✓ | Criminal: The First Piece

Chapter 02 : The Base

Taehyung runs into a basement in hurry. Once he enters the basement, Hoseok hugs him in a headlock, "Here's the vandal! I caught him!" Hoseok shouts to other members, dragging Taehyung into the center of the basement.

"Where were you going, Taehyung? You know we have to do a dance practice, right?" Namjoon asks him.

Taehyung pulls himself from Hoseok, "I was visiting The Little Mermaid..."

"Woah, you brought coffee for us?" Seokjin asks him, a little bit excited.

"I'm sorry, hyung." Taehyung grins at Seokjin, showing his white teeth.

Jungkook stands up, walking to the center of the room, "Let's continue the practice since Taehyung is in here. We can't waste any single time." Jungkook says seriously, removing his jacket. The others start to gather at the center of the room too, taking their position for the choreography.

Taehyung walks to the audio set, turning on the music and he runs back to the group. They start to dance to the choreography that Jungkook created yesterday. They do the practice really hard and they take it seriously, because the battle tomorrow is an important battle for them.

Namjoon, Yoongi, Hoseok, Seokjin, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook are the members of The Base – a large dance competition and they've been winning on the last battles lately. And it makes their group's name – BTS rises as the best boy group recently. They gain money from the this competition because many people put the bet on them to win.

Beside a part of the dance group, they're just normal people who has a daily job. Namjoon is a worker in the gas station. Yoongi is a delivery boy in the morning, milk, juice, newspaper, he delivers all of it. Hoseok is a waiter in a restaurant, just like Chaeyoung. Seokjin is also a waiter in a restaurant too. Jimin is a dishwasher in the same restaurant as Seokjin's. Meanwhile, both Taehyung and Jungkook are shopkeepers in the same store.

They're becoming richer with dancing. So that's why they put so much effort in this. They stop as the music is coming to end. They do their last pose as the music stops. Seokjin is the first one who leaves the position for a drink. "We did great." Yoongi claps his hands, joining Seokjin. Jimin nods his head, taking a towel and he wipes his sweats, "But we need to practice the part when Taehyung leads the dance. It's still messy for me."

"Yeah, yeah... Later." Hoseok drinks his water.

Taehyung takes a seat beside Jungkook. He gives Jungkook a drink, "Thanks." Jungkook thanks him, drinking it right away. Taehyung just gives him a small smile. Namjoon joins them, sitting while stretching himself.

"I'm so tired."

Taehyung glances at Jungkook, then he looks back at Namjoon, "I can tell that."

"But we must do this seriously, hyung." Jungkook says.

Namjoon nods his head, "I know it, of course."

Jungkook stands up, "Come on, let's waste no time."

"The battle is still tomorrow." Seokjin groans at Jungkook.

Jungkook rolls his eyes, "We must practice now or else we're gonna lose the money."

"So, money is more important than your hyung's stamina?" Seokjin snickers but he stands up.

Jungkook gives Seokjin a grin, "You could say like that."

---

Chaeyoung cleans the table diligently, not noticing her friend – Jihyo behind her. Chaeyoung picks up an empty glass from the table as she turns around. Chaeyoung gasps in shock as she sees Jihyo behind her. "Jihyo-ah, don't scare me like that..." her hands hold her chest automatically.