"Cosma."

I turn toward Jungkook, immediately on high alert. I scan the perimeters, certain I'll see a team skirting around the buildings. When I see nothing, I relax. We've spent the early morning hours weaving our path into southern Gangnam. Lacking sleep makes every little noise and movement seem like a threat.

"What is it?" I say. My voice seems too loud, breaking the silence of a few hours when we navigated through the routes that looked safest.

He takes a breath and holds it. When he finally releases it, he meets my gaze. There is a softness in his eyes—one that wasn't there before he became my ally. I love him and resent him for it.

"If we only have one item at the end," he says, "I want you to have it."

I reach out and slap his arm closest to me. "What the hell are you talking about?" I almost miss the days where he was uncaring toward me, not even wanting to fight on my side. This caring part of him makes everything more complicated. It will make losing him painful. I can't afford these emotions in a competition where the idea of "we" can be made foreign in one instant.

"I mean it," Jungkook says.

"Why?" I say, embarrassed by the choking sound that comes out.

His dark eyes are set on me, intense as the day I first met him. "Cosma, it just makes sense."

Anger surges through me. "Jungkook, I made you a promise. I won't go back on my word."

"Don't be stubborn," he says, grabbing my arm when I pivot to go forward.

I turn toward him with the most scathing look I can muster. "Jungkook, I promised."

"I can make a promise too," Jungkook says, with a hardness that tells me that he's just as stubborn as me.

"You don't have to make any promises," I say. "We settled this when we became a team. We're saving you first."

"Cosma...."

I realize that we're in the middle of the road. That someone could shoot us if they wanted to. It'll be a clearer shot than if we were birds without wings. With the sunrise hinting behind the clouds, everything is a light shade of gray. Jungkook and I are brightened just enough that if a competitor were to find us—there would be no mistaking our uniforms.

But Jungkook's making it seem like right now is a life and death decision. That if we don't settle this right now, there would be unlimited repercussions.

"Give me one good reason," I say. "And even if you give me the best reason in the world, I won't change my mind."

"Cosma, you have your family. Zion. Your parents." Jungkook gulps, his chin tilting downward slightly. "I have no one."

"You have your dream," I say. "You want to be a star. You'll have thousands of people who love and adore you. That isn't no one."

Jungkook shakes his head, closing his eyes like he's fighting an internal battle. "Cosma, no one will really miss me."

"I would," I say, surprised at how quickly I get the words out.

Then I shake off his grip and continue our walk toward the southern border. For a second, Jungkook doesn't follow. But he catches up quickly. I can sense him wanting to push the topic.

"It's my choice in the end," he says.

I keep my eyes straight forward. If I look into my partner's eyes, I might completely crack and lose it. Jungkook hasn't been the only one who grew a loyalty. If I see the wisps of hair falling past his eyes, the tilt of his chin, I might just cry in the middle of the street. If Mr. Fame truly is watching, I'll become his laughing stock.

"It's not your choice," I say. "We already decided on this long ago. It was the reason you allowed me on your team."

"I'm changing my mind," Jungkook says.

"You can't change your mind!" I say. "That's the whole point of a deal. You stick to it 'til the end."

Jungkook is quiet, and I can tell that he's brooding. "You're more stubborn than I thought."

I want nothing more than to evade the subject. "Hurry up. We have to make it to the district border before noon."

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! At the time I'm writing this, BTS will be performing their Permission to Dance concert in Seoul in a few days. Are you excited? And if you already watched it, what did you think?