of cans from the fridge, he tosses them to the men. “We’re getting it ready. Meanwhile, make yourselves at home.”

Captain nods and Donghyun lingers for a while longer as the boys find a seat on the couch. “How’s your boss?”

“He’s recovering.” Captain clears his throat. “How’s yours?”

“Worried.” Donghyun narrows his eyes at them. “You were careful, I hope?”

“Very.” Captain says confidently, but something’s bothering him. “Everything okay?”

Donghyun isn’t one to be intimidated by others, so when he hesitates, the captain knows something’s wrong. “We’ve noticed a lot of new people in the area…they loiter around the corner shop down the street.”

“And you think it’s a problem?”

“I had them checked out. They work for B.” Captain’s face sinks and Donghyun drops his hands in his pockets. “So you tell me. Should I be worried?”

“When did they start showing up?”

“Two days ago.” He says. “Didn’t think much of it at first, after all it’s Barome, I thought he’d bought over that shop to pass money through but…after what happened last night…”

“It’s probably not a coincidence. Did you tell your boss?”

Donghyun nods. “He warned us to watch our backs. In case you forgot, he and Barome parted ways a few years ago.”

“Because Barome betrayed him.”

“Yup.” Donghyun raises his brows to emphasise on that fact. “Well, I have work to do. You take your time. Although, the weather's been a little cloudy lately. We should expect heavy rain. Hope you have your umbrellas ready.” He then gives his friend a look only they know before going back up the steps.

It was a warning. Despite being friends, they could never really tell each other everything. But it was all the captain needed to know that they shouldn’t stay for too long. He sends a text to Hongjun, telling him to hurry.

Outside, a car sits idle down the street. RM and Jungkook wait patiently for their targets. Arriving half an hour ago, they saw no sign of Kim’s men or the Captain, and so they lay in wait. Soon enough, the Captain’s car drives past, coming to a stop by the front of the building. But still no sign of Hongjun, or you.

Suga’s voice comes on the speaker. “They should be there in ten.”

“What’s our plan?” RM asks, turning to Jungkook.

Jungkook has his elbow on the window frame, fingers resting on his bottom lip as he nervously bites his fingernails, a habit he thought he had grown out of. “Shh, let me think.”

“Whatever it is,” Suga says, “Captain cannot know that you’re there for her.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Jungkook’s annoyed now. “He’d know once he sees us whisking her away.”

“Let’s face it, it’s no use coming up with a plan. We don’t know what we’re up against.” RM says, although his voice sounds distant, like he’s distracted by something.

More specifically, something he sees in the rear-view mirror. Jungkook tries to check out what it is, looking from the side mirrors. “What is it?” Jungkook asks.

“Those men there,” he refers to a group of men who have been hanging around outside one of the stores along the street. “They look familiar, don’t you think?”

Jungkook hums. “You know, they were here when we arrived. And they’ve been staring at the same thing we have since then.”

“What?” Suga asks, “the centre?”

“You think they have business there too?” RM asks, still observing them. All of them have jackets on, which is weird since it’s not a particularly cool evening, at least not right now. “They’re armed…”

“That place isn’t exactly the safest place in town. Sounds normal to me.” Suga says. “Unless you think it might be the police?”

“Nah,” RM says. “They look too roughed up for that.”

“Forget about them. I don’t think they’ll be much trouble.” Jungkook says. “We need to focus.”

𝄖

Hongjun speeds the entire journey. He dangerously filters through traffic, overtaking car after car. He pays no mind to the angry honks or collisions he almost causes. Not when the Captain has finally agreed to meet up. Now’s the time to prove himself and expose you and your boyfriend.

You’re in the back of the van, using the tips of your fingers to keep yourself from falling over from Hongjun’s driving. They had tied you up good before leaving, going over your wrists and ankles, and taping over your mouth. Taeho sits across from you with a gun in his hand.

As it nears the centre, the van starts to slow down.

It turns round a corner and stops right at the back entrance of the building. The engine shuts off and he turns in his seat. “You stay with her in the car.”

“I thought we were handing her over.” Taeho asks.

You feel sick. You can’t believe you’re about to be sold off.

“Not that easily.” Hongjun says. “I have a feeling they set up this meeting not because they believe me, but only to see what we have to offer. They’re desperate now. If they want information from us, I’m gonna make sure we get something worthwhile in return.”

He then leaves with Junho while you remain in the van, eyeing the guy in front of you. You wish you had taken more of Namjoon’s self-defence classes, maybe he would have taught you how to get out of this.

The back doors are open and he heads straight for the basement where the Captain gets on his feet as soon as he enters.

“I was starting to think you were a no-show.” Captain says.

“I always show.” Hongjun responds, but it only backfires when the captain scoffs in his face, reminding him of how he’d gone missing the last few weeks, losing them thousands of money.

“I don’t need someone who’s all talk and no action.” Hongjun lowers his gaze to the ground when the captain speaks. “I can’t even begin to imagine what was going through your head when you left your clients hanging like that. Do you know what I had to do to cover your ass?”

Hongjun’s heart drops as he stands there facing the Captain. “Boss, I'm sorry. But I’m telling you, I was following a lead. I know this girl is the person who’s been tipping off the police.”

“You should’ve just come to me instead.” Captain says, “Look, we don’t have a lot of time. So where’s this girl you’re talking about?”

“I have her in the van.”

“Do you need me to roll out a red carpet for her?”

Hongjun bites his tongue. “I know you wouldn’t have called if I didn’t have something you wanted. I’m not here to simply hand her over.”

Captain spits out a laugh. “You’re actually bargaining with me right now? After all that you did, you owe it to us.”

“You don’t really have the upper hand here either, don’t you?” He knows that hit a nerve when any hint of amusement in the Captain’s face disappears. “I did what I did because I wasn’t going to let a couple of snitches get away with the shit they’ve done.”

Captain purses his lips slightly, fighting back the urge to knock him to the ground. “Fine. What do you want?”

“I want a promotion.”

Captain scoffs. “You can’t be serious. I could make a list of why that’s not gonna happen and the first one being we’re literally on the run right now. The entire company is in shambles.”

“We’ll recover and I need to know you have my back when we do.” Hongjun stands firm. “Trust me, once you find out what I’m about to tell you, you’ll thank me for it.”

The Captain averts his gaze and thinks about it for a moment. There isn’t much he can do. “I’ll speak to Kim about it. But before that, tell me about the girl.”

Hongjun’s face lights up and he stands taller, visibly thrilled. “She’s not working alone.”

“No? Someone on our end?”

“Ace is involved with her.”

“What?” Captain goes back to doubting him. “What are you sa⎼”

Hongjun’s face twists in confusion as the Captain’s attention shifts from him to the commotion at the top of the stairs. His eyes follow the Captain’s gaze as the door swings open with a sudden bang.

As his friend Donghyun comes into view, Captain realises something is amiss. Not only would he not barge in like this, his face is twisted in terror. It takes a moment for Captain to process the source of his distress. An arm is tightly snaked around his neck in a headlock. The man behind Donghyun steps through the doorway and Captain notices the glint of a knife in his hand.

“Donghyun.” Captain blinks to be sure he’s not seeing things. The further down the steps they get, the quicker his heart races. He sees the knife pressed against the waist of his friend. “What’s going on?

“What is all this?”

The air in the room stiffens. Guns are out and the men get into defensive stances.

Chaos ensues above. They can hear someone yelling out orders before shots are fired. Visitors are scrambling to leave the building, screaming as they go. A minute later, the assailants join them in the basement, standing in position behind their leader, aiming their guns towards Captain and the others.

“Where’s Kim?” The leader asks.

“Who wants to know?”

“We know he was behind the attack last night.”

“Oh,” it quickly clicks in the Captain’s mind, “you work for Barome, don’t you? That’s ridiculous! We were ambushed too! In case you didn’t realise, our headquarters is gone!”

“That’s just what you want us to believe.” He retorts. “We know the merge was just a ruse. Kim’s plan was always to get Barome out of the picture so he could take over.”

“What kind of bullshit is that?” Hongjun scoffs.

“Especially since it’s your men that run their mouths to the cops every chance they get!” Captain adds.

“Shut up!” Their leader tightens his grip on Donghyun and the blade of his knife presses deeper into his side.

𝄖

“Are you sure about this?” Jungkook asks and then ends the call when he gets his confirmation. “She’s still in the van.”

They leave the car, swiftly running across the street towards the centre. After seeing Hongjun’s van turn in, Jungkook was ready to jump out the car. But Namjoon stops him. He noticed the group of men earlier moving from their spot. They stroll into the centre just after that, and minutes later, hoards of people come running out of there.

Those men are trouble, just as Namjoon had guessed. That’s when they get into action.

It brings Jungkook some relief to know you’re not inside. They go down the alley and look over the corner of the building to find Hongjun’s parked van. It matches the location Suga had given him. “Driver’s seat is empty.” RM says, observing from far.

“They wouldn’t have left her on her own.” Jungkook says and the two of them nod before moving nearer to the vehicle.

They avoid the windows and stay low. Creeping right up to it, Jungkook presses his head to the back door of the van, then nods at RM. There’s definitely someone else in there with you.

The van shuffles and they scurry off to the side.

The doors swing open and someone hops off. It’s Taeho. He’s wary, but distracted by the noise coming from the building. It keeps him from noticing the two men. As he shuts the doors to go investigate, RM creeps up from behind and knocks him hard on the back of his head with a plank of wood. Taeho drops to the ground with a thud and RM makes a quick grab for his gun.

As soon as he’s down, Jungkook goes for the doors.

The sudden movement causes you to jump. The light shining through blinds you for the next few seconds. When your eyes finally adjust, Jungkook is already crawling towards you, cupping your face in his hands. You’re dreaming, you have to be, you think.

He gently rips the tape off your mouth. “Are you okay? What have they done to you?” His chest tightens when you don’t respond.

Jungkook looks around the front for a sharp object. He finds a pocket knife and starts cutting through the tape on your wrists and ankles, freeing you. When it finally registers that you’re not hallucinating his presence, tears start to fall and you wrap yourself around him desperately. He takes you in, stroking the back of your head. “It’s alright, I’m here. I’m here.”

RM on the other hand, decides to check inside the building.

“Are you hurt?” Jungkook tears away from you and scans your body. “Did they do anything to you?”

“No.” You wipe the tears with the back of your palm. “They were gonna hand me over to Kim. They were gonna sell me off. That’s why they kept me alive.”

You choke up as you speak and he hushes you, pulling you into his arms again, kissing the top of your head. “I’m so sorry. I tried to save you from them⎼”

“I know.” You sniff. “They hurt you, didn’t they?”

He holds on to your hand. “I was supposed to meet you at the station. I was right there. If I’d just gone to you, been there earlier this wouldn’t have happened.”

You shake your head, pushing his hair back. “Don’t…you didn’t know he was going to do all this. It’s my fault too. I put myself in that situation.”

Jungkook doesn’t accept you putting the blame on yourself either. He shakes his head and signals for you to stop. You’re safe and that’s all that matters to him.

In the distance, police sirens go off. “Oh no. The police are here. You have to go, you have to run!”

“They’re not here for me.” He holds on to you like his life depends on it.

More shots are heard, coming from inside the building, one after the other. You thought you’d heard shots earlier too, and so did Taeho. He started to get antsy with the lack of updates. And when Hongjun ignored his calls, he decided to check it out for himself.

RM comes back running, just as Jungkook is helping you out of the van. You barely react to seeing each other. “It’s Barome’s men against ours.” He pants, “Run to the car, quick! Go before they see you!”

“What about you?” Jungkook pauses when he realises RM isn’t coming.

“Don’t worry about me.” RM says, but then turns back before going inside. “Hey, don’t forget the plan.”

Jungkook nods, and you both run in the opposite direction. RM heads back inside to help the others while you go hand in hand with Jungkook, trying to keep up with him. Down the alley and out to the street, he gets you inside the parked car just in time for the police to arrive round the corner street.

Two police cars skid to a stop by the entrance, and four officers take cover behind their car doors, aiming their guns inside the building. You can hear more sirens in the distance.

The events unfold as you sit in the car and watch. A shot was fired by one of the police and in return several shots went off towards them. The exchange continues until it’s unclear who’s actually making the shots. But one by one, you see the officers go down as they get hit, two of them finding refuge in their cars.

As soon as the police were in no condition to continue, a bunch of guys came running out with large bags in hand. You don’t recognise any of them. They must be who Namjoon was talking about.

They head for a car parked across the street, wasting no time in speeding away. Right after that, Hongjun’s van comes racing out the alley, making a sharp turn in the same direction the previous one went in, in pursuit of Barome’s men. Jungkook ducks down and shoves your head down with him to keep you out of sight.

He waits till the sound of their cars fade away before letting his guard down. Emergency vehicles begin to show up. For a good ten minutes, the sirens are the only thing you can hear, and you watch as medics tend to the officers who are down. Bystanders watch from a distance, more of them coming out of hiding once they realise the attackers are gone.

Thick smoke starts to spread and you realise it’s coming from the centre. Another group of men exit the building, coughing and falling to the floor. Some of them had been shot, while one man seemed to be seriously injured. The entire left side of his shirt is stained red, and he clutches the source of the bleeding.

They’re lucky to get out when they do, because seconds later, the building goes up in flames. You’re startled when a section of the upper floor explodes and half of the building collapses. You sit there in silence with Jungkook, gripping his hand tight.

𝄖

“Fuck! Those fucking bastards!” Captain slams his palm on the wheel, hurling out vulgarities with his eyes set on the car speeding ahead. The van swerves in and out of the lane, narrowly bumping into others. In the passenger seat next to him, RM grabs hold of the wheel and keeps them steady.

“Calm down!” He says.

“Those shitheads think they’re gonna get away with this? I’ll show them.”

“There’s more of them than there are us. We’re outnumbered and we need backup.”

The Captain blocks him out at this point, rage coursing through his veins. Barome’s men had acted on revenge, believing the attacks of last night were an elaborate plan to get rid of their boss. But it didn’t make sense, they weren’t the only ones who were affected. Apparently, that didn’t matter.

Hongjun sits quietly in the backseat, processing what had happened.

They heard sirens approaching, but neither would back down. It took only a split second for chaos to ensue. The leader of Barome’s men turns for a moment to nod at one of the others. Just as the one at the top of the stairs leaves, and before he can turn back around, Hongjun fires.

He aims for their leader and almost hits Donghyun instead. Captain and the others take cover behind a pillar as bullets come flying their way. The men were quick, sprinting up the stairs as they blindly shot into the room. Hongjun manages to get a shot in, hitting their leader on his arm. He yells out and stabs Donghyun before shoving him down the stairs and dashing out of the basement.

Captain checks on Donghyun as the two guards head up the stairs to clear the exit. They raise their guns when several men come running, but soon realise they were Donghyun’s men, coming for their boss.

“We have two cars up front. We need to get out before more of them arrive.” One of the guards says.

Donghyun’s men hold him steady on the ground, clutching his side to try and stop the bleeding. “Go.” Donghyun says to the Captain. “Go get them.”

He nods and runs up the stairs to catch up with the rest. Junho made sure their way to the van was clear, and gestured for them to hurry. But the Captain wasn’t ready to leave yet. He peeks over the wall to check the situation up front. “Four officers.”

As Junho runs back to them, RM follows from behind, appearing from the back entrance, “Captain, you alright?”

“I’m fine.” He doesn’t question RM’s presence. At the moment, no one but Hongjun questions his well-timed appearance. “We need to get the cash first.”

Captain knows how crucial the money is if they’re going to be on the run. He isn’t going to leave without it. Knowing where Donghyun kept the cash, he sprints up the stairs just across from the entrance of the basement. But Barome’s men had beaten him to it.

Already trotting down with bags in hand, Barome’s men start shooting when they notice him. Captain feels himself getting pulled back into safety by one of the guards. They abandon the plan and make a run for the back exit.

Even with the officers up front, guns aimed at them, Barome’s men had no reservations leaving out the entrance. They’re far less careful, clearly having done this before. They could hear the officers shouting out their orders.

“Drop your weapons!”

But Barome’s men open fire instead, not stopping till each officer is down and their bullets run out. When the firing stops, they scurry towards their escape car, knowing reinforcements are on the way.

“We can still get the money!” Captain yells as they’re making their way out. A moment of hesitation was evident on his face but his determination to retrieve the cash willed him to ignore the risks.

He turns back around and pushes past the others, running up the stairs once again. The rest rush after him. But he’s thrown off his feet when a small explosion goes off on the second floor, knocking him onto his back. The entire level was up in flames, blasting waves of heat towards them.

The guards help him get on his feet. “Forget about it!” RM yells. Smoke fills the place. “It’s gonna blow soon!”

The fire reflected in Captain’s eyes rages through his body. One of the guards resorts to pulling him away from the scene, dragging him down the steps and making it down before part of the entire floor gets eaten up by the flames. They cough and heave as they exit the building, wiping their eyes from the stinging of the smoke.

“We’re going after them.” Captain says as they hurry into Hongjun’s van.

Junho had gotten the engine started. Hongjun on the other hand, was caught off guard by Taeho’s body lying on the ground. He lets out a relieved sigh when he feels a pulse. One of the guards assisted him to carry Taeho into the van and he did a quick scan of the area before jumping in himself.

Orange flames make their way down to the ground floor and soon spread out the back door. As they pull out of the alley, they hear a loud crash coming from the building. It’s starting to collapse. Tiny specs of dust and bits of ash drift through the air, a bitter visual of their money going up in flames.

Captain tosses his phone to RM. “Call Suga and tell him what happened. I want him to get the others on standby.”

“Do we even know where we’re going?”

The assailants’ car is still visible up front, but it’s clear they’ll soon lose their lead with the way the car keeps picking up speed and turning corners. Barome’s men may not have gotten who they went for, but they went for his money, without which would put Kim at a huge disadvantage. He wouldn’t be able to survive for long without cash.

This was an act of war. And Kim’s not going to take this lying down.

𝄖

A live report of the scene blasts on screen in the office. Behind the reporter, the centre is up in flames and firefighters can be seen trying to put out the fire.

“I just got off the phone with the chief of police. I’ll brief everyone on the way, let’s go!”

Seokjin motions for the team to get moving. Jun runs up to him and they walk in step towards the exit. “It’s them. Eyewitness statements report a group of men entering the building before shots were fired. They checked the security cameras from down the street, it’s Barome’ men. Changmin was there too, but I think this time they were targets.”

“Barome’s turned on Kim.” Junsuh says.

“We predicted this would happen.” Seokjin fixes his vest. “So change of plans. Barome’s just pissed Kim off. He’ll definitely try to stop Barome from leaving now. Especially with all his money. Request for an extra team to go in with yours. You’re gonna need all the help you can get if both men show up.”

“What about the club? Kim might play it safe if he knows we’re going after Barome.”

“I’ll continue surveillance there.”

Seokjin exhales a shaky breath. If any one of their targets manage to slip through their fingers yet again, they might not get another chance.

Jun shares the same feeling of anxiousness. He nods at his partner and with a deep breath, they bump fists before going in their separate ways.

𝄖

It’s dark out by the time Jungkook and you arrive at the club. It was difficult trying to navigate the way back after the police had set up roadblocks on the main roads, but Jungkook managed to find a route back without having to go through them.

The club doors were open and guests were filling up the place. Kim’s men had abandoned their positions, so only the club’s usual security remained at the entrances. Jungkook sneaks you into the office and into their secret room behind the shelves, where he tells you to wash up and wait for him to come back. With Kim still in the building and eyes everywhere, he’d have to find a way to get you home safely.

Jungkook marches upstairs and bumps into Suga. “We have a problem.”

“Yeah, I know.” Suga looks like he’s seen hell. Kim had found out about what happened at the centre. News stations are already reporting on it. “He’s going crazy in there. What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Jungkook shakes his head, eyes wide. “There were gunshots and we made a run for it once we heard the sirens.”

Suga squints. “We?”

They wait in silence as someone passes by on the stairs. Then Jungkook nods. “RM stayed with Captain. They went after Barome’s men. Next thing you know the whole place goes up in flames.”

“Fuck.” Suga heaves out a heavy sigh. “They took our money and set fire to the rest. Kim’s on the phone with Captain now; he wants them to take Barome down. He’s asked me to activate the other members.”

“What’s Kim going to do?”

“He’s preparing to leave tonight. Barome might be dead by then but the plane will still be there.”

Jungkook nods, processing the information. “And you’re going with him?”

“Do you think I have a choice?” Suga knows what Jungkook wants to hear. “I guess I’ll see how things turn out.”

Secretly, Jungkook holds out hope that Suga might change his mind. With Kim distracted, it’s a great time for them to escape. Suga nudges him on his arm and gestures for him to follow. The two of them hurry up the stairs and enter the room where Kim is sitting, elbows on his knees and fingers interlaced. He shushes them when they try to speak. They then realise he’s still on the call with the Captain who’s on speaker.

“We’re about a block away.” A voice comes on. “They’re at the warehouse. Loading up the plane right now.”

“Our reinforcements are on the way,” Kim says, not before looking at Suga for confirmation, “you know what to do once they’re there.”

“Yes sir.”

“I want Barome dead. You hear me?” Kim turns off the speaker mode and presses the phone to his ear. “Send me a picture of his body once it’s done.”

Once the call is done, they sit uncomfortably in silence. Jungkook looks at Suga to initiate conversation but the dead look in his eyes tells him that he doesn’t think it’s a good idea either.

“I need a car.” Kim finally says, to no one in particular but his assistant nods and gets one of the guards to settle it.

The stiffness of the air in the room is killing the boys. Neither of them know what to say or do, for fear of upsetting him even more.

“We leave in twenty.”

They take that as their cue to leave. Not another word was said as they made their exit. All they can do now is wait for further orders. Going down the steps, they see his guards back outside, awaiting the car he requested.

The two of them pause by the side of the steps and Suga glances at the office in the near distance. “What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know yet.” Jungkook wipes the sweat from his forehead. “I need to talk to her before we go.”

“You better do it quick,” Suga observes the guards’ movements, “the car will be here soon and then we gotta go.”

𝄖

You look at yourself in the mirror. No amount of water can save the way you look tonight. You had used as much soap as possible, scrubbing yourself down to at least seem and smell presentable. But your face is dull and your hands can’t help but to shake. You didn’t realise how much all this is affecting your body until now. You find yourself dreading to walk back outside, knowing this isn’t over.

You hear the rumbling of the shelf being moved outside and the bass gets louder for a couple of seconds before disappearing again. You rush out of the bathroom and feel an immense relief when your eyes find him.

“How are you doing?” Jungkook holds on to you tight. Resting your head on his shoulder, feeling the heat of his body against yours, you fight the urge to cry at the sound of his voice.

“I’m okay.” The tremble in your voice betrays you.

He sets you down and studies your face, rubbing his thumb over your skin. “I’m so glad to have you back.”

You nuzzle your cheek into his palm. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“What’s wrong?” The twinkle in his eyes are clouded over with gloom as soon as the words leave his lips. He hands his head low. “Jungkook, tell me.”

“I have to go soon.” He whispers like something is holding him back. “I don’t know if I’ll…I don’t…”

You feel the rush of his heart when your head presses against his chest. Shutting your eyes, you ignore the hesitation present in his voice. You don’t want to hear it. You don’t want to imagine what’s going through his mind right now. “Promise you’ll come back to me.”

He attempts to relax with a deep breath.

“Promise me.” You say again, looking up at him this time.

Jungkook kisses your forehead. “I promise.”

It’s an uneasy feeling that settles in the pit of your stomach. You want to believe him.

“I’ll have someone watch over you.” Jungkook says.

Your entire body freezes up in fear at the thought of being with anyone other than Jungkook right now. But then you calm down when you find out who he’s referring to.

“Mia will come by once she’s done, okay?” You nod. “Call your friends and go straight home. And maybe…stay off the news for a while. I have to finish what I started.”

He lets out a soft chuckle with the way your eyes gradually water and your lips form a pout.

“Baby, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Jungkook says, pressing his soft lips to yours. A tear falls and his thumb wipes it away. “In case I don’t⎼”

You stop him again. “You promised, and I’m holding you to it. You’ll come back to me when this is all over.”

“I hope so.” He says more to himself, and you pretend not to hear it.

“Take care.”

You hold each other once again, feeling heavier this time. A gut feeling tells you something isn’t right, but you keep it to yourself. “I love you.” You whisper against him.

It feels like a big loss when he pulls away. And with one last squeeze of your hand, he lets go. Then he’s gone.

𝄖

The van is parked at an intersection of a quiet street. Further down, a busier nightlife carries on with bright lights and loud music. Captain had an inkling of where they were headed as soon as he recognised the street they were on. They slowed down during the chase to give Barome’s men a false impression that they had lost them.

The route seemed familiar to him, and soon he realised it was because it led to the location Kim and Barome were supposed to meet the day before. It made sense. Barome is leaving tonight.

Captain decides to wait for backup in case it’s a trap. They wait by the curb for others to arrive. Hongjun and his men stand separately from the others while Captain paces nearby, explaining everything to Kim over the phone.

Every few minutes, Hongjun and his friends would glance at RM, then go back to whispering amongst themselves. Luckily for RM, Taeho hadn’t seen whoever knocked him out, stating that it happened so suddenly. But of course, Hongjun finds it suspicious. RM sees him walking over from his peripheral and braces for a series of questions.

“What were you doing there anyway?” He asks. “I’m pretty sure Captain didn’t drag you along.”

“He didn’t.” RM admits. “Kim told me to go. He had a feeling something might go wrong.”

“Oh really?”

“I didn’t know you’d be there.” He adds. Hongjun tries to make sense of it in his head; RM could be telling the truth, maybe Kim did send him there, but it doesn’t mean he couldn’t have helped you escape.

He’s dying to bring this up to the Captain, but it would only earn him an earful. So he’s waiting for the right moment.

Cars begin to appear one after another, coming to a stop by the street, forming a line behind their van. As more of their reinforcements arrive, Captain steps up, ordering everyone to get ready. They waste no time in doing so, opening up the boot of their cars to reveal their supply of weapons. It quickly gets distributed among the crew while Captain watches over, briefing them on his plan.

“Don’t play games with me.” Hongjun says while keeping an eye on the Captain. “I know you have her.”

“Like I said, I didn’t even know you’d be there, how would I know she’d be there?”

“She’s probably with your buddies by now.” He turns back to RM.

RM laughs quietly. “My team is back at the club, with Kim. We were there when it all went down last night. We’ve been under Kim’s watch this whole time. Where were you? If you don’t believe me, why don’t you call and ask him yourself?”

Hongjun scowls. “I’ll find her. And I’ll prove to everyone that she’s the one who⎼”

“Why don’t we focus on getting through tonight first, hm?” RM puts on a smile, passively patting him on the back and walking away.

If RM’s hand had stayed there a second longer, Hongjun would’ve tried to break his arm. The anger streaming through his body is desperate for a release. But Hongjun knows he has to control himself until all this is over.

Yet he can’t. There’s never going to be a right time.

He walks over to where the Captain is and asks for a minute. He’s interrupted a briefing, getting dirty looks from him and the others, but manages to pull him away. “Where’s Ace?”

“You called me here to ask me this?” Captain asks, hands on his hips. “They’re back at the club. Why?”

“Are you sure?”

“Excuse me?” He takes offence to the tone Hongjun uses, taking a step forward, forcing Hongjun to take a step back. “I have no time to be standing here playing twenty questions with you. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re about to hunt down Barome. Kim wants his head. I have to make sure everyone’s on the same page. So if there’s nothing else, I’d like to get back to work now.”

“There is something.” Hongjun stops him. “Remember what I was talking about earlier? It’s Ace. He’s a traitor too.”

There’s growing exasperation on the Captain’s face and it’s slowly turning into frustration. “I know the both of you don’t exactly have the best relationship. But if you’re going to accuse him of such things⎼”

“The girl I was talking about earlier is his partner. They’ve been seeing each other for a while now. He introduced her to our business, and that’s how she gets information about our ops to feed the authorities.” Hongjun says.

Captain ponders over it. After all, Kim did ask him to find out what Hongjun knows. He may not believe in his competency, but there could be some merit to what he’s saying.

“I grabbed her a couple of days ago and tried to get some information out of her. But I couldn’t get anything. Remember I told you we held her in the van earlier? Somehow in the midst of all the chaos, she escaped.”

“Why do you think it’s her? Ace is not the type to put us at risk like this.”

“I know, he’s the golden child, whatever.” Hongjun rolls his eyes. “That was before he met her. She’s been manipulating him. I’ve spoken to her, I know how she feels about our kind of people. She’s been trying to ‘free’ him from us, and I have a feeling she’s working with the police to put an end to us just to save him.”

Captain isn’t convinced, it would take a lot more than that to make him believe Jungkook could be that easy to fool.

“I know I haven’t been the easiest to work with, but trust me on this.” Hongjun says. “The timeline fits. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that her appearance was followed by months of the police hounding us. I’ve tried to warn him about her, but he’d get all protective and defensive. She’s got him wrapped around her little finger.”

Thinking back, Captain is reminded of the period of time when Jungkook constantly disappeared for weeks. Suga had come to his defence, claiming that he had to stop his activities on campus for safety reasons. But if the timeline fits, Hongjun could be right. The longer he thinks about it, the more it starts to make sense. Could this have been the reason he slacked off?

In those moments of contemplation, Hongjun knows he’s somehow gotten through to the Captain. He could see him slowly connect the dots. “How’d she escape?”

“That’s the thing; I think RM and Ace were there this afternoon.” Hongjun gives him a pointed look. “I mean…RM did appear out of nowhere. You didn’t tell him you were going to the centre, did you?”

“I didn’t. Kim didn’t want me to tell anyone.”

“And if RM is helping her escape…then we know where his loyalty lies too…” Hongjun has a smug look on his face. “Kim’s suspicious of them too, isn’t he?”

Captain dismisses it though it’s true. “He’s suspicious of everyone right now.”

“I have to tell Kim about them.” Hongjun says. “For sure he brought her back there. If we tell Kim now, maybe he can⎼”

The Captain takes a couple of steps away from Hongjun, looking into the distance with hands on his hips in contemplation. He has to prioritise. “Okay. I want to believe you, but I need more than your word. I need evidence.”

“Great! I’ll⎼”

“No, stop. Not right now.” The Captain shakes his head. “Kim’s waiting for us to get the job done tonight. I need you here. So I need you to put all this aside, cause I need all hands on deck.”

“But Cap⎼”

“I’ll let you have an audience with Kim, then it’s on you to convince him about your suspicions. After tonight.”

𝄖

Kim starts to get moving, putting his jacket on and carrying a briefcase in one hand. As he steps out of the room, his assistant relieves him from it in exchange for his phone. “What’s happening?”

“We’re moving in, sir.” Captain’s voice comes in over the line.

“Good. I’m on my way, keep me updated.”

Jungkook and Suga wait by the exit. They continue to be in the dark about Kim’s plans. He hasn’t given them any other orders, so they resort to playing by ear and taking note of the guards’ movements instead to gauge what he’s about to do.

He finally appears at the top of the steps and the boys straighten up. “Let’s get going.” Kim says, passing by them.

With his car parked right by the exit, the two of them wait patiently while Kim carries on with the call, seeking some privacy on the other side of the car. They exchange looks as they stand, both unsure of how tonight’s events are going to unfold. Once he’s done, Kim walks back slowly, careful not to over exert himself.

Jungkook holds the door open and he gets inside carefully. As he settles in the seat, Kim places a hand over his chest, an uncomfortable feeling taking over. Suga frowns, bending over by the door jamb, “Are you alright, boss?”

“I’ll be fine once I get out of here.” Kim says, dismissing his concern. “You two follow us from behind.”

Suga acknowledges his order and straightens back up. He glances at Jungkook when he takes too long to respond. And he finds Jungkook’s attention now divided, eyes no longer on Kim. Kim doesn’t notice yet, still running his hand gently over his chest where he feels a sudden burning sensation.

“Okay, let’s head for the warehouse.” Kim says.

When the door takes too long to close, he turns to Jungkook. Of course, he had missed the instruction. His attention is fixed on you, standing along the corridor right outside the office, staring right back at him. Suga slaps Jungkook on the chest and he jumps back into the moment.

“Oh. Sorry.” He shuts the door and the engine starts.

Suga glances at you, then at Jungkook before tugging him in a hurry to their car.

“What the hell are you doing?” Mia asks, jaw clenching, hastily walking to where you’re standing. She’d asked you to remain inside while she got you some clean clothes and food. “It’s not safe yet!” She hisses.

“Sorry…I didn’t want to stay there any longer.”

She calms down as you speak, nodding in understanding. “Please, don’t go anywhere without me.”

“I know, I was about to look for you.”

“You’re lucky Kim left. What if he’d seen you?”

But he had seen you. You don’t tell Mia that. The car is no longer at the exit.

When Mia told you to wait earlier, she’d briefly mentioned that they were preparing to leave. Ten minutes had passed and you weren’t expecting to bump into them when you decided to step out of the room. But Jungkook had caught your attention almost immediately, his figure by the car, holding the door open. And you stood frozen to your spot when you realised who he was holding it open for.

You had locked eyes with him, the man at the centre of all this. Kim had seen you, and looked right at you. His dark eyes met yours only for a minute, and it sent shivers down your spine.

𝄖

Captain and the rest of the team are on standby. One of their men had been sent to get a good look at the place before they moved in. He sneaks around the building, climbing over a wall to do a recce of the area before relaying information back to the Captain.

Barome is travelling light. Most of his men had run off after last night’s attack, but there were still a good number of them with him at present. Captain devised a system of attack; teams were allocated specific areas of the building to go after; their main mission was to find Barome. Everyone else, he has no use for. Barome is the one he’d be specifically going after.

At the rumble of his engine, the others follow. Captain leads the way into the area. They make no attempt to hide their presence as their tires screech, coming to a stop in front of the building. From the outside, it looks unoccupied. But Barome’s men would be awaiting them inside.

Captain lets the other teams make the first move; half of them covering the right side of the building while the other half heads for the left. They would gain control of each area of the building, allowing the Captain to pass through easily. RM, Hongjun, Taeho and Junho stay with the Captain as they wait for the first team to clear their path. The sounds of guns firing and shouting coming from inside the building marks the start of their battle.

“We’re clear.” One of their men says over their walkies.

“Alright, we’re coming in.”

“Boss, we’re in.” Captain relays the information to Kim.

They enter through the side door with ease, stepping over the bodies of Barome’s men on the ground. No sign of Barome yet. He had more men than they expected. And these men were ruthless, they had no doubt been given the same instruction; not to spare anyone in their way.

The building is divided into two distinct sections: the warehouse and the hangar at the back, which opens up to the runway. Making their way towards the main storage area, situated in the middle of the two sections, they see that the earlier teams had taken control of the situation here. A group of Barome’s men lie helpless on the ground, some tied up and others bloody and beaten. They rush past the chaos and head towards the stairs leading to the next level.

Hongjun bumps shoulders with RM, passively pushing him aside to make room for himself. RM ignores his childishness and gives way. He noticed a slight change in the Captain’s demeanour towards him after Hongjun and the Captain’s little talk earlier.

Upon reaching the second floor, they find a control room with two other rooms on each corner of the corridor. Captain nods to the boys. “Check those rooms.” He motions for RM and Hongjun to take the one on the right.

Reluctantly, RM walks with Hongjun, who starts to walk ahead confidently. “You can go with them. I’ll check this one out myself.” He says, body turning towards RM as he walks.

With his back turned, Hongjun completely misses the slow opening of the door in front of him. Immediately, RM shoves him aside and ducks as shots are fired their way. He gets hit in the arm but doesn’t back down, shooting back at the target. RM manages to shoot a bullet through the man’s thigh and watches as he falls to his knees. In the few seconds his guard is let down, RM runs towards him at full speed and smashes into the guy, elbow to his head. The momentum causes him to fall backwards, hitting his head on the floor. With another hit to the head with the back of RM’s gun, he’s out cold.

Taeho and Junho run over to their side, offering a hand to Hongjun. “It’s clear.” RM says as he scans the room. He kicks the gun away from the unconscious man and heads back to the control room. Hongjun looks up at him from where he lays on the ground. “You’re welcome.” RM says, walking away.

In the control room, Captain checks every nook and cranny for a hidden hiding spot. A table lies in the middle of the room; papers scattered everywhere, along with traces of white powder and half-drank glasses of wine. Barome was just here. He couldn’t have gone far.

While most of the room consists of panels of buttons and switches, the first thing anyone sees as they enter the room is the glass panel stretching from one end to the other. It overlooks the plane hangar on the other side of the building. There are two planes resting, and as RM steps closer to the glass, he notices another, smaller plane already stationed on the runway outside. Taeho, watching from the other end of the glass, spots a group of men making their way across the hangar.

“There! They’re heading for the plane!”

Captain rushes to the window to have a look for himself before speeding out the door. The rest come spilling out the room behind him. They decide to split up, covering different routes leading to the hangar; RM sticks with the Captain while Hongjun and his men go the other way.

They burst through two large doors and for a moment, pause in awe at the enormity of the hangar compared to the warehouse behind them. From where they are, they can see Barome and his men, running halfway across the area, carrying their bags of stolen cash.

“Barome!” Captain screams out and his voice echoes off the walls. They run at full speed towards their targets.

Barome turns only for a split second with no intention of stopping. It’s not until he turns back around, and from the other side of the hangar, he sees Hongjun and his team coming towards them. Their route had led them round the side of the building, allowing them access to a shorter way to the other end of the hangar. Barome and his men stop in their tracks and they raise their guns, but he motions to stop them from firing, knowing the chances of surviving are low.

“What’s all this fuss about?” He slows down, turning to face the Captain. “Hm?”

Captain comes to a stop a few metres away, panting. “Shoot him, Cap.” Hongjun says.

“Hey, calm down,” Barome raises a palm to him, “let’s not be hasty. We can talk this out.”

“Talk?” Captain spits. “Now you want to talk? You stopped taking my calls. Guess you were too busy going behind our backs.”

“Are you suggesting I betrayed you?” Barome laughs. “You’re pointing your gun at the wrong person. You should be looking into one of your own.”

“We weren’t the ones who blew up the centre.” Captain seethes.

“Oh yeah, that.” He shrugs, smiling at his right hand man. “It’s nothing personal. Kim would do it too, if he were in my position.”

“But he didn’t.”

“And that’s his mistake.” Barome says, seriously this time. “We both suffered massive losses last night. Half of my men are gone, my base, gone. You can’t blame me for wanting to save what I have left.”

“And you can’t blame me for wanting to blow your brains out.”

“Killing me won’t solve your problem. After all, I’m not the one who caused all of this.”

“Oh please,” Captain shakes his head. “You really think Kim did all of this to get rid of you? What a waste of his time.”

“Well that’s one theory.” He shrugs. “The other theory, which I believe is true either way, is that you have a spy amongst your men.”

At that moment, Hongjun locks eyes with the Captain. He glances at RM, who has his gun focused on Barome as well.

“Kim and I talked about it and as you know, we looked into it. But…we came up empty. It was weird.” Barome sighs, sliding his hands into his pockets. “I still had an inkling it was true. So I did my own digging, called up some old contacts, and found something…really interesting.”

“You know who it is?” Hongjun asks and is met with a smile from Barome.

“Shut up, Hongjun.” Captain glares at him.

“Shoot him, Cap.” RM says, “Boss isn’t going to be happy if we let him go.”

Hongjun chuckles. “Oh yeah, of course. Shoot the one person who knows who the spy is…afraid he’s going to expose you?”

RM looks over Barome’s shoulder and shoots him a look. “Really? You wanna do this right now?”

Their squabbling amuses Barome. It further convinces him that the problem lies within their own company. He turns to his men, “Oh I love this.”

“Will you two cut it out?” Captain gives them a warning.

“It does seem like you have some issues to resolve among yourselves,” Barome pretends to check the time, “but I have somewhere to be so…”

“You’re not going anywhere. Let’s have a chat.” Barome raises a brow in interest. “And you’ll tell me who this person is. Then maybe I’ll think about sparing you.”

“How kind.” He scoffs.

Captain pauses. He thinks he hears something; they all do. Their heads tilt up, focusing on the sound in the distance. Sirens.

“Damn it! The cops!”

“What did I say, huh?” Barome throws his hands up. “It’s one of your people. How could the police have known I’d be here tonight? You led them straight to me!”

“Captain, we need to go!” RM yells, “Shoot him!”

Everyone is on edge. The longer they stay the higher the chances of them getting caught. The sirens get closer and everyone in the building abandons their positions to flee. They’re out of time. Captain reiterates his question to Barome, “Who is it?! Tell me!”

The sirens grow louder and it’s only a matter of seconds before they’re surrounded. Men from both sides appear running into the hangar from the warehouse, scrambling out the building and fleeing from the entrance where police cars are now coming to a halt. Captain and the team are caught in the middle, maintaining their positions.

Further chaos ensues around them and they get jumpy. Gunshots are heard from within the warehouse as the men resist the police. The police are wasting no time. It won’t be long till they reach them.

Everyone turns to the Captain desperately. He needs to make a decision before they’re caught in the crossfire. But he can’t seem to choose between completing their mission or finding out who the traitor is.

“Move move move!”

They’re here. At the sight of the first team of agents to approach the hangar, everyone disperses in a hurry, breaking off in different directions. In the midst of the chaos, Barome makes his escape. Three of his men fall back to divert the police while he sprints towards the plane, right hand man following behind.

“Barome’s getting away!” RM yells, running after him.

It doesn’t take long for more agents to make their way through and around the building, heavily armed and in tactical gear. Getting to Barome is their top priority, even if it means letting the others go. In a way, Captain and the team had made it easier for the police by taking down Barome’s men earlier.

Captain reaches for his walkie-talkie to warn Kim.“Abort! Abort! We’ve been ambushed!” He pants as he runs after RM. Glancing behind him, a team of agents are right on his tail. He knows it’s too late to save himself, so he locks on to his target. He has to kill Barome.

Hongjun, Taeho and Junho made it out of the hangar and across the landing strip, heading for the open area behind it. It spreads into open land, an extensive tract of greenery and tall trees. The further they get from the warehouse, the darker it gets. The only remaining light comes from the building they’re running from.

After a certain point, it gets too dark for anyone to notice them from a distance. But there were still agents keeping an eye out, and if they kept going, they might attract attention. They lay on their stomachs, keeping still. It was far enough to keep them out of trouble, but close enough to watch the events unfold.

Upon reaching the plane, Barome’s right-hand man lets him up the steps first. He keeps his back to Barome, shielding him while aiming at RM who’s closing in. Bullets continue to fly towards them, almost hitting Barome. But he manages to get inside the plane safely. “We need to go!” Barome screams as he stumbles inside, and the pilot gets into action.

RM takes cover for a moment behind machinery. He can hear the shots still going, this time aimed at the agents in the distance. He can’t stay here long, or he’ll get caught, so he sucks in a breath and readies himself for the sprint.

The plane is starting to move and RM adjusts his shots towards the body of the plane. Alarms go off in the cockpit and the pilot yells out. “If he shoots out the oil tank, we’ll go down mid-air!” He says.

Hearing this, Barome’s right-hand man decides to take out RM himself. He stays rooted by the door, despite the pilot’s orders to shut it as he gets the plane ready to go, turning off the blaring alarms with a flick of a switch.

RM knows he’d be the first target, being closer to the plane than any of the others. As he sees the weapon aimed at him, RM starts shooting while he runs. One out of his three shots hit and pierced through the man’s shoulder. He cries out in pain and clutches the bleeding area.

Taking only a second to recover from the hit, Barome’s right hand man lets out an enraged yell before opening fire. Everyone ducks as bullets go flying, including RM who tries to outrun his aim. It triggers a reaction from the agents coming up behind him, and they return fire without hesitation. And seconds later, the big guy flops to the floor.

RM continues for the plane, slowing down as the lifeless body rolls down the steps, and the bag of cash comes down with him.

“Go! Just go! Now!”

At Barome’s order, the pilot accelerates and the plane starts inching away. RM jumps over the dead body at the bottom of the steps and sprints up before it retracts. Bursting inside and into the cockpit first, he aims his gun at the pilot’s arm, forcing him to stop the plane. But before he can take any further action, Barome tackles him to the floor.

He pushes his weight down on RM, landing punches on his face. With a sudden burst of energy, RM manages to overpower him and switch their positions, making sure Barome’s facing down on the floor. Getting up swiftly, he presses his foot down on the back of Barome’s neck and hovers over the older man, pressing the tip of his gun to his head. “I could kill you right now.”

Barome groans in pain, but the corners of his lips are turned upwards. “But you won’t, will you?”

The smirk on his face almost pushes RM to do it, but instead he yanks the man up by the collar and drags him to his feet, shoving him in the direction of the door. Barome feels the gun pressed to the side of his head. He has no escape. Before him, he sees the group of people headed their way. If he so much as tries to run off, he’s dead.

Captain finally catches up to the plane, noting their silhouette at the door from far. “Good work!” He calls out, bending over to catch his breath before grinning up at RM. He keeps a tight hold on Barome as he eyes the Captain. As they stand there, a team of agents run up, stopping a few metres behind the Captain, and he hears them taking positions.

“Put down your weapon!”

He doesn’t need to look to know their guns are trained on him. Captain spares a glance over his shoulder, then turns back to RM, giving his next order. “Shoot him.”

“Changmin, put down your weapon, and put your hands in the air.” Detective Jun says.

Captain’s eyes widened, urging RM to pull the trigger. But he’s met with an empty stare. RM’s gaze shifts from the Captain to the agents behind him, then back at the Captain. Finally, he shifts his gun, and Captain waits for the shot. His anticipation heightens when RM glances at Barome…

…until he shifts his aim to the Captain instead.

The realisation of the situation slowly sets in and is reflected on the Captain’s features.

“Turn around slowly. Make sure we can see your hands.” The detective says. “Don’t make me say it again.”

As he processes the betrayal, he closes his eyes in defeat and turns halfway, side facing the police. Slowly, he bends down to place his gun on the ground. His senses are heightened, heart beating fast. From his peripheral, he sees Jun and the team with their guns on him. He feels his heart about to rip out of his chest. He knows he only has one shot at this.

The tip of his gun touches the ground, but he doesn’t release it. Then in a split second, he swings his arms up swiftly and pulls the trigger in Barome’s direction.

𝄖

“Status update.”

Kim patiently waits, hoping to hear something other than static noise. The guard next to him shakes his head. The last message was a warning from the Captain. After which, they stopped the car by the side of the road while he figures something out. Jungkook and Suga’s car wait behind them.

“Forget it.” He says, dumping the device to the carpet. “They got him.”

It’s now sinking in that the police will always be right behind him at every step. His plans have all gone up in flames. He rests his head against the seat and takes deep breaths, trying to counter the sudden dizziness he feels. “Are you okay, sir?”

“Yes.” He says.

“Where do we go now?”

He doesn’t have many options left. His best chance would be to drive out of state. And he’d have to leave now, while the police are busy with the arrests. He’d be able to leave quietly.

Kim’s eyes snap open at the sound of his ringtone. Hongjun’s name shows up on the screen and he wonders if he should answer it. Captain had made it known that Hongjun was with them earlier but hadn’t mentioned anything about their suspicions.

“What happened?” He gets straight to the point.

Hongjun sounds like he’s in a moving car. “They were on to us. Some of us managed to escape.”

“Captain?”

“They got him.” Hongjun says. “But there’s something you should know…”

Kim listens attentively. Hongjun goes over in detail what he had seen and what he had heard. At any other moment, Kim would’ve dismissed him. But right now, it didn’t seem too far-fetched. He stays silent as he processes everything.

“Alright then,” he finally says, “I’ll see you there.”

The sound of thunder grumbles in the distance. He ends the call and turns in his seat to look at the car behind them for a minute. Then he lets out a heavy sigh. “Take me back to the club.”

𝄖

“Are you ready?” Mia checks her phone. No reception. “I guess we’ll have to wait outside.”

You’ve discarded your filthy clothes in exchange for an extra bartending top and spare jeans Mia had in her locker. And you were able to get a hold of Hana earlier. She was in disbelief at first, wondering if this was some silly prank your kidnappers were playing, but as soon as it sinked in that it was really you on the line, she choked up in tears and started asking a million questions.

When she insisted on coming down, you convinced her it would be much quicker if you just took a taxi home. Besides, Mia would come with you.

Friday nights are always a nightmare. You squeeze through the crowded dance floor, holding Mia’s hand as she guides you. Outside, it’s no less packed. There’s a long line waiting to enter the club, and the nightlife continues along the street.

Gentle drops of water land on your skin as soon as you step out of the shelter. The orange sky and rumbling thunder doesn’t deter the crowds. Mia manages to flag down a taxi and holds the door open for you. From your peripheral, you spot a large SUV speeding down the street towards the club. You enter the taxi anyway and look out the rear windscreen.

“Is that…are they back?”

“Hm?” Mia gives the address to the driver.

“It’s them! They’re back.”

This time she turns in her seat to see what you’re looking at. She catches the SUV turning into the alley of the club. “Good thing we’re leaving.”

“Something’s not right.” You feel in the deep of your stomach, a nauseating churning feeling trying to warn you about something. You tell the driver to make a u-turn up front.

“We can’t go back there.” Mia grabs your arm.

“I just want to see if it’s really them.”

You get the driver to slow down as you pass by the club. This time, Jungkook and Suga’s car drive into the alley. The windows are tinted so you can’t see if Jungkook’s inside. Then as you get further from the club, you notice a car parked just by the side of the road. It’s old and worn out, nothing like the shiny cars that people drive up here. But that’s not what catches your attention. It’s who’s coming out of it.

“Hongjun?”

Mia hovers over your shoulder. “Shit, it really is him.”

“What’s he doing here?”

“And with Kim?” Mia shakes her head. “This doesn’t look good.”

“Let’s get back to the apartment first. I’ll need help from a friend. He knows who to call.”

Mia nods and you direct the taxi to the fastest route back.

Back at the club, Kim’s SUV is parked by the door. Jungook exchanges a worried look with Suga; they both know something isn’t right. They watch as the headlights of the car go off, yet no one gets out. Both of them stay rooted to their seats, waiting for instruction.

“Maybe I should call Namjoon…” Jungkook puts it on speaker so Suga could listen as well. But the dial tone continues. It goes on for what seems like forever, leaving them both on edge.

Seconds later, they see a guard step out, moving to hold the door open. Jungkook thinks they should get out too, but just as he places his hand on the handle, Suga stops him with an arm over his chest. His eyes are trained on the rear view mirror.

Jungkook squints, trying to make out the person walking towards them. He moves from the rear view mirror to the side mirror, then looks out the window as the person walks past the car. “That’s…”

“Hongjun.”

The call ends with a beep when Namjoon doesn’t pick up. “Oh no.”

They watch as Hongjun stands before Kim’s door, hands politely crossed over his front as he greets Kim. At the same time, two other guards exit the car with their weapons in hand. Suga readies his hands on the wheel, “Any chance this car is bulletproof?”

There’s a split second between the empty look Kim gives them, and the nod he gives, prompting his guards to move towards the car. “Fuck.” Suga puts the car in reverse and presses down on the pedal. Anticipating their escape, the guards start shooting. Their front right tire gives out first. As the car starts to swerve, the other side follows, and the painful sound of metal scraping across the ground is heard while the car comes to a stop.

The two large men appear on each side of their doors to drag them out of their seats. They stumble and fall over on the gravel, struggling to find their footing with the way they’re being manhandled.

With strong grips on the back of their necks, they’re pushed in Kim’s direction. “Bring them upstairs.” Kim tells the guards and they’re shoved towards the entrance.

A sinister smile graces Hongjun’s face, as if to say I won.

𝄖

The ride back took longer than expected. Something had definitely occurred prior; a couple of the roads were blocked and caused a massive holdup, so the driver had to take an alternate route. To make matters worse, Hana hasn’t been answering your calls. Hoseok’s number isn’t one you have memorised, so there was no way you could get a hold of him without your phone.

You barely wait for the fare to be paid before leaping out the door.

“Okay so,” you guide Mia towards your building, “my friend’s in touch with this detective that can help us. He knows all about⎼”

The glass doors bump against your back and your feet stick to the ground. Mia’s fingers wrap tightly around your arm as you lay eyes on the person standing in the lobby of your apartment. He kicks himself off the wall when you enter with a wicked grin you’ve grown to hate over the last few days.

“Hey girl.” Taeho’s voice is a mix of mock enthusiasm and hate. “I can’t believe you left without telling me.”

The closer he gets, you realise how dishevelled he looks compared to before.

“We have some unfinished business to settle. You’re coming with me.”

Though you shake your head in defiance, your voice comes out small. “I don’t…want to…”

There’s something sinister behind the smile that follows. It’s like he expected you to object. “I’m gonna make this easy for you; have you spoken to your friend upstairs?”

Your head feels heavy. “What have you done to her?”

He puts his palms up in defence. “Nothing. In fact, Junho’s upstairs keeping her company.”

Now you know why she wasn’t picking up your calls.

“I knew this would motivate you.” His voice turns chirpy, but he lifts the hem of his shirt up and you see the gun under his belt. “Now, we really don’t care about her. And we’ll gladly let her enjoy the rest of her night…if you come with us.”

In other words, you don’t have a choice. You were not about to let them hurt Hana. Mia gives you a nod of support. “Fine. I’ll go with you. But you leave my friend alone. And you let her go too.” You glance at Mia.

“No way I’m letting you go without me.” Mia’s eyes widen and she tightens her grip.

“The more the merrier!” Taeho claps his hands together.

“Call your friend down now. I want confirmation that she's safe.”

“He’s already on his way.” The elevator confirms it; the numbers on the little screen descend as he makes his way down. The moment he steps out, Mia dials Hana’s number.

She picks up after a couple of seconds and you press the phone to your ear. “Are you okay?”

Your voice is calm and steady, but you can hear the shakiness in hers. “I’m okay. Where are you?”

“I have to go somewhere⎼”

“They have guns. They're going to kill you!”

You suck in a breath, glancing at the men. “I know…I need you to stay calm and call Hoseok over to keep you company.”

“What? That’s not⎼”

“Yes yes, I promise they’re not gonna come for you again.”

“Don’t do this. You can’t⎼”

“I know you’re scared. But don’t worry, just do as I say and everything will be okay.”

You hang up despite hearing her continue on the other end. The two smiling men gesture towards the door behind you. With Mia clinging to you, the both of you head back outside where there’s a taxi waiting just across the street. Taeho sits between the two of you during the whole ride back to the club.

Half an hour later and you’re once again back at the place you were an hour ago. Mia sighs as you step out of the vehicle, immediately pressing herself against you. She whispers, “What are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know. We’re just gonna have to wing it.”

The two of them walk close behind, taking advantage of the crowd to press themselves against you, a hand on your shoulder and something pressing against your back. Going round the back via the alley, you go past the cars you saw earlier.

Mia sends you a look when you both realise the state Jungkook and Suga’s car is in. The tires were blown and the doors were ajar. Further up, Kim’s car sits in pristine condition. What have they done to the boys, you wonder.

Hongjun must have gotten to Kim. He would’ve made Jungkook out to be the bad guy.

They lead the two of you to the office, where you had expected to see Kim and everyone else. But the lights are off and it’s empty. Then Mia is shoved forward, forced inside. She stumbles and falls to the ground.

“What are you doing? Leave her alone!” You free yourself from Taeho and run over to her on the floor.

Junho tears you away from each other and you’re thrown back outside, falling into Taeho. Mia tries to run back to you but Junho grabs her by the back of her neck and pulls her down. “You’ll stay here quietly. I don’t want any noise coming from you. And give me your phone.”

He tries to snatch her purse, but she tightens her grip on it and slaps him. You freeze. Junho’s entire demeanour changes. Mia braces for impact when he lifts his arm and slaps her with the back of his hand. She loses her balance and falls to the ground again. This time she doesn’t get up, and her body lies limp.

“Mia!” You call out for her. “What did you do?!”

Your breathing gets erratic and you’re not able to tear your eyes away from her. Leaving her unconscious, Junho turns off the lights and shuts the door.

You try your best to remain composed. As you trudge up the steps to where you assume Kim would be, you feel your heartbeat pulsing in your ear. The closer you get to the door, the louder it gets, drowning out any other sounds. You suck in a breath when they knock. It opens a couple of seconds later.

You’re not sure what you were expecting, and your eyes can’t seem to focus. A couple of men, what’s left of his security, is standing around the room. Hongjun being one of them, wearing a smile on his face. You don’t pay attention to the others, but you recognise the back of someone in the middle of the room, sitting on his knees with his hands tied. Jungkook.

Next to him on the floor, you see Suga’s smaller frame. The door slams to a close behind you and you jump. Taeho then shoves you with much force, causing you to stumble forward, landing on your hands and knees. The tip of someone’s foot kicks against your back, and you crawl forward, aligning yourself with the boys.

Just about two feet apart from Jungkook, a tiny gasp leaves your lips when you see evidence of beatings all over him. Red marks on his skin, blood dripping down his head and lips. Out of anger, you start to tremble, but very quickly it turns into fear. He makes no sudden movements, as if it would trigger someone off. But you see him curiously shift his eyes to peek in your direction. His eyes widen in surprise when he sees you.

In front of him, Kim sits comfortable on a chair. It makes you sick to your stomach knowing he had probably sat there like it’s his throne, watching as the boys get assaulted. Right now, his attention is on you.

“Who do we have here?” For a brief moment his eyes shift to Hongjun. Your fingers dig into your knees, avoiding eye contact when they turn back to you.

Hongjun clears his throat. “This is the one I was telling you about.”

Kim leaves his chair to get a closer look.

“Leave her alone.” Jungkook spits out.

Scowling at the sound of his voice, Kim takes a moment to glare at him. A loud smack follows and you flinch. Someone had just hit him again. “I didn’t give you permission to speak.” Kim says.

Fingers, on either side of your cheek, he forces your eyes to meet his. Then he moves your face to the left and right. You hear him hum in satisfaction, and he goes back to his throne. He rests his elbows on the sides of the chair and crosses his fingers.

“You know, I worked hard all these years to build an empire. I did everything to make the company what it is today. You boys know what I’m talking about…you’ve been by my side the entire time.” He lets out a sigh in disbelief. “How do you think I feel after finding out I’ve been betrayed by the very people I put my trust in?”

Suga shakes his head. “We haven’t done anything. I swear.”

Kim’s more interested in your response now that you’re here. “What about you?”

You barely have time to process all of this, much less know what this is about, so you stare blankly at him. “I d⎼ I don⎼”

“Oh please,” Hongjun scoffs at your demeanour. Though you can’t see him, you can tell he’s wearing a big smile on his face. “Don’t act like you don’t know your pal RM was an undercover agent. You knew all along, didn’t you?”

Namjoon? Has Namjoon been undercover this whole time? Things start to make sense, it’s no wonder he was always so protective of you, and why he seemingly had his own space, own life, separate from the boys. He’s Hoseok’s friend.

The surprise on your face must have been apparent. “Are you sure about her?” Kim questions Hongjun with a warning look.

“Yes!” It’s enough to leave Hongjun unsettled. “I promise you. She told me herself, she’d do anything to get her precious boyfriend away from us. She probably planned all this to ruin us, and she’s probably in cahoots with RM⎼”

“Enough.” Kim raises a palm at him.

“I didn’t know that.” Your voice came out so soft it was barely audible.

Kim rests his head back and takes a deep breath. Something is off about him. The silence in the room is deafening as he carefully studies the three of you.

“Why should I believe you?” He asks.

You open your mouth but struggle to find the words. Why should he believe you?

While you’re thinking of an explanation, the lights start to flicker. It goes dark for a few seconds, and comes back on. This time the music disappears, the sound of the bass can no longer be heard through the walls. “Go check it out.” He orders Hongjun with a nod.

You sneak a peek at Jungkook and your chest tightens. He’s sweating and biting his bottom lip in pain.

“I’m disappointed in you Ace.” Kim continues. “I had hopes for you. For both of you. I put a roof over your head, gave you food, sent you to school. I treated you like my own. And this is how you repay me?”

“It’s not him. It’s not us.” Suga says again and this time, his voice shakes. “I swear, we don’t have anything to do with RM. We didn’t know…”

“You’re lying!” The sudden raise in his voice booms off the walls. “He couldn’t have worked alone. He doesn't have clearance for a lot of information. And like I told you last night, it would’ve most likely been a senior member who leaked our information to the police. He needed someone on the inside to help him. Who else could he have gone to if not either one of you?”

“RM’s always worked alone.” Suga says. “We don’t even know where he goes when he’s not with us.”

“It’s heartwarming that you’re still trying to cover for your partner here.” Kim says, resting his palm on Jungkook’s head, ruffling his hair. “Even after he’s betrayed us.”

Suga exhales loudly. “He’s innocent…”

Kim’s fixation on Jungkook makes it clear to you that he’s convinced Jungkook’s the traitor. Suga’s just collateral damage for letting it get this far. “Awfully quiet tonight, aren’t we? Aren’t you gonna plead your case?”

Jungkook coughs. The cut on his lip is bleeding out and he pulls a face from the pain every time he speaks. “Would it matter even if I did? You seem to have your mind made up about me already.”

“Oh.” Kim laughs silently to himself. “And here I thought I knew you well. You really put up a good act. I truly believed you were on my side. Never in my wildest dreams would I think you would betray me.”

Jungkook maintains a straight face. He avoids Kim’s eyes and keeps his gaze low. His brows are furrowed, and you can see the vein bulging on his temple and neck with how hard he’s clenching his jaw.

“And you.” Kim suddenly looks at you. “You’re brilliant. Tell me, what kind of sorcery did you use to manipulate him into doing your dirty work?”

You stare into his dark eyes for a moment, then blink away, shaking your head.

“You look awfully familiar,” Kim gets closer and tucks your hair nicely behind your ear. Jungkook straightens up when he sees Kim take an interest in you. “Have we met before?”

You look at him again and his eyes go wide in realisation. Although he doesn’t say it, you know the moments your eyes met hours ago flashed through his mind. It only reaffirms his suspicions. You glance down at his hands, fingers clutching a gun. He could kill you at any moment.

The lights flicker again and you flinch.

“I was told you worked here briefly…probably made use of that to access some important documents.” He says. “And maybe, just maybe, you were the perfect accessory that man needed to hack into our database.”

You don’t respond and from your peripheral you see his arm lifting and you hear the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked against your head. Your throat goes dry.

𝄖

Hongjun struts down the steps, muttering something under his breath. The music had cut off and it was nothing less than chaotic downstairs. People are confused, yet refusing to leave, and the DJ is trying his best to get them to settle down. Hongjun heads for the basement where the fuse box is.

He goes down another flight of steps and upon reaching it, realises the door is already open. He expects someone from the staff to be there trying to rectify the issue. But sees no one inside. Suspicious now, he moves slowly, eyeing the room. It’s oddly quiet.

He walks right to the fuse, a grey box on the wall at the back. Someone had definitely tampered with it; its lock had been broken and the cover left open. He has a bad feeling about this.

Hongjun turns to run back and warn the others. The last thing he sees is the bottom of a fire extinguisher coming right for his face.

“Well.” Namjoon huffs out. “That was satisfying.”

“Joon, where are you?”

“Basement.” He says, pressing his in-ear. “I cut the power but I guess they have a backup generator somewhere. How’s it looking out there?”

“A mess. We’re trying to get the people out, but they just won’t budge.” He says. “Even without the music.”

“We don’t have time for this.”

“There’s too many people. We can’t move in, they’ll get caught in the middle. And we can’t make an announcement without alerting Kim to our presence.”

“Our targets are upstairs,” Namjoon says, “we’ll limit our advance there.”

“No Namjoon.” Seokjin says. “It’s too risky. We need to evacuate. I have an idea.”

𝄖

Jungkook panics at the sight of the gun aimed at you. Your eyes are shut and you’re trembling, frozen to your spot, as if moving would set the trigger off. “Leave her out of this!”

“Oh now you talk.” Kim chuckles, staring down the top of your head. “I see…Hongjun was definitely right about the two of you.”

“Hongjun will say whatever it takes for you to give him the attention he so desperately craves.” Jungkook says. “What evidence does he have to show that she, or any of us, are guilty?”

Seething in anger, he steps away from you and grabs Jungkook by the hair, tilting his head up to face him. While relieved that the gun is no longer pointing at you, now Jungkook gets the brunt of Kim’s aggression. He writhes in pain. “Evidence? From what I’ve heard, it’s not looking good for you or your girlfriend at all.”

When he releases his grip, Jungkook drops to the floor with a thud. He groans in pain, pushing himself back onto his knees. Kim holds on to the back of his chair for support as he takes a breather. He has turned his back to you but you can make out the pain he’s trying to hide. He’s definitely unwell.

“Normally I’d agree with you about Hongjun.” Kim continues. He wipes the sweat from his forehead and eyes Hongjun’s two men at the back. He then focuses his attention on Suga this time. “But everything he’s told me so far seems to add up. It’s disappointing that you managed to let this get out of hand. You should’ve nipped this in the bud.”

He takes a swing at Suga and you wince. The sound of his palm hitting Suga’s face was sharp. You can’t bring yourself to look at him in this state.

This is all my fault. You think to yourself. If you hadn’t implicated yourself and told Hongjun about your intentions, they wouldn’t be in this position. If you had just been upfront with Jungkook about the investigation, they wouldn’t be in this position. If you⎼

“Sir.” Taeho’s voice interrupts your thoughts. “I think we have a problem.”

He gestures towards the vent at the top of the wall. Smoke comes through the vent, little by little. One of the guards hops on the couch to get a closer look. “Something’s on fire.” He says.

Not a moment later, a loud, screeching alarm goes off. From inside the room, you can hear the terror unfolding. The fire alarm had spooked the others out of their rooms. But the situation seems off. When they open the doors, you catch a glimpse of the confusion spreading.

Light puffs of smoke slowly escape out the doors as other occupants peek out their rooms in confusion. It’s much calmer up here, but there are screams coming from downstairs. A fire is likely but so is a carefully orchestrated distraction. And Kim knows this.

“Shut the door.” Kim motions for his guards to come to his side. “Find out what’s going on. It can’t be a coincidence that this god forsaken club catches fire tonight. Go!”

The door opens and slams shut again and you’re spared from the commotion. You shut your eyes and scrunch your fists, nails sinking into the flesh of your palm as a distraction from the oncoming panic attack settling in the pits of your stomach. Kneeling on the floor, you feel the movements of people thumping their feet outside. More of them exit their rooms, some starting to realise the urgency of the situation and making a quick exit downstairs.

Kim goes on a rant, yelling at Taeho and Junho about Hongjun while they try to get a hold of him. The words are reduced to muffled sounds as they enter your ears.

Suddenly, you feel warmth enveloping your hand, squeezing tight. And you’re right back in the moment. Jungkook’s worried eyes scan yours and you give him a weak nod to reassure him.

You look at his fingers still wrapped around yours. A rope is double knotted around his wrists, probably done in a hurry. While the others are distracted, you undo the knots quickly and discreetly. Jungkook catches on to what you’re doing and angles his body so that they wouldn’t see what’s happening. You leave it loosely bound just in time as Kim turns his attention back to the three of you.

“Sir,” The drop in confidence in Suga’s voice is something you’re not used to. “Let us go. We can still make it out if we leave now. We’re wasting time here.”

Kim doesn’t get a chance to refute, when gunfire goes off somewhere in the building. You jump at the initial shot, listening to the sound of people screaming in the distance. Taeho is the only other remaining member of the team in the room after Junho left to check on Hongjun. You hear him in the back, checking in over the walkie-talkie. “What was that? You there? Junho?”

Kim walks to the other end of the room where he finds his briefcase. He looks like his mind is far away, but his body goes on autopilot. He pulls out a seemingly brand new gun and inserts rounds into the magazine before stuffing it under his belt.

The sigh he lets out could crack cement. Like a man who’s admitting defeat, though you know he’s far from it, Kim pours himself a shot of vodka. It disappears down his throat in seconds, and he slams the glass on the floor. It smashes into pieces in front of you and you flinch at the impact, turning your head away. The boys on the other hand remain unfazed.

“Clearly, time is not on my side. But that doesn’t mean I’m about to let you off the hook. No no… not that easily. This is how it’s gonna go.” Kim clears his throat. “I believe I know who the traitor is…And I’d like to graciously give him a chance to come clean. A chance to explain his choices.”

The situation outside appears to be escalating by the sound of it. Turning back to the three of you, Kim’s eyes lock on to his target. He slowly moves forward with his weapon in hand, and aims it at Jungkook. The boys recognise this stance too well. This is how Kim dealt with traitors and they had always been there to witness the killings. But this time, they’re the ones in the line of fire.

Jungkook refuses to make eye contact.

“I’ll still kill you. But at least you’d go down with some dignity, or whatever’s left of it.” He says. “I’ll respect that, even if you have ruined everything.”

“It’s not him!” Suga pleads with his entire being. “Listen to me, RM was working alone! Do you really think we would betray you like this?!”

Though his mind was set, Suga’s words seem to strike a chord in him. Years of service under him and not once has either of them given him any trouble, in fact it was quite the opposite. Which is really why anyone had difficulty believing Hongjun more than anything; they’re Kim’s top duo, why would they be at the centre of all this madness when they’ve been nothing but committed for so long.

Jungkook doesn’t say a word. But why would he over something he’s falsely accused of? It should be you facing the consequences.

Kim’s doubt hangs in the air, for once in his life, wondering if it’s worth the kill. Rarely does he ever waver after making a decision, but something is different this time. His gaze darts over to you and you look away before he can see the guilt in your eyes.

“Last chance for the culprit to confess,” Kim says in a grim voice. No one says a word in response and he sighs. “You know what, I’ll make this easy for everyone. I’ll kill all three of you. Starting with⎼”

“Kill me.”

You turn to your boyfriend, flustered at his sudden request. Kim is quiet, waiting.

“You’re right, it was me.” The words coming out of him are void of emotion. “Kill me, and let them go.”

Your mind goes into a frenzy, he’s only doing this to protect you. To protect Suga. That has been the basis of his every move. All he ever wanted was to keep the people close to him safe.

“What are you saying?!” Suga yells at him through clenched teeth. “You can’t do this!”

“This is the only way!” Jungkook retorts. “Someone has to pay for this mess. And it should be me. It has to be me. But please…they’re innocent. They won’t cause you any trouble. Let them go.”

The air seems to get thicker with each passing second. Jungkook’s eyes have become glossier than before and he blinks rapidly to keep the tears away. You spot the slight tremble of his lower lip. It hurts you to see him try and put up a brave front. When he finally wills himself to look at Kim, you think you spot a flash of hesitance in his eyes. But Kim’s a man of principle. Even if it means sacrificing someone close to him.

“Very well.” Kim readies himself with a deep breath and clicks the safety off. “Something tells me it’s not the whole truth, but I’m out of time. And I accept your confession. If it so happens you’re not the real traitor, whoever it may then be, take this as a lesson. You don’t mess with my business. And you don’t mess with me.”

The words cut you like a knife.

“I really did care for you my boy.” Kim says softly.

Suga’s desperate pleas are ignored. Taeho has Suga in a chokehold, preventing him from making any sudden moves. A stray tear rolls down Jungkook’s cheek. He turns to you and your gazes meet.

In that moment, you see him transform back into a little boy; the one who lost his sister, and was desperate to find somewhere he belonged. His eyes are full of sorrow. Your chest tightens with the fear of losing him.

Your breathing becomes shallow and rapid. Your vision gets blurry. You’re filled with so much regret that has led up to this moment. The room feels like it’s spinning but you muster up the adrenaline already coursing through your veins. A sharp ringing sound takes over your hearing for a couple of seconds, drowning out everything else.

Jungkook’s eyes leave yours as he hangs his head in defeat.

“It was me! I did it! I snitched!”

Kim’s attention shifts, finger pausing on the trigger. The alarm blares on as all eyes fix on you.

“They don’t have anything to do with it! It was all me! I’m sorry!”

Warm tears stream down your face as you let it out. You crawl towards Kim, bowing your head in resignation, offering yourself up for the kill. “I tipped off the police about your business with Barome! I knew about the undercover agent! I knew about RM!”

Kim maintains a stoic expression but his attention tells you he’s processing everything you’re saying.

Jungkook shakes his head. “She’s lying.”

“No,” you continue to weep, “I knew everything from the start! I knew the police were after you and they had you under surveillance. Why do you think I tried so hard to get you to leave?”

Jungkook’s face goes from surprise to denial before you see the realisation hitting him. Before he can say anything in response, the sound of gunshots go off outside. They’re closer this time, and seconds later there’s frantic banging on the door.

“Open up! I know you’re in there!”

Kim blocks out the noise, his attention now fixed on you. It’s as if everything else in the room had disappeared and you’re the only one left before him.

“This is all my fault…” your words slur as you wipe your tears with the back of your hand, feeling a strange mixture of fear and relief. “I’m sorry…”

His bottom lip trembles with rage. “You…” his voice is cold and menacing. You hold your breath.

He takes a step closer to you, though his gun is still pointed towards Jungkook. “You stupid…little…bitch⎼”

You feel a wave of panic wash over you as Kim switches targets, his gun now steering towards you once again. This is it, you think. Your heart pounds loudly and it's the only thing you can hear. The barrel of the gun is the last thing you see before shutting your eyes in anticipation for the inevitable.

And then, an ear-piercing, thunderous boom overtake your senses.

Sitting in the silence for a moment, you allow yourself to be devoured into the darkness. You presume yourself to be dead, awaiting an entity to guide you through to the other world. You hear echoes of their voices.

But soon, the echoes get sharper as the silence dissipates. Then you feel everything all at once; the blood rushing through your veins, your heart beating rapidly in your chest, and the cold sweat dripping down your skin. You open your eyes and your senses go into overdrive as you try to piece everything together.

Taeho is writhing in pain to your left, no longer keeping Suga in a chokehold. Blood covers his entire left shoulder as he uses his other hand to clutch the wound. No longer hovering over you, Kim is on the ground on the other side of the room, with Jungkook on top, snatching the gun from his grip and kicking it away from him. Behind you, Namjoon covers the exit with his gun pointing at Kim.

I’m alive.

Namjoon’s entrance had been well-timed. As was Jungkook’s reaction. Just as Kim was about to pull the trigger, Namjoon burst through the door. At the same time, Jungkook lunged forwards, knocking Kim down, and distorting his aim. The gun had gone off but the bullet went astray, hitting the glass display behind you instead; its broken pieces now scattered all over the floor.

“Hands up! All of you!” Namjoon orders.

His voice knocks you out of your momentary confusion and immediately you look at Jungkook. His eyes are already trained on you, and the relief is visible in his eyes when he sees you’re unharmed. Namjoon repeats his order and only then does Jungkook acknowledge his presence, doing what he says. Kim shoves Jungkook off him as he pushes himself up to take a look for himself.

On the other side of the room, without a weapon of his own, Suga has his hands up as well. He watches Kim stumble to his feet and Namjoon’s body tensing in response.

“Fucking hell…” Kim laughs to himself. “If it isn’t the traitor himself.”

“Come on Kim. Hands up where I can see ‘em.”

𝄖

Seokjin’s frustration grows with each passing second. Knowing Namjoon insisted to go in alone despite his warnings to wait for the team, Seokjin is desperate for reinforcements to join him.

“Alpha, are you there?” He calls into the mic.

The team watches closely from inside a surveillance van just a couple of buildings down. Monitors in front of them show hoards of people running out of the club. “We’re standing by.”

“No you need to move in now!” Seokjin yells.

“Negative,” the leader of the tactical team responds, “there are too many civilians. Entrance isn’t clear.”

“We have an agent inside with no backup.” Seokjin says, “Locations already confirmed and locked down to the second floor⎼”

“I understand but it’s a hell of a risk. Civilians are fumbling all over the place.”

“No you don’t understand!” The rise in his tone shushes the entire van. “Our agent is in there taking on the target alone. I’m ordering you to move in!”

A couple of minutes of silence ensues. “As Captain, I’m making the call on behalf of my team. We’ll move in once⎼”

The response is cut off as Seokjin clicks the end button. There’s no use in going back and forth, he’d have to take matters into his own hands. Pushing back his chair, he fastens the bulletproof vest over his top half and pulls out his weapon.

“Sir, what are you doing?” His teammate asks.

“I’m going in.”

“But we’re running point.”

“Namjoon is in there alone, with the most dangerous men we’ve ever come across. What else am I supposed to do?”

The others exchange looks. “At least wait for Jun.”

“He won’t be here for another twenty minutes. And I’m not about to let my partner down.”

His valour was never in question. Seokjin didn’t get to where he is today without making risky decisions in the past. With that in mind, his team makes their own decision moments later. Seokjin pauses when he notices a couple of his team members preparing themselves to come with him, feeling moved by their loyalty.

Without needing to give orders, they re-organise themselves to keep the operation running while the others move in.

𝄖

Tension builds in the air. An insufferable silence takes over as they stand face-to-face with the traitor for the first time that night. If looks could kill, Namjoon would be long gone.

There’s a different vibe to Namjoon, seeing him in this light. In hindsight, he was the perfect double agent. He was close enough to get what he wanted, but knew to keep his distance to avoid being suspicious. If you had paid closer attention to him, no doubt you would’ve noticed the signs.

Namjoon pauses a little too long and you figure something’s not right. You expect him to have some sort of backup, but no one comes after him. He’s alone.

“Now,” he finally says, with slight hesitation, “I need all of you to⎼ugh”

“No!” You yell out as a figure appears from the smoke and jumps onto Namjoon’s back. With the smoke affecting visibility, and having his attention fully on the targets in the room, Namjoon hadn’t realised Junho was creeping up on him. He stumbles to the ground and with a fistful of his hair in Junho’s grip, his head is slammed against the floor. Namjoon struggles to take control as he takes blow after blow.

Meanwhile, the others have a perfect opportunity to escape. They have to leave now before reinforcements arrive.

In that moment, Jungkook rushes to you and lifts you up on your feet. “Go! Get out! Now!”

And so you run. Jumping over Namjoon, and through the smoky hallway without looking back.

Once you’re gone, Jungkook turns his attention back to his boss. Kim is willing to go along with them, even as his eyes seem to shoot daggers at Jungkook. Taeho can be heard groaning as Suga drags him up to his feet. His clothes are stained with blood around his shoulder where Namjoon had landed a shot and he cries out in pain with every move.

“We have to go now.” Suga goes up to Jungkook. His body stiffens with hesitation, and Suga understands fully especially after what they’d just gone through. But there’s no time to fight about it.

“Move in now!” They hear Namjoon call out.

With that, the four of them rush out of the room. Jungkook lingers by the doorframe and his eyes follow the chaos of the two men, contemplating if he should step in. He doesn’t get the chance when Suga pulls him along.

As they reach the stairs, they hear the sounds of heavy footsteps and orders being called out. They’re too late, reinforcements are here. They look to each other for solutions. That’s when Jungkook remembers something.

“This way!” Jungkook calls out, wasting no time in leading them down the opposite direction of the hallway. “Head for the inventory!”

They trail after him, going past Namjoon and Junho yet again. This time, Taeho slows down behind the others. He pauses and looks back at his partner, then within a second turns around and runs back for him, tugging on Junho’s shirt. “Junho we gotta go!”

Junho grunts and tries to lift himself up but now Namjoon has a grip on his torso, keeping him down. He cries out in frustration and Taeho offers his unhurt arm to Junho but is clearly at a disadvantage with his injured shoulder. He ends up losing balance and falling over Junho.

Meanwhile, the other three make it safely to the inventory room. Jungkook spares a last look down the hallway, and when he doesn’t see Taeho or Junho, he shuts the door behind him. Kim rests against the shelves, trying to regulate his breathing, while Suga goes to work, removing the boxes stacked in front of their exit door. Jungkook goes to check on Kim but he swats away Jungkook’s concern, instead going over to where Suga is, coughing hard.

As soon as the exit is cleared, Suga opens the door and the automated lights flicker on. The steps are narrower and it’s a long way down compared to the other one, so they move as quickly as possible while being careful not to trip over themselves as they make their way down. Kim holds on to the wall on either side as he tries to keep up with the boys.

Reaching the bottom, Suga kicks the door down and it opens to the pantry. The room connects to the kitchen where they would have to pass through to get to the main entrance. Jungkook looks through the window on the door to the kitchen checking for fire. But all he sees is smoke.

“Kitchen’s not on fire.” Jungkook says.

“This was their plan all along,” Kim heaves. “There wasn’t any fire. They just needed a way to get us out.”

“Going out front is still our best option.” Suga says, looking around the pantry. “They won’t shoot towards the crowd. We’ll blend in and make our escape.”

Suga rummages through the drawers and pulls out a lighter. He starts the lighter and steps on a chair, holding the flame right against a sprinkler head on the ceiling.

The flame activates the sprinklers and water rains down on them. It starts a chain reaction, activating the other sprinklers, and it works to wash away some of the smoke, giving them some visibility.

Now that they can see where they’re going, they make their way through the kitchen and out towards the dance floor. The activation of the sprinklers caused quite a ruckus as the crowd continues to make a run for the exit. The main entrance has bottlenecked as people shove and push to get through.

With the lights still dimmed and the water coming down hard, it’s the perfect cover for them. “Blend in!” Suga says to the other two as they rush to join the crowd. He tugs on Jungkook’s wrist as they plaster themselves with the masses. “Stick by me. We’ll go together.”

Jungkook nods, but it gets harder to do so as the crowd mashes into one. Someone falls a few rows ahead and struggles to get back up, causing a wave of people to lose their balance. Suga looks away for a split second when he gets shoved, having to let go of Jungkook. And once he manages to find his footing, he looks to his side to find Jungkook gone. “Jungkook!” He yells out into the noise. He can’t see Kim either. “Fuck.”

⎼

“Stop right there!”

Junho’s assaults on Namjoon pauses temporarily and the latter sighs out. Part of him is relieved at the sound of his backup. But it’s a voice he recognises too well, and not one he was expecting. Instead of the tactical team, Seokjin stands across the hallway with his gun drawn, pointing towards the three of them.

Taeho goes into defence mode immediately. He towers over the other two on the ground and whips out his gun. It shakes uncontrollably in his grip.

Scanning his condition, Seokjin brings his palm up, and slowly lowers his own gun. “Just calm down.”

“Calm down?” Taeho chuckles hysterically. Underneath him, Junho uses his weight to pin Namjoon to the ground. Seokjin notices the wound on Taeho’s other shoulder and how his eyes are wide and delirious. He has to go about this carefully. “Fuck you!”

Both Junho and Namjoon are frozen in place, keeping each other in lock. Junho’s eyes dart over to the gun lying by the wall, one which he dropped earlier. But if he moves now, Seokjin might shoot. Although, Taeho’s currently keeping him occupied, so this might be his only chance.

Namjoon notices the contemplation on the face of his enemy, he could almost see the wheels turning in his head. So when Junho lunges forward, lifting his weight off Namjoon and making a reach for his gun, Namjoon wraps his hands around Junho’s arm and pulls him back. The commotion distracts Taeho, who turns to look for a second, allowing Seokjin to make his move. He starts running at full speed.

But Taeho turns back just in time, and manages to muster up energy into pushing back against Seokjin who’s determined to pin him down. The impact landed a hard blow to his wounded shoulder, causing him to drop the gun and scream out in pain. Seokjin has a hold on him and he uses this to his advantage, using Seokjin’s weight as leverage, he leans his head back and slams it forcefully against Seokjin’s, causing the latter to see stars.

While Seokjin regains his balance, something wraps around his neck and he feels himself being dragged backwards till he feels his back slam against the bannister leading to the stairs. Taeho wastes no time, wrapping his fingers around Seokjin’s neck and pushing his head backwards over the railing. As his back now arches at a dangerous angle, he can only see the stretch of steps and the cold hard concrete awaiting him. One wrong move, and he’d fall flat.

The palm pressing down on his throat prevents him from speaking. But Taeho is beyond talking now, his deranged eyes staring deeply into Seokjin’s. Seokjin locks the muscles of his torso and keeps his feet glued to the ground, which keeps him from tipping over.

In the same spot along the hallway, Junho and Namjoon continue to struggle for the gun. Junho lays his hands on the weapon first, but Namjoon is quick to move in, grabbing him by the wrists to pull him back. He ends up getting a kick to the gut, sending Namjoon stumbling backwards. But he recovers fast and within seconds, has his fingers wrapped around the gun just as Junho does, both getting into a tug of war.

Seokjin hears the commotion, but he’s losing his own battle. It gets harder to breathe as Taeho doubles down on his grip

In desperation, Namjoon’s tries to pry Hongjun’s fingers off the gun till his knuckles go white. But as they get more and more intertwined and their hands tangle around the weapon, a loud bang goes off and they both freeze in place.

A shot had been fired.

It snaps Taeho out of his state, attention now diverted, and his face goes pale as his eyes land on his partner.

Namjoon stares at the gun in their hands, Junho’s now shaking and retreating. It happened all too fast, he doesn’t even know which one of them pulled the trigger.

“No!” Taeho’s scream echoes through the hallway.

In his distress, the grip around Seokjin’s neck eases, allowing him to pull himself upright, clutching to the bannister for dear life. Then he drops to the floor, sucking in an urgent breath before allowing his body to relax. Even in his state, he looks over to check on Namjoon.

Each of them watches in shock as Junho falls to the ground, blood spewing from his mouth, clutching his chest. “Junho!”

It sends Taeho into a frenzy, and once again Seokjin gets the brunt of his rage as Taeho pulls him up by the hair. With even more vigour than before, his arms snake around Seokjin’s neck from behind, looking Namjoon dead in the eyes as he does.

“Taeho! Stop!”

The urgency in Namjoon’s voice is music to his ears, and the dying body of his partner lying right there fueling his wrath. Seokjin gasps for air as his face starts to turn red from the pressure, his fingers digging into Taeho’s arms.

“Stop or I’ll shoot!” Namjoon aims the gun at him.

“Like you shot Junho?! You filthy, dirty, scum⎼”

He gets cut off when a startling grip on his shoulder sets his entire side on fire. Recalling the injury, Seokjin had reached out and clawed his hand over the wounded shoulder, fingers now covered in Taeho’s blood. Taeho releases him from the pain and takes a couple steps back, bending over while clutching his arm.

Seokjin staggers from side to side till his back hits the bannister again, desperate for some support or he’d fall over himself. He only wanted a minute to recover, still reeling from the chokehold, but Taeho is determined.

“Watch out!” Namjoon calls out.

Taeho charges towards Seokjin, his eyes devoid of anything other than revenge. Though the room is still spinning for Seokjin, he concentrates his energy on keeping his feet grounded. He can barely hear Namjoon’s yelling over the sound of his own heartbeat.

Taeho crashes into him like a pile of bricks, and Seokjin’s body responds, muscle memory taking over. With his weight keeping him in place, he musters up the last of his energy, arms wrapping around Taeho’s torso and lifting him up, pushing up from the knees, throwing Taeho over his shoulder.

A scream of terror follows and afterwards a loud thud.

Seokjin crashes to the floor once again just as Namjoon runs over. He peeks over the railing and winces at the body laying at the bottom of the steps.

“Shit.” Seokjin mutters.

“He was going to kill you.” Namjoon reassures him, crouching down. “It was self-defence.”

Seokjin floats his fingers gently over the tender skin on his neck. “Are you okay?” He asks his partner instead.

“Me? We need to get you checked.” Namjoon stands and pulls him up with him. “Why are you here anyway? Where’s the tactical team?”

“They wanted to wait. Refused to move in.” Seokjin and Namjoon start walking back down the hallway. “I knew that if they waited, you’d be dead. And Kim would be gone.”

“So you decided to do the stupid thing and risk your life.”

“Yeah, what else was I supposed to do?”

The corners of Namjoon’s lips curve into a smile until they reach Junho’s body. They walk past in silence, both wishing it hadn’t had to come to that. “Kim went this way.” He says as they both pick up speed and Seokjin alerts the agents outside to be on the lookout.

“Since the teams won’t move in, I got our people to seal the back door right after I entered,” Seokjin says, “that way they’ll only have one way out.”

“Perfect. Let’s get them before they make it.”

𝄖

Despite your feet feeling like jelly, you force them to go as fast as they can. The smell of smoke grows increasingly unbearable as you make your way down, swatting the air in front of you. You pull up the fabric of your shirt over the bottom half of your face to keep from inhaling too much smoke.

The back exit behind you remains open, no longer manned by security. A bunch of people run past you as they head for the escape, and you hear in the distance, screams coming from the main floor where most of the patrons remain, rushing to leave out the entrance.

Tears fill up your irritated eyes but you continue further down the hallway, hand on the wall to guide you back to the office. As you kick the door down and stumble your way inside, your heart sinks when you find Mia still out cold. Luckily, the smoke isn’t much worse inside, but that won’t be for long. “Mia! Wake up!” Your fingers dig into the flesh of her shoulders as you hope to shake her out of it. She doesn’t come around.

Searching the room, you find a bottle of water sitting in one of the cabinets. You sprinkle some water on her face but it doesn’t help either. She’s still breathing, but the impact of Junho’s hit must have been too intense.

You desperately need to get to safety. But there’s no way you’d be leaving her behind. Your initial idea is to carry her into the safe room until the coast is clear. But there’s no guarantee anyone is even coming to save you. You hear shouting coming from outside, followed by a loud clanking sound, and you only hope it’s not Kim’s men. Your mind is racing to think of solutions.

You can’t stay here for too long.

Lifting the top half of her body, you wrap your arms around her torso and brace yourself against the nearest wall for support. You muster up all your strength to pull her up with you as you get on your feet and make your way out the door.

Her feet scrape against the floor as you drag her along. It doesn’t help that you can’t see clearly, much less the exit. You end up tripping on your own feet and falling to the floor. “Ugh,” you sigh, Mia’s weight pulling you down. You can’t do this by yourself. “Help! Anyone!” You call out, hoping someone up front would be able to hear you.

You’re confused, just minutes ago there were crowds of people making their way through his hallway for the exit. But now, it’s empty.

When no one comes running, you feel the urge to cry but quickly collect yourself. You need to focus. One thing at a time. You try once again, pushing yourself to your feet and hooking your arms under Mia’s underarms. That’s when you spot a figure emerging from the other end of the hallway, near the stairs. “I-is someone there?”

At the thought of help arriving, you let yourself get excited. But the person stumbles and staggers as he walks, making you believe he might be needing help himself.

“Hey! You alright?” You shout.

He pauses, finally noticing you there. Still, neither of you can make anything out from the smoke. He approaches you slowly. And your anticipation very quickly turns into dread and regret when he gets close enough to make out his face. A bruised, swollen eyed Hongjun pauses a few feet from you. He places a hand on his head, wincing in pain. And when he looks at you, it’s as if something clicks in his mind and you see the realisation flashing in his eyes.

His eyes travel from you to the body you’re dragging. Then back to you. “H-hongjun…”

Visibly confused, he opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by the sound of a gunshot that went off upstairs, startling the both of you. It sets off another wave of panic judging by the screams coming from the crowd out front. Hongjun decides to walk away, heading for the stairs and you count your blessings that he’s chosen to leave you alone.

That is until he stops in his tracks, just a few metres from the stairs. He’s far enough for you to only see his back, but not what’s keeping him from going any further.

Next thing you know, Hongjun’s staggering backwards as something - or someone - falls from the second floor, a spine-chilling scream as he makes his way down. Your heart picks up pace again. You hope it’s not…it can’t be…

You should have taken the chance to run off with Mia’s body. But instead, you walk over to where Hongjun is, just a step behind him to have a look for yourself. Your jaw drops and your entire body goes cold. Hongjun stands in disbelief, looking at his friend lying on the floor motionless.

You start to back away slowly, careful not to provoke him in any way. Then as if a switch is flipped, he turns to you. And this time you see it, the old Hongjun returned.

You run. Back to Mia, dragging her back into the office as fast as you can. But you can only go so fast. You only manage to get half her body inside the room before Hongjun appears, tugging at your hair and tearing you apart from Mia.

You drive your elbow into his gut and he loosens his grip from the blow, giving you the chance to run. But as luck would have it, you meet with a dead end when you realise the back door has been shut. No matter how hard you try, it won't budge.

Hongjun finds you again, this time hesitating slightly over having to walk past Taeho. But he does, roughly grabbing you by the arm, to which you retaliate with a slap. He pauses, and for a moment you fear you went too far.

“You’re coming with me.”

“Or what?” Your voice betrays you with a tremble in your voice.

Fingers still gripping your bicep, his other hand digs into his waistband and pulls out a shotgun. “Or I’ll make sure your friend over there never wakes up ever again.”

To that, you comply and walk ahead, arm twisted behind your back. As you go, you hear another wave of screams coming from the crowd and the sprinklers start activating one after the other, drenching you. Hongjun curses, forcing you to move quicker, back into the office, where he drags Mia’s body roughly inside and closes the door.

𝄖

Suga shifts his entire energy into keeping himself upright, but the sway of the crowd is overbearing. He can’t see past a couple of heads in front of him so he has no idea what’s going on, and to make things worse, he has no idea where Jungkook is.

The crowd starts to sway violently in response to one of the windows getting smashed open. They start to gravitate towards the alternative exit while others try their luck to get the other windows broken into. While everyone goes in different directions, Suga somehow spots Jungkook, just metres away, trying to stay afloat himself. “Jungkook!” He tries to call out to him.

But in the midst of it all, Suga stumbles and falls to the ground, muttering curses as others trip and step over him. The crowd moves around him, and he lies still. Soaked fabric sticks to his skin like dead weight. Water continues to rain down, getting into his eyes and blurring his vision.

For a moment he wants to give up, but he can’t, not with Jungkook still out there trying to survive. With that in mind, he wills himself back on his feet, pushing back against anyone that tries to shove their way through. He scans the area for Jungkook once again, this time realising the amount of casualties. The situation had left some lying unconscious on the ground, while others were desperately crying out for help.

He spots Jungkook again and starts to make his way towards the younger one, calling out his name. When Jungkook finally notices him among the sea of faces, they inch towards each other. As Suga goes, he feels the weight of someone’s hand on his shoulder. Assuming it’s a random person using him to balance, he swats it off without looking. But the second time it happens, it feels intentional. This time round he turns, only to realise the hand belongs to Namjoon.

Suga snaps his head in Jungkook’s direction. “Run!” He goes, only briefly noting the widening of Jungkook's eyes before he turns back around and twists Namjoon’s arm, eliciting a yell from him. Several others around them watch on in confusion at the sudden altercation. They try to avoid getting caught in between but the lack of space leaves them with little room to clear.

Namjoon twists his arm right back around and fingers hook onto Suga’s sleeve. Just as he’s about to yank Suga towards him, the crowd simultaneously cowers down, screaming at the sudden sound of gunshot, covering their ears and screaming in fear.

Namjoon looks for the source and finds Seokjin getting off the floor, gun still in his hand. When he turns back around, Suga’s gone. The crowd had started to flood out the door faster than before, provoked by the gunshot, and Suga had used that momentum and the short distraction to escape.

“Damn it!” He squeezes through the panicked crowd to get to his partner. “What happened?”

“Fired on accident.” Seokjin says. “Was trying to get a hold of Jungkook, but Kim got in the way and one thing led to another.”

They watch as the crowd streams out like water. Stuck in the dark, sirens blaring and fearing for their lives, everyone rushes to get to safety. There’s no way they’d be able to catch up with the targets. “But by the time we get through this,” he gestures to the crowd, “they’ll be long gone.”

He feels Seokjin’s hand on his shoulder and a series of taps follow as Seokjin gets an idea, and starts running towards the back exit. Seokjin speaks into the intercom, “Guys, open up the back door! We got Suga, Ace and Kim going out front, I need eyes on them!”

The two of them make for the back exit, pausing when faced with Taeho’s still body again. Namjoon presses a palm to Seokjin’s back, encouraging him to keep going. They jump over the body, banging on the door and a minute later, it opens with one of their team members greeting them.

“Nice to have you back.” Woohan says upon seeing Namjoon.

“Glad to be back,” the exchange lasts only for a brief moment, “do we have eyes on the crowd?”

“We do.” Woohan nods, “No sign of Suga yet, and they’re tracing the other two.”

“Good.” They hurry to the passageway between the club and the building next to it. “What a mess. Get the tactical team to regroup, we need them to cover the surrounding areas and standby for orders. Half of them need to be on the ground, directing people to safer routes and helping paramedics with the casualties.”

“I got eyes on Kim.” The walkie in Woohan’s hand buzzes. “Too much movement in the crowd. No clear shot.”

Namjoon makes a grab for the walkie. “No no, don’t shoot. He’s already unstable and we want to bring him in alive now.”

“Roger that.” The agent responds. “We'll lose track of him if he gets too far. What do you want us to do?”

“We’re on it.” Namjoon nods to Seokjin. “Which way is he going in?”

“He’s heading east. There’s someone else with him.”

Namjoon tosses the walkie back to Woohan. “That must be Jungkook. Let’s go.”

𝄖

Kim trails after Jungkook in the dark, trusting him to lead them somewhere safe. After saving him from getting caught by one of the detectives, they managed to merge into the throng of people as they flooded through the doors. They can’t slow down just yet. Outside, police are everywhere on scene. And Jungkook thinks he spots a couple of snipers up on the roof of the building across the street.

They stick with the crowd, knowing their chances of getting spotted and targeted are less if they’re among civilians.

Jungkook flows along with the largest group as they run east, some making a run for the subway station while others flag down any taxis that come on the street, going in the opposite direction. They keep on going, even as the crowd disperses as they get further. Jungkook can hear Kim’s laboured breaths behind him.

“We can stop there,” Jungkook points to an alleyway between a massage parlour and a closed antique shop. They had passed the route to the subway, where the majority of those running from the club had gone towards, leaving them exposed. Now they take refuge where it’s quieter and darker.

Kim drops to the floor as soon as he gets the chance to, resting his back on the brick wall. He takes deep breaths and uses his sleeve to wipe the sweat off his face.

“Where’s Suga?”

It stings that it’s the first thing he asks Jungkook. “I don’t know.” Jungkook says, and a hint of disappointment shows up ever so slightly across Kim’s face. Jungkook has his hands on his knees, catching his breath. “What do we do now?”

“We keep going. The further the better.” Kim says, eyes closed. “I can’t guarantee any of my active safe sites aren’t already gone.”

Despite his words, Kim ends up letting himself drop to the ground. It turns silent, except for the sounds of their heavy breathing. They can’t stay here for long, and all if not most of their usual safety nets would have been affected by the raid last night. Any other connections they have would turn them away in such dire times.

“Safe house. You have one?” Jungkook nods slowly. “Is it compromised?”

“I don’t think so.”

Kim stops himself from letting out a grunt of disapproval. Instead he shakes his head, letting out the slightest laugh. Jungkook can’t figure out what’s funny. “What’s wrong with you?”

Jungkook tilts his head in question.

“If you’re not going to be of any help, then leave.”

“What?” Jungkook’s brows crease in annoyance. “What are you saying?”

Kim coughs. “Look at you. You’re not the same…you used to have solutions to every situation. I could count on you no matter what. Now you’re unsure, afraid…where’s the boy I raised? Where’s my Ace?”

Jungkook’s heart gallops in his chest.

“I need the person you were before. I need him now,” Kim struggles to keep his coughs in, wheezing with every breath, “If you’re gonna continue to be this weak and useless and disappointing, then you can leave. Just leave me here. I’ll find my own way. Go. Leave.”

Fighting back the tears, Jungkook’s face twists with a mix of emotions. The frustration of being driven away gets the best of him. When he can’t hold it in any longer, he walks off, letting the tears fall once he’s out of Kim’s sight. He bites his lip to stop the sobbing.

Jungkook takes a moment to catch himself, sucking in a deep, shaky breath and wiping the tears away. Then he backtracks to where Kim still rests, looking up at him through tired eyes. Jungkook maintains his composure. “We’ll rest for fifteen minutes. Then we’ll head to the safe house, it’s our only option now.”

Nodding with less energy than before, Kim shuts his eyes and lets his body recover from the rush earlier. A couple of feet away, Jungkook allows himself to rest as well, still feeling the tension and frustration.

He wonders how they would make it to the house safely at this time. Getting on public transport in this state would leave them exposed. With no money, and just the clothes on their back, he’s overwhelmed with a hint of nostalgia. This is not the first time he’s had nowhere to go. Squatting in a dark alley, trying to survive. The only thing missing is Suga’s reassurance that they’d be okay.

After ten minutes have passed, Jungkook checks on Kim, who’s remained quiet the entire time. Placing two fingers on his wrist, he feels for Kim’s pulse and sighs in relief. Every cough is heavier than the last, and with the way he winces every time, it seems like something inside is causing him lots of pain. Kim opens his eyes and exhales out loud. “Is it time to go?”

“We have to go now. It’s not safe here. But you look like⎼”

“I’m fine.” Kim readies himself, “Just give me a minute.”

Jungkook only nods in response, but he knows, he knows Kim is not going to recover if he doesn’t get proper medical help soon. With much effort he gets on his feet and Kim pulls something out of his pocket. He pushes his back off the wall to get closer to Jungkook, extending his fist to Jungkook’s hand and releasing something onto his palm.

Jungkook glances at it. A thumbdrive.

“It has everything you need to restart the organisation. All our data, contacts.” Hesitation is apparent on Jungkook’s face. “Clearly I might need time to recuperate. In the meantime, I know you and Suga can handle things for me.”

“But I don’t⎼”

“I’m sorry…about earlier. I should’ve known you wouldn’t betray me. I know I can trust you, my boy. Now take it. Keep it safe.” He clutches on to Jungkook’s hand, forcing him to close his fingers over the thumbdrive.

But I don’t want any of this. Jungkook thinks. It’s a lot for Jungkook to take in; he’s confused. Just half an hour ago, Kim threatened his life, threatened your life. And now, he’s done a complete turn around, leaving Jungkook with a boiling pot of emotions brewing. He doesn’t like how it feels.

Despite that, he drops the thumbdrive in his pocket, saving the debate for later.

The longer they stay, the less unsettled Jungkook becomes. Once Kim is ready, he dusts himself off. Jungkook had found an opening at the back of the alley, which leads to the other side of the street, and Kim thinks it might be a safer route to take.

“Let’s go,” Kim says quietly.

As they get closer to the junction of the alley, Jungkook pauses when he thinks he sees something. He holds out his arm to stop Kim. There was movement. Or so he thinks he saw something. It’s too dark to be sure.

“Is someone there?” He calls out softly, not wanting to attract attention or possibly scare off a homeless person.

The shadow moves again, this time coming out of the darkness and into the dim light. Seokjin’s face comes into view. Jungkook makes a quick turn for it, pushing Kim in the same direction, but Namjoon appears from the other end, where they’d come from, strategically leaving them in the middle. The two detectives close in on the two of them.

“I don’t have a gun,” Jungkook whispers to Kim, “just do as they say for now.”

He can’t see nor hear Kim’s response, eyes trained on the weapons trained on them.

“It’s time for you to come with us.” Seokjin says.

Kim scoffs at the command and lets out a soft chuckle, “I’m not going anywhere with you. This isn’t over yet.”

Slipping his hand under his jacket, the two detectives straighten up, fingers ready to pull the trigger. His gun comes into view, whipping it out and pointing it towards Namjoon.

“It is over. Put down the gun.” Namjoon directs sternly. But Kim’s determined not to go down. “Enough lives have been sacrificed tonight. I don’t want to have to⎼”

“Have to what?” Kim interrupts, “Kill me? No one would’ve had to sacrifice themselves if you had just minded your business and let me handle mine.”

“This is our business.” Namjoon says.

“We’re trying to help you here,” Seokjin adds, “we don’t want to hurt you.”

“This doesn’t have to get messy. We’re giving you the chance to walk out of this alley alive.” Namjoon warns him, only briefly glancing towards Jungkook, still stuck in between. “Just know that if you don’t walk out of here in handcuffs, those agents out there have orders to shoot on sight.”

“I’d rather die than have you put me behind bars.”

“This is your last chance, Kim. On the count of three, put your gun down, knees on the ground, and hands up in the air.”

“One!”

Much to Kim’s frustration, Jungkook willingly yields. He gets down on his knees, and brings his arms up. With clenched teeth, Kim tells him to get back up but Jungkook refuses, ignoring the venom laced glare Kim is sending him.

“Just do as they say.” Jungkook says softly. “There’s nothing else we can do.”

The absurdity leaving Jungkook’s mouth leaves him speechless. He remembers then just how much Jungkook had changed over the last year and part of him wonders if he’s made a mistake trusting him with the data.

“Two!

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He mutters.

“Thre⎼”

Kim swiftly turns his gun towards Seokjin and fires. The abrupt move doesn’t give Seokjin time to avoid it, taking the blow to his middle, impact sending him staggering backwards and dropping to his back. Namjoon fires a warning shot, narrowly missing Kim’s head as the bullet grazes the top of his shoulder.

Just as he’s about to fire a second time, Jungkook swiftly positions himself in front of Kim, obstructing Namjoon’s shot, eyes closed and braced for a hit. When he opens them, he meets the determined gaze of his former teammate, finger dangerously close to pulling the trigger.

“Get the gun,” Kim’s eyes stay locked on to Namjoon as he orders Jungkook. “I’m not going down that easily.”

Reluctantly, Jungkook goes over to where Seokjin lies. His hand shakes as he outstretches his arm to remove the weapon. As he does, he gently feels for a pulse.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Surrender now.” Namjoon says, maintaining his composure.

Kim snarls at the traitor in front of him; he would end him with his bare hands if given the chance. But for now, he would settle for the satisfaction of putting a bullet through his head. Footsteps come up from behind, and Jungkook comes into view from his peripheral, hand outstretched and parallel to his, wielding Seokjin’s gun.

“You’re not gonna kill me.” Kim says with confidence.

Namjoon keeps his front, though Kim has seen through him. If he wanted to, Namjoon could’ve made that shot earlier. But he didn’t, and that wasn’t a mistake; Kim knows his capture is crucial. Otherwise, this whole thing was for nothing.

“I will if I have t⎼”

Jungkook bites the inside of his cheek, having to watch Namjoon drop to his knees as he clutches his right shoulder. He can tell Kim’s aim is off, and not by choice. Glancing at his boss, Jungkook notices the way his hands tremble slightly. It’s taking everything in Kim to even stand straight.

He tries to pick up the gun but Kim kicks it out of his hands.

The groans coming from Namjoon gets Jungkook’s attention again. “He’s down. Let’s just go.”

But Kim’s rage keeps him there. He had already decided Namjoon’s fate, now in his hands. “I’m not done.” He says.

“We’re losing time.” Jungkook urges. His words are left unheard.

“Any last words?” Kim asks, looking down at Namjoon.

Namjoon’s eyes trail from Kim, to the man beside him. Jungkook’s heart gallops in his chest, feeling the blood rush through his body, and his head pulsing. His breathing picks up and he feels a sharp pain in his chest. There’s a mixture of urgency and understanding in Namjoon’s eyes, and at that moment, Jungkook’s internal conflict reaches a breaking point.

Jungkook feels his body go on autopilot. A wave of shame overtakes him as he carries out his final move.

Kim’s mouth parts in disbelief, attention shifting away from Namjoon. He stares down the barrel of the gun in Jungkook’s hand, now trained on him. The reality of the situation sinks heavy in his chest, and for the first time in a long time, he feels a loss for words. Jungkook maintains his resolve, hints of sorrow and remorse in his eyes as he blinks the wetness away.

“What are you doing?” Kim asks, wondering if he’s misunderstanding the situation.

Jungkook sucks in a breath and clenches his jaw. “I’m sorry. But it has to end.”

“So it’s true,” the words leave Kim’s mouth in a whisper, as if he’s talking to himself. Kim lowers his gun, finding it increasingly difficult to keep his balance. He steps backwards, palming the wall behind him to keep him steady. “You⎼”

His words cut off abruptly, replaced by staggered breathing and stifled groans. His gun drops to the ground first, hand clutching his chest in agony. Kim’s world is spinning and it feels as if his heart is breaking into two. Seconds later, he collapses. He stretches his arm out to Jungkook, who’s now frozen in place, begging for help. The harder Kim tries to speak, the more his chest constricts and only cries of pain leave his lips.

“We need medics on scene! Stat!” Namjoon calls out to his intercom.

“S-sir?” Jungkook scrambles to his knees, allowing Kim’s head to rest on his lap.

When Namjoon appears next to Jungkook, he helps him get Kim comfortable on the ground, and Jungkook removes his jacket to support Kim’s head before going over to his side.

“Hang on Kim, don’t leave us now.” Namjoon mutters.

“What’s happening?” Jungkook asks almost child-like.

“He’s having a heart attack.” Namjoon says as he searches through Kim’s pockets. “Does he have any medication on him?”

The damage Kim had suffered the day before had weakened his body considerably, especially since he hadn’t gotten proper medical attention. At this rate, Namjoon knows if he doesn’t receive immediate attention, they’re going to lose him in a matter of minutes. His patience grows thin and he runs to the junction of the road, yelling into his intercom for the medics to hurry, waving his arms to signal their location.

Sitting by him, Jungkook notices the light in Kim’s eyes starting to dim and he starts to panic. Kim’s cold hands clutched tightly around Jungkook’s.

“I’m sorry.” Jungkook says softly, a single tear rolling down his face. Kim manages a small smile.

He struggles, but musters up every bit of energy he has to speak, “I…trust you…my boy…”

A breath later, and he falls unconscious. Kim’s hand grows heavy, eventually releasing his grip on Jungkook and dropping to his side, his eyes falling shut. “Sir? Sir!” Jungkook shakes him by the shoulders, aggressively patting his face to wake him up. But nothing works. Metres away, he hears the ambulance pull up, followed by medics rushing out.

“Jungkook move!” Namjoon drags him away, having to hold him back for the medics to get to work.

They waste no time, immediately starting CPR while the others prepare a stretcher to hike him into the back of the ambulance. A bunch of wires are attached to him, and Jungkook notices the vitals on the screen, still flatlined.

The defibrillator is attached to his bare chest and Jungkook watches intently as they wait for the machine to start.

“Clear!”

He releases the breath he was holding after the first shock. Then comes the next. And they continue to resuscitate him. Jungkook feels a buzzing in his ears, and his vision starts spinning. He feels Namjoon’s strong hold on his arm, keeping him from tipping over. “Hey! Steady.”

Namjoon’s voice cuts through his thoughts, and seconds later he hears the beeping of the machine. A pulse.

𝄖

“Guys, we need some help here!” The sergeant yells, standing behind his car door, gun drawn. Around him, the remaining officers take their positions, standing by. He grabs the walkie over his shoulder, “Get the detectives. It’s urgent!”

𝄖

Jungkook is crouched against the wall, replaying the events of the night in his head. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and the initial shock remains. He can’t forget the look in Kim’s eyes and the last words he uttered.

The ambulance had driven off shortly after successfully getting a pulse back. His vitals were extremely weak, thus leaving them no choice but to head for the hospital. A wave of emptiness cloaks the alley after that, only Jungkook, Namjoon and two other medics tending to Seokjin.

Fortunately, Seokjin is fine. Though the close impact had him getting thrown back, the bullet had lodged into his bulletproof vest under his shirt, just narrowly missing him. Despite that, he still suffered a terrible cut to the back of his head from the fall, requiring some stitches and leaving him with a wrap around his head.

“You alright?”

“Yeah,” Jungkook’s voice comes out hoarse. “Do you think he’s going to make it?”

Namjoon’s eyes trail over Jungkook’s face. It’s as if the hardened layer of the person he once knew has melted off, revealing the gentle, vulnerable soul underneath. Not at all what he’s used to. “I hope so.” Namjoon manages to say.

Namjoon leaves Jungkook to get his own wound tended to, letting him soak in his thoughts. Kim’s last words echo through his mind, floating among the guilt and remorse of his choices. Inside his pocket, the thumbdrive remains. His chest tightens.

Jungkook decides to get some air, walking over to the open space, looking down the now barricaded road and the chaos down the street where the club is. He wonders if everyone made it out okay. As he stands there, he feels a pair of eyes on him.

His heart races, slowly turning to the left, facing the dark alley of the opposite building. He doesn’t make out who it is initially, not until they step closer, and his shadow appears, half his face illuminated by the streetlight.

Jungkook swallows, mouth going dry. “Suga…”

He feels his soul being sucked out of his body. Behind him, he hears the detectives calling out his name, and at the sound of their voices, the shadow disappears. Had he been there the whole time? Had he seen everything? Jungkook takes the first step forward.

Till a hand on his shoulder stops him from going any further. “Where are you going?”

Jungkook looks back only for a second, but he’s gone now. Namjoon follows his line of sight. “What’s wrong?” He asks, frowning.

With a shake of his head, Jungkook brushes it off and urges Namjoon to lead the way. His wound is cleaned and shoulder wrapped, a temporary fix till they get to the hospital themselves. Hurrying back to where Seokjin sits, Jungkook notices the tense look on his face and questions it.

“We have a problem.” Seokjin says.

𝄖

“We need a negotiator out here, fast!” They hear over their intercoms. “We’ve got the target and hostage out front.”

The lights are blinding, you can’t keep your eyes open. It takes a while for your sight to adjust to the headlights shining right at you. You could make out the figures of the officers standing by their cars, and the disarray unfolding.

As you stepped out of the building a few minutes ago, screams ensued, though you can’t tell for what. Your brain tapped out long ago, and only a vessel of your body is present at the moment.

Hongjun stands behind you, pressing you against his body, an arm around your neck, and a gun to your head. Taking small steps, like he had ordered you to, you can feel the stickiness of his skin on yours and the warmth of his breath right next to your ear.

“You’re surrounded young man,” one of the officers say, “let the lady go, and we can avoid⎼”

“I’ll shoot! I’ll fucking shoot her if you don’t put your guns down!” He screams right next to your ear and you wince, turning your head to the side. His grip on you tightens as he shouts, pushing against your throat.

You can’t make out exactly what they’re saying but one of the officers raises his hand and the remaining officers lower their weapons, though still on standby. You see a tall figure making his way to the front, where the lead officer had been standing.

Everyone’s faces appear as blanks with the light in your eyes. You see him raising both his palms up in the air, and taking calculative steps towards you. In response, Hongjun backs up, tugging you along with him.

“Hongjun.” A familiar voice comes from him. As he steps closer, at an angle which keeps the headlights out of your eyes, you finally realise who it is. “I don’t have a gun. I’m Detective Kim Seokjin⎼”

“Back the fuck up!” His arm tightens around you again.

“Talk to me.” Seokjin says gently, rooted in his spot. He stands about three metres away; so close, yet so far.

“No!” Hongjun snarls. “Not you. I want your buddy. He knows who he is. Tell him to come face the music.”

Seokjin remains silent, staring at Hongjun. Only for a brief second, do his eyes flicker over to yours and his gaze softens in that moment, to comfort you. His head has a bandage wrapped around it.

“Well?!” Hongjun yells again and the barrel of his gun is pressed to your temple, prompting a response from the other officers, as their guns raise in instinct.

“I’m right here.” The sound of Namjoon’s voice makes your heart jump. A sense of relief overcomes you at the thought of him being nearby. You get shifted abruptly as Hongjun turns slightly to the right where Namjoon is. “Look, this is between you and I, right? Let her go.”

Hongjun chuckles. Namjoon’s presence excites him, you can feel the beating of his heart against your back and with the way he’s unable to stand still, dragging you along with him every time he shifts.

“We do not have a clear shot. The hostage is in the way.” They hear the sniper through their intercoms.

“She’s got nothing to do with this. It was all me.” Namjoon admits. “I was undercover the entire time. It was only me.”

“I’m not stupid. I know she’s not innocent.” He spits out, then takes a moment. “And I know I’m not getting out of here alive.”

“Yes you will,” Namjoon’s tone softens. Hongjun’s unusual behaviour doesn’t go unnoticed; his eyes are wide and bloodshot, and he can barely focus on Namjoon, constantly twitching and checking his surroundings. Namjoon stretches his arm out. “If you just let her go…”

“Taeho’s dead, did you see it? Did you⎼ did you see his body? There was a bullet in his⎼” Hongjun starts to cry, “everything’s ruined. Everything’s ruined!”

“Hongjun, I can help you.” Namjoon says, “Let me help you.”

“A⎼and I know what he did. I know I saw it⎼ I saw⎼.” he sniffles, “he was the one that killed Taeho wasn’t he? That son of a bitch! Ace! Where are you?!”

“Hongjun, hongjun, focus on me, here.”

“I knew it. I told everyone he was a traitor but no one believed me,” he cries out. “He always took everything from me…So I’m gonna take away the one thing he loves.”

The air is sucked from you as he tightens his grip and the gun on your head. You hear the click of the safety going off near you for the second time this night. Your legs feel like they’re about to give way, head feeling light from the arm restricting your airway, and your hearing starts to go off, heartbeat pulsing in your ear.

Amidst the buzzing, you hear something…someone calling out your name. You can almost make it out, that voice. It’s⎼

Hongjun makes a sharp turn to the left, where the source is. And you see him. Jungkook comes running towards you, and for a moment your hearing comes back and you hear him screaming out your name, thinking this might be the last time you do.

“No!”

Your eyes meet and in that split second, you see the terrified look in his, the agony, the grief.

Bang!

The explosive sound of his gun rings in your ears, and your vision blurs. You feel light and airy, and everything is spinning, no way of knowing which way is up. You feel his grip on you loosen and you’re falling. Falling. Falling. Till you hit something hard. It almost feels like you’re drowning; not being able to speak, or hear, voices melting away while your vision slowly disappears.

Everything fades to black.

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