“It’s a .42 lock. That means we need at least a .58 pick” clicking my pen, I glanced at Janice and she smirked.

“You still in contact with Ron?” I asked, smirking back.

“Oh yeah. These kidnappers made things too easy. Himchan will be out in no time” she laughed and picked up her phone, punching in a number. The boys watched us with curious eyes and finally, Bang spoke up.

“Who’s Ron?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. For the last hour, they had sat in silence watching Janice and I plan out our routes and methods. Afraid to disturb us, they had simply sat and watched, slowly eating the cake that Manager Kang had brought in.

“We have contacts all over the world that supply our…toys” I glanced at Janice and she smiled at my hesitation. She knew I did not like calling our supplies “professional criminal equipment”. “Ron is just one of our contacts in Korea. If we can get hold of him, our equipment should be here this afternoon” I laughed at the boys’ bewildered expressions and Janice chuckled. Not everyone knew of what we liked to call our “hobby”. When I had first met Janice, I had taught her all the skills that I had picked up while living with the gypsies.

“I’m not all that you think I am, Yonggukkie” I gave him my most angelic smile and he smiled nervously back, still trying to adjust to this side of me. Suddenly realizing what I had called him, he blushed and turned away, mumbling unintelligible words. The boys tittered from laughter and soon enough, everyone had forgotten about the surprising discovery. We burst out into laughter and I pulled Bang into a hug.

“We all love you. Besides, I think Yonggukkie is cute” he blushed again but turned toward me, returning my embrace.

“Anyway, back to business” with the laughter dying down, I grew serious again. We were close to saving Himchan but from this point on, we had to be careful.

“Is he available?” I directed my question at Janice and she nodded, handing me the phone. I sighed and took it gingerly. Out of all our sources around the world, Ron was my least favourite.

“Hey sweetie! How are you? You can get the equipment right?” I said my voice overly bright. I could feel Janice laughing at me and I cringed at my fake voice.

“Yeah hey, Jane! Long time no talk eh? Lucky for you, I have everything available. It’s going to cost a bit though” Ron’s raspy voice crackled down the phone line. I shuddered and Janice covered with her hand, stopping a giggle from escaping. Ron did not like me very much either.

“How much?” I asked, rolling my eyes. It was expected of him to manipulate people, especially desperate people like us, into losing all their money.

“Let’s see, a hundred and fifty thousand won for a .58 pick?” he asked innocently, injecting the most sweetness he could into his voice, which came out sounding like a strangled cat. I could imagine him twirling that greasy moustache of his right now, smiling gleefully to himself.

“Are you bullting me? It was half that price last time!” dropping all niceties, I fought to control my temper.

“Times are tough, darling. Do you want or not?” his tone dripping with sarcasm, he knew he had me in his trap.

“Fine, you little sleaze. But know this; I will not be doing business with you again” with a click, I snapped Janice’s ancient dinosaur of a Nokia and tossed it back to her. She caught it smoothly and rolled her eyes at me.

“We should leave her alone for now. That guy gets on her nerves” Janice directed her order to Bang and he nodded at the boys. Trooping out, they made as little noise as they could.

“One hundred fifty freaking thousand won. Do you know how much of a that guy is?” I growled, fuming. Still mumbling curses to myself, I stood up and stomped around, kicking pillows that the guys had been sitting on. Janice quietly slipped out of the room and I heard her voice, too low for me to hear what she was saying. Someone muttered something back and a hum that sounded like general agreement followed. I rolled my eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying desperately to sooth my throbbing head. The equipment that we required was for saving Himchan, and that was the only important thing right now.

Besides, paying the ransom costs much more than paying for a few pieces I thought reasonably. Calming down a little, I strolled out to the kitchen, looking for the guys and Janice. They were gathered around the kitchen island, each of them drinking a sprite or coke, murmuring in low voices.

“Hey guys. We have the picks. We can go get Himchan tomorrow or tonight even” startled at my quiet entrance, they whipped around. Janice and Bang smiled warmly, while the rest of the boys still seemed a little, if not mighty nervous. Zelo and Jongup smiled tentatively and slowly Daehyun and Youngjae smiled as well. I smiled back and my eyes drifted down to Youngjae and Janice’s intertwined hands and I raised my eyebrows at them. Janice flushed but Youngjae beamed at me, proud of himself.

“That happened fast” I smirked and Janice rolled her eyes. I skipped over to Bang and he slung an arm around me, beaming.

“Okay, so are we done playing happy couples now? You said we could go get Himchan tonight, right?” Daehyun finally piped up. Jongup nodded in agreement but Zelo stared off into space dreamily. I smiled at him and Jongup turned to him, snapping him out of his trance.

“Someone wants a special girl, doesn’t he?” Jongup made a snide comment and Zelo blushed, shaking his head furiously. Youngjae laughed and ruffled his hair, which made him blush an even deeper shade of red.

“Zelo tomato, naekkeyo” Janice sung and I rolled my eyes, getting the joke that I hadn’t made in over a year.

Chuckling at her bad accent, Youngjae glanced at her fondly and we all smiled again. How we could all feel so light, so happy was beyond us. Maybe it the fact that we knew Himchan was safe, or that we knew the whole band would be reunited again, but no one could help but be overly cheerful, as if we were hippies in the 70s taking ecstasy.

“Janice, we need to pick up the tools. Should the boys stay here while we go? You might not able to fight, but you sure are the best sidekick anyone could ask for” I winked at Janice and she smiled back, nodding her head in agreement. Quickly translating for the rest of the boys, they all averted their eyes uncomfortably, not wanting to believe that two girls were doing their job for them. I chuckled softly to myself and grabbed Janice, dragging her out the door. Running after me, Bang spun me around and planted firm kiss on my lips, holding me there for a few blissful seconds. When we broke apart, I grinned at him and skipped out after Janice.