Jungkook is in an abnormally good mood the next day. When I comment on this the next day during lunch, Yoongi smirks.

“It’s because you’re starting training next week,” he says under his breath. Namjoon nods next to him, a look of pity on his face.  

“What kind of hell is training?”

Yoongi crosses his arms. “Let’s put it this way. I tried to request a break on my missions, too, just so that I could watch you suffer.”

“If you have a problem with me, just come out and say it,” I say in a low voice that only he can hear.

“Here’s my problem,” he hisses. “I don’t trust you. Your reason for breaking into the 4 Flames site was bull. Everything you say is a lie, and I know it.”

I glower back at him. “I don’t give a damn whether you trust me or not. Unfortunately for you, I’m here to stay. So you better just deal with it.”

When I stand up to leave, Yoongi grabs my wrist. “I will always be watching you,” he growls.

“Be. My. Guest.”

And I yank my arm from his grip and stride away.

The funny thing is, I think as I am walking away, is that Yoongi is right. Everything I have said is a lie.

I need to stay away from him.

    Saturday arrives before I know it. I was supposed to be at Yohan HQ today, but I called in sick (in a very convincing voice, mind you).

Instead, I’m with Lina, Annabelle, Marcus, and Preet at a Starbucks across the street from Symbiotic Incorporated, the workplace of Jaemi Kim. Annabelle is wearing a pair of formal gray slacks and blazer, nervously clutching a laptop bag.

“Okay, so let’s go through the plan again.” Lina paces back and forth our table. “Anna, you are now Mira Sim, a student at Lynbrook Public High School. You’re interviewing Jaemi Kim for a science project.”

I pull out my Mac and set up a FaceTime call to Annabelle’s iPhone. “Keep your phone in your pocket, but make sure the camera’s sticking out. Oh, and turn the sound off. We’ll be watching you from here.”

Annabelle nods nervously. “Got it.”

“Don’t be so nervous,” Preet tells her. “You’re just going in to ask her a few questions.”

“You’re right.”

Marcus checks his watch. “4:55. Your appointment is at 5. It’s time.”

    Annabelle takes a deep breath in. “Okay. I’m going.”

    “Good luck!” Preet calls after her.

    We gather around my laptop, watching Annabelle make her way to the lobby of the Symbiotic Incorporated building.

    “Hi, I have an appointment with Ms. Kim?” we hear her tell the receptionist in a high-pitched voice. The receptionist nods.

    Within a few minutes, a petite woman in a powersuit comes out of an office to meet Annabelle. “You must be Mira!” she trills in a sweet voice. “I’m Jaemi! Nice to meet you, sweetie!”

    “Nice to meet you, too,” Annabelle squeaks. “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me. For my school. Project. Interview. Thing.”

   “Chill out, Anna," I mutter.

    Jaemi takes Annabelle to her office. They both sit down, causing Annabelle’s camera to angle downwards towards Jaemi’s feet.

“So, what do you want to know?” Jaemi asks.

    “Um, here, let me just get my papers.” Annabelle clears . “So, you’re one of the directors of one of the biggest bioengineering startups in the country. How did you get here? Like, uh, what steps and schools and stuff did you have to go to and do and uh...,” She trails off uncertainly.

    “Well, I went to school in New York, actually,” Jaemi says. “Then I went to UCLA, had a few internships-,”

    “Internships? Oh, where?”

    There is a pause. “Yohan Corporation,” Jaemi finally responds.

    “Yohan? Oh whoa, really? What did you do there?”

    “Worked on a few projects.” Jaemi’s voice is tense, abrupt.

    “Because, uh, I knew someone who had an internship there, too.” Annabelle takes a deep breath. “Kyle Johnson?”

    Jaemi’s sharp intake of breath is clearly audible. Lina, Marcus, Preet, and I all gape at the computer screen, wide-eyed.

    “Excuse me for a moment.” The sound of Jaemi’s high-heels clacking out of the room fills the air.

    “Guys,” Annabelle hisses. “What is she going to do?”

    “You’re doing fine,” Lina whispers, but I nudge her.

    “Her sound’s muted, remember?”

    Lina falls back in her chair. Her expression is fraught with worry.

    Jaemi re-enters the room. “Sorry about that,” she says. “Anyway, Kyle Johnson? I don’t know him, sorry. Can we continue this conversation another time? I actually have to go.”

    “Yeah, no problem.” Annabelle stands up and shakes her hand. “Thank you so much, Ms. Kim.”

    “Goodbye, Mira.”

    Annabelle dashes to the elevator, nervously fidgets as she waits to reach the ground floor. “Okay, I the sound. I can hear you all. Guys, she totally knows who Kyle is. Jaemi knows something.”

    “We could tell,” I say. “But she obviously wasn’t planning on saying anything.”

    I gaze out the window at the darkening sky. Yet another dead end. What is the 4 Flames hiding?

    “You did well, Annabelle,” Marcus tells her. “Now come meet us back at the Starbucks.”

She is back with us in another 5 minutes, her face flushed and sweaty. “I should’ve been more subtle,” she sighs.

“No, it’s fine. It’s not like she would’ve told us anything, anyway. Now let’s go.”  

    “Uh, I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Preet mutters. He nods towards the window.

    Three huge black Hummers have just pulled up in front of the Symbiotic building. I watch in horror as several men, clad in crisp dark suits, exit the car.

    “Look at the logo on the back of their cars,” Preet breathes. “That’s the Yohan logo.”

    “,” Lina swears.

    “Holy .” I shut my laptop, hurriedly prodding everyone. “Get up, get up, get up. We need to go now.”

    “Is there a back entrance?” Marcus says. “We can’t leave through the front door.”

    When the cashier isn’t looking, we hop over the counter and sneak into the kitchen. We attract several odd stares, but at this point, I don’t think that’s a priority.

    Annabelle points. “The exit is here.”

    The 5 of us step outside into a dark alleyway. A chilly wind blows past us.

    “Come on,” I whisper. “Let’s just go this way and-,”

    “Get down!” Marcus roars, and launches himself on top of me. The next thing I know, a bullet is whizzing a foot above my head- the exact spot where I was 2 seconds ago.

    “Run!” Preet hollers, and we sprint down the alleyway, running faster than we’ve ever run before. The sound of thundering footsteps behind us and a call- “They’re over here!”- echo behind us. We are constantly moving in a frenzied, erratic attempt to dodge the shots being fired at us. Behind me, I hear Lina cry, “Ow!”, but we don’t stop.

    “Here!” Marcus yanks me right, so we turn into another alley. Everyone else skids to a halt and turns as well. My lungs feel like they’re about to burst. For the second time, I think, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die. We got lucky with the explosion incident at the school, but this time we’re screwed.

    “We need to get out into the main street,” I gasp.

    “How?” Preet pants.

    “Just keep turning!”

    “I can’t run anymore,” Lina sobs, slowing down. “I twisted my ankle-,”

    Without a word, Marcus hoists her onto his back and continues dashing down the lane. Annabelle brings up the rear of the group, kicking trash cans and garbage bags into the way of the agents who are pursuing us.

    “There!” Marcus finally shouts, and turns left. We burst out onto South Grand Avenue, a busy intersection that is full of speeding cars and harried pedestrians. And by some incredible, amazing of luck, I spot a hospital only half a block away, brightly lit and swarming with people. The safest place to go.

    “Just a little bit more!” I wheeze as we barrel through the crowd. Gasps of shock and confused gazes follow us as we keep going. Although this swarm of people makes it harder to move, it works in our favor as well- the men chasing us are struggling to fight through the crowd of people. My legs feel like they’re going to give out any moment now.

    And then we’ve made it, we’re barging through the doors of the hospital, nurses and patients and doctors in the lobby as gaping at us as we collapse on the floor.

It takes us several moments to catch our breath. A concerned nurse walks up to us. “Are you kids alright?” she asks.

“We’re just peachy, thanks for asking,” Preet responds. I throw him a look and he apologizes.

“We need to stop getting shot at,” Preet huffs after the nurse has left.

“Crap, get down!” I hiss. “They’re outside!”

We peer anxiously through the windows as several black-suited men push through the crowd, wildly looking around. One of them speaks into his cell phone, and the whole groups turns around and walks back down South Grand Avenue. I exhale with relief.

Annabelle groans. “All that work for nothing. We didn’t discover anything from that.”

“Not true,” I say. “This just confirms that Jaemi knew Kyle. She was most likely an intern with him, and she probably has ties to the 4 Flames. When Annabelle started asking about him, she got suspicious and called them in.”

“Do you think they saw our faces?”

I grimace. “They’ll be able to get Annabelle’s face from the security cameras in the building. But I don’t think they saw any of our faces.”

“Oh, god.” Annabelle moans.

“It’s okay. The fake name we gave Jaemi should throw them off the track for a bit.”

“So what now?” Marcus asks.

Preet rubs his temples. “I have no idea. Maybe we could try contacting the other interns... no, they'd respond how Jaemi did."

I bury my head in my hands.

We’re at a dead end.