"Hit," Hana flirted, her lashes sultry as she leaned against the blackjack table. 

She hadn't even seen his cards - she was challenging him, provoking a reaction.

He smirked slightly, glancing in her direction, looking down at his cards: 6 of hearts and 4 of diamonds. "Fine, hit," he told the dealer.

She had been observing him for the best part of an hour by this point. There were subtleties in the way his body moved, never quite facing the person he addressed fully and almost permanently clenching his fist. Sure, he was dressed the part, and his suit probably cost more than Hana's rent, but she knew he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. The scar that ran down his neck and the way the air chilled within a foot radius of him was only testament to that.

The dealer swiped a card from the deck, and placed it in front of Ku Minsu. An Ace of clubs. Blackjack.

If she hadn't already got his attention, then she definitely had now. "Aren't you quite the lucky charm?" He drawled. Hana could smell the Southern Comfort on his breath and was almost certain he was wearing Old Spice. It made her want to vomit.

"I like to think of myself as more of a guardian angel," she teased, throwing all of her disgust to the wayside. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it well.

The ballroom was crowded, the city's elite all out in their finery. Hana had lost count of the diamonds she had seen and half thought that any smart mob would have really thought to pull off a heist tonight. Instead, she was faced with the task of seducing a man who repulsed her to the bones.

"Does the angel have a name?" His attention had left the blackjack table now and was solely focused on her.

"I go by H," it had been a while since she had last used that line. Her whole body cringed.

A second man joined Minsu, carrying a tray of drinks. "Ah, Sinyong," the first man smiled. "We've got ourselves, what was it? A little guardian angel?"

Hana didn't notice the slightly startled look on Sinyong's face. In fact, she paid no attention to him at all. She wanted Minsu to think she was enamoured with him. It was working.

It also meant that Hana hadn't paid any attention to Sinyong as he walked over from the bar. She hadn't noticed the way he'd popped a tiny white pill into one of the champagne flutes. She hadn't noticed that only one of them seemed to be fizzing a little more excessively than the others. She hadn't noticed that it was the one being passed to her.

But Jungkook had.

His eyes hadn't left her since he first clocked her during his descent down the staircase. The way she looked tonight was captivating, and he hated himself for being so weak for her. How could he be strong when she made him melt without even looking at him?

Like a moth to a flame, he was by her side almost instantaneously. Glass shattered by her feet as Jungkook knocked the flute that had been resting on her lips to the floor. Mouth resting ajar, she wanted to scold him. How dare he interrupt her mission when he knew how much rested on it? What the fuck was he playing at? And who on earth wastes fine champagne like that?!

It wasn't hard for Jungkook to read her and he knew that she was about to launch into a tirade, so he did the only thing he knew would shut her up: he kissed her.

Heavy and deliberate, it was heaven.

Oh god, it was divine; The way his cold fingers cooled her rosy cheeks and pulled her closer into him, the way his scent drowned out Minsu's Old Spice and the way his lips softly caressed her own. There was nothing about it she didn't love.

She was ignorant of the stares. Minsu's aggravated face and Sinyong's shocked expression didn't matter to her. They watched in silence as Jungkook's lips ghosted over Hana's, drawing back from her slowly. His forehead rested against hers safely, just like it was supposed to. "We gotta go," he spoke quietly, knowing full well the men were listening. He wondered if they'd clocked his tattoo yet.

The tension had attracted a small gaggle of spectators. Minsu didn't like to be embarrassed. "You're not going anywhere, Hae scum," he sneered. "You or the bitch."

Jungkook positioned himself between Hana and Minsu. The two men looked at each other with mutual levels of disgust.

Sandwiched between two Dal Pa members, Jungkook was vulnerable, but he had done so willingly. Protecting her was worth more than protecting himself, so it was no brainer for him.

She would have done the same for him too. Pa's didn't mean shit to her anymore; her loyalties lay with people, not Pa's.

Heart racing, Jungkook's vulnerability only increased when he felt a presence behind him. Balling the fabric of his suit jacket into her first, Hana held onto him dearly.

"Kook," Jin spoke calmly from behind them, causing the young lovers to exhale. Jungkook's band of brothers were there, like clockwork, to back him up, ready to handle things from there - even Taehyung. People over Pa's rang true for all of them in that moment. "Go."

From the balcony, Yoongi watched silently. He could see most of the Gala from his vantage point, and the majority of people were oblivious to the tension that was building in the ballroom. He had wanted to move, to get to where Hana was, to protect her, but joining her would have only caused more trouble. It was safer for everyone if he stayed put.

This is exactly what he had been afraid of, yet, somehow, it was everything he wanted for her. He wanted her to get out and to live authentically. He didn't want her to end up in his position, watching the love of her life fighting against her chosen 'family'.

Because that's exactly what he was doing as he watched Jin instruct the star crossed lovers to leave.

And dear God, how he wished it were them.