I'm staring absentmindedly at the little purple dinasour painted on the wall across from me. The three of us fall into a bout of silence, all preoccupied with our own thoughts after studying all these pictures of Dalia and her potential lover. 

Binna finally speaks, her voice cutting through the tense atmosphere. "How did you get these?" 

My eyebrows bunch together. I didn't even think of that.

Hyeon's smile is wide with pride as he drags a finger along the smooth surface of the table. "Someone uploaded these three nights ago on a very exclusive Dalia fan site. They posted them anonymously at 4am and then removed them after thirty seconds. The file was encrypted, you can't simply download them but I've learned a few things over the years. My friend's in the IT department at QBS."

Both Binna and I stare at him incredulously. 

"There were only a select few of us still online at the time but only I was quick enough to get all of them. My guess is the uploader wanted to get these pictures out there even though they were clearly meant to remain hidden." 

"Do you know who uploaded them?" I ask hopefully but Hyeon shakes his head in disappointment. 

"My colleague traced the IP address to an old warehouse in Cheongdam. Paid the place a visit only to find it cleared out. And the user is a new addition, completely anonymous but they were able to answer very intimate questions about Dalia, hence passing the requirements to join as a member." Hyeon is busy looking at his finger, his attention fixed on the imaginary circle he keeps  tracing.

"I'm amazed you were awake and coincidentally on that site at that time," Binna murmurs looking equal parts impressed and horrified. 

Hyeon seems to notice and he clears his throat. "Sometimes it's hard to sleep, you know." 

He looks to me for confirmation and I just shrug in response. If he wants to lose sleep over Dalia fan sites that's his business, at least his obsession came with its benefits like the pictures currently scattered across the table. 

"Anyway," Hyeon quickly changes the subject, looking more uncomfortable by the second. "I know a bunch of pictures are hardly enough to prove anything but I was listening to some of Dalia's songs and her lyrics took a whole new meaning after this revelation." 

Hyeon lists down a number of the solo singles Dalia released over the past year and told me to listen to them. 

"It really does sound like she is talking about him," He says referring to the handsome politician in the pictures. 

Binna side eyes me, not looking all that convinced and I ignore her, hoping Hyeon doesn't notice her skepticism. 

I gather the photos together and then arrange them into a neat little pile in front of us. "So what do we do now?" 

Hyeon pushes his phone towards me and I lean forward to see an SNS post about a club launch this weekend. The club's name is Linger and there are numerous pictures promoting all kinds of alcohol that range from soju to whiskey. 

Even though it's supposed to be a launch, the prices are sky high. I would barely call it a promotion since normal people like us would never be able to afford those figures. 

"It's pretty pricey," I say and Binna leans in closely to take a look. 

"It's a club launch." She states as a matter of factly, looking unimpressed. "And the drinks are more expensive than any club launch I've seen before. I don't see what the point is here."

"Remember Loiter? The club that got shut down after that drug bust in 2018. This one is run by the same company and they plan to run it exclusively for the upper echelon - celebrities, chaebol and those who can afford the prices." Hyeon explains enthusiastically. 

He taps at his phone screen. "This event is for the public hence the deals are advertised but there is a soft launch this Saturday and QBS network received the guest list yesterday." 

"QBS covers club launches?" Binna exclaims disbelievingly. 

"Only those who have celebrities like Jungseok and TBT's Taejun attending." Hyeon folds his fingers together, looking like a cat that ate the canary. 

I sit up straight, perking up at this piece of news. "Taejun's going? And Jungseok?" It can't be a coincidence that these two people are attending this exact event. "Do you think Loona will be there?" 

"Hard to say. She's not a confirmed guest but I doubt anyone's going to stop a world famous star from attending their launch." 

Binna picks up one of the photos and holds it out for us to see. "Do you think this was taken at Loiter? My friend has been there before and the interior looks similar to the one I saw in her pictures. I heard Jungseok was involved in the drug bust, seems pretty reckless of him to attend an event involving the same company." 

"Unless he's still tied to them in some way," Hyeon suggests. 

"If QBS is covering the event, does that mean you'll be going?" I ask Hyeon, hoping with all my heart that he'll say yes. A chance to meet both Jungseok and Taejun at the same time and place seems too good to be true. 

He pulls out two passes from his side pocket and pushes them across the table gingerly. 

My breath stills when I see two exclusive passes. Could one of them be for me? 

"I bribed my colleague for the gig which was pretty easy considering he's married and hates going out on Saturday nights. You're supposed to be my assistant and we'll be in charge of photography but I'm sure we can find a way to chat with either one of these people." Hyeon looks jittery with excitement, he keeps tapping his feet on the floor. 

"You guys are crazy. That not only sounds dangerous, Jina you could get in trouble for sneaking in to an exclusive party," Binna justifies angrily. 

"She won't be sneaking in. She has a pass," Hyeon holds up the printed QBS pass for her to see.

"Except she doesn't work for QBS." Binna argues, giving him a pointed look. 

"You have to admit we have something here." I turn to her, my gaze pleading. I need her to be onboard with this, or at least accepting of it even though she may not agree with our obsession.

Binna only leans back, looking disappointed. 

"We just need to get one of them to admit to her affair. Plus, no one knows about this ledger the Sweet Poison girls are so worried about. No one knows about this potential affair and no one knows that Dalia chose to leave Sweet Poison to go solo. Everything's been swept under the rug and we don't know why. Don't you see how suspicious all of this is?" I hold my hands out, summarising all that we've managed to gather so far. 

"Yes, but you are a trainee and he's..." She turns to Hyeon. "What do you do again?" 

Hyeon's eyes narrow in dislike. "I'm a photographer for QBS. Got promoted after submitting my photos of Loona and Jina at Blue Diamond." He winks at me appreciatively and Binna's frown deepens. 

I can't tell if she dislikes him more than he dislikes her. 

"My point is. You two are not professional investigators or the police. You shouldn't even be pursuing this especially if someone managed to bury the investigation so quickly. What if they find out you've been digging into this murder? What if they come after you both?"

"She has a point," I say, my heart racing as I come to a startling conclusion. "Park Do Yun is running for mayor and he's a chaebol heir, he might have connections with the police department." 

Binna sighs loudly. "That's not what I meant--"

"The district attorney attended his inauguration. They're about the same age," Hyeon smiles at me and then he begins typing furiously on his phone. "They went to the same school together." 

He holds out the article he found online and finally Binna is rendered speechless. 

"God damn," She finally says and then she turns to me, eyes wide with concern. "I'm not going to be able to stop you from going on Saturday, am I?" 

My guilty grin is answer enough and she groans, eyeing Hyeon hatefully. "This is all your fault." 

***

Binna and I are to take the bus back to our dorms but we stop to buy some egg tarts on the way. Hyeon left earlier but we stalled outside the library, taking the time to enjoy a brisk night walk. 

The park just opposite the library is filled with joggers and people sauntering in groups or pairs. Small yellow lanterns hang from lamppost to lamppost, lighting up the sky above us and the night air is surprisingly pleasant. 

Food trucks are parked all along the main road, most already filled with people buying their dinner or snacks for the road. 

"You don't find him disturbing at all?" Binna asks before biting into her egg tart, its paper cover bunching around her slim fingers. 

"Not really, I know he is a Dalia sassaeng. Knew he was obsessed with her from the beginning. I think it's one of the things that makes me feel safe around him." I skip to the right, avoiding a teenager on a scooter who seems to have lost control. 

"You feel safe because he's a stalker?" 

I give her a pointed look. "Not the stalker part but the part about being her huge fan. I grew up feeling that way. There's a part of me that knows I went down this path because of her. These past four years, every time I struggled, every time I wanted to quit, I thought of her. How she never gave up and how successful she became. I guess you could say she is or was my driving force." 

"She definitely still is." Binna's lips purse. "That's the most honest you've been with me in weeks. I'm sorry for being such a bad friend. I isolated you when you must have needed a friend the most." 

My stomach clenches and I put an arm around her reassuringly. "I don't blame you. I guess I wasn't ready to be honest myself. Thank you for lying on my behalf today. It could have gotten you into trouble but you did it anyway." 

Binna wraps an arm around my shoulder as well, hugging me back. "Of course. We need to have each other's backs since no one else does." 

It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest, this conversation leaving me light and happy. I'm so happy to have my best friend back with no more secrets between us. 

"You should be careful though. I know he's a Dalia fan and all but I don't know, the way he looked at you..." Binna trails off, looking at the starless sky above us. "I don't trust him." 

That discomfort returns again, the familiar churning in my gut that I felt after Hyeon pretended to kiss me in that hidden bar. The look in his eyes, the way our lips nearly brushed each others. 

I shake my head, inhaling deeply to clear my thoughts. "He's fine, don't worry." 

I can't help but wonder if I'm trying to convince her or myself.