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I. TWO YEARS AGO (PT. 1)

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It was a quiet night at headquarters.

No major crises, no critical missions—just some officers shuffling back and forth in the hallway deep in the night finishing up work they’d fallen behind on. As part of an elite intelligence force for the rebel army—Beyond the Scene, also known as BTS—Taehyung knew there was endless amounts of work to be done. Serene nights like this were rare occurrence.

It was almost too quiet for Taehyung.

In the many years since Taehyung had joined the rebel army, he had learned that quiet nights like this always led to bad things that followed.

He didn’t know what it would be this time but he was sure something would break the peace.

“Hey hot stuff, deep in thought?”

There it was.

Not so much a major crisis but still something, or someone in her case, that broke his peace.

Taehyung frowned at the nickname that she’d called him since the moment she joined the army and gave her a flick to her forehead without a second thought.

“Owowow…” She muttered, holding her hand to the inflicted area.

“Don’t call me that,” he said but she merely grinned back, her eyes curving into her infamous eye smile.

The girl wearing a pink beanie, white off the shoulder crop top and denim shorts slid into the seat across from him in the large canteen where she could have chosen to sit anywhere else.

“Did you need something?” He asked on instinct. As her direct superior, he was obliged to know of everyone’s whereabouts and get their status reports.

“You’ll give me whatever I need, Commander?” The girl said with a sly smile, staring at him with her big, brown eyes and batting her eyelashes. The flirtatious undertone was not lost on him and he felt his face getting hot.

“You know what I mean!” He retorted, fighting the blush that was rising to his cheeks whether from frustration at her or embarrassment at her words or both, he didn’t know. “And don’t call me that. I’m not Commander yet.”

A twinkling laugh escaped her lips. “Relax, Commander. If you keep blushing like that I might start getting the wrong idea and I’ll get my hopes up.”

“What do you want, Park Chaeri?” Taehyung finally asked once he’d regained his composure. He should have been used to her flirtatious antics by now but no matter how many times