1 month later

It had been very quiet lately in the Bangtan house. The last time any of them had seen some action was when Jimin and Jungkook were beating the shit out of each other a couple weeks ago.

Ganghan had gone quiet, and all of their contacts only led to dead ends since no one seemed to have any answers on Ganghan's next move. Bangtan continued with their own business, dealing with new shipments and keeping their establishments running smoothly.

There was still so much to do, even without trying to take down Ganghan. Jin and Hoseok spent almost everyday at the casino: Jin made sure the tables were filled with gamblers and Hoseok watched the basement, getting shipments of their product ready for distribution. Namjoon also spent a lot of time at the Casino in his office, keeping the books up to date and finding potential new buyers to do business with, often bringing back files to work on with Yoongi at home.

The four younger members of Bangtan however found themselves extremely bored and were starting to get restless. Taehyung still continued to watch the cameras and ran checks on whoever Yoongi brought to him, but he still never had enough work to make the time go by faster. Charlie and Jimin would visit Cliff Hangers since she wanted to check on the girls, and Jimin actually started showing her how the business was run. She appreciated every chance she got learning about the details of her new life and how complex it all was. Jungkook and Taehyung would often tag along but tended to stay at the bar talking with Trixie or Cherry, and on a few occasions, Raven.

The members of Bangtan were currently standing around their meeting table in the basement, eager to hear what Yoongi had to say after he informed them about an important meeting. They watched as he placed files and pictures down on the wooden surface, laying everything out so everyone could see who and what he was talking about.

"We got an offer to partner with a local business in town," Yoongi said. "It's a laundromat upfront, but they want to sell our product. So far, the conditions of the agreement seem good, so I'm sending Spider to seal the deal in person. I'm asking Ember and Hotshot to accompany him to make sure nothing goes wrong. Ember knows the product and Hotshot is...intimidating," Yoongi explained, looking over at the youngest member who was trying to hide his grin.

"I don't know, boss, I thought I was pretty intimidating," Charlie said as she held up her arms, flexing her muscles, which she definitely had, but standing in between Jungkook and Jin, she still looked so small. Some of the younger members laughed at her antics, but turned back to their leader when they heard him clearing his throat, waiting for them to settle down so he could continue.

"This is a great time to remind everyone that it is forbidden to test the product out in any way," Yoongi said. "Drink as much as you want and fuck whoever you want, but you stay clean, got it?" Everyone nodded their heads knowing that this was a huge rule Yoongi had set for everyone. He then turned back to Namjoon, Jungkook, and Hoseok.

"There should be no issues, but Circuit will be in your ear just in case you need anything. You leave in 2 hours," Yoongi stated before dismissing everyone, picking up the file and pictures as he watched his team scatter.

~☾~

"Stop messing with it," Hoseok scolded, glaring at Jungkook as he reached out yet again to adjust the younger man's tie.

"It's so uncomfortable," Jungkook complained, gritting his teeth as he felt the material tighten around his collar.

"But it makes us look good." Hoseok sat back and pushed his suit jacket, making sure it hadn't wrinkled behind him.

Namjoon insisted that both Hoseok and Jungkook dress up in suits for the meeting rather than look like bodyguards. Even though they were one of the biggest Mafia groups in the country, they were still going to look like fucking gentlemen while conducting business.

"I still can't believe Yoongi let you wear earrings," Namjoon muttered, rolling his eyes at Jungkook. His light grey-blue suit made him stand out against the other two who both wore black suits with white collared shirts underneath and classic black ties to top it all off.

"They make me look fucking badass," Jungkook said, reaching up and placing his hands behind his head.

All three members sat in the back of one of their large black suburbans while a hired hand drove them to their location. As the car turned onto the nearly hidden road, Namjoon sat up a little more and adjusted his own tie.

The old and crumbling building was an eyesore for the city as it has been abandoned years ago, but it was the perfect location for their line of work: quiet, secluded, and away from civilization. As their car pulled up, Namjoon noticed the other two vehicles sitting there and immediately recognized the one that belonged to their future business partner. Once the car stopped, Namjoon turned to Hoseok and Jungkook.

"Remember, it was requested that no weapons are brought in, so they stay in the car under the seats. Hoseok, you know your role. Kook, I just need you to keep an eye open for anything suspicious, got it?" Jungkook nodded as Namjoon reached into his pocket, pulling out a couple earpieces and handing them to the other two who proceeded to place them in their ears.

"I've got your location, let me know if you need anything." Taehyung's voice was heard in each of their ear.

"Show time," Namjoon said as he stepped out of the vehicle, closely followed by Jungkook and Hoseok. As soon as they were seen exiting their own vehicle, three men stepped out of one vehicle while two more men and a young woman stepped out of the other. Everyone walked towards each other and stopped with enough space separating them.

Jungkook's eyes were immediately drawn to the young woman that stood in the middle of all the other men. She wore a black skirt that clung to her thighs and a low cut top with a very thin sweater. It was colder out and Jungkook noticed that she was shivering a little bit as she wrapped her arms around herself to try to warm up.

"Bangtan's Spider I presume?" The gentleman in the middle stepped forward, extending a hand towards Namjoon.

"You are correct," Namjoon replied as he stepped forward as well, taking his hand. "Mister?" he started, pausing as he waited for the man to state his preferred name.

"You can call me Blade," the man said and Jungkook had to bite his lower lip to keep himself from laughing. Charlie will get a kick out of this once I tell her.

"Blade it is," Namjoon said, trying to hide his own snickering smile as he straightened up a bit and cleared his throat before continuing. "Ember here can attest to the quality of our product if you would like to follow him to the back of our vehicle where we have it ready for you," Namjoon confidently stated before motioning towards the suburban. Hoseok started walking as the man named Blade and one of his supposed friends joined him, but not before he grabbed onto the girl's arm and whispered something in her ear.

Jungkook noticed how she subtly flinched when he touched her and the way her face scrunched up when his lips brushed against her ear. When he walked away with his colleague, following Hoseok, Jungkook watched the young woman as he gaze remained on the floor. She fidgeted constantly, either playing with her hair or rubbing her arms to try to generate some heat and keep herself warm.

Jungkook took off his suit jacket and walked towards her. The two men on either side of her immediately stepped forward, wary of what he was doing.

"Oh relax, the lady is cold," he retorted. Standing in front of her, he held up his jacket. "May I?" he asked and still, without making eye contact, she slowly nodded her head. Jungkook swung his jacket around her shoulders and carefully positioned it so it was comfortable for her. He took a step back and held out his hand.

"Kook," He introduced. He could hear Taehyung calling him an idiot in his ear, but he ignored it as he waited for her to respond. He knew they were supposed to use their code names, but he felt as if she deserved at least something that was a little bit real. She finally met his eyes, and Jungkook had to fight to keep his composure as he noticed the familiar expression in her eyes, an expression he had seen so many times before.

"Jamie," she uttered as her hand gently grabbed his. He briefly glanced down at her hand that held his and saw the faint dark coloring on her wrist. He gave her a small smile and took a couple more steps back, giving her some space.

"Tell me Jaime, do you often come to business deals not dressed for the weather?" Jungkook asked, chuckling a little. He already knew the answer to her question, but he needed to see how she acted and if she would even talk to him. He noticed how Namjoon had now stepped forward as well, placing himself right next to Jungkook.

"Not always," Jamie said as her eyes met the ground once again. She pulled Jungkook's jacket tighter around herself, shrinking into herself as Jungkook continued to observe her, feeling this anxious knot in the pit of his stomach. Namjoon placed a hand on Jungkook's shoulder and leaned towards him.

"What are you doing kid?" he asked before Jungkook whispered back.

"Something doesn't feel right." Jungkook was about to ask Jamie a couple more questions when he saw Blade and his colleague returning back to the group, followed by Hoseok, who now held a dark duffle bag.

"Well, it definitely looks like Bangtan has some good product on hand. I'm glad we could do business together." He smiled at Namjoon and walked over to one of his men, handing him the large duffle bag that they had just bought. Blade then stood next to Jamie and placed a hand on her back, causing her to immediately tense up at his touch. Jungkook noticed and watched as Blade's eyes stared at the jacket that was draped over her shoulder, a stern expression on his face. He then glanced over and saw that Jungkook was the only man missing one.

"This yours?" Blade asked as he pulled the jacket off of Jamie's shoulders. Jungkook stepped forward to retrieve it from his outstretched hand.

"Yes it is. Jamie here looked cold, and no beautiful woman should be shivering when all of us have something that can help her." Jungkook made sure to glare at Blade, but the man only smirked at Jungkook.

"It doesn't matter if they are cold as long as they keep your bed warm," he said and started laughing. The other men he was with joined in and started to turn towards the car.

"You know what? The deal is off," Namjoon shouted and then nodded towards Hoseok who started walking towards the man holding the duffel bag, snatching it back before shoving the bag with the money at him.

"What?!" Blade yelled, confused by the sudden change.

"You heard me," Namjoon stated firmly. Hoseok tossed the duffel bag containing their product back by the car as he joined Namjoon and Jungkook, ready for whatever was about to happen. "We don't do deals with people who treat others disrespectfully." His eyes glanced over to Jamie and Jungkook saw the faintest of smiles appear on her lips.

"You'll regret this," Blade growled. He grabbed Jamie's arm and roughly pushed her towards the car.

"Jamie stays!" Jungkook shouted. He didn't think it through, but he knew that they wouldn't just give her up. He had to try though, he couldn't just let her stay with them.

"Get your own bitch, this one is mine." Blade grabbed her again and shoved her to the car, but she lost her footing and fell to the ground. Jungkook was pissed and lunged at Blade, grabbing him by the shoulder as he landed a punch to his face.

Chaos ensued as both Hoseok and Namjoon ran towards the men who were already trying to pull Jungkook off their boss. It was five against three and Namjoon knew this was a losing battle. Jungkook had two guys on him while Blade was dragging Jamie back to the car. Both Namjoon and Hoseok were trying to fight a man each when they heard Blade call for everyone to get into the car.

The other men quickly landed a couple more punches and ran to the cars, slamming on the gas and kicking up the dust. Hoseok and Jungkook laid on the ground coughing, slowly trying to get up.

It all started so quickly, and now they found themselves alone, bleeding and pissed.

"Ok, what the fuck was that?! You all ok?" Taehyung asked.

"We're good, we'll be back soon with some not so great news," Namjoon said, teeth gritted as he spoke. He walked over and held out a hand for Jungkook who took it and stood up.

"Namjoon, I'm not going to apologize because they-" Namjoon held out a hand, stopping him from talking.

"What you did was the right thing. Don't sweat it." All three walked back to the car and finally took a minute to catch their breath.

"What a fucking waste of a night," Namjoon said, taking off his tie and unbuttoning his shirt just a little bit.

"I wouldn't say it was a complete waste," Jungkook said, leaning forward on his knees with an angry expression. "That Blade guy...he had the Ganghan symbol tattooed on his neck."

~☾~

Once Namjoon, Hoseok, and Jungkook had left for the evening, Charlie found herself bored. She had already worked out and sparred with Jimin this morning, and now he was at Cliff Hangers doing book work. She had asked Taehyung to watch a movie or do anything, but he said he had a couple projects from Yoongi to work on.

She laid on her bed and decided to practice her blade skills, trying to be somewhat productive for the evening. When she reached the basement, she found Jin working in his lab. She approached the glass door and opened it, peeking her head in.

"You busy?" Charlie asked. She mentally face palmed herself as she saw him fiddling with a syringe and various tubes of liquid.

"Kinda," he mumbled as he held up a tube of liquid and watched it swirl around. "But if you need something, I can be available."

Charlie walked in, letting the door close behind her. She slowly walked around the room, looking at all the sciency stuff that was everywhere.

"I was just bored and everyone else is busy," Charlie said, continuing to walk around.

"Oh, so I was your last resort?" Jin asked with a teasing look.

Charlie froze and felt terrible for what she said. "No no no! I didn't mean it to come out like that." She felt relieved when she heard him start to laugh, but that didn't stop the small pout from forming on her face. "Jerk," she muttered under her breath as she continued to the other side of the room where their medical supplies were kept. "What are you working on anyway?" she asked as she leaned against a counter, watching as Jin was carefully analyzing the now tinted blue liquid in the glass vile.

"You remember that drug you recovered from your first mission?" he inquired and Charlie hummed a response. "Well, I'm still trying to figure out the full effects. It's some kind of sedative, but it reacts differently than all the sedatives I'm familiar with. Not sure what Ganghan is up to."

Charlie turned back to the cabinets that were behind her. She pulled a couple books from a small shelf and saw that they were different medical books. Flipping through the pages, she saw pictures of different stitches and how to tell if a wound is infected.

Charlie found herself so engrossed in the information that she didn't notice Jin had put his stuff down and walked over to her.

"Find some light reading?" he questioned as Charlie lifted her head.

"Sure," she muttered. Charlie continued to flip through the book, intrigued by the content. "Is this how you learned? Reading all these?" She gestured to the many other textbooks and guides that were on the shelf.

"Mostly. My mother was a nurse actually and worked really late just so she could support me and my little brother. When I was old enough, she helped me get a job at the hospital she worked at as a janitor. I went to school in the morning and worked at night." Jin pulled a book off the shelf and set it down. Charlie looked at the cover and saw that it was some sort of survival guide. "I would wait until her shift was done so we could walk home together. She gave me this so I could at least learn something while I waited." Jin slid the book over to Charlie and she started flipping through the pages.

There were instructions on how to make your own tourniquet, how to stop a wound from bleeding, and even DIY splints for a broken bone. "I ended up finding the doctor's lounge one day and read so many of the medical journals that were there. There was this one doctor who saw me take a book and gave me a hard time about it. She said she saw something in me and allowed me to follow her around when she was working. I saw surgeries and how they stitched someone up." Jin paused for a moment, stuck in his own memories.

"Do you still talk to your family?" Charlie asked.

"Occasionally. You remember when I said that I joined Bangtan to help them out financially?" Charlie nodded, remembering the night where almost everyone shared how they had joined the gang. "Well, I'm able to send them money so my mom doesn't have to work as hard and my little brother can finish his studies. I don't want them to get tangled in my life, so they think I'm on the other side of the world, busy with running a successful business." Jin chuckled to himself.

"It's amazing how you learned all this stuff from just books. It looks fascinating." Charlie still had her eyes in the survival guide book.

"I had somewhat of a mentor though too. I could teach you some things if you like." Charlie's eyes shot over to Jin as she smiled. "It would be good to have someone in the field knowing something about the various injuries you guys may get."

"That would be great!" Charlie said, closing the book.

Jin started small in teaching Charlie what he knew. He focused on the most common injuries that they would get: cuts to the face, broken bones, and concussions. He showed where all their supplies were kept, and if they were stuck on a mission, he talked about what the most important things to do were.

Jin was showing Charlie some of the stitches that would be used for different cuts when two very beaten and dirty members appeared in the lab.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Jin asked, putting down the reference book he had out for Charlie. Hoseok was holding a piece of cloth to his eye while Jungkook had one pressed against the side of his mouth.

"Meeting went badly, as you can see," Hoseok said as he walked in and sat down on one of the beds in the room that Jin had motioned to.

Hoseok and Jungkook did as Yoongi had asked in getting checked out by Jin. Somehow, Namjoon barely had a scratch on him and Yoongi had a couple more questions for him, so he sent the younger two away.

"What a perfect way to put your new knowledge to use Charlie, can you help Jungkook?" Jin asked, and Charlie nodded. She motioned towards a small table, instructing Jungkook to sit on it.

Charlie gathered bandages, alcohol swabs, wet rags, and ointment, as well as a cool compress for the bruising that was bound to appear tomorrow morning. She walked back to Jungkook and laid everything on the table next to him, putting her hand on his that was holding the cloth to his lip. She slowly lowered it and winced herself at the huge gash on his lip. It was already very swollen and starting to turn a vibrant purple.

"Other guy look worse?" Charlie asked with a small smile while Jungkook laughed, nodding his head.

"Much worse," he replied.

"Good," she stated, grinning at him. Charlie grabbed a cool, damp cloth and started to clean up the dried blood that had caked onto his face. She pushed his hair away from his forehead, checking for any more injuries.

She felt a weird sensation coursing throughout her entire body as her fingertips brushed through his hair, and she immediately became confused by it. Her and Jungkook were really close and had been this close physically before, but for some reason Charlie felt... nervous.

"So, want to give us details, or will you make us both wait until Yoongi eventually tells us?" Jin asked, earning a slight chuckle from Charlie.

Hoseok continued to tell the story of what had happened. Charlie was listening at first, but she lost focus on Hoseok's voice as she concentrated more and more on the face in front of her. She had finally cleaned up the blood as much as possible and reached for the alcohol swab next. She gently placed a hand under his chin to hold his face steady and she could have sworn she heard Jungkook take a sharp breath. She brought the swap to his eyebrow where a small cut was and cleaned the wound. Setting that one down, she grabbed another swab and lightly touched his now split lip.

Jungkook winced as the alcohol stung and Charlie started to giggle, letting go of him.

"You baby," she mumbled, shaking her head.

On instinct, Jungkook stuck out his tongue at her and instantly regretted it as his lip hurt once again, earning another small giggle from Charlie. She reached up once more, placing a hand on the side of his face this time, and dabbed the swab as carefully as she could.

Jungkook was having a hard time trying to keep his cool and he couldn't understand why. He could feel how sweaty his palms were and he hoped that Charlie couldn't hear how unsteady his breathing had gotten. This was just post fight jitters, right? He felt the warmth of her touch on his cheek as she steadied his head. He watched closely as she concentrated on his lip, trying her best to clean it and not hurt him.

Even though her gaze was lowered, Jungkook could see just how beautiful her irises were. How had he never realized that her eyes were both green and brown? He continued to look at her eyes, observing how they were mostly a light brown color, but the flecks of green were something that was very unique and he couldn't pull his own eyes away.

"Jungkook?" He heard his name and pulled his gaze away from Charlie, noticing how Hoseok was now looking at him.

"Hmm?" Jungkook hummed.

"How did you even know she was in trouble?" Hoseok repeated. Jungkook furrowed his brows, wondering what he was talking about. "Jamie?" Hoseok clarified.

"Oh yeah, her. Umm..." Jungkook noticed how Charlie had pulled away a little and was looking at him, waiting for his response. She too was curious as to why Jungkook had intervened and how he knew that something was not right with this potential business partner. Jungkook looked back at Charlie and softened his gaze. "She did the same things Charlie used to do." Jungkook gave her a sad smile as she lowered her eyes to the floor. She stepped back towards him and picked up the ointment next.

Placing a small amount on her finger, she held Jungkook's chin again and very gently, applied the medicine to his eyebrow first and then his lip. She found her eyes wandering as she noticed a small mole under his lower lip. Has that always been there? She thought about what he had just said, about noticing that the girl was in trouble. Charlie knew that Jungkook would always be there for her, but it warmed her heart to know that because of everything they had been through, Jungkook was willing to help a total stranger.

"Thank you," Charlie whispered.

"For what?" Jungkook asked, very confused as to why she was thanking him.

"For trying to help her. You are always there to help those who need it." She lowered her hands and wiped off the excess medicine on a nearby rag.

"Seems like you're the one helping me right now," he said and they both laughed. "But there's no need to thank me. You're helping too, don't forget that." Charlie felt something brush against her hand and she had just realized that she had placed a hand on Jungkook's knee, his hand now resting on top of hers.

"Don't forget to check for a concussion Charlie!" Jin's voice rang out, bringing the two best friends out of their own world.

Charlie pulled away and walked to a nearby cabinet. Jungkook rubbed his hands on his jeans and swallowed hard, wondering why he felt so on edge right now. Charlie came back with a small flashlight and instructed him to look forward and not at the light. She noticed how he reacted to the bright light and tilted her head, furrowing her brows at the response time of his pupils.

"Does your head hurt?" she asked.

"A little, yeah," he responded.

"Hey Jin, can you double check for me please?" She turned off the light and Jin walked over to her, taking the flashlight and shining it at Jungkook, just as she had done. "Doesn't look too bad, but he says his head does hurt a little, so I was thinking it's minor."

"Hmm, I agree. Let's make sure someone is with him tonight, just to be on the safe side," Jin suggested, turning off the light and addressing Jungkook. "You have a minor concussion, so we need to make sure nothing gets worse. Let us know if you start to feel dizzy or nauseous at all." Jungkook nodded in response.

"You'll stay in my room tonight so I can wake you up at like 2 a.m. just to make sure you didn't die," Charlie joked and he laughed along with her.

"I think Hoseok has a couple broken ribs, so I want you to see how I determined that." Jin motioned for Charlie to follow him while Jungkook hopped down off the table.

"Oh, make sure to leave that medicine on for at least an hour before you shower Kook. Go grab something to eat," Charlie called after him before turning back to a very tired Hoseok laying on the bed.

Jungkook walked out of the lab and briefly turned around, stealing a glance at Charlie, whose attention was on Hoseok. He couldn't help the smile that formed on his lips, but he didn't understand exactly why her sheer presence was making him so happy.

A/N: So many ships in this book, but one seems to be standing out amongst them all!

Thoughts?? ----------->

We reorganize this book so many times! We are constantly adding different ideas and scenes which makes this book extremely long! We're looking at about 60 chapter and each one very long! So, would you prefer all chapter in one book or break it into two parts?

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