The night air was sharp, biting at Y/N as she trailed behind the seven men on the shadowed streets of Seoul. Their pace was quick and their silence, unnerving. Every step farther away from the warehouse was a step into a deep well, but curiously, she felt herself walking.

Finally, they reached a small building squeezed between deserted factories. Among them was a tall and slender man with sharply piercg calculating eyes. This man drew out a card key, swiped the door and it clicked. It revealed a dim staircase leading to the underground levels.
"This way," he said motioning for Y/N to follow him.

There was heavy silence as they went forward into this underground room. The stair opened out into a high-tech hideout - walls lined up by the monitor, central table piled high with blueprints and photos of surveillance, the faint hum of computers drifting through the air.

Y/N couldn't help herself but stare. "What is this place?"

The leader at the head of the table turned to look at her. "Our base of operations. For now."

For now? Y/N asked, raising an eyebrow.

A man with an air of quiet intensity, his jet-black hair falling over his eyes, spoke up. "We don't stay in one place too long. It's safer that way."

"Safer from what? The Red Hand?"

"Not just them," another replied-a man with a mischievous glint in his eyes and a smirk that seemed permanently etched on his face.

Her anger swelled as she darted glances between them. "I want to know the truth. Who are you really? Why were you in that warehouse? And why should I trust you?" she said her voice tight with indignation.

The leader stepped forward, his face calm but serious. "We're a group of undercover agents trying to bring down the Red Hand. Each of us has a role, a set of skills that allows us to be effective against them."

"Undercover agents?" Y/N repeated, her skepticism clear. "You look more like mercenaries."

The man who had introduced himself as Jungkook chuckled. "We get that a lot."

The leader ignored him, his focus remaining on Y/N. "We've been tracking the Red Hand for years. We've infiltrated their ranks, gathered intel, and taken out key members, but Jae-hyun is still out of reach. He's careful, ruthless, and always one step ahead."

"That is why we have been watching you," the quiet, brooding man in a corner added, who hadn't yet opened his mouth much in any conversation. "Your investigation brought you perilously close to the truth. Close enough to make you a target."

Y/N's eyes narrowed. "You were watching me?"

"For your safety, of course," another person told her. "You're a threat to them, Y/N, but that makes you very handy for us as well.

"An asset?"
Y/N's voice cut through the room sharp. "I'm not some pawn in your game."
"No," the leader answered evenly. "You're not. But you've already become part of this war, whether you wanted to or not. The question is, are you willing to fight?

Y/N looked at him, her head reeling. Everything from this felt like a dream and yet she couldn't bring herself to believe in the words he was spewing. She had done something in her investigation she could never take back.

"What do you need from me?" she asked finally, her voice even despite the tempest raging within.
"Yes. Your knowledge, your instincts, your determination. You've gotten closer to the Red Hand than any outside person has gotten. With all three of us in it, we can certainly take them down."
"Well?"
"And what happens if I say no?

"Then we're separated," he said, simply. "But if you go out there alone, they will find you. And next time, we'll be gone when they come."

The room fell silent once more as the gravity of his words weighed on Y/N. She looked up at each of the men, their faces unreadable but determination clear.

She took a deep breath and nodded finally. "Fine. I'll help you. But don't think for a second that I trust you."

The leader's lips curled into a faint smile. "Fair enough.".

As Y/N took a seat at the table and began to dive into this newfound alliance, she couldn't help but feel that she had leaped into something much more profound than she could perceive.

The battle against the Red Hand was no longer hers alone; it now belonged to them all, their shared fight.

And there was only just the beginning.

To Be Continued....