Playing with Fire: A BLACKPINK Story

Chapter 26: Things to Come

2019.

"You're serious about this," Amelie said to me. I hadn't wanted to tell the girls yet until I was more sure. But with every passing moment, I was growing more and more certain that my hunch was correct.

"It makes sense. It explains why YG's men have been more incompetent than usual. It explains why they've been so hostile to me. And it would explain what Hyun-suk's plan is for after he steps down. We won't be able to hurt him anymore if he follows through with this." My fists clenched. "I just can't believe he'd be willing to sacrifice the girls like that."

My theory was simple, but if it was true, it would have far reaching consequences. I was beginning to believe that Hyun-suk had contacted the Syndicate and made a deal with them. I wasn't sure of the specifics of the deal, but I had an idea. If he turned over the Blackpink girls to the Syndicate, they would be able to obtain a massive ransom fee—or else do something horrible with them. Ransom seemed too simple. Hyun-suk might step down, but the Syndicate would just be extorting YG.

No, I thought it was something far worse. A return to human trafficking. And who might command a higher price on the black market than the four members of the most famous girl group in the world?

"I think you might be right," said Amelie. "When do you think it started?"
"It might have been right after Jisoo was taken. I don't think Hyun-suk wanted her kidnapped, at least eventually. But the location manager of the Syndicate base told me that Hyun-suk was making moves that we didn't know about. He might have gotten this idea from her kidnapping."

"Did you tell them?" Amelie asked. I could tell that she already knew the answer.

"No. Can you imagine how that would make them feel?"

Amelie nodded slowly. "Yes. But I remember the last time you kept secrets from them. I don't want to tell you what to do—you know them better than I do. But I would hate to see that happen again to you."
I swallowed painfully. She was right. If I kept this from them again and they somehow found out... it would destroy any trust that I had built up. This directly affected them and they deserved to know. "Alright," I said. "You're right. This will..."

"Terrify them," Amelie said calmly. "Yeah. It will. But it'll show them that you trust them and that they were right to trust you. And isn't that what you want?"

---

<We need to talk,> I said to the girls. Their next show was starting soon and they would need to be getting to the arena to perform, but I didn't want this to wait any longer than it absolutely needed to. <I know it isn't the best time. But... you deserve to know this.>

The girls were looking at me with wide, trusting eyes. They had managed to get a moment away from the YG guards and Amelie and I had swept the room for recording devices. Everything was clear. I was not going to allow Hyun-suk to get the drop on us again, if he was in fact trying to do what I thought he was.

<We think that Hyun-suk had an idea. After Jisoo was taken by Jamie Russell's men, our theory is that Hyun-suk figured out that he could use the four of you as a ticket into the Syndicate. He lets them take you all, they let him come on as some sort of low level boss most likely. It would allow him to step down from YG but still stay in the criminal game. Sort of like shifting sideways instead of down.>
Jennie shook her head. <That doesn't make sense. Why would... the Syndicate care about us?>

Amelie stepped forward. "Because there are a lot of men in this world that see women as objects, not people. And Hyun-suk is one of those. The Syndicate clearly thinks the same way."