As soon as she received the email from Namjoon, all she could think about was where to start. It was one thing to be passionate, another to get off your and actually do something. She looked over the email in detail and then created a web diagram listing everything she currently knew and then also everything she needed to create a compelling story.

At the top of the diagram was the employee who sent the tip, Ok Taeyong. Next to his name, Moonlight Bar and the owner, Kim Shinyoung, and just below that was the theory in which the CEO had believed to have some sustenance; embezzling money with big names.

“Who are the big names though,” she whispered to herself as she thought hard about where to start.

After years of having to study on her own with little to no experience, she’d gotten used to a system where she would write everything down on hard paper with a pen or pencil, then work through the process of elimination to see where she wanted to start.

Hours of thinking led to the decision that there was simply not enough information in this story. Even if she wanted to put together a layout of the facts, she couldn’t do it now. So as soon as her shift ended at 5pm, she picked up her jacket and purse, then ran out of the office and got into a cab to Itaewon. When she arrived thirty minutes later, the streets were already packed with people, much to her surprise. As a young twenty-something person, she’d spent more time studying and working than play, so this was her first time at a club, which was obvious in the way she dressed.

She went into the club wearing what she had on for work; a loose pencil skirt, a beige colored silk button up shirt and short heels with a loose long jacket on top. She stood out like a sore thumb in a crowd of miniskirts, but that didn’t matter to her; she just wanted to get a story as soon as possible. The music blasted her ears as the tipsy club moguls crowded around her on the dance floor.

Avoiding contact with anyone other than the people she needed to speak with, she walked over to the bar and shouted to the bartender, “I’m looking for Ok Taeyong, is he here?”

“Ok Taeyong,” the bartender looked confused, “I don’t know who that is… who are you?”

“Oh, I’m Kim Yerim from Worldwide Times,” she paused and thought for a second, “I’m his friend.”

“Oh,” the bartender pointed her a door at the end of the bar, “try asking the manager, he’s the guy in the blue suit over there.”

“Okay, thank you,” Yerim walked over and tapped the man on the shoulder, “are you the manager here?”

“Yes, and who are you,” the greasy manager turned his full attention to her.

He looked to be in his mid-thirties, short but very built and sweaty, like he’d just come back from the gym. His blue velvet suit fitted him so tight that his buttons looked like they could snap apart at any time.

“I’m looking for Ok Taeyong… is he here?”

“Oh, Taeyong-ie,” the Manager said sweetly while gesturing for the bartender, “I know him… do you want a drink while I get him for you?”

“Oh, no thank you, I’m good.”

“Okay, how about you go stay in booth 19 up on the balcony and I’ll send him over.”

As the manager walked into the kitchen, she turned and made her way up to the balcony where she immediately recognized a few people already; several conglomerate members, owners of media outlets and even several entertainment industry personnel. When she got to the booth, she sat at the edge and kept her eyes on the men who were gathered at the opposite table, trying her best to read their lips. The best part about being alone for so long is that she’d learned to ignore the noise around her but read the expressions and lips of those who judged her.

One by one, she realized that at least two out of the six men had mentioned money, the bar owner and their lawyers, which was enough to warrant a deeper investigation on those individuals, one of them being the director of G-BUS, a pretty well-known entertainment company. Just as she was about to find out about the third person, a waiter walks up to her and hands her a cup.

“Here you are miss; service.”

“Oh, thank you,” she held the cup, sniffed it and then glanced back at the group.

Just as she looked up, she made eye contact with an employee by the group of men. She coughed and then looked away in shock, sipping on her Pepsi. A few minutes after taking a sip of the Pepsi, she started to feel tired and exhausted for some reason.

She looked at the cup and groaned softly, “…”

Realizing that something had been slipped into her drink, she grabbed her purse and then started down the stairs from the balcony. By the time she got to the dance floor, her head was spinning, and her feet were stumbling around as if she was drunk.

“Oh no,” she groaned.

Half-way through the dance floor, a man grabbed her arm, “where are you going? Dance with me.”

The sound of the man’s voice was obviously the manager’s voice, making her chest tighten up even more. She tried to fight back, but was too weak to at the moment, so all she did was sway back and forth in his hands. Unable to get away, all she could do was pray that she’d live to see tomorrow, no matter the consequences.

Just as she had given up, another man grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from the manager, quickly pushing her through the crowd and out the back door. When they got to the alley, she started to whimper as the thought of dying right there in the darkness had gotten to her, alone and afraid.

“Shh, don’t worry, it’s me,” the man’s voice was comforting to her, quiet and controlled.

She stopped crying almost instantly and looked up, “oh, Jeon Jungkook.”

She immediately recognized the face of her CEO’s bodyguard and rejoiced with hope seeping back into her body.

“Come on,” he helped her over to his car and got her into the passenger seat, then ran over to the driver’s seat.

When she finally came to again, hours later into the night, she was in a bed that was unrecognizable in a room that she assumed was a hotel suite. Fear began to run all over her body once more as she thought about what was going on or what had happened.

“Jeon Jungkook,” she whispered quietly before shouting his name, “Yah, Jeon Jungkook!”

He popped his head from behind the couch on the other end of the suite, “oh, you’re up. Did something happen?”

Tears welled up in her eyes suddenly as she realized what could have happened to her today, “I-I was scared…”

He stood up, fixed his suit and then stood with his hands folded in front of his body.

“H-How,” she choked down her tears and stuttered, “how did you know where I was?”

“The CEO actually told me to follow you in case anything happened.”

“Wait, he knew something like this would happen?”

“He assumed something might happen… it is a club.”

She froze and shut her eyes.

Did he really send me knowing I could have been or killed?

Jungkook thought for a second, “he did mention to me to let you know that you should be more careful from now on in case something like this was to happen again.”

She finally took a deep breath and leaned back on the headboard of the bed, “um… Jeon Jungkook… can I just call you Jungkook-ssi?”

Before he could respond, she cut him off, “thank you… for being there.”

“It’s no problem… it’s my job.”

“I probably wouldn’t be alive; or worse, I’d probably be hating myself right now, if you weren’t there,” tears rolled down her cheeks again as she got out of t