Black Diamond

20. Chapter 20

Taeyong had lost sight of Kamella in the dimly-lit club, even though she had just been at their table a few moments ago. He climbed over a tipsy Taeil to get out of the booth, absolutely feeling the effects of the few shots Kamella had let him take on his own.

He went to the bar first, where he spotted Kamella’s gorgeous friend still mixing drinks under the watchful gazes of both Kai and Jaehyun. Neither of them looked like they were moving anytime soon, so Taeyong ignored them to continue his search for Kamella.

“Looking for me?” Kamella called from behind him, causing Taeyong to spin on his heel. Just looking at her sent his pulse into overdrive. His eyes drank in her image, and he moved closer towards her as his gaze zeroed in on her bright red, full lips.

“Ty?” She questioned, lifting an eyebrow.

Taeyong held a finger to his lips, shushing her instantly, “Mella-yah, stay just like that for a second.”

Kamella gave him a look of confusion but kept still as she was told. Taeyong stared at her face for a long moment, as if committing her image and expression to memory. He reached for her hand, pulling her away from the loudness of the party towards the service elevator at the very back of the House of Cards' first floor.

“Ty, on a scale of one to drunk, what are you?” Kamella teased, and Taeyong laughed as the elevator doors opened up for them.

He cupped her cheeks in his hands and slowly stepped forward, making Kamella saunter backward until her back was pressed against the elevator’s back wall, “Very.”

Since neither of them pressed a button to direct the elevator, the doors shut on their own, in standby mode.

“I know I taught you how to hold your liquor better than that," She commented in an amused tone, a knowing smile on her lips.

“You did, Mella-yah.” Taeyong dropped his hands to her waist, bringing her body closer to his, “But now alcohol makes me want to hold you more too."

Kamella’s smile only grew, “And when did that happen?”

“Since I met you,” Taeyong pressed a kiss onto slowly, his mind a mix of alcohol, desire, and affection. “Whenever I drink, I think of you.”

“When else do you think about me?”

Taeyong leaned his forehead against hers, Kamella’s lovely scent filling his nose, “I think about you most when I’m lonely. And when I’m cold. When I miss you? Oh, and when I’m shopping.”

Kamella giggled, wrapping her arms around Taeyong’s neck, “When you’re shopping? Now I know you’re just making things up.”

“You’d look so good in anything,” Taeyong replied instantly, pressing a kiss into her neck. “I want to buy everything that suits you.”

“I guess I won’t say no if you want to buy me something,” Kamella admitted softly. Realistically speaking, she could afford to buy anything she wanted on her own, but a part of her was curious to see what image he had in mind for her.

Taeyong’s mind had already gone elsewhere. He kissed his way back up to her jaw, finally landing at heavily this time, tugging on her bottom lip with his teeth. Kamella tightened her grip on his neck, which made him even more greedy, kissing her with abandon.

Kamella was losing her mind, and right now was the most inopportune time. She had to get a hold of herself, and quickly, for both of their sakes.

Regrettably, Sung Joon’s low voice sounded in her ear before she could do anything else, “Mel, I’m on my way up.”

“,” Kamella cursed as she pulled away from Taeyong, who took a second to catch his breath.

“We have to go.” She explained, and Taeyong nodded. He had gotten lost in Kamella, but thankfully she pulled them both out of oblivion. Kamella pressed the button to take them up to the second floor.

“Just follow my lead, ok?” Kamella whispered, just as the elevator doors opened to the upper level. They reached the second floor of the club, where Dealer stood at the other end of the walkway, near the staircase. He turned when he spotted the two of them down the hall, and wasted no time in coming over. Kamella steeled herself, and in an instant, gripped Taeyong’s hand tighter than he expected her to. Taeyong turned to her in concern, but realized now was not the time to ask why she was acting that way.

Dealer lifted an eyebrow at their physical contact but decided to focus on the matter at hand.

“Diamond, what are you doing?” Dealer questioned, in an exasperated tone, “You’re managing the party tonight. Get back down there.”

Kamella greeted him with a saccharine smile, “I have an Ace here that just couldn’t wait until normal business hours,” she explained, inclining her head in Taeyong’s direction. “I’m allowed a little break, aren’t I?” Kamella added instantly, draping her free arm over Taeyong's shoulder, and tracing a fingernail along his jaw.

“This… kid?” Dealer looked like he was in genuine disbelief that Taeyong was actually an Ace, “Who are you?”

“An artist at SM,” Taeyong replied proudly, trying his damndest to not let Dealer intimidate him.

“Clearly. When did you meet Diamond?” He prodded, and Kamella stepped between them, a resolute expression on her face.

“Dealer, he’s an Ace. My Ace. I want to give him this special service, so I need you to keep an eye on the party for me.”

Dealer eyed the two of them in annoyance, a drawn-out hush falling over the three of them. Taeyong held his breath and hoped they looked convincing enough.

Dealer huffed as he crossed his arms, and finally took a step back from Taeyong, “Make it quick... and charge him double.”

Kamella made a sound of agreement at the back of , as Dealer his hands in his pockets and headed in the direction of the staircase. She knew keeping an eye on the party would keep him away from his office, giving them time to gather evidence.

“Oppa, it’s your turn,” She whispered into the earpiece, as she directed Taeyong towards one of the private rooms that didn’t have a security camera. “I’ll be in here with Taeyong to lead you through everything.”

“I’m already on the elevator.” Sung Joon replied gently, and Kamella pushed out a breath of relief.

Taeyong took a seat on the leather couch in the private karaoke room, pulling out his cell phone to text Ten and Jaehyun. He knew Kamella wouldn’t want either of her friends in the club when everything went down.

“What are you going to do about the guards at the door?” Kamella wondered out loud, pacing the room while Taeyong sent the texts to s. He watched her anxiously for a moment, before going back to his phone.

“They’ll be busy in just a second.” Sung Joon murmured, and he began to countdown, “5...4...3...”

Suddenly, every light in the House of Cards flickered off. They could hear gasps of surprise from the partygoers downstairs, the sounds of confusion and uncertainty filling the silence. Kamella heard shuffling on Sung Joon’s end, a loud grunt, and then the sound of a slamming door.

“Sung Joon?” She whispered in concern.

“I’m fine, Mel. The lights won’t be out for too long, so I’ll be busy for a bit. The guards are already gone.”

Kamella sunk into the seat beside Taeyong, weaving her fingers through his, “I know I shouldn’t be nervous, but…”

Taeyong nodded, patting Kamella’s hand, “You’re doing the right thing. Don’t worry, we’re right here with you, Mella-yah. I told Jaeyhun to get Simone-ssi out, and Ten already left with Koko-yah. Everyone will be fine.”

Just as Taeyong finished his speech, Kamella grabbed his shoulders and sunk flat on her back as the sound of hurried footsteps came towards the room. In the blink of an eye, Dealer burst into the room, shining his cell phone flashlight on the two of them. Kamella remained in her position, her fingers lightly pushing back Taeyong’s messy bangs as she slanted her head in his direction as if to kiss him. Taeyong was taken aback at Kamella’s sudden closeness but kept his gaze focused on her face to avoid being embarrassed at Dealer’s appearance.

“Diamond, what the is happening?! FIX IT!” Dealer shouted, every bone in his body radiating irritation. Taeyong grimaced at Dealer’s abrasive behavior, not liking one bit how the man spoke to Kamella, but she stayed where she was, unfazed by his nonsense. Instead, she cupped Taeyong’s jaw, locking her gaze with his.

“Clearly, I’m busy.”

“Diamond, find out what happened NOW, or I’ll-,” Before Dealer could finish his sentence, the backup generators buzzed to life, restoring the lights to the entire facility, and more importantly, the building next door.

Kamella tried not to panic since Sung Joon was in Dealer’s office stealing information for the police as they spoke. Their planned power outage didn’t last as long as they had anticipated… She couldn’t think about that right now.

“,” Came a soft voice from the earpiece in her ear, and her worries came to life. Sung Joon was still in the office when the generators .

“Dealer, I’m still busy,” she pointed out, “I’ll be down when we’re done.”

“Hurry the hell up,” Dealer snapped, slamming the door shut as he went out. Taeyong sat up to give Kamella some room to breathe, but she was too busy racking her brain on how to help Sung Joon.

“Oppa, did you get enough documents out?” She asked as she sat upright.

“I hope so,” came Sung Joon’s response. “What do we do? The cameras will come back on any minute.”

Kamella was pacing again, and Taeyong stood up to finally grab her and hold her still. She sighed, “I...don't know…”

“Come on Mel, use that beautiful brain of yours to-”

Kamella gazed frantically about the room for some idea, an inspiration, something to help them out right now. She needed an idea and she needed it fast. Downstairs, it seemed like everyone at the party was perfectly fine with making their own white noise to cover the lack of music. Kamella heaved a sigh and plopped back down on the couch -- the longer she took, the higher the chance that Dealer would be able to get video footage of Sung Joon.

The DJ’s voice rang out over the speakers, “Sorry for the technical delay, everyone! Let’s get back to the party!”

The crowd cheered loudly downstairs, as BTS’ Fire began to play over the speakers. Kamella’s eyes grew wide for an instant before her lips curved in a sinister smirk. Taeyong tilted his head curiously.

“Burn it.”

Taeyong and Sung Joon simultaneously balked at her words.

“Come again?” Sung Joon barked incredulously.

“Noona, that’s a bit-” Taeyong murmured hesitantly, wondering if arson was really their only option.

“Just burn it all. Dealer has a private collection of alcohol on the back shelf. You have fuel, and you have a lighter… it’ll make sense if there are items missing because of the fire. Let’s burn it.”

“Mel, that’s…”

“I wish I was there to do it myself,” Kamella said steadily, as the idea became clearer and clearer in her mind, “He deserves it.” Her voice was shaking, but she couldn’t be more steadfast in her resolve, “If anything happens, I’ll take the fall for it.”

“I can’t leave things alone after hearing that,” Sung Joon chuckled humorlessly. He remembered every single time Dealer had broken Kamella’s heart and mind. He witnessed her shatter every time the man reached new levels of low, “Looks like I’m adding arsonist to my resume.”

Kamella scoffed, listening intently to the sound of Sung Joon emptying the contents of the bottles wherever he could. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine what he was doing.

“Last chance, Mel.” Sung Joon murmured, dropping an empty bottle of vodka in a trash can filled with papers. He ripped off a strip of fabric from a nearby curtain and stuffed the strip into the last full bottle of alcohol.

“Just don’t hurt yourself trying to get out.”

Sung Joon made sure he made it to the door, pulled his lighter out of his pocket, and lit the fabric. He threw the bottle in the direction of Dealer’s desk and watched as the flames instantly roared to life.

In no time, the flames were spreading, growing with each splash of alcohol that had soaked into the furniture and fabrics it encountered. Sung Joon closed the office door behind him to help the fire gain traction before someone noticed the smoke.

Sung Joon made it down the hall and to the stairwell before the fire alarm finally went off. He calmly exited the building, taking his time to avoid suspicion. The alarm was going off in the House of Cards as well since the two buildings were connected. It was easy for Sung Joon to slip in the crowd of SM employees that had started evacuating the club. Sung Joon made it to his car completely undetected.

“I’m heading to the police station to help them sort the evidence now, Mel. Let me know if-”

BOOM!

There was a loud explosion from the upper level of the building as artists and fans alike screamed, and ran out towards the street.

“What the hell was that?!” Kamella shouted over the noise in Sung Joon’s ear. She and Taeyong had made it to the emergency staircase on the opposite side of the House of Cards, using the fire as a chance to get the hell out of there. She hoped everyone else made it out.

“Was there a gas line in that office?!” Sung Joon responded in surprise, as he watched the flames burst through the windows of the top floor. “Where are you, Mel?!”

“We’re fine, we’re fine,” Kamella reassured him over the headset. “What are you doing now?”

“I’m going to meet with the police to go over the evidence. Hopefully, we’ll have enough evidence for a warrant. Do you need me to get you out of there?”

“Oppa, how many ways can I say we’re ok? Go where you need to -- Ty and I can take care of ourselves. Just make sure you’re safe.”

“You too,” Kamella replied, making her way down the alley beside the House of Cards.

Taeyong took Kamella’s hand and together they ran, putting some distance between them and the fire. At the end of the road, Olivia was sitting in Kamella’s SUV, waving at them frantically. Yuta and Johnny sat in the backseat, greeting them as Taeyong and Kamella joined them in the car.

“Did everyone make it out?” Taeyong questioned his two members as he hopped into the backseat with them. Olivia peeled off, zooming down the road without looking back.

“The Dreamies were already on their way home before the power went out. Ten went home with Koko, and Jaehyun escorted Simone back to her hotel as you asked.” Johnny reported.

“Our WayV members left when the power came back on, and everyone else evacuated when the fire alarms went off,” Yuta added.

Taeyong nodded, as his phone buzzed to life with a record amount of text notifications and Kakao messages.

Olivia focused on the road as she drove, her expression grim, “Mel, the complex manager called.”

“Our apartment complex? Why would they call?”

Olivia spared Kamella a glance while she waited for the stoplight to change. She knew this was the last thing her best friend needed to hear, but there was no way she could hide something this big from her.

“She called because the police are there... Someone broke into our place.”

End Chapter 20