“What are you so happy about?” I snarl.

Jimin an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“Stop smiling at me like that.” I scoff. “I know who you all are. So there’s no reason to act all fake.” And then it dawns upon me. “Wait a minute. Are you the guy who’s been... finding me everywhere? The person who was at the center of the stage at the street fights?”

The smile on Jimin’s face doesn’t disappear, and an uneasy feeling twists my stomach into knots.

“Maybe,” he says, his voice light. “Maybe not.”

I clench my fists. “What the hell does that mean-,”

“As enjoyable as this is, we don’t have time to chat,” Namjoon cuts in. He glares down at me. “We’re at an understanding, correct? We don’t reveal each other’s true identities. School’s neutral ground. Outside, anything goes.”

“How could you?” Sora asks in a soft voice. Her eyes, swirling with anger and dread and anguish, linger on Taehyung’s face. He stares back at her with a deadpan expression. “I- I’m telling my parents. I can’t marry someone like you.”

To my surprise, the boys do not look scared in the least.

“Go ahead,” Taehyung utters, stepping forward. He towers over Sora and she stumbles backwards, her fists clenched angrily by her side. “Tell them.”

“I will,” she responds in a low voice.

“But think about it, Sora,” he says in a soft voice. “Do you really want to tell your parents?”

Even I can read the implicit threat in his eyes as he stares down at Sora, his gaze never leaving hers. Emotion rises up in her eyes.

“I will not spend the rest of my life with you,” she hisses.

Something flickers in Taehyung’s eyes.

“Well, that’s too bad,” he says.

“Just tell me why. Why are you doing all this? How did you even get involved with this?”

Taehyung is silent. BTS exchanges uncomfortable looks with each other behind him. The tension in the air grows thicker.

And then I clear my throat.

“This makes no sense. Someone was literally trying to kill you two,” I say, nodding at Namjoon and Jimin. “I literally stopped someone at Tiesto from shooting both of you.”

“A lot of things don’t make sense,” Jungkook says vaguely. “But the only thing you should be concerned about is yourself.”

“What? What the hell-,”

“You’ve started a war, Kim Lia,” Jin says in a deathly soft voice. “We won’t even have to reveal your true identity to hurt you- every gang member in the surrounding area has you on their hitlist. You’re going to wish you never returned.”

“I already wish I hadn’t returned, you heads,” I growl. “Do you think this was a choice? I came back because I discovered my parents’ death wasn’t an accident. And you.” I step towards Taehyung, rage burning in my eyes. “I found my parents’ names in a bingo book that Wonho got from you. Were you the one who ordered the death of my parents?”

Taehyung narrows his eyes. “What bingo book?”

I withdraw the small black book from my bag and stick it in his face. “This one.”

He takes the book from me, skims through the pages with unreadable eyes.

And then his lip curls.

“This isn’t mine. I was given this book. So no. I wasn’t involved in your parents’ death.”

Despite myself, a breath of relief escapes my lips.

I don’t know how I would have dealt with seeing my parents’ murderer every day. I don’t know how I would’ve handled the fact that they were right in front of me all this time and I couldn’t do anything about it.  

ZE:A flashes through my mind.. I push them away.

“We’re done here.” Namjoon says, jolting out of my thoughts. He shoves past me without another word. His fellow gang members follow suit. Sora and I are left standing there by ourselves, utterly stunned.

“They didn’t seem surprised at all,” Sora says later, absentmindedly running a finger over the rim of her glass. Melodramatic opera music plays from the tinny speakers of the Galmegi as Zelo, Himchan, Sora, and I sit around the bar, gloomily pondering everything that transpired today.

My body's killing me. The street fights were not gentle on me at all, and I can't even move without feeling an agonizing pain shooting up my chest. We couldn't go to a hospital, of course- the cops would be on us in less than a minute- so Himchan tried to dress my wounds as well as he could.

my life.

“How did they already know who we were?” Sora continues, her finger moving faster and faster around the glass. “And how did I not know about Taehyung? How did I not know about any of them? How did I not notice it? How could I be so dense-,”

“That’s enough,” Himchan abruptly says. He places a hand on Sora’s shoulder, steadies her. “This isn’t your fault.”

Sora clenches her fists. She looks up at Himchan with wide, teary eyes.

“I’m engaged to him, Himchan,” she whispers. “I don’t want to be- I’ve never wanted to be. My father just brought him out of nowhere when I was, like, 14, and said I was going to marry him when I was big. I’d never seen him before in my life, and now I’m his fiancee?”

I narrow my eyes questioningly, but Zelo apparently has the same thoughts that I do, as he asks, “Wait, why did your dad say you had to marry him?”

“His father and my father were apparently childhood friends,” Sora sighs, rubbing her temples. “Something about marriage promises and stuff- I don’t know. I never met Taehyung’s father, though. He passed away before I ever met him.”

“And Taehyung was just okay with this arrangement?”

Sora scoffs. “Who knows? Taehyung’s like a robot. He shows no emotion. He follows directions like the polite, respectful, good boy that he is.” She shakes her head. “He’s been a ing gangster this entire time. I’m telling my father right away. There’s no way this engagement will continue to exist.”

Sora leans over the counter, grabs a bottle of vodka from the fridge under the counter, and pours herself a straight one as Himchan tries to calm her down. Damn. Once again, I am struck by how misleading first impressions are. My image of Sora, the hot, crazy partier, has been destroyed a countless number of times in the past few months. Instead I am faced with a girl with flaws, insecurities, secrets, hardships. My mind flashes back to the day I told her the truth about who I was.

You must have been so lonely.

We were both going through hell at 14. My parents were murdered. Her life was signed away to a boy who would become a notorious criminal. The same boy she would be fighting against in five years.

“So what now?” Zelo utters.

I slowly shake my head. “I really don’t know.”

Suddenly, Himchan’s eyes widen. “That reminds me. Lia, I’m assuming that guy on stage is Creepzilla?”

I straighten up. “Yeah. Do you know who he is?”

“I don’t. That’s the crazy thing. I’ve asked around and everyone knows who he is, but no one knows who he is.”

“That makes sense.”

“What I mean is that everyone knows that he’s a powerful figure, but no one knows his name, identity, where he came from. People aren’t even sure if he’s in BTS or if he’s affiliated with another gang.”

“So basically we still know nothing about him.”

“At least we know what he looks like now, so we can keep an eye out for him,” Zelo growls.

My body deflates as I slump back in my seat. Sora laces her fingers between mine, squeezing my hand in a gesture of reassurance.

I’ve never felt so frustrated in my life. As I look at Zelo and Himchan and Sora- Sora-and I think about all the things we don’t know, all the dangers that I won’t be able to protect them with...

I’m ing scared. I don’t know what to do. For once, I feel like I’m out of my capacity.

I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see blood on the back of my eyelids. Hear screams echoing in my ears.

Sora is fast asleep on the other side of the room. Zelo and Himchan are still at the Galmegi.

Joonmyeon...

I haven’t felt this lonely since the first day I walked into the Galmegi.

Slowly, I rise. My hand grabs my cell phone.

I dial a number.

Two rings later, he picks up.

“Lia,” a silky voice purrs over the phone.

My hand tightens around my phone.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he murmurs.

“Did you order the death of my parents?” I utter softly.

Silence. Very, very, very long silence.

I take a deep, shaky breath.

“You did, didn’t you.”

“No,” he responds in a surprisingly sharp voice that is devoid of its usual coolness. “I didn’t.”

“Do you know who did?”

“Of course.”

“What do I need to do to get you to tell me?”

“Win my game, Lia. If you win, I’ll tell you everything.”

“But why?” I whisper. “What do you gain from this?”

The tough, hard front I present to this man is completely gone. It is 3 AM. My head hurts. My chest is tight with frustration and fear. I am terrified and sad and drained, all at once.

He does not respond.

“You want me, right?” I press. “I’m who you’re after. Right?”

“Correct.”

“So please,” I whisper, “don’t hurt the people I care about. I’m begging you.”

There is silence once more.

Then he says, “Pick one person and I swear I won’t touch them. Everyone else is fair game.”

“Kim Joonmyeon,” I immediately choke out. “You can’t do anything to him. Please. Let him stay safe. He doesn’t know about any of this.”

The man scoffs. “Kim Joonmyeon? Why him?”

“Because I love him?”

My voice cracks on the last word of my sentence. I slap a hand over my mouth and attempt to stifle the sobs rising up in my throat. Sora stirs in her bed.

“I see,” the man coldly utters after a pause. “Very well, then. It’s a promise.”  

“Thanks,” I say.

I hang up and dissolve into tears.