I paced around the room with my phone pressed tightly against my ear. I had been trying to reach Kai for the last hour, but he wasn't answering. Angry that he would ignore me, I threw the phone across the tiny studio, relieved when it bounced on my bed instead of shattering against the wall. With a huff, I scrubbed my hands over my face and plopped down in the middle of the floor, unsure of what my next move should be.

Somehow, I needed to get into that theater. I knew my guys could handle themselves, but it had been months and nothing had happened. What if they thought the threat had passed? They were holding their auction again, so Jin had to have some sense of complacency. Hakyeon had bided his time long enough to allow them to let their guard down. But knowing what I did about Hongjoong and the rest of ATEEZ, their security would still be tight. Whoever Hakyeon had going in would be someone they wouldn't see coming. Maybe it would even be someone they trusted.

Nervous energy rolled through me like a dump truck. My stomach was in knots, my skin clammy and cold, and my head felt a little too heavy for my neck. If I didn't calm myself down, I was going to have a panic attack. With nothing else to do, I decided a shower was my best option.

I turned the water as hot as I could stand it and just propped myself up against the weak stream and let it hit me in the face and chest. I stood there, breathing through my mouth, until the water went so cold I was chattering. When I stepped out, I was freezing but my skin was still hot. And I was no more relaxed than I had been before. My mind just wouldn't stop running away from me. Finally, I threw myself back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling until exhaustion won out and I fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up in a panic looking for my phone. When I picked it up and saw that there were no missed calls, I was even more angry than I had been the night before. How dare Kai ignore me like that? Realizing I had no more options, I quickly got dressed and left the apartment with one mission in mind.

I found Soojin in her booth across from mine. It was still early, but she already had a client on the table so I quietly pulled myself onto her prep counter and waited for her to notice me.

"What do you want, Selene," she asked without looking up.

I took a deep breath. "So I heard there was some auction going on in a couple days. Think anyone needs any help with security?"

She looked up from her client and narrowed her eyes. "Why would you want to work that? Didn't you hear what happened at the last one? Took them a month to clean all the bits of some guy's brains out of the carpet."

"I need the extra money," I said with a shrug.

Soojin sighed and shook her head. "It's your funeral," she said as she turned back to her work. "We've got a job that night, but I hear Mia with Everglow is working security for Red Velvet. Maybe you could get in with her. Yuqi has her number."

I grinned wide and hopped down, nearly running to Yuqi's office behind the front desk. She and Miyeon were looking over the books while Shuhua counted supplies in the inventory closet. I knocked on the door and waited for Yuqi to look up. It was weird having to ask permission to enter a room like a kid, but this was their world, not mine and I had yet to earn my place in it.

"What do you need, Selene?" Yuqi's husky voice was curt, but not aggressively so.

"Soojin said you might have Mia's number from Everglow. I want to see if they need help for the auction this weekend."

Miyeon and Shuhua both stopped what they were doing to join Yuqi in staring me down. Yuqi was the first to speak.

"You do know what-"

--"happened last time. Yeah, I've heard. But I could use the extra money."

Yuqi snorted out a laugh and pulled open her desk drawer. "It's your funeral, then. Mia's relatively new around the circuit, but she's not one to mess with. Don't piss her off because she's good for intel.

I snatched the piece of paper with Mia's number on it from Yuqi's raised fingers before she could think better of giving it to me. I was already punching it into my phone before I had even left the office. Nobody answered so I left a quick message and hung up, hoping against hope that she would get back to me. I didn't have to wait long. The phone was buzzing in my hands before I'd even got settled in my chair. I picked up on the third ring hoping to not look too eager.

"Hello," I said, hoping my voice didn't give away my desperation.

"Meet me in the alley on First in ten minutes."

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone in my hand. First street was easily a twenty minute walk from the shop but Minnie hadn't come in yet and I still had the keys to her bike. I didn't even think twice about taking it as I ran out the back door without a word to any of the other girls. If Soyeon wanted to fire me, that was just a risk I was going to have to take.

The air had warmed up considerably from the night before and was almost balmy as I sped around cars and pedestrians in my effort to make the meeting. With my helmet and leather jacket, I was sweating by the time I pumped the breaks to drift around the corner towards the alley I was going for. A slight figure waited in the shadows at the end. I slowed the bike down and stopped by a Dumpster.

"Right on time. I'm impressed," the woman's low voice called out through the shadows.

"I take my job seriously."

"So I've heard." The woman stepped into a shard of light breaking through the skyscrapers that illuminated her boxer braids that faded from pale yellow to a vivid aqua. She was slight, but I didn't dare underestimate her. I'd met too many people who looked small but could throw around people twice their size like sheets of paper. She looked up at me from long, dark lashes as she tipped her head back.

"Soyeon not paying you enough?"

I leaned back against the brick wall behind me and crossed my arms over my chest. "She pays fine, but I'm looking to branch out a little bit on my own."

The woman nodded and looked down the alley. "Well, you're in luck. I could use the extra hands. With everyone on edge after what happened at the last auction and with all the whispers of a war brewing, we could use another gun in hand." She turned to look at me, her eyes burning and intense. "But if you step out of line or make a mess that I have to clean up, I'll put a bullet in you myself."

I nodded, pursing my lips in a tight-lipped grin. "Fair enough."

The woman bowed her head. "So what's your name?"

"Selene."

"I'm Mia. Nice to meet you. I'll call you Friday night with instructions. Don't fuck this up."

"I won't," I said, but she'd already turned and started walking the other way. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before climbing on the bike and heading back the way I'd came. By the time I made it back to the shop, I hadn't been gone more than thirty minutes. I doubted anyone even noticed I was missing. With a groan, I pulled off my jacket and threw it on the chair beside my table with the sweatshirt I'd stolen from Jungkook.

I resisted the urge to pick up the sweatshirt. It, and the backpack that he'd given me, still smelled like him and I carried it with me often just to have a piece of him close by. I missed sleeping in his bed, curled up with my head on his chest, with nothing but the steady beat of his heart lulling me to sleep. I wondered if the nightmares that plagued me would still be a problem if I could just hear his heartbeat again.

The bell on the front door rang and I heard Soyeon great someone. The pitch of her voice was higher, almost squeaky. I could vaguely make out the sound of a man's voice and wondered who it could be to make Soyeon sound like that. Maybe it was a high roller. Someone with money to throw around. God knows we could use some more money around this place.

"Most of my girls are busy with clients right now. But I might have one free," I heard her say. I groaned. With everything going on in my life, I would've rather been alone with my thoughts than working on some rich prick. But money was money and I had painfully little of it these days.

"Selene, I'm sending a client down to you," she yelled down the hall. I didn't even bother answering as I slid off the table and started getting my tools together.

"Which one is hers?"

My spine went rigid as I heard his voice. It was unmistakable. Melodic and smooth, but deep and ominous.

"At the end, Mr. Jeon."

I spun around in a chaotic circle as I looked for a place to hide. The only free spot was a tiny linen closet in the back corner of the room. Nearly tripping over my own two feet, I barely made it inside before he walked in. The door was still slightly ajar, but I hoped that would only serve to help my case.

Through the slats in the door, I watched as Jungkook stepped in the room and looked around. He looked like home and I had to clasp my hands over my mouth just to keep from yelling out for him. His hair was covered with a baseball cap but there was no mistaking the shape of his body or how he carried himself. Like a panther on the hunt.

And that is when I saw the sweatshirt and backpack sitting in the chair in the corner. I had tossed my leather jacket, which was new, on top of both, so there was the chance that he wouldn't see them, but Jungkook was the most observant out of all of Bangtan. He had to be because people's lives depended on it.

I held my breath as Jungkook looked around the room, picking up my tools and looking at them before setting them down and turning around. He paused at the door, turning around to take in the room again, but I couldn't tell what he was looking at because his hat was so low. When he shrugged and left the room, I deflated. I waited until I heard him talking with Soyeon before I really relaxed. They talked some more and then I heard the bell over the door ding again. That had been too close.

Keeping my word to Jin sounded a lot easier than it was turning out to be because just seeing Jungkook had me wanting to tackle him and beg him to take me back to the mansion.

I stepped out of the closet and looked around at the items Jungkook had touched. Then I picked each one up and held it to my chest like I could absorb part of him into myself as a tear fell down my cheek.

Yes, keeping my word was going to be next to impossible.