Jungkook's POV-

We are all stood silently around the table, staring at the barrel as the note card gets passed around.

How can this be? How does she know we're here?

Jimin must have felt me tense up as my mind begins to race next to him because he takes my hand tightly in his as he rests his head against my shoulder to comfort me.

When the card gets passed to Hoseok he doesn't even glance at it before he asks, "Is this the first thing she's sent?"

Okay, so Hoseok knows who this is from.

"Let's just all go sit back down." Yoongi says as he turns on his heal to go back towards the armchair. Instead of sitting down he begins pacing behind it while we all file back to the couch to sit in our previous places.

It's quiet as we all look at Yoongi, waiting for him to speak. He stops his pacing and turns to us with his hands resting on the back of the chair.

He has pursed his lips as his eyes land on each one of us but before he can get a word out there is another knock on the door. This time it sounds less persistent, but it's an interruption nonetheless.

"Mother fuck!" Yoongi raises his voice before stomping to the door and yanking it open harshly.

There stands Chanyeol.

When we see him Hoseok and I immediately stand up and rush to the door.

Hoseok rushes past Yoongi, throwing his arms around Chanyeol as he exclaims, "Chan! Where have you been? Are you okay?!"

He glances down at Hoseok with a gentle smile before his eyes meet with Yoongi's.

"I'll explain everything later, for now let's go sit down. We have a lot to talk about."

Hoseok let's go of Chanyeol and gives him another big smile before turning to head back to Jimin and the others.

Yoongi puts his hand on Chanyeol's shoulder while he gives him a dazzling smile.

"I'm so glad you're here. That you're okay."

Chanyeol pulls Yoongi into a hug, "I'm sorry that I worried you. I'll explain everything later."

They release from the hug, he and I sharing a smile as he walks to everyone with Yoongi.

Yoongi sits down in the armchair while Chanyeol sits on the couch next to Tae.

"Okay, let's get started then." Yoongi says.
"I've spoken to Hobi, Yeol and Kook about this already, but I'll share with you what's been going on"

Yoongi proceeds to give a very abridged version on Irene's possessive and obsessive behavior as well as how when he went to Daegu this last trip he was with her for part of it and they had a fight.

He explained how during their fight she had admitted to him that she was the one that had been sabotaging any potential relationships Yoongi had.

He told them that she had either bribed or intimidated anyone he had interest in or who she thought was too close to him to coax them to cut ties with Yoongi.

What really shocked them was when he went into detail what she had done to IU. Everyone was speechless. I think Jimin's eyes even teared up. He's a big Irene fan. Well, was a big fan.

"Now she is aware of Kook. One of her friends lives in our building and saw he and I getting on the elevator together." He stands up and walks over to the table, grabbing the card to give to Chanyeol.

"This is not the first 'gift' she's sent. She congratulated Kook on his new place with a bottle of my whiskey of choice and two glasses. When we left the apartment that night to go back up to my place we got to the elevator and were met with the same girl that Kook knew, what was her name?" He asks as he turns to me.

"Yeri." I say shortly.

"Yeah. Her and Seulgi were in the elevator and as they were leaving Kook made a comment to Seulgi that he prefers wine."

I hear Tae laugh quietly next to me as he nudges my shoulder. Glad someone appreciated my joke.

"And that's why she sent a barrel of wine?" Namjoon asks.

Jimin smacks the back of my head lightly as he scolds me, "Don't mock her! She sounds scary."

"I'm not scared of her." I sit up as I fold my arms over my chest.

"Yeah Chim. She should be scared of us." Tae says as he mirrors my posture.

"I think we need to be a little more nervous than we thought." Chanyeol says, standing up to walk to the table where the barrel is, card still in hand.

He sets the card down next to the barrel as he speaks.

"Irene came to my dorm yesterday."

He turns back to all of us as we stare at him in shock.

"She always does when she needs to get information about whoever Yoongi is either rumored to be with or one of her spies has seen him with and reports back to Irene."

"Usually when she comes she just comes to bribe me with either paying off loans, using her influence at the company to get me signed or with a bag of cash she's willing to give me if I help her keep tabs on Yoongi.

"Her reach is far. She has people employed to watch him regularly. That's how she was so quick to come in personally when she connected Jungkook to him." He turns to face me, "That's what she came to talk to me about. She wanted to know about you."

He turns away as he begins pacing, "We need to be worried because this time isn't like the others. I think she knows it's over.

"As soon as she told Yoongi what she's been doing all these years, she lost him. No amount of manipulation can make him un-hear what she admitted to doing. She's gotten away with a lot of shit in the past but this is different.

"The only play she had was when she took someone out of Yoongi's life so he would lose his confidence and become vulnerable, but now he is aware that she is the reason all those people left him inexplicably. Now he knows it had nothing to do with him so her leverage is gone. Now she's desperate."

"Desperate?" Jin asks. "What is she going to do to JK? Did she tell you?"

I flinch slightly at the nickname. I'd forgotten how it sounded when he said it.

Jimin reaches for my right hand to hold while Tae wraps both arms around my left arm and presses his cheek to my shoulder.

"Is she going to hurt him?" Jimin asks, his voice full of worry.

Chanyeol takes a deep breath. "Honestly, I can't say. She isn't taking this lightly though. I don't think she is planning to just simply bribe or intimidate Jungkook like she did with the others. I think for now she is stalling while she is trying to find more information.

"She is making sure you are aware that she's watching. It's interesting how she's doing it though. It's usually more personal. She sent you something for Yoongi? That doesn't make sense. And this?" He walks over to the table and examines the writing on the barrel, "Is this your favorite wine or something?"

I pause for Jimin to let go of my hand as well as for Tae to release me from his hug before I am able to stand up and walk to the table to look closer at the barrel.

I hadn't really looked at it before. I recognize the brand though.

"Tae, is this the same as the wine you gave me?"

Tae jumps up and rushes over to me and Chanyeol. His eyes widen as he nods, confirming it's the same.

"It's not one I like necessarily, it's just a bottle Tae gave me. I had it the day... Holy shit, I had it with me when we saw Seulgi and Yeri."

"Fuck, I should've realized this sooner." Yoongi speaks up from his seat, "Irene likes to be personal in her game. She relies almost entirely on her investigators' information for her to map out and execute her plans.

"The fact that she gave you my favorite whiskey, then had that wine delivered simply because it was the one you had that night proves that she hasn't been able to find much about you."

Tae and I make our way back to our seats as Chanyeol starts to speak again.

"That would explain why she was so desperate for my help this time. As I said before, she usually tries to bribe me to help her but this time she tried to blackmail me. She's never done that before.

"Some of you are aware that I met Yoongi years ago but not under what circumstances. Yoongi and I were trainees with Irene. The three of us were signed around the same time to the company Irene is still with. The three of us were friends. When he was dropped, Irene and I stayed.

"After Yoongi left she and I got closer. I took care of her, tried to stick up for her when the other female trainees would bully her. She was like a little sister to me. Eventually I was dropped by them as well, but her and I had formed a bond.

"I lost touch with her after she got more popular, and even more so when she started being really obsessive and crazy with Yoongi, but I think because of our past there was a line that she didn't cross when she would come to me for help.

"She obviously thought coming to me with a bribe was fine, but she would never push me. If I said no she would say she understood, that it was worth a try then leave. But now she has crossed the line from bribery to blackmail."

I was a bit shocked by all of this information. I had a suspicion Chanyeol might be the boy Yoongi said he met as a trainee with Irene but I wasn't sure.

With what Yoongi said about the hard time his friend had after being dropped from the company I was hoping I was wrong. Poor Chanyeol.

And it sounds like Irene takes advantage of him too. Tries to exploit their past friendship to get information about Yoongi. About me.

But, I wonder why she can't find anything about me.

"Why can't she find information on me?"
I look between the two with a confused expression.

"I'm not sure, but I'm not going to question it too thoroughly." Yoongi says while he runs a hand through his hair.

"Are you going to keep staying where you are now?" Tae asks, throwing his arms around me again, resting his head on my shoulder while looking at Yoongi with his big puppy eyes.

"I don't want anything to happen to him. Will you let him stay with us?" He says, voice full of hope.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Yoongi asks as he looks at Tae for a few moments before move to meet Jin's.

"Is this what he does to you? If it is then I understand how you never say no to him." He then looks back at Tae, "I-I um. I need him with me."

"You can come too!" Tae basically yells, unable to hide his excitement at the idea.

"Please." He puts on the same hopeful expression he did a moment ago.

"Fuck." Yoongi says as he looks at Tae. "You probably get whatever you want don't you."

Tae smiles widely with his equally adorable boxy smile. "Most times."

Yoongi gets lost in Tae's expression for a moment more before turning to Chanyeol. "Do you think it's safe to go back to our place?"

"I think it's mostly safe, but it really depends on if she gets the information she is looking for about Jungkook. I honestly think she is going to be dangerous either way.

"If she gets desperate enough when she can't find what she is looking for then she might just come at him directly, but if she finds something to use against you then that will also be dangerous. I don't think where you stay will matter. She has eyes on you all the time anyway.

"Oh by the way, that girl at the front desk is with Irene. I've seen her over at her company when I've gone to visit my friends. I'm pretty sure I even saw her earlier this week when I went to talk to Kai."

"The one with light pink hair?!" Jin asks.

"Yeah."

"She's the one I scheduled the room with! So she has to be the one who told Irene we'd be in here." Jin says while shaking his head in disappointment.

"Well, sleeping at Tae and Jimin's is probably not a good idea. If she knows about them, if she doesn't already, then she could start digging into them and find something through them to get to Kook." He says before turning to Tae.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Taehyung, but please stop looking at me for like that."

I can't help but chuckle at the interaction between the two. Tae can even get stubborn Yoongi to bend to his will.

Between his looks and his intelligence, he really is quite a weapon.

Hmmm. That gives me an idea.

"Tae, could you come exercise with me this week?"

He groans at the suggestion. "I hate working out. You know that."

"Yes, but I think you can help me. That you can help with Yeri. You might be able to get her to talk by getting her to trust you. That way we can maybe have an unsuspecting person on the inside."

Chanyeol and Yoongi speak at the same time, "I don't know..."

"It's worth a try isn't it? If she sees me with Tae, then I maybe leave the two of you alone for Tae to do what Tae does, he might be able to get information. Maybe even feed useless info to her to pass to Irene to make her think they can use him."

Yoongi tilts his head in contemplation before speaking, "Taehyung, would you be willing to do that?"

Tae nods his head quickly, "I'll do anything to help you- both. To help you both." He smiles widely again at Yoongi.

"I think it's worth a try." Chanyeol agrees.

"Kim Taehyung, National Spy. At your service." Tae stands, giving a solute to Yoongi. "I wouldn't dream of letting you down. I will do whatever I can to complete my mission."

"It's settled then. Taehyung, welcome to the team." Yoongi smiles back at him.

He starts to look at Tae with confusion as Tae is still standing with his hand up to his head looking at him expectantly.

Yoongi's face starts to relax out of his confused expression as he begins to understand what Tae is waiting for.

He let's out a heavy sigh of defeat before standing up to salute back.

"Oh yeah. If he can get Yoongi to get up out of his chair to do something as silly as a salute, he can definitely get this mission accomplished." Namjoon's speaks up with a chuckle.

"Agreed." Yoongi and I say at the same time while I grab Tae's hand.

"Taetae always gets what he wants." I say as I flash my bunny smile at him, "It'll be perfect."

"Alright, I think we have a better idea of what we are up against as well as what we will do to diffuse the situation." Yoongi says, eyeing my hand still holding tightly to Tae's before he looks around at everyone again. "I for one am exhausted so I would say we are done here until further notice."

Tae turns to me again after Yoongi finishes. "We are going to keep being co-workers! This is going to be so fun!"