milk tea

03:40

"Why don't you two fight each other and leave me out of it so that I can shower?" annoyed, Serene left the room that contained tense air. Taking quicker steps, she hoped to arrive before Jaemin or anyone else pops up again.

"Serene!"

Convincing herself to not look back, she continued to walk straight to the shared bedroom. Her plan to escape without drawing his attention failed without a doubt.

"Hey, I was calling you," with a disappointed face being shown, Jaemin sighed and stood in front of her. "Do you really hate seeing me?"

"I don't hate seeing you, I'm just a busy person," she found an excuse that was not really an excuse in the end. "Also, I have no time for your mission for love or something. I have better things to do, like taking a shower."

"Then I'll join you."

"Stop joking around, Jaemin," tired of the multiple attempts to grab her attention, Serene was nearing her anger explosion. "What good does that even bring?"

"A lot, actually," a grin appeared on the boy's face. Excitement flowed through his veins as he felt the attention of the girl focusing on him exclusively. "Exhibit A, we'll be conserving water. Exhibit B, it'll bring us closer. Exhibit C, it's fun. Lastly, Exhibit D, it might make you fall for me."

"The only point you have is your Exhibit A," Serene clarified and held out her hand to stop the boy from following. "I don't have much time so give me a break, Jaemin."

"Then let's go out tomorrow. Make some time for me," Jaemin offered with sincere eyes looking at her. "I'll stop annoying you. Just give me a day that I can spend with you and only you."

"Fine, don't disturb me after that, okay?"

"Promise."

"Now, let me be," the girl said before leaving him behind.

As much as she wanted to spend time with him as thanks for giving her blood, she had too much to do. Proving her worth to Taeyong, solving her past, and boosting her rank. No matter how much she thought about it, it would take at least three months to solve everything.

"I can do it," she muttered to herself.

🧋

"Oh? Serene," Jeno uttered as his gaze was fixed on her. He pointed at her while the other boys in the room turned their heads. "Right, you want to join? I heard it from Shotaro."

"Yeah, I have to prove myself in two weeks."

"That'll be tough," Johnny said and took out another chair for the girl to sit at the table. "Sit down first, I'll summarize everything that we've been discussing. I'll let you partake in our mission. Hopefully, it will help you."

"I appreciate it, Johnny," the words came out easily as she sat down on the chair that he had prepared for her. "Is there anything you need help with? I'll do my best."

"We've been discussing our enemies' bases. We plan to send some of our members to infiltrate because they plan on attacking our base soon. It's top-secret, so don't tell this to any of the members just yet," Kun explained the situation at hand. It was evident in their faces that they had been staying up all day and night trying to plan a tactic. "They plan on attacking because of the recent mission that Taeyong and the top three went on. One of the people they killed was a client of theirs."

"Who is the client? It seems like it's one of their most valuable clients if they're going that far to attack our base," the thoughts of Serene were presented to everyone who sat at the table.

"It is," Kun confirmed and massaged his temples. His dark circles were more prominent than before. "Now that he's dead, their income is slowly decreasing. That's why they want to take revenge."

"Then why not negotiate?"

Everyone who sat at the table was stunned by the bold suggestion of Serene. She could tell that they weren't confident in that category. Opportunely, she was a born negotiator.

"It's a risky move, but possible," Chenle commented. He then leaned back against the back of his chair. "But what would we negotiate with?"

"Since their client passed away, they lost a long-term investment from them. As Kun said, they want revenge and money. All we have to do is negotiate with them by testing them," Serene expressed her opinion. Everyone stared silently, not comprehending. "Negotiate with our lives. It's definitely risky, but it's better than attacking the base."

"By that, what do you mean?" Doyoung asked. He appeared disquieted with the negotiation that Serene presented.

"We'll introduce them to a new client that is as good as their old one. Of course, I would need Haechan's help to settle those things. They'll have suspicions, but they will most probably send some of their people," Serene delineated the plan in her mind. "It'll definitely decrease their people. If ever they have another team ready to attack, they won't be as strong compared to all of them. Also, is there an estimated number of members?"

"They are 12 in total, but one of their men retired due to a personal concern. Despite having an advantage by number, they are highly skilled. They are known for their long-distance shots," Mark accumulated all the information he had on them. "Half are close-range, the others are long-distance. We recently found out that they lack technology that we have the upper hand with. The gang's name is The Boyz. Not an easy opponent physically."

"I have an idea, but I need Ten and Haechan's help to make it work. If they're not good with technology, we can use it to our advantage. For sure, they'll leave one person at their base to be in charge of monitoring surveillance cameras. We can hack the cameras to show previous footage but make them appear like it is happening in the present," Serene suggested, having confidence in her idea. "We should send four people to the meeting place if ever they accept our negotiation. Three will approach them with the fake client while the other will be a sniper."

"It's possible," Johnny had a proud smile on his face. "If you have time later, Serene, come with me to report your idea to Taeyong. If he approves, you should start preparing."

"I will, but not tomorrow," she added.

Everyone raised an eyebrow at her except for Jeno. They knew how much she overworked herself that it seemed off that she wouldn't start immediately after the plan would be confirmed.

"Why not tomorrow?" Doyoung asked.

"She has a date with the Na Jaemin for the entire day."

[ a/n: i love how i make notes for every chapter but end up not following what i wanted to write. i managed to finish this before 12am so good night to everyone 😭 ]