The scent of freshly brewed coffee filled the small café, mingling with the soft hum of conversation and the quiet clinking of ceramic cups. Isabella sat by the window, stirring her cappuccino absentmindedly, her gaze fixed on the world outside.

It was a peaceful morning.

Or at least, it should have been.

But peace had become a fleeting thing ever since the gala.

No matter how much she tried to brush it off, the unease clung to her. A whisper at the back of her mind. A shadow in her peripheral vision.

She hated feeling like this—on edge, paranoid.

But was it truly paranoia when she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched?

She took a slow sip of her coffee, tryingground herself.

She needed to focus. To get back to normal.

And normal meant pushing past whatever strange obsession her mind had developed over him.

Jungkook.

She had seen him only once. Just a fleeting moment at a party. He had never spoken to her, never approached her.

Yet, she couldn’t forget him.

And she hated it.

With a quiet sigh, she pulled out her notebook, determined to drown herself in studies.

Outside, just across the street, a black car sat parked by the curb.

Inside, a man watched her, speaking quietly into his earpiece.

“She’s at the café. Alone.”

There was a brief pause before the reply came through.

“Good. Keep an eye on her.”

Meanwhile…

Jungkook stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office, the city sprawled beneath him in a glittering maze of lights.

He held a glass of whiskey in one hand, his gaze sharp as he listened to the update.

“She’s predictable.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “I like that about her.”

Taehyung, lounging on the leather couch, raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

Jungkook swirled the amber liquid in his glass. “It is.”

Taehyung chuckled. “And yet, you’re keeping tabs on her like she’s a threat.”

Jungkook’s smirk widened. “She is a threat.”

Taehyung leaned forward, intrigued. “How so?

Jungkook turned to him, eyes dark and unreadable.

“Because she makes me think.”

And Jungkook didn’t like thinking.

He liked control.

And Isabella? She was slipping through the cracks of it.

Later that evening…

Lily threw her phone onto her bed with a groan.

“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”

She shouldn’t have texted him.

She knew she shouldn’t have.

But she had.

And now she was staring at her phone, waiting for a reply that might never come.

Taehyung was unpredictable. One minute, he was teasing her. Next, he was cold and distant.

And the worst part?

She liked it.

She liked him.

With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed her pillow and buried her face into it.

She was doomed.