SANGKYUN UNIV.
DORM 119
5:21 PM, SATURDAY

3RD PERSONS VIEW。

REIJI YOUNG.
≫ yo, where are you?

JEONG DANIEL.
≫ at school, why?

REIJI YOUNG.
≫ help me at the bar today

JEONG DANIEL.
≫ wait what?
≫ i'm not even... i'm off for today?
≫ it's saturday!

REIJI YOUNG.
≫ oh i know

JEONG DANIEL.
≫ then why me?!

REIJI YOUNG.
≫ keiko can't go to work...
≫ according to her uncle,
she has some stuff to do...

JEONG DANIEL.
≫ work?
≫ what work?

REIJI YOUNG.
≫ i don't even know!
≫ but... she texted me earlier saying
she can't come to the bar til tomorrow

JEONG DANIEL.
≫ is this because of the... gamble?

REIJI YOUNG.
≫ i guess so... i hope she's alright.
≫ so can you come to the bar?

JEONG DANIEL.
≫ yup, i'll be there.

Daniel bit his bottom lip, tousling his hair as he rummaged through his clothes. After finding a nice black polo and some pants he put them on quickly. The boy made his way towards his computer set, sighing while he typed in his password.

"Former heir..." he scanned through the articles and something caught his attention, "Former heir of Lee Corporation is know known to be a Mafia Boss?!"

"Should've known." he grunted and turned his computer off before grabbing his backpack and dashing out his dorm room.

Passing through a bunch of students by the hallways, he apologized if ever he light bumped into someone along the way.

Dialing the number on his phone with speed, he pressed the gadget against his ear as he went down the elevator.

"..." the other line was dead silent which confused him.

"Uh... Keiko?" his voice croaked out, feeling a bit uneasy. "Keiko-noona..."

He heard some movement from the other side and a bit of shuffling. "Hello?" he furrows his brows, where the hell is she?

"Who's this?" finally! Someone answered him, but it was a boy's voice. He didn't remember Keiko telling him that she was close to any other guys except the of them. Keiko's circle of friends was kept small, and only consisted of Reiji and Daniel.

"Wait– who are you and why are you answering Keiko's phone!?" Daniel shrieked and he could've sworn he heard some distant screaming.

"Ah shit what am I supposed to say, Jeno!?"

"Shut up, just drop the call!"

"Tell that sucker I'm Keiko's boyfriend!"

Now a bunch of other teenage voices were heard from the other side of the line. Daniel blinked a couple of times, "WERE YOU THE ONES THAT KIDNAPPED KEIKO-NOONA!?" he exclaimed loudly, quite lucky that he was all alone inside the elevator, or he would've earned a shit ton of looks from people.

A panicked scream emitted from his phone, "Hell no!"

"Liar!"
"But–"

"Shut up both of you!" Daniel flinched at the loud voices. "Hello? Is this Jeong Daniel? I'm... RJ!"

"Who the fuck are you?" Daniel grumbled, his knuckles whitening as he gripped tightly onto his phone.

"Um... Keiko's boy... friends? Yeah– just leave her alone for now. She's in—"

"She's mine—"

"Shut up, Haechan!"

"As I was saying... she's in good condition and will be back... whenever she's better! Don't worry so yeah, BYE.

The call ended and all he heard was the line beeping. Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, he couldn't help but try to analyze the messy phone conversation he just had.

"Just who exactly is she with?" he grumbled before stepping out of the elevator.

.    .     .

NEO ZONE
PRIVATE BAR
5:16 PM, SATURDAY

Sicheng had pulled Doyoung away from the girl before he could even get himself hurt. Keiko kept sending glares towards the Consigliere in which he just scoffed at. Jisung played with the knife he had as he looked at Keiko, "Will you make me a cocktail?" he tilts his head as the bartender washed her hands.

"If you want..." she shrugged and scanned the bottles of liquor.

Jisung looked at Taeyong who also shrugged at him. The young teenage boy snapped his head back to the bartender, grinning at her, "Give me something strong."

Keiko stifled a laugh, "Are you sure?"

Jisung nodded, "I'm- I can handle it if they can." he pointed out making her smirk at him.

"Then I'll give you what you want." she smiled sweetly at him before grabbing two bottles of liquor. She eyed them before stretching them out to Lucas, "Pick one!"

"Definitely Gin." Lucas grinned and she chuckled, "Gin it is."

She twisted the bottle cap open, pouring it slowly into the bar jigger before twirling in her fingers and the mixture smoothly went into the mixing glass. Using a bar spoon, she stirred up all the ingredients, not forgetting to pour the perfect amount of Dry vermouth. 

A dash of Orange bitters she chuckled upon seeing the drink itself. It has been awhile since someone requested her to do something strong, though this wasn't the strongest, it could taste stronger the most vermouth she chucked in.

Satisfied with the mixture, she strained it into a chilled cocktail glass, garnishing with a lemon twist. Sliding the cocktail gently towards the young boy, she gave him a smirk, "I introduce to you, Stronger."

Jisung smiled at him and was about to drink it when Taeyong got a hold of the drink. He sniffed the drink, eyeing it, "This is strong." he muttered before taking a sip. The dry bittersweet taste stung his tongue and he scoffed lightly, "As expected. You do go by your customers preferences."

He handed Jisung the glass, "Not too much." he uttered and gave her a smug smile.

"Maybe you should work for our bar instead." he suggested and she rolled her eyes.

"I'd rather die then."

The backdoor to Neo Zone bursts open, revealing a few of the other members. Mark, Yuta, Ten, alongside Hendery and Renjun. The boys walked into the private bar, making theirselves comfortable.

Hendery shot a look at the bartender, "Tsk."

Jungwoo hopped off from the barstool, stretching his limbs back as he tilted his head, "I'm gonna go get Dasom."

The name rang in the girl's ear, "You mean Rose?"

Jungwoo raised a brow, "Her name is Dasom."

"I prefer to call her Rose." she backfired making Jungwoo squint his eyes at her.

He scoffed and looked away, "Not even gonna argue with you."

"Make yourself comfortable, Cherrie. This will become your life sooner of later." Jungwoo stated darkly before turning around and leaving the bar.

Jisung patted the girl's shoulder, averting her attention on the teenage boy, "This tastes amazing! Give me more!"

Taeyong hissed, "Absolutely not."

Keiko sniggered and reached up to tap his head, "You heard him."

A pout formed his lips, "That's unfortunate."

"No it is not, don't argue with me Park Jisung." Taeyong grumbled, leaning onto the bar counter.

Jisung scrunched his nose, waving a hand off him, "Whatever you say, Hyung." and walked away to go talk to someone else.

Renjun approached the bar and cocked a brow at the girl before tossing over her phone, "Your boyfriend called."

"I don't have a boyfriend." she snarled making him chuckle bitterly.

"Jeong Daniel was it? He seemed pretty worried about you." Renjun uttered and took a seat.

Keiko sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, "I won't be able to go to Pandora's Box, it seems like it." she mumbled and glanced at Taeyong who was studying her. She hissed, raising a hand to slap him, "Stop looking at me."

Taeyong winced and gripped tightly onto her wrist, pulling her close, her body again pushed against the counter, "Don't fucking slap me." he let her go, a glare fixated on her.

"You were obviously scanning my body, pervert!"

Taeyong looked away, "Am not."

Renjun rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers onto the wooden bar counter, "Got a drink for me, Cherrie?"

She nodded, "Always."

—