Lea’s stint at the party ended shortly after that. Youngjae watched her carefully after that, but the moment Daehyun had her cornered against the edge of the pool, standing between her legs, he decided that that was more than enough. He quickly excused himself from the two leaders and rushed down to practically yank his former partner out of the pool.

            Daehyun looked like he wanted to protest, but a single look from Youngjae silenced him. Instead, he nosily begged Lea for her phone number. She had quickly caught on to the fact that Daehyun liked to play hard to get, and didn’t respond, only smiling at him as Youngjae grabbed her clothes and wrapped her in a huge towel, glaring down the younger man the entire time.

            They passed by a still shell-shocked Mimi and a grinning Zelo before Youngjae ushered her into the car. He wasted no time in pulling out of the driveway and speeding home.

            “What were you thinking?” He growled the moment they got into the car.

            Lea played dumb, “What? What are you talking about?”

            “You know what you did,” he snapped, “Lea, you can’t act like that in front of these guys.”

            “Act like what? It’s a pool party and I went into the pool. I don’t see what’s wrong with that,” She stubbornly said.

            “You caused a scene,” he pointed out in frustration, “You weren’t supposed to attract any attention to yourself.”

            “Sunbae, you’re making a big deal out of nothing. So I went into the pool at a pool party. So what? I was supposed to get closer to Jung Daehyun. I was just doing my job.”

            “Oh really? And did you learn anything of use from him?”

            Lea hesitated, “No, but—”

            “Exactly. You weren’t doing your job. You were just attracting unnecessary attention and being immature. Do you like putting yourself in danger? Because if you do, congratulations. Not only get you get yourself mixed up with Daehyun, but you’re now also on Kim Himchan and Bang Yongguk’s radar.”

            She fell silent at that, “Oh…”

            “Finally realizing the severity of the situation, are we? If you thought you could prance around Daehyun for a few weeks, then slip back into civilian life, then you’re dead wrong. The two most dangerous men in Seoul now know who you are.”

            Lea stared down at her lap, all her pride and exhilaration suddenly dying down, “Youngjae… I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

            He sighed deeply at that and his tight grip on the steering wheel loosened, “I know you are. And I’m sorry for yelling… It’s just that, I know how difficult this is. I wouldn’t wish my fate on anyone else, but I have a responsibility to bring these men down. I just don’t see how you can willingly drag yourself into this mess.”

            “I wasn’t entirely willing. It was a terrible coincidence, running into Daehyun, and I just made the most out of the opportunity. But you’re right. I guess I’m being naïve. I’ll try to be more careful from now on, sunbae.”

            “Yes. That’s all you can do. It’s too late to change anything now. All you can do is stay on the down low until Daehyun loses interest. And avoid attracting anymore attention from anyone else in the meantime.”

            She obediently nodded, “Yes, sunbae.”

            But on the inside, she was exhilarated. She had to stare out the window to keep Youngjae from seeing the smile spread across her face. Her success today was beyond what she had expected. Her goal had simply been to attract Daehyun’s attention. She had never guessed that she would’ve captured the two leaders’ attention as well. Her smile widened.

            Kim Himchan, Bang Yongguk. You’re going down.

***

            Youngjae claimed that it was too dangerous for Lea to go on patrol anymore. If any member of the BAP gang happened to recognize her in her police uniform, then would go down, and she would drag Youngjae down with her. Director Jang, to her disappointment, agreed with him. As a result, Lea’s schedule was now confined to the four walls of her cubicle at the station, filing paperwork and writing up reports. The job was so dull that it brought tears to her eyes and made her long for the comparatively exciting life of chasing high school vandals and petty thieves.

            Three days after the party, Lea was sitting her cubicle, downing her third cup of coffee for the day to keep her from nodding off while reading perhaps the most elaborate yet dull report of a speeding ticket mix up of all time. A vibration from her phone gave her a much needed break. She looked down and was confused by the text from Youngjae.

            I’m with Daehyun right now, but whatever you do, do NOT pick up your phone.

            A second after she finished reading the text, her phone rang. She jumped in surprise at the uncanny timing. The call came from an unknown number. Lea paused for a second, thinking about Youngjae’s text. It might make him angry if she picked up the call despite his warning. But it had been so long since her last encounter with BAP and she was dying to go undercover again. Deciding that she’d just tell Youngjae that she didn’t read his text until after the call, she answered her phone.

            “Hello?”

            “Hello? Ah, Youngjae, I told you she’d pick up!”

            He was speaking a bit too loudly and his words seemed slurred. Lea winced and held the phone away from her ear, “Daehyun-ssi?”

            “Yah, I told you to call me oppa!”

            “Daehyun-oppa,” she corrected, “Are you okay? You sound drunk.”

            “Drunk? Me? I never get drunk!” He practically yelled, “I’m as right as rain!”

            She snickered, “Alright, if you say so…”

            “I can’t stop thinking about you, beautiful,” he continued, “I wanted to call you earlier, but Youngjae was being a jerk and wouldn’t give me your number.”

            “Youngjae? Is he with you right now?”

            “Yeah! Here,” there was a bit of shuffling on the other line.

            “Hi Lea,” Youngjae’s voice was dull and he clearly was not having as much fun as Daehyun, “Don’t agree to anything Daehyun says.”

            “Yah!” There was the sound of laughter and static as the boys seemed to tussle around for a while before Daehyun was on the line again, “Hey, Lea! What are you doing tomorrow night?”

            “Um, I don’t think I have anything planned as of right now,” she said, trying not to sound too eager.

            “Have dinner with me.”

            “Hmm? Just the two of us?”

            “Yeah!”

            “I guess that’ll be okay…”

            “Great, I’ll text you the details!” There was more static on the other line followed by a hoot of laughter. “Yah! Jongup, what the hell are you doing?!”And then the line went dead.

            Lea stared at her phone for a