The next day...
Elena's POV
"What exactly happened last night when you talked to Jin?" Jungkook asks Taehyung who's sitting across him on his desk chair. We're currently in Jungkook' bedroom in the mansion and I'm nervously tugging at my sweater sleeves.
It's fucking ridiculous how happy and euphoric I was, with my head swimming in the clouds one moment, only to be bombarded with news that it might actually be taken away from me the next day.
Just when I thought I could sleep in peace for the first time this year, Taehyung calls us the second my head hits the pillow to tell us that he actually got the wrong device yesterday. All our efforts were in vain because all the information and the cctv footage related to the women who work under him at the nightclubs are all stored at a separate computer at his office in the Golden Closet. My back is leaned against the wall and my gaze is focused on the view outside of the window that faces the pool house and there's nothing I want to do or say regarding the situation because I'm just tired.
"I went for a walk and Namjoon called to inform me that Jin was having an outburst." Taehyung starts saying. "So I quickly drive back to the penthouse and when I reach Jin's office all of his stuff on his desk and some books from his shelves are scattered all around the room. He even smashed his own laptop on the floor, because he was pissed."
"Was he suspicious of you?" Jungkook inquires and Taehyung shakes his head.
"At first he was just angry because he lost months of important work, designs and blueprints for a new hotel he's planning on building, but then we talked a little and from what I've gathered he knows when the laptop disappeared."
"Yesterday morning."
Taehyung shakes his head once more and crosses his arms. "Actually, I didn't steal it in the morning. Jin was having a party the night before so I seized the opportunity to sneak into his office only to eavesdrop on his conversation with Daniel."
"That rat bastard was there that night?" Jungkook balls his fists.
"Don't worry, he covered for us." Taehyung says quickly then proceeds explaining what happened. "Anyway, I couldn't just bust into the room and snatch the device from his desk so I had to improvise."
"What did you do?"
"Long story short, I managed to distract him by sending another girl upstairs to lure him out of his office and I stole the laptop."
"Basically he thinks that one of your guests stole his laptop."
"Not quite." Taehyung says lowly. "He blamed me and Namjoon because he thought we were trying to fuck with him, but I convinced him otherwise." He then turns to me and I shift uncomfortably on the wall. "Are you okay?"
Smiling thinly I nod at him. "I'm fine."
Jungkook lifts himself off the bed and comes over to me. His hands find mine and he raises them to his lips, planting gentle kisses on my knuckles. "We're going to fix this Elena."
At this point I sigh hopelessly. "How?"
"We'll come up with a new plan." He says firmly before glancing over at Taehyung. "Right Tae?"
"And what can you possibly do you guys?" I ask. "All we know is that Jin has the cctv footage in his office at the Golden Closet. Lets assume for arguement' sake that we miraculously enter his office. What do we do then? We steal his hard disk?" My pitch is getting higher and higher as I speak, but I'm at the verge of tears. "For all we fucking know he could have another computer at another bar or he could have dozens of copies saved aside! Seokjin is a smart man; there's no way in hell he doesn't have copies. He could even save that shit on the cloud just in case. I was so stupid to believe that we could actually win!" I can feel something liquid slide down the curve of my cheek and I immediately wipe it away. My cheeks heat up and my ears are burning from embarrassment. I hate crying in general, but it's worse now that Taehyung is here. "It's impossible because we don't know anything."
"We are certain about one thing." He intervenes. "Daniel said that Jin is going to send someone today if you don't cooperate."
"Yeah," I groan. "There's no point in doing that because I have no other choice than to go there on my own." Jungkook's grip on my hands tightens.
"Exactly." He says wide eyed. A slight grin appears on his face and I just stare at my boyfriend and his best friend in confusion.
"What are you trying to say?"
Taehyung gets up from the chair and paces closer to us. "It's pretty simple Elena." He starts. "We're going to keep in touch with him and ask him when he's planning to send the guy."
I look at him carefully because I still can't get the point. "I'm still confused."
Jungkook chuckles lightly. "We're going to play his game better than he does."
"You're going to the Empire tonight Elena." Taehyung says. "But first you're going to have to call Seokjin; I suppose you have his number right?" When I nod, he proceeds, "Don't worry you won't be alone there. But since there are security cameras everywhere in the hallways, Jungkook can't just book a room and call you in because that will arouse suspicion. Daniel already told Jin that you two are close so he will see right through our plan if Jungkook books a room and calls you in."
My eyes widen at what he just initiated. "Are you actually telling me to let one of your customers fuck me in one of those rooms?"
"Jesus fuck-" Jungkook groans. "No."
"Of course not, because the person who will call you in won't want to fuck you." Taehyung returns. Bewildered, I gawk at him and let him continue. "There's one person in our group that Jin has never actually seen. He has already seen Jungkook, Jimin and I on the footage he has on you at the Golden Closet, but he has never seen Yoongi because well... he has no business at a strip club. So your beloved friend is going to book a room at the Empire and call you in pretending that he's a regular customer. That will buy us some time to break into the Golden Closet's office."
"That...sounds like a decent plan actually." I say shakily. "But I still have my doubts."
"I don't blame you." Taehyung replies swiftly. "Then again, we don't have much of a choice."
"What if we fail again?"
"We won't." Jungkook says, pulling me close to him. "We will definitely get our hands on that footage tonight."
A few moments later, Taehyung texts Daniel my address. The plan is to let him in on everything that is going on and make sure of when Seokjin is planning to send someone after me. Then we arrange to meet Yoongi and Joy at my apartment.
Once we're all there, we settle down and tell them everything starting from the fact that we got the wrong device and in reality we achieved nothing regarding the pressuring situation.
Yoongi is quietly listening to Taehyung who elucidates the plan in great detail while Joy is munching on some sour gummy worms in the armchair in my living room. When she first heard that all our efforts yesterday were in vain, her jaw fell open and the gummy worm fell off her mouth and admittedly enough the sight was pretty hilarious given the critical time. Daniel, on the other hand is quiet, with his arms crossed over his chest, wrapped in his navy blue coat. He listens carefully to Taehyung's analytical explanation while Jungkook glares daggers at him each time he shifts in his position or takes a deep breath.
"You're the only one who can go to the Empire without arousing any kind of suspicion." Taehyung finally concludes. "I really hope you can cooperate."
"Are you kidding?" Yoongi says. "You don't have to ask twice."
"All there's left to do is for me and Jungkook to head over to the Golden Closet and steal his hard disk."
"With all due respect Taehyung, but that's a dumb fucking plan." Yoongi comments. "For one, you have security up your asses so what are you gonna do? Fucking storm inside like a bunch of losers? Secondly, we don't have a clue when this Seokjin dude is going to appear. For all we know, he could be screwing one of your strippers in his office. Thirdly, his computer has a password and if you can't get past that there's no fucking point to go there. And even if you only steal the hard drive there's a chance he has shit stored in the cloud."
"For fucks sake when is this gonna end?" I mutter out loud and just like that all eyes focus on me. Joy looks up at me and caresses my arm.
"There's tons of shit you need to consider before going there otherwise we'll be as reckless as the previous time." Yoongi continues.
"Why didn't you mention any of this yesterday then?" Jungkook inquires.
"Because you seemed so sure and desperate Jeon."
"Anyway, what are we going to do?" I intervene and Yoongi glares at me.
"You can't do anything, but I have to be there when you guys go the nightclub because apparently I'm the only one who can safely remove the flash drive."
I think to myself. "How about you guys just steal the tower and we figure out the details later? That way Yoongi can still come to the Empire and book a room in which I'll go to without having to worry about selling my soul and my tits."
All three guys stare at me blankly as I wait for a response.
Yoongi glances at my chest. "Your what now?"
I flash him a murderous glare.
"I guess that could work." Taehyung says.
"Okay, so are we one hundred percent positive this time that her boss stores all that shit in that particular computer in that office?" Yoongi asks. "Are we certain that there are no other computers involved, external flash drives, USB sticks-"
"Jin literally said to me yesterday that everything related to the nightclubs and the folders of the people who work under him are all stored in that computer." Taehyung answers with certainty before turning to face Daniel. "What do you have to say about this?"
Daniel blinks continuously while swiftly running his fingers through his sandy blonde hair. "You do know that he doesn't tell me everything right? I'm nothing but a little puppet to him. I only complete the task I'm given without asking any questions."
"I think that translates to...I'm hiding something from you clueless motherfuckers." Jungkook sneers then gets off the sofa. He paces towards Daniel who's currently standing near the TV. "Do I really need to crush your windpipe in order for you to speak?" He says in a sinister tone, but this time he doesn't touch him. The air suddenly grows cold from the dead silence that prevails.
Daniel tries his best to remain neutral, but I can see droplets of sweat pearl on his forehead from Jungkook's threat. "Like Taehyung said, the footage is in the strip club." He finally mutters. "He even showed it to me when he assigned me this job." There's a hint of challenge in his voice that causes my anxiety levels to reach sky high.
"You better not be lying or so help me."
Jungkook clenches his fists and tries his best to keep his shit together when Yoongi continues the conversation, "We need to figure out a way to break inside the nightclub."
"We need Seokjin's skedule." Jungkook adds.
"It's Sunday and Jin usually goes out for drinks with his colleagues at night." Taehyung says. "However, that's not always a part of his routine."
"Are you close with your brother?" Joy suddenly inquires and Taehyung's gaze focuses on her.
"Right now, we're not on speaking terms."
"How come?"
Taehyung crosses his arms. "I don't see how this has anything to do with what we're saying."
"Oh, I think I know where this is going." I say. "Taehyung, you could distract him."
"I literally just said that we're not on speaking terms now."
"Did something happen yesterday?"I ask him and he crosses his arms defensively. A pout forms on his lips.
"We had an argument last night."
I smile thinly at him. "Are you okay?"
"Dude, even better." Yoongi suddenly throws. "You can ask him to go out for drinks in order to distract him as long as Jungkook fetches the footage."
But Taehyung's eyes darken and he looks down at his black shoes. I can sense that Yoongi's comment must have hit a sensitive nerve. "Shut up, we can't take advantage of his feelings." I get off the couch and head over to where Taehyung is standing. "Tae if you don't want to distract him that's fine."
"He's gotta take one for the team though." Joy states. "We all know how many women are being blackmailed all because he has tons of folders and cctv footages of them over their heads. Daniel's fiance is being blackmailed the exact same way." The blonde man's gaze falls on the floor when she completes her sentence.
At last Taehyung looks at us and nods. "Yeah, she's right." He then turns to me. "I still owe you."
"Tae..."
"Alright, now that that has settled, back to our breaking in plan." Yoongi snaps. "How the hell is Jeon alone going to break into the Golden Closet?"
"You can't do it alone." I say to Jungkook. "Joy could go with you."
"We can't just barge in." Joy says.
"I know."
I excuse myself for a moment and pace to my room to retrieve my laptop then go back into the living room. I press the button to turn on the device and once the screen lights up, I search the Golden Closet and tap on 'maps' so that we get a full view of the building. Placing the laptop on the coffee table I say, "It's a fairly large building. Seokjin's office is on the last floor and as you can see we have like four to five floors, but at least there's a fire escape on the side."
"So, if we park right under it maybe Jungkook can jump inside." Joy says. "Or if we bring the dumpster."
"Fuck no." Jungkook scrunches his nose in disgust.
"It's not that simple though." Taehyung says.
"Ugh, why does everything have to be so fucking complicated?" Yoongi groans. "We get it, Jeon has to ninja his way to the top without breaking his neck, big deal."
Joy laughs at her boyfriend' dramatics when Jungkook plops down next to me on the couch and starts playing with my hair.
"No fucking way he's going up the fire escape." I jump right in. "He's gonna kill himself on his way up. The building is old enough as it is and fire escapes in New York are safety hazards."
"Aw, you're cute when you're worried for my safety." Jungkook grins before kissing my cheek.
"All Jungkook needs to do is remove the stupid hard disk from the computer." Taehyung says.
"Yeah but does he even know how to fucking do it?" Yoongi throws.
"Youtube tutorials." Jungkook tosses and Yoongi only glares at him.
"You're not getting that disk today." Yoongi says to me before turning back to Jungkook. "You need a screwdriver if you remove it from a tower otherwise you need to open the screen if it's an iMac."
"Easy peasy then." Jungkook smiles. "I have an iMac desktop."
"You guys?" I chime in. "Focus. We need one last distraction for when he needs to escape."
"I can always try turning the power off once he reaches the top." Joy suggests and my eyes widen at her genius idea. "That way Jungkook will have plenty of time to open the screen to get the hard drive and then he can exit the nightclub safely without worrying about security cameras. If he wears a hat even better."
"Good job babe." Yoongi playfully blows her a kiss.
"I could just kiss you right now Joy." I cry.
"Fuck no." Jungkook and Yoongi echo and we burst out in uncontrollable laughter.