Taehyung had barely slept the last couple of nights as he was working around the clock trying to find something, anything, that would give them an indication of what Ganghan was up to or even a name. He was coming up blank though and was starting to get frustrated.
Charlie knew that he was working hard again, so she would often sit with him just to offer him some company and to force him to take breaks when they were needed since he never knew how to step back from his work.
Taehyung stared at the computer screen, typing away as Charlie sat in a chair next to him, scrolling through her phone. Two cups of lukewarm coffee sat next to each other with scattered sucker wrappers all over the place.
"Fuck!" Taehyung shouted, roughly shoving his keyboard away as Charlie jumped, startled by his loud voice. He put his head down and ran his fingers through his hair, clasping them in the back while Charlie moved a little closer to him.
"What happened?" she asked as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Taehyung lifted his head and gestured towards the screen.
"I'm not getting anywhere! Our damn security cameras can't pick up a face because they were wearing masks, and the names that Axel gave us aren't even fucking real!" He buried his face in his hands one more, letting out a frustrated groan.
"We will figure something out Tae. Let's just take a step back and come at this from a different angle," she suggested. Charlie tried to help as best she could, but she didn't understand this tech stuff. She reached for his coffee cup and handed it to him before grabbing her own. They sat in silence for a bit, thinking, when Charlie had a random idea.
"What about the hotel?" she asked, and Taehyung looked at her with a confused look. "My first solo mission, with that guy, remember?" Charlie was in a deep concentration, trying to remember the few details that actually stayed in her memory from that night, the most prominent one being Jungkook comforting her.
A small smile appeared on her face as his face popped into her head, but it quickly faded when she remembered how things had gotten a little weird between the two of them lately and she hated it! She was worried that their close friendship was breaking apart, and she didn't know why or how to stop it.
"Ohh! Sebastian Zimmer?" Taehyung asked. He set his cup down and immediately started to bring up the file and all the information they had on the man.
"Was that his name?" Charlie asked as the name didn't sound familiar at all. She watched as prompt boxes appeared on Taehyung's screen, including the picture of him.
"Weird," Taehyung muttered while Charlie hummed in response. He pulled up the list of guests from the hotel database, scrolling through the names in order to confirm that it was Sebastian Zimmer who had checked in. "There are a lot of Tony's who book rooms at this hotel," he observed.
Charlie's eyes went wide as she moved closer to Taehyung, looking intently at the screen. Taehyung moved over to make more room as he could tell that sparked something in her as she skimmed through the names, noticing that Taehyung was right.
"He told me his name was Tony," Charlie said as Taehyung quickly clicked on a couple things, trying to pull up the right information.
"That's right, he booked the room under an alias," he muttered. Taehyung started to remember that evening as he recalled thinking how strange it was that he had used a fake name. "Tony Goldwater," he said as both Charlie and him glanced at each other and then back at the screen. He typed in some more information and noticed a list of names that popped up. "I guess Tony must be a popular name. This is a list of bookings within the past couple of months." He scrolled through the names slowly so Charlie could see as well. It seemed like every 5 names was a Tony. "Tony Griffon... Tony Gates... Tony Gildart..."
Charlie sat back as Taehyung continued scrolling. This was far too coincidental, what could it mean?
"TG," she said under her breath. "It's always a Tony and then G...." She tried to think about it, the initials repeating in her head before an idea clicked in her mind. She scoffed and then turned towards Taehyung with a smile. He looked back at her, waiting for her to tell him what she figured out. "G for Ganghan?"
Charlie watched as Taehyung's eyes widened and a small, boxy smile slowly started to appear. He quickly grabbed the side of her face and placed an excited kiss on her cheek.
"I knew you weren't just a pretty face!" he exclaimed as he turned back to his computer, not noticing how Charlie rolled her eyes and wiped her cheek. He took the information and tried to dig deeper, but was met with yet another obstacle.
"Shit, their firewall is too hard to crack... but I have the owner's name and his probable location for this evening." He faced Charlie and raised his eyebrows, giving her a small smirk. She leaned over and saw that Mark, the owner of the hotel, seemed to visit the same bar every night after work.
"We should go tell the others," Charlie said as the two walked downstairs, eager to share their new discovery with the rest of the members.
~☾~
Jin was sitting at a small table by the bar, sipping on a vodka and soda as he surveyed the location. He had never been in the field, but the circumstances called for his help. Hoseok was needed at the Casino to handle a deal with their shipment while Jimin and Taehyung were working at Cliff Hangers, installing upgrades to their security.
Yoongi was back at the house, working the tech side while Jungkook and Namjoon were in a car nearby, listening intently to the background as they watched the monitor in front of them, giving them a visual of the general seating area of the bar.
Namjoon insisted on going in instead of Jin since he had the experience, but Yoongi was hesitant about sending in his underboss. Even though Namjoon was a smart and skilled fighter, Yoongi knew he was a loose canon, unpredictable at times. He knew that Namjoon's demons could easily show up at the worst time, and he couldn't risk having anyone getting hurt or compromised, especially since they were low on numbers for this mission.
Namjoon understood, but he still managed to convince Yoongi to at least allow him to join Jungkook in the van, just in case they needed back-up.
Charlie had finally walked in and proceeded to her usual spot at the bar. After the altercation with Blade, she made sure to wear something that wasn't as revealing, but still looked hot on her. The white dress hugged her curves and was long enough to cover the Phoenix tattoo while the long sleeves concealed her vines. It was sort of modest... except for the plunging neckline, which she hoped would get Mark to at least notice her.
As Charlie approached the bar, she saw that Mark was hunched over, drinking what appeared to be a beer, with a somber look on his face. When she sat down, Mark barely lifted an eye at her and instead continued to stare behind the bar, clearly lost in his own thoughts. She glanced at what he was drinking and figured she would change it up a little tonight.
"I will have whatever is on tap," Charlie told the bartender as she found her place next to Mark. "Evening," she greeted, giving a small smile to Mark. He briefly glanced at her before turning back to his drink, taking a sip of his beer.
Charlie cursed in her head. This guy did not want to talk and she was kind of surprised, especially since it seemed that she was the only woman here. The bartender came back with a glass practically overflowing and set it in front of Charlie. She didn't mind beer, but it definitely wasn't her favorite.
"Do you live around here?" Charlie asked, trying to spark up a conversation. She heard Mark let out a heavy sigh as he responded without even looking at her.
"I don't," he tersely said.
Charlie's brain was firing a mile a minute, trying to figure out what to say to him as she took out her phone and texted Jungkook.
What do I do?
"I'm trying to think of something," Jungkook said through her earpiece. He sat in the car with Namjoon, both of them trying to think about the type of guy that Mark could possibly be. They didn't have a lot of information on him, but Jungkook was surprised that he wouldn't even hold a conversation with a beautiful woman like Charlie. "Phantom, do we have any information on the target at all? Police records? Old girlfriends?" Jungkook asked.
"Taehyung found as much as he could earlier, but this guy is squeaky clean. The only note I have here is that he is a career man. He rarely leaves the hotel, working long hours," Yoongi shared.
"Maybe we can work with that," Namjoon suggested as he pulled out his phone. Jungkook curiously glanced at him, watching as he scrolled through his contacts.
"What are you thinking Spider?" Jungkook inquired.
"A career man needs to meet a career woman. Blade, I'm going to call you, you just need to answer," he said, not expecting a response as he proceeded to call her.
"Yes?" Charlie said as soon as she answered the phone, clearly sounding very annoyed.
"You need to act like a business deal just fell through or some shit, get mad," Namjoon ordered.
"You have got to be kidding me! They went with who?!" Charlie's voice rose with every word. She could tell that Mark had heard her as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
"Perfect, now tell me to do my job better," Namjoon said while Jungkook let out a small snicker.
"I trusted you to make this deal! That was going to be our biggest client this year." Charlie brought her hand to forehead, slowly moving her fingers against it. "I can't deal with this right now, we will talk tomorrow." Charlie hung up the phone and waved for the bartender. "Bourbon, neat." She let out a sigh and buried her face in her hands.
"Rough night?" Mark asked and Charlie slowly brought her head up and looked in his direction.
"It is now," she grumbled while Mark nodded, turning back towards his drink yet again as the conversation between the two of them died down again. Charlie grabbed the drink the bartender had set down and took a sip. This was more her style, but she rarely drank when working.
Just then, an idea popped into Jungkook's head, hoping to gain Mark's attention yet again. "Sorry Blade, but your night's about to get much worse. Chemist, I need you to hit on Blade and be a real ass," Jungkook said while Charlie tried to keep her face neutral, confused by the demand.
"What? No! Why the hell do I have to hit on her anyway?!" Jin asked.
"Trust me, I guarantee you that this guy has a huge ego, and there's no bigger ego boost than saving a damsel in distress," Jungkook replied.
Jin let out a sigh, still not comfortable with the idea as he tried to come up with an excuse to get out of it. "Why don't you do it? You're her best friend," Jin quietly argued, trying not to look suspicious talking to himself.
"Because Chemist, if I do it, neither of us would be able to keep a straight face," Jungkook reasoned. Charlie had to bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing since she knew that her best friend was probably right.
Jin groaned before taking another swig of his drink. "Fine," he grumbled before reluctantly standing up, taking a deep breath before heading towards Charlie. He made sure to stumble a bit as he made his way towards her, feigning to be drunk as he plopped down next to her, a flirty smile on his lips.
"Hey there sweet cheeks," Jin said, his voice low as he sent Charlie a playful wink.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes before turning towards him. "Sweet cheeks? Really?" She made sure to look annoyed when she turned back to her drink, taking another sip while Mark kept his focus on his own drink, not wanting to intervene since it appeared that Charlie could handle herself against the drunk asshole hitting on her.
"What? Just trying to give a pretty lady a compliment," Jin replied, moving his chair closer to her. Charlie made sure to scoot over a bit, moving away from Jin while Mark glanced up, curiously watching the interaction as he noticed her tense up. "What's a beautiful lady like yourself doing here drinking alone?" Jin asked.
"I'm doing just that, trying to be alone," she replied, the annoyance laced in her voice as she still refused to look at him. Even though Mark had been watching, it seemed that it still wasn't getting a reaction out of him.
"Chemist, you're going to have to up your game. We need to get him riled up, give him a reason to jump in," Jungkook said. Jin tried to keep up the act, but inside, he was dreading this whole situation. C'mon Jin, you can do this, he thought to himself, a playful smirk on his lips as he decided to oblige to Jungkook's request.
He could feel his heart pounding as his nerves were on edge, but he managed to maintain his confident and flirty demeanor. His hand rested on Charlie's thigh, causing her to whip her head, playing along as she glared at him in response.
"What the hell are y-"
Before she could finish her sentence, she felt his soft, plump lips against hers. She tried to push him away, but he was persistent with keeping up the act, finally earning Mark's attention as he noticed Charlie struggling to get the "drunk man" off of her.
He was quick to react, standing up before grabbing Jin's shirt, tugging him away from Charlie before throwing a punch to his face. Jin stumbled back, knocking over a drink as he tried to steady himself against the countertop.
"She said she wasn't interested buddy, so I suggest you get lost," Mark said, making sure to stand protectively in front of Charlie, just in case he needed to come to her defense again.
Jin stood up straight, regaining his composure before holding his hands up in surrender, making sure to quickly turn and walk away while Charlie tried to glance over Mark's shoulder to make sure he was fine after taking that hit.
"You okay?" Mark asked, turning towards her as she gave him a small smile, nodding in response.
"Thanks, you didn't have to do that," she told him while he shrugged it off.
"It's not a big deal, I wanted to. Besides, it looked like you were having a rough night anyway, wouldn't want it to get any worse," he replied.
"True, I just hate when business deals fall through. You rely on other incompetent people to get shit done only to have them screw it all up. Now I've got to find another hotel to set up a business with," she shared.
"What sort of business do you run?" he asked.
"Cleaning," she replied, meeting his gaze. "We recently had a contract that ended with this other hotel since they were unable to renew the lease, so I'm hoping to find something soon since I've got a lot of employees counting on me."
He nodded, weighing the options before speaking. "Listen, I run a hotel, maybe we can set up a meeting and negotiate a deal," he suggested, causing her to quickly turn to him, a wide grin on her lips.
"Really?" she eagerly asked, sitting up a bit in her seat as she tried her best to appear over excited about the offer. He actually smiled back, giving her a small nod.
"Really," he replied. "Here's my card, just call me and let me know when we can set up a meeting."
"Thank you so much, I'll have to consult my business partner, but we'll get back to you soon," she said.
~☾~
"I'm so sorry Jin," Charlie apologized for the hundredth time as they walked into the house, Jungkook and Namjoon following close behind. She had spent the whole ride apologizing to him for getting hit, but he kept brushing it off, letting her know he was fine.
"Stop apologizing, I lived, didn't I?" Jin joked, chuckling as she worriedly looked at the small bruise forming on his cheek. "I'm fine," he reassured.
Yoongi had been sitting in the living room, waiting for their return. He immediately stood up when he heard their voices, rushing over to meet them. "Great job setting up a meeting Charlie. Joon, I need to see you in my office so that we can come up with our next move. Everyone else, make sure to get some rest, you all did great today. Oh, and Jin, put some ice on that," he said, gesturing towards the small bruise on his cheek before turning to head towards his office, Namjoon in tow.
"I'll go get the ice," Charlie insisted, still feeling guilty about the whole thing while Jin and Jungkook plopped onto the couch, feeling slightly tired.
The door opened yet again, Jimin and Taehyung greeting them before sitting down on the couch opposite the two members, exhausted from all the work they put in with their new and improved security system.
They heard Charlie rushing into the room, glancing up at her as she sat next to Jin, holding out the ice pack.
Just then Jimin noticed the small bruise on his face and remembered they had a mission today. "Oh shit, how'd you get that shiner?" he asked Jin, who simply narrowed his eyes at the young man.
"We had to do a little improvising today," Jin grumbled.
"Improvising?" Taehyung asked.
"Jin kissed Charlie," Jungkook explained, causing both Taehyung and Jimin to stare at the two with wide eyes.
"And you got punched in the face for it?" Taehyung inquired.
"Yeah, was playing the role of a drunk asshole who was hitting on Charlie when the target jumped in and came to her defense," Jin informed them.
Jimin's initial shock wore off as he wore a playful smirk on his face, glancing over at Charlie who gave him a small glare, already knowing that whatever was going through his mind was not going to be amusing at all.
"So, who's the better kisser?" he asked, causing Charlie to roll her eyes at him.
"Jin," she replied confidently, turning to give Jin a playful wink while he chuckled, noticing Jimin's sour mood at the response as the younger man crossed his arms, sinking back into his seat as he let out a small huff.
"At least we know she has good taste," Jin joked, playing along with Charlie's teasing.
"You'd probably get the bronze Jimin," she added, chuckling along with Jin while Jimin's ears perked up at this statement.
"Bronze? That would be third. How the hell do I come in third if you've only kissed me and Jin?" he asked. Charlie tensed at the question, eyes widening as Jimin sat up, noticing how her demeanor immediately changed as she tried to stutter out an explanation but failed. "Who else have you kissed Charlotte?"
Charlie's eyes immediately went to Taehyung as the two shared a quick glance before looking away from each other. Jimin immediately noticed, whipping his head towards his best friend, who avoided making direct eye contact.
"No way!" he exclaimed, freaking out as he glanced back at Charlie, stunned by the new revelation.
"What?" Jungkook asked, clearly not catching on to the situation as Jin also stared at Jimin, confused by his little outburst.
"Seriously?! Tae?! When did this happen?" Jimin exclaimed, feeling slightly betrayed as he glared at his best friend "How come you didn't tell me?!" he added, slapping Taehyung's arm.
"You kissed Taehyung?" Jungkook asked, eyes immediately focusing on Charlie.
"Yes, but it was a while ago and-" Charlie started, only to get cut off by Jimin.
"Hold up! You've never been in the field with Tae before," Jimin stated, his mind whirring as he started piecing together the facts before he realized that this was something that happened behind closed doors, causing his eyes to widen dramatically while both Taehyung and Charlie rolled their eyes at his behavior.
"How did this even happen?" Jungkook asked, but Charlie ignored the question as she glared at Jimin.
"Relax Jimin, it's not even like that," Charlie said. "It was so weird," she added while Taehyung nodded in response.
"Very weird, never again," Taehyung confirmed, making a disgusted face while Charlie laughed, nodding her head in agreement.
"Still doesn't explain why you did it," Jungkook grumbled, glancing between Charlie and Taehyung as he hoped to at least get an answer to something he asked.
"It was just a random kiss," Taehyung explained. "We were talking about crushes and wanted to just confirm that our friendship was nothing more than that."
"Yeah, not a big deal," she emphasized, glaring at Jimin while he continued to smirk at them, clearly amused by the whole situation. "You know what? I'm going to go take a shower and get ready for bed, it's been a long night," she said, getting up and walking away, easily escaping the awkward tension and leaving Taehyung to fend for himself as the other three turned towards him, noticing how he was avoiding their gaze.
Jimin was the first one who spoke up, asking Taehyung so many questions about the whole thing while the younger man uncomfortably avoided answering them. Meanwhile Jin remained neutral, but he still listened in and watched the whole scene in amusement.
Jungkook's mind was still trying to process the information though, thinking about Taehyung's words and how he said that the reason why he kissed Charlie was to confirm that their friendship was nothing more than that. He couldn't help but wonder, what would it feel like if he were to kiss Charlie?
A/N: It's mission time once again!! Also, Jungkook does have a valid question...
Thoughts --------->