(Fair warning: there's a lot of swearing here.)

Seulgi was pissed. And confused.

Her? Why her?

Managing a mafia group was not an easy task. Kang Seulgi built her still under-the-radar empire, Red Velvet, from the bottom up. Challenges came at her from the very first step; from the deals she had to make to the types of people she had to confront just to get her way, every move she made she felt from her very core. The type of industry she was in couldn’t warrant her safety and security, and no matter how tall the walls she built were to protect herself and her subordinates, she could never shake away her tendencies to make plans B, C, D.

So it didn’t make sense for someone like her to step in and suddenly become part of this world. The girl was as mundane as anyone could be. Yes, she was a little bit more unsuspecting than everyone else, but that just adds more to the list of reasons why she doesn’t belong with mafia people. To let her in was to decrease her life span by 50 years – almost.

“This has never been heard of before.” Seulgi exclaimed to the young male who lead Gangnam’s most respectable mafia when they met the weekend before the party.

“That’s not true, and you know it.” His broad shoulders just became more prominent when he clasped his fingers together and leaned closer to the table. “Busan’s previous Cadre courted a non-affiliate and it all worked out fine. They’re even married now.”

“Kim Yeonseok’s wife was an expert on guns and was next in line for their family’s gun powder manufacturing company.”

“He only found out about that after they got together.”

“Says who?!” Seulgi was getting more aggravated with every minute that passes by. What he was asking was dangerous. “And he’s a Cadre. They have privileges that us leaders don’t. You shouldn’t try things you and your standing aren’t ready for.”

The man slammed his palms on the table, making the customers from other tables at the restaurant glance at them briefly. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I do. You’re asking for my help for something that’s incredibly close to breaking one of our unwritten oaths as leaders. You’re just going to endanger her, Sehun.”

Somehow, instead of convincing him to drop his plans, Seulgi’s words just egged Sehun even more to go with it. After taking a deep breath, he laid eyes on her again. His sharp eyebrows looking even more menacing than they usually do. “Seoul’s Cadre still doesn’t know about you and Red Velvet, and I know you want to keep it that way.”

Seulgi didn’t like where this was going. “What the are you saying?”

“I helped you create your empire, Seulgi. Now I need you to help mine.” Sehun took a sip of his Iordanov before continuing. “Or else I’m going to the Cadre.”

Monday morning came and Seulgi’s mood was still for the worse. She couldn’t believe that bastard blackmailed her, and for what? To court a nofie*? It made her blood boil, to the point when the lady in question came strolling past the campus entrance, she couldn’t help but glare at her. Joy, who was beside her at the time, tried to calm her down.

“Nothing good will come out of getting caught glaring at a girl.” Seulgi hasn’t told any of her core members and any of their subordinates of Sehun’s request. Not only will they retaliate, but they will also tamper the “good relations” they had with his mafia.

She shook off Joy’s worried hand over her shoulder and kept on glaring. “Nothing bad will come out of it either, Sooyoung.”

To her surprise, the girl actually noticed her. She took a glance at Seulgi and talked to her of a best friend, Kim Jongin. For someone so oblivious, she has good senses. A couple seconds later and Jongin looked back at her. Once their eyes locked, the male immediately knew that something was up, but instead of marching up to her, he broke eye contact and walked further away, the girl in tow. The girl actually had the nerve to strike a curious glance at Seulgi again, not at all baffled or scared that a popular girl like her in the University looked pissed as hell.

Girl had guts. Or more stupidity. Whichever.

Soon, the bell rang and she and Joy had to get going. It was only then that Joy popped the question Seulgi knew has been boggling her mind. “Why were you looking at Kai’s best friend like that anyway?”

Seulgi just sighed, not even glancing sideways to her. “We’re having a meeting later with the other girls. You’ll know then. Can you call Yeri? I need her to do something for me.”

“I know killing people is nothing new to us, but this? This is like walking the girl to her coffin.” Joy wasn’t too happy about Sehun’s request. Frankly, most of Red Velvet’s members couldn’t agree with Seulgi to forego the additional details to their plan at the party. Wendy and Joy were pissed for such a “compromise”, and Yeri was just worried for the girl’s well-being. Their under-people agree with them as well.

It was the night of the party, and Sehun’s expected female was supposed to come any minute. Yeri and Wendy were managing the rooftop NABI party , while the three of them were inside the event hall surveying the attendees coming in from the hidden terrace at the top.

“Let’s just do this. The sooner Sehun sees her, the sooner we’ll be out of whatever mess he’s trying to make.” Irene, who was the only one who coolly accepted what was requested of their gang, suddenly spoke as she made her way to face Seulgi.

She handed a neatly folded paper to their leader. “That’s everyone who came for tonight. Nofie’s are loud and drinking, enjoying everything on the other side, while all of us are here. Everything will commence once you come in the room.” Seulgi nodded, silently approving of Joohyun’s capabilities as a profile analyst.

NABI Party was a veil that carefully concealed the real affairs of that night. Seulgi and her lot were the hosts of this month’s Mafia Bingo, and they knew that this was the best way to do it without the knowledge of anyone else. Their university was known for their whack parties, so when planning the next MABI landed as their responsibility, setting up a large one came to be the perfect plan. All they needed was two versions of the party flier and distribute them to the right crowds.

Anyone can meet in secret in abandoned warehouses and keep things sealed at deserted places, but only those who are infinitely more skilled can pull off hiding in plain sight.

“Are you sure she got the invitation?” Seulgi asked.

Joy just rolled her eyes. “Yeah. I saw it in her filecase yesterday.” The younger crossed her arms before sighing. “You go in that room. I’ll wait for her.”

Seulgi was about to protest, but her skilled gunman gave her a warm smile. “I promise I won’t kill her. I don’t even have my rifle with me.”

With a little chuckle, the leader nodded her head and walked away.

Irene was right. The sooner the girl gets to Sehun, the sooner Red Velvet will be done with his request. She didn’t really understand why Sehun chose her, or why he even decided to court someone at this particular time of the year, but that wasn’t any of her business anymore. Seulgi hoped that she won’t cause any ruckus, and that she’ll be out of their hair soon.

Seulgi couldn’t be any more wrong.

Kyungsoo was wrong. The party was called MABI not NABI.

I fiddled with the top right corner of the flier as I scanned it one last time before walking inside the venue. It turned out that Irene’s place wasn’t really her place at all. The party was at one of the largest and most luxurious hotels at the heart of Seoul. The architecture of the building itself was marvelous; the lobby had a high ceiling, an atrium can be found at the center, and the floor was all marble that had an intricate design all throughout.

Maybe the rumors about her coming from a rich family are true after all? Irene didn’t really speak a lot. Yeri and Joy did that enough for her most of the time. Even when we were grouped together in one of our past shared classes, she rarely spoke. She complied and did what she had to do for our outputs…but she never really talked unless she had to. And no one dared to question her about it.

Navigating through the hotel was actually quite easy since there was a small stream of people going to the same direction. However, it was only once I was by the entrance of the event hall that I realized that I didn’t really recognize most of the other attendees. A group of men in all-black suits suddenly passed by me, and then a smaller group of guys with colorful hair followed. None of them were people I’ve seen around campus.

I took a subconscious step back, not really feeling like going in without recognizing anyone. I was just about bring out my phone to ring Jongin when it dinged and displayed another message from Kyungsoo.

Hey! We’re already inside.

Okay, that made me feel a tiny bit better. I just had to get through the front doors and I’d be with Kyungsoo and Jongin. Then maybe I’ll try to persuade my best friend into leaving a little earlier than usual. Not glancing at the still continuous parade of party-goers whose faces I didn’t know, I joined them and stepped inside the double doors.

However, before I could even get any further into the room, two firm hands suddenly held me back by my shoulders and had me turn around to face them. At first, my mind couldn’t process who I was looking at. All I could see was a bunch of colors put together on the person. But then after a few seconds, I finally pieced it together.

 “Jongdae?!”  I gasped and shamelessly gaped at the person in front of me.

“Why are you here?” Jongdae was in a black and white checkered shirt and a beige leather jacket. His jeans were dirty-white and ripped at the knees, and he was wearing black loafers. In his hands were some mini LED light rings and a bunch of wires I wasn’t really sure I knew the use for.

Oh, and he was blonde.

“YOU’RE BLONDE.” I couldn’t help it. The words came out of my mouth before I could even stop them. “And why are you not in your uniform?” aka his sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers.

Jongdae chuckled a little before suddenly sobering up and dragging me out and away from the doors. He kept on checking our surroundings and the people who were passing by us before   we finally reached a large potted plant and stopped there. He let go of my wrist and faced me with a serious expression on his face. “I thought you weren’t going.”

I shrugged. “Change of plans. Something came up and I’ll just meet Kyungsoo and Jongin here at the party.” I offered Jongdae a smile, hoping to diffuse his shock in seeing me at a party.

His eyes bulged out of their sockets instead. “Wait, Kyungsoo and Jongin are here?”

“Mhm!” I nodded my head. “They said they’re already inside.” I thought the knowledge that I actually didn’t go alone at the party would make him relax a little more, but he just became even more worried. His eyes widened and he looked like he wanted to say something. What’s wrong with him?

“Hey, Dae, are you–?”

“Chen.” I stiffened. Why is everyone so good at creeping up at people tonight?

A large and brooding presence suddenly came upon us. The man had a deep voice, and