'I saw Jimin again,' Yunhee murmured wearily. 'He tried to warn me about Hoseok. Told me to get out.'

'You shared another vision?'

'We did, but then Jimin was gone and Hoseok was there, wheedling me into the kitchen. I tried to get to my phone to call you, but he followed me upstairs. That's when he attacked. That's when he said...he said that Hobi is dead.'

'Hey,' Jin soothed, easing Yunhee out of his arms to cup her cheeks. 'I don't believe that for one minute. I'm sure he's alive.'

'I hope so,' she hiccuped, the heartless words of Jung Hoseok forever haunting her as Jin wiped her tears and tugged her shaking form back into his embrace. 'I don't know what I'd do if...if he were...'

'Hobi's going to be alright, Yunhee,' Jin assured, petting her hair as she muffled her sobs against his blood-stained shirt. 'We'll find him, okay?'

Yunhee nodded, propping her chin on her protector's collarbone, and hooking her arms around his shoulders to accept his encouraging support.

She felt infinitely better after walking into the mansion with Jin, but the thrill of racing away from the island had eventually caught up with her, and she'd broken down at the bottom of the staircase in a heap of flesh and bones.

Jin had carried her to his quarters, quietly comforting her on his plush sofa beneath the window until she was exhausted and there were no tears left to cry. But even now, as the waning moon shed light upon the early hours, her apprehension for Hobi would not leave.

'You're going to mess up my shirt,' Jin scolded lightly.

Yunhee giggled, drawing away to wipe her nose with a grateful smile. She was aching from head-to-toe, sore and shaken up, and Jin sported a filthy shirt and an angry welt on his forehead after butting Hoseok square in the nose.

'It's already covered in blood,' she pointed out. 'I hope it wasn't expensive.'

'It's Vuitton,' Jin's eyes twinkled with humour as he regarded her from above. 'Please tell me you feel better after snotting on it.'

'A little,' Yunhee sighed as Jin detangled himself and glided off the couch. 'I'll buy you another when I'm rich.'

'Pft, you mean Jimin will,' he scoffed, strolling to an oak sideboard skirting the wall. 'I have something you might like, by the way. It'll help take your mind off this diabolical evening.'

'Is that why you brought me to your room?' Yunhee teased as he wrenched open one of three drawers. 'I'm not sleeping with you, Kim Seokjin.'

Laughing, Jin plunged his hand into the wooden compartment, retrieved a bottle of honey-coloured Scotch, and brandished it in front of his face. 'I was saving this for a special occasion, but I think we need it now.'

'Thirty-five years old?' Yunhee gawked as the strapping man ambled back over with two crystal glasses. 'You sure you wanna open that?'

'It's been a long day and I've seen some weird shit,' Jin shrugged while pouring them a stiff drink.

Yunhee frowned as he handed her a tumbler. 'Is that why you rushed back to the beach house?'

'Yes,' Jin replied, his chocolate irises bathed in gravity as he dropped himself onto the sofa. 'I saw Taehyung.'

'Which...which one?' Yunhee stuttered, clutching the crystal tightly. 'Tae or...?'

'Tae,' Jin responded grimly as he knocked back his alcohol and hissed, 'and unless your ex has superpowers and can change his appearance in less than a minute, Taehyung, too.'

Yunhee's spine extended, the glass of Scotch nearly slipping from her wobbling fingers as she searched his eyes. 'Where?'

'Itaewon,' Jin spat, downing his drink, and swiftly distributing another. 'The audacious bastard was dining in a restaurant right across from the club.'

Yunhee flopped against the cushions, her untouched Scotch sloshing over her spoiled trousers as she stared out into the shaded gardens.

'He's here, then.'

'Afraid so,' Jin corroborated while rubbing his abnormally stubbly chin. 'He was with some woman who looked like Heiran. I'm not sure which Heiran, but it was definitely one of them.'

'Heiran?' Yunhee blinked, pulling her gaze from the trees.

'Jimin's ex,' Jin confirmed contemptuously. He didn't need to explain anymore, Yunhee instantaneously understood who he was referring to.

This Heiran was the girlfriend who'd cheated on Jimin by sleeping with Taehyung ten years ago.

'What the hell's she doing with him?'

'Buggered if I know,' Jin jeered, 'but I can guarantee Taehyung's using her for his own benefit. The daft cow always did have a soft spot for him and would jump off a cliff if he told her to.'

'Of course, he's using her! That's what he does best.' Yunhee necked her Scotch and punched the upholstery beside her leg.

Hoseok had scared her tonight, and she'd escaped being molested by a hair's breadth. The emotional trauma of the situation mattered not, though.

Hobi was missing. He'd been missing this whole time while she'd been flitting around that beach house with a man pretending to be him.

'I can't believe how foolish I've been, Jin! How could I have not known it was him? Hobi could be anywhere, he could be hurt, worse. I mean, do my friends know he's missing? What did Tae say?'

'He's pissed because he knows you're staying with me and blamed Jimin for some issues he's had with the bank, but ultimately, he just wanted to make sure you're alright. He also asked if I'd seen Hobi and said that he'd tried to contact you. They're worried about him, too.'

'Issues with the bank?'

'Taehyung, I suspect,' Jin said wryly as Yunhee's mind spun with unyielding scenarios. 'I'd put money on him using Tae's identity to infiltrate the club.'

'Oh, God...' she whispered, riddled with guilt as the pieces fell into place.

Not only did Taehyung want to take over Jimin's business; he was going to worm his way into Tae's life and use his name to claim it.

And the poor guy had no idea.

Tae was no angel, but he didn't deserve this. He and their friends had done so much to locate her over the weeks, and now one of them had been snatched, all because she hadn't told them the truth from the start.

It may have been too late to stop Hobi's kidnap, but with a little help from the guys, she was adamant they could find him.

But before that, they would need to hear the truth.

'I'll contact them,' Yunhee decided, extending her glass for him to pour her another shot of courage.

'Oh?' Jin's eyebrows rose in surprise, but there was no hiding that smirk as he topped up her drink. 'When you say "them", do you mean Tae?'

'Yes...' Yunhee gulped, knowing that her obdurate ex was leading the group, and that at some point, he would want to broach the subject of their botched relationship. 'We can't just sit here and do nothing. If Hobi is being held somewhere, we need to find him before Taehyung does something terrible.'

'I wholeheartedly agree,' Jin replied testily as Yunhee unsteadily sipped her whiskey, 'and I wasn't intending to sit here and do nothing. Based on the lengths they've gone to, I've no doubt they'll come running as soon as you ask. We can tell them everything, but it has to be here at the estate where it's safe.'

'Eurgh, Jin,' Yunhee whined, ashamedly fisting her scalp, 'I never should have gone to Jebu-ri, I'm sorry-'

'There was no stopping you, Hahm Yunhee,' the man chuckled as he took her glass. 'Anyway, the universe has a funny way of working things out. I have a feeling Hobi is going to be okay. Our biggest challenge is convincing your friends that a vortex exists.'

'We could always show them?' Yunhee suggested as Jin placed their tumblers aside and roamed to the telescope poking through the balcony doors.

'Drive them to a derelict building in the arse-end of nowhere and persuade them to come inside with ten cases of water? I hardly think so,' Jin mumbled while fiddling with the lens. 'We try them with the truth first, then take it from there.'

'Okay,' Yunhee concurred as she exhaustedly laid along the sofa and watched him adjust the focus knob. 'You never told me you were into stargazing.'

Jin bobbed his shoulders indifferently before stooping over to peer through the eyepiece.

'I like to have a gander in my spare time. It's pretty incredible up there. All those burning stars and endless spiralling galaxies across two universes.'

'If you see Jimin, tell him I'm growing antsy,' Yunhee smiled as her eyelids grew heavy. The world in which he was trapped was beyond the eye of an earthly telescope, but knowing her soulmate was out there brought solace after a terrifying night. 'Do you have someone special out there, Jin?'

It was a personal question, one of many that she'd avoided since they'd established a working relationship. Over the month, their affiliation had turned into an unbreakable friendship, but Jin still kept himself guarded, using his light-hearted humour to bat away those who tried to delve inside.

'Nah,' he answered without taking his eyes from the star-filled skies.

'What about that librarian?' Yunhee proffered while hugging a cushion. 'You nearly popped a gut when you saw her. Is she an old flame?'

'Hardly,' Jin sniffed, straightening up to tinker with the contraption. 'We shared a kiss once in college. A very drunken kiss.'

'Ah, I see,' Yunhee purred, gnawing on her bottom lip as she observed his jittery fingers. 'So, you still like her, then. That's why you visit the library, isn't it? And to think you teased me about Jimin when you were hoping to catch a glimpse of your college crush.'

'It matters not, Yunhee,' Jin exhaled with a tinge of impatience. 'My life took a turn after university. I don't have time to think about romance.'

'Oh, yeah? Well, you're a fool, Kim Seokjin.' Yunhee was not afraid to say it, but her insult was enough for Jin to forsake the telescope and turn around with a reproachful glare. 'What? If we all stopped taking chances because we don't have time, we'd never get anywhere.'

'Oh, yeah? Well...well, maybe I'm just waiting for the universe to send me the right woman!' Jin ranted as Yunhee tucked her hands under her cheek and snickered at the flustered mobster.

'Like the librarian?'

'Yes, like the libra- no! Not her! Not anyone! Goodness me, will you stop-'

'Does she have a name?' Yunhee pressed with a stifled yawn.

Jin clucked his tongue, twitching his nose and considering whether he should answer. After a few seconds, he grumbled in defeat and pivoted back to the telescope. 'She does, but I'm not telling you what it is out of principle.'

'So secretive,' Yunhee pouted while snuggling her tired body deeper into the couch.

'Old mafia habits die hard,' Jin sing-songed, throwing a cheeky wink her way before her eyelids fluttered closed.

*

Park Jimin had committed some felonious shit in his time, but stealing cars was not on that list.

In the past six weeks, however, he'd hijacked three. The third of which he propelled onto the beach house driveway after a maniacal ninety-degree spin.

The dwelling was alight, and a volley of dread smothered his chest when he saw Hoseok's vehicle still parked on the road with blown out tyres.

He was out from behind the wheel in under a second, unarmed because he'd been unable to carry his guns through the vortex, but ready to rip the creep apart with his bare hands if he'd so much as harmed a hair on Yunhee's head.

Jimin sprinted towards the house and crashed through the open door in search of the woman he'd crossed two worlds for. When he skidded into the living room, though, his heart rocketed into his throat at the scene that greeted him.

There was minimal furniture; two small sofas, a TV and coffee table, along with a frying pan lying on the rug, but beside his feet, the floorboards were scuffed, showing signs of a struggle.

Jimin's incisive eyes whipped up, immediately homing in on the bullet hole puncturing the wall.

And that's when he lost his grip on his composure.

'Yunhee?' His plea was swallowed by the disconcerting silence as he hurried into the kitchen in a state of panic. Two plates, piled with cold, uneaten food. The food that Hoseok carried as he prowled towards the house. 'No, no, no...'

Smacking the wall, Jimin raced out of the kitchen and took the stairs two at a time.

'Yunhee!' he shouted, barrelling into the room they'd shared in another cosmos.

A folding bed, a broken phone, her personal possessions scattered across the duvet and floor. Shattered plaster that had plunged from the ceiling after being shot out.

Blindly picking up objects and flinging them aside, Jimin scoured the room. He knew damn well that Yunhee was not here, but he was unable to stop, tossing items around in a distressed attempt to find her. It was only when he spied a red garment poking out from under her pillow that he ceased his fruitless efforts and strode to the bed to whisk it out.

Jimin gasped as he lifted the piece of clothing; it was Yunhee's favourite hoodie, the one with the childish feline ears that he'd come to adore.

Unthinkably overjoyed, he pressed the red material against his nose, smiling with unshed tears when her addictive scent invaded his senses. He had no idea how it had come to be here; she hadn't been wearing it the night he lost her, but Jimin didn't care. It was a piece of her.

A piece of them.

Not wanting to get too caught up in his emotions, he bundled the hoodie under his arm and marched to the door with the intent to check the rest of the property, but a faint rustling inside the apparel prevented him from going any further.

Curious, Jimin dug into the kangaroo pocket of the sweater and pulled out two pieces of paper, his breath hitching when he recognised one to be the note he'd sent through the portal.

'Ha!' Jimin barked out a disbelieving laugh. 'She got it!'

Placing it into his pocket, he unravelled the second scrap to reveal a take-out receipt dated eight days ago.

Under any other circumstances, Jimin would have chucked it away, but there was enough food listed to feed at least three mouths, and the unusual and rather familiar choices made him think twice.

Sticky rice was a given, and the pork bokkeum was undoubtedly Yunhee's. But beef japchae and pajeon?

The receipt fluttered to the ground as realisation swept through him. There was only one man who'd be disgusting enough to combine glass noodles with mushy scallions and fried egg. The one man who always selected the same two dishes whenever they ordered out at the club.

'Jin...?'

There was not an icicle's chance in a burning forest that this was a coincidence. The chaotic living room, the damaged floor, the bullet holes spraying the walls and Hoseok's tyres.

His right-hand man had been at the beach house.

Jimin instinctively knew that Jin was protecting Yunhee. They were in league. But had the pair escaped, or had Hoseok and Taehyung overthrown Jin and taken her?

Shoving the priceless hoodie back under his arm, Jimin darted downstairs and ran out to his stolen car. He removed his leather jacket and threw it onto the passenger seat along with Yunhee's scarlet sweater, already hitting the gas and kicking up sand as he flew off the driveway.

Itaewon. He needed to get to Itaewon.

If Jin was at the club, then there was a high chance that Yunhee was, too.

*

The House of Cards was locked.

And why wouldn't it be? If Jimin's calculations were correct and time in both worlds ticked together, it was two o'clock in the morning. The business was closed to punters, but the hallway light was on, which meant one of his men had stayed behind.

Either that, or it was Taehyung...

If that conniving piss-flap had penetrated his club, heads were going to roll.

'Open up!' Jimin bellowed as he pounded the door.

No one answered, and so he kicked the entrance, circled around and then came back at it with the strength of a thousand men.

'Jin! Joon! Yunhee! Anyone! Open the fucking door! It's me!'

Jimin hammered the entry so boisterously that he didn't hear the catch unlock until the door swung open and someone thrust a gun against the bridge of his nose.

'You've got five seconds to start running before I-' Namjoon's threat died a slow death, his menacing expression falling along with his weapon as he staggered backwards. 'J-Jimin...?'

The stunned man donned a sterling wool suit, his dense hair fashioned into a side-sweep that sharpened his high cheekbones. He was notably different to the guy he'd recently left behind, but as Jimin stood on the threshold, breathlessly staring at his flabbergasted colleague, a ripple of gratitude and relief overcame him.

'Thank God!' he yelled, colliding into him and repeatedly slapping his back.

'Right....okay, then,' Namjoon said dryly, awkwardly returning the hug before Jimin slinked away.

'Is Jin here?' Jimin asked as he scanned the shadowy hall in hopes of seeing him.

'No,' Namjoon scoffed, 'and damned if I know where he is, either. I've barely seen the guy for four weeks. He's like the Scarlet Pimpernel. A bit like you-'

'Four weeks?' Jimin sputtered as he whizzed past him and stalked into his office.

That was exactly when Yunhee had arrived home, but based on his comrade's behaviour, he was ignorant to anything that had transpired.

'Glad to see you're alive and well,' Namjoon hollered as Jimin unhooked his dearest painting to access his safe. 'Did you enjoy your vacation?'

The sarcasm came as no surprise. His friend was befuddled and upset, but Jimin focused on rummaging inside the vault, grabbing a holster and a spare phone while searching for the 9mm Glock he knew to be in there.

'What are you doing? Better yet, where have you been? Jin and I searched everywhere-'

'Oh, hell yes!' Jimin cheered, scarcely paying attention to the probing man as he discovered his custom-made Kimbers. 'Where did you find these?'

'On the floor of the warehouse right after you fucked off and left us,' Namjoon explained as Jimin fastened on his holster and recovered his invaluable weapons. Tucking them into the leather sheaths, he closed the safe and turned to his bewildered companion. 'Are you going to tell me what's going on?'

'Yes,' Jimin affirmed, brushing past him to get to his bureau, 'but not right now.'

Sliding Namjoon's laptop across the polished wood, Jimin logged into their accounts, his trained eye swiftly checking the fundamentals ladened within.

Taehyung had been here for two weeks, and even though he was not present at the club, he would not put it past the man to make subtle changes to get the ball rolling.

'How long have I been gone, Joon?' Jimin asked without removing his gaze from the screen.

'Um...' Namjoon hummed, clearly baffled by the strange question, 'about six weeks.'

Jimin nodded, his fingers working fast to switch from one important document to the next as Namjoon confirmed the time span.

'Have you noticed anything suspicious on our accounts recently?'

There was nothing glaringly obvious online; his name was there above the club's title, and the payroll details and mortgage chart data remained the same. Still, he didn't trust it.

'I've been taking care of business,' Namjoon sniffed offendedly. 'There's no need to worry.'

'That's not what I asked,' Jimin smiled sardonically as he rapped the keyboard.

'There was an email sent to us eight days ago. The sender was anonymous, the contents harmless, but the location struck a chord.'

Jimin's hands stalled over the laptop. 'What location?'

'Ganeung-dong,' Namjoon spoke bitterly as Jimin's face screwed up into a mien of revulsion. There was a district that he dodged like a bubonic plague. 'Did you arrange a meeting with Ji Changwook while you were away?'

'The fuck I did. The man's a headcase!' Jimin rasped as he knocked the laptop shut and sprang to his feet. 'It wasn't me, but I've a pretty good idea of who was behind it.'

Kim Taehyung.

The imperious capo may not have modified the House of Cards yet, but he was stirring up trouble with rival gangs to divert him and his men. He was going to need several sets of eyes over the coming weeks, including those of Jin and Namjoon, but there was no time for him to explain his crazy adventures to the latter right now.

Taehyung was out there, and despite him learning that Yunhee had formed a liaison with Jin, he could not be certain that they hadn't abducted her.

'Where are you going now?' Namjoon blustered as Jimin scooped up his phone and ran to the door. 'We need to talk-'

'I have to find Yunhee.'

'You mean Miss Hahm?'

'Yup.' Jimin paused before he reached the hall, slowly twirling when he realised that he hadn't actually asked the question. 'Have you seen her?'

'Not since the night you fucked off and left us,' Namjoon furrowed his brow. 'No one's seen her. Tae and his crew have been searching for her, too.'

Inhaling a long breath to stabilise his nerves, Jimin walked back to the desk, jotted down his new number, and slapped it into Namjoon's torso. 'This is how you reach me now. If Yunhee shows up at the club, you call me immediately.'

'I'll make sure to throw her in the storage room, boss,' Namjoon saluted cockily.

Wrong choice of words.

'No,' Jimin growled, stepping closer as his chocolate eyes flashed dangerously. 'Do not scare her. Do not touch her. Do not even breathe on her. Capeesh?'

Clued up enough to know when and when not to quarrel with his superior, Namjoon took the phone number from his hand and sent his boss a hesitant nod of approval.

'Good. Now, if you'll excuse me,' Jimin muttered as he trudged to the door, 'I'm going home.'

***

Stay tuned, guys. The next chapter is complete and it would be cruel to leave you hanging. This is a double updaaaaate :D

20th March 2021