A/N: I've updated a loooooooooooot in the past few days so YEAH go back and read everything!! i think my updating binge started at log 5 or 6

“Hey, head! Look who I have here?”

    Chanyeol and Kyungsoo both stop fighting and look over at Joshua and I. Kyungsoo’s face cracks into a grin when he sees me.

    “Mimi! You’re okay!” He buries me in a hug.

    “Ew! You’re all sweaty, Kyungsoo!” I groan, laughing and pushing him away. “Hey, Chanyeol.”

    He slaps me on the back. “How’s my favorite hacker doing?”

    “Don’t let Baekhyun and Marge hear that.”

    “Shhh. You better not tell them.”

    “Hey, squirt.” Chanyeol ruffles Joshua’s hair. “How’s it going?”

    “It was going wonderful before you showed up,” Joshua responds irritably. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo share a smirk.

    “You’re so uptight,” Kyungsoo says. “You should calm down.”

    “I’m uptight?” Joshua snaps. “That’s coming from the guy who’s had a pole stuck up his since-,”

    “Okay, you three need to chill.” I turn to Chanyeol. “Hey, let’s spar. Just like the old days.”

    I snicker. “Is this Training, Round 2? You want to fight?”

    “Should I act like a ditz again? Oh my gosh, Ami, my name is Chanyeol Park, and I’m an intern, and I love sparkles and I’m a terrible fighter and oh wow!”

    A mischievous smile curves my lips. “Oh, no, Jungkook is watching us over there. Quick, I’ll pretend to knock you out so we don’t get yelled at.”

    Flashes of surprise crosses Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, and Joshua’s faces; however, they quickly disappear after Chanyeol jokes, “Looks like we’re returning to your MTV teen drama.”

    And all of a sudden I start laughing uncontrollably. I stagger against Kyungsoo, my stomach aching as I giggle loudly. Soon, Chanyeol joins in with his contagious guffawing and Joshua is cackling and Kyungsoo’s starting to chortle, too. A few other people in the training room look over at the four of us in confusion as we collapse onto the floor in hysteria.

    “Wh-what are we even laughing about?” Kyungsoo gasps between ragged breaths.

    “Mimi started it,” Joshua breathes, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. “Why, Mimi? Why?”

    Because even though I’m not 16 anymore, there are still a few good things about my life right now that I wouldn’t give up for the world.

    And even though everything’s so ed up, and even though my own mother expects me to turn myself into the 4 Flames in a week, and even though I can’t even fully grasp the breadth of the situation I am in-

    I can get through this.

    Because I’m Ami Hwang.

    And that’s what I do.

    “So here’s the deal.” I cross my arms. “My mom’s planning on dropping me in the middle of a Yohan party so they catch me on purpose. She... well, she claims that they won’t kill me. But I’m not going in there unprepared. I need your help. Oh, and don’t tell anyone I told you this, by the way,” I add, looking at Chanyeol, Joshua, and Kyungsoo's stunned expressions. “This is supposed to be a top secret plan.”

    “Why the hell would that woman do that to you?!” Kyungsoo shouts, clenching his fists. “This is a new low, even for her. She’s fine with using her own daughter?”

    Chanyeol grits his teeth. “Haera Kim has always been a cruel - no offense, Ami.”

    “None taken.”

    “But- and this is unrelated- I've been thinking, though. Isn’t it... kind of crazy, though? How you were coincidentally the person I ended up talking to at Training? And it turned out you were trying to take down the 4 Flames, too, and now it turns out you’re my boss’ daughter. It’s very.... whoa.”

    I slowly nod. “That’s true. My mom did plan out a lot of things in my life beforehand. But you talking to me... that was fate. Wow. That sounds super sappy.”

    He laughs. “It was fate. We’re destined to be together, my beautiful lover.”

    “Hey. All of Mimi's lovers have to go through an intense application, screening, and interview process,” Kyungsoo pipes up.

    “You already have your eHarmony girlfriend,” Joshua snorts. “Hey, Chanyeol, wanna hear a funny story?”

    “Oh, shut up, Joshua,” Kyungsoo groans.

    “Anyway, I want to be prepared.” I cross my arms. “So help me out. I do want Training, Round 2.”

    Joshua clears his throat. “Before we start, though, I want to ask you something, guys. Promise not to kill me.”

    “No promises.”

    “What’s the deal with that Kris guy?”

    Kyungsoo and Chanyeol’s faces darken.

    “Baekhyun’s hiding something about Kris.” Kyungsoo finally mutters. “I don’t know what it is.”

    I bite my lip.

    I’m not supposed to tell them the real story.

    “Well, all Baekhyun told me is that someone’s coming here to help us, and Kris is really pissed about it.” Chanyeol shakes his head. “I haven’t seen him at all since he got here.”

    “I landed a few punches on that er when I saw him,” Kyungsoo tells him, and Chanyeol smirks in appreciation.

    “Anyway.” Joshua claps his hands. “We’d be glad to help, Mimi. We can go over physical training, hypothetical situations- I just want to make sure you won’t be a sitting duck over there.”

    Chanyeol nods grimly. “Look, Ami. Your mother probably didn’t give you the full details of what they’re going to do to you when they capture you, because she didn’t want you to back out. Honestly, I think you should back out.”

    “You’re not prepared for this at all,” Kyungsoo utters. “Worst case scenario involves physical and mental torture, lasting several days. If something goes wrong and extraction fails-,”

    “-then you stay there until they dispose of you,” Joshua says, a worried look on his face. “Who in their right mind would send you, someone who has had 0 field experience-,”

    “My lovely mother, of course.” I purse my lips, hoping that my face does not betray the trepidation I feel. “How screwed do you think I am?”

    “Extremely. Mimi. Tell your mom you won’t do it.”

    “This is so risky,” Chanyeol exhales.

    “But if I go through with this plan,” I say, “then Yohan goes down.”

    Kyungsoo frowns. “But what if something goes wrong-,”

    “I just want this all to be over.”

    There is silence. No one looks at each other.

    And then Joshua says, “We’ll train you this week. If you feel like you’re prepared, you can... go ahead.”

    Chanyeol and Kyungsoo look like they are about to protest, but Joshua silences them with a subtle look.

    “So let’s get started then,” I say, taking a deep breath in. “What are we going to do first-,”

    Suddenly, the door to the Training center slams open. Lina runs in, her chest heaving.

    “Ami,” she breathes. “Fei Wang is here.”

    My eyes widen. “Oh my god. Guys. That’s the person who knows Kris. The one Baek was talking about.”

    I hastily wave goodbye to the 3 guys and rush behind Lina. Behind me, I can hear Kyungsoo mutter, “Fei Wang?”

    “What is she saying? Is she panicking? Confused? Where is she?” I ask Lina as we enter the elevator. She presses the “Lobby” button.

    “She’s kind of freaking out,” Lina tells me tersely. “You know her, right? You need to calm her down.”

    “Well, what were they expecting?” I mutter. “You can’t just bring someone in and tell them they have to sell out their company.”

    The elevator dings and the door slides open. My jaw drops.

    Fei is standing in the middle of the lobby, amicably chatting with Mrs. Nguyen. She has a manila file folder in one hand and a pen in another.

    “I thought you said she was freaking out,” I whisper to Lina.

    “She is,” Lina says. “She thinks she’s being offered some high-paying tech consulting job at Fulton & Park.”

    “Fei!” I exclaim. Her eyes lock onto mine.

    “Mihae!” she gasps. “What are you doing here?”

    “Well...,” I look at Mrs. Nguyen, silently imploring if she has debriefed Fei. Judging by the strained smile on her face, I am assuming not. “We need to have a talk, Fei.”

    “Let’s just take you upstairs,” Mrs. Nguyen says, leading us back to the elevator. Fei excitedly chatters about her experience with Sentrix and how honored she is to be offered a position at Fulton & Park.

    Poor, poor Fei.

    When we arrive at the conference room at Floor 15, I see Mrs. Nguyen steel herself before she opens the door.

    I grasp Lina’s hand.

    Mrs. Nguyen turns the handle.

    And so it begins.

    “Welcome, Fei Wang,” my mother says in a cool voice. “Take a seat. Marge, do you know where Yifan is?”

    “He should be coming,” Marge responds, looking at Baekhyun. “I... I’m positive he’ll be here.”

    “Good. Now, Miss Wang.” My mother leans forward. “We have some business to talk about.”

    I see the grin slowly fade off of Fei’s face. She nervously glances at me.

“I’ll explain everything to her,” I announce to the room. “We’ll start from the beginning.”

Suddenly, the door slams open.

Fei’s jaw drops.

“What are you doing here?” she says as Kris strides in. Her eyes widen as he coldly ignores her, and sits down next to my mother.  

    “You may begin, Aemin,” my mother tells me, amusedly watching the interaction between Kris and Fei. Kris has a icy, brooding look on his face. He does not even bother to look at Fei.

“Here, sit down, Fei,” I say, my eyes on Kris. “First off... my name’s Ami Hwang. Not Mihae Kim.”

A/N: lol @ Kris