Chaeyoung’s heart pumped uncontrollably in her chest as she stared at Jungkook with wide, mortified eyes. This was exactly the reason she didn’t want Jungkook to use terms of endearment with her in the first place. It just made their confusing relationship even more confusing.

She wanted to look at Taehyung to gauge his reaction, but she didn’t have the courage to.

“Did you just call Chaeyoung babe?” Lisa gaped at Jungkook in astonishment.

Just then Jennie strolled into the kitchen, overhearing their conversation, “who called Chaeyoung babe?”

“Jungkook,” Taehyung answered, his jaw clenched and his eyes hard. Chaeyoung finally sneaked a nervous glance at him, but his eyes were focused on Jungkook.

That caused Jennie to gasp and stare between the two of them, “Jungkook called Chaeyoung babe?!”

“HE DID WHAT?” They all turned to see Jimin walking towards the kitchen looking like he was ready to kill. Chaeyoung was at a complete loss for words, feeling more and more mortified with every second that passed. She threw her head up helplessly and sought divine assistance in helping them get through this situation.

“Did I say babe?” Jungkook brushed it off with a casual laugh, “I meant to say Chaeyoung.”

“Really? Because ‘babe’ and ‘Chaeyoung’ are two completely different words that are not in the least bit associated with one another,” Taehyung confronted him, his tone ice-cold. So much for their newly developed ‘partnership’.

Jungkook shrugged, continuing to stir his stew as if nothing happened, “I have a habit of calling people babe.”

At that moment, Yugyeom and Bambam groggily entered the kitchen.

“I’ve never in my life heard you use that word,” Bambam pointed out, causing Jungkook to throw him a glare.

Luckily Yugyeom was quick to pick up on the situation and jumped to Jungkook’s rescue, “no it’s true. Jungkook has been with so many women that, eventually, he gave up on trying to remember their names and just started calling everyone by generic, pet names instead.”

Chaeyoung felt a little hurt to hear that, not knowing whether it was the truth or if Yugyeom made it up to save them. One of her greatest concerns with Jungkook was the possibility that he was playing with her feelings and incapable of committing to real relationships. It was something he’d clearly thrown out on the table on their very first date, and yet she had still begun to fall for him, ignoring his warning.

However, she quickly brushed this feeling off and used Yugyeom’s words as a lifeline.

“See, it’s just a habit,” Chaeyoung said with a forced laugh.

“That’s a weird ing habit,” Jimin muttered, studying Jungkook up and down with a look of disgust.

“Have you ever sought out professional help for this,” Lisa asked with a worried expression, “I have a psychiatrist friend who specializes in helping people break bad habits.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes, “it’s really not that deep.”

“You know, come to think of it, you two did go on that date together a couple weeks ago,” Jennie pointed out thoughtfully, looking between Jungkook and Chaeyoung as if she was solving a mystery.

Lisa’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at that, “you went on a date together?!”

“That was for the charity auction!” Chaeyoung exclaimed in frustration.

“That doesn’t mean feelings can’t develop. You spent the entire day together, so you must’ve gotten pretty close,” Jennie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Chaeyoung felt very betrayed by Jennie’s analytical abilities. Whenever something didn’t make sense to her, she was ruthless in figuring it out. Apparently, her best-friend’s personal life wasn’t immune from her careful inspection.

“Ya, Jungkook, how close did you get?” Bambam teased.

“I’m going to murder you,” Jungkook threatened through gritted teeth.

Chaeyoung heaved a frustrated sigh, “can we just drop this? Like Jungkook said, it’s really not that deep.”

“Exactly,” Jungkook agreed, looking up to meet her eyes for a fraction of a second to communicate a silent apology for his slip-up, “and plus, breakfast is ready.”

That last sentence was enough to shut everyone up and motivate them to gather in the dining room, the thought of food and basic survival taking precedence over Chaeyoung’s romantic life. When she looked up at Taehyung though, he still had a strange expression on his face – like he was deep in thought and was on the verge of a discovery. However, the look instantly disappeared when he caught her staring at him and was replaced by a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes and made Chaeyoung feel horrible.

~*~

After breakfast, Jennie gathered everyone outside for a group meeting.

“Okay, I realize most of us are still hungover after last night, but because this is our last day at the lake, I think it’s time to discuss the mission in greater detail. After all, that’s the whole reason we’re here.”

Jin nodded, “during dinner last night, Jennie and I began working on a more thorough plan. We’ve named it: Operation J.”

“Why Operation J?” Namjoon asked, probably expecting a clever explanation.

Instead, he was disappointed by Jin’s response, “because Jin and Jennie both start with a J.”

Chuckles were heard amongst the group before Jennie began speaking again.

“Basically, there will be three phases to the mission,” She started placing three large pieces of paper on the picnic table they were all gathered around, “phase one involves Chaeyoung seducing the prime minister’s secretary: Mr. Hino.”

“Ugh, do you have to word it like that?” Chaeyoung cringed, the word ‘seducing’ sounding dirty to her ears.

“But that’s literally what you have to do Chaeyoung,” Jennie said frankly and proceeded with explaining the rest of the plan, “in every mission, there are 3 main components to consider. Can anyone tell me what these three things are?”

“People, place, and resources,” everyone muttered like some weird, mafia chant, causing Chaeyoung to look around in confusion. She was surprised that there was actually some science behind their work – a method to their madness.

Jennie nodded in approval, “for phase one, there are three key people. Number one is our main target: Mr. Hino. We have to research him thoroughly and familiarize ourselves with everything about him. Find out his interests, his habits, likes, dislikes, favourite colour, name of his dog, I don’t care – find out everything. Knowledge is power, especially when working against someone who wields as much influence as he does. He won’t be easy to fool, so we need any upper hand we can get.”

“Namjoon, BamBam, Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Bogum will be in charge of the research because they have the best technology and people skills out of the group. Not only will you need to research Mr. Hino, but also familiarize yourselves with the blueprints of the prime minister’s building,” Jin said.

“The next key person is Chaeyoung,” Jennie said, causing all eyes to turn towards Chaeyoung, “she will be in direct contact with Mr. Hino, so the research team needs to work closely with her to develop a plan to get him alone and steal his key.”

“How do we even know he’ll have the key with him at that time?” Chaeyoung asked curiously.

“Because he always goes to the imperial hotel bar with his personal car, which means he brings in his keys with him, and the key to the safe is on that very same keychain,” Jennie said informatively.

“The last person – or I should say people – important for phase one are the people who will be in the adjacent hotel room, watching Chaeyoung and giving her instructions. These people will consist of the entire research team as well as Jungkook and Taehyung. Jungkook because he probably knows the way to a man’s heart the best out of everyone,” Jennie said, earning eye rolls and scoffs all around, “so, he’ll be able to give Chaeyoung reliable tips on how to entice him. And Taehyung will need to be there to pick up the key immediately to carry on with the next phase of the mission.”

“The places important for phase one are: the imperial hotel bar where Chaeyoung will be waiting for Mr. Hino and will get to know him in, Chaeyoung’s hotel room, and the hotel room next to it,” Jin said, starting to draw a picture on a blank piece of paper.

Jennie nodded, “as far as resources go, we will need the smallest camera, microphone, and headphone pieces you can find and disguise for Chaeyoung to wear when she’s with Mr. Hino. We also need some sort of sedative to slip into his drink so we can have enough time to complete the rest of the mission without him informing anyone. Jin and I will take care of these resources.”

“Don’t forget,” Jin said, shifting his attention to Chaeyoung, “Chaeyoung will also need a new dress, shoes, and even undergarments.”

Chaeyoung’s mouth dropped in astonishment, “I’m sorry, did you just say ‘undergarments’? Why would I need new undergarments?”

“Because you need to get into your role and sell the look completely,” Jennie explained carefully, “unfortunately that means that you may have to show a little bit of skin.”

“I think the not, Jen” Taehyung interrupted, causing Jennie to roll her eyes, “there’s no way some creepy, old man is going to see Chaeyoung’s skin. Even if it’s just ‘a little bit’ of it.”

“I completely agree,” Jimin slow-clapped for him.

“I also think that’s very unnecessary,” Jungkook joined in, causing everyone to glance at him in surprise.

Jennie heaved a heavy sigh, “I know it’s not ideal, trust me I don’t want