"are you sure it's him?" 

lalisa slumped into her seat, shoulders sagged and her face contorted into a frown. hyun-tae sat across from her and jungkook stood just a few meters away, watching everything with pursed lips and arms crossed over his chest. 

"i'm sure, i saw his face." she sighed and covered her face with both hands. the sight of him cracking a lopsided smile still vivid in the back of her mind. not even the mere act of closing her eyes made it go away and her spine went rigid with said realization. 

still, it doesn't mean ji-tae is the culprit nor does it narrow down her options. it could be anyone present at the gala event. but why was he there then and what were his intentions?

it's been over 20 years since lalisa's parents murder and hyun-tae told her they had lost trace of ji-tae meaning they weren't qualified enough to catch him and make him rot behind the cell. not only that, but lalisa was an infant back then and there was no way he'd know about her whereabouts. 

or was it? 

"it could be a coincidence." hyun-tae rose from his seat, prompting lalisa to crane her neck so their gazes levelled. "or someone with similar features." there was no mistaking it, every word that slipped past his lips dripped with doubt and she had to swallow down a curse by biting her bottom lip and slamming both hands over the table. 

"he smiled at me—" her voice lowered a few notches and her back bent to lean forward. her breathing was ragged and her eyebrows arched as the ticking sound of the clock above their heads reverberated across the room. "—there was no damn coincidence." 

there was a pause. none of them daring to drift their gazes away. 

"well—" jungkook's raspy mumble sliced through the silence and lalisa turned around to cast a shut up before i make you glance that had him raising both hands in mocking surrender. "easy, tiger."

a remark tingled on the tip of her tongue and her brain racked with numerous things she wanted to do to him. from pushing him down a cliff to slapping the smirk off his face. but she was resolute to prove a point and therefore kept both hands to herself. 

"there's no way for us to track him down, not when he's aware that you're working with us." as much as lalisa wanted to deny, he was right. ji-tae had been on the loose all these years and could easily outsmart something as trivial as showing up on his doorsteps. it required a much detailed plan.

a strategy. 

as if a psychotic criminal on the run wasn't enough as it is, now her parent's murderer decided to surface after over twenty years. for all she knows, it could have been a coincidence that ji-tae went to the gala. or not. she wasn't sure yet and her brain was on the verge of a meltdown. 

her head jolted to glare at jungkook and as if sensing it, he stared back at her. both immersed in a exchange of glares in which lalisa made no further attempt to drift away from. unlike every other time, his eyes were gentle, with no trace of mockery or malice. 

her eyes were vacant with sharp edges like an ancient tome, but he could read in between. despite the crooked lines and the almost indecipherable words.

jungkook detached his back from the wall and pressed both hands down lalisa's shoulders to give them a light squeeze. "we'll keep an eye on him and make sure if he's our guy." she trembled underneath his touch and her lips parted in what resembled surprise.  

hyun-tae seemed satisfied enough to dismiss them with a wave of his hand and accommodate himself back on the leather chair.  it was almost imperceptible, but lalisa still caught a glimpse of the smile outlined on his lips and her eyebrows pinched.

"i'm counting on you two."

- 

lalisa couldn't explain herself how she ended up in a bar, squeezed between jungkook and chaeyoung, both downing their fifth glass of beer. her nose scrunched up in disgust at the smell of alcohol and nausea crawled up her throat.

"loosen up, lis." chaeyoung tugged at her elbow, a throaty laugh emerging from the back of her throat, and almost lost her balance from the way her rear barely pressed against the stool. "your partner is fun." 

jesus, her childish front surfaced and lalisa rolled her eyes. 

jungkook had his head tilted back and both eyes closed when she peered over her shoulder to stare at him. was he sleeping? she poked his left arm, expecting a reaction, but there wasn't any aside from his parted lips and the snores that slipped past them. 

there were not one, but two intoxicated people squishing lalisa. chaeyoung was the loud, always rambling type of drunk and thankfully, jungkook seemed to be the quiet type. 

"come on, big guy." lalisa struggled to drag jungkook, barely holding his weight up and chaeyoung tailed behind them in sluggish steps. the slurred ramble of words barely above a whisper. "you. get in cab." it was past midnight and lalisa managed to send chaeyoung home despite her whines. 

jungkook though, was a completely different situation.

"what are you, a steel wall?" she rasped through her teeth before letting jungkook slide down the wall beside them with, perhaps, too much force because a groan rippled from the back of his throat and he began caressing the back of his head. hell, he was too heavy for her to carry and she was oblivious to his home address. 

"open your eyes." lalisa poked his chest and his eyelid twitch before he turned around to nestle himself against the wall. he's drunk, be nice. she recited those words over and over again like a mantra and crouched to match his level. "i need your address." she tried again, to no avail. 

with one last inhale, she stood up and rubbed her temples. hyun-tae was an early sleeper and she wasn't in the mood to deal with his cranky humour if she was to reach out to him for help. jisoo was god knows where with her last minute date meaning lalisa had to deal with a drunk jungkook by herself.

just how worse can it get? 

apparently worse enough because she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and pull her down. her widened eyes boring onto his glassy ones before lowering to his smile. "lalisa?" his rasp was low, so low she had to lean in just to hear him properly. there was a brief pause when his tongue poked through his lips to moisten them before his smile widened. 

"go on a date with me."