The tension in the room was thick.  Not a sound was heard as one side sized up the other and vice versa.  Kyung and Taeil sat on side of Zico, waiting for the leader to say something first while staring down the three from B.A.P.  Yongguk looked back at the other three across from him, refusing to look away and appear weak, while Daehyun was looking at his fingers, tracing invisible patterns onto the table between them, and Zelo was constantly looking at Yongguk sitting on side of him.

 

“So…” Zico said, letting his one word trail off.

 

“So…” Yongguk repeated.

 

Daehyun sighed and rolled his eyes.  “This is taking too long,” he mumbled to Yongguk.

 

“What was that?” Zico shouted, jumping up.

 

“C- calm down, Zi,” Kyung said softly, pulling Zico back down into his seat.

 

“Yeah, he’s right,” Taeil agreed, nodding his head.  “This is going to take forever if no one says anything.  I have to go feed my fish soon.”

 

Kyung leaned over to Zico and whispered, “Better hurry before Baby Taeil starts ranting about how you forgot to feed his fish that one time.”  Zico snorted in response.

 

“Fine,” Zico grumbled.  “I don’t want you here.”  Both Daehyun and Zelo immediately looked at Yongguk with confused expressions, ready to ask their hyung why they were there.  “But these two,” Zico continued, gesturing at Kyung and Taeil, “seem to think that your group can help.”

 

“Help you beat the Black Dragons,” Yongguk clarified.

 

“But why do you need our help?” Daehyun asked, shifting in his chair.  He looked nervous.  They all looked nervous with a frowning Zico, who looked trigger happy, sitting in the room.  Yongguk didn’t look quite so nervous, but more cautious.

 

“Most of our gang isn’t use to using firearms, but we heard that you guys are pretty comfortable with shooting,” Kyung replied.

 

Daehyun wanted so badly to comment on how Zico says that they aren’t a gang, yet his gang is the ones who don’t even know how to shoot a gun, but he held his tongue.

 

“Yeah, we know how to use guns, but we don’t kill people,” Yongguk said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

 

“Tch!  I knew it!” Zico said, getting up again and starting to pace the room, making Zelo more nervous.

 

“Does that mean that you don’t need our help anymore?” Zelo asked, speaking for the first time.

 

“Ha!” Zico laughed without any humor.  “Help?  Some help you guys are!”

 

“What about shooting to injure?” Taeil asked quietly.

 

Zico turned towards Taeil, looking incredulous.  “We need them dead, not injured!”

 

“Taeil-hyung is right,” Kyung stated.  “If they can injure them, we can come and finish the rest.”  Zico just kept frowning, but didn’t say anything.  He hated the whole idea of involving Bang Yongguk and B.A.P.

 

“Wait!  So you just want to use us as shields,” Daehyun said, also standing up.  “If we injure them, then good, you can finish them off, but if we get killed, that’s fine too because you guys hate us anyway.”

 

“No, no, no,” Kyung said, trying to calm Daehyun down.  “It’s not like we’d be hiding behind you.”

 

“Tch!  Red Tigers do not hide,” Zico stated.

 

Kyung continued, “We’d be fighting along each other, but you’d only shoot to injure, and when we aren’t occupied with another Black Dragon, then we’ll finish off the one you shot.”  Daehyun sat down slowly.  “Besides, we don’t hate you.  Do we, Zico?”  Zico just looked at Kyung like he had two heads, and Taeil snorted from his seat.

 

“It doesn’t matter how you feel about us.  I honestly don’t care,” Yongguk said, drawing everyone’s attention.  “I won’t put my friends in unnecessary danger, though.  So I need to know.  What’s in it for us?”

 

Zico walked forward, mouth open, ready to shout some obscenities no doubt, but Kyung spoke before any words could escape Zico’s mouth.  “We haven’t really thought about that,” he said, scratching his head.  “Well, if you do this for us, then I guess we’ll owe you one.”

 

“What?!”  Zico’s outburst was ignored.

 

“A lot good that will do if we’re dead,” Daehyun mumbled.

 

Yongguk looked at Daehyun and then at Zelo before leaning forward just a bit and saying, “The thing is, we look after each other.  I always protect my friends.  By doing this, helping you, we’re also protecting the Red Tigers in a way.  If we do this then I need to know that you won’t just abandon us on the field.  I need to know that you’ll have our backs as if we were Red Tigers ourselves.”

 

“Of course,” Kyung said, nodding his head furiously.

 

“I need you to be absolutely sure, all of you,” Yongguk said, dead serious.

 

“You have my word that we will have your backs if you have ours,” Zico said, also dead serious and surprising everyone.  “We’ll protect you as if you were our own.”  Zico and Yongguk locked eyes and a new tension formed in the room.  Zelo was getting nervous all over again, just when he was starting to somewhat calm down, and Kyung wondered if he was going to have to jump in front of Zico to stop the leader from killing B.A.P’s leader.  Zico stretched out his arm, hand in the air.  Yongguk did the same, and everyone was a bit startled to see the two shaking hands.

 

“Deal,” the leaders said simultaneously.

 

“What the hell?” Taeil asked.  “Is that you, Zico?”

 

Kyung laughed while Zico glared at Taeil and said, “Shut up, hyung!”

 

“So when do we do this?” Zelo asked.

 

Zico, Kyung, and Taeil just stared at Zelo, who wondered if he said the wrong thing.  Zico looked at Yongguk and smirked.  “He’s eager.  I like that.”  Zelo smiled and puffed out his chest a bit.  All of his nervousness disappeared when he heard that.

 

Daehyun chuckled and shook his head at seeing the maknae’s reaction.  “That’s going to go straight to his head.”

 

“Sounds like Zico,” Taeil mumbled.

 

“Yah!” Zico shouted.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Zico – Yongguk – Kyung – Daehyun – Taeil – Zelo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

“Hyung!”

 

“Jae!”

 

Himchan and Jaehyo walked up to each other and hugged, and playfully began to hit each other, surprising the other four in the room.

 

P.O started smiling and wanted to play around too, so he nudged U-Kwon beside him, but the older only scooted away and cleared his throat, drawing the attention of Himchan and Jaehyo.

 

“You two know each other?” B-Bomb asked, although it sounded more like a statement than a question.

 

“We used to be neighbors,” Jaehyo said, “before someone ran away to join B.A.P.”

 

Himchan turned to Jaehyo and responded, “Well look at you, leader of the Black Dragons.”

 

Jaehyo smiled proudly, walking up to B-Bomb, U-Kwon, and P.O, and said, “I’m the best, aren’t I?”  Jaehyo leaned on B-Bomb, who pushed him away.

 

“So uncool,” B-Bomb mumbled, causing Jaehyo to pout.

 

“Aw, don’t be like that Bomb-Bomb,” Jaehyo said, hopping around, trying to use aegyo to get B-Bomb to smile.

 

“Yah!” B-Bomb shouted because of the name Jaehyo called him.

 

U-Kwon glared at Jaehyo, and this time P.O cleared his throat before mumbling, “Shouldn’t hyung act more like a leader when we have guests.”

 

“Oh right,” Jaehyo said, just remembering that Himchan was there with his friend.  Jaehyo straightened up and put on a serious face.  “We want your help with killing the Red Tigers.”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jaehyo – Himchan – B-Bomb – U-Kwon – Jongup – P.O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

It was late in the evening, the sun was going down, when Youngjae heard the back garage door slide up and then down.  He raced to the back of the house to see who it was.

 

“Jae,” Daehyun said happily as he went to hug the younger, but Youngjae pushed him away.

 

“Where have you guys been?” Youngjae asked, crossing his arms over his chest.  “I’ve been calling, but no one picked up, and now you’re coming through the back.  Wae?  Trying to sneak in, huh?”

 

“Pfft,” Yongguk blew air out of his mouth like he was saying, “as if,” while Zelo hastily said, “We weren’t sneaking around.”  The way the two responded made them seem so guilty though, so Youngjae turned to look at Daehyun with a raised eyebrow.

 

Daehyun just smiled cheekily and said, “I missed you Jae.”

 

“Then why didn’t you answer my calls?”  Youngjae asked, still not letting Daehyun touch him.

 

“Because Zelo had my phone,” Daehyun said easily.

 

“Bwoh?”  Zelo looked surprised at Daehyun’s answer.  “But hyung…”

 

“Come on, Zelo,” Yongguk said, interrupting the maknae, “let’s give the two some time alone.”

 

“But Yongguk-hyung,” Zelo whined as the eldest led him away.

 

After chuckling at the whining Zelo, Daehyun turned to Youngjae who was still frowning.  Daehyun attempted aegyo to cheer up the younger.  “Mian.  Mianhe, Jae-jae,” Daehyun said in a high-pitched voice as he puffed out his cheeks and poked them with his index fingers.

 

A small smile appeared on Youngjae’s face before he frowned again and turned around.  “I’m not falling for it,” he said.  “You only pay attention to me when you feel like it.”

 

“That’s not true,” Daehyun said as he lightly pulled on Youngjae’s shoulder.  “All day I was talking about you, but Zelo kept saying that he didn’t want to hear about me and you.  Can you believe that little maknae, asking me to stop talking about my Jae-gi?”  Daehyun was pouting now, and when the smiling Youngjae turned around and saw his pouting face, Youngjae started to chuckle.

 

“You are lying,” Youngjae said between chuckles.

 

“I am not,” Daehyun replied before whispering, “I think Zelo might be jealous.  He wants my Jae-jae.”

 

Youngjae laughed out loud before saying, “You’re full of it.”

 

“Yep,” Daehyun agreed with a huge smile on his face.  “Full of love for my baby.”

 

“Oh, shut up,” Youngjae said before he pulled Daehyun in closer to him for a kiss.

 

The two were lost in their own little world that was heating up when they heard someone clear their throat.  Daehyun and Youngjae jumped apart when they saw a smirking Yongguk looking at them from the doorway.

 

“Oh, hi hyung,” Daehyun said, unfazed, while Youngjae was just blushing.

 

Yongguk chuckled softly before saying, “I see you two made up.”

 

Daehyun smiled, and Youngjae pointed at Daehyun, replying, “He’s a manipulator with words.”

 

Yongguk watched the two lightly push, poke, grab, and make funny faces at each other.  He thought it was funny to watch the two doing things like that.  Himchan often tried odd couple antics like that with him, but he wasn’t used to acting like that yet.  Speaking of Himchan…

 

“Do you know where Himchan or Jongup is?” Yongguk asked.

 

“Oh, they were at the café,” Youngjae said as he pulled away from Daehyun again, “but they’ve been gone all day, so they could have gone to somewhere else.”

 

Yongguk nodded and turned to leave the room when Youngjae called out to him.  “I tried to call them too, but I only got voicemail.”

 

“No one would answer your calls?” Daehyun asked.  “My poor, Jae-gi.”

 

“Shut up, pabo!” Youngjae said, pushing Daehyun away from him.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Secret Rendezvous~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

At the Black Dragons’ base, things were going smoothly.  Himchan, who didn’t know the meaning of timid, started talking to everyone as if they’d known each other and had been friends for years.  Jaehyo was quite the same way.  It surprised B-Bomb, U-Kwon, P.O, and Jongup, all of whom stuck together just to get away from the crazy other two.  After Himchan unashamedly told the others what kind of person Jongup was, U-Kwon and P.O quickly took to Jongup.  U-Kwon and Jongup both shared a love of dancing and working out, and both were smiling all of the time.  P.O thought that if Jongup was like U-Kwon, then he was bound to be just as fun too.  B-Bomb liked to dance as well, but he figured that he’d keep his space for the time being, just in case.

 

All of the details of their temporary teaming up had been discussed.  The Black Dragons and Himchan and Jongup had a deal very much similar to that of the Red Tigers with Yongguk, Daehyun, and Zelo.  Now they all were just hanging out and getting to know one another.  Himchan and Jaehyo were on one side of the room talking obnoxiously loud, while U-Kwon and Jongup were on the other side having a dance-off, while B-Bomb and P.O were looking on, though P.O was not silent in his observation.  The youngest Black Dragon has jumping around and cheering for both dancers and repeatedly telling B-Bomb that he wish he could dance like them.  After a while, when it seemed like U-Kwon and Jongup would never stop dancing, B-Bomb approached the two loud talkers.

 

“…he’s not used to showing any kind of cute emotions.  It’s almost like he’s a robot that I have to program to react correctly in certain situations.  You’d think he’s never dated before,” Himchan said, but B-Bomb had no idea who they were talking about.  “And Zelo wants to be just like him, and he was practically already emotionless because of his parents.  I’m living with robot and robot junior.”

 

Jaehyo laughed before saying, “You’re dating robot, and robot junior is your foster child.”  B-Bomb cleared his throat, which got the attention of Himchan and Jaehyo.  Jaehyo smiled and wrapped an arm around B-Bomb before saying, “I have almost the same kind of thing with this one here.  Sure he can show all kinds of emotions, but he only uses hostile ones when he’s with me.”  Jaehyo started to pout and pinched B-Bomb’s cheek.  “Why are you so mean to me, Bombie?”

 

B-Bomb glared at Jaehyo and growled out, “Let me go.”

 

“You see?”  Jaehyo turned back to Himchan, throwing his hands up in the air, letting go of B-Bomb, who took a step away from the two.

 

“If you two are done gossiping, I think we could call it a night,” B-Bomb said.

 

Himchan gasped.  “Gossiping?  Girls gossip.  We’re just simply passing on information.”

 

“Exactly,” Jaehyo agreed as he smiled at Himchan.  B-Bomb just rolled his eyes.  “But I suppose you’re right.  It is late.  Channie-hyung, you and Jongup can stay the night if you want.”

 

“Gomawo, but Yonggukkie would be pissed if we didn’t come home,” Himchan said.  “The hard part, though, is going to be getting Jonguppie to stop dancing,” he whispered as he went over to the other three.

 

“Come on,” Jaehyo said as he grabbed B-Bomb’s hand and began leading them out of the room.  “U-Kwon is going to be too tired to do anything with you tonight.”  B-Bomb took one last look back at U-Kwon, who had just stopped dancing now that Himchan had mentioned that he and Jongup had to go.

 

“Aren’t you going to see them off?” B-Bomb asked Jaehyo.

 

“If we don’t go now, U-Kwon is going to try to steal you away from me,” Jaehyo answered.

 

B-Bomb laughed uncharacteristically, before replying, “We are dating, so he has every right too.”

 

“It’s not fair,” Jaehyo pouted.  “I want my Bomb-Bomb time too.”

 

“Seriously, stop calling me that,” B-Bomb said, shaking his head.

 

Jaehyo pouted more.  “So mean to me,” he said.

 

B-Bomb leaned forward to whisper in Jaehyo’s ear.  “You like it when I’m mean to you.”  Shivers ran down Jaehyo’s spine, and a squeeze to his backside had Jaehyo jump.  The Black Dragons’ leader smiled before hurrying them to his private room with the king sized bed.