✦*ೃ༄
The night fell into place and Hana found herself crowded in the foyer with The Seven as they finished getting ready to leave. She wore the long, silky green dress that Jeno had bought and steamed for her, accompanied by the fur coat that Haechan draped over her. Upon feeling around, she learned it did actually have pockets on the inside.
Among the chatter of the lively bunch, Jisung appeared in front of Hana who was standing around, spacing out. She'd normally be part of the conversation, but that particular day was different--their mission depended on her and she now felt weighted under such expectation. As much as Mark told her they wouldn't be disappointed if she didn't get the file, she felt as though she needed to. Not only to help NCT, but to also prove Renjun wrong. Her failing this mission would give him even more of a reason to act loathsome toward her.
Jisung pulled at Hana's jacket, peeling it open slightly. He had two pistols in his hand, with which he placed one in her jacket, respectively in the pocket and muttering a "just incase," before placing the other pistol he had into his own blazer.
Just incase? She questioned, as she had never held a gun before, let alone shot one. She could only hope she wouldn't need to use it.
Eventually Hana and The Seven got into two different cars and began the ride, which would be around an hour. Amidst the chatter in the sleek black car as it traced the city, Hana still remained quiet, her teeth gnawing at the insides of her cheek as she fixated on the passing scenery through the window. Chenle, ever perceptive of her subdued demeanor nudged her. "You doing okay? You seem a bit quiet."
Hana wasn't sure how to reply to that without completely letting him, Mark and Jaemin--who were the other two in the car with them-- know that she was internally panicked. She figured she could repress this feeling, because she believed that once they could sense her fear and tension, it would only amplify the feeling.
"Sorry, that was an obvious question." Chenle chuckled awkwardly at his own self. Hana didn't mean to ignore him, she was only overstimulated with various things racing through her mind.
Hana forced a smile. "I'm okay, only a little nervous." That was the half-truth. She was nervous, yes, but she underplayed it drastically.
After an hour of the comfortable drive, they neared their destination and the car came to a stop. Not so far ahead was a large traditional looking building, layered intricately with three stories.
Mark turned around from the driver's seat to face Hana. "You know the plan and everything?"
Of course she did. Her and Mark talked about it numerous times. She was detailed on the process, each step broken down. She gave a curt nod, dismissing her own nerves.
"Don't worry much," Jaemin assured from his spot also in the front, "we'll be in shortly after you." He flashed his very comforting smile, receptive to Hana.
"Okay," Hana heaved a sigh, placing her hand on the car door handle, seemingly stalling. Chenle patted her shoulder, grounding her back to present time.
She finally swung open the car door, exiting. She had to enter before them, because her entering at the same time as The Seven was one of the many things that could raise suspicion, that they were conscious of.
On the side of the building was a door, one in which she was told led to the downstairs kitchen. She entered, pleased at how it was already unlocked. And when she entered through the door that would lead to the downstairs kitchen, absolutely nobody batted an eye which she was thankful for--she blended in perfectly.
The kitchen was large and lavish, spacious for chefs and servers to do their own tasks independant of one another. There were different rows of many fridges, ovens, stoves, and countertop spaces, the appliances accompanied by moderately warm lighting and the sound and scent of cooking.
Now, she had to observe. In the corner of her eye she spotted a woman wearing a dress similar to her own. The woman was carrying a fairly sized tray which she placed on a counter, before loading alcohol bottles and glasses onto, and in a moderately quick manner, holding the tray once again and exiting through the push-doors.
All Hana had to do was mimic this until it was time to get the files. She grabbed a stainless steel tray and placed two opened bottles onto it, before bumping open the kitchen doors with her hip. Ahead of her was a large mansion with various seating areas and spaces between. The atmosphere was formal and professional, uncomfortably so, yet masked by soft jazz music. She reminded herself that her only purpose for now was to blend in and refill glasses.
There were quite a few women like her serving drinks in the buidling that Hana took note of, and they were beautiful, yet the men outnumbered the women by at least ten times. She didn't take much comfort in this.
When she spotted a table of formally dressed men in the not-so-far distance, her legs unconsciously drove her to that direction. She had to start somewhere. She kept the expression on her face neutral as best as she could as she poured into the empty glasses that sat on the table. It didn't go unnoticed by her how they paused their conversation and were looking at her with odd smiles on their faces. Hana didn't dare to make eye contact, fearing what could happen if she did.
When she finished, she realized it was easier than she made it out to be. it was as simple as to pour a glass and keep it moving.
So for the next few minutes, she occupied herself in this, also making sure to observe the other women so she could compare herself and make sure she wasn't overdoing or underdoing her role.
And when she figured it was time to make herself familiar with the second floor, she took the stairs that were inside the kitchen to find herself in the upstairs kitchen. It was similar to the downstairs kitchen, except it was only smaller to scale.
She was in no hurry, since she wouldn't be able to grab the files for a while until everyone was downstairs to eat, and that wouldn't be for a while, according to Jaemin.
She grew hungry solely from smell and sound, the productivity in both kitchens reminding her that she likely won't be able to eat any of that food, unless one of The Seven magically decided to bring some of the food home with them, which was a ridiculous idea in the first place. Huffing a sigh, she figured it was time to make an appearance again, as well as finally explore the second floor. She loaded few bottles onto a tray and bumped open the door with her hip.
The second floor in question was structured so beautiful. It was spacious, having room for multiple sitting areas, couches, and bars. In the center of the second floor was a view of the ground floor. There were solid railings to look below, and pillars spaced out between. Hana could see everything from there--the main entrance, the tables, all the guests.
Resuming what she'd been doing downstairs, she walked around pouring glasses, growing more confident in what she was doing. Well, there wasn't anything to not be confident in, as there was truly no way to screw up when filling glasses. The only thing Hana battled was answering the hypothetical, such as what she would do if she made a clumsy mistake, or perhaps if one of the men tried talking to her. Either was likely to happen at some point, since she was expected to be at this for hours.
But she was determined to prove herself, and especially prove Renjun wrong. She remembered how he said she would throw their mission off. She wanted for him to be wrong, she wanted to see his reaction and maybe get an apology from him or something. That was her drive for the remainder of the night.
Another key observation Hana made was was how few women there were--not including those serving drinks--but the ones who were actually part of the gala. Perhaps they were part of the industry, maybe some of them being leaders themselves. But with that population and the women serving drinks combined, the men still outnumbered, something that once again made Hana uncomfortable.
She was just waiting for The Seven to arrive. She knew that even just them being in the same building as her would help diffuse her nerves. Over the last few days she had been living with them, she found herself growing close to them in some way. They took her in and treated her as family, even when she was thrown onto their lives with no warning.
✦*ೃ༄
After some minutes of serving drinks upstairs, she heard some chatter. However it was something specific that caught her ear. From multiple tables around her, she could hear the same string of words, "The Seven are here."
She finished what she was doing before shuffling her body and attention toward the railings. She looked over and it was The Seven by the entrance. They were greeting those around them with calm, secure demeanors. It looked as though they were the respected ones in that building.
Hana felt like a weight was lifted from her chest. It really felt like nothing could happen to her now.
Among The Seven, Jisung caught her eye. She had always found him attractive, but their relationship was odd to say the least.
As she glanced down, their gazes locked, and for a fleeting moment, the background noise of the room faded and left only the intensity of their shared glance. Until unexpectedly, Jisung flashed her a small smile. It was small, but comforting and reassuring to Hana, as if telling her to relax.
Hana's own lips curved into a grateful smile. Jisung was first to break the eye contact, resuming back to what he was doing, leaving Hana to do the same, returning to her duties.
The Seven sat in their own company joined by few others in a more closed off seating area, few of The Seven dispersing into different areas of the large-structured building.
As the night progressed, Jisung occasionally stole glances up at Hana who was thankfully seemingly calm and on-task. He could notice she seemed to be in no hurry, only stalling, if anything.
As for Hana, something miniscule bugged her. As she fulfilled her role upstairs--she hadn't quite moved downstairs yet--she could notice a man staring at her consistently from across the room. It was alarming, but not enough to push Hana to opt out of the mission or even inform one of The Seven.
He was average height with an average build, somewhat balding and wearing glasses with thin and dark circular frames and a golden tie. He had no expression, only a stare that Hana could attach no feeling to.
This had been happening the last twenty minutes or so, seemingly around the time The Seven arrived. Hana decided to keep it pushing--after all, a stare posed no harm to her.
But this dragged on longer, with him staring from quite a distance and her feeling uncomfortable, so she went back into the kitchen and made her way back downstairs to the larger seating area.