Joonmyeon is partially right. The Condu is one of the nicest restaurants I have ever dined in. Everyone is dressed in their finest garb, diamonds dripping from their ears and Rolex watches strapped onto their wrists.

    However, the difference between me and Joonmyeon is that I could care less about what I am wearing. I strut into the Condu with my little plaid skirt and gray sweater top and no one gives a about my clothes, either. They are all glued to Joonmyeon, peppering him with questions and compliments and- I have to hold back tears of mirth- phone numbers of daughters to be set up with. I am able to comfortably slink back into the shadows. Part of me feels a little bad for always subjecting Joonmyeon to be the center of attention- I could enter the conversation and divert a few annoying men away from him- but sitting in solitude feels too nice.

He throws me a rueful look and I squeeze his hand under the table; without breaking eye contact with the man he is speaking to, Joonmyeon shifts our intertwined hands so that they are resting on my inner thigh. I look up at him in surprise, but he simply has a crooked smirk on his face.

    That’s what you get, his expression seems to say.

    Oh. Okay. If that’s the way he wants to play it.

I sit like that for the next few minutes, pretending to ignore his hand when it is truly the only thing occupying my mind. The sensation of his warm skin on mine- especially in an area such as this; an area that could be considered intimate- causes a blush to tinge my cheeks. I stubbornly stab away at my coriander potatoes. The smile on Joonmyeon’s face grows wider and wider.     

    And then I see Sora sitting at a table across the room.

    My eyes widen.

    “Whoa,” I whisper, immediately straightening. Joonmyeon withdraws his hand from underneath the table, giving me a confused look, but my eyes are glued to Sora.

She is dressed in a demure white dress. The pastel spray dye at the tips of her brown locks is gone. She has not seen me at all; instead, her gaze is focused on a figure in front of her.

Sora is always happy, enthusiastic, energetic.

    But right now, she is wearing the gravest expression I have ever seen on anyone.

    Perhaps it is because she is sitting across from Kim Taehyung.

    An elderly man and woman- who I assume are Sora’s parents- flank her side. Sora’s father is speaking to Taehyung, a strained smile on his face, while her mother rubs soothing circles into her back. Neither Sora nor Taehyung pay the adults any mind, however- their eyes have not left each other’s faces the entire time I have been watching them.

    My mind flashes back to that day Sora and I were eating street food. When Taehyung crashed into her and they shared that moment of tension.

    Huh. So there is something strange going on between them.

    “What’re you looking at?” Joonmyeon whispers. He spots Taehyung and Sora and his eyebrows shoot up.

    “Huh,” he says after a few moments. “Interesting. Are they family friends?”

    “Maybe,” I say. He gives me a smile and the last 5 minutes suddenly flood back into my mind. I blush. Hard.

    “Are you two dating?” an old woman down the table asks me and Joonmyeon. My face turns even redder, but he simply laughs.

    “Who knows?”

    I playfully shove him away. “Oh, stop.”

    Joonmyeon is in a great mood. My gaze alternates between him and Sora for the rest of the night. Jesus. Sora looks so sad. What’s happening over there?

“Oh, can I get some linguini to go, please?” I ask the nearest waiter.

“Another one?” Joonmyeon asks.

“I need nourishment for my cram session tonight. We have midterms next week, remember?”

Actually, I’m bringing Zelo food. But Joonmyeon doesn’t need to know that.

“You’re so studious,” he snorts.

“Not all of us can be as effortless perfect as you,” I tease. “What was that? ‘President of the Student Council, beloved by your teachers-,”

“Stop,” Joonmyeon groans, but I mercilessly continue.

“-top of your class- wow, Joonmyeon, you’re so amazing, can I your ?”

“I’m literally going to kill you,” he mutters.

    By the time we leave, Sora still has not seen me.

    I’ll talk to her about this tonight, I think.

    But when I arrive at the Galmegi at 12:30 AM, she is nowhere to be seen, even though we agreed to meet there at midnight. I set my box of linguini down in front of Zelo, who is typing away on his laptop, crossly refusing to look at me.

    “Hey,” I cough. “Guess what’s in here?”

    Zelo doesn’t respond. Himchan watches the two of with an amused look on his face.

    “There’s pasta,” I say, prodding the box. “And breadsticks. And cannoli.”

    The scowl on Zelo’s face grows deeper.

    “Zelo. Zelo. Hey. Stop ignoring me. I can see you smiling. I can see you smiling!”

    “Nice try,” Himchan snorts as I unsuccessfully try to lift up the corners of Zelo’s face.

    “Don’t be a grouchy pants! Don’t be a grouchy pants! Don’t-,”

    And then the door to the Galmegi opens. Sora is standing in the doorway. Her white dress is gone, replaced by a crop top, leather pants, face mask, and heavy eyeliner. The tips of her hair are pastel pink once more.

    “Sorry I’m late,” Sora says breezily, plopping down next to me. I narrow my eyes. The meek, quiet girl I saw at the Condu is gone. I never would have even believed in her existence if I had not seen her with my own eyes.

    “Hey, are you family friends with Taehyung or something?” I ask.

    Sora’s face goes white.

    “What?” she whispers. “Why would you think that?”

    The dramatic change in her demeanor even causes Zelo to curiously look up at her. I blink, slightly taken aback.

“Uh, I just- I just saw you two at the Condu today,” I say slowly. “Uh-,”

“Oh!” Sora bursts out into forced laughter. “Wow. How’d you see that?”

“I- there was an alumni dinner...,”

“Oh. Okay. Yeah. Uh, yeah, long story!” Sora is grinning a little too widely. “Taehyung and I are family friends. My parents love him. We have dinner together sometimes and stuff, you know?”

Why is Sora so unsettled?

“You don’t like him, right?” Himchan asks.

Sora guffaws. “Hell no.”

“Good. That means you’re still available.”

The shaken look on Sora’s face disappears, replaced with a smirk. “Aw, that’s cute. You think you have a chance with me.”

“Oh, come on. You know, pasta is my second favorite thing to eat in bed-,”

“Okay,” I say, slamming my hand down on the table and Zelo and Sora erupt into groans. “I could’ve gone my entire life without hearing that, asshat. Can you at least try and keep your in your pants?”

Himchan smirks at me, and then glances over at Sora, who is clutching her stomach, laughing. His eyebrow up just the slightest. And then I realize what he has just done.

Wow. Himchan’s become a lot more perceptive. Thanks, I mouth.

At least I know not to bring up Taehyung from now on. There’s something about him that apparently upsets Sora.

I probably shouldn’t probe.

“Idiot,” Zelo mutters in my ear, and I elbow him in the side.

“I didn’t know it was a touchy subject for her,” I whisper furiously.

“Still. You’re an idiot.”

“You’re right,” I say, a smile curving my lips upward. “I’m a total idiot. And this idiot is sorry for yelling at her best friend. She also hopes that you’ll eat the food she brought you.”

Zelo opens the takeout box from the Condu and chomps on a breadstick, unable to keep a grin off his face. I let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you,” I say, reaching over to grab a breadstick, too- but Zelo slaps my hand.

“Nuh uh uh,” he says. “None for you. Mina, Himchan, you want some?”

“Please,” Himchan says, dipping cannoli in chocolate sauce. “Mmm, this is delicious.”

“I hate you,” I grumble. Zelo gives me a kissy face.

“Love you, too, Lia.”

“So we were talking,” Himchan says through a mouthful of linguini. “And I looked into those street fights BTS holds a little more, as long as BTS’ other hotspots.”

“And?” I ask.

“BTS’ locations at those other spots at any given time is unknown. However, they never miss a fight in Taebaek. Those are the only times when everyone knows their positions.”

“That’s what I’m saying. It’s a good chance for us to find them-,”

“Only if you’re fast and work quickly. What Zelo said was right. You’ll be surrounded by enemy gangs who want your head. So you need to identify BTS as quickly as possible.”

“Do you have pictures? Descriptions of what they look like?”

“No. They stay masked, anyway. But they’re in charge of the fights, so they’ll probably be in a prominent position.”

“So what you need to do is get in, locate BTS quickly, and isolate one of the members- preferably V, but that probably won’t happen...,”

“We need to figure out how Lia’s going to get in, first,” Zelo pipes up. “I mean, how long will it take before someone suspects her?”

And then Sora clears . “Why don’t I go?” she suggests.

Himchan, Zelo, and I look at her in disbelief. “Absolutely not,” I say. “You’ll have no idea what you’re doing, and you’re not properly trained for it-,”

“Hey! I know how to do round kicks now!” Sora protests.

“Uh, when we train, you do two round kicks before you start whining about how much your legs hurt-,”

“That’s a lie!”

“It’s too dangerous,” Himchan says in a low voice. “Why would you want to go in, Mina?”

“It’s just the logical thing to do. I mean, I can blend in with the people there. And no one recognizes me, so I won’t be caught immediately or something. I can just go, pretend to be enjoying the fights, scope out BTS, try and talk to them to get more information. You know?”

“You’re not getting anywhere near BTS,” I snap. “Are you crazy? What are you thinking?”

“Wait.” Zelo bites his lip. “I don’t think... this is a terrible idea.”

Himchan and I whirl around to gape at Zelo. “What?”

“We obviously won’t be able to take down BTS at a big gathering like this. Even if we try to corner V or someone to get information, we probably won’t be successful- we have too many enemies that’ll be present there. So why can’t Mina go there to just gather a little more intel on BTS’ hideouts and activities? We could use that to plan out how we’ll actually isolate V.”

“And I look more innocent and stuff,” Sora chirps. “Trust me, Lia. I can do this.”

Himchan and I exchange a look. I mull over Zelo and Sora’s words a little.

And then Himchan lets out a sigh.

“Fine,” he mutters. “But we’re equipping you with a mic, earpiece, cam, gun, everything. And if I even suspect that something’s going wrong, I’m coming to get you.”

Sora gives him a petulant look. “I’ll be fine.”

Himchan scowls, and Sora nudges his foot with her’s. “Himchan,” she whines. “I’m not a baby.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t be so flippant about this.”

“I’m not!”

The four of us stay up a little longer, sketching out strategies and discussing our course of action. The street fights in Taebaek are in a few days. According to Himchan’s contacts, challengers propose battles to BTS at the beginning of the night, and BTS approves the schedule for the whole night. There are no guns allowed- but everything else goes. This shouldn’t be a problem- it’s not like Sora’s great at shooting- but I am nervous to see what kind of weapons will be present.

Despite the fact that she is the most integral part of our plan, Sora passes out on my lap by 2 AM. Himchan removes his jacket and gently places it over her shoulders.

“Do you like her?” Zelo bluntly asks him as he brushes back a piece of stray hair from Sora’s face.

“Nope,” Himchan hums. “I’m just always willing to help pretty girls.”

Zelo and I exchange a knowing smirk. “Yeah, yeah,” I say. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“Please. I don’t commit.”

Zelo chortles. “Aw, look at that! Himchan, you’re falling for a girl whose real name you don’t even know!”

Himchan still has that cocky smirk on his lips, but something almost imperceptible changes in his eyes. I stiffen, awkwardly coughing into my elbow to break the uncomfortable silence in the room.

It’s true. I am hit with the overwhelming realization that Zelo and Himchan, the two boys who played such an integral role in my life, know practically nothing about the person I am now. And despite the fact that all four of us work together and laugh together and joke together... Himchan and Zelo don’t even know who Sora really is.

“Sorry,” Zelo says in a low voice.

Himchan tips his head back. “It’s true,” he says, his tone seemingly insouciant. “I don’t know her real name. I don’t know who her parents are, what she studies, how she knows Lia. But there’s one thing I’m certain about: she’s not from our world. She sees gangs as these fun, weird groups that we have to defeat, like we’re the protagonists of some kind of action movie. She’s innocent, Zelo. I’m not going to mess with that.”

I think about that on the way home. Innocent. Sora was into this mess of guns and revenge and crime. She knows nothing. She doesn’t understand how much these people are capable of.

Soon, she may get hurt. Targeted due to her affiliation with me, Zelo, and Himchan.

I can’t let that happen. Sora cannot get hurt.

And then my mind jumps to Joonmyeon.

What if someone discovers who Park Hyo is? The prissy, studious university student who is best friends with the class president? What if someone comes after Joonmyeon?

A pang of fear hits my chest.

I need to finish all of this quickly.

And then return to my new- my normal- life.

Sora has, at the very least, gotten a bit stronger since I started dragging her to the gym with me. She still probably wouldn’t be able to defeat a gang member in a fight, but I can see subtle changes in her stamina, her physique, her form.

She’s doing a lot better than Joonmyeon, who- wondering why we were spending all our time at the gym- now joins us while we work out.

All I can say is that I would never have believed Joonmyeon was a soccer player in high school. His toned physique belies the true weakness of his body.

“It’s too much!” Joonmyeon yelps as I hand him a pair of 100-pound dumbbells. “Hyo! Don’t do this to me!”

“Are you kidding me? I can bench more than you!”

“We... we get it, Hyo,” Sora pants, her body trembling as she struggles to do another push-up. “You’re so strong. Look at you, master fighter, badass-,”

“Okay!” I loudly exclaim before Joonmyeon hears anything he’s not supposed to know. “Get up. Let’s spar. Joonmyeon, you’re first.”

“Oh, great,” he mutters. “I love getting my kicked by you. Why do I even need to do this? And how do you even know how to fight like this?”

“I- I don’t know how to fight! I took kickboxing classes and stuff- or like- Jesus, Joonmyeon, everyone knows how to fight but you-,”

“What’s going on here?” a bemused voice asks behind me.

Jimin, along with his friends, are watching me, Sora, and Joonmyeon in slight confusion. The hackles on the back of my neck rise as I spot Namjoon and Yoongi carefully eyeing me.

“Hey,” I grin. “I haven’t seen you here in awhile.”

Jimin winces. “Yeah. I... sprained my ankle.”

“Yikes. Well, we’re working out right now. I’m trying to get these two in shape.”

“Why?”

“It’s... well, Joonmyeon asked, and- it’s a long story.”

“Hmm.” Jimin nods at Joonmyeon. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”

Joonmyeon grimaces. “Very painfully.”

Jin, who is standing behind Jimin, snorts with laughter. “Good luck, Joonmyeon. Maybe Sora can give you some tips?”

Sora, who is lying flat on her back, blankly staring up at the ceiling, throws Jin an annoyed look. “Very funny,” she snipes.  

“If you want to see me kick the StuCo president’s , stick around,” I say, eliciting an eyeroll from Joonmyeon. “Sora will be in a few minutes after that.”

“So cocky,” Sora says. “I’m getting tired of just watching you beat Joonmyeon up.”

“Maybe I should spar with you, Sora,” Hoseok says.

“Oh, yeah? You better watch out. I’m pretty good at fighting now.”

“Yeah?” Jimin playfully punches her in the shoulder. “These arms are all muscle, huh?”

“Yeah. I could totally take on you and all your friends.” Sora turns to me. “Hyo. Let me fight someone new today. Please. It’ll be good practice!”

I groan. “Oh, god, Sora.”

“You’re going to get your handed to you,” Jimin chuckles.

“Fight me first, Sora!” Jungkook laughs.

“Who do you want to take on first, huh?” Jin asks, punctuating his words with a jab to Sora’s sides. “Me? Jimin? Yoongi?”

Sora is giggling uncontrollably. “I don’t know! I don’t know! God, stop, that tickles-,”

“I’ll spar with her,” a cold voice says. The easy-going smiles on Sora, Jimin, and the other’s faces instantly disappear. Taehyung is striding towards Sora from the water cooler near the wall, an impassive look on his face. There is a scratch on the side of his neck that I have never noticed before. My eyes narrow.

Sora is simply looking at Taehyung, her eyebrows raised.

“Really,” she says.

Taehyung turns to me. “You and Joonmyeon can go ahead and start.”

“Sora... you can spar with me, if you want,” Jungkook says, throwing Taehyung an uneasy look.

“No. It’s fine.” Sora cracks her knuckles. Her eyes do not leave Taehyung. “I can do this.”

Taehyung tilts his head slightly upwards. “Good.”

“What is up with the two of them?” I whisper to Jimin. “Do they have some kind of thing going on? Every time I’ve seen them together, they’re always weird. And Sora won’t tell me what’s going on.”

Jimin exchanges a quick look with Namjoon.

“I don’t see it,” Namjoon finally says.