F(x), "Paper Heart (종이 심장)", Red Light (2014)

“Remind me why we have to put up with this brat?”

“Yah!” Lee Hi slapped Junhoe around the head for his remark, “I’m older than you, not to mention the one who’s been monitoring all of this political activity since the attack!”

“Great job you’ve done there…” Bobby muttered under his breath as he pushed the janitor’s cart along the near-deserted office corridors, with Junhoe and Lee Hi trudging by his sides as they carried their mops and buckets. Bobby’s fake moustache was beginning to scratch on his lip. He wanted so badly to take it off, but he figured he could be worse with Junhoe’s fake-bulging stomach.

For the past three hours under their guise as middle-aged janitors, the trio had been endlessly cleaning the building block, prying their ears and listening out for any sign of the missing district attorney – the district attorney who was living off of YG payroll. The very attorney that protected their activities and groups had been taken hostage, and to satisfy their foremost priorities, iKON was forced to abandon their current resistance and accompany Lee Hi. If they didn’t – well, Bobby didn’t want to think what this small girl would do to all of them if they’d rejected her.

Could you get anything worse?

“We’ve been here for so long!” Junhoe complained, dragging his damp mop the floor, leaving water-marks across the hallway. Bobby stopped the cart and quickly propped up a ‘Wet Floor!’ sign, just for the sake of aesthetic. But Junhoe was indifferent to the detail, and his boredom was evident from his pout, “Isn’t it about time we found her by now?!”

“Bobby-Oppa,” Bobby shuddered at the hint of adoration in Lee Hi’s voice, “If you don’t shut your whining teammate up soon, believe me – I will.”

Bobby groaned as he slowed the cart down at the end of the corridor, “If the two of you don’t stop complaining, I’m going to stuff you down that garbage chute there.” He pointed to the said object threateningly.

Stepping into their target control-room, Bobby flipped his cleaner’s cap on forwards as the three of them filed out into separate sections of the room, doing what cleaners do best – get in the way. Office workers grumbled and groaned at the three of them as they arrogantly switched on the hoovers, threw away half-empty beverages and even sprayed down desks that were being used.

Bobby shared a knowing look with Yunhyeong, disguised as a diligent office worker, typing away at random documents without drawing attention to himself. Hanbin was also disguised as a worker in order to monitor the situation carefully; Bobby deliberately threw his best friend’s coffee cup away, just to annoy him. But that’s when he found their initial target.

There he is.

His balding hair and worry lines were the tell-tale signs of the stress the man had suffered – but even more subtle was the slight nervous twitch he had in his eye. Bobby assumed it was result of the corruption of the Criminal Underworld he was involved in. Weak hearts always reacted that way. Discreetly stalking his target across the room, Bobby waited for the perfect moment to swoop in. The man was looking rather worn out as he copied up notes onto the computer; Bobby wondered how on earth he was the type to organise the kidnapping of corrupt politicians, but he also rated him for covering up his true identity well. On his desk, glinted the silver USB they’d been searching for. The silver USB that would show them and give them access to the attorney’s location in the building.

Even the most harmless things can be pretty dangerous.

For some reason, Bobby thought of Nari.

He shivered once more, his ribs and shoulder suddenly hurting from the recent wounds was still recovering from. Bobby couldn’t decide whether or not he was prepared to forgive Nari for her actions that night. By lying to him and going ahead and chasing down her own targets, she’d endangered all of them. Bobby almost died that night – if she didn’t drag him out of the car at least…

He couldn’t deny being uncomfortable around her at the moment; she’d lied to his face and thrown his trust back at him when she needed it most. How could he put his faith someone like that? Someone who’d sneak around without being honest with the rest of the team? Not to mention she’d gone behind their back and brought WINNER in on the case – that annoyed Bobby, purely because it got him punched and called’ traitor’ by the guy he’d looked up to for so long.

Stop thinking about her. She’s not here now. This is your time.

But just Bobby resurfaced from his thoughts and prepared to swipe the USB they’d spent so long searching for, Lee Hi swooped in and claimed his prize. The target barely noticed her and the way she’d expertly swiped his USB from his own desk. Bobby glared at Lee Hi as she swung the USB around her finger from the keyring, whistling innocently as she continued hoovering.

Hanbin sent Bobby the look.

Neutralise him.

Bobby succeeded in getting him angry, at least.

“Pabo!” the man roared as Bobby ‘accidentally’ spilled his own drink over him, his eyes bulging from their sockets. Chanting numerous apologies, the man shoved Bobby out of the way before storming to the toilets. Bobby didn’t hesitate in following him out, discreetly.

It was then and there as the man began to wipe the coffee stains from his shirt, that Chanwoo emerged from the toilet. Giving a confused look between the two teenagers closing in on him with devilish smirks on their faces, within minutes, the man ended up tucked inside the cleaning cart, unconscious.

The boys, concealed in a cleaning cupboard, stepped back and admired their handiwork,

“Nicely done,” Bobby brushed his palms together, pretending to shake dirt off of them, “I didn’t think the healer had it in him to do this sort of thing.”

Chanwoo glared at his Hyung, “You forget I was a street brawler before I learned how to fix people,”

“And you both clearly forget that we’ve got a job to be doing,” Lee Hi stormed inside the closet, sending disapproving looks to both boys before leading them back to the control room, “Hanbin’s managed to decode that USB drive, but-“

“Wait,” Bobby held a hand up melodramatically, “Hanbin has done something technological?”

Lee Hi nodded. Chanwoo and Bobby looked at each other for a moment, clueless, before bursting out into laughter. Their leader was organised and charismatic as they came, but technology was Kim Hanbin’s biggest enemy – the fact that he’d managed such a feat was difficult for the boys to comprehend. Bobby guessed it was the absence of Hyerin after the accident that prompted this from Hanbin. Bobby shivered as thoughts about Song Nari crept into his mind.

Chanwoo looked at him concernedly as he ceased laughing, sending his Hyung a knowing look. But Lee Hi didn’t care about their sudden silence. They’d already sinned in her eyes. After slapping the two around the back of their heads, she scolded them again before storming back towards the office.

Chanwoo groaned, “I sure hope we’re not stuck with her for much longer,”

Sighing, Bobby scratched the back of his head, “I’ll probably end up killing her myself if it wasn’t for the fact we needed her.”

And Bobby was correct. Only Lee Hi had the experience needed to decipher the mapping revealed from the USB drive; she expertly talked the boys through the workings of the building as Yunhyeong, Hanbin, Bobby, and Chanwoo crammed around the computer whilst Junhoe guarded the door, armed with his trusty mop. After what seemed like hours of endless rambling and complaining, Lee Hi finally reached a conclusion to her monologue, identifying exactly where their precious politician was guarded.

“We’ll need access to this double-access door in order to reach the high-security compound at the top of the building,” Lee Hi pointed to the red fleshing light that pulsated on the screen, appearing in the middle of the building compound, on the very top floor.

“Right,” Bobby scoffed, “And I suppose this will be an easy job where janitors always routinely clean that level?”

Lee Hi groaned at Bobby’s sarcasm, but ignored him anyway, “Two options; the smart way would be to get through their vulnerable ventilation system; the loud way would be to take out the guards, and activate the retinal and fingerprint scanner-“

“We’ll take the loud way,” Bobby decided. Lee Hi looked at him as if he hadn’t discovered fire yet.

“Are you crazy?”

“I don’t think that’s a question we really need answering…” Junhoe scoffed as he peered outside of the door for any unsuspecting office workers.

Bobby just shrugged, “I guess we could do with some light-hearted entertainment,”

“Yeah,” Lee Hi scoffed, “I can see you guys are the happiest of bunnies right now,”

Hanbin looked at her tensely, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean. You boys have been so sulky for the past few weeks. Bobby found himself in an arm sling and the rest of haven't doing your jobs to a good standard. What happened?”

Bobby couldn’t help but feel concern for his best friend. Hanbin had blamed himself for not being able to protect Hyerin in the car crash, and it really didn’t help that Nari had whisked the severely-injured girl back to her family in Jeju. Bobby had no idea about the way Hanbin felt towards Hyerin, let alone the existence of his heart. But still, Bobby could tell he was hung up about it, and Lee Hi was treading on eggshells at this point.

Bobby gulped, unsure of what to say – but luckily, Junhoe’s quick tongue prevented Hanbin from putting a bullet in the girl’s head.

“What happened is that our squad’s car got stolen, and to be honest, we’re having an identity crisis and we all need to just calm down!”

The group looked at Junhoe incredulously. But Bobby didn’t complain, Junhoe’s makeshift diva-strop was the very thing that stopped Lee Hi discovering their activities from the past few months.

Lee Hi narrowed her eyes at the boys in suspicion, “If I found out that you boys have been-“

“Will you hurry up and explain how we’re going to get in that freaking cell?” Bobby groaned.

The boys snickered as Lee Hi rolled her eyes and looked at the screen obediently. The tension between the two was undeniable, and the boys knew very well about Lee Hi’s crush on Bobby – but he wasn’t having any of it. He sent a warning look to his brothers.

“Simply wheel the elevators up to the floor, stage a routine, and potentially get gunned down by twelve guards. Simple.”

“Are you deranged?” Bobby asked, “Or was that supposed to be some light-hearted joke?”

Lee Hi rolled her eyes, “What do you think?”

“Will you two stop flirting and get a move on?” Yunhyeong moaned as he stormed off to join Junhoe by the door.

Bobby couldn’t help but blush as he realised the truth behind Yunhyeong’s complaint. Lee Hi seemed to notice this too.

You know that girl is crushing on you.

Bobby shook Nari’s voice out of his head and focused on the task at hand.

“What did you do with our friend, then?” Hanbin smirked at Chanwoo and Bobby.

The boys shared a mischievous look, “He’s currently indisposed,” Chanwoo shrugged, “I can acquire his access pass, however,”

“We’ll need more than that,” Lee Hi sighed as she pulled her gun out of her jacket, “We’re going to need his eyes and hands.”

“Not that that doesn’t sound the slightest bit sadistic.”

~

The ride up the elevator was more awkward than m