“How the hell did this happen?!” Director Jang was furious, though rightfully so.

“It’s my fault, director,” Youngjae said at once, “I was too irresponsible in asking Lea-ssi to drive all the way across the city and to meet with me in a public location. I take full responsibility for this mistake.”

“Wait, what?” Lea interrupted, “That’s not true! I was the one who insisted on meeting there. If anything, it was my fault.”

“I don’t care who’s fault it is,” Director Jang growled, “How the hell did you not know that Jung Daehyun was going to be there, Youngjae? It’s your job to know BAP’s whereabouts at all times!”

“Daehyun is a wild card… I know where the other members are at all times, but not Daehyun. He likes to go out and fool around all night. None of the other members give a crap about his whereabouts anymore. He sometimes doesn’t even come home until the morning, but no one bats an eye.”

“It was just a terrible coincidence,” Lea anxiously added, “Who could have guessed that he would’ve gone to a random restaurant so late at night across town from BAP headquarters?”

Director Jang pursed his lips, clearly still unsatisfied with their answer, “You still need to be more careful, Youngjae-ah. These aren’t your average gangsters. They won’t hesitate to put a bullet in your skull at the first hint of your betrayal.”

“I know, sir.”

“These are the most cruel and dangerous gangsters in all of Seoul, if not all of Korea. And now you’ve dragged an inexperienced rookie into all of this. How are you going to fix this, Youngjae?”

“I will fix this, sir. I won’t let anything happen to Lea. I’m going to find Daehyun at the house first thing tomorrow morning and tell him that Lea’s left town to visit family. Hopefully he forgets about her in a few days. He’s not the type to stay fixated on one woman for more than a week. But in the meantime, we need to put Lea in protective custody. At the very least, she should have a security detail on her at all times. Maybe she should even be transferred to a different department for a while.”

“Hey, wait a minute!” Lea exclaimed in outrage, “What are you talking about?!”

Youngjae looked at her, “It won’t be forever, Lea,” he soothingly said to her, “Just a few months or so. Until this all dies down. Or until I finish my assignment.”

She shook her head furiously, “Absolutely not.”

Director Jang raised an eyebrow, “What do you propose we do, then?”

“Youngjae-sunbae’s been undercover for over half a year now. He’s worked so hard to gain their trust and finally join their inner ranks. If he tries to hide someone they think is his own sister from his supposed friends, they will know there’s something wrong. They’ll know that he still doesn’t trust them, and they’ll be suspicious.  All of sunbae’s hard work will be for nothing.”

Director Jang considered her words thoughtfully, “So what’s your suggestion?”

“Let me go to the party. That way, Youngjae-sunbae can diffuse all suspicion and at the same time, I can try to get information about the gang from a new point of view. I know that Youngjae-sunbae has been working well with Bang Yongguk and Kim Himchan, but Daehyun is completely uncharted territory. But he obviously prefers the company of women and might be more open to me… Maybe I can—”

“There is no way in hell any of that is happening,” Youngjae hotly interjected before she could finish her sentence.

“Youngjae—”

“No. Absolutely not. You don’t know them like I do, Lea. And although Jung Daehyun might not be as dangerous as Yongguk or Himchan, you should see the way he goes through women like it’s nothing. And when he’s done with them, he just tosses them out like they’re dirty laundry.” His nose wrinkled in disgust.

“But don’t you see, sunbae?” Lea tried to reason with him, “This is perfect. I don’t want to be there long-term like you are. I don’t mind getting used by Jung Daehyun. I can’t imagine it will be more than a few weeks before he gets tired of me, and by then, I will hopefully have new information to report back. I know that you’re close with the two leaders, sunbae, but you have virtually no idea what’s going on with the younger members. I can help you get that information. It’s a win-win situation.”

Director Jang looked thoughtful for a few moments, “What you’re saying does seem logical…”

Youngjae turned to him in surprise, “What? Director, you can’t be serious!”

“Shush, kid. Let me think.”

Youngjae had no choice but to keep quiet, though a muscle in his jaw twitched in anger.

Director Jang tapped a finger against his chin thoughtfully as he eyed Lea up and down, “Honestly, I’m more surprised than anything that Jung Daehyun actually took an interest in you, officer.”

“I am too, trust me, sir.”

“Yes, but we mustn’t let an opportunity like this slip us… You’ll have a lot of training to do this week in preparation, but you’ll be going to that party this weekend.”

Lea bowed her head, “Thank you, sir.”

Youngjae’s jaw dropped, “What? This is a mistake, sir! She’s way too inexperienced and –”

“This is my final decision, Youngjae.”

And then the younger man had no choice but to hold his tongue and simply glare at his too-pleased former partner.

***

The next few days were hectic. Lea was at the station every day until late in the night being drilled about how she should behave and exactly what she should say in preparation for her undercover stint. They had created an entire profile for her that she had to memorize, and they also updated her firearm training, in case of an emergency situation.

Finally, it was the day of the party. Lea was so restless with worry and excitement the entire night before that she had gotten very little sleep. But when she woke up that morning, she was energetic and pumped up.

This was why she had joined the police force in the first place. She didn’t want to be stuck her entire life chasing down litterers and writing up speeding tickets. Ever since Youngjae had left, her partner was an older, heavy-set man on the verge of retirement. Although he was good-natured and always shared his doughnuts, patrolling with him was unbearably dull. The highlight of her entire partnership with him had been chasing a bunch of teenage graffiti artists on bikes.

But now, she was going to infiltrate BAP, the most notorious gang in possibly all of Korea. She couldn’t help but grin in sheer delight. Everything she had worked for since the second she stepped foot into the police academy years ago was all towards the hope that one day she might be given the opportunity to bring down BAP.

Somewhere deep down inside of her, she questioned the ethics of the situation. Lea had a personal vendetta against this particular gang that made her bloodthirsty. She would try to stay professional, but her lust for revenge would be hard to control. If anyone at the station were aware of her personal history with BAP, there would be no way she’d be in this position. It was dangerous and unethical for a cop with a personal vendetta to become so involved. It was her biggest secret, and she’d take it to her grave if need be.

As a result, Lea had gone through great lengths to keep her personal history with BAP a secret. And now she realized that all of her efforts had not been in vain. She would single-handedly drag all their asses to rot in prison if she could.

Lea took another look in the mirror to assess her appearance. She didn’t actually own a bikini, but had a sporty two-piece Nike suit she used to swim laps at the gym, and figured that was close enough. Over it, she wore a simple outfit of cutoff denim shorts and a sheer one-shouldered white top. She figured it was flirty without trying to hard. She thought about adding a touch of makeup, but decided that it probably wasn’t worth it, since they were going to be swimming anyways. Besides, she had never been that good at makeup.

A minute later and she heard a knock on her front door. Lea quickly grabbed her bag and rushed to answer the door.

“Sunbae, thanks for picking me up,” she said as she bent over to pull on her shoes.

Youngjae paused for a moment, staring at her. Finally, he said, “Are you actually wearing that?”

Lea frowned and pulled up the loose neck of her shirt, “Yes, why? Is it too revealing?”

He hesitated for a moment, “Well… Actually, don’t worry about it. Come on, we don’t want to be too late.”

She finished lacing up her sneakers with a smile and followed him out the door.

***

The drive to the outskirts of Seoul where the BAP headquarters were located was relatively quick. During the short drive, Youngjae quizzed her intensively on how she should behave in any particular situation. But Lea had been so intensively trained in the past few days that the answers came naturally to her and he could find no fault with her responses.

They pulled up in front of a luxurious mansion, secluded from the other houses on its position on the top of a hill. The mansion was modern, constructed with sharp glass and metal edges. Exotic palm trees lined the long, rolling driveway that seemed to stretch on forever. Lea’s jaw dropped. She thought houses like this only existed in movies and hiphop music videos.

Youngjae parked the car and turned to look at her, “You ready?”

She nodded and together, they got out of the car and walked to the front door. Even from outside, Lea could hear the sounds of chaotic laughter and the popping of champagne bottles. Youngjae raised his eyebrows at her, then rang the doorbell.

A minute later, and the door swung open, revealing a tall black woman in a skintight red dress, “Youngjae-oppa! You made it!” She crowed with delight, reaching over to hug him.

Lea ogled at the nonchalant display of skinship but didn’t say anything.

“Oh, and who’s this girl?” She asked, smiling kindly at Lea.

“This is my little sister, Lea,” Youngjae said for her.

“She’s cute, Youngjae. My name is Mimi, hon.”

Lea respectfully bowed at her, “It’s very nice to meet you, Mimi-ssi.”

She grinned back, “Please call me ‘unnie.’ And don’t just stand outside, guys. Come