The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

79| The Gangnam Gambit

Previously:

Jinyoung spoke with his father JYP and learned more about the history of Tiger King and the people involved in its escape ( Dr Marco Bruschweiler and Hwangssabu). Jinyoung promises JYP  he will set up a meeting with Jennie for answers and closure, and they part on amicable terms.

Jennie drowns herself in physical training and befriends Youngdeuk, one half of Hani's twin henchmen. He appears to still not have recovered from Hani's decision to not use Tiger King for their own  benefit. Rosé drowns herself in trying to recover any information that would help them gain access to the classified Tiger King showcase Jinyoung is intending to host in mere days' time.

Thanks to Jennie's suggestions, Rosé stumbles upon a lead: the location of one of Yang's dead drops that potentially Jinyoung is still using to distribute secret information to relevant parties while staying under the radar. Information can only be extracted physically from the dead drop, which is located in a club called Burning Sun, potentially under Jinyoung's name.

Rosé managed to override administrator access and open a limited time-window where anybody could access the dead drop. Together with Hani, Chaennie decide to take the risk and visit Burning Sun. 

{continues from previous chapter} (warning: mature scenes)

"Now who could that be at this time?" Irene frowned, looking up at the sound of light knocks on the front door. She shared a mystified glance with Seulgi.

Ella dropped the chopsticks into her bowl with a clatter. "Mom!" She slipped down from her chair in a flash, running for the door in excitement. "Mom's back!"

"El no wait!" Seulgi dropped her spoonful of rice and raced after Ella, scooping the girl up just before she reached the door.

"Wait, El, wait! We gotta check first, okay?" Seulgi said breathlessly. She puffed and set the forlorn girl down. "Whew, you're getting heavy. Joohyun's rice balls are that good huh?"

"Gi," Irene said anxiously as she walked into the hallway with them. Dalgom was at her heel, growling low in his throat. He had taken a liking to Irene, much to the woman's delight, despite Seulgi being the one to bring him from Jisoo's apartment. He liked to greet Irene with a wagging tail when she came back from work. Rosé's cats on the other hand were more comfortable hanging out with Seulgi's own cats and kept to themselves. Seulgi was just glad they all seemed somewhat settled despite their owners' absence.

Seulgi nodded reassuringly and gently pushed Ella towards her girlfriend, speaking in a low voice. "I got this, Hyun. Go check the stove."

Irene nodded once and pulled away with Ella, who immediately followed, solemn and grave. Dalgom whined uncertainly but followed them as well.

'Checking the stove' had been a code Seulgi and Irene came up with in case Ella and Irene needed to leave the area quickly and hide. That way, they wouldn't alert any potential intruder that they were prepared.

They had come up with a lot of these little code words in the past few days, and Ella adapted well. Seulgi didn't want to show it but she worried for the little girl stuck inside the house unable to go to music class or anywhere else for that matter as they watched endless cartoons, played endless boardgames, cardgames and every wordgame Seulgi could remember while they waited for Irene to come back from work or any scrap of news from Rosé and Jennie.

Seulgi made sure Ella didn't stay close to the windows or go outside and meet neighbours. She policed their internet browsing history in case the authorities were on to them or Jinyoung was keeping watch. She checked and rechecked locks and bolts. She went out only for sparse moments, just to not get stir-crazy and let the dog and cats have some air.