CHAPTER THIRTEEN

3 Hours After Finding the Note

Vietnam

The note from the case crumpled in Zico’s fist felt very similar to Mai’s note when he had crumpled that in an angry fist.  Zico had screwed up that mission terribly.  Everything had turned out alright in the end and they had gotten back to Korea with the prize, but that was with no help from Zico. 

Mai’s note had contained only a location in Tran’s basement jail and information about the second night guard.  But Mai couldn’t be found anywhere.  Instead, Zico had learned that his crew had gone on with the mission without him – thinking something had happened to him.  They had planned to get the prize, get Zico and get out, but it had been a trap.  They had been caught and imprisoned instead.  Not only had Mai saved Zico from imprisonment, but she had given him the information he needed to get his friends out of PD Trans clutches, too. 

Zico had been hesitant to trust Mai, but in the end, he had had no choice but to rely on her info.  It was only because of her that he had been able to get the prize and s out of Vietnam alive.  And not even his crew knew the truth of what had happened.  They had assumed that Zico had gotten new information and was forced to let them be captured so he could get to the prize.  They thought Zico had figured it all out before.  They had no idea that Mai had helped. 

It had been a risk to come here again, but Zico had needed to face his own doubts about his ability to lead Block B.  If they weren’t able to get out of this with the prize, he would never be able to face Boss again.  He would never be able to face his team again. 

But he pushed all his doubts aside as sunset approached.  And as the sun sank below the horizon, Zico, his team at his back, stepped into the abandoned bar by the docks.  They were armed with guns, a plan, and a heartfelt desire to get out of there with their prize. 

The bar was dark and empty as they entered warily.  In the dim lighting, they could make out tables and chairs that had been pushed to the sides and the bar counter straight ahead.  Zico stopped in the middle of the cleared space and spread his arms out wide. 

The room was still.

Zico whistled into the silence.  “Anybody home?”

“You boys took long enough to get here,” a female voice answered.  The lights above the bar flashed on, revealing a familiar woman in a red dress sitting on the right side of the bar.  It was the woman Jaehyo had been with earlier.  Before the boys could say anything, another voice sounded.

“You didn’t get lost did you?” This female voice was accompanied by the smack of chewing gum. 

The lights on the left side of the room flicked on to reveal Taeil’s shop assistant sitting on the only righted table, her legs swinging.  A smaller woman (she looked more like a girl) sat in a chair beside her.  U-Kwon’s eyes widened.  It was the same girl that had helped him earlier. 

“We were starting to wonder if you had chickened out and gone home.” This female voice came from the right.  The rest of the room’s lights came on to reveal two women sitting at tables to the right.  One wore a blue dress to match her blue eyes – it was Tien, the woman Zico had caught B-Bomb with earlier.  The other woman was dressed in the same white dress she had been wearing when she had smothered Zico’s hands with flower scented lotion – Mimi. 

Zico wasn’t sure what he had been expecting when he walked into the bar, but a room full of females wasn’t it.  “What the hell is going on?” He asked the room at large.  “Where’s my briefcase?”

“No worries, Jiho,” a new female voice from behind the bar said.  “Your precious diamonds are right here.”  A woman wearing a thigh length purple dress and a lilac in her hair stepped from the shadows in the back of the bar.  She circled around to place the briefcase in her hand on the bar then took a seat at a bar stool in front of the guys. 

Zico stood there, face emotionless.

When he continued to say nothing, Jaehyo spoke up.  “What is going on?” He repeated Zico’s question, once again to the room at large, but he looked at the girl he had been with earlier. 

“I must apologize,” the woman in the purple dress spoke.  “It was rude of me to have my girls follow you around, but we had to make sure that you boys knew what you were doing.  I don’t trust strangers.”

Zico smirked.  “I wouldn’t exactly call us strangers, Mai.”  Suddenly all eyes in the room were on them.

Mai didn’t reply.  “I offer a fair trade,” she said instead.  “I give you back your diamonds for a favor.”

“What favor?” Zico asked, but he had no intention of doing anything for her.

“Take the seven of us back to Korea with you.”

“Whoa, wait a second,” Jaehyo objected.

“No way is that possible,” P.O added. 

“We’re going to have enough trouble smuggling us out,” Taeil reminded Zico.  “No way we can afford to take seven more.  Not to mention smuggling them into Korea.”

“No worries,” Mai said.  “Hana here already has all the paper work in place for us to leave.” Taeil’s assistant waved as Mai mentioned her name, still chewing that gum.  “We had plans to leave, but they fell through.  We need to be out this evening or the seven of us are dead.”

“She keeps saying seven, but I only count six of them,” Kyung murmured loud enough for only his fellow crew members to hear. 

“What the hell makes you think I’ll take all of you back with me?  What stops me from taking the diamonds back from you right now?”  Zico asked.

It was Mai’s turn to smirk.  “Our seventh member,” She answered.

At a noise behind them, the crew turned to see a figure drop from the ceiling rafters.  She straightened and flipped her long blonde hair back.  “What’s up guys, long time no see.”

The crew had never seen her with blonde hair before, but they recognized this girl anyways.  Youngil was a long time friend of Kyung and Zico’s and had grown up with them as children of The Block.  As Kyung and the other members went to greet her (it had been years since they’d last seen her), Zico resigned himself to the fact that he was now in charge of getting an additional seven people safely back to Korea. 

He turned back to Mai.  “How long have you worked for The Block?” He asked her.  That was the only explanation if Youngil was involved. 

“I don’t work for The Block, Jiho, it hasn’t existed for 3 years,” She said.  “My loyalty is to Kang Minho.” Boss.  “The deal was, I complete a long term job for him and I get free passage to Korea.  Anyone who helps me gets the same.”

 “Was it necessary to steal my diamonds?”

Mai shrugged.  “That depends.  Are you going to take us with you to Korea?”

“Of course we are.  Youngil is one of us.  We protect our own.  If the rest of you are her crew, we’ll protect you too.”

Mai looked at him for a moment in silence.  They stood toe to toe.

“Can I have my diamonds back now?”  Zico asked holding out a hand.

Still looking into his eyes, Mai placed the case in his outstretched palm.  “You’ve changed.” She whispered.

“We all change,” Zico whispered back, thinking back to what Boss had told him long ago.  “If we meet the right people.”

Zico turned away and placed the case on a nearby bar stool.  He opened all three latches and quickly verified that the diamonds were still there.  “Are all of you packed and ready to head out?”  Zico asked Mai.

“We packed light,” Mai answered.  “Anything we’re taking with us is in the back.”

Zico whistled to get the rooms attention.  “Ladies, grab your things,” He said.  “I want to get out of this country as fast as we can.”

And so they headed home.  The Block B crew had come to Vietnam for a pair of priceless diamonds and a case stacked with cash.  They were returning not only with the prizes, but with a whole new set of tools to add to the Block B arsenal: seven female members.

“I guess Block B really will be taking it to the next level,” P.O murmured to his friend as he watched the ladies board the boat.

“Are you sure it’s not down a level?”

Nillili Mambo.

THE END

Author Note:  OMG I can't believe I actually wrote all of it!  What did you think of it?  Did you like the story?  I would love to hear from all readers! 

Wish me luck in the contest! (Deadline is Jan. 1st 2013)

Question: What did you think of the flashbacks?  They weren't part of the MV, but I felt the need to explain the "Wanted" posters and why they would return to Vietnam.  Do you think the flashbacks add to the story or do you think the story would be better without them?  (I'll most likely just leave them in, but I'm curious to hear reader's opinions.)

I'm thinking of writing a spin-off about what the ladies were up to while the boys were running around on this job.  Would you be interested in reading that?  =)  If you are, check out the Epilogue!

Again, THANK YOU FOR READING!