Sam's P.O.V:

With Lee now back with us, we managed to get back to the studio, but it wasn't easy to get the guard away from the door. We had to make it look like the rest of us hadn't left. Daniel had to pretend that he needed company to go to the bathroom, and we made our way back into the studio. Lee had to wait for a few minutes before appearing to make it look like she was really coming back to the studio. Now we were all back in the studio, including Seunghoon, who had escorted the guard to the infirmary. He had come in before the rest of us did, and he too had to think of something for him to get in without the guard seeing him. Lisa and Jennie took care of that.

As soon as Lee entered the room, those who had remained behind in the studio were excited to see her.

"Lee, you're back!" Daniel exclaimed with joy as he went over to hug her.

"Wow, you act like you all thought I was dead," Lee said, blushing at the gesture.

"You were running away from Johnny," said Mike. "Of course, we would worry."

"I just hope they have caught him," said Mino. "He really gave us a hell of a time finding you."

"I should've asked," I said as I was seated on the couch, still with the walkie-talkie in my hands.

"Do you think they did?" Jinwoo asked. 

"Only one way to..."

Before I could even finish my sentence, the lights went out, then came back on seconds later. We all looked at each other. It looks like the power is back on.

"Well, it's about time," said the studio producer, who is still in the room.

"If they have captured Johnny, won't that mean the lockdown is over?" Seungyoon asked. 

"Maybe," said Sam. "We should ask the guard I spoke to on the walkie-talkie."

I held the walkie-talkie in my hand and went on channel 2. "This is Sam; any update on Johnny, over?"

I waited for a response, but all I received was static. Strange. I felt people’s eyes on me, wondering what was going on.

"What’s going on? Why isn’t anyone responding?" Jisoo asked. 

"Your guess is as good as mine. I'll try again."

I did just that, and this time around, I received a response:

"This is Kim, over. The suspect, Johnny, hasn’t been apprehended, over." 

"What do you mean he hasn’t been apprehended, over." 

"Turns out no one cut the power line; there was just a technical issue, over. Lockdown has been lifted, over." 

I sighed before clicking on the walkie-talkie and saying, "Thanks for the update, over and out."

Well, this is interesting, I thought to myself. Johnny didn’t cut the power. Everyone around is silent, looking at each other. Many eyes fell on me, as if I knew what all of this meant.

"Okay, what the heck is going?" Zoey asked out loud.

"I’m confused," said Lisa. "Didn’t they say someone cut the power?"

"Perhaps it was all just a misunderstanding," said Seungyoon.

"No way. When it comes to Johnny, there’s no mistake," said Christine.

"I agree," said Zoey. "Until they come here to give us a reasonable explanation, I’m not going anywhere."

"Yeah, I was chased on one of the floors and a couple of stairs, just to get away from him," said Lee. "There has to be a mistake here."

A knock came at the door, and Yong-guk told whomever it was to come in. The door flew open, and the guard came in with Collins and Yang Hyun-suk behind him.

"I would like to inform all of you that the lockdown has been lifted, and you’re all free to move about," said the guard with such courtesy.

Most of us in the room didn’t know how to respond to that when we had already received the news. A few of us responded in relief, pretending that all was normal. However, many weren’t afraid to show their discontent.

The guard excused himself and left the room. The two managers looked at each of us, and something told me they could feel something wrong in the air.

"I hear the song is ready," said Yang Hyun-suk. "But you all look like you’ve just received the worst news of your lives."

I remembered that I held the walkie-talkie in my hand and soon hid it behind me after turning it off. The last thing they need is for us to be caught when The Toxins made a promise to Collins that we wouldn’t do anything stupid.

"Nothing; they are exhausted," said Lee. "You know how hard they’ve had to work."

"And there was the issue of the power cut. I hope that wasn’t much of a drawback."

"Not really," Seungyoon answered.

"Well, it was when we heard that Johnny might have done it," said Zoey as she twirled strands of her hair in an absent-minded fashion.

I wasn’t the only one who gave Zoey a look, telling her to keep shut. Lee, Mino, and Mike also did the same.

"Oh, yes," said Collins. "When the electricians went to look at the problem, they were informed that one of the workers saw someone near the main power source and made the assumption that it was they who did it. But they later discovered that no one tampered with it." 

"What?" all of us muttered.

"Yep, so there’s nothing to worry about," said Yang Hyun-suk.

I can’t believe this, and I shake my head in disbelief. I looked at Lee, and she had her eyes on me. Likewise, I wonder what she's thinking. Will she tell them that Johnny actually chased her down the stairs? Would they even believe her? They wouldn't take it lightly, that's for sure. But who knows?

"But didn't they say someone matched Johnny’s description?" Rose asked. 

"Yes, but all that was cleared up," said Yang Hyun-suk. "I hear he came here with G-Dragon, correct? One of the workers must have mistaken him for an imposter when he was only heading for the men’s room and got lost on the ground floor."

I still can't believe this. Have we been played here?

We went back to looking at each other. I was expecting one of us to open up and explain that what has just been explained to us isn’t what we know. But none of us dared to open our mouths, not even Lee.

"I think he did it," said Zoey, not afraid to speak her mind.

"Well, we really can’t start pointing fingers when many of us weren’t even there," said Yang Hyun-suk.

We continue throwing looks back and forth. Someone has to say something. But then that would mean us Toxins getting into trouble with Collins. The only one who could say anything is Lee. But looking at the situation, I don’t think she’s going to.

"We should just get on with it and listen to the song," said Yong-guk. "We’ve been here for a really long time, and a lot of us would want to get some fresh air."

"Oh, yes, we really should," I said, thankful for Yong-guk for breaking what would’ve been an endless cycle of trying to accuse Johnny.

"But wait," Zoey pointed out, but Christine, who stood next to her, held her shoulder, warning her not to say anything.

"You were trying to say something, Zoey?" Collins asked. 

"Nothing," Zoey said, shaking her head. "I wanted to go out for some fresh air, if that’s okay."

"You may," said Yang Hyun-suk. "Being cooped up in here for so long isn’t good for you. We’ll listen to the song just fine."

"I’ll follow," said Christine. It’s for the best that Zoey has someone with her. Right now, I’m scared she will leave the premises and look for Johnny herself.

Apparently, many wanted to get out for some fresh air. That only left me, Yong-guk, and Mike behind with the managers and the producer. Lee also thought it was best to leave under the pretense that she wanted to get us something to eat. As much as I wanted to get out, I had to stay in case anything happened.

Twenty minutes later, the managers had listened to the song for almost the fourth time. I wonder why they did so, because they left Yong-guk, Mike, and me a little nervous. Did they not like it? Doing it all over again isn't doing us any favours. The rest of BTW is already downtrodden as it is.

"The song is perfect," said Yang Hyun-suk as he turned in his chair to look at the three of us who stood behind him and Collins. "I couldn’t stop listening to it, and that's why I kept repeating it."

My heart felt like it would give way after what I'd just heard. This is great. Yong-guk gave a sigh of relief. Mike punched the air in triumph.

"You all still have a lot of work to do," said Collins, turning to face us. "If we didn’t have a delay with the power cut, I would’ve liked that the three of you worked with the song-writers for the remaining four songs."

"The day is pretty much over," said Yang Hyun-suk. "So I suggest we leave that for tomorrow, though we would need a lot of your effort, not only from you three but the rest of BTW. That means we’ll need you all here early in the morning." 

"That’s fine," I said. "We need to tackle the album as quickly as possible."

"That will be all," said Yang Hyun-suk, standing up from his seat. "We’ll meet tomorrow. Make sure to inform the others."

"Of course we will," said Mike.

After the two managers had left, the three of us left the studio, with the studio producer heading downstairs. We didn’t use the elevator in fear of what happened earlier with the power.

"What a day it has been, huh?" the producer asked.

"Yeah," said Mike as he scratched his head. "After finding out that Johnny didn’t pull the power, it still surprises me."

"I can imagine how everyone is coping with this," said Yong-guk.

"Well, they just have to it in and forget about it. We've got more stressful things to worry about," I pointed out.

After going down a few floors, the producer stopped on one of them, saying that he had to stay behind in his office to take care of a few things before calling it a day. We said our goodbyes to him as we continued our way to the ground floor. I wonder if the others are out there like they said they would, getting some fresh air.

We reach the ground floor, and it’s pretty much empty except for the receptionist, who waved at us when we reached the desk. We waved back, and just as we’re about to make our way out through the door, we find Seungyoon and Mino seated on the comfortable couches of the waiting area, each having a cup of vanilla ice cream with sprinkles.

"Hey, guys, you were going to miss out on the ice cream," said Mino when he spotted us.

"Where did you get them?" Mike asked. "I now feel the urge for something to cool me down."

"Outside," Seungyoon answered. "Lee thought it best that we get something to cheer us up. An ice cream man just happened to be passing by."

"See you guys later," said Mike as he rushed out of the lobby at top speed. I’m surprised that he doesn’t look the least bit tired.

"How is Zoey doing?" I asked Seungyoon and Mino.

"She’s upset, as usual," said Mino as he took a spoonful of ice cream and looked at it. "We all are. But for her, you already know how she is."

"For a minute there, I thought you were going to say that she almost left the premises to look for Johnny."

Seungyoon and Mino shared a nervous look. "Goodness, she did, didn’t she?" I asked. 

"Well, it took Christine and Daniel to stop her," Seungyoon answered. "Daniel had to be the fastest to block her from reaching the gate." 

I held my forehead. Now I’m the one who needs ice cream.

As though reading my expression, Yong-guk said, "Let’s step outside."

I agreed with him and started to make our way out. Seungyoon and Mino got up and followed.

We found ourselves in the parking lot and had our eyes fixed on the gate, where the rest of BTW and Lee stood beside an ice truck. What a nice time to have ice cream, I thought. We soon joined them, and Lee was the first to notice us coming.

"Ah, Sam, Yong-guk, just i