"I hate you all," Zico grumbled as he slumped over Jaehyo's bed.

The boat was quite big, but it was still hard to fit in seven full-grown idiots on board. It had only a few rooms -- a kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a control room. Only one of the bedrooms had a bed, and that was the room Zico had claimed as captain and leader of the Block B crew. The others had the largest bedroom and slept on tiny little mattresses that they seemed fine with.

For some reason, though, Zico usually hung out in their room. Maybe he was bored having a room to himself.

"I hate life," P.O said back with a sigh. 

"This whole trip was a waste," U-Kwon complained, gently probing his fingers over his cut lip and wincing. "Me and my pride have been wounded, and we lost both the money AND the diamonds. I say we leave this port and go somewhere else."

Zico shook his head, gritting his teeth. "No way. The diamonds couldn't have just DISAPPEARED. Someone had taken them. I just want to know WHO."

Kyung thought hard before gasping. "Hey -- I remember someone! This chick ... I was going after Miss Chicken when she tripped her --"

"A girl tripped a chicken?" P.O interrupted. "Holy !"

"That's what I said! Then I remembered the suitcase and ran to meet up with you guys. Dang, she was a real cutie, too. Short hair and long legs ..."

U-Kwon perked up. "Short hair? I like short hair. What kind of short hair?"

"Pixie short hair."

"I want her number."

Zico's eyes widened and he sat up. "Wait ... short hair? Kyung, was she wearing some sort of blue jacket, and a tank top and shorts, with sandals?"

"Yeah, why?" Kyung frowned before understanding. "You don't think ..."

"She was there, when I snagged the diamonds!" Zico said, jumping to his feet. "It was her! I know it!"

"But what's the point in trying to find her?" Taeil pointed out. "Vietnam is a big city. She could be anywhere."

Zico growled in furstration and kicked the wall. "Dammit! I REFUSE to leave without some sort of reward!"

During all of this, B-Bomb was silent. Then, he finally spoke up. "What about kidnapping?"

Everyone stopped and stared at him. He shrugged. "Kidnap a wealthy daughter and get a ransom."

"Well, that's an idea," P.O grinned.

"Ooh! A girl?" Jaehyo and Kyung both perked up, looking ecstatic. "She better be cute!" Jaehyo warned.

"C'mon, what are you all waiting for?" Zico demanded, his old excited, manic attitude appearing. "Let's go! C'mon!"

"Lien, no."

"Oh, come on, Mai!" Lien begged. "Just try it on! For fun!"

"Lien, there is no way I'm walking around with THAT." Mai eyed the sparkly dress as though it might explode. "I don't care if you won the bet, I'm NOT wearing it."

Lien frowned. "Mai, who was it that cashed in those diamonds for you? And who always tips you off on the latest scams? And who was it that saved you TWICE from Tuan? And who --"

"Alright, alright, jeez!" Mai huffed, grabbing the dress and holding it arm's length away from her body with a grimace. "This looks expensive. Where the heck did you get it anyway?"

"Stole it, where else?" Lien rolled her eyes, as if it was the most natural thing. "Some rich girl had shopping bags overflowing with them. I just had to walk by and I grabbed the first thing I saw. It's so pretty! Come on, Mai, please? I'll even put a wig on you so no one will recognize you."

Mai bit her lip and glared at her best friend's tearful puppy-dog-eyes, before muttering, "Fine, but you owe me. A bajillion times over."

"Of course, of course!" Lien squealed. "Now try it on! Come on, you're filthy rich now anyways, you deserve to relax and play around."

"So, your idea of finding a wealthy brat is to WALK AROUND until you find one?" Taeil whispered.

Zico shrugged uncaringly. "It works."

"This will take forever," Jaehyo whined. "I wanna go to a baaarrr ..."

U-Kwon suddenly jumped and pointed through the crowds. "What about that girl? Whoa, check out the sparkle! And she's cute to boot! Damn, wish she had short hair, though ..."

Zico narrowed his eyes and saw the girl, who was indeed quite pretty and looking sulky as she was dragged down the streets by a familiar-looking girl. She had long black hair and was wearing a silvery dress that seemed to glitter. Then he realized it was because the dress was dotted with tiny little diamonds.

He grinned. "Alright, guys, let's do this."

"We've been out long enough, can we please go back?" Mai begged.

"Are you kidding me?" Lien laughed. "This is hilarious! Even Miss Chau didn't recognize you! C'mon, Mai, enjoy yourself a bit. You look like a million bucks!"

"Probably because I'm WEARING it." Mai grimaced at the dress. "Whoever that rich girl was, she sure was loaded. Is it really necessary to wear diamonds on clothes?"

The wig felt heavy and hot, and she didn't like the feeling of her neck being suffocated by all that fake hair. That's why she had short hair in the first place -- she hated having her neck covered. The high heels Lien forced her to wear were tall with thin stilleto points, and Mai's ankles wobbled dangerously with each step. Lien had also forced her to wear large silver hoop earings and weighed down her neck and wrists with all sorts of sparkly silver necklaces and bracelets.

Mai wasn't used to wearing so much stuff that she'd much rather sell instead.

Lien disguised herself by wearing large sunglasses and hiding most of her hair in a large sunhat, so nobody recognized the daughter of the illegal trading partners who owned the Kim Cuc Parlor. Just in case, she walked around in the good parts of Vietnam, such as the downtown area, so nobody from the corrupt side would notice them. 

Everywhere Mai went, the whispers bothered her like flies.

"Who is THAT?"

"She's so pretty!"

"Look at her clothes! She must be the daughter of some CEO, or a wealthy businessman."

"Maybe a government official!"

"Who's that other girl? Her friend? An ?"

"Can we go back now?" She hissed. "I hate having all these people looking at me. And I'm sweating under the wig."

Lien ignored her as she continued window shopping. "Oh, look at those shoes! Mai, aren't these sooo cute?"

Mai sighed and let her thoughts wander towards the big batch of money that was in her bank account that very moment. First things first, she was going to renovate the entire building so the water would work properly and the ceiling wouldn't leak when it rained. Then what?

Mai could have laughed at the irony. She had so much money now, she didn't even know what to do with it. She was so used to living in squalor and scum that she wouldn't even appreciate it if she lived in a palace.

"Mai, I'm going in to see how much the shoes cost," Lien said, interrupting her thoughts. "Wanna come inside? You can sit down."

"Nah, it's alright," Mai gave her an encouraging smile. She couldn't understand -- nor did she want to -- Lien's obsession with shoes and pretty things, but she also didn't want to bother her friend about it either. "I think I'll go buy something to drink. I'll meet up with you after, okay?"

Lien nodded, already drifting into the shop for those pretty red shoes.

Mai crossed the street and went to the nearest bubble tea vendor. After paying for her drink, she walked down the street for a bit, staying in the shadows so the sun wouldn't bother her. The cold drink was soothing, and she felt a little bit more patient at Lien's idea of 'fun'.

Just a little.

Finally, she decided to see if Lien bought the shoes or not. But just as she was walking past a dark alleyway, something grabbed her arm and yanked her into the darkness. Another hand clapped over to prevent her from screaming.

Mai struggled and twisted, but she had been caught completely by surprise. Her captors dragged her deeper into the shadows.

She had been kidnapped. And worse: she had dropped her bubble tea.

"Hey, come on, stop squirming around," a voice said in the darkness. "Walk on your own, will you?"

Mai scowled and began to walk by herself, guided by the kidnappers. It was still dark, and she couldn't tell how many were there and how strong they were. Her best bet was to catch them unguarded.

And so, she sagged to her knees and dropped.

"Hey, what the -- hey! Hey, are you alright?" Someone shook her shoulder. 

", she's probably scared."

"I don't have time for this! Drag her if you need to, just get her to the ship!"

"Hey, lady -- get up, come on."

She felt a hand touch her arm -- and lashed out.

"Hey -- what the?"

She kicked and punched them away, twisting around when one tried to grab her arm.

"What the hell? She can fight!"

"Don't let her get away!"

Mai turned around and ran for her life. If she could get back to her house, Miss Chau will surely scare them away ...

Then she twisted her ankle, hard, and tripped. God damn stilleto high heeled shoes.

Lien, if I get out of this alive, I will MURDER you for making me wear these, Mai thought viciously as they grabbed her. This time, someone hoisted her over their shoulder. "Alright, this is better. Come on, let's go."

Mai began to desperately punch and kick at her attacker, but stabs of pain began to shoot through her ankle and she had to stop. , she ACTUALLY twisted her ankle. And it freaking killed.

Mai gritted her teeth and wanted to punch HERSELF for her stupidity. She let her guard down. And she NEVER does that. Doing this ridiculous cosplay and letting her new wealth get to her head just ruined her.

"Maybe we should blindfold her?" Someone said uncertainly.

"If anyone saw us like this, they're going to think we're doing some super- ."

"Oh, shut up, U-Kwon. You're not helping."

Mai realized they were talking in Korean. Her heart plummeted into her stomach region. Oh, crap ... are they in league with the guys I stold the diamonds off of? Ohhhhh crap, please god, don't let them be the same people, please please please ...

"Just keep to the outskirts, we shouldn't get seen if we take the port road ..."

They all started bickering and talking at once. From the voices, Mai judged there were maybe five or six there. She wondered if maybe she should try screaming to get help when a hand appeared over again.

"Sorry, we're not taking any chances," someone said cheerfully next to her. "Don't worry, once we get the money, you can go home, alright? We promise we won't hurt you."

Like I'll believe that!

They left the shadows, and Mai cringed when the sun speared her eyes. She screwed them up tight and tried blinking away the dots. She looked up to try and see who was kidnapping her, but they placed another hand over her eyes.

"Sorry," someone said apologetically.

Mai mused over biting their hands, but didn't see how that could help. She couldn't escape either way, her ankle was killing her.

She felt the world's angle tilt a bit, and realized they were walking up a plank. , they're taking me onto a boat. No, no no no no no no!

She struggled some more, ignoring the pain in her ankle, but whoever was holding onto her had arms like steel.

"Alright, she's on. Let's get the hell out of here."

Mai tried to scream this time, but she could only produce muffled yelps. If they sailed away, her only choice would be to swim, and that would be near impossible with a twisted ankle.

"She won't stop squirming," the person holding her complained.

"Just drop her somewhere," someone suggested lazily.

"Got it, hyung."

Mai was moved somewhere else, before they finally let go of and eyes. She was dumped unceremoniously onto a hard floor. She gritted her teeth when the movement brought more pain to her ankle, then looked around.

She was on a boat, and as she stared in horror, her very own city was disappearing farther and father away as the boat sped into open waters.

Lien. Miss Chau. Her money. They were all being taken away.

"No!" She tried to get up, but someone pushed her back down. 

"Hey, you look familiar. Have I seen you before?"

Mai looked up, and saw seven boys around her age crowding around her. And two of them looked very familiar.

The boy who had spoken to her had messy red hair and blinding white teeth. They stared at each other.

"I DO know you!" Kyung yelped in shock. "You're the girl who tripped the chicken!"

"What?" Someone else said sharply, and pushed his way through the boys.

Mai looked up at Zico, the white-eyed and dreadlocked boy she met at the Parlor.

At that moment, her wig, which was already messed up from the trip to the boat, slid off her head and revealed her normal short, fluffy brown hair.

Mai gulped, and her face lost all colour. "Oh, ."

Zico glared at her and frowned. "Wait a second ... you're the girl at the Kim Cuc Parlor. You're not ... you're not a rich kid, are you?"

Mai slowly shook her head. "N-nope."

His eyes narrowed even more. "Were you the one that stole my diamonds?"

"Uh ... I'm sorry?"

It took all six of the other boys to stop Zico from jumping at her.