A/N: Y'all better give this book all your love or imma change the ending into a sad one. That is a direct threat and I have no shame admitting it.

Taehyung's POV

I lay on the bed in my room as I stared at the ceiling. Mindlessly I tossed a ball in the air and caught it as it reached near my face. My eyes fell on the ball and a smirk formed on my face as I recalled a memory associated with this.

This ball was given to me by Kwon Ilkyu, a well known baseball player who later turned into a business man. He personally signed it and handed it to me when we I sealed a deal with him on behalf of Bangtan.

Turned out the man was cheating us all the time. Namjoon Hyung was pissed when that happened. Kwon Ilkyu tried to deny it at that time when confronted. But his worst mistake was pulling a gun on Namjoon.

Wrong move.

Namjoon trashed him to a pulp with a baseball bat (ironic) and obviously the man succumbed a few minutes later. But despite that he was still one of my favourite players.

As I turned in bed, another thought entered my mind.

Queen.

No way that bitch was dead. From what people had heard, there had been numerous attempts to assassinate her in the past. She survived it all, even managing to kill her assassin with three bullets in her back. She wasn't the kind of piece to fall so fast in a game of chess.

So what happened then? If not dead, where did she go? And knowing EXO, they were the most loyal group. Word about their devotion to their leader was well spread. How did they just recover so fast from her death and announce Suho as the leader?

Something was fishy. Or rather someone.

The door opened and I looked to see Jimin stroll in, dressed sharply as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Why aren't you ready yet Taehyung? We have to be at the royal temple to meet EXO"

"Yeah give me a second", I stood up. "Can't wait to go there yeah! I have so many questions for them", I smirked and with that disappeared into the closet.

———•••———

Third person POV

This time when Bangtan entered the meeting room at the Royal Temple, EXO were already settled inside. All 12 of them came and to say they were intimidating as a group would be an understatement.

"Dressed in black to mourn your ex-leader?", Yoongi taunted as they all settled down opposite to EXO.

"Not really", Baekhyun chuckled. "Black looks sharp on us. Just got a bunch of new suits from Dior for everyone. Wanted to try those on", he shrugged his shoulder.

Yoongi raised an eyebrow clearly not expecting this answer.

"First of all, condolences for what happened", Namjoon spoke. "We are sad to hear about Queen"

Suho nodded in acknowledgment and Namjoon raised an eyebrow. "Apologies if I sound rude but you don't seem sad"

"Not going to lie", Suho chuckled. "All of us are glad that we got rid of that crazy woman. I hate speaking ill of the dead but Queen was one psychotic bitch. We are relieved someone maned up enough to kill her"

The anger was visible on Suho's face but he tried to hide it as much as he could to not give his real emotions away. How shamelessly Bangtan sat in front of them and asked them about her death as if they weren't the ones to try and kill her in the first place.

"Thats unexpected", Jin entered the conversation. "We always admired how devoted you were to that woman"

"What do we say?", Yifan chuckled. "Maybe we are just good at acting. But a coup was coming anyway because all of us had enough of her antiques. The fact that she got killed first just played to our advantage. We didn't have to get our hands dirty and we got what we wanted"

"So now Suho, you are the leader", Namjoon took hold of the conversation again. "Do you want to maybe keep the bad blood in past and move on? The person or organization who killed Queen must be quite powerful since they managed to do the impossible. Its best we join hands before they come for both our throats"

Suho smiled as Namjoon said that but it wasn't out of appreciation rather because he knew that was coming. Queen's words played in his mind from earlier.

'They will try and blame it on someone else and portray themselves as potential victims'

"Seems rational", Xiumin rubbed his chin. "We don't know who hired the assassin but they seemed to have made it clear that they don't like us. This point is crucial for us too. They might think we are weak now and make another attempt to break the Mafia. Its best time for us to join hands with someone. As fate happens, you requested for that first"

Namjoon wanted to say something but Taehyung beat him to it.

"I have a few questions for your Mafia"

"Good, keep them to yourself. We are not interested in answering", Tao sassed and Taehyung's face turned stoic and hard.

"Zitao", Suho warned and the man turned silent to not anger his leader. "Go on Taehyung"

"How did Queen die?"

"They shot her", came the reply.

"Where?"

"Outside a Pub. She was standing with a friend and got shot", Suho lied portraying Sua and Hyelin as friends.

"What gun was used?", Taehyung tilted his head as he quizzed.

"Seemed like a Viper 6.7 based on the bullet wound", Suho calmly answered.

"Where was she shot?"

"Chest. Near the heart"

"Where is her body?"

Suho knew why he asked this. He wanted proof she was dead. If he said she was cremated, knowing how big a rascal he was, Taehyung would probably dig open the grave and see if she was really dead. He wasn't going to fall for this.

"We burnt it. Like she had wanted"

Taehyung smirked as he realized why Suho answered this. Buried bodies could be dug up to find the identity and they obviously didn't want anyone trying to find Queen's body. And when would that be? When her body didn't exist.

"Makes sense", Taehyung replied but in the back of his mind, pieces were falling into place.

"Now Suho, I am glad you agreed to do this meeting", the eldest Jin addressed him. "And we are also glad that we are on the same page about the alliance. As a token of our appreciation, accept this", with that he handed Suho a briefcase.

Kai stepped in and took it, carefully opening it to reveal a bunch of papers. He handed it to Xiumin to have a closer look.

"Its the Port of Chinae", Yoongi spoke. "We have had multiple conflicts in the past regarding who gets to control this port for drug business. We'd like to give it up for you"

Suho chuckled. "We appreciate this but don't expect us to bring return gifts. We aren't going to. Queen may be dead but we still don't trust other groups. For now we will keep our peace with you and not interfere in any of your businesses"

Namjoon nodded in agreement and stood up. As their leader did, so did the rest. "It was nice having a peaceful meeting for once Suho", he smiled and his dimples showed. With that Bangtan left and EXO was by themselves.

"What a prick", Sehun scoffed the moment they left.

"Look at them acting like saints", the anger was visible on Baekhyun's face. "It was a task not standing up and emptying all bullets in their head"

"But Suho", Yixing who was silent till now
suddenly spoke. "Why was Taehyung asking all this and why did you reply to everything?"

"He was checking", Suho ran a thumb over his other as he said. "To confirm facts of the case. If they sent the killer for Hyelin, they know what gun and bullet were used and where she was shot because the killer reported it back to them. He was just making sure we weren't lying"

"That fucker didn't seem convinced", Luhan spoke up referring to Taehyung. "That devilish smirk. He's going to try something for sure"

"I know but we cannot do anything now or we will raise suspicion. We wait until things settle a little so we can make our next move", Suho said.

"But they really gave us Chinae Port so easily. They must really want to be friends", Sehun seemed confused. A smack on the head had him looking at Kyungsoo in confusion. "WHAT HYUNG!?", he yelled.

"That haven't given us Port of Chinae because they want to be friends. Its because they want to keep tabs on our business. Chinae very much belongs to them. Just because they gave us the papers doesn't mean they gave away ownership. The men and the authorities at the port are their dogs. They will report all our activities to Bangtan"

"Kyungsoo is right", Xiumin stood up. "They are testing us at this point. Namjoon wants to know whether we can survive without Queen or not. He gave us the port to see if we were stupid enough to accept it"

"But then", Chanyeol who had been silent all this while suddenly had a question storming his mind "if we don't use it he will know that we don't trust him"

Everyone turned silent. Chanyeol was right. If they had to get Bangtan to trust them, they had to prove that they were gullible enough to fall for their shit as well.

"Boys boys boys", suddenly a radio cackled to life. All of them jumped in surprise until Sehun realized he had left his radio on all this while and it was Hyelin on the other side.

"First of all. Sehun you absolute nutcase. Why is that fucking radio on", she scolded.

"Sorry Noona I forgot", the youngest bit his lips knowing very well all angry eyes were on him and he was about to get his ass whooped.

"Don't Sorry Noona me. If you think that's going to melt me, well you are absolutely right. Now I cannot scold you because you probably have a puppy dog face. Anyway guys whats the problem? Heard off Sehun's radio you guys are stuck"

"Bangtan gave us Chinae", Xiumin spoke. "It's obviously a test. There's perils if we accept and perils if we don't. So are we not sure what to do"

"Minseok, if someone gives you a gift you don't say no. Thats bad manners. Bangtan's been gracious enough to lend them their biggest port so we take it"

"But then they will know what drugs we send and what we don't", Jongdae yelled from the back.

"But who said we are selling drugs?", came the pact reply. "You know what sells well these days? Hint: Baekhyun hates it"

"Cucumbers?", Yixing answered with a confused face.

"Exactly. Cucumbers. We are not going to sell drugs directly. We are going to stuff the packets inside cucumbers and send them wherever we have to. The cucumbers will provide the cold environment for the drugs. That way Bangtan will never know what drug went out and business will run 10X faster"

"Woahh Hyelin, your brain", Sehun gasped. "Suho could never!"

A glare from Suho had Sehun meekly shut up. But a moment later a smile formed on his face. Hyelin's plan was brilliant and that's exactly what they were going to do.

———•••———

The beagle line as they were called led by the eldest Baekhyun walked towards the Chinae port. Chanyeol and Chen followed behind as two men filled with big carts tailed them. The moment they entered the port, a man approached them.

"Greetings! Call me Soobin", he raised his hand forward, literally towering over Baekhyun. Despite that the elder shook his hand tightly.

"Namjoon Hyung told me you will be taking over this port so let me guide you around. And looks like you bought your stuff to be shipped. Shall we start procedure to have it sent"

Baekhyun smirked at how over the top this kid was trying to be. All that overacting was dripping from him. He wondered why Namjoon hired an inexperienced kid to handle such a big port.

"Of course", Chanyeol answered. "Lets get the paperwork done"

Soobin smirked as he lead them into the office. He gathered all necessary papers before handing them to the trio.

"Mind opening the trunk so I can just make note of the items being shipped. It is required to write the shipped items on the bill generated"

Soobin waited in anticipation to see what was inside the trunk. He had to report to Namjoon what they were selling and that would be possible only when he had information on what was inside.

He stood up to take a glance only to let out a gasp.

"Cucumbers!?", Soobin realized he had reacted out of line and immediately composed himself.

"Why?", Jongdae tilted his head. "Is there any problem? Were you expecting something else? Can we not ship cucumbers?"

"No—No of course you can", Soobin stuttered.  Diverting his attention from them, he concentrated on the paperwork thinking about what he would say to Namjoon.

"Paperwork is done. You can load it on the cargo. Let me direct you to our ship"

"That wouldn't be necessary", Chanyeol cut him. "Our ship's already on the yard. The captain is a friend of us and we have been working with him for long"

Soobin nodded, silent as he couldn't respond to this. He had one task off getting information on the contents of EXO's shipment and he realized he had blown his act.  The second opportunity also slipped from his hand as they had their own ship. If they used the one Soobin asked, he could still manage to uncover the contents.

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol and then Jongdae as he diverted his attention back to Soobin. Seeing the panic on the kid's face it was very evident to him that Namjoon had assigned him a task which he had failed. A victorious smirk appeared on his face as he watched their ship sail away on the blue water.