Next Day~

I woke up early and made the guy’s breakfast. It took me a while to find everything though so I decided to make French toast. I let the bread slices soak in the egg and cinnamon bath for a while before I started making it.

I hummed softly to myself. I didn’t get to cook very much because I was always busy even though I could make some good food even though I say so myself. “Mhmm, smells good.” And I jumped a little. I cursed myself for letting my guard down. I never did that.

I turned around to see Hoya. “Good Morning.” I smiled and he moved next to me at the stove to see the French toast “Good morning to you too. Thank you for making us breakfast.” He smiled.

“It’s nothing. You guys must’ve worked really hard. I had no idea when you guys came back.” I said.

“Yeah, it was pretty late. And we didn’t want to wake you.” He said. “You guys are really great, you know.” I said bumping him with my hip. The jolt reminded me of my bruises and Hoya’s face became uncomfortable for just a split second telling me he wasn’t as unaffected as he said yesterday.

It was a little nice to know that I could take him on if need be. Not that it wasn't difficult. He really gave me a run for my money.

I snipped off a bit of the French toast with my spatula and held it out for him to taste. I didn’t know what I expecting. Him to take it with his fingers. He leaned in and took it off my fingers with his mouth. His lips lightly brushing the tip of my index finger.

“Omo, this is good without being too sweet.” He smiled. But my mind was reeling in my sudden emotions at an alarming rate. I swallowed and smiled. “Thank you. My little sister loves them too.” I laughed softly.

Hoya helped me sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the French toast after I was done and we ate together while waiting for the others to wake up.

“Where are you from?” I asked. “Busan.” He said. I laughed softly. “So do you still have your Busan accent sometimes?” I asked.

“Only when I get mad and forget to speak in Seoul dialect.” He admitted chewing thoughtfully.

“I like Busan accents.” I smiled and the tips of his ears got a bit pink. “Well I don’t want to get angry at you.” He said and I just nodded.

Our heart to heart was cut short when Sunggyu woke up. He came out rubbing his eyes. “Oh, you made breakfast? Smells really good.”

“Ne.” I smiled and one by one the guys started to get up and grab food. “You should stay and keep cooking for us.” Sungjong said. “Is this an official invitation of employment?” I laughed and he nodded smiling.

“Kids, we have a few more stages until our goodbye stage. We can’t slack off. We need to go practice today. Eunji…are you alright on your own?” Sunggyu asked. “Ne. Oppa. I’ll just go buy groceries and make you guys dinner.” I smiled and everyone cheered. “Meat?” Sungyeol asked. “I’ll buy some if you guys want.” I said and they all nodded. “Alright. Now go get ready. Good luck with practicing. I’m going to go out too.”

“Oh here’s the code for our door.” Woohyun handed me a piece of paper. “Just don’t let any crazy girls get it.”

I laughed. “I’ll sell it.” and they looked horrified. “Just kidding.” I winked. “Gaja!” I waved at them and collected the dishes to wash.

In a few minutes they were all dressed in sweats and comfortable clothes before saying bye to me as they left. Finished the dishes, I went to my duffel bag and got out my phone. I set a device on my phone so it couldn’t be tapped or tracked. “Melina? You can come pick me up.” I said.

“Okay. Be there in fifteen.” She replied and we got off the phone.

I waited for her a few blocks away from the dorm again and when I got into the car, I went into the back seat to change into my usual clothes.

“I can never get used to wearing skirts and blouses.” I grumbled pulling on my white tank top and black jeans.

“You really should be more lady like.” Melina laughed. “I will eat loudly if I want to.” I announced climbing back into the front seat and fastening my seat belt. “So debrief me. Who did Infinite target yesterday?”

“It was a race. Which one could get to the drug lord first. Shadow had Ethan and his partner go for it but Infinite got there a step ahead. He’s getting heat for it now.” I nodded. “Well it’s a botched job on our part after all.”

“What did you do yesterday?” Melina asked. “I heard from Ethan that he thinks he saw you sneak into the hotel.”

“I wanted to see what they were up to, but I had to leave quickly after I accidently got into a fight with Hoya.”

“Did you get injured?” she asked. “No, not really. My body can always take a beating.” I said crossing my arms. “Well I wish I could let you have a gun on you. But it would be a dead giveaway. You okay with your small knife?” she asked and I nodded. I hid it in the secret slip inside my boots.

“No one knows it’s there except you.” I said and she nodded. “Is there any order from Shadow to act on Infinite yet?” I asked.

“No. He’s actually impressed that they did the job so well after you kind of messed up they organization.” I nodded. “But it could all change in an instant if he finds they too big of a threat. Then you will need to take them out.” Melina said and I sighed.

“Something wrong? You aren’t growing fond of them are you?” she asked. I blinked at her. “No, of course not.” I replied. “Minji. It’s not that I haven’t noticed that they are good looking and just about your age. But you understand emotions and feelings can never be put first. They are always last. Every time…its in our job description.” She said seriously. “I know, Mels. I know what my job is.” And she dropped it.

We went back to the apartment and she went over with me a few recent missions that happened while I was detained with Infinite and I got to train for a bit in our practice room before I showered and had Melina drop me off at the nearby supermarket to get groceries.

She patted my shoulder before she left me and I walked back to the guy’s dorm with things in hand.

When I was nearing the building, I became aware of someone hiding in the shadow of the alley. I hands clenched into fists and I wanted to take whoever was trying to sneak up on me down, but then it occurred to me that this could be a trap. Maybe Infinite didn’t trust me as much as it seemed and they were waiting for me to show my true identity.

I pretended like nothing was wrong and walked past the alley. Like I expected someone grabbed me by locking their arm around my neck and dragged me into the alley. My body was tense getting ready to kill, if this wasn’t a test but a few points I noticed was the nice watch on the wrist that grabbed me. Normal street thugs didn’t have watches like that. Second, the shoes were too clean. I couldn’t see the faces clear but I only knew there were two, a male and a female. They didn’t talk so I would recognize their voices.

Smart on their part.

I just braced myself for the beating I was about to get. With the males arm still locked around my neck, I struggled to make it seem like I was seriously worried.

“Please don’t hurt me.” I said my voice a soft whimper and then the pain exploded in my stomach when the woman punched me there. She must’ve been wearing a ring too.

In a minute, she had punched me repeatedly in my mid section and the man kneed my thigh from behind and made me fall forward. I curled up in a defensive position as I got a harsh kick to the ribs. I let out a gasp of pain and I wasn’t faking it.

After another minute they seemed satisfied that I would not return any blows and I heard them run off.  I groaned in pain more for them than for me. I was usually quiet when it came to getting hurt.

It took me a second to assess my injuries. Everything hurt like a . I coughed and fire flared in my ribcage. They were probably really bruised.

They had taken my small bag but it didn’t have anything in it besides some money so it was dispensable to me.

I used the wall of the alley to help myself get up. I favored my left leg because my right leg was the one he kneed and kicked.

I wiped the blood from my split lip and sighed. I hope that was enough to get whoever was backing Infinite to trust that I was harmless.

I got back to the Infinite dorm and when I made it in, my head started spinning. “She must’ve punched me harder in the head than I thought.” I muttered before collapsing with the things in the doorway, as darkness swallowed me.