Code V | BTS

12.

Preoccupied, their gazes never left the room across from them, which—despite the approaching auction time—remained unoccupied.

Suddenly, Clarity's phone buzzed from her chest pocket, ending her trail of thoughts. She swiped right on the screen and held the device to her ear.

"Hello?"

"There's a problem." The graveness of Yoongi's voice delivered itself through the line. "We were ambushed on our way to the Auction by Senyu's men, and Seokjin's injured. We're not going to make it in time."

At his news, Clarity's heart dropped to her stomach as a wave of panic stirred up within her.

In the original story, Seokjin was the spotlight of the Auction; having remained an audience for the majority of the event, it wasn't until the highlight display of the first human product—Y/N—that he stole the show tenaciously, buying her freedom without hesitation at an incredibly high price. Clarity grimaced in regret as Yinn's despairing eyes flashed back into her mind.

She was depending on Jin to save the day, but with the unwritten ambush, the plot had gone haywire before it even started.

After taking swift glimpses around her to ensure no one was listening in, she leaned closer into the speaker. "Jin's hurt? Is he okay? So what's going to happen now, do we retreat?"

Despite her bombardment of questions, there was a few seconds of silence on the line, and her restlessness intensified.

"Jin's fine, and the plan goes on," Yoongi spoke again, this time with a firm determination. "We're going to try to get there as soon as possible, but meanwhile, you have to try to get us as much time as possible."

"Wait...Me?"

"Yes, Miss Secretary."

Before she could make up an excuse, Jimin interrupted from across the phone. "Miss Secretary! I deposited a couple hundred million into your company-issued credit card, so use it to your liking to buy us time until we get here. We're counting on you!"

"Hundred million?!" Clarity choked on air as she tried to form a mental image of that unrealistic number.

How many zeros did it have again?

As she was about to hurriedly deny their request instinctively, the words faded as she came to a sudden realization:

This was her first red flag.

It all made sense now. In the book, the initial blunder that caused everything to go wrong was her choice to kill Y/N instead of bringing her to Seokjin. That being said, if she decided to protest against their request, it'll only put her at a hostile position—which was everything that she didn't want to do.

On the other hand, with this "few" hundred millions in her hand, she could be the one saving the female protagonist from the hands of evil, uniting the couple of the story, Seokjin and Yinn. This was like a game mission; as she conducted a good deed to push forward the plot, she would be rewarded with a higher amity level while also surmounting her first death flag. Not to mention, she would also get the chance to experience being the holder of absolute monetary power.

Now that she thought of it, wasn't this was actually a surprisingly good trade off?

"Miss Secretary? Are you listening?" Hoseok's worried voice echoed through the phone.

"Some hundred millions, right?" Despite the nervous drop of sweat trailing down her temple, she mustered a crooked grin. "Mission received."

Fixing her tie, Clarity took a deep breath as she dropped the phone by her side. She took a step towards the left balcony.

Then another.

And another.

The spectators from the bottom watched as she made her up to the balcony room. When she reached the entrance, she was stopped by two security guards, who asked her to identify herself.

"Clarity Moon," she announced, voice unwavering as she showed them her Bangtan Co. identification. "CEO Kim Seokjin will be late due to unforeseen circumstances. In the meanwhile, I will be attending the auction on his behalf."

At her statement, the two men stepped back, and Clarity stepped onto the thick, luxurious carpet that sunk beneath her feet. Glancing at the hundreds of people below her, Clarity gulped as she reminded herself of Taehyung's words.

Have confidence.

He was right.

"You want me to fall for my death flag?" She scoffed, as if speaking to the unknown system that governed the fanfiction. "Try me."

As of now, she stood there not as the Secretary, nor as a character designed by the story.

She stood as Clarity Moon, the one who was going survive, and get this hell-of-a-plot-line back on its track.

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i was just looking at the BE concept photo and oh my god i am so excited for their comeback
bangtan rlly is my source of inspiration and what keeps me waking up every morning TT

until next time,
lori ✿