WANG CO. ANNUAL GALA EVENT WAS PRESTIGIOUS, magnates scattered along the foyer with glasses of champagne ardenne in hand. a tune of violin played in the background, muffling the colloquy of influential man coerced in biding their wealth for the sake of greed. 

it was vexatious altogether. 

the static sound resonating along her aural from the ear piece and the burgundy draped dress ascending up her thighs. dohyun was to rendezvous with the possible culprit at midnight but lalisa's work ethic aforethought it would be adequate to come sooner if they intended to inspect every guest. 

"i swear to god if your hand wanders a bit lower—" lalisa was willing to show up by herself but her superior asserted that jungkook had to tag along in case things didn't go as planned and she was on the verge of jostling a fist straight to his face. "—i won't hesitate to punch your smug face." 

jungkook arched one eyebrow, unfazed by her threat and gave her rear a squeeze. 

"maybe i'm willing to have you punching my face." if it hasn't for the wandering glances, lalisa would have done it long ago; intrigued to witness his spruced up appearance damaged and his hubris crushed to shards. but for now, her intent was to collect as much information as she could manage without raising unnecessary suspicions.  

"we'll split now. i'll cover the east wing, you the west and no flirting." lalisa watched his back as he strolled to a nearby table, abiding to her instructions for once, before ambling towards one of the cater waiters. 

"excuse me." at the clear of her throat, the middle-aged man casted her a side glance. nothing more, nothing less, before returning back to his post and lalisa gave up with a groan elicited from the back of her throat. 

it was evident they had a no-chatting with the guests policy. 

jungkook had blended himself into a group of younger guests, attempting to gather useful information she hoped. lalisa on the other side, had no conversing skill whatsoever so probing around the rooms would be a safe bet. 

lalisa gave the foyer one last glance before sauntering her way along the hallway. unlike the crammed space back there, the hallway was vacant of people and she soon came to the realization that every door was locked after attempting to twist the knobs.

but not the balcony. 

she stepped outside to welcome the cold breeze that seeped into her bones. the space was extensive enough to lodge her body and lofty to keep her secluded from the other guests when she leaned over to glance outside. 

a metal railing extended along the building, stretching from one side of the construction to the other and lalisa pulled at it to test its durance before climbing her way up. it would take her about seven steps to reach the open window and she slowly inched towards it with a hitched breath. 

her frame bent to fit inside it and her left foot pressed against sturdy flooring with a relieved sigh. there was no sight of guests or waiters behind the door and lalisa squinted her eyes to adjust to the murk that engulfed the room. 

"you know, that could have been quite a disturbing fall." lalisa's back hit against a shelve at the sound of a raspy voice and her arms waved in a foolish attempt to strafe whoever stood inside the same room until a lamp light reflected across the space, giving her ample vision of the owner's face. 

her eyes blinked, one, two times, blinded by the lightning before she faced a smirking jungkook. 

"what the fuck, jungkook?" lalisa shoved at his chest with abrupt force causing him to stumble back a few steps and press against a sharp edge on the table that made him wince in pain. she'd feel bad for him in other circumstances, but not now since he apparently managed to unlock one of the doors was she unsuccessful at. 

not only that, but he also left the foyer. 

"were you spying on me?" lalisa stared at him with pinched eyebrows before lowering her glance to stare at the exposed skin underneath his tux when he crossed both arms over the expanse of his chest. he didn't provide her with a proper reply but the absence of it was explanatory. "give me a reason not to slice your throat." 

"my face is too handsome to be used as a trophy at orpheus." the faint outline of a smile across his lips had lalisa swallowing down a scoff and pivoting on the plant of one foot to search around the drawers. the office they had stepped into was swamped with locks on the inside, meaning it had to hide something useful. 

"what are we looking for?" lalisa peered over her shoulder to find jungkook leaning against the wooden table and shot him a threatening glare, enough to make him raise his hands in surrender and join in whatever she expected to find by flipping every drawer upside down. 

"something, anything that can provide us a hint." even dohyun himself wasn't sure as he had been instructed to meet up with the culprit, responsible of the past four murders, and had no idea who he or she was. someone close to the culprit must have ordered dohyun around as a strategy to buy time for the culprit's next move. 

and somehow, it all went accordingly because so far, all lalisa has found were a bunch of statistics regarding one powerful company and nothing more. 

"have you found some—" her voice fell into a whisper at the sound of the lock rattling and lalisa barely had time to recompose herself before jungkook hauled her body into his chest. a younger man with brown hair, probably the owner seeming that he had a key hanging loosely around his index finger, stepped inside and his eyebrows arched at the sight of their bodies flushed against each other.

"what are you two doing here?" his voice was calm, devoid of menace, but intrigue laced around each word as he inched closer to gaze at them. lalisa cursed under her breath and clutched jungkook's suit between trembling fingers.

her mouth opened and clamped shut, unable to formulate a response and her mind racked to come up with a plausible excuse. 

the acknowledgment that they had been caught and their plan probably went down the drain was shoved to the back of her mind when jungkook leaned to place his chin over her shoulder and embraced her in a almost intimate way.

"excuse us for the intrusion. my wife and i were eager for some time alone."