N0 B0DY, N0 CRIM3 | Bang Chan

Crescendo

At eight o'clock in the morning, the nearest cafe to their house was already booming with business. Behind the counter, three baristas worked their asses off steaming milk, switching coffee beans, blending, and mixing different drinks. The strong smell of coffee and sweet pastries filled the air. 

Chan and Hyunjin had gotten through the line quickly. Hyunjin followed Chan quietly with an iced americano in one hand and a croissant in another. Chan led him through the brightly lit cafe and towards the back table. Hyunjin slid into one side while Chan moved into the other. 

The first tendrils of the morning sun shone through the front windows. It was nice to have sun for once. Since it was January, winter had been unforgiving for the most part. Bitter cold air with occasional snowfall. Chicago's roads had been covered with a gray slush the past few days. Hopefully, the temperature would be warmer today and cause the slush to melt away completely. 

"What do you want to talk about?" Hyunjin slid his still warm croissant out of the small bag that it had been placed in. He put it on top of the plastic and began tearing a small piece off of it. "Why did you pick here? We could have talked back at the Bella-Nova."

"This is your favorite cafe. Besides, with us being in the presence of the public, you can't freak out here." 

Hyunjin's arm froze with the piece of croissant halfway to his mouth. "Why would I freak out?" His eyes instantly narrowed at Chan. "What the fuck are you planning now?" 

Chan let out a chuckle and gripped the warm disposable coffee cup before him. He had gotten a plain black coffee without sugar or creamer. He took a sip of it and glanced back at Hyunjin. "I need you to do this for the sake of our group." 

"You're starting to freak me the fuck out. What is it? What do you want me to do?" 

"I need you to text Kiera Campbell from a burner phone." 

"What?" He shrieked. 

Chan shot him a glare as the volume around them went silent. Baristas and customers alike glanced over to where the noise came from. Hyunjin's cheeks turned a soft pink. The noise from around them started up again. 

His voice came out quieter this time, "why? How could that possibly help us?" 

Chan's voice dropped too. His voice came out like venom. "Because if the president truly cares about his family, he'll have no issue doing whatever it takes to get his daughter back." 

Hyunjin's eyes widened, "we're going to kidnap her?" 

Chan nodded. 

"I don't understand why you need me for this. Why can't you get Changbin to talk to her or something? Even Han would be good at this." 

"The white house is surrounded by guard dogs and armed guards. There is no way we'll be able to successfully get inside to kidnap her. We don't have eyes on her car and even if we did, she's now being chartered around by the secret service. She's the president's daughter. There is no way she's able to go outside without supervision. 

"Again, what does that have to do with me?" He placed the piece of croissant in his mouth. 

"You're Hwang Hyunjin. Your parents are two well-known celebrities and you're well-known in the art world. She's attending an online college to study art, don't you remember?" 

"Yes, but I don't understand how this plays a role in it." 

"You're going to seduce her." 

Instantly choking and coughing on his spit, he quickly took a sip of his bitter iced drink. After a few swallows, he shook his head. "You've got to be kidding me! How do you expect me to do that?" 

"You spend your days painting and reading poetry. Half those books on your bookcases at the Bella-Nova are romance novels. If we can't go get her, you're going to have to coax her out. She'll have to sneak out to meet you and when she does...well...." Chan shrugged and trailed off. 

"Why did we have to be in public to talk about this? Aren't you afraid someone is going to hear?" 

"Who?" Chan gestured around. 

The coffee shop was quite large. Multiple small tables held a few chairs that circled around them. The baristas were over on the other side of the room. There were a few people scattered around, but none of them were towards the back of the cafe besides Chan and Hyunjin. 

"Fine. When do you want me to do that?" 

"As soon as Seungmin finds her phone number." 

"And how soon is that?" 

Chan shrugged and took another sip of his coffee. He slid his cell phone out of his back pocket and swiped up on the screen. As he went to message Seungmin, a new message from Felix popped up. Chan's eyes scanned across it and he quickly stood up. 

"What? What's going on?" 

"Come on, we've got to head back home."

"But wha-" 

"Hurry up!" Chan snapped. 

Hyunjin grabbed his coffee in one hand and croissant in the other. He quickly stood up and, in the process, he stumbled. He successfully managed to keep a grip on his coffee, but the croissant flew out of his hand, and hit the floor. His face instantly fell as he looked at the overturned pastry. "My croissant..."  

"You can get a new one later, let's go." 

Hyunjin sighed and picked up the pastry. As he followed Chan towards the door, he threw it into the trash can. "Whatever this is, it better be important." 

"Oh believe me, you're not going to want to miss this."