This is boring.

Yes, Sehun was playing a high stakes game that can cost him tons of money and a significant number of human lives, but he had been playing the same rounds with almost the same people for quite a while now.  It didn’t matter who hosted the Mafia Bingo; it was a rotation sequence among the gangs who wanted to participate. Either that, or they’re part of the sequence because they owed a lot. And with a risky game like MABI, there was no shortage of people owing something to others.

Sehun took another peak at the faces of the other mafia leaders seated at the table before looking down again. He made sure to keep his straight face, never letting anyone see what he’s feeling or what’s going on in his mind. Then, he was just about to place his newest bet when he heard commotion from the other side of the door.

Two muffled voices could be heard; one from a man he knew too well, and the other from a girl who he unfortunately didn’t know enough about. However, as he looked up at the confusion, worry and growing fury behind the eyes of his opponents, he decided that maybe it would be a good idea to admit to knowing only one of them.

Joohyuk, the leader of the largest mafia in Bucheon, glared at Sehun. “Is that….Byun Baekhyun?” Upon voicing out his suspicions, two other leaders suddenly stood up. And with them, their men bringing out their guns and pointing them at Sehun.

He didn’t even flinch. He only listened to his own men behind him stand up and aim bigger guns at them. If the two leaders knew what was good for them, they would stand down.

Apparently, they didn’t. They continued to glare at Sehun. “What the hell is that bastard doing here?!” said one. Then the other followed, “You dare disrespect us like this?”

Sehun listened to them ramble, while his right hand man just waited for his forefinger to move – indicating his go signal to kill the bastards. They were going on for a full minute while Joohyuk was just fixing his cuff links and looked like he was just waiting for the right time to take off. He watched all three of them for that good full minute before the doorknob started to twist, and he finally cut them off.

“It’s bad enough that he gets to do what he wants on neutral grounds, but you actually had to the nerve to br–“

“I’m placing all of my money tonight on the girl who’s with him.” Sehun felt the slight falter in Chanyeol’s posture behind him, but he didn’t care. He stood up and put his hands in his pockets. He could hear Baekhyun’s and the girl’s voices slowly getting clearer.

He needed to do this quick.

“The girl Baekhyun is with…she’s a nofie.” He heard gasps and scoffs everywhere. Not just from his opponents, but from his own men as well. Chanyeol just rolled his eyes and walked to the door, along with the other gunmen, silently carrying out Sehun’s pre-existing orders.

“My men are about to point all of their guns to her face. If she faints, you get my money. If she doesn’t, I get your guns.”

The two loud numbskulls were about to go off again, but Joohyuk cut them to it. “Deal.” He shrugged and rolled his eyes. “You’ve been playing this game for too long. I can see how bored you are. Your bet’s not even part of MABI anymore, but you have yourself a deal.” Joohyuk had a confident smirk on his face, one that Sehun appreciated. He would always have more respect for those who know how to play their strengths and weaknesses.

The other two gang leaders went off on Joohyuk, their men now pointing their guns at him, but Sehun could care less. He walked away from their debauchery and placed himself in front of the door, awaiting the sight of his former boss, and her.

Sehun  had the biggest upperhand in this situation – he had the most knowledge as to what’s going on and he had pictured almost every outcome possible, yet he still found himself quite surprised when the girl was pushed inside.

He saw her curiosity. He saw her take in the whole room and scan whatever she could in the two seconds that she stumbled. He also saw her anxiety. She didn’t shake like he expected she would, but her eyes couldn’t stay still and her breathing was a little shallow.  Then, he felt her tension. She bit her lip a little too hard as her eyes roamed around the place. Once they finished looking at the room, her eyes rested on him and his men pointing their guns at her. And somehow, that was what surprised him the most because..

Where was her fear?

Ten. I counted 10 guns pointed at me. I felt my body release all of its jitteriness as it realized just how ed up the situation I found myself in is. After a few seconds, my whole being could have passed as a corpse by how stiff I had become. I hadn’t even registered the absence of Mr. Byun’s hand on my back and him stepping a little bit away from me.

They’re really going to shoot me?

I heard a faint chuckle and my attention zeroed in on where it came from. It was only then that I realized how I’ve been staring at the man in front of me the entire time. He was the only one who didn’t have a gun pointed towards me – he even exuded a strange calmness – yet that just made him seem more menacing and dangerous. He reminded me of a wolf who toys with his prey.

When he realized that I caught his chuckle, the small tilt at the corners of his lips grew and he shook his head at me. “You’re a peculiar one.”

I was still at loss for words (or any type of reaction, really) when Mr. Byun scoffed beside me. “She’s weirder than-“

“YOU ING LIAR!” I jumped, finally gaining some of my senses back. It came from a man with a weird mustache. He looked incredibly mad, and he directed all of it to the male in front of me. Mustache man suddenly pulled out a gun from his belt, and in a split second, all 10 guns shifted their targets to him. But he didn’t give a damn, he still pulled the safety off his own revolver and pointed it my way.

“She’s not a nofie is she?” Mustache man was slightly shaking in rage while the guy in front of me remained as calm as ever. “You think you could actually fool me?” I knew he wasn’t really aiming the gun at me, but I couldn’t help trying to get away from his actual target.

I suddenly felt arms around me. When I saw the silver watch on one of the wrists, I knew it was Mr. Byun again, trying to make me stay put. Realizing just how much I was in because of him, since he directed me towards this room even when he knew what was inside, I did my best to get out of his grasp. “Get away from me!”

His arms only tightened around me. “I’m sorry sweetheart. I’ll be nicer later I promise.” I couldn’t process the other gun clicks that followed as I tried to get out of my professor’s arms nor did I realize that the commotion has shifted entirely towards Mustache man. All I cared about was getting the hell out of that room.

“You-“ BOOM. A solid shot from a gun resounded in the whole room. A few unsure steps followed and then a loud thud of a body collapsing came. I gasped and turned away – realizing only then that that was what Mr. Byun was helping me with all along. He was just trying to shield me from what was happening.

I could still see the head of the guy who had stood in front of me from where I was, and none of his men moved from their spots, so I could only assume that it was Mustache man who got shot and went down.

Oh my god.

Oh my god he’s dead.

I felt the panic rising up and spreading in my chest. “Oh my god he’s dead HE’S D-” Mr. Byun covered my mouth. I was still wailing and my breathing became a whole lot more shallow, letting the panic and anxiety consume me.

“Get her out of here.” I wasn’t sure anymore who said it, but the next thing I knew, we were out of that large room and up the emergency stairs. There were voices following us, one of which I knew from the bottom of my heart. I heard him screaming my name before I succumbed into darkness.

I woke up with a gasp. Sweat was sliding down the middle of my back and my head throbbed a little bit. My vision was blurry; I couldn’t properly see anything, but that could be because I sat up too fast. After a couple of blinks I realized that the room I was in was actually quite dark. I was on a bed, my clothes look a bit rattled, but I seemed okay none the less.

That was….until the events from that night came crashing back to me. I felt the panic bubbling up inside me once more when a cold hand suddenly made its way to my wrist. I gasped and turned to the figure sitting on the bed beside me. Quickly, the person leaned towards the side table to turn on the lamp, and my heart immediately warmed at the sight of my best friend.

“Jongin!” In the next second I was in his arms and we were hugging each other tightly. “Nini, I’m so glad to see you.” I nuzzled my head further into his neck as I felt a sob coming up and tears bunching up in my eyes.

The minute Jongin realized I was crying, he picked me up to make me sit on his lap and wrapped me more firmly in his arms. “Oh baby shhh, I’m here. I’m so sorry I left you alone today.” His hand came up to my hair. “Nini’s here. I’m not going anywhere.”

It took a couple of minutes before I calmed down enough to talk. When I pulled away from him, I punched his chest half heartedly. “Where were you? I didn’t see you at the party at all.” I hastily wiped the tear stains on my cheeks, but Jongin brought my hands down and did it himself. “That’s because I wasn’t at the party.”

I stared at him, my mouth gaping. “What?! But Kyungsoo said we were going to meet at the party!” That made him stop his ministrations. Jongin looked like he wanted to say something important, but then he sighed and shook his head. “I know. We have a lot to talk about. But let’s get home first, okay?”

I sniffled. “Okay. Where are we anyway?”

Jongin blew a raspberry and put a strand of my hair behind my ear. “We’re at one of the hotel rooms a couple floors up. We can go home as soon as Jongdae comes back with my car keys.”