The sound of small fireworks reflect off of everything around her. They continue to explode, the sound ringing in her ears and the dirt off the ground hitting her ankles. There are loud shouts that are mixed in with this and more chaos erupts everywhere around her. Her eyes dart to the left and the right to look for an opening but she is unable to find an empty spot; she cannot maintain a steady line of vision. 

          “Daeun!” she hears the sound of her name being called out from what appears to be a long distance away.

          A familiar face sticks out within the crowd and she runs towards him. Her heart is beating out of her chest as her legs carry her faster towards him. With her arms over her head and to shield her face, she continues to run as another explosion rocks the vicinity.

          He waves his arm, urging her to come closer to him. The expression on his face is hard to read as she dashes forward blindly. She only knows that she must reach him before…

          “Dauen!” this time her name is screamed out loud and clear.

          She whirls and finds herself staring at the face of another man. He laughs menacingly at her before raising his weapon in the air.

          She feels herself being grabbed roughly at the arm right as the man fires the gun at where she had been standing moments before. Hoseok wildly grabs her along as the two of them run to where the rest of the members are standing. The man from before is enraged and he stands still to aim for them again when he suddenly collapses on the floor.

          His head has been twisted in an unnatural angle due to his fall and the large red gaping hole in his forehead is obvious for all to see.

          Daeun stumbles and falls to the floor, the sand causing skin to be peeled back as she braces herself. Hoseok roughly hauls her to her feet and the two of them start running again.

          They are two meters away from everybody else. They only need to take a few more steps.

          Dauen screams and cowers to the ground as a bullet grazes the back of her calf. It only lightly draws blood but she is shaking and she finds that she cannot get back up.

          Hoseok turns around when he finds that she is no longer behind him. Somebody in the group screams for Dauen to stand up. Or perhaps they scream for Hoseok to return. The words are unintelligible above the noise.

          Daeun looks up.

Two Hours Earlier…

          The car bumps along the road, throwing Daeun into Hoseok’s side. She glares at him out of reflex and finds that he has fallen asleep. She cannot help but sigh.

          As he was still battling the cold, or whatever sickness had gotten to him, Hoseok could not drive them to the meeting place. Instead, Seokjin is sitting behind the wheel and Namjoon beside him, the only one who knew how to read a physical map. To her left, Yoongi is staring out the window with earphones jammed to block out any other sound.

          "It gets me in the zone," was what he had told her.

          The three at the back are talking about a new game that Jungkook found the night before.

          All in all, a very casual evening out. That was until one was to open the trunk to find the stack of assorted weaponry.

          “Namjoon,” Daeun leans forward in her seat, careful not to disrupt the resting Hoseok, “Are you sure you want to be taking his role?”

          Namjoon turns and looks back at her. He smiles gently. Although he cannot physical reassure her, he does the next best thing. “Hoseok isn’t in any condition right now. He had a fever this morning when Jimin checked. I’ll be fine with Seokjin. We’ll Hong Jung Yee to meet up with Antonio Viktor. Daeun, everything will be fine.”

          Dauen settles back down in her seat but she cannot help feel the bundle of nerves in her stomach. At this meeting place, when Hong Jung Yee would seal the contract with Antonio Viktor, Ryukwan would also be there. And the NYPD as Hong Jung Yee would have arranged to arrest Ryukwan. It all seemed to work out in their minds, but if something were to go wrong… If somebody were to make a wrong move, then the situation would change drastically. Who would they trust then?

          She knows the answer.

          It would be every man for himself.

          She is jolted out of her thoughts when Hoseok stirs awake beside her. He rubs his eyes and pulls the cap off his head to run his fingers through his hair. His complexion is quite pale and he still coughs.

          “Are we there yet?” he mumbles, groggy from sleep.

          “Nearly,” she answers.

          “Hoseok-hyung, you look really ugly when you sleep. You’re drooling on the car door,” Taehyung quips from the back.

          Hoseok growls but he checks the car door in case. It is drool free.

          “You will all stay in the car when we arrive, alright? I don’t want you to take a single step until the meeting is finished. Even if all hell breaks loose, the two of you are to remain inside. We will have the situation contained,” Seokjin orders from the front.

          Daeun knows that he is talking to her. She could take care of herself perfectly fine, it was more about him that she was worried about. Looking back to her right, she has found that Hoseok has fallen asleep once again. A small hope exists as she watches him sleep. If he continued to remain asleep for the entire time, she would be able to keep him inside the car.

          The vehicle momentarily screeches to a stop. Yoongi steps out of the car with his large duffle bag as Taehyung and Jungkook follow closely behind.

          “Be careful,” Seokjin calls from the driver’s seat.

          Jungkook beams a smile. “Of course we’ll be! And don’t you worry. We’ll be watching your blindspots the entire time. We’ll see you at the rendezvous point soon!” He waves at them before joining the two other men who are already walking to their positions.

          Daeun couldn’t shake the feeling. Her stomach continues to turn. She is, however, glad to see that despite this stressful situation, Jungkook could still carry a happy attitude.

          Seokjin’s phone rings and he hands it to Daeun. She passes it back to Jimin who waits patiently behind her.

          “Hello?” Jimin answers. There is silence but after a few exchanged words, he snaps the phone shut. “He’s arrived,” Jimin relays the message.

          The car pulls into the large empty lot. One other single vehicle has been parked there and upon arrival, the back door swings open and Hong Jung Yee steps out.

          “Stay here,” Seokjin commands once again. He and Namjoon get out.

          Jimin squeezes his way from the back until he sits momentarily beside Daeun. There is a look of concern on his face when he looks over at Hoseok.

          Dauen places the back of her hand against Hoseok’s forehead and it is met with a rather alarming temperature. She shakes her head at Jimin.

          His usual cheerful face is contorted with a grimace. From his bag, he produces a small bottle of pills. “These are painkillers. Rather than a fever, Hoseok’s been complaining of chest pains lately. Give him one of these if he wakes up. It’ll also help him return to sleep,” he tells her.

          She nods, storing the bottle awake.

          “Good luck,” she whispers to him.

          Jimin purses his lips before reaching forward and enveloping her in a hug.

          “Hong Jung Yee,” Seokjin greets once he walks up to the other man.

          Hong Jung Yee is dressed in a black suit with a navy tie. He looks quite different from his usual attire as he has omitted the usual flamboyant getup and instead opted for a single shade. He watches as Seokjin extends a hand and he takes it firmly in his own.

          From behind, Namjoon walks up and stands beside Seokjin. His hand is on his hip and his jacket slightly flared, showing the handgun that is tucked to his side. Jimin slides up on the other side of Seokjin when he arrives.

          “Is that really necessary?” Hong Jung Yee asks, motioning towards Namjoon. Although he talks to Seokjin, his eyes never leave his son’s face.

          Namjoon stares ahead.

          Seokjin replies, “Precautions. Now, Mr. Hong. I believe the other party has arrived.”

          The small group, along with Daniel finishing up at the back, move towards the other end of the empty lot. Along the way, Seokjin asks, “Are your other… friends… here too?”

          Hong Jung Yee nods. “They are where they need to be. I hope you understand why I am unable to tell you their exact locations.”

          Seokjin grunts. “We are putting our trust in you fully right now.”

          “Ryukwan, then?” Hong Jung Yee asks in return.

          Seokjin takes a look at his watch. “The Boss said he would arrive in ten minutes. There was a bit of delay at the airport this morning.”

          To their west, the sun is dipping below the horizon and everything starts to dim.

          “Ryukwan’s presence is imperative in this mission. Without him, there is no purpose to any of this.”

          “I assure you. He says he will arrive.”

          Hong Jung Yee wrings his hands in front of him. They reach the middle of the lot and stand there without a word. The other party would also not be arriving until a few minutes later.

          It is in uncomfortable they stand until Hong Jung Yee clears his throat.

          “This will be over soon. Then, I promise… I’ll be able to come back to you,” he says.

          Namjoon can feel the flush creep up his cheeks. He plays it cool by not responding, and Jimin remains confused as to who Hong Jung Yee is addressing.

          “The signal will be my handshake,” Hong Jung Yee speaks again. This time, it is evident that he speaks to Seokjin. “Ryukwan must be by your side when that occurs. You need to lure him out so that he is present. After the handshake ends, my men will come out and make the arrest.”

          “You speak as if this is a movie that will play out according to your script. What if something goes wrong?”

          “You have your men watching over us, don’t you? Save yourselves. I will protect myself accordingly.”

          The appearance of a sleek black automobile breaks the conversation. It stops in front of them, and being unfamiliar, they all unconsciously hold in their breath in anticipation of who will step out.

          It is an aged man. He rises to full height and stands powerfully in front of them. Namjoon has neither seen Ryukwan or Antonio before so he waits until somebody starts to talk.

          “Antonio Viktor,” Hong Jung Yee gushes. He extends a hand towards the grim faced man.

          “Save the act, Hong,” Antonio Viktor’s voice is much deeper than imagined, “My son tells me we are going to be engaging in some type of business exchange today?”

          Hong Jung Yee takes a step back. The eyes he is looking into feel as ancient as the devil himself. “Robert did not join you?”

          Antonio sneers. “He is here. But this is between you and I at this moment,” he says slowly, “Do not waste my time.”

          Hong Jung Yee shakes his head. “I wouldn’t dare.”

          “Then tell me, am I correct in my understanding that there is to be a business exchange?”

          “Yes. I just – ”

          “You are not trying to deceive me, are you?”

          Hong Jung Yee clenches his jaw. He needed to stall for time. At least until he got a sign from Seokjin that Ryukwan had arrived. The other met Hong Jung Yee’s eyes calmly but made no other movement.

          “Again, I would not dare, Antonio. If that was the case, I would have brought many more men with me. This is but a simple meeting between two business men.”

          “You want to betray Ryukwan. That is the reason you’ve called me here today. What is it that you have to offer? What is it that makes it so appealing that will make me not want to walk away from here?”

          Jimin taps Seokjin’s shoulder and mouths, “Phone.” Seokjin nods as Jimin slips away to take the call.

          From her spot, she is unable to see what is happening. The group is but small rectangles in the distance. The only thing she can do is to monitor them and make sure that three of those rectangles do not suddenly disappear from her sight.

          Hoseok groans and he raises his head, coming out of his slumber again.

          “Are we there yet?” he asks. He brings a hand to his head and feels the warmth of it. He feels gross and sweaty in the confined space of the car.

          “No,” Daeun answers hastily. Hoseok could not have picked a worse time to wake up. The members had left but a few minutes ago. Somebody whom she guessed was Antonio had also recently arrived.

          Yawning, Hoseok turns to unbuckle his seatbelt but finds Daeun sitting on it.

          “Move,” he commands her.

          She looks down and sees him tugging at the buckle. She does not budge. “I can’t,” she whispers.

          His head spins as he sits straighter. He feels like he is about to throw up as well. There is no time to argue with her. With force, he pushes her away and throws away the belt. She grabs him and makes him sit back down.

          “You can’t get out, Hoseok,” she says, “Seokjin told us to remain here.”

          “So that means we’ve arrived then?” he turns to regard her.

          She twitches, having been caught in her lie.

          “Why are we stuck in here then? We should be outside, helping them. Who knows what that snake will do to Seokjin and the others?”

          “Hoseok,” she pleads.

          He does not listen. His hands are on the handle again.

          She throws herself on top of him so that he is pinned beneath her. She rotates her head so she can fully look at him. His face is flushed and she feels the heat from his body through her shirt.

          “Hoseok, you can’t get out. You’re sick right now. You’re running a fever and who knows what else. We won’t be of help anyways. Let’s just wait here until they’re back.”

          “What about The Boss?” he asks.

          “He said he’ll be here. That’s all Hong Jung Yee ever wanted, wasn’t it? To arrest Ryukwan and then to return to his family.”

          Hoseok is silent. She believes that he’s accepted her argument until he wiggles from beneath her.

          “No,” he says, “He is not going to show. Nobody has ever seen his face before besides us. He is not going to make an appearance just because one of us has asked us so. Hong Jung Yee will be played.”

          Daeun shifts from her position. “What do you mean,” she asks, “How do you know that?”

          Hoseok does not answer her. He tries to push her off of him again but the pain in his chest contracts and he lets out a pained groan. “We have to get Seokjin away from him. They can’t be caught in this.”

          Hoseok grips his chest and leans back on the chair. The grimace on his face grows and he squeezes his eyes shut.

          Daeun realizes that he is not trying to pull some act on her. She gets off of him and grabs the pills that Jimin had left for her. She tips one out onto her hand and shoves it towards him.

          He knocks her hand away and the pill falls to the floor of the vehicle. Despite his breath being laboured, he quickly unbuckles himself and unlocks the door. “Get them away…” he is repeating this to himself.

          Daeun reaches out towards him again but she is too slow this time. He takes one step out of the car.

          Seokjin had been idly listening to Hong Jung Yee cover the terms of the exchange when he hears the gun shot loud and clear. He spins and the gun appears on his hand faster than anybody else.

          Jimin is a flash of black. He and Namjoon are plastered to his side, their weapons drawn as well. Men that were not there before had suddenly also appeared by Antonio’s side. Daniel stands beside Hong Jung Yee, eyes alert and scanning the surroundings.

          “Hoseok!” Daeun screams when she sees him go down.

          She rushes out of the car and to his side.

          One of his feet had touched the ground when a nasty vice in his chest caused his body to collapse against the door of the car. There is a gash on his cheek from where a bullet had grazed him.

          For too long, he remains unmoving against the car door. She is too scared to reach forward to check for his pulse. She did not want to confirm anything.

          She releases a breath she does not know she is holding when he speaks. “I’m fine,” he wheezes. The colour that had been there before in the heat of the car is once again gone. “My pocket,” he gestures towards her.

          She digs around in his jacket until her fingers grip around an object. She takes it out.

          Seokjin turns when he hears a scream. He immediately faces the direction of where the car has been parked. He sees one body collapsed against the door as Daeun tumbles out. He forgets that he is supposed to be protecting Hong Jung Yee at this point and runs towards the vehicle.

          “Seokjin!” Namjoon shouts.

          Hoseok has been shot. He doesn’t know by whom but he needs to get there. Seokjin sprints across the lot towards his friend. He watches as the collapsed heap on the ground stands up and holds the gun in the air. He slows down, baffled at what is happening before him.

          Antonio had one hand in the air, signalling his men not to move. His son had asked to be trusted. This is what he promised.

          Revenge.

          Robert told his father that he wanted to be dropped off near where Hong Jung Yee was parked. There was somebody in this party that Robert wanted to kill. As a father, he could not say no to that. His son was old enough to make decisions for himself.

          He had watched as Robert sneaked out of the vehicle to position himself behind the bushes, sniper rifle in hand. Then, he had left with the remaining men in the car and drove around to the other end of the lot where he knew Hong Jung Yee would be waiting.

          When the first shot rang out, he had watched a person fall once they got out of the car. As requested, his men had come running out to protect him. If he was going to be playing this game, he needed to completely act the part as well.

          What he had not anticipated, however, was that the man would return from the dead. He saw what he believed to be a corpse stand and aim the gun in the direction of the bushes. Rather than seeing the trigger being pulled, he heard the sound echo in the sky as a second bullet was aimed.

          Robert cursed himself. He had been watching the car and had thought that only Daeun remained inside. He had discounted that BTS was no longer six members but seven. So when the other man stepped out, he could not retract his actions fast enough for he had already pulled the trigger.

          Well there ended an innocent man’s life. He refilled his barrel once he saw Daeun leave the car to run to the man’s side.

          There she was. If she could not break under his torture, she would at least have the honour of having her life ended by him.

          Robert repositioned the rifle on his shoulder and stared through the crosshairs. He blinks to confirm what he sees - or the absense of it. His eyes are greeted by the empty ground, dust swirling where a body had lain just seconds before. 

          Robert looked up in time to see the dead standing.

          “Robert!” Antonio roars. There is no retaliating fire from within the bushes and so he assumes the worse.

          His son is dead.

          Enraged, he picks up a revolver from the closest body guard and aims it at the direction of the man who had pulled the shot.

          “Don’t you shoot,” he hears somebody say. There is the sound of shuffling near his ear.

          Hong Jung Yee aims his own gun at Antonio’s face while the twenty something guards aim at it back at him. Jimin and Namjoon are caught in between and they stand with their backs in the direction of where Seokjin had run. They did not know who to aim their own pistols towards, but at least they could stop it from turning towards Seokjin.

          Within Hong Jung Yee’s ear, the receiver buzzes and he hears his own concealed men ask, "Do we have a go?"

          “Don’t shoot,” Hong Jung Yee repeats. He does so not only to answer the question but to also warn Antonio.

          "Hong, your words have never meant anything to me," Antonio sniggers with drunken rage, "Especially not after your murder of my son."

          His finger retracts and the bullet explodes. 

          If only Daeun had grabbed Hoseok's arm to prevent him from firing in Robert's direction again; if only Seokjin had not decided to pause and draw his own gun. They would have watched the bullet harmlessly hit the ground; Hoseok would have gotten away with Daeun and Seokjin would not have fallen down.

          The bullet pierces Seokjin’s back and he falls to his knees.

          Everything erupts at that moment.

          The revolver in Antonio’s hand explodes into pieces as the bullet from Jungkook’s sniper destroys it. The sound of the consecutive shot masks Hong Jung Yee’s second order to not shoot and the NYPD rush out from their hiding spots. Antonio’s men start to fire blindly as one of them shields Antonio after blood gushes down his hand. Jimin and Namjoon start running towards Seokjin.

          Blood continues to pool from beneath Robert behind the bushes.

          Discarding the gun, Hoseok rushes forwards to Seokjin when he sees him fall. Daeun runs after him and is successful midway until the rain of bullets commence.

          From everywhere, men that had been waiting have now emerged. While each are loyal to their own team, their orders are the same: shoot if you see a moving body. Nobody knows who is friend or foe any longer and they all shoot, hoping only not to have killed a familiar face in the chaos.

          The sound of small fireworks reflect off of everything around her. They continue to explode, the sound ringing in her ears and the dirt off the ground hitting her ankles. There are loud shouts that are mixed in with this and more chaos is everywhere around her. Her eyes dart to the left and the right to look for an opening but she is unable to find an empty spot; she cannot maintain a steady line of vision.

          “Daeun!” she faintly hears the sound of her name being called out.

          She whirls back towards the car, despite having started to run after Hoseok and towards Seokjin.

          A familiar face sticks out within the crowd and she runs towards him. Her heart is beating out of her chest as her legs carry her faster towards him. With her arms over her head and to shield her face, she continues to run as another explosion rocks the vicinity.

          He waves his arm, urging her to come closer to him. The expression on his face is hard to read as she runs blindly. She only knows that she must reach him before…

          “Dauen!” this time her name is screamed out loud and clear.

          She whirls and finds herself staring at the face of another man. He laughs menacingly at her before raising his weapon in the air.

          She feels herself being grabbed roughly at the arm right as the man fires the gun at where she had been standing moments before. Hoseok wildly grabs her along as the two of them run to where the rest of the members are standing. He is hobbling but the strength she feels as he grips her wrist tells the opposite story.

          The man from before is enraged and he stands still to aim for them again when he suddenly collapses on the floor.

          His head has been twisted in an unnatural angle due to his fall and the large red gaping hole in his forehead is obvious for all to see.

          Daeun stumbles and falls to the floor, the sand causing skin to be peeled back as she braces herself. Hoseok roughly hauls her to her feet and the two of them start running again.

          The car is ahead of them. At some point, Yoongi had come down from his station with Taehyung to reach the car. He sits at the driver’s seat and Taehyung is in the passenger seat. Jungkook is perched at the roof, his sniper offering what little protection he could give.  

          “Seokjin!” she screams the name that echoes loudly in all of their heads. Hurling around, she is looking at the figure of Seokjin who has miraculously managed to stand. He holds his weapon before him, back turned towards all of them and aiming blindly at the enemy before him. 

          They are two meters away from everybody else. They only need to take a few more steps.

          Dauen screams and cowers to the ground as a bullet grazes the back of her calf. It only lightly draws blood but she is shaking and she finds that she cannot get back up.

          Hoseok turns around when he finds that she is no longer behind him. Somebody in the group screams for Dauen to stand up. Or perhaps they scream for Hoseok to return. The words are unintelligible above the noise.

          Daeun looks up when a dark shadow towers above her.

          She is grabbed once again by the arm as Jimin hauls her to his feet. In front of him, Hoseok is also waiting with an outstretched arm.

          “Rendezvous!” they hear Seokjin yells above the explosions, “Redezvous!”

          “Hyung!” his name is screamed, “Hyung get in the car!”

          Daeun spins wildly to look at Seokjin who no longer is trying to get up. Instead, his head has been turned away, looking into the distance where the rest of the fight is.

          She is pulled into the car and the engine revs.

          Seokjin swings around back to them; fear the only thing in his eyes.

          His mouth opens and a single word is said.