"We've been waiting for almost an hour," groans Alex. "Are those pretty boys always late to meetings?"
After arriving in Seoul early this morning, the two of us came straight to Big Hit. Neither of us has slept much in the past twenty-four hours, and we also had to get ready in an airport bathroom, so I can't really blame Alex for complaining. I'd kill for a hot shower right now.
"How do you know they're pretty?" I wonder with a small laugh.
"I don't," he claims. "I'm just assuming."
"You've been watching their music videos, haven't you?"
"Me? No," Alex asserts. "That's weird."
"Whatever you say," I joke.
"Seriously though. Are they always this late?"
I shrug. "Depends on their schedule."
"Their schedule was supposed to be cleared until we caught the fucker who's harassing them."
"Then maybe they overslept," I present.
He crosses his arms, grumbling, "At least they got to sleep."
Alex goes on to bitch and moan for the next ten minutes while we continue to wait for someone to show up. Eventually, though, a knock comes from outside the door. We rise to our feet to greet the person, and when he enters, I practically have to pick my jaw up off the floor.
It's Bang Sihyuk.
I quickly force myself to regain composure, and I bow to him.
"Audaire Wilson," he imparts following a reciprocated bow. "So we finally meet."
"Hello, Mr. Bang," I reply, flashing him a tight smile.
"I've seen your photo so many times," Sihyuk mentions. "Getting to see you in person is a nice change."
I give a small nod, that same tight smile still on my lips.
"Well, anywho, I apologize for the delay. The members should be joining us any minute now."
Goody.
"They had an Inkigayo recording at four a.m. today, and it ran a little over," he further explains.
"With all due respect, Mr. Bang," Alex begins, "we told the company to cancel all of their appearances until further notice."
"I can assure you, agents, that Inkigayo is the last of their appearances going forward."
"Thank you," I express. "And if it's possible, we'd like to have a copy of each member's schedule starting from a month prior to when the harassment began."
"Of course," Sihyuk consents. "That won't be a problem."
"We'll also need a list of everyone employed with Big Hit Entertainment. Past and current."
His eyebrows knit together. "Is there a problem with my employees?"
"As of now, no. But in order for our investigation to proceed accordingly, that list will be necessary."
Sihyuk nods in understanding. "I'll have my assistant get it to you by the end of the day." His cell phone then rings, and he excuses himself to take the call. It only lasts a few seconds after which he announces, "The members are here and on their way up."
Less than a minute goes by before the door swings open and a blonde man appears. There wasn't enough time between the phone call and his stepping through the threshold to prepare myself. I can hardly believe he's right here in front of me, five years after accusing me of being unfaithful.
Yoongi doesn't have a chance to do or say anything because Jungkook shoves passed him, his thunderous voice booming, "What is she doing here?!"
"She and Agent Crawford have been assigned to your case," Sihyuk informs him. "They're with the FBI."
"Correct," Alex remarks. "As Mr. Bang said, I'm Special Agent Alex Crawford." He then awkwardly clears his throat. "And you, uh...obviously know my partner, Special Agent Audaire Wilson."
"Yeah, we do," Jungkook acknowledges in a snarky tone. "Unfortunately."
Ouch.
Namjoon is the next person to speak, and unlike Jungkook's, his tone is warm and welcoming—just how I remember it always was. "I'm Kim Namjoon, the leader, and this is Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and the big, angry one is Jeon Jungkook."
I bite back a laugh.
"It's nice to meet you all," says Alex. "We look forward to working with you."
"I don't," Jungkook mumbles under his breath.
"Well, now that we have introductions out of the way," I commence, pretending Jungkook's comments didn't hurt, "why don't we get started?"
"Good idea," Alex agrees.
"Wait," Taehyung interjects. "Shouldn't our security team be at this meeting? So that they know what our plans are?"
"This first meeting is only to gather information. After we finish here, Agent Wilson and I will form a plan and relay it to staff."
"Guys," Hoseok utters, "stop questioning them. They know what they're doing."
Jungkook scoffs, and it takes a shit ton of willpower not to roll my eyes.
With no further questions, the ten of us take our seats, and I open my notepad to jot things down. "Can you guys tell me a little about what has been going on?"
"It all began around three months ago," states Seokjin. "We were hanging out at the house one night when the power went out. We thought it was weird because it wasn't storming or anything, so we called someone to come and check what happened, and the guy said it looked like our breaker had been messed with."
"So the power was cut on purpose?"
Seokjin nods.
"How soon after that did the next incident occur?" I ask.
"The Genius Lab was broken into that same week," Hoseok divulges.
Alex raises a brow. "Genius Lab?"
"His studio," Jimin responds, gesturing to Yoongi.
"And it's password-protected," I chime in, shooting Alex a look of, "Only someone close to him would know that code."
He returns a look that says, "Agreed."
Now staring directly at Yoongi, I inquire, "Was anything stolen from the Genius Lab?"
Yoongi shakes his head.
"Was anything left? Like, a note?"
Again, he shakes his head.
"Hyung," Hoseok nudges him, "tell her what they did."
Yoongi plays with the gold ring on his finger, twirling it around. I notice Hoseok has the same gold band on his finger too.
One more nudge later, Yoongi sighs. "My equipment was smashed."
"Did you have any unreleased music leaked following the break-in?" Alex wonders.
"No. Nothing had been touched when I recovered my files."
"They did it just to piss you off."
Yoongi gives a single nod. "Right."
"Have you guys also been personally attacked?" Alex questions the others.
"Tae and I both found dead roses on the windshields of our cars," Jimin reports.
"I'm assuming this was before the dead animal incident," I comment.
"It was."
"Did the rose thing only happen once?"
"No," he replies. "It's been happening at least twice a week."
"And it's just you two receiving it?"
Jimin and Taehyung both say yes.
"What about you?" I ask Hoseok. "Any personal attacks?"
Hesitantly, almost as if he's scared to tell me, Hoseok notifies, "I received a letter last month threatening to reveal Yoongi hyung and I's marriage."
One might expect me to be shocked, hurt, or even angry at his news.
But I'm not; I'm actually happy for them.
They were always meant to be.
"Can you remember the names of everyone who knows about the marriage?" Alex inquires.
"Yeah, we didn't tell many people," avers Hoseok. "Even most of the staff doesn't know to this day."
"I'll be needing a list of those names ASAP, Mr. Jung, as well as that letter."
"Yes, of course."
Seokjin goes on to inform us that, as of yet, he himself hasn't been targeted. He's scared he will be eventually, but Alex promises him that we'll do everything in our power to prevent that from happening. Although if he is targeted, my partner and I will still be there to protect him. After all, that's a part of our job.
"You're awfully quiet now," I mention to Jungkook, matching his snarky tone from earlier. "Has the perpetrator left you alone too?"
Jungkook simply glares at me, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't intimidate me a little bit.
"Like Tae and Jimin," Namjoon suddenly pipes up, "Kook and I also share a particular incident."
"Which is?"
He exhales a deep breath. "Someone recorded us having sex."
Maybe Yoongi and Hoseok's marriage announcement didn't shock me, but this definitely did.
"How did you find out?"
Namjoon reaches into his pocket and tosses a flash drive on the table. "It was laying on the desk in my studio."
I pick it up and examine it, not bothering with gloves considering it has already been handled by Namjoon and probably Jungkook, too. If there was evidence present, it would be destroyed and long gone by now. "I'm guessing, like the others, you didn't receive a note either."
"No, I didn't," he affirms. "I plugged it into an old laptop in case it contained a virus, but I think I would've preferred that over what I actually got."
"How'd the two of you feel when you saw the video?"
"Why do you care?" Jungkook snaps. "You're not our therapist."
I grip my pen tighter, trying not to snap back at him. "I'm just trying to gather information, Mr. Jeon, and I'd appreciate it if you'd cooperate."
He scoffs at me, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek.
"We both felt really disgusted and violated," Namjoon expresses, ignoring the youngest's bad attitude.
"I completely understand," I sympathize. "But, unfortunately, Agent Crawford and I will have to view the video and log it into evidence."
Alex nods and says, "We're sorry about that."
"No, I get it," Namjoon comprehends. "You gotta do what you gotta do."
My partner looks over at me. "Have any more questions for them today?"
"No, I think we got what we need for now," I disclose before facing the members again. "We're going to have you guys stay at the company while we do a sweep of the house. We'll be checking for things such as unauthorized cameras and other items we deem suspicious. Do you all consent to this search?"
Everyone but Jungkook (who just sits there in silence) answers that they do.
"Mr. Jeon, we need a verbal yes or no," Alex informs him.
"Fine," he huffs. "You have my consent."
"Thank you," Alex smiles. "We'll call you when you can return home."
Sihyuk rises from his chair. "Thank you, agents. We're very grateful for your help."
"We appreciate your trust, Mr. Bang, and we promise we will catch whoever is doing this."
After saying our final goodbyes to Bang Sihyuk and the boys, I slouch into my chair with a loud groan. Alex chugs the rest of his coffee before doing the same.
"I'm fucking exhausted," he whines.
"Me too," I accord. "And we still have to go and inspect the main house."
His eyebrows furrow. "Main house?"
"Kpop group members usually share a house or a dorm," I relay. "But when BTS finished their military service a few years ago, they each got their own apartment. They live at the main house when they're busy promoting together."
"So what I'm hearing is, we have to search seven additional residences?"
"Six if Yoongi and Hoseok live together, which I assume they do," I utter. "I'm thinking we should leave those searches to the NIS, though."
"I'm all for it," Alex concurs. "That way, we can focus on our investigation."
"And get some sleep later."
"Halle-fucking-lujah," he praises.
I laugh. "C'mon, let's get out of here. We have a lot of work to do."