Clique (txtXitzy)

13. Day 23

"Yeah, I know."

"They're beginning to connect the dots that we still see them as enemies and we absolutely don't plan on being nice or going easy during the cup," Taehyun stated as they all sat on the wooden floor of Soobin's dorm room, discussing some important matters.

"Yeah, I know," Soobin yawned, reciting the same words again.

"But what on Earth could we possibly do to look dependable without unknowingly driving them right to the key of our defeat?" Kai groaned, burying his stressed face into his giant panda plush toy.

"Well, lead them to think of us differently from before," Beomgyu suggested, "Like, let them get lost in their own assumptions by telling them some stuff."

"Soobin-hyung is getting pretty close to Ryujin," Taehyun reminded them, "She looked like she always wanted to be since last year, since Soobin's MC program in their Not Shy OST era, since our Platform 9 3/4 OST era, she was always interested in us. And him."

"When you count the Platform 9 3/4 era and during our matches at MAMA*, the entire maknae line looked so obvious," Yeonjun laughed.

*MAMA = Mnet Asia Medal Awards

"But she memorized some of our choreography and showed it on TV once," Soobin's face lit up in memory as his tiredness completely washed away, "She's way more enthusiastic about us than the others, especially the unnie line who always gives us the cold shoulder in award shows. Well, Yeji sometimes smiles at us but Lia is just death."

"Soobin also left an impression on our fans that he's their fan, and Beomgyu had almost told the entire court about our biggest secret if it weren't for me and Kai so why not?" Taehyun smirked.

"Why not what? Which secret? Mwol?" 

"Hyung, this is gonna be risky but tell her you're dating Arin."

"W-what?"

"Wow, that's great! Use that reaction when she asks if you really are dating her. Like make sure she finds out by accident that you have to deny it at first," Yeonjun added, clapping his hands, "That's a good idea, Taehyun-ah."

"Then you pour some tea for her and make up some half-truths. Like one truth would be that you're dating Arin. It is essential that you tell her one dangerous truth so that she believes the rest of the half-truths which she'll believe to be hard to swallow facts as well. In the same time, you have to make those half-truths connect with the previous dots but lead it the opposite direction from where we actually are leaving the crumbs," Beomgyu finished the paragraph of their theoretical method with a proud smile.

"How? Is that necessary? Can't we use any other secret? Why, of all things, does it have to be Arin?" Soobin raised his voice a bit so that he wouldn't continuously get interrupted by his genius members who always had something to say.

"It is a must, plus what could go wrong? They totally won't walk up to a sasaeng fan or the press and say 'Soobin is dating Arin' right? She won't have proof even she wanted to," Taehyun approved.

"That doesn't matter. The girls are smart too. If we arrange Soobin and Ryujin to meet up for something casual, like a dance practice together, Ryujin will tell her members behind your back, which is what we're aiming for her to do. The members will tell her to voice record the entire meeting for any information because they've picked up some hints and would be desperate for more of what we're up to. They would all have to keep silent or else they would lose our supposed 'trust' and they'll be threatened with not receiving any more secrets from Soobin. That is why, Soobin, you need to talk loudly and clearly, make sure no music is playing in the background when you talk, and you should do your share of recording too so that we know how it went," Yeonjun warned with a finger on his chin, thinking hard.

"How do you know she'll do that? The spying and reporting stuff?"

"That's what Got7 and BTS did to each other back in the day with Yugyeom and Jungkook's friendship. If you do well, you'll be like Jungkook-sunbae and defeat the opponent by doing the right sabotaging. Surely you should know the history of BigHit's strategies. Surely Yeji or Lia would know JYP's strategy timeline and learn from their seniors. It's all up to your meeting with her, whether you become the Jungkook or the Yugyeom of the game."