"I knew V had something for her."

A familiar whisper startles me out of my sleep. The morning light is warm on my face as I try to fight through my usual early drowsiness.

"Hyung, that's just his habit."

Something heavy and warm surrounds my waist and my upper shoulders, and for a long second I wonder if this was the blanket or not.

"Still— he's not even awake. Do you have a phone or something on you?"

My back stiff from remaining in the same position so long, I carefully crane my head forward to catch a look at the furiously whispering voices.

Was that V?

But that couldn't be possible— V was— he was—

Pressed all up against me.

It's stunning how fast you can go from a state of sleepiness to that of complete, absolute awakening. My eyes immediately go from drowsy crescents to wide circles as I sit up in  what feels like a millisecond.

Jin and Jungkook.

Of course.

The moment our eyes meet, mine flat and theirs shocked, Jungkook shuts the door so hard that V jumps out of the bed. His body is already set into a fighting stance as he scans the room anxiously.

He looks more surprised to find me instead of an intruder.

"Uh, good morning?" I offer, uncertain if that was the right way to go. He was so unpredictable and bipolar that he was a friend for a moment and then an enemy in the other.

"Who—"

He suddenly winces, his hand pale as he claws at his shoulder. To my horror, the clothes around are tinted with signs of red.

It could only be blood.

"You're hurt." By pure instinct, I jump to examine the reopened wound— guilt slashing through me like a knife. Had it opened again while he was sleeping? It must've— it had seemed perfectly fine last night.

"Don't touch me." He growls as he turns himself away from my stunned form. While on his way out the door, he doesn't even give me a single last glance.

Ouch.

On my way to the door, I glance at myself at the small mirror and nearly faint at the reflection it shows me.

My hair is messy and tangled— my cheeks are rosy from the sun, and there's at least three loose lashes on my face. An internal groan shakes my body as I hurriedly attempt to smooth down my uncontrollable locks.

No wonder he looked so shocked when he saw me. Unfairly enough, he had looked like some kind of model whilst I looked like somebody who just came into civilization after being isolated in a mountain for twenty five years.

Eighteen. Eighteen years.

When I walk into the living room, I see the men sprawled out lazily on the beanbags and couches. V and Hoseok are nowhere to be seen— definitely because of the unexpectedly reopened wound.

I can't help but feel sullen as I try to ignore the suggestive looks Jin and Jungkook give in my direction.

So this is what cruel, heartless killers did in their free time? Watch Spongebob the Squarepants?

"Jungkook, let's watch something else." Yoongi complains as the yellow character laughs a high-pitched, windshield wiper laugh that somehow sounds familiar. "Seriously— when are you going to grow up?"

Jungkook firmly shakes his head as he clutches the remote control to his chest. "If you want to change the channel, then you're going to have to take it from me, hyung."

I expect Yoongi to at least try— after all, this Spongebob was getting quite annoying— but he only sighs in defeat and leans back in his couch.

Wasn't he like four full years older than the maknae? What was he so afraid of?

"It's easier said than done, Tzuyu." Jimin whispers, clearly bored from the maknae's choice of channel as well. "Last time Yoongi hyung tried to go up against Kook, I think he nearly ended up with a back and a neck brace. You see, Jungkook gets pissed off when he doesn't get his daily dose of this. And I promise, you really don't want to piss Jungkook off unless you want a one way trip to the hospital."

"I heard that, shorty." Yoongi growls, picking at his fingernails unhappily.

"You're only one inch taller than me, hyung!" Jimin fires back as his face flushes with red.

Oh, gosh. Not this height argument again.

Unfortunately, I'd already seen too much of Yoongi and Jimin's constant bickering about their height. To sum it up in a sentence, it always started with Yoongi smugly reminding Jimin he was taller, and always ended with Jimin arguing that if he grew only a fraction of an inch, then he would beat the older man.

Ridiculous, really. But to be honest, men were just labels for them— they were all really a child at heart.

Then all of a sudden, Namjoon jumps off of the couch. His eyes are wide with alert as he switches off the television, earning an annoyed yowl from Jungkook.

"Everyone up!" He claps his hands loudly as Jin looks to him in question.

"Why?"

Namjoon bends over to whisper something rapidly in Jin's ear. When he does, I can't help but feel this vibe where he was being secret because I was here. And that he didn't want me to hear.

"Alright," Jin says. He motions everyone to get ready for something— something like what?

"Where are you guys going?" I ask, peering at the five men equipping themselves with various blades and specialty weapons. "I thought you didn't have a job until tonight? It's eight in the morning."

Namjoon hesitates a moment before he reveals the truth. "Our target tonight has changed his schedule, and I just received this news. He's going to leave Seoul earlier than planned, which means we have to pull up our times as well."

Then a sudden door opening grabs everyone's attention as V and Hoseok appears into view. He's changed into a clean shirt— and compared to just five minutes ago, the wound looks expertly treated and perfectly concealed from plain sight.

Hoseok's work.

"I'm coming," V insists as the others look at him blankly. "I'm not missing out on a second assignment— you've already made me miss out on the first one."

Hoseok shrugs and shakes his head when Jin starts to speak up. He'd probably already tried to convince him over, and probably miserably failed.

And it kind of hurt— it was obvious he didn't want to stick around to "babysit" me again. Emptiness replaces the air in my chest as I rub two fingertips together, trying to keep calm.

"You can be so stubborn sometimes," Jin sighs in exasperation as he glares at V's closed face, which gives away nothing. "Your wound opened again this morning— what will you do if it does that again? Hoseok will be too busy to fix you up."

"I won't."

The firmness in his deep voice even takes Jin aback. Finally, the eldest gives over, allowing him permission to participate.

"Great." He throws up his hands in the most dramatic way possible as he motions at me. "Who's going to stay behind, then?"

When I open my lips, he makes a shushing noise as he zips his lips close. "And no, you are not staying alone. That's out of the question."

"I was going to say if I could come too."

They clearly weren't expecting that.

Yoongi suddenly bursts into laughter, his lips pulled back from the most genuine smile he'd had in a while.

"You? You? What are you going to do while we're going to be killing? Scare the men away with your disappearing act?"

I make a face at the minty-haired idiot as I dismiss him— he wasn't exactly reasonable at the moment anyways. If I was going to convince them to go, it was going to be Jin who I would have to persuade.

"Think about it," I say as I try to shrug nonchalantly. "That would solve the problem of me staying alone, and uh, everything else."

I wasn't really good at the art of persuasion. It was a shame that I only realized that at the moment everyone stares at me, completely stunned at my illogical reasoning.

"Too much risk." Jimin says, and I shoot a murderous glare in his direction.

Traitor.

"You're just going to be a drag." V points out, his voice so collected that I want to punch him just to get a rise out of him. "Besides, this mission is too important to screw up."

Jin looks thoughtful, which I take as a good sign. At least he wasn't saying no. For now—if I was going to be able to see BTS in action, I had to convince him. And fast.

"Listen, Tzuyu." Yoongi tells me, crossing his arms. "When we go there, we're going to have to get through at least seventy men— which means how many for each of us?"

When he looks to Namjoon for help, the younger rolls his eyes as he gives the answer easily.

"Ten, hyung. I thought you went through elementary school."

"Anyways, ten each." Yoongi says, his cheeks too red to be denied. "After we get through that, we have to kill our target, yes? And this guy is some rich idiot— and he knows that we're going to be coming for him."

"But you're forgetting one thing." I argue, holding out my arm. To my gratitude, my willpower works this time— sending a flicker of fade running down the length of my arm.

"I can disappear."

"It's too dangerous, hyung." V turns his subject to Jin, figuring that I was just going to be complicated. "This is the hardest mission we've had in a while. And she's hunted!"

Wow. When did you start caring about that?

Jin purses his lips, which leads to silence in the whole room. I marvel at how much control the oldest has upon the others as he nods at me.

"We're taking her."