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A Confidence Game~Character Profiles | BTS Mafia and Con Artist AU

Plot: Hoseok and Minsuk’s parents have died 11 years ago and they have been living as con artists for 8 years now. The moment Hoseok wants Minsuk to have a chance to start a new life, the Bangtan mafia approaches them to pull one last con.

(M) Warnings: angst, swearing, trigger warnings of character death, drug use, drug abuse, graphic violence (in future chapters. If any of these are triggers you don’t want to deal with, you might as well not read the beginning and get hooked to the story and deal with the frustration of whether or not you want to continue reading, k? )

Character Profiles:

The Bangtan Administration

Namjooon: Crime boss of the Bangtan mafia. He’s straightforward, focused, detailed-oriented, protective, flexible, and impatient. He can be indecisive but can make the quick decisions under pressure; still, he never cracks. Although he’s fine with a detailed plan, he prefers to give more freedom and flexibility for his members to thrive on their own to get the jobs done; it’s less planning anyway. He’s extremely detailed-oriented, so he makes sure he understand how each member likes to work and how they choose to complete their tasks. As long as he’s let in the plan, he’s normally okay with anything they do. At pressured situations, when his members need it most, he steps in with striking and aggressive power to complete the job. He will break down every aspect in order to find his opponent’s weakness and constantly and consistently crush it. He’s over protective and uses his aggression to show it. He feels insecure of his own position. Although it is not the case, he feels like more like a supervisor than a boss. Occasionally feels the need to exert unnecessary dominance and reinforce hierarchy, especially when it comes to his underboss. He’s drawn to the way con artists work because they are thorough but flexible.

Seokjin: Consigliere of the Bangtan mafia. One of the most contradicting people you’ll ever meet. Empathetic but detached. Idealist but practical. Cares for many, trusts a few. Unsympathetic to enemies and has little patience to the ignorant. He advises the planning phase. When the plans don’t look easy, but he likes the idea, he will mold it so it will become a very appealing opportunity. He occasionally acts as a mediator between the boss and underboss. He’s Namjoon’s most trusted confidante and his oldest friend. He’s very controlled with his emotions, but when he finally expresses any ill feelings, he doesn’t hold back and is recognized as the most sadistic. He’s paranoid of anyone to be deceitful. Only trusts Namjoon, Yoongi, and his wife, more than he’s comfortable to admit. In contradiction, he’s irked when people don’t trust him; has he ever given anyone a reason not to? He thinks the con artists are amusing because of the quirkiness in real life, but can completely switch into a different character for a con.

Yoongi: Underboss of the Bangtan mafia. He’s the perfect underboss and takes action. Precise, loyal, efficient, stubborn, hates change, results-oriented, calculative, meticulous, and logical. He always executes a clean job, which doesn’t leave much need for backup plans. He thinks he sees every option, and when he chooses what to do, he will not change his ideas. He’s easily annoyed. He’s confident in planning and tries to keep his head clear from any unnecessary thoughts. He’s a perfectionist so he’s always fearful that he hasn’t thought through everything yet and that could potentially lead to failure. Failing those who trust him is the greatest guilt he will ever come to know. He need to feel like he’s reliable to others and will go lengths to prove it. More often than not, con artists are far too fluid for his taste, but he can’t deny that they are quick-witted and effectively finishes a job.

The Bangtan Capos

Jimin: Retrieval specialist and head of gambling. Aside from handling the casino that Bangtan owns, every once in a while, there’s some idiot who doesn’t “remember” to pay up and Jimin is the man to find. Charming, charismatic, bold, decisive, quick-witted, and sincere. He’s a short term thinker who looks at all possibilities and chooses whichever will choose the best quality outcome. People normally mistake him as simple-minded, but he just knows what he wants and is quick to achieve his goals; he’s already considered everything that is probable for him and is quick to choose which ever best suits him. He can grasp emotion well and learn to spin off of that, making him an easygoing conversationalist. He makes people feel comfortable to speaking to him, even to the point of accidentally leading information, but thinks nothing of it because he is seemingly harmless. He’s great a manipulating the atmosphere and people’s emotions. He cares for a spotlight, so he’s great at making a scene and diverting people’s attention. Emotions are very easy for him to feel and express, so he is very aware that his sincerity makes him vulnerable to others. He feels the need to hold himself back on many occasions so people don’t get the wrong idea of him, or the right one…If anything, he is the con artist in the mafia, so he feels like the con artists are kindred spirits because of the nature of their work so he can understand their M.O. very well.

Taehyung: Blackmailer and head of drugs. He’s interested in drugs trafficking and his insight is alarming. He keeps all his acquired information to himself and knows exactly when to use it, making him an ideal blackmailer. He’s an energetic, calculative, manipulative, analyzing, chaotic opportunist. He feeds off of your insecurities and fears, making you spill your guts and take impulsive actions faster than a bullet. He doesn’t see the need to be physically sadistic, but he is psychotically sadistic. He’s easily bored and changes tactics often, making it difficult to follow his train of thought or see his vision. If someone can, they are an ally. He will consider that person to be respected and should not be underestimated and he is very fortunate. If not, he considers himself superior and that person is nothing. The moment he thinks anyone can catch on, he feels vulnerable. His tactics are convoluted and he often likes to test people to see where their reasoning skills lie on his scale. If they do catch on, he feels the need to keep you close and watch you carefully. He never wants anyone he doesn’t trust to have an upper hand on him. He’s intrigued by the con artists’ M.O. and is more than willing to assist so he can watch the cause-and-effect.

Jungkook: Protection racketeering and head of arms. No one likes to be head of defense more than this guy. Honest, loyal, direct, protective, responsible, reflective, and adaptable but uncomfortable with change. He only looks at the details, he only needs to handle those and the bigger ones can handle the bigger picture. He’s unforgiving to those who’ve done him and his friends wrong; he will only remember to hold a grudge for those people. He likes to stick to the plan, out of convenience and for other’s sake. He remembers every event and is very efficient. He’s cautious of his actions, a great executer, and most reliable, and also most vulnerable out of the three capos. He’s broken by guilt too easily. He’s contradicting in the sense that his family, Bangtan, is his number one priority and will go out of his way for them, but is strongly upset by ruined plans, especially if he’s the one who’s caused them. He feels the need to be protective of those around him and will eliminate all threats, even if it means to ruin the plan. He believes his greatest strength and weakness is caring for Bangtan before anything else. Initially annoyed by con artists because they’ve ruined the mafia’s plans a couple times.

The Con Artists

Hoseok: Charming and enthusiastic con artist. Specific skills include hacking, fighting, and grifting. Charismatic, cautious, organized, protective, and responsible. He’s very self-aware and aware of others. He’s a loving person in his personal life, and also very serious and precise in his work. Between Y/N and him, he is the planner. He wants to settle and get things done without making a mess, but sometimes the dirty work is inevitable. He plans well, far too many steps ahead of others. He knows that every plan has potential to slip up, so he tries to keep a cool head and stays flexible when things go down. He’s got the next plan in his back pocket and can quickly find another one to replace the backup. He has the most conscience out of everyone (which isn’t saying much), and puts family and love first without a care about what that implies to him. Anything else is just a luxury and an extra factor that he will force himself to make-do without if necessary. Unlike Jungkook, he sees it as his strength because family and love is where he draws his strength. He feels the need to take care of both with everything he’s got. He will not let anything happen to them. It makes him predictable in the sense that people know that he will take action for his family and loved ones, but he’s unpredictable in his methods. He’s very wary of the mafia and finds them untrustworthy until proven otherwise.

Jung Minsuk: Idealistic femme fatale con artist. Special skills includes grifting, thieving, and money laundering. Genuine, authentic, creative, imaginative, enthusiastic, perfectionist. Unlike Jimin who fears of his own sincerity to become his own downfall, she uses her true nature to gain trust from others. To everyone else, she’s gullible, genuine, and authentic, and that is the key for her to manipulate. Her desires and goals make her most devious in such a depth that no one can perceive. She easily identifies everyone’s intentions and fears. She uses that knowledge to break people and push them to make the choices she wants them to make. She tends to method act so she can be the most authentic when grifting; she never breaks character in the con because it is essentially her. Between her and Hoseok, she executes the con and enjoys it more than her brother. Unfortunately, all of this means she puts herself in danger and getting caught up. She’s most likely to fall for her own con. Very driven, so she’s stubborn to finishing a job, and flexible in finding using whatever ways to get to the end. She feels like she’s able to handle all self-sacrifices necessary to pull off the job. She is well aware that she puts herself in trouble, and while she doesn’t want to bother anyone with her own problems, she believes it’s the best way to reach for the outcomes and no one can convince her otherwise. Tries to be a perfectionist in execution, but like Hoseok, she recognizes that plans can fall out and tries her best not to blame herself for the smallest mistake that makes changes in plans, but she does. She sees potential everywhere and in everyone. She feels like people don’t trust her judgment enough so she feels the need to push the limits of everything and everyone because their potential is far more than they can perceive. She will force them to get there so they will know she was right from the very beginning. She doesn’t care about the mafia, although she’s very curious about the people in it and why they are in the position they are in.

More OC characters as the story goes on

Read this story

A Confidence Game 1.1 | BTS Mafia and Con Artist AU

Plot: Hoseok and Minsuk’s parents have died 11 years ago and they have been con artists for 8 years now. The moment Hoseok wants Minsuk to have a chance to start a new life, the Bangtan mafia approaches them to pull one last con.

Words:4,248 | Drama/angst/violence (at some point. we’re dealing with the mafia and con artists here)

Warnings: (M) mature themes

Character Profiles

Part 1: Foundation Work: The preparations, which are made before the scheme is put in motion, including the elaboration of the plan, the employment of assistants, and so forth.

Jung Minsuk makes light conversation with Mr. Kim as they both wait for his artwork inspector. Honestly, she’s not the type to make small talk, but rich heiresses are; and that’s what she is right now. Mr. Kim is a middle aged man with too much money to enjoy any other pursuit in life other than collecting artwork. Such men have plenty to share and they’re perfect sponsors for her college fund.

A clean and slim man with handsome features and thin frames walks into the shipping warehouse. He carries a large silver briefcase, loaded with an artwork inspection kit. Mr. Kim turns around at the sound of his entrance and extends an arm to introduce him to her. But she already knows him.

“Ms. Song, please allow me to introduce you to Park Jinhyuk. Mr. Park, this is Song Sooyoung. Mr. Park is very adept in verifying artworks. He’s helped me on numerous occasions.” She gives a polite nod at her brother and he gives her a quick head bow as if it is their first meeting.

“The Cyclone, Tsunami, Firestorm. They are all verified by this man right here. I’ve spent the last half year hunting down the Natural Forces Collection. Now the only one that’s missing – “

“Is my Earthquake.” She finishes his sentence for him and he nods at her with a grin. She looks over at Hoseok who silently and diligently gives a once-over on the artwork before he set down his brief case to take out his inspection kit to examine the painting.

“And why is it now that you want to verify this artwork with Mr. Park, after so many times you’ve bought so many other artworks of mine?” She asks Mr. Kim. In total, he’s bought four other artworks and antiques from her; all were real, but at a much lower price than the Natural Forces. That doesn’t mean the Natural Forces are any more valuable though. If anything, they’re less real and practically worthless.

“The Earthquake is a bit more important to me. My other experts need to eat too. I request for Mr. Park’s expertise on the more expensive and important artworks.” She inwardly shakes her head at the ignorance. Though he’s spent a little less than a decade pursuing art, he knows nothing about it. He’s just another pretentious old man. She’s dealt with too many ignorant people. She’s grateful at some level; they technically were the ones who’ve pays her to learn a lesson. But still, she is astounded and disappointed by the number of ignorant people in this world.

“I guess the previous items in my possession were too good for you to pass up before you came to my Earthquake.” She smiles. They better be. She and her brother spent almost a whole year to acquire them to be their bait.

“Yes. I can’t believe I’ve dealt with you so many times, that I never asked whether you knew about the Earthquake, let alone ask if you had it. You had so many other…tempting collectables for me to acquire, that I completely forgot about the matter for a period of time.” Mr. Kim’s lids lowers halfway as his eyes trails down from her brown contacts to the pearl necklace resting on her collarbone.

“To be fair,” she brings his attention back up to her eyes, “I probably wouldn’t have told you when we first met.” He looks at you quizzically.

“The Earthquake is a very prized painting, Mr. Kim. I didn’t let it out of my sight for two weeks. I kept it in my bedroom so I could just stare at it until I fell asleep.” She peripherally notes that Hoseok’s hand twitch at her words. Really? You’re laying it on a little thick, aren’t you? She can hear him chastise her.

“So why do you want to sell it now?” Mr. Kim clears his throat.

“I’m looking into another collection right now. I’ve had the Earthquake long enough. Besides, you already have the other three. Might as well reunite them since I can’t have it.” She explains. You are a fickle rich heiress who wants doesn’t care for long term sentimentality and have a business mind, she reminds yourself.

“Oh, and what collection are you looking into?” Mr. Kim raises his round glasses.

“Ah, sorry. I can’t tell you. I wouldn’t want you to fight me for it. I can get pretty vicious.” She wink.

“Well, I don’t doubt women being vicious sometimes. But who would want to fight you for anything?” She just smiles at him, letting his imagination run wild. That’s the funny thing about humans; their imagination. But most of them are very small minded.

“Mr. Kim.” His attention is brought to her brother. All Mr. Kim needs is Mr. Park’s nod and his grin widens at the approval. He looks at the paining and gestures at his men to take the painting.

“Ms. Song, I’m still astounded by your resources to have obtained this painting at such a young age. “ He praises her as his men cover the painting and moves it out the room.

“Well I’m home alone quite often. I must keep myself busy, no?” She crosses her milky white arms and saw two large silver briefcases that replaced her brother’s inspection kit on the table. The briefcases opened up to reveal cash bundles neatly stacked to fit all 300 mil won. She smiles and hides her greed as she closes the briefcases.

“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you again.” Her rented bodyguards take the two briefcases and she holds out her hand to shake. Mr. Kim takes it and puts his middle-aged lips on the back of her hand, lingering just a little too long.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for.” He says to her. I already have.

“Same to you.” She smiles and turns away. Minsuk waits until she’s out of his sight. She waits until she gets in the car and her men drive her away before she furiously and disgustedly wipes the spit off the back of her hand.

“Minsuk!” She looks up from her laptop. She just placed the money in plenty of different bank accounts. Now it’s just to wait for the banks to verify the amount. She pushes up her reading glasses as the descending sun’s reflection flickers on the lens. Behind her glasses are her strange eyes: one is a dark chocolate brown, one is a deep sea blue.

“Oppa!” She calls out. Hoseok emerges from the hallway of their home. Her smile turns into a large grin when his hands from behind his back reveal a large envelope. It’s SNU’s reply to her college application.

She jumps up from the couch and runs to him. She jumps on to him for a hug and then takes the envelope from his hand with a squeal.

“An envelope that big, there’s no way that it’s –“

“I got in! I got in!” She prances around the living room and Hoseok joins her, dancing around like complete fools. Seven years ago, she and Hoseok were conning for his college fund. After he graduated, they waited until he stabilized his job as a software engineer at an IT company before she thought of saving for her own college fund. Now, eight years into the confidence game, they are finally able to plunge deep in the lake. She’s starting college two years late, but it doesn’t matter. The fact is she’s in now.

“Ah, my beloved dongsaeng. I’m so proud of you!” Hoseok calms down before her and they exchange the biggest smiles of their day.

“And I thought conning Mr. Kim for 300 mil won was the highlight of the day.” She rereads the congratulatory words in the acceptance letters. Today is a good day. Mr. Kim has been their mark for almost two years now. The con is finally over.

“You did really well, Ms. Song. But did you really have to flirt with the guy so much?” she knew this was coming.

“He got so much spit in your hand. I wanted to rip out his eyes for the way he talks about and looks at you.” Hoseok frowns. In the past 7 months, he’s been Mr. Kim’s artwork inspector.  He’s heard Mr. Kim talk about you very inappropriately before, but he didn’t tell you. Con or not, it bothers him to see anyone look at his sister, or any other lady, with such disgusting mannerisms. Luckily, after today, all contact information and personnel files about a Song Sooyoung and a Park Jinhyuk will be wiped from the face of this earth. Mr. Kim will never find either of you again.

“Well it was the approach. I’m an underestimated rich heiress who loves art and desperate for attention. Men always fall for the fun-loving type. And he needed attention away from your lame verifying tricks, Mr. Park.” He flicks her forehead and she returns him a cheeky grin. He knows it isn’t the sole reason she puts herself in such a compromising role. She always got a thrill of playing characters.

“Hey, I’ve done a very good job as his art inspector. He’s taken me to other deals to inspect and I can actually verify them. It’s funny, ruining someone else’s con. I actually give his other experts a run for their money.” He takes her hand and rubs away what she hasn’t already sanitized three times.

“We’ve done this for so long. I know what I was doing.” He looks at her with concern.

“I understand, oppa. Besides, the job’s done. We’re lucky we’ve been able to take the job so far.” He wants to shake his head at her. She never understood when she takes it farther than she should. But when he finally decides to chastise her for it, the results were evidently effective. She’s always proved herself to finish the job unharmed and so he never got past her justifications.

She gives Hoseok a hug and he holds her for a long time until his nose twitches at the smell of dinner. He smiles and turns around to see the dinner set on the table with the covers.

“What’s for dinner?” he asks as he drags her to the dinner table.

“Kimchi, yakiniku, dolsot. Your favorite for a good day.” You both sit down and he hisses a cheer.

“I’ve already placed about three fourths of the money in our different accounts. We can start transferring and layering this weekend with what is already done while I layer the rest in cash.” It’s her favorite part, but also the most complicated part. Layering is basically spending money and investing it. It continues to spend the dirty money and make it hard to trace until she can bring the clean money back to under their name.

“That’s good. It’s just in time, now that SNU has accepted you. We can start paying the college tuition and your other expenses.” He starts chowing down on the meal. She stares at her brother and then around the apartment. This place has been their home for two years now. She and Hoseok have been living independently for eleven years, and eight years since their first con. She is the most important part of Hoseok’s life and he’s hers. He worked so hard in the first three years so he could take care of her all on his own. It was so tough on him. Even when she was 11, she understood a lot of the tough things in life. When she was 14, she felt like it was time for her to start giving back, make things easier on him. She was so young, but then again, so was he.

Thus, Minsuk pulled her first con with him.

Hoseok was across the street as he watched Minsuk profusely bow her head to the middle-aged restaurant owner.

“I really thought I had money in my pockets before I left home. I distinctly remember counting the money. You’ve seen me eat here, I’ve been here many times. I’ve always paid. I’m not lying!” She pleaded. She shook her 14 year-old hands nervously as she looked up to the woman with her big doe-like and distinctive eyes. The woman just looked at her with skeptical and stern eye. The lady had her hands on her hips and her lips were pursed.

“Okay, my home is two blocks away. My wallet should be home. I distinctly remember it on my coffee table before I left. I’ll be back in 10 minutes, I promise.” She turned away but the woman pulled her back before she could even see the door.

“That is not happening, girl. If you can’t pay, you are going to stay here and work it off today.”

“No, I can’t. School starts in less than an hour.” her eyes darted everywhere before it settled on her wrist; there rested her bracelet.

“Look, here. This is a bracelet my aunt from America bought for me for Christmas. I will be back for this bracelet and I will have the money. I promise you. It’s real. Please, I’ll be very fast. I’ll run.” The lady saw Minsuk’s breathing quicken as she looked up at the clock and the lady looked at her school uniform that indicated Minsuk’s school. Her different eye colors were the most distinguishable feature; surely, she could find Minsuk again if she needed to. Minsuk took the bracelet off herself and put it on the woman’s wrist before she could reject her. The lady greedily looked at it as the gems flickered from the sun’s reflection.

“I will see you back at this very spot in 10 minutes. If you are not back with the money, I will be looking for you at your school. I recognize your uniform, it’s the same school my son goes to.” She warned Minsuk. Minsuk exhaled with relief and she bowed countless times with a strong thank you. She ran out, on her way home to grab the money.

Hoseok walked in the door, dressed clean and looked older than his true 18 year-old identity. He ordered a quick to-go coffee and breakfast. His eyes rested on the bracelet. For as long as the restaurant woman has been fixing his coffee, his eyes are fixated on the bracelet.

“You are a very lucky woman. My girlfriend keeps talking about that bracelet. She hints that if she doesn’t get it for her birthday, she’ll break up with me.” Hoseok chuckled bitterly as the woman came forward with the coffee.

“This is just collateral until some little girl comes back with the money to pay for her meal.” The woman looked at the bracelet. Hoseok raised his eyebrows.

“How old is that little girl? Does she realize she has this year’s limited edition of that brand? Tsk, kids these days, don’t understand value. How can she use this for collateral? For a mere breakfast, no less! If she truly left because she couldn’t pay for a meal, she would be the fool, not you.” Hoseok scolded the absent you. The restaurant woman’s ears perked up at limited edition.

“H-how much did your girlfriend say this was?”

“About 3000 US dollars. And it’s limited to 200 in this world. So…” Hoseok whistled lowly. He heard her quietly suck in a breath.

“Are there anymore left?” she probed.

“Trust me, if there was any left, I would have found it already. My girlfriend has been good to me; she helped with my college tuition. I wish I could show her that I can provide for her well…” Hoseok licked his lips and ripped his eyes away from the bracelet for the last time before he leaned forward.

“Listen, I’ll be willing to pay 4 million won today, in cash, for that bracelet. I have to go to work now and my girlfriend’s birthday is less than a week away, so I’m in a rush. Tell that little girl to give me a call today. I can return at the end of the day to make the deal. Here’s my contact information. I really have to go. Thanks for the coffee.” Hoseok left without a passing glance at Minsuk, who just returned from around the corner. The restaurant woman wanted to call out to Hoseok who just went out the door and disappeared in a hurry to catch the bus, but something stopped her. The bracelet still glistened in her peripheral. She felt the heavy weight of the silver bracelet that was laden with gems on it.

“I’m here! 7 minutes! I told you I’d be back.” Minsuk said breathlessly. She had a hand on the counter with her wallet in her other hand, resting on her waist as she was bent, trying to catch your breath. She finally looked up at the clock. She only had 35 minutes to pay and make her way to school that was 15 minutes away.

“Here. How much was the meal?” she opened up your wallet, ready to count out the cash.

“Uh-10000 won.” The restaurant woman blankly watched Minsuk count out her measly 1000 won bills out. 4 million won still throbbing in her head. The man was willing to pay for 4 million won, when the bracelet cost roughly 3.4 million won. He must have been desperate. The lady looked at her wrist. This bracelet has started to look better and better on her wrist with each passing minute.

“You know, this is a very nice bracelet.”

“Yeah, my aunt sends these things to me all the time. I’m usually not a luxurious person, but she’s very nice. I’ve gotten so much from her.” Minsuk said lightly. So, maybe she wouldn’t even miss this.

“Can I have it?” The lady asked. Minsuk looked up in surprise. The lady looked down with a strong air around her; haggling was her business.

“I will pay you 3 and a half million won for this.” She said quickly. Minsuk eyes widened and she looked at the bracelet.

“I didn’t know it was that expensive.” She breathed out. The little girl really didn’t know the value? The woman should have started lower.

“It’s not.” The lady said quickly, trying to cover up how much the value of the bracelet really was, “But it’s my daughter’s birthday in two days and I haven’t come up with anything remotely close to her liking. This might be my only chance to shop around before her birthday. I want to get her something really nice. Please. You don’t know what it’s like to be a mother.” She said. It was a lie. Her husband was the one who didn’t get his wife anything for her birthday two weeks ago. She could pretend this was his gift. Minsuk’s lips tightened and she looked up at the clock.

“I’ve only had this for three days. I’m not sure I’m ready to let that go.” She looked at the bracelet. The lady moved it out of Minsuk’s sight and she pulled out cash from the register. She ran to the back to find more stashed.

“How about 4 million?” That’s more than what the bracelet was worth.  Minsuk’s eyes bulged out at her call. This greed of hers was far more than Minsuk expected. She’s willing to take all the money in this restaurant. Since it was Minsuk’s first con, she was surprised by the lady’s greed.

“I-“ Minsuk had no idea what to say. She’s never been offered money, let alone 4 million. The lady waved the cash in her face and she nodded slowly, eyes following the cash.

The exchange was quick. The lady would have to let that man know that the bracelet was not for sale. She put the bracelet safely in her pocket, feeling the weight of it as Minsuk left for a school she doesn’t go to. Minsuk and Hoseok were 4 mil won richer. And the restaurant woman? All she had was just one cheap bracelet, only 100k won worth, in her pocket…

“I saw an apartment in Seoul. It’s about 10 minutes away from SNU by the subway. It’s about 10 mil won for deposit, 725k per month. It’s not bad with two rooms, 2 baths. It has a really nice kitchen where I can make more recipes with convenience. If not, there’s one that’s outside of the city, so it’s an hour away by subway. But its 2 rooms and 1 baths, 8 mil won for deposit and 650k per month…” Minsuk starts to say. Hoseok looks up from his plate. Food is still in his mouth. He quickly chews and swallows.

“No. We’ve talked about this. All of that 300 mil will be going to your college fund. You’re there for four years. Groceries, utilities, transportation, expensive tuition, and miscellaneous expenses. And that’s just you alone, in dormitory. It was easier for me because I stayed in Gwangju and our living expenses weren’t as they are now. Add me in Seoul? You know the math. I’m not moving.”

“But oppa, we can –“ Minsuk starts but he cuts her off.

“No. We’re not. You’re going to be clean from now on. You’re going in to university! There’s new opportunities for you to do what really interests you. You get a clean slate. I’ve tiptoed around with you long enough with these cons. They’re good, and we can get by, but we can’t do this forever. I don’t want you to do this forever. You already lost four years where you could have already graduated college now because we were too busy with my tuition, and that’s at GIST! You’re just starting. You’re not doing anything else but getting that education for the next four years.” He isn’t going to have this discussion again. He’s her brother. What he says goes, and that’s final.

“Okay, oppa.” She says quietly, poking at her food. He looks up and sighs. He reaches over to her hand on the table.

“I know you want to stay close. But really, you’ll be fine. And you’ll love Seoul. It’s so exciting over there.”

“But…you’re all I know.” She says with tears welling up. Really. Their parents left them one night; bags packed and everything. They left them. If that is the whole story, she would never forgive them. But that isn’t the end of it. Their train derailed and crashed. She can’t be mad anymore, even if she wants to. But the only thing constant in her life was her brother. Everything else was always temporary: jobs, cons, homes, education. It doesn’t make sense to her to lose the one thing that has always been so stable; the only thing stable.

“Hey, hey, hey.” He drops his utensil on his plate and comes over to her side to hold her tight, trying to shush her as she struggles to hold on to her tears.

“We knew you’d be going to college soon. How are you still not prepared, after two years?” he lightly laughs, trying to make her smile too.

“You were still here! You had me while you went to college. We had each other!” She cries, lightly slapping his arm, too weak to truly fight him, not like she really intends to hit her brother anyway.

He laughs and holds her tighter, keeping her from loosening her arms so she could hit him again.

“Look, I’ll visit you. All the time. You can show me the sights. Let me feel like a tourist, yeah? It’s going to be fun. You’ll make good friends; you might not even have time for me. Especially if you’re studying hard and making me proud, right?” He looks at her when her cries subside.

“I’ll always make time for you, oppa.” She sniffles, grabbing the napkin on the table to wipe her nose. He takes an extra one to wipe her tears, chuckling at he.

“I have no doubt. My little dongsaeng loves me will never forget me, right?” She meekly nods. He goes back to his side of the table and waits for her to take a bite of her food before he picks up his utensil again.

He really doesn’t want her to touch the dark side anymore. For the past eight years, while they dirtied their hands for sure, he always made sure to scrub hers clean. He hacks into the system every day to make sure there were no tags for a young pale 22 year-old girl with straight black hair and wore large brown contacts to hide what makes her stand out.

He always checks up on her. She’s as innocent as a young con artist can be. She still prefers to spend a Saturday in her pajamas and pink bunny slippers, eating cereal while reading the newest fantasy novel while humming a Saturday morning cartoon theme song from her childhood.

The moment Minsuk steps into the university, he’s going to make she’s done with all of this; the both of them. He’s a software engineer in an IT company in Gwangju. He has a stable day job. She’s going to make her own path and be just like any other happy, simple woman in South Korea. Her only distinction will be her beautiful eyes he loves dearly. She would never have to hide her eyes away from authorities again. He needs to make sure she stays that way.

Next chapter

A Confidence Game 1.2 | BTS Mafia and Con Artist AU

Plot: Hoseok and Minsuk’s parents have died 11 years ago and they have been con artists for 8 years now. The moment Hoseok wants Minsuk to have a chance to start a new life, the Bangtan mafia approaches them to pull one last con.

Words:3,298

Drama/angst/violence (at some point. we’re dealing with the mafia and con artists here)

Warnings: (M) mature themes

Character Profiles | Previous chapter

Part 1: Foundation Work: The preparations, which are made before the scheme is put in motion, including the elaboration of the plan, the employment of assistants, and so forth.

Over the weekend, Minsuk and Hoseok go to Seoul to get to know the university, the area, and go to the bank to make some bank-to-bank transfers. Minsuk already layered the last bit of the money through online banking in one account. This time she’s going to layer some in person from a different account. This con was the biggest one the two of them have ever pulled; kind of as the last hurrah before they leave the game for good and also for raising Minsuk’s college fund. 

Since it is first time they conned such a large amount, she and Hoseok have set up numerous accounts in different countries, aside from the ones they already have. Majority of the money are in off-shore accounts in those countries and they have accountants there on high authority of secrecy that help them launder those thoroughly. They basically help set up regular transfers in-and-out of those accounts to give the impression of income and investments. Each transfer in each account has varied amounts and they cover its origins to be from its own country. After this, the pair will go on a wonderful shopping spree, to launder a small amount through purchasing assets and also a way to celebrate.

“Gangnam prices are crazy.” Minsuk mumbles as Hoseok hands his card over to the waiter to pay for the lunch.

“It’s not that much more expensive, food-wise. Not like we don’t have the money for it. And it was well spent. Look at your plate! You practically licked it clean.” Hoseok laughs at her as he stuffs his wallet into his back pocket. She looks at her plate.

The restaurant has a dark atmosphere with one lamp over every table. The light is blinding through the reflection of her large white plate. Food residue is apparent, but Hoseok is right, she had taken her finger to wipe the last bit of sauce off the plate.

“If I don’t have you with me, I probably wouldn’t come to such an expensive place though.” she sighs, subtly reminding him how much of an impact it was for her that he wouldn’t be with her. He caught it, but he isn’t going to let her off like that.

“Well, you will be once a week. Remember? I will visit you all the time.” He grins. She returns a half smile. She’s normally more stubborn than he is, but this is one thing the two of them have argued time and time again. If he put his foot down so many times, she knows he will out-stubborn her on this one.

He isn’t just arguing with her though, he knows that if he wants her to see it through his way, she needs to see what is offered in his ideas. They have visited the university campus and to be honest, the both of them really had a blast. He got her excited about going back to school and learning everything in a more formal, but casual setting.

They walked into one of the summer classes, and since it was college, no one really cares. She loves the feeling of anonymity but also being of something bigger, it was being in a con to her. He told her to have fun. She could even go in with different personalities. He played on her playful and creative spirit she indulges in whenever she has to pull a con; just as long as the teachers who actually takes attendance knows who she is. He made her laugh and get embarrassed when he winked at some college girls in passing. She’s going to have to keep him off campus, for college girls’ sake.

“Where to next?” she asks when the two of them step out of the restaurant.

“I think, we should go invest in some stocks.” He winks. They hop onto a train to make their way to the stock exchange.

Today is super packed and they have to squish themselves in the middle; but with Hoseok, Minsuk is still content.

Hoseok is her pillar of strength wherever she goes and she will comfortably admit her dependence on her brother. As much as he enjoys her dependence on him, he often feels the complete opposite. Minsuk gives him something to live for. He honestly feels dependent on her, for her dependence on him. He loves the fact that it has always the two of them against the world. But when two people are co-dependent on each other, they will spiral down into reclusive existence. He can’t allow that to happen to her. She has a lot to offer to this world and he needs others to see her. He needs her to see that. The cons had implanted darkness in her like a parasite. He’s so afraid that it will be all that she ever knows. She has to see what else she can do with her life.

The overhead voice in the train notifies them of their stop, but it is also for just about everyone else. At first, there is not much to think about, just to keep herself from tripping over, but Minsuk starts to notice some sort of pattern that has everyone moving her along, farther than Hoseok, him being forced back. She wants to turn her head, but with everyone forcing her body forward, she can’t orient herself properly. She feels like Batman in a stiff suit.

Hoseok notices the pattern too and senses intention to it. He starts to assert himself to shove through everyone. His heart rate and breath quickens as strangers’ heads disorient his vision of Minsuk getting farther and farther away. When he finally makes his way through, she’s gone. 

He has his hands up in his hair as he feels anxiety. When the two of them were still starting out as amateurs, not every paper trail was burned. Not every con from start to finish had been finished completely clean and they both had their fair share of repercussions. Since eight years ago, the two of them have been able to improve their act for clean executions but they can’t be sure if they are able to cover all their past tracks. For all he knows, this is another person who had finally tracked them down.

His phone rings and he knows it was Minsuk. He picks it up without looking and keeps looking around.

“Where did you go?”

“Calm down.” her voice is far too calm, it’s rigid. He looks at the phone and it’s Minsuk’s number. So at least she can communicate.

“Where are you?” He takes a deep breath and asks a little more calmly this time. Whoever has her, they want him to cooperate.

“The information of where they’re taking me is stored in my phone. Hack into it and you will figure out where I’m going. I’ll see you later.” And then the phone is cut off. Hoseok closes his eyes and sighs. This is a test. If it is a test, then this isn’t going to be the end of it. Either way, he needs to find Minsuk before anything else.

He quickly sets himself aside to a corner and opens his bag to take out his laptop. He hacks into Minsuk’s phone too many times for cyber security purposes; he basically created his own security system in her phone to keep her phone from being hacked. He keeps hacking into her phone in order to know how to improve its system; so at this point, only he knows how to get into her phone and all her history. Luckily she doesn’t have anything to hide from him, especially when they agreed for him to do so on her phone. 

It takes him 2 minutes to hack into Minsuk’s phone. She doesn’t have any files, no new contact information, where is he going to find the information? He searches her browsing history and finds two paired sets of three and four digits. He instantly clicks that they are phone numbers but the pairs are obviously scrambled. He fixes the numbers and gets two phone numbers. He hacks the two phone numbers and although they are obviously just disposable, they also have a security system from being hacked. But they are next to nothing compared to his hacking system. 

He quickly gets in and finds one latitude coordinate and one longitude coordinate on the two different numbers. The moment he gets the two coordinates, the phones disappear from his screen; they are destroyed. He plugs in the two coordinates on an online map and finds the address. He looks up and sees that the train that is about to leave is the one he needs to take. He jumps up with all his stuff and scrambles his way, luckily there are less people and he makes it in time.

When he settles himself, he looks at the address more closely. It is a hotel in Gangnam; they were just there in the restaurant of that hotel. It’s possible that the two of them had been followed since then. But if someone has worked their way into phones and kidnapping, obviously they’ve been watching them for a while. All of this is premeditated.

He rubs his face and puts away his computer; he knows where he needs to go now. He watches the train map above the door. The blinking light indicates that he has two more stops. That’s two stops too many.

The moment he steps into the hotel, he realizes he is still missing one more crucial piece of information. This hotel is big. He doesn’t know her exact location.

He hacks into her phone again, hoping to look for any new information. There is a new memo note on her phone with 7 symbols. He breaks the encryption to turn the symbols into numbers and hacks into the new number. Once again, there is another memo note on the new number: 1164-816.

He rushes to the elevator to the top floor, where the room numbers starts on 1100’s.

On the top floor, he finds the room which is the penthouse suite with a number keypad. He punches in 816 and enters.

His first instinct is to focus on Minsuk and he sees her sitting on a chair with her legs crossed and her hands resting in her lap. Her head whips to the sound of the door opening. Her nervousness turns into relief. He rushes his way towards you but is stopped by men.

“Hello, Mr. Jung. Let him go, boys.” Hoseok looks to the man who had given the orders. He is a young man, probably younger than Hoseok. He has orange hair that is parted in the middle and his hair waves out. He is shorter than him, but most definitely more built than him. He is obviously a fighting type. By strength, this man overpowers Hoseok, but Hoseok is an accurate speedster. He wonders how he would fair in a fight with this man. But something tells Hoseok that he won’t fight him unless Hoseok throws the first punch. Either that or he was given an order.

This man has the mark of the mafia. The man has many thick and heavy rings on his fingers, but there is a gold one that stands out. There is probably an insignia on it but Hoseok is too far away to see it clearly. If only he sees it, he’d know which mafia they are dealing with.

Hoseok walks slower this time to reach Minsuk. She holds her hands out and he connects with her as soon as he gets close enough. Her hands are still warm; that is a good sign.

“Get Mr. Jung a chair; he’s been running all over the place. How are you? Do you need some water?” Hoseok looks to Minsuk’s side to see her glass of water. She obviously drank some, so the water is safe. Even so.

“No, thank you.” One of the men sets a chair next to Minsuk and Hoseok slowly sits down. His hand never leaves hers. He looks to her and her eyes speak only confusion. If her eyes still holds confusion, that means that she hasn’t been able to obtain any information about why they took her and why the two of them are here. Either she is too cautious or they won’t budge. At least her eyes don’t hold any fear.

“Now that you two are here. Let me just say, it is incredible to see you work, Mr. Jung. And the swiftness when you rushed through those train doors. Talk about cutting it close. I was actually really nervous, I wasn’t sure if you’d notice that it was the train you had to take. It was like watching a movie.” This man was watching him?

“Oh, by the way. I’m Jimin.” The orange top finally introduces himself.

“Why are we here?” Hoseok asks directly.

“You’re not nearly as tactful as your sister.  She at least tried to have a regular conversation first.” Jimin shakes his head in disapproval. He grabs a chair and sits down in front of them two; very casually to keep the mood light.

“Anyway, it’s been an honor to see your work. I wanted to ask you, why do you think you’re here? I mean, you came so willingly. I know it was for your sister and she must be your everything, but there was absolutely no hesitation. All for your sister. I’ll admit, I find that very admirable of you.” Jimin goes on talking about the two of them until he realizes he isn’t getting any reaction out of either of them.

“So, I mean, back to our topic. Take a guess. Why are you here? I bet you noticed by now, I’m in the mafia, Bangtan to be exact.” Hoseok stiffens in his seat now that his speculation is confirmed. Bangtan mafia is quite big, as far as their influence goes. Even when they went over to the States to set up accounts, they heard whispers of Bangtan’s name. It’s a big deal that a big mafia group would spot out the two of them; unsuspecting con artists who works for themselves.

“Who was it?” Hoseok asks, “Who did we con that made you notice us? Was it an associate of yours? Another member? I’m sorry. But let my sister go. I’m the one that plans our cons, not her. She’s usually the one who executes it, that’s all.”

“But isn’t she the one who picks your mark first?” Jimin points out. He knows that she’s the picker. So that must mean that they’ve been followed for a while.

“It’s okay. It’s not the point. I mean, yes. A lot of your cons deal with the rich, and well, you’ve crossed us before. Do you know how much you took from us? We saw them first, but you two strike faster than a King Cobra. Once again though, I applaud your eye for the ignorant. It would seem that you two are very compatible with our vision, our targets.” It clicks into Hoseok that this isn’t about revenge. Something about Jimin’s demeanor that tells Hoseok that today is not about murder or revenge. He sees Minsuk shift in her seat. She’s caught on as well; probably a little earlier than Hoseok because she’s been here longer, just needed more evidence.

“You want us to do a job.” Minsuk finally speaks up, declaratively more than interrogatively. This whole time, they aren’t watching the two of them, per say, they are watching their work. The mafia is very business-like. Her guess is that they are looking for potential associates.

Jimin looks at her and throws his head back in laughter, “Very intuitive, Ms. Jung. Yes, we do. We need someone of your talents. You see, there’s a po – “

“No.” Hoseok declines, cutting off Jimin. Jimin looks at Hoseok in surprise. Hoseok’s not sure if it’s because Hoseok declines, or because he interrupted Jimin.

“We are not con artists for-hire. And we just did our last con.” Hoseok is going to put his foot down. He already doesn’t want Minsuk to mess around in this life anymore. And it’s even worse now. 

The mafia wants her to plunge her hands in filth again. They will want to control the con, not her. They will keep her in their books longer than she will live. All this time, the two of them have been doing all of this for survival, not for money; at least Hoseok wasn’t. Minsuk isn’t doing it for the money either, but she might have taken to the thrill of a con. He needs that to stop. There will be no turning back with the mafia.

“I know. Your sister is going off to college, you have a stable job. I get it. It sounds like a great time to start anew. We can help you. We can pay for your sister’s college.” Minsuk perks up at the mention of that. That would mean the money they saved up for her college could be used for something else. Say, an apartment in Seoul for Hoseok.

“We only need one job from you guys. This is a make-it-or-break-it on our end so after this, there’s no point in asking for more help from you two. Not that we will cut you out after helping us, no, no. We never forget the help, we don’t hurt those who help us. We simply want your help on one job. Afterwards, your life is still yours to live. Not ours. We will not hold anything against you. We will burn every paper trail of your existence that will connect to us in anyway. If we ever get caught and give names, not that we ever will in general, but your name goes to the grave with us. We can promise on that.” Jimin looks at the pair seriously.

The funny thing about the underbelly of every society, there is like some sort of code for the evil.  The rest of the society always gets hurt because they don’t retaliate; no eye for eye. But every criminal has their individual abilities to hurt another, and they’re not afraid to do so if anyone ever crosses them. It’s the reason why there are no secrets. One will never hurt anyone who has the ability to hurt one back, and possibly twice as hard. But criminals are still skeptical in every corner, believing it’s the way to stay alive. If one wants cooperation, it’s best to keep one-self open and loyal, put honesty in every word.

Still, the two of them are con artists. Hoseok is right, they never did a job for anyone else, so why start now, when they want to end this career? Jimin personally thinks that they contacted them a little too late, but it isn’t his job to speak up about that. He looks back and forth between them too. Minsuk obviously shows interest, but still wants to know more. Hoseok just looks stern.

Jimin sighs; the administration really should have asked Tae to do this. He gets up to go to the next room and speed-dials.

“Yoongi, it seems that the brother is a little more hesitant right now. Minsuk looks interested but she’s not going to move if her brother won’t. I really think Tae should take over at this point. I –“

“Don’t worry about it, you’re doing just fine. We expected this to happen.” The underboss reassures Jimin, but that just makes him more confused.

“If you didn’t think I was going to get them at the first try, then why’d you –“

“You are step one.” A few more words from Yoongi and he hangs up. Jimin scrunches his lips to one side. Okay; whatever Yoongi says, goes.

Jimin goes back to the room where Hoseok and Minsuk are quietly talking to each other.

“So, how goes it? What do you think?” Jimin asks with a smile.

“If you really wanted cooperation, first of all, you’re not giving us enough information to agree to anything. Secondly, you started on the wrong foot. How is taking my sister going to make me want to cooperate with you?”

“Fair enough,” Jimin shrugs, “So let’s start all over. How about dinner?”

Next chapter

A Confidence Game 1.3 | BTS Mafia and Con Artist AU

Plot: Hoseok and Minsuk’s parents have died 11 years ago and they have been con artists for 8 years now. The moment Hoseok wants Minsuk to have a chance to start a new life, the Bangtan mafia approaches them to pull one last con.

Words: 4,156

Drama/angst/violence (at some point. we’re dealing with the mafia and con artists here)

Warnings: (M) mature themes

Character Profiles | Previous chapter

Part 1: Foundation Work: The preparations, which are made before the scheme is put in motion, including the elaboration of the plan, the employment of assistants, and so forth.

Minsuk smooths her dress down and takes her brother’s hand on the ride up the elevator to the restaurant floor. Jimin scheduled with Hoseok to have dinner to talk things over, and Hoseok demanded to speak to the ones with highest authority in order to get good word from the ones who have most control. To ensure the two of them will come, Hoseok needs Jimin to promise not to have people follow or escort them, otherwise they will run and make things difficult. Jimin promised and you were good at spotting lies. He doesn’t want things to get difficult either and wants to prove his honesty and credibility to them.

Rather than the same hotel, it is another one in Illsan, but by Hoseok’s research, both hotels are owned by Bangtan. Hoseok used the rest of the afternoon to come up with an escape plan, should things go wrong. Minsuk on the other hand took time to choose what the both of them should wear, what cologne Hoseok should put on, what perfume she should put on, or if it was even necessary. Hoseok is on defense mode, but she wants to take another approach. She wants Bangtan to let their guard down. She wants to present the both of them as cooperative and respectful; to respect the meeting, the dinner, and to show that they are open and receptive to the ideas. She wants them to feel like they can work with them. When doing so, she finds that people are more flexible and she always needs flexible.

To be honest, she is already entertaining the idea when she saw the opportunity for Hoseok to move to Seoul. Not only will this help the meeting, if she digs deep down, she’s on Bangtan’s side. She wants Hoseok to see that this is doable and beneficial to both of both.

She snaps out of her thoughts when she felt Hoseok squeeze her hand at the sound of the elevator ding.

The large metal doors slide apart and they step out to the restaurant lobby. Every hotel Bangtan owns screams prestige. At the previous hotel, the color scheme is a dignified and professional teal and silver. Here, everything is passionate and regal, with the colors of red and gold, giving the sense of an oriental palace.

The lady in the front wears a red and gold cheongsam with a loose bun held together by hair chopsticks. Minsuk wouldn’t be surprised if she took out her chopsticks to reveal dangerously sharp pins if fights ever ensues in this mafia-owned hotel. She leads them through the mass of tables, each filled to the max capacity of each table. At first, Minsuk would have thought that the mafia would close the restaurant for this special event, but come to think of it, it might make Hoseok more at ease to see many people, provided that they are truly normal citizens and not the different associates of the mafia. She can already see Hoseok’s eyes darting left and right to take in the real visual of his plan, rather than just blueprints.

The women leads them to the last and largest room. There, Jimin is already waiting for them. He wipes his mouth from his food and stands up from the long rectangular table to greet them.

“You are very punctual, that’s cool.” he smiles at the two of you.

“Glad you got started without us. I would have felt bad, if you were starving just by waiting for us.” you greet him like this is a high school reunion.

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve been here for a while now, so I figured it’s a good time to eat as any.” he gestures for the both of them to sit and hands Hoseok the menu.

“Everything is on the house, of course.”

“Of course.” Minsuk chuckles.

“As if you could give any authority of when things are on the house in this hotel.” Another voice speaks up. A man comes out of a door on the side. He has flared blond hair with a pink tint to it.

“Hey, I practically run this place. The casino downstairs is my home.” Jimin counters leisurely and leans back on his chair. The second man comes around to Jimin’s chair and rests his arm on the high back of the chair.

“Yes, speaking of gambling.” the man looks at Minsuk and Hoseok and gestures to the roulette table against the wall.

“Play for a meal?” she guesses with raised eyebrows. The man smiles lightly and nods. His smile is very concealing.

“As in, I get to choose my own meal, I pay for the meal, or who gets to eat?” she asks as she gets up. If she plays along, it will prove her willingness. Hoseok has no choice but to loosen his grip on her arm.

“How would you like to play? Either way, sounds fun, right?” the man reveals a full and innocent rectangular grin now. She offered many options for the results of the game and it intrigues him how else she might want to spin the game.

“First, I never play with people who I don’t know. For you, I’ll make an exception, but I still need your name.” she crosses her arm but kept her charming smile.

“Ah, forgive my lack of introduction. My name is Kim Taehyung.” he bows and she returns it.

“What, what happens when we lose?” Hoseok attempts to stop the game from continuing further.

“Depends how she wants to play. Corresponding to the options she gave, if she loses, I get to order the food, she pays for everyone’s dinner bill tonight, with money, mind you, and I get to choose when she eats and how she eats. By a single option though. Everything else will be fairly split if she so chooses.” Taehyung looks at Hoseok as he specifies the punishment so Hoseok won’t feel gipped. Minsuk takes the menu from the table and scans the food choices.

“How flexible are you about the rules of this game? And choosing options?” She asks and looks up at Taehyung from the menu.

“Very flexible. What did you have in mind?” Taehyung’s grin twitches again in concealment. He resists his grin because people typically mistake his grin to be malicious, when all of it is just excitement and curiosity. He knows it scares people, so he does his best to hide it when he first meets people. The intrigue never leaves the glint in his eye though.

“I think I’m actually pretty picky, so I would rather choose my own food. I don’t mind paying for the bill in the confines you set, but I’d rather not let money get in the way of our first encounter. I think it’s fair if we split the bill for our own meals. I would like to be able to eat how I want and when I want, so I do not want to include option three in this game, but I think it would be intriguing if I were able to win…” she thinks out loud as she looks at the roulette wheel.

“You make fair points about the money, I will not argue with you on that. But we never talked about what would happen if you won.” Taehyung points out. she looks up at him and breaks out into laughter, “Oh yeah.”

“We can set your winnings as what you just said. But only,” he hands you a white ball and holds up a black one of his own.

“If you get your single, you win all three components of the bet. If you don’t get the number, color, or even/odd number right, then I either choose your food from the menu, you pay for it, or you have to feed me when I want it and I feed you when I feel like it. If you don’t hit your number but you get the corresponding color or even/odd number and I do, I will decide which one of the components of the bet you lost. Vice versa if you win. If neither of us gets it, then we just consider this meal without a bet and continue the night as it is.” From the side, Minsuk can hear Jimin’s low whistle and a screech on the floor as he gets up from the chair.

“Hey, Tae. Is that really necessary?” Jimin puts an arm around his friend, trying to not take it too far on the first encounter.

Taehyung shrugs and looks at her, blocking her view from Hoseok. He recognizes easily that she always looks to Hoseok for guidance, but she has her own mind more than anything. Taehyung wants to see what she would do on her own.

She has already started the intriguing bet and the rules are already talked about. She can’t back out. No way but through and through.

“Who said he would win though?” She counters at Jimin’s words and looks at Taehyung with an accepting smile. He can tell that she isn’t challenging him, but humoring him. That’s all he need.

29. A black odd number. You give him your bet and hold up your ball.

12. A red even number.

He spins the roulette wheel so fast, her mind starts playing tricks on her; she sees the blurred red and green squares moving backwards. She goes first and spins her ball against the wheel’s direction. Hers land on 31 black. Taehyung gets his 12. 

Hoseok immediately comes to her side and puts an arm on her shoulder, ready to fight anyone who takes her, if they dare.

“You can’t take it too hard on yourself. He comes here often to gamble in the first place.” Jimin runs a hand through his hair and gives her a sympathetic smile.

“And you didn’t care to mention that?”

“You didn’t ask. It’s okay, not bad. You were close.” Taehyung notes in fake consolation; she knows he really doesn’t care. But doesn’t really care if he cares anyway.

“So, which component do I want you to pay up?” Taehyung tilts his head and taps his finger on his chin. She cracks a small smile because she feels like he looks like a child who won a game against an adult. Taehyung and Jimin are confused by her smile but they hid their confusion.

“I agree that I don’t want us to have any monetary grievances between us, even though it is fully warranted. I’ve met many a man who still gripe about losing to me fair and square. I don’t believe you are, but this isn’t a simple bet you’re here for today anyway. I know you’re not allergic to anything on this menu, so I think I can order anything and it won’t cause any harm to you…” Taehyung glances at Hoseok, who has his fist clenched on his side.

“I think I want you to feed me. And I’ll feed you.” Taehyung decides with a silly grin.

“Pleasure to play the game, Mr. Kim.” she shakes his hand out of good sportsmanship. Everyone is able to order their own food. Jimin orders four extra entrees which both Minsuk and Hoseok assumes it would be for the Administration who are supposed to be on their way.

“So where is the Administration? They don’t seem to respect this appointment very well, do they?” you speak up after some small talk.

“They’re here. They just figure you would like to be a little more comfortable before they reveal themselves. They tend to take extra precautions with potential associates. who feel a little uneasy about their reputation.” Taehyung directs his eyes at Hoseok. Hoseok just looks at him with wariness.

“Maybe a one-time partner. We will not be your long-term associate.” Hoseok clarifies his position.

“We don’t ask for anything else.”

Four men come in from the entrance of the dining room, escorted by the lady who escorted you two earlier. Jimin and Taehyung stands up to greet them. Out of social instinct, the siblings also stand up to greet them.

The tallest man wears a fancy black suit with velvet lining. His blond hair is buzzed lowly on the side and the rest is gelled back. His stature is tall and straight and looks down to everyone, exercising his dominant approach. 

The next man is paler, shorter and thinner. His cold exterior with slit eyes easily takes away any mistaken underestimation. He sports platinum blond hair which is longer than the first man but doesn’t pass his eyes. 

The third man is tall and the most handsome. The air around him is much calmer. He may not be the tallest, but his stature is most posh. 

The fourth man is about an inch taller than the third man. He has a boyish face and his black hair is styled to match, but it is clear in his eyes that he’s seen and done more evil than any boy ever should. His expression almost matches Hoseok’s expression of distrust, but his bear more enmity which confuses Minsuk because it’s the first time either of them has seen him.

“Perhaps we waited too long before making our entrance?” The handsome man tries to spark pleasantries to act like he really gives a damn. Does he really? Maybe for pure manners like she would, but not for the sake of the business, which is the attitude Hoseok takes.

“Too be honest, it felt a little pretentious; your entrance was too grand.” She glances down but looks back up to him. He’s amused and gives her a gentle but disapproving smile as an elder would to a child.

“Our apologies, Miss Jung.” The tallest man bows to her with a little amusement to his dimpled smile, and the rest follow suit; the boyish man is a little stiff though. He takes his seat at the end of the table. 

The siblings continue to watch who took which spot. By their research, the tallest man is the crime boss. Jimin and Taehyung moves down to allow the short man to sit next to the crime boss’ left; the underboss. The handsome man takes the short man’s left; the consigliere. Hoseok is on the right and she is on his. Taehyung sits next to her and Jimin sits next to the consigliere, across from Taehyung who is next to you. The boyish man sits at the end of the other side of the table.

“My name is Kim Namjoon. My underboss and consigliere, Min Yoongi and Kim Seokjin. You’ve met Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung. That man at the end is named Jeon Jungkook.”

“I’m Jung Minsuk.” She greets. Namjoon raises an eyebrow, “I know.”

“I know you know. But it’s manners to introduce oneself.” She smiles like a child. Hoseok puts a hand over hers which rests on the armchair. They both agreed earlier that he’d be the one to talk to the mafia.

“I’m Jung Hoseok.” Her brother greets, removing the stiff fear in his manner.

“I realize that earlier in the afternoon, we’ve made a bad first impression. Please forgive us, we would truly like to start all over. Starting now.” Namjoon gives a diplomatic smile as a waiter knocks his way in with the food.

The dinner proceeds with learning about job and term negotiation.

Kang Yeonseok is a politician who Minsuk recognizes and has seen his speeches at least a couple of times on television, even though Minsuk hates politics. The man is charismatic and inspiring. She always feels out of the loop with politics, but at least this man makes it a little more bearable. Even if she doesn’t know the other politicians, she would probably bet that he is one of the few who are actually making a difference. But at the same time, she finds him rigid and probably very intimidating if she ever meets him.

“He’s a threat to Bangtan. I need him corrupted, preferably under our thumb.” Namjoon is very direct about his aim but…

“He’s currently one of the greatest politicians in the country and you want to screw him up? Our country needs to be done being stupid. With him, the country has a fighting chance.” Hoseok raises an eyebrow.

“The stupid country is where we all draw our income. There is no perfect world, country, or society, so why bother? That’s not the point. He’s cleaned up a few of my foes, I’ll give him that, but he’s cleaned up a fraction of my men as well. One is already too much. I’ve got to feed my brothers. It does you no benefit for him to be here either. I know you’re going clean, but we found you, he could find you too. Politicians are stupid, but stupid with unlimited resources. Imagine that unlimited resource in a man who is determined to look up every scum in the underworld. No offense, but that includes you and your sister. She’s no underground rat, but you know where her hands have been, no matter how much you’ve tried to help scrub her clean.” Namjoon nods his head towards Minsuk.

Hoseok resists a gulp and his eyes flickers to his right to see her in his peripheral. She is his endearing sister and there’s no greater fear for him than her consequences coming back to bite her in the ass. She was so young when she got pulled in to the ugly game. All she wanted to do was to help her brother support this family. He’s always been guilt ridden that he can’t provide for her enough to make her feel like she has to help and step in. Namjoon had grabbed his attention.

Unlike Hoseok, Minsuk prefers to read her information and research; besides, he’s supposed to take over the conversation. The files came hidden under the food cart.

Taehyung had already been warned that his gambling reward shall not get in the way of the negotiations. He agreed, but it’s not a promise. Every now and then, he opens his mouth and taps her shoulder. She feeds him and dabs the corners of his mouth gently. He makes a proud face with every bite. He smiles and laughs with Jimin, who tries to stifle his laughter. Jungkook is unamused, and the Administration does their best to ignore the event on that half of the table.

Taehyung gives her either small nibbles or overly big bites that stun her and she almost can’t close her mouth, greatly ruining her table manners. That is only at the beginning though. By every inconsistent bite, he tries to tick her off but as she read more and more, he realizes that she won’t care enough to give him any response. She’s preoccupied with reading Kang Yeonseok’s background information. She barely notices the amount of food she ingests in one bite. Taehyung recognizes her seriousness and compares it to Hoseok’s hostility, favoring her cooperative nature.

He slowly assists her by feeding her regular bites and taking care of his own meal, now that the bet is obviously shot. He reads over her shoulder.

Jimin and Seokjin soon notice her dismissive behavior to the rest of the group. She’s clearly in another world and her quirky multitasking behavior has them amused. She mentally highlights notes and visualizes them on everyone when her head feels like she’s taken in too much. She giggles to herself as she visualizes a post-it on Seokjin’s cheek.

There are many files that she has sprawls them all open around her part of the table and invades Hoseok and Taehyung’s space too, not that they mind.

She busy herself to look at multiple files, interconnecting Politician Kang’s relationship; be they family, friends, partners, and acquaintances. She learns his background, growing up history, his clean record, his family’s records; this guy seems incorruptible. But not everyone around him has the same standards as him.

As she is busy reading, Hoseok negotiates the terms to this “potential” partnership. But really, at this point, everyone knows that Hoseok can’t back out now. Everyone knew this dinner is to hook them long enough to say anything but no.

That is exactly how the Administration had devised the plan. Jimin would hook them with sincerity and honesty. Taehyung’s gamble would keep them obligated to stay for dinner, giving enough time for Namjoon to convince them two, or namely Hoseok, to agree to take the job.

“Minsuk’s education fund will be laundered by her to bring it back into our accounts; that’s how you will pay for the tuition. You are to leave us alone when we are not working, no oversight on our private lives. From the beginning to the end, we will not be revealed of our involvement with you, ever. This is our only job with you; we are not involved with anything else in your business. No side jobs, we are not your associates, we are not your partners aside from this. Our names will not exist in your books and they never leave your lips to your grave. Because this is a job, obviously we need to be actually paid, aside from Minsuk’s education; that’s just a benefit. I say, 5 million won per week.” Hoseok organizes his terms with Namjoon.

“That’s fair, but we will need open communication and constant updates from them. That means that you will update us of your progress every night as well. Seoul is your world now, since your sister will be going to SNU. It’s compromised from being our rendezvous, so we will move to a different location every time, but don’t worry, Cinderella will be back in her dorms before midnight.” Namjoon glances at the distracted Minsuk before turning back to your brother.

“This job is huge, so we know it cannot be done by you two alone. We will provide you any assistance. Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung will be under your disposal. If you need anyone else, you let us know. Only for the con’s sake, they will be our eyes, providing close-distance observation, just so we know that the information we receive is consistent from you. It’s not really that we don’t trust you, but – “

“It’s out of precaution. We understand.” She speaks up as she’s still reading, speaking up before Hoseok will get the wrong idea from Yoongi.

This entire time, Yoongi has done his best to ignore the sounds of food being munched, paper being flipped, files being plopped on the table and slid towards Minsuk for easy access. He already knew he doesn’t have to convince her, and so he only cares to focus on the one he has to convince. However, her actions may have come across to him more as dismissive and probably impolite with not being quiet. Her brother is much more diplomatic to him, probably because he’s actually speaking to him in a business-like manner.

Hoseok notices Yoongi’s not-so-subtle glare at her interruption and Hoseok pats her thigh, signaling her to notice her surroundings again, something he constantly needs to remind her of.

She looks up and sees what he sees. She lowers her eyes and gives a small head bow, apologizing for her loud behavior and interruption, even though it is for his good. She goes back to her file and continues what she was doing, but making slower and quieter movements.

Hoseok looks at her concentration, he knows she’s in. He also knows that he can’t say no at this point. Now it’s just the matter of his perspective; needing to be in line with Minsuk’s in order to feel okay with the plan.

“We originally thought that would like you to get close to Kang and slowly make him spin off-track. And when he does, it needs to be related to our businesses so that we have a hold on him.” Namjoon starts to say but she raises her hand. He cocks an eyebrow at her again.

“Yes, Miss Jung?” He calls on her.

“I think your plan has a problem. First of all, have you seen this guy? He’s incorruptible. He can save himself from problems and Hoseok can only get so far with him. He needs to be motivated from a problem that’s not his to solve. It needs to be someone else’s problem that’s related to you and he chooses to involve himself, tricking him into believing passive participation doesn’t mean anything.” She finally tears her eyes away from the last file and gently settles it on top of the other overlapping files in front of her.

“What do you suggest then?” Seokjin asks with a small smile. She blinks at him and looks around the table, flashing a smile. She settles her eyes onto Hoseok, asking him, “How do you think I would do as a model?”

What?

Next Chapter

A Confidence Game 1.4 | BTS Mafia and Con Artist AU

Plot: Hoseok and Minsuk’s parents have died 11 years ago and they have been con artists for 8 years now. The moment Hoseok wants Minsuk to have a chance to start a new life, the Bangtan mafia approaches them to pull one last con.

Words: 5,174

Drama/angst/violence (at some point. we’re dealing with the mafia and con artists here)

Warnings: (M) mature themes

Character Profiles | Previous chapter

Part 1: Foundation Work: The preparations, which are made before the scheme is put in motion, including the elaboration of the plan, the employment of assistants, and so forth.

Minsuk sighs as she plops file over file on top of one another. She and Hoseok took all the documents home that night. Hoseok is currently reviewing the contract with Bangtan as she maps out the important information; the things that were vital to know about the con.

“Honestly, all these information, they’re good, but they’re just scratching the surface. They’re still not as in-depth as you usually can pull up for us. You might have to do some extra digging.” She mumbles and hears Hoseok’s hum as a reply. She looks up. His eyebrows knit together as he analyzes every word.

“Relax. I trust that they need us more than we need them. They tailored this contract for us. You even watched them write it out, print it, staple it, and put it in the folder, before passing it on to you. It hasn’t left her hand since then. Have a little faith.” Hoseok snorts at her last words.

“Faith? In the mafia?” He raises his eyebrows at her, “Minsuk, the world cannot always be trusted, especially not the underworld. It’s because they need us more than we need them that they could trap us. We tripped at our own finish line for them and now we’ve started another race. I need to make sure we finish this and there will be nothing else. I will not allow us to be blindsided by what they’ve offered, which really isn’t enough anyway.”

“You could have given them an outrageous term. You know, throw them off and decide they don’t want to work with us.”

“If they thought I’m just toying with them, they could kill me and sell you.”

“I guess so. Then I’m glad you were cooperative to them.”

“It’s because, beyond me, I know you want to do this.” He reaches out for her hand.

“I know you’re excited that I can be in Seoul with you, but it’s at such a dangerous price. We never mingle ourselves with the depths of the underworld. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. So I want you to promise me.” He makes her look at him dead-straight in the eyes.

“We’re going to keep each other in check to stay safe. We’re going to stay sharp against the mafia. We’re partners for one con with them, but they’re not our family, we are. Family is always going to be the priority here. The moment we are in too deep, we stop. Between the law and the mafia, I’d rather be in trouble with the law.” She inhales sharply.

She knows that the checking on each other is really him checking up on her. She’s more of what Hoseok would call “impulsive”. She’s pulled extemporaneous stunts that could have literally stopped her heart on several occasions, not to mention break his. Not only is Hoseok primarily a planner, he is the one who takes the background roles while she is the main face of each con. He has every right to act cautious for her sake since she isn’t.

Hoseok’s right to not underestimate the mafia’s ruthlessness. But even though they don’t dabble with the rest of the underworld, she knows the common rules. Partnership requires a certain amount of accountability between two parties to pull through; it’s good business. 

Bangtan had a strong name on a global scale, how else can they get there without a fair bit of accountability and efficiency? It’s their good name that had them climb up the ladder. Such reliability doesn’t spout out of nowhere without some truth.

She doesn’t know if there’s an official reason why they spotted them out of all the con artists in South Korea, but it’s true that there have been whispers of their M.O.; but no names, thanks to Hoseok. This matters to Hoseok, but not Minsuk necessarily. At this point, Hoseok is going to keep his sister close and his enemies just as close. Given that she is the closest thing he’s got, it’s saying something.

Maybe she is crazy, getting high off of the thrill. She isn’t sure whether she’s greedy for the rewards or prideful of her work, but there’s some sense of accomplishment at the end of every trick that she can’t find anywhere else. Granted, she’s never really put herself out there to experience anything else that can give her the same feeling. 

Maybe she’s far deeper than her brother hoped and he doesn’t see that because he doesn’t want to. Whatever the case, she knows she has to appease her brother in order to see this through.

“I promise. But you will also promise me. Ever con is dangerous, we both know that. You can’t expect everything to be smooth sailing in this one, even if we have more help, especially because they’re from the mafia. When we do dangerous things, we still need to stay and stick it out to get it done, so we don’t get stuck in a dangerous position. We’re going to put our best efforts because of three reasons: 1) this is our last con, so we need to do this right for ourselves. 2) Even if we don’t care about the mafia and their reasons, we need to execute this con the best we can so there’s no backlash from them. They are technically our first and last client. 3) Clean job is our M.O. We will not allow ourselves to have repercussions from the mafia or the law. We never left any unfinished business, and we will not start now.” she holds out her pinkie. He looks at her pinkie and smiles at her childish gesture, but one she still uses quite often.

“Deal.” He hooks his pinkie on hers and stamp her thumb with his to seal the deal.

The next day, they introduce their proposed con to the mafia.

“We’ve thought it through last night. You said that you would prefer that he is under your thumb, but we’ve already established that you can’t do that because he’ll probably figure a way out. So what we should do is essentially just take him out of the political game. Since he can see past direct attempts, we need to look for someone in his life who can’t. When that person gets backed into your corner and he feels like he needs to help him out, then he consciously chooses to plunge his hands into the filth. He’s in such a pedestal to the public. The moment he falls, he has everything to lose.” Hoseok begins.

“What’s the bad choice he has to make?” Yoongi asks.

“Don’t know yet. We’re still digging through for more information. Somehow, you’ll make a deal with him that he can’t say no to because of that person he’s helping out. It needs to be a deal that you can attempt to rationalize for his benefit though. This is essentially a con within a con.” Minsuk folds her hands and smiles at everyone.

“A dream within a dream.” Jimin mumbles through his fingers and gives a sly smile at Yoongi like some sort of inside joke. Yoongi just grunts and gestures to Hoseok to continue.

“Who’s the person you are corrupting?” Namjoon asks Minsuk.

“His son.” Hoseok took out a folder and slid it over to Namjoon.

“He’s a third year at SNU, majoring in photography and journalism. I’m still working on how to approach him though. The idea is in here,” she taps her skull, “but I’m still working out the plan.”

“What are you doing while she’s working on her mark?” Seokjin points to Hoseok.

“I’m going to be on Kang’s side. Working out the politics, keeping an eye on him, and figuring out a way to find a “beneficial” deal for you to give to him.”

“How long will all of this take?” Yoongi asks.

“The university semester starts in the beginning of March. Elections are mid-April and it’s cleaner to just have him drop out of the race before then. Right now is just the beginning of January. We’re looking at three and a half months. But since March is when semester starts, we actually have a month and a half to actually con Mark and his father.

“Since the semester starts in March, what are you going to be doing now?” Namjoon asks.

Minsuk looked at Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook.

“I’d like to get to know you.”

The first person she goes along with is Jimin back to the first hotel they met. She looks at the different cameras in front of her. They’re currently in the security office, watching the people gambling their lives away in the casino.

“Why gambling? I mean, Koreans aren’t known for their gambling.”

“You’re right, but how many Koreans do you see down there, other than those who work for me? It’s very few. Most of the people who enter in are tourists. We’ve landed casinos in Las Vegas, Macau, Atlantic City, Monte Carlo, Reno, and other places with a high gambling reputation. They all highly recommend ours back in this country and so we technically monopolize majority of the gambling joints in Korea, and we’re in Seoul so there’s a lot of people who pass by. We’ve got other smaller casinos all around the country as well, so I don’t have to stay in one place all the time. Since we have the ability to monopolize it, why not? It’s a market others can’t compete with us.”

“Do you personally enjoy gambling?” She asks.

“Being a firsthand observer of those addicted, I’m not tempted. But I’m not really in it for the gambling aspect.” Before she can ask for further explanation, his phone alerts him something. He looks at the notification and smirks.

He looks at her, “Do you want to know what I’m talking about? Fair warning, it’s a long drive.” She nods and goes along with him.

“Stay in the car. Wouldn’t want your brother putting me in a headlock for bringing you to some place dangerous. You can observe through the tinted windows.” Jimin doesn’t look at her and slides out of the car and closes the door before anyone outside can sneak a peek to know she’s still inside.

She cracks open the sunroof to hear the conversation outside and scoots closer to the window. She looks at the driver who quickly glances at her through the rearview mirror but angles his head so it won’t look like he’s looking at anyone in the back of the car. She stares at him until he looks away and so did she.

“Mr. Park.” The man walks towards Jimin and they meet halfway.

“Mr. Long, I heard you were in a fair bit of trouble. What’s going on? Tell me everything” Jimin shakes the hand of the man who’s already shaking. Mr. Long sniffs as he looks left and right, and then to the car.

“Can we go inside? It’s a little cold out.”

“Sure.” Jimin turns towards the car and walks towards it with Mr. Long tailing behind him. His piercing stare made Minsuk feel like he can see her even through the darkened windows. Passenger’s seat, he mouths.

She quickly hurdles herself forward and climbs to the front passenger’s seat. She slouches as low as she can and raises the privacy window between the driver and the backseats. She looks at the driver, again with another awkward stare until he looks away.

She hears the car door in the back open and close. The weight of two men shift the car.

“How about some brandy to warm up?” Jimin takes the brandy bottle in the back and a glass.

“Thank you.” When Jimin hands him the glass, Jimin shifts himself to face the man and stretches his arm to rest on the back of the seat.

“What’s going on?”

“So I’m here on vacation, right? I stayed at the casino hotel nearby and I kind of spent the past four days gambling. A couple hours ago, I realized I’ve gambled away everything except for 600k won. I played my last game of black jack with the ante starting at 295k won. I had 19 and I kept raising, hoping to buy the pot but the dealer had a 20. I lost to a damn 20. The pot was 2.4 million won…”

“So now you own the casino 2.4 million won.” Jimin plays with the rings on his finger while expressing concern in his eyes.

“Yeah. Look, I know we haven’t met long, but seriously, you introduced me to the hotel. I need some fast money. I can’t get the money from home, that account is being watched by my wife. Luckily, I already have my round trip ticket home, but I know I can’t leave until I pay.” Jimin looks stressed as he rubs his eyebrow and puts a finger to his lips.

“So let me get this straight. You actually do have the money at home, but you can’t get it? It’s just a matter of your wife right? You can convince her, can’t you? It’s a problem stuck in whether or not you can convince her. It’s not necessarily that you don’t have the money.” Jimin clarifies.

“My wife can’t know I’ve been gambling here. She thinks I’ve been clean for half a year. Look buddy, you introduced me to the hotel, you got me that escort that used up a good fraction in one night. You need to help me.”

“You’re putting the blame on me, huh? It’s your own damn fault for giving in. Who told you to listen to me? We met at the bar in an airport.” Jimin slowly shows his true colors.

“I – well, you told me that if anything happens, come to you.” She raises her eyebrows at the sound of that. It sounds very familiar because she’s heard it many times in her own cons. Jeez, people are stupid.

“I did. And I did say that I’ll help. But I never said I’m helping you. You’re asking me to help you pay myself back. What idiot would do that?” Jimin tilts his head at Mr. Long and gives him silence to figure it out.

“You – you’re –“ Mr. Long puts the pieces together and turns around to open the door and scramble out, but Jimin quickly locks the door on his side and lunges towards Mr. Long. Jimin puts his arm horizontally to lock Mr. Long from moving his arms to defend himself and gives him a few solid punches. Jimin rams his knee to the man’s right gut. He rams Mr. Long’s head against the window and the window cracks. He throws him to the other side and elbows the man’s calf. Minsuk winces when she hears a sickening crack.

Mr. Long shakes as he unlocks the door and opens it, rolling out of the car. He crawls forward as he cries and Jimin leisurely steps out of the car, playing with his rings again. Minsuk raises her head slightly to see Jimin’s back as he crouches down to Mr. Long and gives him a pat on the back.

“Look, all you have to do is fess up to your wife. It sucks, no doubt. But consider the alternative: me. How much is 2.4 million won in your country? $2000, give or take? It could be worse. You have two more days until your flight back home. I suggest you convince your wife to transfer the money to you overnight. The mafia isn’t patient or lenient with people who don’t pay their dues.”

“The ma–mafia?” Mr. Long sputters and finally sees the shadows on Jimin’s face, seeing his true nature.

“Yeah, uh, the hotel? It’s owned by Bangtan. If you don’t know who that is…jeez, have you been living under a rock? Pay the casino tomorrow by 4pm. If not, let’s just say you’re far too easy to find. I don’t need you to message me to know where you were, just saying.” Jimin stands up and takes in the surroundings. He exhales and runs a hand through his hair.

“You’re right, it’s pretty cold. Here.” Jimin goes to the back trunk and pulls out an extra coat and throws it on top of Mr. Long.

“Wouldn’t want you to freeze to death before you paid. If it’s after 4pm tomorrow and you haven’t paid yet, well then, I’ll be taking the coat back.” Jimin turns his heel and goes into the car, signaling the driver to go, leaving Mr. Long.

Minsuk lowers the privacy window and turns her body to look at him. She peeks through her seat to look at him and he looks at her, or only up to her nose.

“You look cute.”

“You look scary. It wouldn’t truly faze you if my brother did put you in a headlock, would it?” Jimin barks in laughter as he rubs his rings again. He kisses them even though she’s pretty sure there was some blood on it.

“What did you expect? I’m a part of the Bangtan.”

“I don’t know. I don’t really have any expectations.” He stares at her for a second. Sure, she admits that she thinks he’s scary, but she really doesn’t show that she’s actually afraid. If anything, he thinks she’s intrigued.

“Well, now you know me. Did you get what you wanted? What did you want anyway?”

“I guess so. I’m trying to see how I can integrate you, Taehyung, and Jungkook into the job. If I figure your strengths and weaknesses, I can put you in a place where it’s best for you so you can be as natural in your roles as you can.”

“I see. Well good luck in doing that. And trust me; I’m not the worst one out of the three of us.” Jimin looks out the window. Minsuk turns her body to face the front again.

The next one is Taehyung. His “home” is an unassuming small medical facility in Daegu. In there, Minsuk finds many of Bangtan’s soldiers in one side of the medical facility, getting treated and checked up. Apparently, they come with their own medical insurance and hospital. It actually has all the technology for any health related conditions ready for emergencies.

The other side of the facility is open to the public, sort of.

Taehyung is the drug dealer for Bangtan, dabbling in all sorts of narcotics and stimulants. Minsuk wonders if any of that could account for the strange extra bounce in his stride. He has her walk beside him as he strolls through the facility to the employee’s only door in the back. He swipes his card key, punches in a code, and uses an actual key inserted into the door before opening it.

“So much security.” Minsuk notes as they go through and pass a cold hallway into a hot boiler room. They descended underground of the facility and finally came to her destination.

“Welcome, to my lab.” Taehyung exclaims and bounces down the metal stairs and she follows him.

Many people are in confined glass cubicles and it seems that they are doing chemical tests. At the top of every cubicle’s door, there is a series of different symbols.

“I made that. It’s my own language.” Taehyung says proudly when he turns around and sees MInsuk trying to make sense of it.

“What are they supposed to stand for?”

“Only those in the cubicles and I know. But I’m sure you’ll figure it out, it’s fairly easy. Just don’t say anything.”

She observes the people through the glass but doesn’t say anything.

Taehyung moves on without another word either and she knows that he’s going to leave her here if she doesn’t recognize that she needs to follow him. She’s supposed to be the well-trained puppy that follows its master without a leash.

They come to the end where there is another door. She follows him into a tunnel. The end is into a bright, white clean room with just three people working there. They walk up to the three people in the room and see one of them working on drug pills, one on powder, and the last one working with liquids.

“Are these all the same drug?” MInsuk asks.

“Correctamundo!” He exclaims and takes a pill to show her.

“This is the Victory drug. It’s from a Russian plant which thrives in harsh conditions, thus named as the Victorious Flower. I would show you the flower, but we don’t have it right now. It’s currently being imported here though.”

“What kind of drug is it?”

“It’s a stimulant drug. Major effects include euphoria, pain-numbing, and hallucinations. Interesting isn’t it?”

“What are the side effects?”

“Victory is not for everyone. Do not consume it if you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Side effects may include excessive sweating, aggression, nausea, anxiety, paranoia, short term memory loss, increased blood pressure and heart rate, increased body temperatures, tremors, seizures, or even death. Consult your doctor before taking Victory.” He speaks quickly and smoothly like a detached pharmaceutical commercial that makes her laugh.

“For real though, you need to be in a safe environment if you ever do consume it.” He puts it down and she follows him back upstairs.

She goes to the second half of the medical facility where there are a few people around.

“They’re here for…medication?” She asks quietly as they pass some people. She can see the restlessness and dark circles in some of their faces.

“Yup. And they aren’t allowed to leave with Victory. That’s why we have this room for them to stay in until they’re done. Because of the increase in body temperature, we have a cold room for them to make them feel more comfortable.” Taehyung opens the door for her and she goes in. He closes the door on her and watches her from the window. She turns her head to look at him and then back at the rest of the room.

People are sprawled on the floor, the chairs, couches, tables, corners; anywhere and everywhere. Everyone is drugged and experiencing the high of it. The room is cold and bare other than the simple furniture for the people to relax on. Everything is bolted down on the floor though, so there’s no throwing chairs or overturning tables. On the wall, there is a sign that says no weapons.

There’s a guy squatted on the floor against a wall. He looks up to Minsuk with his head tilted and lolling around. He gets up and staggers towards her. He takes out a knife in his pocket and screams, running towards her. She backs up to the door and bangs on it, screaming to be let out. When the man gets to her, his movements are rather slow enough for her to grab his wrist to keep him from stabbing her.

“Let me out, Taehyung!” She yells behind her. The man wretches his wrist out of her grasps and throws her on the floor.

“The symbols mean what drugs you have in your lab!” She yells. The moment the man is about to stab her, Taehyung steps in and grabs his wrist. He twists his wrist and the man dropped the knife. Taehyung catches the knife in midair and spins the man. Taehyung knees his back and the man falls forwards to the wall. He’s taken out of the room by other men.

“I thought you’re not supposed to have weapons in here.”

Taehyung looks down at her with a glare. He pulls her up and holds the knife up to her.

“I thought I told you to not say anything. You don’t know how to follow the rules.” he threatens her.

“You don’t either!” she yells back.

“You don’t get to consult the doctor before taking Victory.” He says lowly. Taehyung pulls her out of the room and back to the lab where he takes liquefied Victory in a syringe needle and walks towards her. He traps her on a chair and has the needle looming over her collar bone.

“I’ll give you one more chance.” He says. He rests his cheek on his hand as he looks at his needle dancing above her skin. What chance? What did he want?

“Name the first drugs in the cubicles on the right and left. Get it wrong, then this goes into you, and you go in the boiler room.” He explains. He’s a little irritated that she doesn’t know what he was talking about. Too slow.

She closes her eyes and tries to flashback to the symbols but it’s too difficult, especially when there’s a needle with a drug about to be inserted into her. Instead, she decides to remember inside the glass cubicles. She at least knows the first cubicle because of the identifiable black sticky mush on the table. She tries to remember the left cubicle but she can’t. She doesn’t even remember what the drug looked like.

She feels the needle poking at you, but not breaking skin yet. She can’t wait and guesses.

“Meth and opium!” She yells. She feels the needle move away from her and the pressure of his arm is lifted off her chest.

“Did you deduce it from the drug itself or the symbols?”

“I’m not telling you.” she looks at him. He raises his eyebrows and shrugs. He turns away and puts the needle down on the table.

“There’s a car waiting outside for you. You’re done here.”

Jungkook silently goes about his way, ignoring Minsuk. He doesn’t slow down for her to keep up with him, he glares at anyone passing by who looks at her longer than they should, and she almost has the door close on her face.

“Slow down.” she calls after him, picking up her pace again. He only walks faster.

“What is this place? Hey, I’m talking to you. I know you don’t like me. I don’t know why so you should at least tell me that.” She tries again. He stops in his tracks and turns around to look at her with his biggest glare.

“I’ve lost men because of you.”

“Huh?” she tilts her head in confusion. This is the second day they have met and she’s been unaffiliated with Bangtan before that.

“Do you know why you were picked? I don’t know either! You’ve got in the way of several payments that I couldn’t collect because your cons were directed at my clients. I can’t complete deals in my business because someone had already drained my potential clients of all they’re worth. I get my men in a lot of trouble and hassle in order to get things done and you are an inconsistency that I can’t seem to escape from. We’ve gotten caught from the police because you heightened the senses of my clients and they’ve been able to catch a few of my men. My ass gets chewed while they purposefully locate you and hire you!”

“Hey, don’t blame me for not being able to do your job right. It’s not my job to make sure I don’t hurt anyone else’s agenda in the process of feeding me and my brother. What the hell do you think I do for a living?” she shoots back at him. He shakes his head at her with a glare.

“It’s exactly that I know what you do that I don’t trust you. You’re a con artist. I don’t know what you could do to us, but I know what we have to offer. Any idiot who’s greedy enough will try to take it and I know you’re that greedy idiot. I won’t let you do that. You are not going to break Bangtan, do you hear me? And I will not be ordered around by you. You are not the authority over me. Stay away from me.”

She raises her eyebrows at him. This is his real concern; not the fact that she’s messed up his plans on several occasions, even if she had no knowledge of it. His real concern is that she would mess up the actual organization.

This guy is delusional! She barely acknowledged their name before they approached her, let alone come up with some hidden agenda in the span of two days. She has the ability to do so, but Hoseok wants to finish the mission and be done with it. As much as she enjoys being a con artist, she knows he’s right and she’s willing to finish this and be rid of Bangtan forever.

“Look, I don’t want to cause trouble. If I did, I’m sure you or Bangtan would have no problem getting rid of me or my brother. But here I am and here you are. If we both want to not have to see each other again, we need to be efficient and cooperate so the job is done as soon as possible. I’ll do my best to not order you around, but remember, we’re here only for a job. It’s your bosses’ request, so at least respect that and try to work with me. Just a little while. Just three and a half months, if that.”

Normally, it’s probably not a good idea to stare at the mafia straight in the eye, in case they take it as some sort of defiance or challenge, but she usually does so people would trust her through eye contact.

He just looks at her for several moments before turning his heel, “We’re going down to my warehouse.”

She lets out a silent breath and follows him. His steps are still fast, but at least he doesn’t pick up the pace when she catches up to him.

Underground is his warehouse. Men in black walk around carrying large wooden cases. Jungkook has one of them crank open the case and takes out a firearm. Minsuk quietly observes him with his men surrounding him as he checks through the product.  She looks at other open cases. Grenades, hand guns, rifles, shot guns, machine guns, anything with fire power really. He gives a head nod to them and puts it back in the case, having his men take it away.

“Who do you sell these to?” She asks. She sees Jungkook’s shoulders rise and fall from his heavy breathing.

“Overseas organizations, overseas mafia, and individual consumers.” He answers quickly. She looks around the warehouse. This place must be over several hundred acres and three stories high worth of weapons in this place. Enough for the whole army and then some.

“I got to go. Thanks!” Minsuk runs up the stairs and Jungkook turns around to see her walk out of the door. 

He clenches his teeth. He takes the firearm in the case, cocks it, and shoots at the door where her head was just moments ago.

A/N: Finally finished this chapter! Yay!

Brownie points to you if you can figure out why I named it Victory ;)

Next Chapter

A Confidence Game 1.5 | BTS Mafia and Con Artist AU

Plot: Hoseok and Minsuk’s parents have died 11 years ago and they have been con artists for 8 years now. The moment Hoseok wants MInsuk to have a chance to start a new life, the Bangtan mafia approaches them to pull one last con.

Words: 3,297 | Drama/angst/violence (at some point. we’re dealing with the mafia and con artists here)

Warnings: (M) mature themes

Character Profiles | Previous Chapter

Part 1: Foundation Work: The preparations, which are made before the scheme is put in motion, including the elaboration of the plan, the employment of assistants, and so forth.

Yoongi and Namjoon settle on the bar chairs and Seokjin goes behind the counter to pour out a couple drinks.

“You know, with the Jung’s reputation, I would have expected a little more concrete plan. Right now, it’s just goals and objectives.” Yoongi looks at Namjoon who looks forward at the folder that holds the plan outline the con artists concocted last night.

“Well, it’s normally how a plan starts. Give them some time, since they have a whole month anyway. Not everyone plans their every breath like you do, Yoongi. I’m already surprised they gave us an outline, bet they never had to do that before since they’ve never had a client.” Seokjin says with his back turned at them.

“I think they’re on a relatively proper pace.” Namjoon stares at the folder that Hoseok slid over to him earlier at the meeting. Minsuk had drawn a cartoonish girl giving a wink and an okay sign on the cover of the folder. Yoongi follows his gaze. Namjoon rarely gives credit to their associates; mostly because he rarely shows his face to majority of them. But it still stands that he rarely gives credit, and he rarely gives slack.

“She’s a con artist.” Yoongi reminds Namjoon. Seokjin turns around at that time to put the drinks down in front of his friends.

“I know.”

“She can’t be trusted.”

“I know.”

“We hired them because they are the best at what they do. That’s it.”

“I know. I found them. I chose them. I watched them. I know exactly what their capabilities are and who they are. I run this. Namjoon snaps.

“You’re usually not the one to do the research. Because of that, it’s messing with your head. You observed them for so long that you’re deluding to establish some sort of connection with them. You are rarely directly involved in any of our business. You’re the boss so you don’t have to. So what are you getting out of this now?” Yoongi presses.

“Because this is big. We’re facing our biggest threat here. You’re right. I’m the boss and I need to know this won’t screw up.” Yoongi stares at him. Does that mean he doesn’t trust Yoongi to get it done? What the hell has he been doing this whole time then?

Yoongi is about to open his mouth again but Seokjin interjects.

“Guys, look. We all know who they are and what they can do. Namjoon, you did the work and you’re prepared, or else you wouldn’t have ordered to use them, we get that. But we’ve met too many deceptive people. We never completely trusted what the files tells us or what our eyes observe, no matter how prepared we are at the start. There are always uncertainties we can’t afford to ignore. It pays to stay skeptical of everyone’s motives at this point. It’s only natural. We don’t trust them, it’s nothing new. Since when have we truly trusted anyone outside of the seven of us?” Seokjin puts his outstretched hands on the bar and leans casually.

“You are married, you know.” Namjoon murmurs.

“Yeah, okay. Fine, eight of us.” Seokjin rolls his eyes and looks at the clock.

“Speaking of my wife, I’ve got dinner. Remember, we don’t ever trust those outside of us. We only trust their professionalism enough to get shit done.” Seokjin grabs his coat and leaves.

Namjoon and Yoongi just sit next to each other in silence, rubbing their glass in their hands.

“She’s lively, that’s all.” Namjoon finally says. Yoongi looks at him.

“It’s rare to see anyone in the underworld with so much spirit.” Yoongi snorts.

“I think she’s just naïve. Her real world is nothing but cartoons, her brother, fiction, and cereal. She doesn’t even watch the news. She’s ignorant of the rest of the world is all. It’s stupidity, not liveliness. Not to mention, she’s reckless. I would have never believed that she was the one who conned well for eight years if it wasn’t for the results. Her brother is the more sensible one but he isn’t helping the situation for her. He is so protective of her. Either way, it’s their skill set that we are interested. Not them. And anyone with that skill set, no matter how ignorant they may be, they aren’t trusted.” Yoongi corrects.

“I don’t remember the last time I felt so blissfully ignorant.” Namjoon mumbles. Blissfully is Namjoon’s keyword, but Yoongi ignores it, even though he feels like he needs to correct it. Ignorance wasn’t bliss to Yoongi. It gets in the way of what is true.

“Good, you wouldn’t want to. You shouldn’t, especially in our line of business.” Yoongi says as he raises his glass to his lips.

“You’re right. I’ve been watching her for so long, so it feels like I know her. I may be a little distracted, but my head is on straight. I know what I’m doing. Our ultimate goal is to get rid of Kang. I won’t think anything else.” Namjoon turns his head slightly to Yoongi but still doesn’t look at him. There is something unsettling with his choice of words again. “Ultimate” goal stuck in Yoongi’s head but he chooses to ignore it again.

“Good. That’s all we want.” Namjoon and Yoongi clinks glasses.

“So I went with Jungkook to his warehouse. He’s the weaponry capo. Apparently he deals with weapons and protection racketeering. What do you think?” Minsuk asks Hoseok the moment she settles down at home again.

He hums in response, “You’re thinking of using weapons as the deal Bangtan will make with Kang.” She smiles. She loves working with her brother because of well they know each other.

“Yeah. Say Bangtan wants to find more opportunities to make money and make use of their assets -”

“- and then strike the deal with Kang, since he knows people in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.” Hoseok finishes off for her.

“Exactly.”

“Let me do a little research on the current suppliers and the procedures.” Hoseok already starts typing away to do his research. Minsuk plops on the other side of the couch as she watches her brother.

“I’m thinking of doing some modeling for Mark Kang. You know, to get to know him. In his photography class that he’s taking this semester, the past few syllabuses say that he needs to create a portfolio by the end of the term. I want to be one of his subjects and I think that way, I can spend some time with him.”

“What happens after the job ends?” She shrugs at him.

“Probably won’t bump into him anymore. The school’s pretty big. And besides, I don’t really think he’ll pay attention to one of his models after what he’s gonna have to go through.”

“If you’re the one who lures him into it, he will. If he connects the dots…”

“Come on, I’m going to have to get in touch with him at some point. We knew that the moment I chose to choose him as my mark, it was because he goes to the school. I have no time to run around Seoul for another contact of Kang’s without any authentic reason. I’m new to Seoul and I want to earn a little extra money and if being taken photos by photography majors can help with that, then little ol’ me is all up for it. It’s why I came into college two years later than all other freshman, because I’ve had to slave to save tuition.”

Hoseok shakes his head as she threads her story together so naturally. Something she learned in this line of work is to create a story; interesting enough to get people hooked, but not so overelaborate that she’s memorable. Blending in while standing out is quite the feat. Only difference this time, she’s incorporating her real life into it. It’s dangerous because one, she can get her personal life involved, and two, she might become overinvolved with the job.

The sooner this is over, the better.

“I looked through the previous syllabus for photography majors in the class that Mark is taking. Every semester, the photography class needs to create a portfolio of only the things they’ve worked on this year. Minsuk will be his subject. That’s a perfect situation for her to be in, seeing how she’ll be a part of the university anyway.” Her brother says and he shifts his attention to her in the corner of his eye. It took her a little persuading him because he’s concerned it’s going to mess up her education/real life. She had to convince him it was the easiest and simplest way to find someone to corrupt. Any other situation would have taken more effort and they wanted to finish this job fast.

“When we con, we’re exploiting people’s vulnerabilities. We figure out their desires and we give it to them on a silver platter to the point that they rely on us for its availability. In this particular case, we need to figure out what Mark’s vulnerability point is and then find a way to hand off his reliance to you.” She explains her part of the con.

“We found out a little something about our military. Did you know that the Trigrams mafia is one of the domestic military weapon suppliers for the Republic of Korea Army? I’m sure you know that the Trigrams has four branches, each branch signifies as one of the trigrams on our flag. The supplier is the Heaven Branch.” As evidence, Hoseok slides a photograph of the butt of one of the military’s assault rifle. There was a small insignia of three unbroken bars as the Heaven trigram.

“We believe that there is a mole or undercover mafia in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, specifically within the Republic of Korea Army, what we know as ROK Army. Only the ROK Army has this insignia on their military equipment. Kang has connections with the Ministry of Interior. If we give him clues to help figure out there is corruption involved with the suppliers and help uncover the mystery, and then we can effectively take the person out as well as gain Kang some attention. When we do, there is a reason for you, the mafia with strong weapons, to swoop in and take over as the new supplier. Mind you, there are holes and concerns. If it is simply a mole, he is much easier to deal with. If he is an undercover mafia, we are directly in contact with another mafia. Either way, we are going to go against the Trigrams, but if the person is undercover, direct contact is much more dangerous to handle.”

“Wouldn’t it be stupid for Kang to uncover the Trigram’s involvement and then find another mafia to take their place?” Namjoon asks with knitted eyebrows.

“That’s the thing. This hole in our plan is actually a decoy. You see, all he needs to know is that his son is in trouble with the wrong people, the deed is done and the hands are dirty. He needs to scrub them clean for his son, and that’s when you offer the deal in exchange for his son. He’ll know your deal is stupid, and he won’t take it. The moment he makes contact with you guys, he’s black, all you have to do is claim proof of his involvement and he’s done for. But I mean if he does agree with you, there’s no loss on your half. Your fake proof will become real evidence. But I highly doubt he’ll agree.” Hoseok explains all in three breaths. No one claims objection to it so Hoseok goes on with the plan.

“By being on Kang’s side, I’ll be able to look into the conspiracy and slowly hand the information to Kang.”

“What do you need from us, other than that last bit of the plan?” Yoongi asks.

“Your men.” Minsuk looks at the three other guys in the room, other than the Administration and points to them, “I need Jimin and Taehyung to come with me to the university. I need the both of you with me to figure out his weakness. Jungkook is your military capo so he will be the one making the deal with Kang. He can stay low until then.” Jungkook looks away from her but glances at Yoongi. Yoongi nods and Jungkook looks down in acknowledgment. Jimin and Taehyung both give Minsuk a curt nod.

“Who will be watching you then? We need someone to keep tabs on you too.” Yoongi says to Hoseok. Everyone is silent, looking around. The Administration won’t get involved and the current capos are now occupied under Minsuk’s authority.

“This person could assist you in keeping watch over Kang. Maybe his assistant or something?” Minsuk suggests to Hoseok.

“Not his personal assistant. That person would have no business in contacting me. If I’m going to be a part of his political campaign, so will that person. We can find someone to take a role in the campaign.” Hoseok discusses.

“We’ll look through our men and see who can take up the task. Are there any criteria to fulfill?”

“They’re getting involved into grifting and politics, so someone who can bullshit is pretty crucial. Detailed oriented and reliable. Any background in politics would be helpful, but not necessary. We don’t go in each role with one hundred percent related skill set. But if no one has ever been a grifter, to have some knowledge is better than none in order to bluff your way through.” Hoseok advises.

“No.” Seokjin crosses his arms and stares down at the shorter man. After the meeting with the con artists, the mafia goes off to do their jobs and hunt for another capo or soldiers they can find. Yoongi, however just follows Seokjin home and here they are, standing in the middle of Seokjin’s living room.

“But she can do this. She was a political science major and you know she’s a capable person. She’ll help.” Yoongi tries to convince Seokjin but it seems like Seokjin is pretty firm.

“This isn’t any of her business. We don’t family involved. I’m not getting my family involved in this.” Seokjin says firmly.

“Get me involved into what?” They both turn to see Seokjin’s wife return home.

“You cornered me home so she would find out.” Seokjin whips his head to Yoongi and glares at him.

“Maybe.” Yoongi shrugs. He looks at Sangmi. She is a beautiful woman who is the same age as him. She and Seokjin met in her last year of college and they got married three and a half years ago.

“You know, I haven’t really got in touch with much politics since I married Seokjin.” Sangmi starts after hearing the whole story.

“But you still keep up with the news; you know what’s currently going on. They say the actual skill isn’t required, just preferred if you’ve never had any grifting experience. We don’t need you to grift on Politician Kang as much as keep an eye on the con man. As long as you can stay by Kang’s side, that’s all we need from you. Our men’s eyes are far too intense to pass as a simple political campaign team member. If you keep under the radar, you can be forgettable after the job ends.” Yoongi tries to convince both Seokjin and Sangmi after they all sit down.

“Sounds easy enough. You say this will help you guys? I’m more than willing to help. I can see why none of your soldiers would want to do something as tedious as babysit a con man.” Sangmi chuckles and looks over at Seokjin’s set jaw.

Yoongi sees Sangmi is okay with it, now it’s just Seokjin.

“We don’t get family involved.”

“Technically, we’ve never established that, seeing how the only family we have outside of us is Namjoon’s family who started this and Sangmi. It is preferred, but really, she’d be great at the job.” Yoongi argues.

“Not saying that getting married to you isn’t the best thing in my life, but before getting married, I was focused on the wedding. Now, I’ve focused on doing some remodeling in this house. I can hand it off to the architect and get myself out of the house a little bit. It’s only a month or two, right? You guys don’t have to make contact automatically.” Sangmi helps Yoongi’s argument.

“The other grifter doesn’t have to make contact yet, but the one you need to watch will integrate himself onto Kang’s team as soon as possible to get as much time to plan and dig.”

“So one extra month, three months. That’s still not too bad. It’s a lot of quiet supervision and reporting to you right? I’ll be fine. Kang would barely know I’m there. I know how to be quiet as a mouse too.” Sangmi rubs Seokjin’s arm lightly, soothing him into agreeing.

“Seokjin, come on. I’ve never let you down before. This is a simple task and it doesn’t get her hands dirty. We’ll make sure Hoseok won’t have her do anything like that.” Yoongi promises.

“Okay. It better be as simple and small as you say. I don’t want Kang to notice her. And don’t get chummy with the grifter either. We don’t tell them anything about Bangtan other than what’s necessary for the job. Anything else is crossing the line, got it?” Seokjin pats Sangmi’s hand on his arm. Sangmi nods in understanding.

Sangmi smiles at both of them.

“So, when do I start?”

The next morning, Sangmi is introduced to Hoseok.

“Alright, now it’s the matter of finding a spot in his campaign to fill.” Hoseok announces.

“We’ve got that covered. We’ve recently got in touch with their volunteer coordinator. She just quit.” MInsuk and Hoseok instantly narrow their eyes and Minsuk stands up.

“Did you guys make her quit? What happened to her? Did you guys kill her? This isn’t part of the plan; we don’t kill anyone, ever!”

“We do.” Jimin points out.

“We are not going through with this if this is how we get the job done. I’m not going to agree to this.” Minsuk crosses her arms.

“Relax. She’s not dead. We just gave her a good reason to retire. She’s safe, off the radar, living normally. No threats were involved.” Taehyung rolls his eyes at Minsuk. Her eyes stay narrow though.

“First of all, she’s a regular civilian with no bad background; there was no reason for us to harm her so we doesn’t, alright? Second of all, you’re currently doing a job for us. Other than your contract terms, you have to live with what we choose to do on our end. Your contract says you two aren’t getting involved with murder, so you’re not. And if she was murdered, the fact is you’re not involved. Neither is Sangmi, she’s just another innocent applicant after the volunteer coordinator retired and neither of you are a part of that either. Third of all, you are in no authority to give us ultimatums with that attitude. So, chill; sit down.”

After a few awkward silences, Minsuk settles back into her seat.

“Sangmi, I’m sending you in first. Since they just lost someone, they’re quicker to replace that person than any other positions. Do you need help to guide you through the interview?” Hoseok asks, breaking up the tension and focusing back into the meeting.

“No, I’m pretty sure I know how to get through a job interview.” Sangmi smiles politely. Hoseok gives a curt nod. He files in her application to the system and in two days, Sangmi is called in.

A/N: Hey, it’s been a while, but here I am. Giving in the next chapter, hurray! Enjoy.