Hoseok had insisted that they wake everybody to tell them that she was back, but she said that it was unnecessary. She had said that she was incredibly tired and everybody would be awake within a few hours anyways so she pushed him to sleep. She had lied to him. She couldn’t sleep, not with everything that had happened in the few hours. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep for a while. All she did for the rest of the night was sit at the edge of her bed, looking out the window until the sun finally rose. When it did, she quietly went into bathroom and stood in the shower, letting the brown-red water run down the drain.

             It was only with the water as a mask that she let the tears she had been holding in all night flow out. The tears raked her body. She had never felt so alone than when she had been taken by Hong Jung Yee.

             She winced when the water hit the back of her head. Reaching behind, she traced the cut across the base of her neck. She used her fingers to gently probe the area and was relieved to find that it was only a surface scratch and all the blood had been washed down the drain.

             Wiping her wet face, she pulled on a giant t shirt and looked at herself in the mirror. There were bruises that lined her cheekbone and a small cut on her eyelid. Her lips were chapped and she found it had broken from when she probably hit the ground. The rest of her body looked fine except for her sore shoulder. She rolled it once and winced but the pain was minimal.

             Taking a long look at herself, she made a statement then to only get stronger. She had been shaken by Hong Jung Yee’s mere words. Never would she allow another person to make her feel that way again.

             She had only stepped out of the shower when her bedroom flew open and she was nearly knocked off her feet when both Taehyung and Jungkook hugged her simultaneously.

             “Hoseok hyung told us you came back last night and I couldn’t wait until you came out of your room,” Jungkook babbled through his tears. She wrapped her arms around the both of them. It was very early in the morning but it turned out that nobody had slept well through the night.

             When the two of them stepped back, she saw that Jimin stood at the door as well. She smiled at him and he walked up to her, embracing him as well. She closed her eyes and inhaled, her heart feeling more at ease now that she was surrounded by the very people she had thought she’d been close to losing.

             Jimin put a hand on her arm and said quietly, “You’re hurt.”

             “I’ll be fine. Is everyone else okay?” she asked.

             “Yoongi-hyung got hurt.”

             She gasped and asked, “How bad is it?”

             He had a sad smile but managed to say, “We had to extract a bullet but he’ll also be alright. He was still in bed the last time I checked.”

             “And I told him to stay there, but he insisted he had to see it with his own eyes,” Seokjin said from the doorway, wheeling Yoongi in on a rolling chair which acted as a makeshift wheelchair. Yoongi was paler than usual but there was a slight flush of pink of his cheeks. The dark circles beneath his eyes indicated that he was extremely tired but he gave her a weak wave when they came in. Her room was slowly being filled.

             She immediately walked over, wondered if she should hug him but he pulled her down. She gently put an arm around him and whispered, “Thank you.”

             He laughed a little. “It’s not my first bullet wound. I’ll be fine in a couple of days,” he said.

             She squeezed his shoulder and walked behind to face Seokjin. He shook his head slightly and said, “I’m so glad to see you, Daeun. You had us all very worried.”

             She wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder. He sighed beside her ear. “I’m really glad to be back,” she whispered.

             Taking a step back, she took in all the people she had somehow allowed into her life. The tears threatened to spill again. She blinked and cleared . With a shaky voice, she said, “Are all of you going to just stand there staring at me without pants?”

             Seokjin chuckled lightly. “We’ll leave you then. I’ll have breakfast ready in a little bit so please, join us.”

             She nodded and gave Jungkook a reassuring wave as he kept looking over his shoulder.

             When the doors were closed, she felt her legs lose strength and she sunk onto her bed. She had yet to tell them what really happened at what Hong Jung Yee wanted. The black phone sat at the edge of her view and she swallowed.

             A gentle knock followed by “Daeun?” interrupted her thoughts. The door creaked open and the most relief she felt all morning flooded her. The two walked towards each other and stopped in front of the other. They both did not say a word but he took in every inch of her and a wave of emotion washed over her. He reached out and touched her neck, his fingers lingering at the base where she had cut herself. He brought her towards him and pressed his forehead against hers.

             With his other hand, he reached out and wiped her cheeks. She felt him smear the tears she had unknowingly let fall.

             “Why are you crying?” he said softly.

             “I was scared,” she said.

             He took her into his arms and she wrapped hers around his waist. She had never hugged Namjoon like this before but the moment their bodies met, she felt better. Everything about his was familiar and that reminded her she was away from Hong Jung Yee and back with the people she cared about. He put his lips on her hair and brought her closer.

             “You don’t need to be scared,” she felt his lips move against her scalp, “I said that I’m here to protect you, right?”

             She squeezed her eyes shut and let the walls she had built around herself fall in front of Namjoon.

             Hoseok had been the last one to wake up. The instance he had found her in the kitchen last night, he had felt a huge burden being lifted off his chest. Although she had told him multiple times to return to bed, he had lingered outside her door and waited until he heard no more movement from inside her room. He waited until he could hear her rhythmic breathing and then left, knowing that she was safe and with him again.

             The meal was delicious and Daeun felt extremely satisfied. She glanced beside her and found that Namjoon had been looking at her. She turned away, slightly embarrassed and felt his hand gently pat her knee. That made her blush even more.

             “Daeun, I know you might not want to talk about it, but we need to know. Where were you last night?” Seokjin asked after he finished his meal.

             The memories resurfaced and she took a deep breath before answering, “I was taken by Hong Jung Yee.”

             They all stared at her, waiting for the rest of her story.

             She told them all that had happened and finally reached the punch line of the story: “Then he told me he was an undercover cop.”

             Taehyung’s fork clattered on his plate. He scrambled to pick it up but his shaking fingers only caused it to tip off the plate and fall to the floor. Nobody helped him pick it up.

             “He’s a cop. So, he works for NYPD,” Seokjin repeated what she last said.

             She nodded. “I guess in a way. He told me he had been undercover for a really long time and that he was looking to arrest somebody named Ryukwan. From what he was saying, I think that person is The Boss, because when I told him that’s who led the organization you all were in, he sort of freaked out.”

             “Wait, you told him about us?” these were the first words Hoseok had said to her since last night. She turned to look at him and he saw that there was something different about her eyes.

             “I had to,” she explained, “If I didn’t, I was scared that he was going to come and take you all down. He was a witness to everything that had happened in the room last night. So I struck a bargain with him. I said that we would help him lure The Boss out here to New York in exchange for your freedom.” She added the last part, hoping that it would convince them to follow in with the plan.

             Seokjin was silent but Jungkook burst out, “Oh. No. Absolutely not. You can’t just lure The Boss anywhere. He’s got people watching us and he’ll figure it out right away.”

             “I know. But we’ve also got the NYPD secretly behind us as well. If we play the cards right, it will work out. Besides, what has The Boss ever done for any of you besides send you out on dangerous missions?” she said.

             “Daeun, I don’t think you should have agreed to that on behalf of us,” Seokjin said. He was using his soft voice again, but Daeun knew that the softer his voice got, the more serious he was.

             She shook her head. “I didn’t agree for you. I suggested it and he seemed to think about it. He sent me back to convince you guys about it.”

             “He just sent you back to us?”

             “Well, he gave me this phone and told me to call him back when I could,” she omitted the fact that he had also implanted a tracker inside her.

             “We should leave the country, Hyung. Get out of all this before it’s too late,” Yoongi spoke from his seat. He was still eating as every time he swallowed, he’d still feel a slight pain from the bullet wound.

             “No,” Daeun immediately blurted out, “We can’t. He’s… He’s got eyes everywhere as well. Plus, if we return to Seoul, that would mean that we failed a mission and I was told that The Boss hates failures.”

             “Yeah, but we have enough from the surveillance tapes of how he’s smuggling girls as es into the country under the name of the organization,” Jimin said, “That should be enough for The Boss. He’ll understand if we come back.”

             They all looked at Seokjin for a decision. His eyes met each of theirs around the table. “We could run and return to Seoul but Hong Jung Yee knows us. He knows our faces and at least Daeun and Hoseok’s names. Furthermore, if we return to Seoul with a job half completed, The Boss won’t be too happy, regardless of what we bring back. Our best option is for us to follow through with this for now, until a better solution comes our way.”

             “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Hoseok scoffed from his seat, “You’re suggesting that as criminals, we work together with a cop. Aka the guy who catches criminals. Aka, let me reiterate again, are people like us. I don’t see how this is going to play out properly.”

             “I don’t think we’ve got a better option. I’ll have to make a call later on back home with some type of explanation for this,” Seokjin said, “In the meantime, if you would, Daeun, please also make a call to Hong Jung Yee and tell him we’ll take the deal. We will meet again but under our terms, which I’ll have listed out for you before you call.”

             Hoseok laughed bitterly and shook his head. Taehyung turned and looked at him, “Hyung, it could be fun. We’re used to playing double agents anyways.”

             “Yeah, when we’re double agents for ourselves. We pretend that we don’t know that they know that we know they’re guilty,” Hoseok said, “Again, as I’ve been doing all morning, reminding you of the fact that all the power and control are in our hands.”

             Seokjin stood and looked at him, “Hoseok, I’ve made a decision. I hope you’ll respect me for it and you’ll follow through”

             This caused Hoseok to clench his jaw.

             Some of the members started clearing the table as they each had new jobs to accomplish. They had all forgotten that there was one person who had been quiet throughout the conversation and at this time, he slowly raised a hand.

             “I’m sorry, but could someone fill me in on all this? Who is Hong Jung Yee? And who is The Boss?” Namjoon said.

              “I want to be at the next meeting,” was Namjoon’s immediate answer after Seokjin had finished explaining everything.

             It was currently only the members of BTS and Namjoon around the table as Seokjin had then instructed Daeun to call Hong Jung Yee while he had been talking.

             “Absolutely not,” Hoseok said. He already hated the fact that Namjoon was here with them and that Seokjin trusted him enough to tell him everything. He did not need this other man to interfere further by attending the meeting like he was one of their own.

             Namjoon met Hoseok’s question with his own, “Why not?”

             Hoseok rolled his eyes. “Have you ever done anything like that? Do you know how to defend yourself if another shoot out was to happen? You’re useless and we don’t have a need for useless things.”

             His teeth were clenched but Namjoon did not reply. The last time he had told Daeun that his father was a cop, she had nearly freaked out. He did not need to let them know that he indeed did have training from the year at the police academy when he believed his father was still a good cop.

             “Hoseok,” Seokjin said with a warning tone. The other man averted his eyes and huffed. “Namjoon,” Seokjin directed his words, “I’m afraid I can’t let that happen. I will not have you endanger yourself while you are with us. I have already taken a risk in letting you know everything about us. This meeting with Jung Hong Yee will only be between him, Hoseok, Daeun and I. He already knows the identity of Hoseok and Daeun while I will be the representative of all of us here.”

             Namjoon exhaled. He could understand the said risk Seokjin was talking about. He did not want to push his luck so he nodded without a word. Perhaps when BTS trusted him more, he would be able to attend one of the meetings.

             “He said he would be able to meet us this weekend. However he wants me to tell you that he will be bringing some terms of his own as well,” Daeun said as she walked back to the table. She was taken aback when everybody looked up at her.

             Seokjin nodded. “Good, we will proceed as I said. Daeun, Hoseok – there are some things I want to go over with the two of you privately prior to this meeting. I’ll meet you two after. The rest of you, enjoy the day off.” His words caused a silent reaction in the rest of the members as they all got up and started to clean the table. Jimin rolled Yoongi back to his room to change his dressings.

             He did not want to be the only person without a job so Namjoon stood and helped with the plates. He saw the two boys he had become familiar with in the kitchen already and approached them.

             Taehyung shyly offered a smile when Namjoon set the plates down.

             “Do all of you never question Seokjin’s words?” Namjoon asked the younger.

             Taehyung did not meet his gaze. He wordlessly continued to scrub the dishes and passed it onto Jungkook who quickly wiped it clean and returned it to its place.

             Namjoon pressed further. “You’ve never wondered to yourselves whether his way is the best course of action?”

             This time, Taehyung shook his head. “Hyung’s never let us down. We would trust him with our lives.”

             Leaning back against the counter, Namjoon stared into the air. “I don’t believe you. Why would you put your life into another person’s hands?”

             Taehyung shot him a look. His usually kind face was filled with a mixture of anger and pain. “There is nothing that Hyung wouldn’t do to protect us. He’s proven that multiple times, even if he – if he….” His voice trailed off and Taehyung angrily brushed the tears away from his eyes. He put down the plate that he had been holding and stomped out of the room. Jungkook gave an apologetic look to Namjoon before putting down his own load and racing out after his friend.

             A new voice entered the conversation. “You’ll have to forgive Taehyung for leaving you like that. He doesn’t like to talk about what happened with Seokjin,” Yoongi said. Jimin stood behind him and set the “wheelchair” to the side. He took the spot of Taehyung and turned the tap on again.

             Now Namjoon was curious. “What do you mean ‘what happened with Seokjin’?”

             After Seokjin, Yoongi was the eldest in the group which meant he had been with Seokjin practically since the beginning. He understood his friend and he too had vowed to never let anything happen to the group. “Two years ago, Seokjin was taken from us. It was a plan gone wrong after one of the members disobeyed Seokjin’s words and took action onto himself,” Yoongi said from his spot.

             From his tone of voice and words, Namjoon guessed that this member had been Taehyung.

             “He was tortured for four days and three nights. They broke each bone in his hands first and then moved onto his feet. He was beaten until he had stopped breathing and then jolted back to life so that the whole cycle could repeat itself. He had to go through all of that just because he wouldn’t tell them our names,” Yoongi said, “He protected all of us with his life.”

             The last plate was wiped dry and placed on a rack. Jimin turned to look at Namjoon. “Jin-hyung could have revealed but one name and that would have saved him from everything that he had to go through, however he didn’t. He endured all of it because we’re his family, he said, and he would never let anything or anybody hurt his family.”

             "Taehyung still hasn't gotten past the whole thing. Every time Jin-hyung complains about his bad knees or cramped fingers, a look passes over him and he sort of... shuts down for a while." 

             The words made Namjoon realize how intensely loyal BTS were to each other. Although they were associated with things that society had deemed “evil” and “wrong”, they were just men who had come together in search of a family. They had found it with each other and they trusted each other to the point they would die for one another.

             “I didn’t know,” Namjoon said quietly, “I should apologize to Taehyung for saying something I shouldn’t have.”

             Jimin smiled gently. “He’ll be back to his old self in a bit with Jungkook by his side. You don’t have to worry.”

             Namjoon shook his head. “No, I really should – ”

             “It will be fine,” Yoongi said, “In a way, I’m glad you brought it up. It serves as a good reminder of what we’re dealing with right now. All the risks that we’re about to take. I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself exactly into, Namjoon. If something were to happen to any of the members, I would not hesitate to save them – even if you’re in the way of that.”

             This was the second time Namjoon had heard this warning. He swallowed and nodded.

             The tension in the air lessened when Yoongi waved Jimin over. “Let’s go out. I’m tired of being cooped up inside this house all day.”

             Jimin jumped up and dashed out of the room saying, “I’ll get Taehyung and Jungkook. I’m sure they’ll want to join us as well.”

             “Yah, Park Jimin! How will I get around if you leave me parked here?” Yoongi called after the disappearing red-head.

             There was a slight shuffle behind Yoongi. He was wheeled out of the kitchen with unaccustomed hands.