Sehun, Rosé, Lisa, and I sit in the cab silently. I lean against the window, watching the lit-up Incheon streets as we go. I slip my hands in my sweatshirt pockets, still bummed we couldn't bring our coats. Rosé insisted we'd have no place to stash them after sneaking into the hotel-no place we could guarantee that we'd get them back, anyway. I slowly press the buttons on my cell phone in my pocket, typing On way into a text message to Sejeong and Jungkook.

I've been updating them all day, piece by piece as the planning came together, an action I initially imagined would be reassuring. But Sejeong only proceeded to find fault with every strategy. And the whole thing felt odd, like I was double agent or something, erasing all evidence of our texts and not telling Sehun, Rosé, and Lisa what I was doing.

I keep my hand on the phone, but I can't tell if they've replied because I set it to silent. I chew on the inside of my cheek, and my thoughts drift back to what Jungkook said about me being selfish. I want to push against it, denying that it could be true, given the countless risks I've taken in the past month. But I'm also not sure I can argue that my actions has a higher purpose beyond staying alive and protecting appa.

The cab stops, interrupting my thoughts. We pile out about five blocks from the hotel and I can feel the reassuring pressure of the knife stashed in my boot as I step onto the sidewalk. I gently touch the rope tied to my belt and readjust the backpack on my shoulder, which is full but light, stuffed with my ball gown and mask. The air is unusually biting, give our lack of layers, but no one seems to notice.

Lisa and I walked behind Sehun and Rosé down the busy edge of Incheon and Seoul sidewalk populated by a fashionable late-night dinner crowd and upscale bar patrons. Spirits are running high and holidays lights are everywhere. Ever since we exited the cab Sehun and Rosé have been arguing about what route to take, which is impressive, considering it already took us an hour to agree on one earlier.

Lisa walks casually, like she doesn't have a care in the world, but her eyes are alert, I wouldn't be surprised if she could describe the last fifty people we've passed from memory. I, too, scan the crowd, looking for the signature hawish Strategia eyes that are out of place in otherwise relaxed behavior.

It occurs to me how markedly different my life is in this moment. I must have walked down the street with a group of friends a thousand times in Jeongsan, laughing and talking. And here I am now, walking with another group of friends, but on my way to sneak into a ball in Seoul where the penalty for getting caught crashing is certain death.

Now only one building away from the hotel on the opposite side of the street, I can see two men dressed as security guards outside the front entrance. One is unusually large, with dark jet black hair, and the other is slender, with an anime hair.

Siwon's crew!

I glance at Sehun, who I can tell shares my concern by the worry line in his forehead. As if it wasn't going to be hard enough to sneak into a huge, well-lit, well-guarded property, now we have people who will not only recognize us but threatened that they would hand us over to Taecyeon.

I pull my hoodie up, better shadowing my face, and we cross the street right at the corner of the hotel and far too close to the guards for comfort. Shindong and Yesung scan the sidewalk in front of them, taking note of every person nearing the door. Shindong looks in our direction. I loop my arms through Lisa's and lean my face on her shoulder, laughing-a casual pose Jisoo and I often assumed and one that is typically un-Strategia. Shindong looks right past us and we continue down the street running along the side of the hotel, slipping out of his line of sight. I stand straight once more and Lisa gives me a curious nod of approval. And even though I'm fairly certain we went unnoticed, I do a quick glance over my shoulder just to be sure.

The hotel property is sprawling and takes up an entire city block, but the building itself is only about four stories tall. We circle down the side of it, around the back where the hotel presses up against a park with gardens and tall trees, and continue past it and around the other side. All the entrances save the main one are closed, with signs that redirect patrons to the front of the building. For a moment I think maybe we've had a of luck and that there will be fewer guards to navigate around.

"Unfortunate," Sehun says. "With Siwon's crew at the singular entrance, it will make it nearly impossible to get out if something goes wrong."

Rosé stares at Sehun. "That was Siwon's crew? I guess this is what I get for pairing up with you two against my better judgment."

I slip my hand in my pocket.

Me: All entrances blocked but front. Need distraction for guards in case we have to run for it.

And the second I type it, I'm exceedingly grateful Sejeong decided to follow us.

"I still say it would be simpler to pick one of the locks on the side doors instead of counting Suzy's climbing skills,"' Rosé continues, keeping her voice down and giving me a wary look.

Sehun shakes his head. "And risk coming face to face with a security guard who is likely guarding the inside of that door? No thanks."

"A guard we could easily knock out with Angels' Dream," Rosé says, bringing up one of the many options we disagreed on earlier.

"Rosé, we already decided," Lisa says calmly, the same way you might remind a child to pick up their toys.

Rosé frowns at Lisa. "No loyalty, I swear."

And so we retrace our steps to the back of the building where it adjoins the park.

"Well, let's just hope Suzy doesn't screw this up," Rosé adds, but no one responds.

We walk close to the hotel wall, stopping under a balcony leading to the second-story room. From what I can tell from the  ground, the lights are out and the curtains are drawn. We take a quick scan of the park to make sure no one is nearby. We all look at each other in silent agreement that this one will do.

"Ready?" Sehun says, and I nod.

Lisa faces the park, scanning for possible onlookers, and Rosé stands with her arms crossed and a sour expression. She's been resisting me all day, and I have no idea why. Maybe she never got over her suspicion about me being out so early this morning, or maybe she's still pissed that I don't want to rip Taecyeon's head off with my teeth. It's hard to tell.

I grab the white stone of the wall and hoist myself up. There is a fair amount of decorative work and the grooves arouch each stone are deep enough that climbing the wall is no problem; I could grip these handholds in my sleep.

I wedge my boots on a small ledge, pushing up, and grab the second-story railing. I get a good hold with both hands and swings my legs over the side, landing silently on the stone balcony. I sweep my eyes over to the park below. A group of four twentysomethings, all wearing Santa hats and talking too loudly, walk along one of the park paths. I look below and my friends have shifted to casual poses and appear to be chatting.

The instant the loud group passes, I grab the rope off my belt, tie it securely around the railing with a tight double knot, and drop it down to them. Sehun is the first one up and he winks at me.

"Brilliant work," he whispers, and I smile back at him. It feels kind of exhilarating, getting to use my climbing skills.

Sehun pulls out his lock-picking tools, and by the time Rosé and Lisa climb up, he's got the door open.

Lisa unties the rope from the railing and we all step inside, locking the door behind us. Even in the dark, I can tell that the room is luxurious. There are heavy drapes on the windows, a king-sized bed with a high headboard and a chaise lounge at the foot of it, and an open door leading to an equally lavish sitting room. Suitcases lie open on the wooden luggage racks, and in one of them I spot the corner of a masquerade mask. My pulse quickens at the sight of ut. We're in a Strategia's room. I creep to the door leading into the sitting room and peek through. All is silent, but for how long?

Rosé eyes the suitcase. "Let's get on with it and get the hell out of here," she whispers, and I know she must see the mask, too.

Sehun ducks into the sitting room and I head to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I take off my backpack and it. The pink floral lace tulle skirt explodes out of the opening-I had quite the time compressing it earlier this evening. I pull out the dress and yank off my sweatshirt, typing it securely around my waist. I tuck my gloves into my jean pockets and my hat into my left boot, so as not to crowd the knife in my right boot. I slip the dress over my head and wiggle into the form-fitting pink off the shoulder bodice. The tulle is so puffy that it completely conceals my jeans and my tied sweatshirt below. I quickly tie my hair into a low pony and a fake diamond necklace to finish off the look.

I grab my phone and unlock it. There is a message from Sejeong waiting for me.

Sejeong: We have you covered. Waiting nearby.

Me: In. Won't be able to read responses here on out. Wish us luck.

It only takes a moment for her to reply.

Sejeong: Understood. And it's not luck; it's skill.

I smile at the text before erasing the thread and shove the phone into a hidden pocket in my skirt-something Lisa added for us to conceal our weapons and the ointment, and a lucky break for me.

I exit the bathroom just as Rosé is helping Lisa smooth a black wig over her signature orange hair. Rosé is wearing a rose long-sleeve gown with a high slit on her left leg, and Lisa is also wearing a long-sleeve sequin gold dress with a slit on her right leg. With that, we're all in formal wear, their weapons in holters of their covered legs, and I tie on my light pink mask. It covers my entire face expect the underside of my nose and my mouth.

Sehun returns from the sitting room wearing a  long velvet cape pushed back over one shoulder and a mask that appears to be sculpted out of gold leaf. I stare at him in awe while he collects our backpacks and steps out onto the balcony, tossing them them into a nearby brush.

He closes the sliding balcony door, and the moment the lock clicks into place, muffled voices come from the hallway. Lisa runs to the hallway door with fast silent steps. She peers through the peephole and we all stand poised to flee-although climbing down his building covered in copious amounts of tulle would be a good way to break a bone.

Lisa turns around. "It's clear," she whispers, and I let out a huge sigh of relief.

She looks back out the peephole and cracks the door. She peers through the opening, looking in both directions. I count to five in my head. Lisa turns, nods, and then steps into the hallway. We waste no time in following her. But the moment the door clicks shut behind us, my stomach flips. There's no turning back. We're in a Tiger-run Strategia hotel, uninvited, and all the exits are potentially blocked by guards.

We walk down the long hallway at a steady pace, my heart beating so loudly that I'm surprise Rosé haven't scolded me for it. Ahead of us is a grand curving staircase, and the closer we get to it, the more I wonder about appa's clues. Each one has been aimed at me but has ultimately been useless without my Strategia friends to help decode it. Was he trying to protect me by not letting me do this alone? But then again, if he wanted to protect me, wouldn't he just tell me where he was and protect me himself?

We make our way down the stairs toward a large elegant lobby that has a comfortable seating area, a bar, and the entrance to a restaurant. Scattered throughout are masked Strategia in gowns and tuxedos. I want to lift my skirt on the stairs, but I can't risk revealing my boots or, god forbid, the edge of my jeans.

We head toward the bar, scoping out the room as we go. One the far side is a red velvet rope. And in front of the rope is Siwon. I in a quick breath and hold it for a few seconds. Even though I'm wearing a mask and know it would be nearly impossible for him to recognize me across the room, I'm unnerved. Sehun and I share a look and I can tell he's thinking what I'm thinking-bad freaking luck.

"What?" Rosé hisses as she grabs a spot at the far end of the bar where the drinks come out.

I sit down next to Rosé, but Lisa and Sehun remain standing.

"The crew leader is at the rope," I say, keeping my voice down.

Siwon greets two guest as they arrive, and they lift their masks. He takes a good look at them while a server offers them glass of champagne. He gives a quick nod and moves on to ak the next guest to lift her mask.

Rosé stares daggers at Sehun. "Care to do anything else to make this harder than it already is? Maybe you want to streak across the room . . . or light a curtain on fire?"

Sehun winks at her and leans lazily against the bar. "We knew the crew would be a problem. I'm shocked that you're shocked.

Rosé gives him a withering look.

While some Strategia go straight to the velvet rope, others appear to be in no rush, casually chatting on couches and drinking at tables. And thankfully, there are also some clusters of non-Strategia to use as marks.

I slip my hand into my pocket, searching out the keys on my phone, and type to Sejeong.

Me: Entrance problems. Will update when in motion.

"Far right, four-top," Sehun says, and I follow his eyes.

Four non-Strategia men seem to be engrossed in conversation and drinking something of the whisky variety. There are enough empty glasses on the table to indicate they have been consuming a fair amount.

"Agreed," I say. "It'll seem like they naturally drank too much."

Lisa nods.

And we wait, scoping out the room for other possible marks to create our diversion. But despite my best efforts, my eyes drifts to Siwon, and while I can't hear what he's saying, I'm certain he's memorized the guest list, making him far more organized and savvy than I originally gave him credit for. I eye the champagne server standing next to him. From his uninterest expression and the fact that he keeps checking the clock on the far wall, my bet is that he's not Strategia and is merely a hotel employee.

"What about the champagne guy?" I say, and look at Sehun.

"I considered him, but spilling drinks isn't enough to distract someone like Siwon," Sehun says.

"It might work if it was part of our larger distraction," Rosé says. "But we would have to get uncomfortably close. How sure are you that he won't recognize you behind those masks?"

"Look," I say. "He's speaking to each person individually. If we arrange it so that you and Lisa are in front of us, it might work."

"My vote is yes," Lisa says, and we all turn to her. "I can unbalance the server if Suzy can push the drinks toward Rosé."

"No problem," I say. "And if our distraction doesn't work, you can create a stink, Rosé, storm off to the bathroom, and we can regroup."

Rosé smiles. "Creating a stink is what I do best."

"So then we're agreed," Sehun says, and we're all quiet, the nervous kind of quiet that happens right before you step onstage or run a race.

Next to Sehun, the bartender preps a tray with four glasses and fills them with the same amber-colored alcohol the men at the four-top are drinking.

Me: Get ready.

I clasps Sehun's hand, passing him the small jar of Drunken Confessions ointment. Lisa fuilfly shifts her position so that she blocks him from the view of the rest of the room. Sehun pulls a toothpick out of his pocket, unscrews the jar lid, and scoops out some of the clear goo. When the bartender turns to replace the alcohol bottle on the shelf, Sehun swipes the toothpick along the bottom of the drinks where the glass is thicker and will hide the smudge. I'm assuming it's also make it less likely for the server to accidentally touch the ointment.

Not a minute passes and a middle-aged woman dressed identically to the champagne server collects the tray with the four drinks. And just as we hoped, she delivers them to the table of non-Strategia men.

We wait while the server removes the plethora of empties. I count eh seconds off. Five seconds until the first man grabs his tumbler. Two more seconds before the next does the same. And four seconds after that until the last two join in. At which point the first man leans forward, bracing the table and drooping his head. Hole in one. The second man, also losing control over his movement, over  his movements, overgesticulates and knocks the leaning mans glass right off the table. It lands with a loud crash, shattering on the shiny stone floor.

The lobby crowd turns to look, including Siwon, and the server rushes to get something to clean it up with.

The first man tries to stand, clearly annoyed with the second, but he only makes it halfway out of his chair before he grabs the table awkwardly. He weight tips it, sending the remaining glasses sliding into him, and everything crashes to the floor.

"Now," Lisa whispers, and we walk casually toward the velvet rope, pausing briefly to observe the chaos in order to blend with the rest of the room.

We approach the rope, Lisa and Rosé side by side and Sehun and I behind them. I force myself to relax with each step we take toward Siwon, unclenching my hands and lowering my shoulders.

The table of men has two servers at it, nervously trying to clean up the mess. I hear one of the them tell the men that they're cut off, and everyone involved is getting increasingly loud.

"If you'll only follow us . . .," the male server says.

"I will not!" one of them replies indignantly. "I'm not done here."

"I'm afraid you are done," says the female server.

In my pocket I type Now into my phone and press Send, only hoping that Sejeong and Jungkook succeed in distracting Shindong and Yesung out front.

We stop near Siwon, who gives Rosé a quick glance. "Welcome," Siwon says in his scratchy voice, momentraily looking toward the drunken argument. "Please remove your masks and help yourself to a glass of champagne."

"Do you know who I am? Do you know how much money I spend in this hotel?" says one of the men in a booming voice. "You can't kick me out. I'm not leaving." I hear what I think is a chair crash behind me.

Well, there's the truth serum part of the ointment.

"Take your hands off me!" exclaims the man.

Siwon turns his attention back to the altercation, frowning.

Lisa reaches for a glass of champagne, pulling it forward quickly and into the lip on the edge of the tray hard enough to balance it. The change server isn't looking at Lisa, he's staring at the stumbling men like everyone else.

"Watch out," Lisa says to the server, who immediately attempts to readjust the wobbly tray.

I reach out in the same moment as though I'm trying  to help, stepping forward and directly into his path. He trips over my ankle and I reach up, sending the almost-steadied tray flying, crashing into Siwon and soaking him and the hem of Rosé's skirt.

Siwon growls at the server like he might eat him.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what . . . Sorry," the server says, trying to pick broken glasses off the floor.

"Look at my dress!" Rosé says with annoyance, and my heart sinks. She must think we have no chance of getting past this rope.

Siwon takes a handful of fast steps away from us. I hold my breath in hopeful anticipation as he grabs some cloth napkins from an empty table, but as he turns back in our direction, my chest deflates. Damn it. Before he can return, though, the argument at the table escalates. I look just in time to see one of the men lose his balance and crash into the male server, knocking them both to the floor.

Siwon pulls his walkie-talkie off his belt. "Shindong," he growls into it. He waits a beat, tries again, but there's no immediate response. And in that moment I'm grateful to Sejeong. But I also feel a sense of pride, like maybe I'm better at being a Strategia than I originally thought.

"," Siwon says under his breath, and my body tenses. I'm afraid to blink. Siwon turns toward the champagne server. "Leave that and go get one of the security guards from the front entrance."

The young guy stands and for a second I think Siwon's going to walk back to us. But he doesn't; he heads toward the altercation. We don't waste a second. We step around the rope and slip through the door.

The ballroom is b with Strategia. I gulp. There must be more than three hundred people here. First thing I do is search for alternate exits. But unfortunately there is only one other door, above which is a small sign that reads BATHROOM in fancy writing; not an exit; to top it off, it's guarded from the inside. And the windows are the large picture kind that don't open, which means being discovered or causing a scene here would be disastrous.

"How can I help?" Sehun asks, breaking my train of thought.

"I'm not sure yet," I say, quickly taking in details of the room, which is decorated in a winter wonderland theme.

The high ceilings are strewn with white lights, looping into the center and hanging down like sparkly snow. Along the walls there are twinkling white artificial trees; the tables are laid out in all white with silver candelabras and fragile china, and a live band plays Christmas music.

As we walk through the crowd and tables, a platform becomes visible with a single table on it. Perched behind that table like it's a royal court sits three people in matching red-and-gold masks-an old man with black and silver hair, who I can only assume is Taecyeon; a petite woman with light brown hair in an elaborate braid, who must be Taeyeon; and a young guy with a shock of blonde hair.

I look at Sehun, giving him my best expression of shock from behind my mask, and his eyes reflect my surprise. I'm just glad most of my face is covered, because he doesn't seem to realize that I ready knew Taemin was here.

"You've got to be kidding me," Rosé says, noticing him, too, and I can't tell if she's happy that she might get a chance to take him out of if she's annoyed to have another obstacle.

As they begin to discuss this development, I look away from the Tiger relatives and force myself to study the room.

"Okay, let's see," I say, more to myself than to anyone else. "Appa and I made decorations every year for the masquerade ball. So if I had to guess, whatever we're looking for is connected to the decor."

"Was there a common theme for the decorations you made?" Sehun asks, and the conversation about Taemin dies down.

I shake my head. "It changed every year."

"Is there anything here that feels personal or like a coded message?" Rosé asks.

"Maybe the trees," I say. "I mean, I grew up next to a forest and we spent a lot of time in the woods, but there have to be at least forty trees in here and they are pretty uniform. So I'm not sure that's it."

I scour the room, staring at one end and moving strategically to the other, looking for anything that sparks a memory or stands out. But like the trees, most of the decorations aren't unique, just one of the many scattered throughout the room. We weave in and out of the tables and I stop at one to get a closer look. The centerpiece for each table is a glass vase filled with white twigs, white flowers, and a branch of pine cones with white-painted tips. And surrounding the glass vase are tea lights and, at thistbale, a card with the number 21 written on it in calligraphy.

They all stop with me as I stare at the decorations.

"It's not that there aren't things here that are personal," I say. "In fact, there are a ton of things. The fake snow-every single year appa and I would get hot cocoa and sit outside on the first snowfall of the year. The pinecones-I decorated some in school when I was in third grade with glitter and googly eyes to look like me and my parents. And the trees, like I already said."

They all stare at me.

"Gross," Rosé says, and Lisa elbowed her. "What?" she says to Lisa. "It's ridiculous how sentimental she is."

"I think it's beautiful," Lisa says, and there is something almost wistful in her voice.

"Could the message be like your collages?" Sehun asks me. "Some combination of all those stories?"

I consider the idea. "My instinct is no," I say. "Those pictures combined in a really specific way. These don't. Not to mention that each of the decorations is replicated all over this room. This is table twenty-one and I would bet there are close to fifty in here with the exact same arrangement. It doesn't make sense that appa would have us to through fifty tables or trees just to hunt something down."

The band finishes playing their song, but instead of starting another one, they fall silent, and so does the room. Taecyeon stands from behind the table on the platform, lifting his glass of champagne.

"Family and friends," he says in a deep voice. "We are so pleased you could join us on this special day." His tone is confident and warm and he has a relaxed air about him that makes him easy to watch. I stop momentarily. How can someone so awful be so charismatic?

Taecyeon's mask isn't as concealing as ours, leaving half of his face visible. He has a strong jawline like appa and the same even hairline. The similarities are unnerving.

Appa places a bowl of black bean paste noodles on the coffee table in front of me where I sit on the living room floor, surrounded by library books detailing the origins of names by country and mythology, Latin root words, and linguistics.

"Take a break and eat before your food gets cold," he says, sitting down on the couch with a book of his own.

"Mmm-hmm," I say in agreement.

"The name books will be there when you're done," he says, but I can hear the smile in his voice. He's always encouraged me to immerse myself in new subjects, not merely to learn them but to dig deep and pull them apart piece by piece like a mechanic rebuilding an engine.

"It's just so interesting," I say, shoving a bit of the noodles in my mouth and keeping my eyes on my book. "They all mean something-last names, first names. All of them. And once you get the hang of it, they're pretty easy to decipher. Ask me a name, any name." But before he can give me one, I start talking again. "Like for instance, your name is Gyeonggi origin and it means 'to bear' or 'to carry,' which makes sense because you've always had a lot of responsibility. People's names tell you something about them."

Appa puts down his book and listens; he always listens. "What if people don't know ther meaning of their own name-do you think the meaning ceases to be relevant, or does the meaning hold whether they know it or not?" he asks, and I look up from my reading to consider his question.

"I'd have to say" -I pause, reviewing the names I know and the qualities of the people who have them- "they hold. Whether people know it or not, their name says something. Sort of like the difference between the words cinnamon and stink. Cinnamon just sounds happy and brings up an image of something pleasing, whereas stink just . . . stinks." I down a biteful of the noodles. "So go ahead, ask me a name."

Appa thinks for a few seconds. "Taecyeon," he finally says.

"Taecyeon?" I say. "Like the kpop boy group Ok Taecyeon?"

"Like my father," he says, and for a moment I'm taken aback. He never talks about his family. He told me once that his parents died before I was born and that he was never close with them. When I asked for more information, he just said there was nothing more to tell. I didn't even know that was his dad's name.

"Your dad was named Taecyeon?" I ask, curious. "Boy, are you got Namjoon. You could have been Taecyeon Junior."

"You have no idea how lucky," he says, and even though he matches my smile, I can tell his heart isn't in it.

"Okay, Taecyeon," I repeat. "It comes from the Gyeonggi origin, and it's known for being powerful, ruthless, and crooked."

"Interesting," he says.

"Right?" I say,wholeheartedly agreeing.

Taecyeon sweeps his eyes across the room. "The appointment to Regent is not only a great honor but a great responsibility. Taemin is young but strong, like I was at his age," he says. Taemin smiles at the praise, but not in the cocky self-confident way he would have at the Academy. This Taemin seems to be more reserved, almsot shy.

We all look at one another, silently confirming that unfortunate reality that Taemin is being appointed. I remember Sehun telling me Taecyeon took over as head of the Family when was only a teenager, and that everything went sideways from there. I can't imagine that power will look any better on Taemin.

"Of course this appointment comes with heavy heart after the untimely passing of his stepfather," Taecyeon says, like it's a great tragedy. "But as I always say, one must not lose oneself in sorrow at a time like this, but rely on logic and strategy . . ."

People around the room nod and Taecyeon clocks their agreement.

"Strategic planning to apprehend to perpetrator of his unforgiven attack, who we believe further insult our Family by removing a tiger from is rightful habitat," Taecyeon says, and the crowd hangs on his every word.

I look at Sehun to see if he's thinking what I'm thinking, that appa intentionally provoked Taecyeon with the zoo prank because he knew Taecyeon wouldn't let it pass without saying something.

"Whoever the criminal is, I assure you that he will be no only eliminated, but made an example of," Taecyeon continues. "We are employing all available resources. And in addition to our own skilled trackers, we've contracted the Ferryman in this sensitive matter."

There are approving murmurs throughout the room. While this information I already have, it somehow sounds more ominous coming from Taecyeon.

Taecyeon waits for the crowd. "And I am pleased to report that the updates have been most promising. In fact" -he pauses for effect- "we may very well have the culprit in hand before the end of the evening."

Surprise ripples through the room and I find myself frozen. The masked Strategia begin to whisper to one another.

Rosé looks at me with worry in her eyes. If Rosé's worried, it means that wasn't Taecyeon's bravado-appa is in real and immediate danger.

"Now," Taecyeon says, "let's not spend any more time on this unpleasantness. This is, after all, a celebration." He lifts his champagne glass. "To my grandson, Taemin."

"To Taemin," the crowd echoes, and Taecyeon returns to his seat.

I look at Sehun, my pulse racing, but he's not looking at me, he's looking at the crowd. The band once again starts playing and the room explodes with excited conversation.

"Suzy," Rosé says with insistence, and I turn toward her. "Now. You need to find that message from you father now." She nods in the direction of the door. Siwon stands inside it, scouring the party guests like he's looking for something. And I'm willing to bet the something he's looking for is me.

My  breath comes fast and my mind spins, making it harder to concentrate. I scan the decorations again, searching for anything that might spark recognition. But they appear as uniform as they did a few minutes ago. I want to cry out of frustration. Everywhere I look is a dead end. The crowd thins a bit behind us, and Rosé pushes us further into the center of the room and away from Siwon.

"Suzy," Rosé says again with emphasis.

"I know," I say, matching her urgency, trying to clear my thoughts of panic.

"Well, whether you know or not, we need to get out of here," she says.

"Enough, Rosé. You're not helping," Sehun says.

"Helping? I'm trying to keep us alive," Rosé says.

"Don't focus on the room, focus on what you know," Lisa says, and I turn to her. "You told us you used to make party decorations with you father, no? What exactly did you do?"

I consider Lisa'a question, forcing myself not to look at the surrounding threats. "We built them from scratch. We'd go to the art supply store and a hardware store and spend a good couple of weeks during the summer constructing them," I say.

"Let's start with that. most of these decorations aren't handmade," Lisa says, and I realize she's right. "Arguably nothing in this room was crafted except the centerpiece on the tables."

Sehun nods in agreement. "And in those centerpieces, the most handcrafted item is the branch with the pinecones-the tips were painted white and they had to glued onto the branch," he offers, and before he even finishes speaking, I'm looking at the centerpieces, hopeful.

"So, okay, sentimental pinecones," Rosé says with urgency, telling me we're just about of time. "Let's start looking."

We weave in and out of the tables, subtly inspecting the pinecones in each vase as we go. But each table has decorations like the one before it-one branch, four pinecones, and no message. My stomach twists and my chest tightens. My eyes flit nervously to Siwon. If we're wrong about these pinecones, there's no time to make a second guess.

Once again the band stops, only this time it's Taeyeon who stands. "If everyone will please take their seats, the serving staff with bring in dinner," she says, and her delivery is cold, lacking charisma that came so easily to her father. "Your invitation included your seating assignment. However, if you are unsure which table number is your, please consult the gentleman at the entrance." She gestures toward Siwon. "Enjoy."

"Oh, ," I say, and we all share a look. We are about to become blaringly obvious the moemnt people sit down. "If we're lucky there will be openings at one or more of the tables," Sehun says, and I can hear the apology in his voice. "Bbut gettign into them without being noticed is unlikely. I'm sorry, Suzy, it's time for us to go."

I fight back pnaic. "The Ferryman is closing in on appa-tonight. There's no way I can leave when we're this close." 

"Finding the message isn't worth being killed," Sehun says when I don't move.

I hesitate for a moment longer, searching for any argument that we should stay. But as much as I hate it, I know sehun is right-there's no finding appa if Taecyeon gets ahold of us.

Rosé eyes Siwon. "We're not getting back through that door, not without creating a scene."

"We'll have to risk the bathrooms," Sehun says, and Lisa nods her agreement, but I don't ask them what they mean because all my concentration is still on the pinecones.

Rosé leads the way to the door with the BATHROOM sign above it and the large security guard. We pass table thirty-two and thirty-three, which I scour with unabashed hope. But like all the other centerpieces, there is nothing unique about the pinecones. I feel like screaming, I'm so mad at myself, at appa, and at the situation in general.

Every step we talk toward the door feels like a failure.

"Suzy," Sehun says when I lag by a step.

"Fifty tables, Sehun, and we only looked at fifteen of them," I say. "Why on earth would my appa leave us that many tables to search? He could have at least left me the table number in the last clue." And as soon as I say it, I stop walking and look up at Sehun with new determination. "Sehun, when was the date of that historic ball from Kyungsoo's sign? The Bal des Ardents." My words are fast.

Sehun stops, too, his expression momentarily dip. "The year was 1393." He pauses. "I want to say January?"

"We will never exit this room," Rosé says, like maybe we don't understand the gravity of getting caught, "if we don't walk toward the door."

"Lisa, what was the date of Bal des Ardents?" Sehun says, ignoring Rosé.

"January 28, 1393," Lisa replies, and recognition of the missing clue sparks in her eyes.

"So table twenty-eight," Sehun says.

"Or table one," I say, "for January," and as the words leave my mouth, I realize my mistake. "Go, I'll catch up."

I turn immediately walking toward the tables, not asking them to come with me-with more than half the crowd seated, it's a risk I don't expect them to take.

If one if for January, then ten is for October, my birth month.

But as I near the tables, it occurs to me that I can't inspect the pinecones in front of the dinner crowd. And I don't gave a plan for taking the pinecone branch out of the arrangement. I'm going to look like a complete crazy person or like I'm up to something. I press my nails into my palm. Think, Suzy, this is your only shot.

I'm so focused on getting to table ten that I accidently bump into a Strategia woman holding a glass of champagne, almsot knocking it out of her hand.

"Pardon," I say in my bets imitation of a proper Sejeong, and I wobble my step as I move away from her. "I think I've had a few too many glasses myself," I say with a smile, quickly explaining away my un-Strategia-like clumsiness.

"That's quite all right," she says, like she doesn't mean it, and before she can scrutinize me too closely, I turn and zig zag through the tables.

And it occurs to me, if that woman will accept a claim of drunkenness, maybe others will, too. After all, this is a celebration and there appear to be copious amounts of alcohol. I stop abruptly in front of table ten, which is already three-quarters full.

"Good ol' table twenty-one," I say, hiccuping and plopping sloppily down in a chair that has a woman's scarf on it.

The man next to me frowns disapprovingly. "This is table ten," he says. "And you're in my wife's seat."

"Oh my goodness gracious," I say, ignoring him. "Have you ever seen such a lovely centerpiece?" I flick a decorative branch with my pointer finger. "It's just" another hiccup escapes in what I sonder a damn good impression of myself drinking whisky- "beautiful, beautiful, beautififl."

"Please do forgive us," Sehun's voice says behind me, and I leans back, nearly falling out of my chair. I grab the table for support. "We went to bar a little too early this evening," he says, taking my arm to help me stand.

I wobble and swipe the branch with the pinecones. "You're not getting away from me that easily, gorgeous," I say to the branch, and pause as though it's speaking back to me. "No! You flirt!" I pause again. "Oh, all right, but only one . . .," and then I press the pinecone into man's cheek and make a kissing sound. His face looks so shocked that I don't need to concoct a  laugh. The one erupts from my mouth is real.

Sehun immediately escorts me away, shooting an apologetic look over his shoulder, and I make a show of stumbling as I hug my pinecone branch. I resist looking up at Taemin or back at Siwon. Each step we take through the tables feels like it could be our last.

A few people take not of us, and I hiccup as I pass, leaning my weight on Sehun as we go. Just let us get out of this room. Twenty more feet and we're in the clear. As we reach the end of tables, I get a good look at Rosé and Lisa. They haven't left, but they are awfully standing close to the exit.

As we approach, I realize Rosé is looking at us but past us and across the room, and I can tell by her expression that she doesn't like what she sees.

"Siwon's looking this way," she says, and it takes all my self-control not to make a run for it.

Instead, we walk at a reasonable pace to the door, me wobbling and laughing.

"I'm correct in assuming this is the way to the loo?" Lisa says to the guard as though she owned the place, and the confidence in her voice surprises me.

He nods, examining each one of us and pausing when he gets to me and the branch I'm hugging. He tilts his head, unsure, like he might tell me to leave it behind. my heart pounds against my ribs and I do the only thing I can think of in that moment. I it. I the branch from bottom to top, because even children know that no one wants to touch something someone else .

The guard narrows his eyes and Sehun steadies me as I wobble.

"Are you going to open the door?" Rosé says, impatient, daring the gauges to object. "Or are you merely decorative, in which case, step aside."

The guard grumbles under his breath at Rosé's rudeness, but her challenge works and he opens the door.

Lisa nods a thank-you and Sehun helps me out of the room. The minute the door closes behind us, we pause for a fraction of a second to examine the empty hall ending in two doors. There are no turns leading back to the lobby, no windows to climb out os; there is no way out.

I look at Sehun, my eyes widening. "Please tell me we didn't just trap ourselves."

But he's not looking at me, he's walking and so are the others. "No sure yet."

I grip branch a bit tighter, as though I were protecting it from an unseen threat, and follow them to the end of the hall.

Rosé opens the door to the women's room and Lisa and I follow her. She quickly bends down, checking underneath the stalls, and opens the door again, beckoning Sehun in. He locks it behind him.

He looks at the bathroom like he's planning a battle. "No windows."

"Not a one," Rosé says. "And despite my applause-worthy work with that guard, I'd say we have about ten minutes before he comes back here looking for us."

I scan the room, my eyes falling on a vent near the ceiling. "Don't commercial buildings have a huge heating and cooling vents? Could we maybe -"

"That only works in the movies," Rosé says.

"While some HVACs might be large enough to fit us, if we attempted to crawl through it, we could make a untold amount of noises," Sehun explains.

"So what exactly are we-" I start, but as I realize they're now staring up. I would stammer about how we're not going to cimb through the ceiling, but of course we are. It makes more sense than any other route right now. And suddenly I'm reminded of something Professor Hutan said during my first tree-climbing class. There's a favorite use of trees-evasion. The are perfect escape route because they offer unpredictable terrain. While this isn't a tree, it follows the same basic principle of evasion by using the things around you in unusual ways.

Sehun carries over a fancy garbage can that has a small hole at the top and a wide lip. He climbs on top of it and pushes aside one of the ceiling tiles.

He sticks his head up into the cleing. "It's wide enough," he says, and the moment he says so, Rosé and Lisa start ping their dresses.

"Unless you want your skirt to get caught on some wiring and potentially plummet through the ceiling, I suggest you change now," Rosé says, and I don't waste a moment.

Sehun pulls off his black-and-gold cape and tosses it into the ceiling with a light thud, climbing up after it. I yank my dress over my head, and as it hits the floor, Rosé scoops it up, climbs onto the garbage can, and hands all three of our dresses and masks up to Sehun. I can hear them hit the bathroom ceiling in various places as he thrown them, which I suppose makes more sense than trying to drag them behind us.

I readjust my sweatshirt, placing my phone in my pocket and checking my boot dagger. Lisa glances nervously at the door and it occurs to me that it's not the only guard we have to worry about, it's the other Strategia.

Rosé pulls herself up into the ceiling and Sehun pops his head down. "Lisa, you next since you're lighter than Suzy. "

The idea of being the last one in the bathroom hits me like a jolt of electricity. Lisa quickly climbs the garbage can and I look over my shoulder at the door like it might bit me. She reaches out to the pinecone branch and I reluctantly hand it over.

"Replace the garbage can in its original position," Sehun says, speaking quickly, adn the instant Lisa's legs lift off it I pull it back by the wall.

"Now unlock the door and check the hall," Sehun continues, and the urgency in his voice tells me dislikes me being the last one in the bathroom more than I do. "If all is clear, leave it unlocked and come over to me." Sehun positions himself so that his arms hand down into the room. "with a good jum, I should be able to pull you -" Sehun stops talking and gives me a sharp look.

Women's voices spill into the outside hallway, and there's a muffled sound of a door closing behind them.

"Leave it locked," Sehun says.

"Don't you dare leave it locked," Rosé snaps back.

"Now, Suzy, jump now," Sehun says in a commanding whisper, but I'm already running for the bathroom door.

Rosé's right. Sehun is trying to protect me, but if I leave it locked, the women will instantly know something's wrong, and the guards will be after us in a minute, completely ruining our head start. I turn the lock and sprint toward Sehun, launching myself into the air and grabbing his arms above his elbows.

He pulls me hard, sliding me into the narrow space along a metal beam so fast that I scrape my stomach. I yank my legs up, lightly kicking a ceiling tile, before finding a beam to brace myself on. The door cracks and Rosé slides the missing ceiling tile back into place, dropping it the last half inch so slowly that I hold my breath. And we all fall into complete silence. Sehun continues to hold one of my hands as I balance on my stomach on the thin support beam. He pulls out his phone and uses the faint flow from the screen to show me the structure of the dropping ceiling.

The metal beams form a grid of two-foot squares, and there are only a handful of inches of clearance above my head, making the only option for forward motion an army crawl on my stomach. To my far left is a wide metal tube used for heating and cooling that is probably the reason we have much space as we do. And there are tangles of wires running alongside it.

Sehun points forward in the soft glow of his phone, which to my relief has us moving away from the ballroom and not over it. Rosé gives him a thumbs-up and we slowly and methodically crawl in the direction of Sehun's dim phone screen.

My elbows and knees press into the metal as we scooch along and I'm certain we're all going to have bruises tomorrow. We move as fast we can while still remaining silent, and I look over to Lisa, who is carrying the pinecone branch in her teeth. We're only a short distance along when Sehun holds up his hand, telling to us pause. He lifts the corner of a tile and peerk beneath it for a split second. He points to his right, slightly changing our direction, and we follow along behind him.

Sehun pauses again, lifting the corner of another tile, and this time I hear a group of adults recapping their evening at a gala and laughing. Sehun waits, continuing to peer down through the silver of space. I hear the ding of an elevator, and as the doors close, the chatter is abruptly cut off. Sehun holds up his fingers, counting off-three, two, one. The instant his last finger he pushes the tile aside, grabs the metal support beam, and swing himself down. I'm next, and byt the time my feet hit the ground Sehun is already three doors down and pressing the button for the elevator.

Lisa drops with Rosé right behind her. The elevator doors open and we fly inside the empty space. Sehun pushes the second-floor button, and as the doors close behind us, Lisa offers me the branch, which I gladly accept. The air between us is tense with the fear that the guard has likely checked for us by now and found us missing. None of us says a word as the elevator climbs up and the door reopen.

We step out, do a fast look both ways down the hall, checking the room numbers, and reorient ourselves. No one has to tell us to hurry, we all just start running, taking a corner faster is safe, down the hall and tp the room we changed in. Rosé does a quick knock on the door. She presses her ear up against it and, after three grielign seconds, concludes that no is inside. Sehun whips out his lock-picking tools, and the instant it clicks open, we pile in.

We run through the living room and bedroom and out onto the balcony. Sehun relocks the balcony doors, using his tools, and I tie the rope. One by one they climb down. As soon as Lisa lands on the ground, I toss the branch gently down to her and untie the rope. I swing my legs over the balcony and waste time grabbing hold of decorative masonry. I work myself three-quarters of the way down and jump the last few feet into the grass.

Sehun hands me my backpack, which he retrieved from the bushes, and I shove the branch into it as we all book it out of the park. When we're three blocks away without any obvious person coming for us, Rosé looks at me and her serious expression melts into a smirk.

"You're absolutely mental, you know that? The way you that branch . . ." She laughs. "I always thought you had some quirk, but that was brilliant."

"You didn't see her make the pinecone kiss the man at the table . . . I'll never forget his look of utter shock and horror," Sehun says with a smile.

And now that we're on the sideway hailing a taxi with the branch in my hand and no Siwon staring us down, I allow myself a laugh, too.