“Now, now, children,” Himchan says amusedly. “Put your knives away.”
 

    “What the hell is she doing here, Himchan?” Zelo snarls. “Did you bring her here?”
 

              “Nope. I saw her for the first time last night, actually, thanks to- ah- Mina here.”

  
             At the mention of her name, Sora seems to shrink back.
 

             “After I told Lia that her parents’ death wasn’t an accident, she came here, presumably to ask us for our help in finding out who killed them.” Himchan laces his fingers together and rests his head on them.

           “So here we are.”
 

            “I’m not helping her do ,” Zelo snaps. “Are you ing kidding? She just leaves without any goodbye, and now that she needs something she’s back three years later? you, Lia.”
 

           “I had no choice!” I exclaim. “The CRP is like the Witness Protection Program. I couldn’t contact anyone!”
 

            “What, you thought I was going to sell out your location to someone? Thanks. I really appreciate how much you trusted me.”
 

            “I didn’t trust you?” I slam my fist on the counter. “If I didn’t trust you, do you think you would’ve been alive right now?”
 

    Our brawl is beginning to draw curious stares from the few occupants of the pub. It is probably the first time in ages that two people have had the energy to have a fight here.

Someone calls, “Zelo, you need any help over there?” and he merely bats a hand.
 

            “Do you know how worried I was?” Zelo questions. “You were my best friend. After all this started happening here- Jesus, I thought you were dead.”
 

            Pain cracks through his mask of fierce hostility, and a pang of guilt hits my chest. I realize how much Zelo has grown up. The chubby cheeks I used to pinch to piss him off, the rounded edges and the wide smiles- they have all disappeared, instead replaced by hard lines and stern looks.

           My guilt intensifies.
 

          “I’m sorry, okay?” I murmur. “After I killed ZE:A... god, Zelo, I was an absolute mess. At that moment in time, I just wanted to get away from everything. I’m sorry for just leaving you like that.”
 

          I missed you like hell.
 

           Zelo is silent for several moments. The look on his face has turned as weary as those of the patrons of this bar. I can sense Sora fidget nervously beside me, her eyes ping-ponging back and forth between Zelo and I in anticipation.
 

          And then Zelo finally sighs.
 

           “Whatever,” he says in a cold voice. He grabs a can of beer from the bar, ignoring the bartender’s protests, and stomps out the room.
 

            “What happened to him?” I ask Himchan.
 

             “He was pretty upset when you left, you know,” Himchan says, his tone nonchalant but his expression anything but. “It was a really bad time for him. He had to deal with you leaving at the same time as the gang world as we knew it completely dissolving.”
 

             I swallow. . Zelo had been my best friend from day 1, ever since he saved me from that crazy Jessica (who I later beat the out of for a bet). He will never understand- no one will ever understand- how much anguish I had to go through during that first year away from him.
 

            A shudder passes through my body. I do not want to think about that period of my life ever again.
 

            Sora is unusually quiet next to me. I turn to her.
 

           “How are you handling all this?”
          

          She blinks, her eyes focusing on me. “Uh. Wow. Um. I’m... really, really confused, slightly threatened, and... what the .”
 

           Himchan snickers. “This is the tip of the iceberg, Mina. The show you’re about to witness will be a million times worse.”
 

            “Awesome.”
 

            I can’t help but notice how shaken Sora looks. A wave of sadness passes over me. I was the exact same way when I first started. It kills me that she will have her innocence stolen like this.
 

            “It’s not too late to quit,” I murmur.
 

            “No,” she responds firmly. “I’m not going to quit now.”
 

            I rub my temples. We have been here for a total of 15 minutes and I am already utterly drained. The sound of a plate crashing to the ground from a room somewhere corroborates my feelings.
 

“Where’s the rest of BAP?” I ask Himchan.
 

His lips are set in a grim line. “They’re gone. I assume they joined CRP.”
 

“What? When did they join?!”
 

“After Chorong was killed.”
 

I shoot up so quickly my chair tips over. “What? Chorong was killed? Who was it?!”
 

“V- a real nasty guy from BTS.” Himchan gives me a bitter smile. “Yongguk left immediately afterwards- I would too, if my girlfriend was shot. The rest of the gang followed. That’s what really broke BAP. And that’s what launched BTS into the position of being the most powerful gang of Seoul.”
 

“BTS.” I grimace. “I’m assuming they’re one of the new gangs.”
 

“Yeah. And they’re twice as powerful as any of the old groups ever was. It’s like they have an endless amount of money, lackeys, and weapons. It’s ing nuts.”

“Oh, Chorong.” I bury my head in my hands. Chorong was Yongguk’s long-time girlfriend and the older sister I never had. She was the one who taught me how to act confident, who used to giggle to me about cute boys she wanted to set me up with, who comforted me at night when I woke up crying for my parents. Chorong was one of the kindest, most generous people I knew.

And now she is dead.

I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her.

Or the rest of BAP.

A wave of emotion rises in my chest- I am about to cry out- but then I command myself to stop. I cannot afford to dwell upon this now. When I have accomplished my goal, I will be able to mourn everything I have lost in the past three years.

But for now, I must focus.

Zelo’s face flashes in my mind again. . I made him go through all that alone.

“Zelo works here at Galmegi now,” Himchan continues. “At least it’s something stable- although this place might shut down any day. The new gangs have made sure to shut down any suspicious activity that occurs here. This place is notorious for being the old gangs’ hangout.”

“Does this meeting count as suspicious activity?”

“Yeah. But they don’t know that.”

“Ah.”

“Now let’s get started.” Himchan withdraws a small black book from a pocket on the inside of his jacket and slides it over to me. I rapidly flip through its pages. Lines and lines and lines of neat Korean characters are printed on the thick paper. Chills run up and down my spine. I flip through the pages, scanning through the letters, until I locate two names:

Kim Dongjun.

Kim Seoyeon.

“Whose was this?” I utter.

“It belongs to Wonho from Monsta X,” Himchan responds. “I don’t think he made all these hits, though. You can see where the handwriting changes about three-fourths of the way through. Whoever gave him this bingo book must be the perpetrator.”

“Wonho from Monsta X.” I grit my teeth. “Three years ago, I would’ve known exactly who that was and where he would be. But now I don’t know any of these new gangsters.”

“Wait,” Sora says in a small voice. “Himchan, do you know how Wonho looks like? Does he have black hair and bangs, a- a nose that’s-,” She draws a V with her fingers.

Himchan’s eyes widen. “Yeah. What the hell? Do you know him?”

“Um.” Sora coughs. “We... might have done weed at a party together once before.”
 

“What the ,” I mutter.
 

“If you weren’t one of my prime sources of income, I would tell you to lay off the drugs,” Himchan says, shaking his head. I elbow him in the chest.
 

“She is going to lay off the drugs,” I say in a stern voice. “Right, Mina?”

Sora winces. “Uh....,”

“Right, Mina?”

“Yeah. Fine. Whatever. I guess.”

“Anyway. At least you know who Wonho is. Do you have this number or something? Or do you know where he might be?”

“Mmmm.” Sora furrows her eyebrows. “I know there’s this huge party he’s probably going to be at in Gangnam, at the LUXE Club.”

“The LUXE Club?” someone snorts. Zelo emerges from the back room, a forlorn look on his face. I immediately straighten up.

“That’s Red Velvet territory. There’s no way we’re getting in there.”

“Then I’ll have to break in,” I say, eyeing him. “I’ll scope out the LUXE Club. Entrances, exits, fire escapes, all that. Do you know anyone who has been in there, or anyone who works there?”

“Well-,” Sora begins to say, but Himchan cuts her off. “We do,” he says. “But we’re not on friendly terms with them- especially Zelo. Do you want to tell Lia about what happened in Itaewon?”

Zelo grimaces. “Don’t remind me.”

“Maybe we could blackmail one of the waiters into giving us their ID badge and employee pass?” I suggest.

“We could do that,” Zelo murmurs.

“Is there any way I can get on Zelo’s good side in the next few days? He could hack into the LUXE Club’s databases. Try and disable their backdoor security systems.”

A rush of nostalgia fills me. I feel like I am 14 years old again, tagging along on one of BAP’s missions. Zelo and I exchange a look and I know we are thinking the same exact thing.

Sora sighs. “I can get us into the club.”

Himchan, Zelo, and I gape at her. “What? How?” I ask, utterly bewildered.

Sora rolls her eyes and pulls up something on her phone. It is a royal blue email that reads, You’re Invited!

“I’m on the premier list for every party that happens in this city,” she tells us, a proud note in her voice. “That’s what I get for being young, hot, rich, and sociable.”

I blink.

“Wow,” Himchan says. “A+.”

“Thanks,” Sora bites back. “See? I told you I’d be useful, Hyo.”

I concede. “Okay. Props to you. But we need to figure out a way to make ourselves seem as unsuspicious as possible.”

“I won’t be a problem,” Sora says. “They’re used to seeing me around. It’s you who we have to take care of.”

“Just stick her in the middle of a bunch of your hot friends,” Himchan grins, his lips. “Take lots of pictures, okay?”

“Shut up, creep,” I say, punching him in the arm. “Okay. That would work.”

“Zelo and I can be on standby, just in case you guys need backup. Although I don’t know how much help we’d be able to give you.”

Suddenly, Sora emits a soft gasp. All three of us look at her in alarm. “What is it?” Himchan asks warily.

“Nothing,” she says. “It’s just... it’s midnight. And I have an exam tomorrow.”

I give her an irritated look. “Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve come here another night.”

She pouts. “I didn’t want to be difficult.”

“Wow, look at you,” Zelo says, shaking his head at me. “Kim Lia, the university student. That’s really cute.”

“Shut up,” I snap. “Maybe you should join, too. Then you’d get some brains.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He stands up. “I am going to go to bed. It’s been a long, weird ing day, and I’m half expecting to wake up and discover this has all been a dream. If it isn’t- well, then, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Zelo,” I call as he walks away. He pauses.

“Thanks,” I say.

Zelo rolls his eyes. “ you, Lia.”

Himchan snorts. “That’s as nice as he’s going to get for the next few weeks.”

“So it seemed like you had a lot of history with that Zelo guy,” Sora says as we are driving home.

I let out a deep sigh. “Yeah. When I first joined the underworld, Zelo was the first person I met. He was a part of this gang called BAP, which basically took me in and trained me. Without them, I wouldn’t have learned how gangs operate, I would be a lot less stronger, and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to kill my parents's murderer."

Sora is silent for a few moments. Her eyes are fixed on the road.

“Does it ever haunt you?” she asks in a quiet voice. “Killing people?”

I look away, my jaw clenched.

“Not if they deserve it,” I lie.

I am tossing and turning all night.

I can tell Sora is, too.