When I arrive on Floor 21, Marge is sitting at her desk, staring off into the distance. Her eyes snap to me as I storm up to her desk and slam a fist down on the table.

    “You... you knew that I was trying to find out why Kyle Johnson died this entire time,” I growl. “I was risking my life to figure that out. And all this time, you couldn’t tell me anything, Camille?”

    Marge is silent.

    Then she utters, “There are some things you’re better off not knowing.”

    “Are you joking? The 4 Flames killed your goddamn boyfriend! Why are you still working for them?”

    “I didn’t have a choice!” Marge growls.

    “You couldn’t give Marcus or his family an explanation? Kyle’s death ruined them-,”

    “What the hell does anyone know about being ruined?!” she shrieks, standing up so abruptly that her desk tips forward. “You don’t know anything, Ami. And you don’t want to know, either.”

    “What the hell? Why did they kill him? What is Project Cotton? Why did you hide your identity? Marge!”

    “I can’t tell you.”

    “Why?” My voice cracks.

Her eyes are bright with unshed tears. She swallows and looks down at the floor.

“I thought you would keep hitting dead ends, so I let you continue researching Kyle and Project Cotton,” she whispers. “I should have stopped you right there. I’m an idiot.”

“Marge,” I murmur.

She stares at me for a good minute, half-open, her face red.

Finally, she says softly, “If Kyle’s family finds out the truth, it will destroy them.”

I slowly pull up a chair next to her.

“Then tell me the truth.”

Marge wipes her eyes. “Do you know when they shot him?”

When I shake my head, she lets out a short bark of laughter, “When the two of us were at a restaurant together. He was about to propose.”

“Oh, Marge...,” I wrap my arms around her. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“I was about to leave the 4 Flames. Get evidence of all the illegal activities that were going on, expose them as a gang, make every one of those bastards go to jail. But that’s when I read his files and discovered his secret.”

I lean forward in anticipation. “What was it?”

    “Kyle was a spy for the Seven Stars.”

    The world comes to a standstill.

My breath catches in my throat.

    “He was doing what Chanyeol’s doing right now- posing as an intern to enter the company,” Marge continues. “Apparently, he had joined the Seven Stars even before he entered UC Berkeley. It makes sense; Kyle was a genius, and the Seven Stars paid him extremely well. He was able to support his family.”

    I am speechless. My stomach has plummeted all the way down to the floor.

    “I- I tried to hate him,” Marge hiccups. “But despite all the lies he had told me, I still missed him like crazy. I still love him. He was dragged into this by one gang, and was killed by another gang. I can’t...,”

    “Marge, it’s okay.” I squeeze her tightly in my embrace. “You don’t have to say anymore. It’s okay.”

    “I knew that there was no way the 4 Flames would let me leave. I knew too much. So I asked to be transferred to New York HQ and swore that I would leave my old identity behind and just forget about everything that had happened. When I returned, it was like Kyle had never existed. Project Cotton was still continuing as usual.”

“And then you came, and when I heard your wiretapped conversations and watched your camera feeds and saw you with Marcus- I knew why you were here. I should’ve stopped you and told you to get out of here, and save yourself. But I didn’t.”

    “Marge, no.” I firmly grip her shoulders. “I didn’t even listen when you did tell me to stop meddling. I was determined to find out, anyway.”  

    She looks directly into my eyes. “These gangs are evil, Ami. The things that the 4 Flames are doing right now- I won’t tell you. Because the more you know, the more in danger you are. I won’t let you be another Kyle.”

    I have so many more questions.

    But Marge suddenly stumbles up and heads to her room. I tentatively follow her, but she shuts the door before I can enter.

    I suppose that’s my cue to leave.

My body feels utterly numb as I step into the elevator and head back down to the lobby.

I did it. I know why the 4 Flames killed Kyle Johnson now. I accomplished my goal.

But what now?

Do I tell Marcus?

Do I stay in Yohan? Can I even leave?

Do I try to find out what Project Cotton is? Why should I?

All this time, Kyle was a spy for the Seven Stars.

We thought we were getting ourselves into the deadly world of gangs.

We were wrong. We were already in the world of gangs.

    Everyone around us is involved. Everyone from the popular jocks at school to our very own family members.

Is there any way to escape?

I trip over someone’s foot and stumble a little.

“Clumsy,” a familiar voice snorts. I look up.

Jungkook is standing in front of me, clad in a fitted black muscle shirt and workout shorts. He is gripping an unopened water bottle.

“Instead of dazing off into space, you should come work out, spaghetti arms,” he says in a snarky voice. “How’re you going to beat someone up if you’re that weak?”

I mumble, “Sorry,” and brush past him.

His hand snaps out and grabs my wrist. “What’s wrong with you? Why’re you so quiet?”

“Excuse me,” I say, pulling my arm out of his grip.

“Ami,” he says, his voice gentler than before. “Are you okay?”

My throat feels tight. I open my mouth to respond, but find that I can’t say anything.

Suddenly, Jungkook grabs my arm again. “Alright, let’s go.”

I blink. “What? Where?”

“I’m taking you to your house. I need you to be ready by 9. Wear something comfortable. But cute.”

“Wha- Jungkook! Why?”

“Shhh!” Jungkook unlocks his car. “It’s important!”

“I don’t have time for this! You never tell me anything. I don’t even know why I’m supposed to get ready. Why are you doing this, you head?”

A smirk appears on his lips as he peels out of the parking lot. “Because.”

“Because what?”

“Because it’s winter break, and if you sit in front of your laptop for one more second, you’ll descend into the lowest class of loserdom. Plus,” he adds, rolling his eyes, “you look stupid when you have that mopey expression on your face.”

My eyes widen. “Jungkook-,” I say softly, but he claps his hands over his ears, causing the car to swerve dangerously into the other lane.

“Jesus christ!” I screech, clutching the armrests of my seat. “Are you freaking blind or freaking stupid? You’re going to get us killed, you dip!”

“Aww, you sounded so gushy a moment ago.”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Liar.”

“Shut up!”

“So are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I sigh. It is 9 PM, and I have changed into a cozy, oversized wool sweater, leggings, and knit boots. I’m not going to pretend like my heart didn’t flutter a little at the appreciative grin Jungkook gave me when I climbed into the front seat of his car.

But I am going to pretend like I don’t have Marcus, Preet, Annabelle, or Lina’s numbers.

Because if I did have them, then I would be forced to make the decision of whether or not to tell them the truth about Kyle. Ignorance is bliss, and I don’t want to rob them of theirs.

And if I did have their numbers, I would have to talk about Lina. My suspicions about my best friend are steadily rising. She’s hiding something- she and Chanyeol and Baekhyun and Yoongi. That much is obvious.

“I’m taking you to the Dumpster,” Jungkook says with a straight face. I roll my eyes and turn away from him, refusing to speak.

“Oh, come on, Ami,” he says. “Are you just going to ignore me?”

When I don’t answer, Jungkook whines, “Ami. This isn’t fun.”

Ha. How does it feel, you little ?

Without taking his eyes off the road, Jungkook reaches out and places a hand on my knee. I whip my head around in shock.

“Is there something wrong?” he asks nonchalantly.

“Um, you shouldn’t steer with one hand,” I snap, my face burning. “That’s a safety hazard.”

Jungkook gasps, pretending to be concerned. “It’s a safety hazard? Oh, no!”

“I mean it!”

“Mhm.” He leaves his hand on my knee. I jerk my face away from him, so that he can’t see the incredibly red hue of my cheeks. Why does Jungkook have to do these stupid things that I can’t tell apart from jokes and serious actions?

You like it, a little voice in my head whispers. You want to hold his hand.

As if!

Do it. Do it. Do it.

Hell no.

Do it!

My stomach churns with apprehension and embarrassment as I slowly, hesitantly, place my hand on top of his. I see Jungkook’s eyes widen slightly from the corner of my eye- and then a small smirk rests on his lips. He envelops my hand in his and squeezes it gently.

Oh my god. I think my heart’s going to burst out of my chest.

And that’s how we sit for the rest of the ride- silent, turned away from each other, but connected by our conjoined hands.

So stupid. He’s such a dip. I hate this (I tell myself as I try to calm my erratic heartbeat down).

“Hey, close your eyes,” Jungkook suddenly says.

I frown. “Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Okay...,” I shut my eyes tight.

A few minutes pass, and then he says, “Alright, keep them closed. I’ll be right there.”

The sound of a car door opening and closing echoes in the air. Then, I feel a gust of air as the door on my side is opened. The smell of spearmint wafts into my nose as Jungkook unbuckles my seatbelt and takes my hands.

“Step out of the car. Don’t open your eyes!”

    I awkwardly stumble around as Jungkook leads me somewhere. It feels like we’ve been walking forever when he finally announces, “Okay, you can look now.”

    My eyes fly open.

    I absorb the sight in front of my for a few seconds.

    And then my jaw drops.

    “Holy crap,” I exhale, clapping my hands over my mouth. We are standing in the middle of an secluded clearing, enclosed by towering redwood trees, whose dark leaves blend into the night sky. They are so thickly clustered together that it feels they are closing us off from the rest of the world, protecting us. I crane my neck; there is a faint burbling of a creek nearby.

    This place is beautiful. It is isolated.

    It is exactly what I need right now.

    “Do you like it?” Jungkook asks, a note of nervous hesitancy in his voice.

    I turn to him, an exhilarated expression on my face. “No. I love it.”

    His face breaks out into a grin. “I told you it would be worth it. Imagine if I had told you where we were going earlier. I wouldn’t have been able to see this look on your face.”

    “Jungkook, you...,” I stride up to him, half-exasperated, half-amazed. “You’re...,”

    “I’m what? The best? The greatest? The most-,”

    I hug him. Jungkook immediately stops talking.  Instead, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me towards him in a tight embrace.

    “You seemed pretty sad this afternoon,” he murmurs in my ear. "Feeling better now?"

    I nod. “Yeah. Can we stay here for a little bit?”

    “There’s a reason I brought 5 blankets, a portable heater, and hot cocoa. We can stay here for as long as you’d like. I do owe you for listening to me rant at the banquet, so I’m returning the favor.”

    “You fool. You don’t owe me for that. We’re friends. I would always listen to you and support you, no matter what. Unless you’re being a douche.”

    Jungkook coughs awkwardly. “Sorry.”

    “Get the hot cocoa and I’ll set up the heater.”

    “Aye, aye, captain.”

    “You sound like an idiot.”

    “Takes one to know one.”

    “The 3rd grade called, Jungkook. It wants its insult back.”

    “The 19th century called, Ami. It wants its sweater back.”

    “Hey!”

    “Don’t hurt me! I’ll go get the hot cocoa.”

"Idiot," I mutter, grinning from ear to ear.

A/N: So WOW....Kyle LOLOL. Yeah more things will be revealed in the future.... and AHH Ami and Jungkook fluff!!! tbh this would be my PERFECT place to go.. like a secluded, mysterious forest where I can be on my own (I don't wanna go there with anyone else or on a date LOL i just want to go there alone)

Anyway sorry for not updating in so long!! I'm a LOT less stressed now. The fundraiser I was planning was yesterday, and it went pretty well! We raised about $500 for Akshaya Patra! :) I finished my main college application essay (only 2343 more supplements to go :P), so that's out of the way. 

I'm going to India on Saturday! I get to visit an Akshaya Patra kitchen and a school that AP feeds!! :D I'll take lots of pictures!!! I'm really looking forward to meeting the schoolkids omg alsdkfjalskdf I'M SO EXCITEDDDDD!!!! 

BTW watch the Unbreakable Life of Kimmy Schmidt it's sooooo good I finished the ENTIRE first season today in one afternoon LOLOL