Jeongin was running around to each member, trying to fit miniscule mic transmitters into each of the member’s ears. This would allow them to hear and talk to each other no matter where they were as long as it was in their ear and the battery didn’t run out. It would also let them control how much of their conversation they would allow each other to hear; some were private conversations that they would tell each other later on their own accord, not through the transmitter through their ears. It was controlled by a quick tap on their ear.

Each member was suiting up according to their own style, some sticking to a slicker all black outfit and adding harnesses, while others added white or gray aspects and added metal chains. It was a more silent process than usual, and it was because Hyunjin seemed to be more affected by his nerves than usual. 

None of them enjoyed attending the ball. The Royal Court had erased Hyunjin’s past and replaced it with a seemingly perfect history of an ordinary vampire. Still, it was impossible to fake an entire life and so there were small mistakes, and many patterns that resembled, no were exactly the same as previous vampires that died long centuries ago. Skilled and tenacious hackers would be able to find these small mistakes and if they spent enough time digging, they would find that Hyunjin’s identity was indeed fake. 

With the note saying that he was in danger and that YG, one of the largest and most notorious assassin companies out there knowing his identity, sending out “one that keeps balance” after him, he was on his wits ends.

The rest of Stray Kids were strapped up with extra weaponry, Changbin making sure that they were all comfortable with the weapons they had. He had gone out with the leader and stacked up on small weapons that could easily be concealed the night Hyunjin got the note, which wasn’t much time. 

“Hyung, who do you think the one who keeps balance is?” Jeongin questioned, strapping Bangchan with the mic. He and Jisung were going over the blueprint of the entire place and surrounding buildings, making sure that they would be able to brief the rest of the group in case anything happens. 

It was the one part that kept them stumped. They couldn’t figure out why whoever wrote the note couldn’t just tell them outright instead of just saying it in a riddle. It was silent while Jeongin finished putting on Bangchan’s mic when Felix’s eyes widened.

“Jade. He’s sending Jade.” He spoke with his Australian accent as it dawned on him. He knew about Jade, hell everyone knew about Jade. She had a near, if not perfect, kill rate. If they were after Hyunjin… The entire room tensed up at the silent. 

“Test the mics.” Jeongin nudged Bang Chan, trying to get his leader to do something so the rest of the group would follow and end this silence that seemed to acknowledge the end of one of their clan mates.

After a successful mic test, they grabbed their respective masks and went out into their car to drive to where the royal ball was.

Jade was already at the ball, standing on the top of the staircase that overlooked the entrance and most of the main areas. She stayed attentive, watching as the groups filed in. Her eyebrows furrowed in further when she realized that she was unable to recognize any of the masks that she had seen in the briefing that YG had sent her.

Her suspicions that everything was a fluke mask was confirmed when the doors to the ball closed, signaling that all the guests had arrived. Realizing that she was already in a situation that put her at a disadvantage, she took out her phone to send YG a quick text.

From: Jade

To: YG

Fluke masks. None of them match up.

It was still easy to see which one of the vampires were higher ups, and she would have to test the waters to see who were royals. The King and the Crown Prince were obvious to spot; they were cocky enough to carry themself and release the auras they had. They exuded the power only royals could hold, letting all the vampires know who they were. Behind the mask, Jade smirked. Now, she had to find Hyunjin, Yeji, and the Queen. She knew that YG had probably sent another to “help” her on the mission and keep an eye on her. It was a mission that she couldn’t screw up on, especially because she had to eliminate 5 royals.

From: YG

To: Jade

Sent Bobby as backup.

Jade cursed under her breath. He was brutal and would shoot without a second thought. She would have to either ‘kill’ Hyunjin, the Queen, and Yeji before he got to them or get rid of Bobby first.

The music started to play and she knew it was tradition to have a few dances before the food came out. She would stick out like a sore thumb if she stood at the top of the stairwell, especially since she didn’t want to release her aura tonight to show her status for her to be able to stand around. Making her way down the stairwell to blend in with the crowd, she immersed herself with the other vampires, scanning the room to see if she could spot anyone else. 

She bumped into someone that was carrying around drinks for the vampires to take champagnes, and having to act natural, she took one. Realizing that she had a smaller view if she was downstairs but wasn’t able to stand on top of the stairwell, she realized that it would be better if she was on the outskirts so she could observe who the guards were looking at. 

She soon realized that there were a lot more guards than what there should have been on a normal basis. They all seemed to focus on two people, one that was an older woman, who Jade assumed to be the Queen and another younger vampire that she assumed to be Yeji. 

Just to her luck, she saw the younger vampire talking behind the shadows where it was hard to see with another younger vampire, who seemed familiar to Jade. She could see short, blonde hair when he turned his head, and she hoped that it was Hyunjin. Making her way over to someone that was near him who was holding an empty tray to return the champagne, she scanned the area nearby for his other 7 clan mates. To her relief, she saw the other 7 in the near vicinity. 

It was easy to identify Changbin with his muscular build standing with Lee Know and Jeongin, making sure to protect the youngest in case anything happened. She would say that the rest of the members weren’t too bad at acting that things weren’t going too wrong but Jeongin’s glances and his eyes that flickered left and right was a dead giveaway that he was nervous. She realized that Hyunjin got the note and shared it with the rest of his clan. 

That gave her a small sense of relief, knowing that they were prepared for the chaos that would happen momentarily. She scanned each one of them quickly and realized that they were hiding weapons throughout their body. It would be hard to escape tonight completely unscratched, especially with the guards that seem to be extra enforced throughout the area. 

Knowing that the 8 would be safe, she moved away only for the host to walk into the spotlight. He announced that they would soon be starting to eat, meaning that Jade would be able to start.

“Fancy seeing you here, Jade.” A low growl came from her right, a hand sliding around her waist. She had seen him coming and so it was no surprise. However, him wrapping a hand around her waist was a surprise, and an unpleasant one at that too.

“Hello Bobby. I couldn’t say the same for you.” Jade sighed. She didn’t want him to hurt anyone that didn’t need to be hurt. 

“I’m going after the big man tonight.” Bobby sent her a big smile, creating Jade to cringe away. She had enough of his gestures. She knew he was tired of her being YG’s favorite. In fact, him wanting to take out the King was in her favor; it would buy her time to drug up the others.

  Bobby took his leave, and she began getting the poisonous vials ready. Before she would approach the Yeji, Hyunjin, and the Queen, she would take out the Crown Prince first. It would be a little hard to approach him without having food to accompany her.

She sat down at her respective table when she realized that the royals were dispersed through the crowd. However, it was easy to spot which plate was going to which royal. Smirking, she approached the waiter that held what she assumed to be the Crown Prince’s tray. Slipping him a bar of gold, she winked at him and he slid over the tray to her. 

Inconspicuously, she opened and emptied out its contents into his food. It was easy to do, especially since no one was paying attention to her but rather the food in front of them. Serving the Crown Prince with her head bowed down, she served him and left, trying to seem as unnoticeable as possible. 

“What’s a pretty lady like you doing serving my food?” The Crown Prince let his hands wander around her back and pull her close. Jade frowned. This was not in her plan. 

“Wanted to make a good impression on my Crown Prince.” Jade replied, batting her eyelashes and waiting for the opportunity to escape.

He nodded with satisfaction and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Come visit me tonight.” His fingers went to her lower back, where Jade had a bundle of nerves that were sensitive. It took all of her will to not gasp when he glided his fingers across it, trying to elicit a response from her. 

“Will your doors be open for me?” She leaned closer towards him, knowing this would only end once he allowed her to leave. He smirked and slightly tapped Jade’s as her cue to leave. Slightly bowing, Jade left the table. 

She realized that a lot of eyes were on her, especially since it was painfully obvious who the Crown Prince was. 

She looked around, trying to locate Bobby. She knew locating him would bring her closer to either Stray Kids or the King, most likely the latter.

It wasn’t too hard looking for him when she was trained to pick up on his movements and was familiar with him. However, she panicked when she saw his gun already out and trained on someone. Checking to see if anyone was really paying attention, she ran at an inhuman speed towards Bobby. 

“Are you ing insane?” She drawled out, hitting the gun upwards so his gun wouldn’t be trained on a target. She had checked his trajectory angle and it was obvious that it wasn’t aimed at the King; instead, it was aimed at a younger male vampire. 

“Are you insane? Why would you stop me from carrying out the mission?” Bobby replied, irritated that Jade got in the way. She didn’t have an excuse. 

“I thought you were after the King.” Jade bantered back, knowing it was a weak excuse. Bobby raised his eyebrow behind the mask. 

“Yea. And now I’m after him.” He repositioned his gun on Hyunjin when Jade blurted out a bet.

“Bet I can take the King faster than you can.” Bobby froze. Jade never did bets like these. And Bobby wasn’t going to back down from a chance like this. A chance to prove that he was better than Jade when she was offering him a chance to do so. 

“Bet.” He took his gun off of the railing he had positioned it on and slipped back into the shadows, finding a different place to get the King. It was a bad bet, but it was the only bet that would give Hyunjin a little more time. 

The only way to keep Hyunjin, Yeji, and the Queen safe was to create chaos and risk herself. She didn’t know why she was willing to go this far for Hyunjin. He wasn’t even the one that saved her life; it was Bang Chan and Jeongin that had a direct say in saving her. 

She refocused on the task at hand. She had to keep track of Bobby’s movements so she could time herself right. Tracking him, she saw a glint of a gun aim at the King and a bullet being fired. At the last moment, the King swerved. Bobby missed.

By the time the guards were reacting, she knew that they would’ve missed his escape route. Running after him and the trail she knew he would take, she found him crouching and holding up his gun. 

“Lost the bet. But I won’t lose Hyunjin.” Bobby placed his finger on the trigger when Jade registered his words. He was going after Hyunjin. She tackled him, first throwing the gun to a place he couldn’t reach. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Bobby struggled, thrown off by Jade’s sudden attack. She knew she would only have a few seconds before the guards would find them fighting due to their sounds. Trying to end it quickly, she tried to hit his pressure points and knock him out. Hearing the rapidly approaching footsteps, she took out a smaller knife and slashed open his torso. The blood he had consumed oozed out steadily, and the stench of blood led the guards over to their way faster, and Bobby looked up in horror. 

“It’s poison.” Jade murmured, pushing him towards where she heard them coming from. He wouldn’t be able to escape them because he would be left immobile for at least 10 minutes. Running off quietly, she went to see if the rest of the ball was in chaos. In surprise, she realized that the atmosphere was lax again, and that most of them were finished with the food and sipping on blood.

Soon, the music began to flow. The vampires began to walk out to the dance floor. Jade eyed the second floor balcony. It was impossible to track Hyunjin once the ball actually started due to the constant moving of partners and decided that going up the second floor balcony would be her best bet. It would be a gamble though, especially since she knew the security would be increased after the stunt with Bobby.

Still, it was her best bet since she was sure that YG would have her called in to talk to after the chaos tonight.

Sticking to the dark shadows, she stepped up the stairs, trying to be as normal as possible. 

“What are you doing there?” Jade cursed under her breath. She had just turned into a hallway when a guard spotted her. Trying to evade the guard, she walked faster and turned into another hallway. Jade had a few more of the hallways memorized and knew if she took another right into the upcoming hallway, she would have a much better chance in getting rid of the guard that was on her trail because she would be in another section of the royal building.

Taking the right, she heard the guard bypass her. Giving it around a minute, Jade took back to the main hallways. She was walking to the balcony where she could see better when a whole group of guards began running to her.

“Ma’am I’m going to need you to stop right there!” Jade’s eyes widened. She identified the guards that had been there when they took down Bobby and knew they would soon identify her as well. If she got caught here, she would be unable to complete any more missions tonight and she didn’t know what consequences would await her back at YG if she was unable to carry out the missions. 

Turning her back, she began speeding up through the hallways. She was easily able to put distance between herself and the guards as they were clambering through the hallways while trying to not alert the crowd.

However, after a certain point, she could tell that they had guards coming from the other direction and knew it would be less than a minute before she would be taken over by all sides. She was running through a smaller hallway when a door suddenly opened and an arm reached out to drag her in.

It was pitch dark and although it took around 5 seconds for Jade’s eyes to adjust, she was able to identify who had saved her before she could take in who it was. It was the familiar scent of crisp apples and cinnamon and another smell that only came from one person she knew- Hyunjin.

Hyunjin was done with the royal ball. Even though Stray Kids attended every year, he was hyper aware of everything that was happening. It was hard to miss the two vampires that were coming in and out of the shadows.

“He has a gun.” The mic crackled in all of their ears, and Seungmin’s soft voice carried through. They knew who he was referring to. 

“Who’s it trained on?” Han asked, unable to turn around because they were eating at the table. Bang Chan, Jeongin, and Felix continued to have a normal conversation to make sure that no one could hear in clarity the more quiet conversation that was going on. They were still listening on into the words that the mic was delivering.

“...Hyunjin. It’s trained on Hyunjin.” Changbin said quietly. Felix and Jeongin froze, leaving the conversation they were having with Bang Chan hanging. Before the silence could continue, Han and Changbin began to talk, looking at Bang Chan to see what he could do. Hyunjin wanted to move, but doing so would alert the shooter that he knew of his presence. Bang Chan stood up and moved, shielding Hyunjin with his body.

“What are you doing?” Hyunjin asked, confused on why the leader was blocking the shot with his own body.

“Hyung, do you have a vest on?” Lee Know asked, wondering if Bang Chan knew what he was getting into. Bang Chan instead pointed to the glass of blood on the table and tried to ask for Hyunjin’s, trying to make the movements natural enough so the shooter wouldn’t wonder why the leader was making himself as a shield.

“No.” Bang Chan answered Lee Know with a tight smile. 

“Someone just attacked the shooter.” Seungmin updated the clan, his eyes trained on the balcony where he could see a silhouette of a dress fighting the shooter.

“I think she just ran off.” Changbin added, confused on why someone would’ve saved Hyunjin and made a potential ruckus. 

Bang Chan returned to his seat after a few more seconds once they confirmed that the guards carried out the shooter who seemed to be immobile after his fight with the unknown lady. 

It was only after the music started and people began to mingle that Hyunjin felt safe enough again to wander off on his own.

“I’ll keep you guys updated.” Hyunjin tapped his ear, signaling that his mic would be in there and that he would be safe. Knowing that Hyunjin would wander off anyways, Bang Chan nodded.

Hyunjin was on the second floor hallways when he slipped into a smaller hallway. It was one that he visited often when he was a young kid and used it for hide and seek with Yeji. He opened a door to a storage room that was smaller than what he remembered it to be when he heard footsteps running. He could tell that it was guards after a female vampire from the heels clacking. 

It could only be one vampire running from guards at this ball, and it would have to be whoever attacked the person who tried to shoot a bullet at him. He opened the door and grabbed her arm to yank her inside the small storage closet.

He forgot how small the storage closet was until she was squished there right next to him. Their knees were touching and in order to keep his balance his hands were balanced on the wall behind her on each side of her waist. He opened his mouth to talk when a scent wafted in, a scent that he knew too well.

It was a smell of peaches and roses. There was only one person that smelled like peaches and roses. 

“Jinah?” Hyunjin removed his hand from the wall and went to raise the mask off of her. 

“Wait… But peaches and roses… That’s what it smelled like after the vampire left me the notes. Was that you?” Hyunjin whispered in confusion, trying to fit the puzzle pieces together.

Jinah, on the other hand, was scanning the small storage room for cameras or mics or recording devices. She was then trying to look at Hyunjin to see if he had known or had any pretense about it.

“Jade. Right now, I’m Jade.”