It had been quite some time since Kai's death, and nothing was done about it. At least Runa tried to get information about Dori and what he was up to, but that man was as smart as he was crazy. Of course, when both she and Jungkook told Dong-Wook, who then discussed the situation with Min-Su, the man blew it off as nothing.

Saying that Kai probably owed him money and since he didn't pay up on time, Dori killed him instead. Now Runa couldn't understand why her father thought that but when she looked into the bartender's files, it was an easy excuse to use since he was in debt.

But Runa knew there was more to it, and per usual, Min-Su didn't care and said as long as Dori didn't directly make a move, leave him be. Because the mafia boss wasn't one to waste his time with rumors, he didn't care about that argument either, even when Dong-Wook agreed with her.

There hadn't been a single thing found about this mystery man and how the Yakuza leader was connected, so in the meantime, her birthday had arrived and her father was busy planning a grand old party to distract everyone, and remind the families of their 'united front'. He knew she hated socializing if it wasn't necessary, but at least the food was always top tier.

Parties were a way of letting loose amidst the chaos of this world, and since she was the Kang heir, it would be good for appearances which were well maintained. Speaking of, Runa sat in front of her vanity mirror while doing her makeup, the guests already downstairs while classical music echoed through the halls, and Jungkook sat at her desk watching her, observing everything she did.

Not in a creepy way of course, but he was having a hard time pulling his eyes away while she spoke to him about Dori and how she was thinking of meeting up with him, hoping to pull a grand manipulative scheme on the male to get him to trip over his own feet and confess.

"You know, you didn't get anything for my birthday. That's considered rude ya know? I am the mafia princess after all, and you of all people should gift me something", she says playfully, looking over at him to see his eyes were already intently looking in her direction.

His soulless gaze makes her nervous and she looks away with a small smile and warm cheeks which the foundation luckily covered. When he stands up and walks over, her eyes remain on her reflection as she dabs on a bit of highlighter on the tip of her pointy nose.

The sound of his heavy boots getting closer made her body heat up with embarrassment...probably because she was way too attracted to him and the fact that he was her exact type didn't make the situation any better. He folds his arms across his chest and leans against the wall, and she looks at him in the mirror when he finally speaks up.

"I did get you something, but you have to wait for it."

She smiled warmly, both shocked and flustered that although he was a bit cold and tried to distance himself emotionally from her, he thought about her and got something even when she had everything. It was kind of cute, such a contrast to how he appeared on the outside.

"Wow...I wasn't expecting that. Thank you though...", she sheepishly chuckles and puts her highlighter stick back in her makeup organizer, "Can you at least give me a clue as to what it is? Pretty please?"

A hum leaves his lips and she turns around to look at him, awaiting an answer. He debates on whether or not to do so or just to let her beg him for a clue, but he decides that he likes seeing her smile a little too much so he gives in.

"One clue. It bites."

She raises her eyebrows with a grin, "Oh? It bites? Damn...I can't think of anything."

For a second, she looks like she's thinking about something, and still nothing comes to mind. Maybe because her brain felt crispy from all the calls she made today so she was lagging a bit. Yeah, that was probably it.

"Yeah", she says slowly, "My brain refuses to work right now. I have no clue."

Jungkook almost smiled, he found himself feeling that subtle urge around her sometimes and it was starting to confuse him. It was like she was making him soft or something, he wasn't used to giving a shit about others because, for God's sake, he was an assassin who used people for information and never once held empathy.

And now he feels a bit of warmth in his heart when she smiles or gives him a silly grin. But at the same time, he just assumed that this was the Kang Runa effect. Something he's witnessed quite a few people, specifically men were influenced by.

"We'll have to see...won't we", he says, tilting his head back to rest on the wall.

"You almost ready?", he asks.

"Oh, yeah. Just one more thing."

She stood up and opened her violet jewelry box, digging through it to find a suitable necklace and she felt him come up behind her, she smelt a whiff of his aftershave that indicated he was close, and yet again, it made her warm inside and thank god for the amazing coverage the foundation provided or else she'd look like a cherry.

"You want me to put it on for you?"

She flinches a little from how unexpectedly deep his voice was and how it buzzed in her ears. She gulps thickly, nodding and handing the necklace to him.

"Thanks."

Before she could reach up to push her hair to the side, she shivered when she felt his hand swiftly do just that and his fingertips brushed against her skin while doing so. Reminding herself that it was not a big deal, even though the fluttering in her stomach said otherwise, she looked into the mirror and watched him put the necklace around her neck before clipping it.

And that's when he moves her hair back, fixing it a little while looking straight into her soul. His penetrating gaze had her breathless, like the abyss in his eyes was starting to hypnotize her and swallow her whole.

It was tense so she cleared her throat, smiling softly and pretending like she didn't have the thoughts she was just having, pushing them into the farthest corner at the back of her mind before turning around to exit her room.

"Let's go, I'm sure the guests are waiting."

She smooths down her long black dress and walks out into the open hallway, gazing down at the people below mingling and drinking champagne. The crowd didn't make her nervous, she wasn't an anxious person and was expertly calm in highly tense situations, so when she descended the stairs with Jungkook beside her, she didn't feel uneasy from the stares she got.

After she goes around, talking to a few people with Jungkook trailing after her, she's able to catch a break and escape to one of the tables that were filled with a variety of different foods, some of her favorites, and in her mind, she scoffs and thinks that finally, her father did something right. The thought was quickly dismissed when she remembered that Dong-Wook probably took care of the food arrangements so in the end, her father was out of her mind and was revoked of any credit.

"Are you gonna eat something?", she asks Jungkook, picking up a plate and using tongs to get a few chocolate-covered strawberries.

She looks up to see Jungkook looking around intently as if waiting for someone to pop out of thin air and shoot her or something. She chuckles at the thought, finding it a little funny how serious he was.

"You can ease up a little, Jungkook. We might be in a room full of people, but no one would dare make a move in my own home. Want one?"

He turns to her and freezes briefly when he realizes how close she is, and he eyes the strawberry she is holding up to his lips, her eyes telling him to take it.

"I don't like strawberries", he takes it and slides it past her lips, practically stuffing it in her mouth and she chokes a little, not expecting him to do that at all and her face burns.

But she bites down on it and holds the stem with her hand, frowning up at him, and from his viewpoint, she looks like a pouty little girl. Which in truth, slightly amused him.

"Damn, you're some type of heartless to not like strawberries. What's your deal anyway? I barely ever see you eat. Do you run on the fuel from your thirst for blood or something?"

"I do eat, and I ate before the party so I'm not hungry", he replies, watching as she eats from her plate, picking up a cheese cracker and biting into it with a soft hum.

"What do you like to eat?"

Her attempt to make conversation didn't surprise him and as always, he blows her off.

"What did I say about making conversation with me?"

Immediately she rolls her eyes, munching on her food before turning back to the table to fill up her plate again, "Can't you just at least try to be nice on my birthday? You're spoiling the fun."

"I am being nice considering who I am as a person. And my job doesn't require me to talk personally with you, whether it be discussing food or anything else. And besides, I got you a gift. You should be happy I did that."

She sighs in frustration, picking up a cinnamon roll that was gooey with icing, "Oh trust me, I'm over the moon you acted so humanely and selflessly to get me a birthday present. And it bites? Oh I'm so excited to see what it is", she sarcastically snaps back, taking a bite of the sweet treat and he looks down at her lips that were covered in icing which she didn't bother licking off.

"You will be once you see what it is", he says confidently, his face void of emotion but something in his eyes told her that if for once he did show human emotion, he'd be smirking.

"Wow, what a familiar sight to see. Happy birthday Runa", a voice says out of nowhere and she turns to the left to see Yoongi standing there with a small white box in his hand that was held out for her to take.

She didn't know whether or not Yoongi was talking about the dress or something else, but with that usual smirk on his face when he looked at the mess on her lips, she quickly licked off the icing and ignored his innuendo, taking the box from him.

"Thanks. I didn't expect to see you here. Figured you'd prefer staying home since you've always hated social gatherings."

Yoongi hums, brushing his fluffy white hair back to reveal his face better and the diamond tattoo, "And I figured you'd be hiding in your room. I came here for business. Not for pleasantries."

Her sarcastic grin tells Yoongi that she expected such an answer, "I'm sure you did. If so, there was no need for a gift. That would be inappropriate considering our history, no?"

Yoongi shrugs, "I'll learn to move on. Right now, I'd just like to drink my thoughts away on the balcony. So if you'll excuse me."

With a nod towards Jungkook to finally address his presence, Min walks away and gets lost in the crowd of people.

"What business would he have here?", Jungkook finally speaks up, glancing down at the purple diamond earrings that were neatly wrapped up in the gift box, along with a small piece of paper inside.

"I don't know, dad didn't say anything about if Yoongi was coming or not. He's not one to attend events such as these. But I figured he would anyway. It is my birthday after all", Runa discreetly opens the note to read it, making sure he doesn't see it if it was something stupid and inappropriate.

"He wants to meet us outside. We should go", she says, glancing around to make sure no one is watching them.

Jungkook doesn't question her, only staying by her side while people move out of her way as she walks to the double doors on the other side of the room to enter the wrap-around balcony.

Spotting the obvious mop of white hair glowing from the moonlight, she walks over to Yoongi and her heels against the wooden boards make Yoongi look over as he leans against the railing.

"You have information I take it?", she says once approaching him, close enough to smell his cologne and feel a sense of nostalgia.

"We need to visit Taehyung", he says while gazing out at the river.

She frowns upon hearing his name, "Why? Has something happened?"

That earns a light scoff from the male, "I had a spy in his gang and it turns out you were right to be suspicious. Dong-Wook told me to watch out for him and I found that he's involved with Dori and this mystery drug lord everyone's buzzing about."

She feels no comfort knowing her once best friend was a traitor, shamelessly lying to her face and withholding things from her and it makes her shift uncomfortably at the thought of what Taehyung could've said to the Yakuza leader and the drug lord, because God knows what they are planning.

"You know where he is?"

Yoongi looks over at her and stands up straight, "Let's take my car. I'm sure daddy won't be pressed if you leave your birthday party."

When he tries to walk past her, she grabs ahold of his arm and he stops in his tracks, looking back into her eyes that held reluctance.

"How can I be so sure to trust you? If Taehyung was fool enough to betray me, what makes you think I'll just go with you to God knows where? If anything, you of all people would have the strongest desire to hurt me."

Briefly glancing over at the intimidating bodyguard who bore holes into his face from those dead eyes of his, Yoongi shakes his head in understanding, hiding the slight pinch in his chest that she would think of him to be a traitor. Or maybe it was the guilt.

"I know. I know it's hard to trust anyone right now but believe it or not, I'd never hurt you. Even though you never loved me back, I don't hold that against you and would like both of us to move on from that. I'm trying to help you because Dori and Taehyung are unpredictable, this drug lord is causing a ruckus which isn't good for business, and we need you."

She eyes him skeptically and Jungkook speaks up, surprising Yoongi a little by what he says, "I believe him. We should catch Taehyung off guard while we can, get him to speak if possible. I'm sure you'll be able to do that", he says directly towards her.

After a few good seconds of analyzing Yoongi's eyes and his body language, Runa nods slightly, "Alright, let's go."

The trio walk to the front balcony area and into the circular parking lot filled with cars. A familiar car comes in sight and Yoongi unlocks the vehicle, Jungkook sits in the passenger seat and she climbs in the back, adjusting her dress and mentally cursing herself for forgetting to bring a weapon since she didn't have one on her.

But then she remembers Jungkook always had both of his guns on him and she relaxes while Yoongi turns on the radio to fill the silence as they exit the gates.

"You got a gun on you?", Yoongi asks while driving with one hand.

"Two", Jungkook replies and Runa leans forward.

"Did your spy happen to get any other names of people involved?"

A shake of his head makes her huff slightly, "No. He wasn't able to get too close most of the time but he knows for certain that Taehyung calls Dori a little too often and when they meet up, it's only them in one room. No one else. Whoever this fucker is, he's smart and careful to not get his identity leaked. It's making me think that there's a reason as to why he would go to such lengths to stay in the shadows."

"Yeah, I think it's weird how no one seems to be able to find any connections. Dong-Wook and I have been looking into it, but nothing has been found. I feel like we've just been running in circles and what makes it worse is that Dori isn't one to slip up, it'll be hard to get anything out of him and Taehyung..."

Yoongi glanced in the rearview mirror at her, he could see she was upset but angry more than anything. He could understand that feeling well considering his part in all of this.

"Does he have a cabin or something out here? I heard he recently bought a place but I didn't look into it. I didn't think Taehyung would risk his position and get into bed with snakes such as Dori. There has to be a reason for this, some type of rational explanation."

That makes Yoongi scoff, "Taehyung is anything but rational. He's probably doing this for you."

She deadpans, "What? What the fuck does that mean?"

"Meaning, he's crazy and obsessed with you. Knowing he's stuck in the friend zone, he'll probably try to get more power so he can make his move on you. Whether it be by force or manipulation."

She hums, leaning back against the seat and immediately she accuses him, "If so, it could be possible you're doing the same."

The male smacks his lips at the accusation, "I don't need more power, I have enough, and because I just told you I still care about you, it wouldn't make sense for me to be so selfish and trick you. I'd only be hurting myself."

Runa chuckles a little too menacingly and Jungkook notices Yoongi's face dropping as she snaps back, "You were always in love with pain. Weren't you?"

The rest of the ride is silent and Yoongi pulls off to the side, turning off the car, "We walk from here."

"I'm wearing heels", she deadpans and Yoongi tightly smiles while looking back at her.

"Well that's just a goddamn shame, ain't it? You've fought in heels before, I think barely a mile walking in those won't kill you."

"I'll carry you. If you walk on this road, you might accidentally sprain your ankle", Jungkook buts in and it isn't up for discussion since he immediately gets out of the car and opens her door.

The two miss the major eye roll Yoongi gives to that and the clenching of his jaw when he slams the door a little too hard and locks the vehicle, walking ahead of them as Jungkook easily picks her up and holds her bridal style so her dress didn't get messed up.

"Keep up please, I don't want to be out here all night with you two lovebirds", Yoongi grumbles, adjusting the gun on his belt and smugly smirking to himself when he hears Runa scoff.

"Oh please, what a territorial little bastard", she mumbled under her breath so he didn't hear, and she tried not to stare at Jungkook from how close his face was, so close that she'd have the advantage to look at him and notice every little detail.

She didn't want to seem creepy, and she'd rather not blush any further than she already was. The way he picked her up like she was a doll made her feel so small in his arms, and indeed she did look like one considering how her Bambi eyes were locked ahead as she fought the urges in the back of her mind telling her to look at him, and admire his beauty since it was unlikely they'd ever be this close again.

"We're here", Yoongi says, ducking down behind the bushes as they now are in the grass and Jungkook lets her down.

"I don't think he's home. But his schedule...fuck he should be here", Yoongi quietly seethes, huffing in frustration upon seeing the dark cabin and the only visible lighting was the moon above.

"Do you know if he has cameras installed?", Runa whispers to him.

"No, he's supposed to get them installed within the week but-"

"Then we can break in. I'm sure we'd be the last suspects on the list seeing as today is my birthday and we were seen at the party."

"She's right. Many people are probably gunning after Taehyung, they won't be questioning us since she's his friend and no one would see a motive for her to break in", Jungkook adds and they both look at Yoongi for his approval of the plan.

He's skeptical but since Jungkook is on board, he feels less anxious about this and thinks this might be one of their only chances to find out anything.

"Alright, stay sharp, and let's be quick about this. These are my favorite shoes and they're already getting messed up", Yoongi complains while they move around and use the bushes as coverage just in case anyone is in the house and hiding.

They approach the back of the cabin and Jungkook expertly breaks off the door handle with one of the logs from the stack of wood placed on the rack against the wall. When the door creaks open, Yoongi enters first with Runa and Jungkook following quietly behind.

"His office should be upstairs", Yoongi whispers and although it's dark, he sees Runa nod and they slowly walk into the place, mindful not to bump into any furniture as they tread carefully into the open living room and spot the staircase on the other side.

Although the steps creak and they silently wince at the annoying sound, they proceed and get to the top floor.

"I'll look around while you two search his office. I want to make sure we're alone", Jungkook says and pulls out one of his guns just in case, walking down the hall to the other rooms.

Yoongi opens the door to Taehyung's office and shuts it while turning on the lights. They both sigh heavily upon seeing no one is waiting for them in the dark, which they both have experienced before, and they nod at each other before they start searching.

"I'll try to get in his computer, see if he has any emails or anything like that", Yoongi says absentmindedly, his fingers already typing away on the keyboard and doing things she couldn't comprehend.

"My god how do your fingers move that fast", she snorts, before she purses her lips upon realization, and slowly looks up to see him smirking down at her.

"Don't even make some sexual joke right now or I'll rip off your cock and shove it up your ass", she narrows her eyes at him and waits for a smug reply, which she of course gets.

"I'm sure you've fantasized about it, haven't you love?"

Runa clicks her tongue at his sultry tone and turns her attention back to rummaging through the files, "Enough, we need to focus. Did you get in yet?"

A few more clicks and Yoongi silently cheers, "Yes. I'm in. Finding anything interesting?"

"Uh...nope. Just a bunch of business papers."

Yoongi is disappointed when he goes through the files and sees absolutely nothing there, and that includes the websites that have no history logged on them.

"There's fucking nothing here. What the actual fuck?", he groans, ruffling his hair before typing away to search the system for anything, and everything is gone.

"Everything has been wiped. It's like this has never been used at all. Do you see any USB ports? Anything at all?"

She rummages through the other drawers and sighs heavily, "Not a goddamn thing that's useful. What should we do know?"

Yoongi rolls his eyes, finding it more than aggravating that he's wasted his time finding nothing and what made it worse was the fact that he was starving. It was a bad idea to not at least stay at the party a little longer to eat, and now he's regretting ever coming here.

He just throws his hands up in defeat, "Since there's nothing here, I guess we should leave. What a fucking waste of time", Yoongi huffs out while turning off the computer and right as they exit the office after turning the light off, Jungkook appears from the other room and holsters his gun.

"Anything?", he asked as he approached them.

Yoongi shakes his head, "Nothing. We should leave though, it's late and he might be heading back."

And with that, they accept the unfortunate loss and leave the cabin, Jungkook carrying her again as they walk down the rocky road to Yoongi's vehicle as the man mutters to himself, pissed off that nothing was helpful.

"Yoongi, at least we searched and cleared one place out. We could-"

"Runa, I don't want to hear it right now", Yoongi snaps, causing her to raise a brow at his behavior.

"Excuse me, sir, no need to get sassy with me. It's not my fault, I'm just as disappointed as you are", she calmly replies and he doesn't answer.

Yoongi's quick temper was something Jungkook had observed, and although he wanted to say something about the tone he just used with her, he took the silence as an opportunity to maintain that for the sake of no arguments.

Trying to talk to him when he's in a mood would be pointless so as they drive back to her place, he decides to stay to eat as much as he can and drink enough champagne to feel better.

But before he can proceed with his plan, as soon as they walk into the mansion, Dong-Wook comes from around the corner with an accusatory look on his face as he approaches them and Runa presses her lips together from seeing a certain aggravation burning in his eyes.

"Where the fuck have you three been?"