"No." I speak firmly.

"I realize he's your friend. But he knows our base of operations." Namjoon explained.

"You can't just kill him!" I exclaim. "He's done nothing wrong!"

"He doesn't have to have- he knows our names and faces. He can identify us in a police line up- that's dangerous enough."

"I'd rather we scare him into silence then kill him. Even if we have to send him away and never let him see his family again, that's so much better than his death." I beg. "Please Namjoon."

"I'd really rather be safe than sorry in cases like this-"

"Namjoon, you love me, don't you? I heard I was your girlfriend."

"Y/N, can we not do this now? This is work, okay? And as much as I'd love to sort out what's going on between you and I, we need to figure this out-"

"Answer me. Do you love me?"

"I've told you before, haven't I?" He sighs. "Even with your loss of memory, I wrote you that note."

"Namjoon. Are you in love with me?"

"Yes." He says without hesitation.

"Then I'm willing to trade with you. One trip home is what I asked for. But I want to give my trip to him."

"An exchange. You stay, he goes." He watches me.

"Yes."

He sighs. "Okay."

My spirits soar. "Namjoonie, thank you-"

"On one condition."

"What is it?"

"I want you to kiss me."

"..." I look at him for a few seconds, trying to figure out if he's messing with me. He's dead serious.

"I will." I say, determined.

"Come here then." He entwines our fingers and pulls me out of my chair and towards his. He sits me down on his lap, straddling him.

His eyes never leave mine as his free hand comes and rests on my hip. I match his action by placing my free hand on his cheek.

And then I lean in.

I've kissed boys before. I don't remember it, but this I know to be true.

But this is so different from what I know to be true. Namjoon is so gentle and slow with my lips as he holds me tight.

I can sense his want for more- for me- but he keeps himself restrained. He knows I'm not ready.

We quickly pull away and I get off shyly when we hear a whistle at the door.

"What a show."

"You can't say that! We're going to get fired!" He hissed. "Uh, Namjoon sir, if you're not busy at the moment we require Y/N downstairs."

"Take her. We're done." He winks at me and I turn darker.

"I'll get you in trouble later." I sigh, grabbing my stuff I left in here.

I enter the hall with GD and Rain, who give me smiles.

"So, you're back together?"

"You better not start saying that." I hit his arm. "Nothing's going on."

"When did nothing become making out with your boss?"

"We weren't making out."

"Mm, I don't know. Did you see any tongue GD?"

"There was a little." He smiles sheepishly.

"You're both full of ." I hit them. "There wasn't any of that."

"I bet you're disappointed we took you away from him, huh?"

"Hey, that room has a lot of sensitive documents. If we had let them go on any longer, Namjoon would've wrecked the office and the papers would be stuck together for-"

"Ugh, I don't need the image." He shudders. "Go in, Y/N."

Jungkook is sitting on a chair.

"Je suis desolé mais je dois returner à ma maison-"

"Thank god you're here. Ever since you left, he's been speaking only French."

"Well, he does have French fourth period." I look at him and shrug.

"I know he does. Can you get him to stop? I somehow think he'll listen to you over me."

"Hey, give him some credit. He's not even cracking." I gesture to how he speaks quickly to one of the guards in French. "Do you think he's hoping if he shows he can't speak our language we'll let him go?"

"But we know he can."

"Well, yeah. But he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. And he's desperate."

"Just calm him down." He rolls his eyes.

"Kookie, that's enough. Okay?" I say gently, sitting cross-legged in front of him on the floor. "Give me the questions you need answered. This is a one man job and I don't need you all getting in my way."

"I'll stay. You need at least one witness' signature for the information to count." He says and all the guards leave.

He hands me the papers, and I look at Jungkook. He seems pretty scared.

"Don't worry, okay?" I put my hand soothingly on his knee. "The sooner we sort everything out, the sooner I'll be able to send you home."

"What do you mean send him home? Namjoon will never allow that."

"Actually, he did. Maybe you should talk to your boss before you assume things about him. He's not a simple person."

"You act like you know him." He rolls his eyes.

"Are you saying I don't?"

"I am. You think you know him. But you said so yourself- he's not simple. He's got so many more angles to him then your little lover's routine. He's not perfect, Y/N."

"At least he's never lied to me." I snap at him, and he flinches like I've hurt him.

"Y/N-"

"Stop. Give me the questions. You're only here because I need your signature. Stand in the corner and say nothing." I order and he silently does as he's told.

"Okay, let's get started. Jungkook, I need you to run me through the details again. What were you doing in the forest..."

~~~~~~~~

After we both signed the paper and dropped it off to Namjoon, I brought Jungkook some food for the night.

He eats as I sit silently. I had grabbed myself food too, but the thought of eating was too unappetizing.

"Things seem rough between you and Taehyung."

"He was willing to hurt you to get what he wanted. He lied to me for months on months on months." I say. "I can't trust him."

"That's understandable." He sighs. "It seems like you have a lot of power around here."

"I'm second in command." I explain softly. "I do."

"So is that how you convinced the leader to let me live?"

"Yeah. I'm really glad I did."

"Did you have to do anything bad for it?"

I think for a moment. Was the kiss bad? No. I liked it- it couldn't have been.

"No. I just had to trade out a favour I had made for you."

"What favour?"

"I was going to visit home for a few days."

"What?" He grabs my arm. "Y/N, you should still go-"

"I don't really get to pick two, Kookie. I managed to bargain for your life, but I had to get rid of something in order to do so. It's okay. You can tell them everything on my behalf."

"Like you and Taehyung have more trust issues than you have problems?" He asks.

"That, and I'm eating and I'm being safe." I say.

"Are you eating?" He gestures to my full plate.

"Right now is different. I'm not hungry." I sigh. "And besides, if I hadn't eaten here, I would've been expected to eat with my team. Meaning sitting next to or near Tae."

"You have lost a lot of weight." He frowns.

"It's all the exercise I'm doing. We're constantly training."

"Training for what?"

"Field missions." I explain.

"But they're training you like a soldier-"

"It's okay. We have fun here too." I promise. "If I can convince the guards, I'll take you to the break room later."

"Miss Ivory." A guard poked his head in. "Namjoon has arranged for his transport and would like you to him to his office for some closing remarks."

"I understand. Come on Kookie." I say, making a pile with the dishes I'll have to collect later.

He stays right by my side, always inching closer when people walk past us in the halls.

We arrive at the office, and I knock on the door. "Namjoon, it's me. I've brought Jungkook."

"Good. Open the door." I push it open and gesture for Jungkook to sit when I pull my chair around to the front side of Namjoon's desk.

"Ivory, I need you to look after these for me." He hands me a stack of papers. "If you have any questions, V's been doing it since you left."

"Maybe I'll just figure it out on my own." I say softly and he gives me a questioning look before returning to Jungkook.

"I'm sure you know why you're here."

"You're sending me home."

"Well, yes and no. You've seen too much to be let go freely. The issue is that we simply need to ensure you don't speak of what you've seen."

He gulps uncomfortably. "And?"

"We'll give you a choice." He pulls two items out of his desk, both the size of a Tic Tac. One is a pill, the other is a small black piece of machinery.

He puts them out so Jungkook can see them.

"This is Bangtanorphlax. It will wipe your memory of everything up to this point. You'll still be able to remember things like your address and such, but anything you've learned about us- especially since we're so new to you- will be removed."

"I won't let him take it." I turn to Namjoon. "He'll take the second option."

"Y/N, shouldn't I be able to decide what happens to me?"

"Do you want to end up messed up like me? Trust me. I know memory loss, okay? And it's the worst thing."

"The other option is this." He gestures to the small black machinery. "We'll have you clip it behind your ear, and it will automatically sense when it's been removed. You're expected to have it on every single moment of everyday for the rest of your life."

"What does it do?"

"It allows us to listen in on all your conversations. We also have the option of a popout camera if we need to see what you're doing. We'll also have people in your area pop in every once in a while to ensure you're being good."

"Trust me, Kookie. You don't want the first option. It may seem better, but it changes you." I say. "Take the bug instead. Trust me."

"I do trust you." He says, but I see him eye the pill.

"Then take the bug." I say softly.

He sighs. "I'll do as she says."

"Y/N, please fasten it." He hands it to me and I pull his hair back gently.

"This will sting, okay?" I say gently. "It's like a piercing."

He sits still as I thread the chip across his ear. When he's done, I step back.

"I need you to understand that you can't say anything about us. No names, locations, anything. Okay?"

"I understand."

"In that case, Y/N. Walk him to the front gates." I nod, and gesture for him to stand with me.

We leave and walk through silence.

When we arrive at the entrance, I look at him. "Be safe, okay?"

"I should be saying that to you. You're always playing such a dangerous game and putting your life on the line."

"I can't help it."

"Everyone is worried out of their minds. I'm worried out of my mind. I'm scared of loosing you."

"That's as ridiculous as someone with a fear of heights trying to skydive. You can't have one without the other."

"It doesn't have to be this way, Y/N. Come home with me. Everyone misses you so much."

"I miss everyone too. But being here... I'm finally getting the answers I've been searching for."

"... I understand."

"You should go. Your family is probably worried." I say, gently pushing him to the door. "Tell everyone I love them and I'm safe."

~~~~~~~~~

I return to Namjoon's office, even though I wasn't asked to.

He tells me to enter when I knock, but when he sees it's me he looks at me in shock.

"Y/N? Shouldn't you be with Taehyung or something?"

"How busy are you?"

"What do you mean?" He gives me a confused look.

"I want to talk. Now. I want to understand everything."

"I'll explain everything I can. Essentially, you and I were dating. We were happy, but we got into a big fight over something at work. We both said things we shouldn't have, and it was enough to make you want to leave."

"That doesn't sound like me..." I murmured.

"It was bad." He promised. "The worst fight we ever had. You went with your heart- and I with my head."

"Thanks for telling me Namjoon. I understand. It's all in the past- I don't want the details. I think it's better to not dig up the past hurt."

"Good. Me too." He looks relieved.

"Okay, I should probably get to work on that paper work you gave me." I lean forward and kiss his nose since I feel a little more daring today.

He smiles at me. "Only on my nose? I'm a simple man, but I do enjoy some pampering."

"Well, that can wait until we're not in an office and surrounded by ten feet tall piles of paperwork." I say, winking and leaving.

~~~~~~~~~~
"I just don't understand why he could do that so willingly!"

"I don't either. But he has to have his reasons."

"It could be you or I or Woozi or GD or someone else! How could we ever live without them? And then... to make matters worse..."

"Don't think about CL right now, okay? She doesn't deserve your anger."

"I'm just hurt because I don't know how long she was going behind my back."

"I'm sure even if you knew how long, it'd still hurt. Besides, she probably just destroyed the one thing keeping this organization together."

~~~~~~~~

I wake up with a dry throat and a head ache. My dream... it seems almost real. Maybe it was, once upon a time.

I'm glad I have a single room, because I don't have to sneak past anyone to get into the hall of the dormitories.

I'm headed on my way to the cafeteria to pick up water from the vending machines when I see a light down the hallway. There's a single door open, with two voices speaking. Judging by where I am right now, it's probably Namjoon's office. I quietly sneak forwards to better hear what he's speaking about. As I grow closer, I identify that Namjoon is talking to Taehyung.

"-lying breeds failure in relationships."

"It's only one lie, V. Not even. I just excluded some parts of her story. That's all she needs to know."

"She should know everything. She has the right to-"

"V, when I want your opinion on my love life, I'll ask." His tone falls far more bitter. "You better not say anything to her otherwise."

"And if she asks me?"

"Edit the story so it fits mine. I know you'll make do."

"... yes sir. I'm just worried about her. Her trust is such a fragile thing, and we should be cautious as to not give her reason to dislike us."

"Which is why, as her best friend, the large majority of the lie falls on you."

"... I should get to bed. It's late."

"Please do so. Oh, and Taehyung?" I start to sneak off, but not fast enough. I still hear the end of their conversation.

"Namjoon?"

"Do ensure she's wearing her bracelet. It's important to me she remembers who's woman she is."