Playing with Fire: A BLACKPINK Story

Chapter 25: A Normal Little Brawl

2019.

I tried to convince her to not do it, but no matter how hard I protested, Jisoo was adamant. She was going to be performing, and there was nothing I could do to change her mind. Part of me was proud of her determination and strength, the other part of me wished that she would put a little more focus into taking care of herself. The girls' schedule was brutal, and that was even without being kidnapped and...

Struck.

The thought still boiled my blood and I couldn't believe that I hadn't killed the location manager. In fact, I had left almost an entire floor of people standing. Granted, I had killed the people on the previous floor, but still. The restraint was new to me.

The various members of BTS came to say goodbye. Jin spent a few minutes with Jisoo before leaving, and Namjoon had to literally pry Jungkook off of Lisa, but shortly after that, they were making their way back to their private plane. Yoongi stopped to talk to me briefly before they left. As always, he was shockingly calm.

<If you need anything, you're going to call,> he said. It wasn't a question.

<Next time I need a getaway driver, I'll keep you in mind,> I said. <But you need to get out of here before things get too hot. I appreciate everything you've all done for me. Let me handle it from here.>

Yoongi nodded. <Keep Lisa safe. If anything happens to her, Jungkook will be devastated. Can't let that happen.>

<I won't,> I said. <No more letting my guard down.>

He reached out and shook my hand. <You got this.>

I hoped he was right.

In the meantime, there was a lot of work to do. The girls needed to get ready for their show, and for the first time in a long time, I would be legitimately accompanying them. Of course, in public, I could only appear to be a guard, so I made sure to keep my distance. The other YG guards had their eyes on me the whole time. It was strange, almost like they were expecting me to cause some kind of trouble. I supposed they remembered how I (along with Jisoo) had done irreparable damage to their organization. I wondered how many of the guards were also involved in illegal activities, and how many of them were just collecting a paycheck.

Not that long ago, I had been "just collecting a paycheck" from YG, which meant I wasn't any better than some of the guards. I forced myself to keep that in mind.

Lisa was down, for obvious reasons. She was already missing Jungkook and was worried that someone might find out. We couldn't talk about it openly in front of the other guards, but we all knew. The guards themselves had been told that BTS was just there to congratulate them on their tour and the release of the "Kill This Love" EP. It was unusual, but not unheard of. YG especially didn't care because there was no record of it, so fans wouldn't get all up in arms about it.

Jennie was trying to cheer up Lisa. It was working, but only a little. Even Lisa, in all her grumpiness, couldn't resist Jennie's gummy smile for long. As for Amelie, she was already at the arena, waiting for us to arrive. Neither of us was willing to bet on Hyun-suk's generosity for allowing someone else to tag along with the Blackpink entourage. And in any case, I liked keeping a secret from Hyun-suk. Just in case.

When we got to the arena, security began the customary set-up and sweep. It was like being back to my old job, checking exits, watching corners, making sure the VIPs were safe. This time, though, I wasn't technically on the payroll.

Amelie was already set up in one of the top corners of the arena, basically laying on a rafter with her binoculars and sniper rifle next to her. It took me a few minutes to climb up next to her. She was dressed in all black in a tight bodysuit. She was ready for action. I knew better than to ask how she had gotten up her. It was what she did.