BTS (방탄소년단) – "OUTRO : HOUSE OF CARDS",  

[EP] 화양연화 The Most Beautiful Moment In Life pt.2 (2016)

“Remind me never to let you YG kids throw a party in my apartment again?”

“Don’t complain, you loved it!” Chanwoo joked as he playfully shoved Nari’s shoulder – she pushed him backwards onto the sofa, making him flip onto the floor.

“How could she have enjoyed it if she didn’t even drink?” Donghyuk teased Nari, his tone and manner a lot less hostile towards her.

Nari shrugged, hiding her true unease over the issue of alcohol, “Watching all of you go out of your minds was entertaining,”

“Two parties in two weeks,” Seulgi lamented as she stared up at the ceiling from one of the sofas, “Aren’t we the social butterflies in town?”

“Well,” B.I. sighed as he entered the room, “Fun and Game time is over. We best be off. We’re meeting TS in an hour.”

Nari shifted weight on her other foot, her nerves getting the better of her again, “Can I really not go with you?”

“Since when were you someone to ask for permission, Unnie?” Wendy asked as she shared a bowl of popcorn with Junhoe.

“You know what I mean,”

“Sorry Noona- I mean, Sunbae,” Chanwoo sighed, sadness evident on his face, “We can’t risk another injury for you. Your bruised ribs would prevent you from running, let alone fighting or holding a gun properly.”

Nari didn’t like having to stay behind one bit. She hated not being involved on the action, let alone not knowing the enemy. She couldn’t bear the thought of not standing beside the others against TS – even if it just was negotiations.

“You could place me up in the buildings, sniper-“

“We’ve enlisted Bangtan for than,” Irene said, “They’ve agreed to keep this alliance secret, and I’m sure they wouldn’t want to risk your health either, Unnie.”

Nari slumped on the sofa, her ribs stinging from how hardly she’d sat down. It was just another kick in the teeth, more evidence for her poor state.

“Nari,” Bobby said from the door way. Her eyes found him, as if an automatic reaction to the sound of his voice, “You’re in a bad enough shape already without getting hurt even more tonight. I- we don’t want you getting hurt again. Once is enough, for all of us.”

Nari hated the sincerity in Bobby’s words. She hated the fact that over the last month or so in his company, his company was growing on her in ways she wished it didn’t. Not just him, but she considered all the iKON boys her friends – her team. The term as still a foreign concept, but she’d promised herself and Bobby that she’d start working that way from now on.

Not that he was sober enough to remember anything else he’d said to me.

Nari shivered at the memory of her drunken exchange with Bobby, and preceded to help the other prepare for the negotiation.

“Talk me through the plan,” She asked the two leaders.

“We’re set to meet BAP and Sonamoo, as well as their leaders who actually run the syndicate. We’ll tell them that our benefactors will soon become aware of the alliance if the negotiations are unsuccessful, and that they will be hunted down easily.” Hanbin explained.

“So that covers any counter-argument they’ll try to use?” Nari asked. He nodded, “And what bargaining will you try to use?”

“We’ll give them the same option as Teen Top. Get out of the city peacefully, with a donation to help start themselves up independently elsewhere.” Said Irene.

“Or,” Hanbin interjected, “We’ll give them the offer of annexing their group. They can go into hiding at either of our safe locations and we’ll gain control over them, whilst they can continue running things their way.”

“And if things turn sour?”

“Bangtan will shoot them down before they have a hope of getting away.”

Nari grinned as a spark of hope reappeared. For the first time in a while, she was feeling good about the direction their ‘investigation’ was headed in. The exact identity of their enemy may have remained a blur, but nevertheless, they could eliminate one of the biggest threats in less than an hour.

One less enemy to deal with.

“Well…” Nari said, fiddling with her hands to hide her discomfort, “I guess you all know what’s going on. You won’t be needing me after all.”

Everyone looked at her, hiding their chagrin as she made her way into her bedroom. She fought her hardest to wear a look that didn’t show how mad she really was. Nari had no desire to hold her friends back any longer. She would let them do this one things without her.

She found herself on her bed, cleaning her gun out for the nth time this evening – anything to distract herself. What she didn’t expect was a visit from the some of the boys. Yunhyeong, Chanwoo and Donghyuk flooded into her room with nervous awkwardness.

“Noon- I mean, Nari-sshi?” Yunhyeong asked her earnestly as he nervously perched on the edge of her bed. She looked up at the boys, clicking her gun back into place before setting it down.

“Shouldn’t you be going soon?” Nari asked, putting on her least-unapproachable face. The boys’ nerves told her she’d failed at appearing easy-going.

“Are you sure you’re oaky staying here?”

Nari nodded, “I don’t have any other choice. I’m sure I could stay and have some chill-time for once.”

“Well,” Donghyuk smiled devilishly as he pulled a grocery bag from behind him, “We went to the corner store and got you something.”

Nari gingerly emptied the bag he’d given her out onto the bed; Japanese anime, Western movies, popcorn, Ramyun and a great, big bottle of Soju. Nari shivered at the sight of the alcohol but grinned at the other items nonetheless.

“Whose ID did you use to get this, then?” Nari smirked as she held up the Soju (her hand shaky) and the R-Rated movies in the other.

The boys shifted uncomfortably, “We chose them!” Chanwoo started, nervous, “B-But”

“But what?”

“Seulgi-sshi told us which flavour Ramyun you liked best, so we made her buy everything!”

“That little…” Nari grumbled ruefully, shaking her head as she admired to the film titles, “Well, I’ll have a nice night in thanks to you boys.”

Their nerves disappeared in the instant of Nari’s kindness. A warm smile appeared on her face as the boys began showering her with compliments, thanks and wishes that she’d join them. They were like the little brothers she’d never asked for, Nari thought. Weirdly enough, they reminded her of the last Hoobae boy group she helped trained.

But I guess EXO will never be the same now…

“Yah!” Jinhwan poked his head into the room, “Hurry up and get going! You’re always the last ready!”

“We’re just saying goodbye!” Yunhyeong reasoned with his Hyung.

But Jinhwan wasn’t having any of it, “Well, you’re going to let Nari rest and help me carry this gun case and camera set to the car.”

“Why should I?”

“Because if we don’t get a camera set up on the hood of our car, then you’ll have Hyerin to deal with.”

And with that, Yunhyeong didn’t hesitate for a second in obeying his Hyung’s request. Nari smirked at the fear Hyerin evoked in the boys, but more so at Jinhwan’s obvious crush on the girl. She wasn’t surprised seeing as they both grew up in Jeju and left a young ages – they naturally clicked. But Hyerin was about oblivious about his evident crush as a sloth was about poor eating habits. If there was something strange about the way Jinhwan looked at her, she sure as hell didn’t notice it.

“You’ll take care of your Hyungs, right?” Nari asked as she held onto Chanwoo’s hand. The boy had truly become her own Dongsaeng, and the thought of him holding a gun in action terrified her. He was so tall, handsome and stern-looking, yet probably had the softest heart of the boys.

Chanwoo nodded, “Of course, we pretty much know they can’t take care of themselves,”

“Be good,” Nari smiled as she ruffled his hair playfully, before he got up to get out of the room, “And Dongsaeng?”

“Yeah?”

“Bring them all back in one piece?”

Chanwoo smiled, “Of course, Noona.”

Nari didn’t even bother complaining when he called her that.

That left Donghyuk, and when the door was firmly shut, the other members out of earshot, she asked, “You’re okay, right?”

Nari and Donghyuk had since become close confidants; Donghyuk had drunkenly confronted her last week, as well as putting Nari in an awkward position with certain things he’d said. Nevertheless, she’d kept her promise of trying to have a greater sense of teamwork, so she’d opened up to Donghyuk the same way she did with Bobby to an extent. In return, Donghyuk stopped being so bratty around her and behaved like a good Dongsaeng.

Her mind quickly went back to the events from the other night,

“Yah! Put some Jay-Z on! I wanna’ see how well Bobby can rap in English!”

“No one wants to hear him!”

“I wanna’ see if the rumours are true!” The shouts of the Red Velvet and iKON members had flown around the apartment, their drunken haze evident by their slurring voices and rowdiness. Nari had rolled her eyes as she sipped on her fizzy water from the edge of the room, mindful of objects being broken.

The guys and girls were dotted about the room, Wendy and Yunhyeong pressuring Junhoe to down shots in the kitchen, Bobby and Hanbin tinkering with the music, Jinhwan and Hyerin sprawled on the sofa as he lazily laid a had around her shoulder as she chattered inaudibly, Donghyuk sat having deep conversation with a very drunken Chanwoo on the table, whilst and Irene and Seulgi were practicing dance routines in the corner.

So far, the boys had somehow managed to start a dance party up on the TV after Hyerin managed to wire up her gaming station to it. But Nari had never wanted to see hip-ing again in her life – no matter how good the kids were at dancing.

She’d laughed ruefully as Bobby began to rap Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life”, but soon became amazed by his excellent fluency in English. Ever since she’d met him, she’d pictured a weedy, narrow-eyed boy walking through New York speaking terrible Konglish.

I guess people always prove you wrong.

She had been caught up in his rap that she’d failed to notice Chanwoo sprinting for the bathroom, face venturing on green as he had a hand pressed over his mouth in nausea. Half an hour and several warm towels later, and Chanwoo had been put to bed in the guest room – joint effort of Nari and Donghyuk.

Nari and Donghyuk had sat at the edge of the room for a short while, backs against the wall as their legs had stretched out before them in their uncomfortable silence. If Donghyuk had been drunk, then he hadn’t shown it.

Nari had looked over at him as he sipped from his red cup, “You don’t like me, don’t you Donghyuk?”

The boy had blown raspberries wi