Red Velvet "Somethin' Kinda' Crazy", Ice Cream Cake, 2015

"Will you guys please stop arguing? I can't hear anything past your bickering!"

"I can't help it if all Jimin wants to do is dance!"

"And I can't help it if Yeri here has two left feet!"

Nari shook her head, frustrated at Yeri and Jimin's inability to work together without causing friction from the get-go. She could see them on the dance floor, struggling to keep up with one another as they moved across the space both gracefully and monstrously at the same time. The party-goer music had long since been switched out for more civil, classical music, and the couples flooded the dancefloor to show off just how well rehearsed they were. That didn't exclude Yeri and Jimin, or V and Irene from wearing their disguises on the dance floor. 

Irene and V were playing their parts expertly, the handsome pair drawing attention for their aesthetics and flawless dancing as opposed to the ruckus Yeri and Jimin were continuously causing. Nari just hoped her poisoning of Song Mino was enough for the Team's recklessness not to cause a disturbance. Otherwise, Nari would have to act quickly - alone. 

But her mind continuously trailed back to the guy at the bar. His bright, expressive eyes almost seemed to look into the darkest recesses of her soul - the very parts she buried after her betrayal in Japan. She couldn't work out what it was about the guy that stumped her, but she knew she couldn't allow her confidence to be knocked like that again. His gaze was certainly enough to make her palms sweat, and almost enough to make her forget the reason she was there. 

Shaking the treacherous thoughts out of her head, Nari's eyes stalked the hall for her next target. She'd spent long enough studying the members of WINNER to know that (hopefully) she'd have eliminated their Muscle, song Mino, leaving their intimidation factor questioned. Debating who her next target would be however, something else caught her attentions; Joy, looking angelic in her mint green gown, was romantically swaying across the dancefloor with a guy that Nari did not recognise. But she knew the stance of a street-criminal well enough to know that this guy was someone like them - whether or not he was with them was a different question entirely.

"Joy, have you caught sight of your target? Joy?" Nari groaned in frustration when Joy didn't answer, "Idiot's switched her mic off."

"What's wrong Nari?" Namjoon asked down the line. Remembering that his and Jungkook's eyes were on them from buildings across the street was more than a relief for Nari. At least they'd make up for the lack of view she had. 

"Who's that guy Joy's letting get in the way of the mission?" 

Namjoon sighed on the end of the other line, evidently scoping the hall to catch sight of Joy, "I can't see his face from here. Jungkook?"

"Neither Hyung, but Sunbae," Bangtan's 'Golden Maknae' sounded alert, how Nari wished her girls would be, "You've got company headed your way. Hide behind that pillar."

Nari didn't hesitate for a second in taking Jungkook's advice, and indeed, Nari heard a set of very firm footsteps echo from where she had stood. 

"Clear?"

"Affirmative."

"Thanks Jungkook, I won't forget that." Nari sighed in relief and changed positions, heading the opposite way the footsteps came from, "Who were they?"

"Solar and Moonbyul from Mamamoo. Minah and Hyeri from Girl's Day, accompanied by a couple of guy friends from the same family." Jungkook explained down the line.

"Mamamoo...weren't they under a different syndicate?"

Namjoo scoffed, "Until Loen took them over at least. They took over the syndicates that ran Girl's Day, Mamamoo, even History." 

"Damn, things really have changed then..."

"But," Jungkook sighed in anguish, "After the disappearance of IU, they had a split in their company. Other groups abandoned them. What they're doing now is anyone's guess."

Nari remembered growing up, thinking of IU as something of a legend that even her Unnie had respect for. To think that someone with her reputation had seemingly disappeared... Kinda' shows how toxic this business is...

"Uh, Nari-Sunbae?" Jin's voice sounded from down the line, "I've picked up on three guys-"

"Good to know about your conquests, Hyung," J-Hope teased down the line from the bar, Nari could hear Wendy giggle faintly.

"Will you shut up and listen to what I'm hearing?" Jin demanded, the urgency in his voice demanding everyone's full attention as the said conversation sounded through their line.

"'Why would someone try and kill him here?"

"'Why wouldn't they? It's a crowded place, too cramped to pin down a suspect. By the time the poison could've worked, the killer could've gotten away!"

"Exactly my thoughts, Hyung."

A pause.

"What do you say we do, Hanbin?"

"Don't take your eyes off of the Hyungs. Let our boys know, and as soon as you see someone getting close to the Hyungs - you know what to do."

"Any leads yet? The bar staff seemed okay?"

"I feel like I recognise some of them... But for now, I'm going to go follow my own leads - I've got a couple of ideas."

Nari shivered at the sound of His voice. The voice of the guy who startled her so badly earlier on, the guy with the broad shoulders and tall, strong frame an- and sharp jawline... Stop! Nari scolded herself mentally as the conversation Jin picked up on ceased. She was powerless to fight the goosebumps that appeared on her skin. 

"Unnie? Unnie?" Irene called Nari from down the line, snapping her out of the thoughts she'd apparently been stuck in for a while, "I know the guy Joy's with. BTOB's Sungjae. For now he's safe. He's with CUBE. They're allied with us."

"Last I heard they were also allied with every other goddamn syndicate in Seoul..." Nari grumbled under her breath as she took the final sip of her lemonade, the fizz hyping her for a fight, "Get Joy to end her fairy-tale - Cinderella's over. Let's get this show on the road. I'm closing in on one of them. I don't care how long it takes. One of our boys are going down tonight."

~