The first time Yoongi sees her is on a glossy 8 X 11 sheet of paper.

    “Lina Nguyen,” a tall, imposing man tells him. He throws down several more pictures of her, walking down the street, talking on the phone, sitting in class. Yoongi is struck by how chilling this is- this girl is must be going about her day right now, living her life, completely unaware that strange men would be poring over her face miles away.

    She’s cute. Large, wide eyes, round cheeks, lips perpetually curved up into a shy smile. She is always surrounded by friends, no matter where she is.

    What could we want with her?, Yoongi wonders.

    “13 years old,” the man says. “Attends Brookhaven Middle School. Daughter of Jenna Nguyen.”

    Yoongi’s jaw drops. He gapes at the pictures in front of him. “The Jenna Nguyen? So that means-,”

    “She’s the heir to the Seven Stars,” the man finishes. “We need a file from the Seven Stars, but- as you know- they keep their most confidential information offline. Your job is to retrieve that file using her.”

    Yoongi furrows his eyebrows. “What? How?”

    “Get close to her. Gain her trust. Use her to access the Seven Stars’ information. Her home alone is a treasure trove of invaluable information.”

    “But how am I supposed to do that? Won’t she immediately become suspicious of any new people who try to get close to her? And she could be able to figure out I’m from the 4 Flames like that.” Yoongi snaps his fingers to underscore his point.

    The man leans across the table, a sly grin on his face.

    “You know what the interesting thing about Lina Nguyen is?” he smirks.

    “What?” Yoongi asks warily.

    “She doesn’t know anything about the gang world. Or what her parents do. Or who she truly is.”

    Yoongi’s eyes widen.

    “Hey, man!” Namjoon thumps Yoongi on the back and he almost topples to the floor.

    “Namjoon, why do you hit so hard?” Yoongi whines, rubbing his back.

    “It’s not my fault you’re weak as crap!”

    Yoongi pouts, and Namjoon cackles. He has just gotten braces, and his reaction is completely opposite to that of a normal teenager: he loves them. In fact, he constantly teases Yoongi for not needing braces.

“Aw, wittle Yoongie,” he says in a falsetto, pinching his cheeks. “So cute... so delicate.”

    “Oh, stop,” Yoongi huffs, laughing despite himself. “What do you want?”

    “I have a surprise!”

    “Did you finally learn how to read?”

    “No! I mean, I already know how to read, but that’s not the surprise.”

    “What is it, then?”

    Namjoon looks around surreptitiously, and leans in.

    “Word on the street is that we’re about to get our first mission.”

    Yoongi gasps. He claps his hands over his mouth.

    “No way!” he exclaims.

    “It’s not 100% confirmed yet, but I’ve been hearing whispers! And Harris even hinted at it, and- I think it’s really going to happen! And guess who’s going to be on our team?”

    “Who?”

    “Me, you, Hoseok, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jin!”

    “Whoa! Dude! That’s the whole squad right there!”

    “I know!” Namjoon pumps his fists in the air. “I’m so excited! We’re going to be the most badass people the 4 Flames has ever seen-,”

    Suddenly, his face drops. Yoongi tilts his head.

    “Oh,” he says slowly. “I forgot. Apparently... Jungkook’s going to be on our team, too.”

    Yoongi blinks.

    “No way,” he whispers.

    Namjoon nods. “Yeah....”

    Yoongi is happy, yes, but more bewildered than anything. The 6 of them have not seen Jungkook in ages. He has been running solo missions for years already. Why would he be on their team?

    “Again, it’s not all confirmed,” Namjoon says. “I mean... if Jungkook’s on our team, I’ll be happy, but... it’s just surprising, I guess. Anyway, what were you doing in the main office?”

    There is an awkward silence. Yoongi is about to bring up his strange new task regarding the Seven Stars heir- but then he remembers he was instructed to keep it completely confidential.

    “I was asking if I could call my parents,” Yoongi says in a half-convincing voice, and it is enough for Namjoon to nod without really giving it a second thought.

    Dammit, Yoongi hates tuxedos.

    It is his first time wearing one, and he has realized that he truly did not appreciate the previous 14 years of his existence before this moment, when he didn’t have to wear this binding contraption. He pulls at his tie once more, causing Jin to elbow him in the side hard.

    “It’s going to come out if you keep doing that, dude,” he whispers.

    “That’s a good thing,” Yoongi mutters.

    “This Christmas Ball is the fanciest thing I’ve ever been to in my life,” Jimin utters, shaking his head. “I can’t believe this is our first time coming to this thing... if I’d known that there would be this much food...,”

    “Forget food,” Taehyung snorts. He is eyeing a tall, svelte woman- who is probably twice his age- across the room. “Let’s pick up some chicks.”

    “I don’t think they’re into kids who look like they’re 10 years old,” someone says behind them, and the boys turn.

    “Jungkook!” Yoongi exclaims, and launches himself at his friend.

    “Yoo, dude! It’s been years!” Jin shouts, wrapping Jungkook into a hug. “Literally years! How’ve you been?”

    Jungkook smiles wearily. “I’ve been... well.”

    Yoongi bites his lip. Jungkook looks anything but well. His face is thin, ragged, tired. There are dark circles under his eyes. Although Yoongi can feel the new muscle that has developed in his body, Jungkook still seems so... exhausted.

    “Hey, have you heard the news?” Hoseok says. “You’re going to be on the same team as us!”

    “I know,” Jungkook says. “I’m pretty excited. I’ll finally get to see you guys more often.”

    While they are talking, Yoongi scans the room for a certain petite, young girl.

    Lina Nguyen, he thinks, his stomach churning with anticipation and nervousness. Where are you?

“What are you looking for?” Namjoon asks.

“Nothing,” Yoongi responds distractedly.

And then he sees her.

She is walking across the hall, clothed in a fluffy pink dress. She is shaking the hand of a woman, laughing sheepishly, as her parents look down at her in adoration. Her eyes flit around the room rather nervously.

Their gazes meet.

It feels like Yoongi’s breath has been snatched away.

“She’s so pretty,” he breathes.

“What? Who?” Taehyung looks in Yoongi’s direction. “Oh, her? Eh, yeah. She’s cute, I guess. Not my type, though.”

“I... I’m going to go talk to her,” Yoongi stammers, and his friends gasp collectively.

“Whoaaa!” Jin hoots, shaking Yoongi’s shoulders. “Yoongi’s becoming a man! Oh, shoot!”

“Go get em, Yoongi!” Hoseok cheers. “Go! Go! Go!”

“Get off of me!” Yoongi protests, slapping his friends away. He looks back at Lina Nguyen. She is staring at him. When they make eye contact again, she quickly looks away, her cheeks redder than a tomato.

This is just for your mission, Yoongi tells himself, anxiously stumbling across the dance floor. Yeah. Be serious, Yoongi. Be suave.

“Um.... hi,” he squeaks, holding out his hand. “Um... do you, uh... want to dance?”

Lina’s face grows even brighter.

“Yeah, okay,” she smiles, and her voice is as soft and sweet as cotton candy and Yoongi swears he is about to melt.

By the end of the night, he gets her number.

By the end of the week, they’re dating.

Yoongi tells her that he goes to school a town over. He tells her that his parents are attorneys who work with her parents. He does not say anything else about the truth.

She believes every word.

Yoongi makes a list of all the things he likes about Lina.

Whenever she laughs, she covers with her hand.

She has long, beautiful black hair that always smells like coconut shampoo. She loves playing with it, running her fingers through it, tucking it behind her ear.

She turns bright red when she’s laughing, when she’s embarrassed, when she’s angry.

When they went to the amusement park, she held his hand when he started hyperventilating on the Drop of Terror. And didn’t make fun of him for it.

Every time they go to the movies, she falls asleep on his shoulder.

She is the kindest person he has ever met. One time, when they were getting lunch in the city, she saw a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk. She spent her allowance treating him to lunch, and she invited him to come sit with her and Yoongi. The man said she was an angel. Yoongi agreed.

Although she is sad about her parents never being home, she never speaks ill of them.

One time they made a bet to see who was faster. After he won, she angrily stomped up to him and kissed him full on the lips. “There’s your prize,” she smirked as Yoongi nearly toppled over.

Every week, he has a countdown to Saturday, when he goes on dates with her. He texts her first thing in the morning and right before he goes to sleep. For her birthday, she makes him a scrapbook of all the pictures they’ve taken and the fun memories they’ve had and he feels happier than he ever has before. His lock screen is a picture of her. His nightstand is covered with pictures of her.

He is absolutely smitten with her.

But even when they are laughing together, when they are holding hands and joking around with each other, there is a voice whispering inside Yoongi’s head, reminding him that he is a liar. That he is dating her for one reason, and one reason only- to retrieve information about the Seven Stars. He has kept her away from his friends for a reason- they do not even know that they are dating. The upper management has been asking him when he is going to deliver the file to them, and Yoongi keeps making excuses- keeps telling them that she doesn’t trust him enough yet, or that he couldn’t find the location, or that her parents were home. It is just to prolong the inevitable.

He wants these happy days to never end.

He does not want her to know the truth.

He does not want her to hate him.

Please, god, no.

Yoongi does not know how he would be able to live with himself if she hated him.