Chapter 22 The Beginning of a Love Story

I brought some clothes for you to change into. JK is bringing them in now.

I looked up from my phone over to Jones who was still worked away on his computer.

"Are you good for me to leave, Jones?" I asked.

"Go on your date, Kid. I'm good," Jones said in a monotone voice.

"Thanks, Jones," I said.

I gathered my things as I noticed JK walk in holding a large, black giftbag. I walked over to him with a smile. He smiled back at me held the bag up to me and swung it back and forth. I shook my head at his antics.

"Hey Ana," JK greeted me when I walked up to him.

"Hey, JK. I didn't know he was bringing me clothes," I said and took the bag from his hand.

"I'm just glad he decided against the pink bag," JK said with a chuckle. "Imagine me walking into a police station with a pink bag."

"I don't want to," I said. "I'm going to go change, you can go tell him I'll be right out."

"Sure thing," JK said. He walked out the front of the station as I walked into the locker room.

I pulled out the army green knee-length dress with three-quarters sleeves and light wash denim jacket and set them aside. I then pulled out the wedged sandals and looked at them in distain. I thought I told Namjoon that I didn't like heels.

I quickly got dressed and put my work clothes into the gift bag. I put the bag into my locker for safe keeping. I grabbed my work bag and made my way outside.

It was easy to find which car was Namjoon's. The high-end black car with tinted windows sat at the curb stood out among every other car. I couldn't help but smile as I walked up to it. I opened the backseat door and stepped inside.

"Hello, beautiful," Namjoon said as I sat down. He wore a black leather jacket over a black shirt with thin horizontal stripes, black jeans, and black leather boots.

"Hello, handsome," I said. I leaned over to him and pressed a kiss to his lips. He smiled as he did the same to lean over to kiss me.

"I like this greeting," Namjoon whispered against my lips. He pressed his lips against mine once more as I giggled.

"Yeah it's cute," JK said from the front seat. "Just remember I'm here so don't go any further than a few kisses."

I watched as Namjoon's neck began turning red as my cheeks turned pink. I hid my face in Namjoon's shoulder as JK began to drive to the lake side.

"You have a driver's license, right?" Namjoon asked me suddenly.

"Yeah, why?" I asked. I looked up at him in confusion. He knew everything about me. I mean, he did a background check on me right after we first met. So he should know this stuff.

"I'm going to buy you a car so that you can start driving us to our dates," Namjoon said.

"Don't buy me a car," I said. "I don't need it."

"But I need you to have a car," Namjoon whined. "That way JK doesn't need to drive us places anymore and stuff like this doesn't happen anymore."

"Namjoon? Seriously, do not get me a car," I said. "I'm starting to save up my own money to buy me my own car."

"Let him buy you a car," JK said from the front seat. "I'm tired of driving the two of you places."

"No one asked you, JK," I snapped to him.

"This is why you need a car," Namjoon said. "So we don't have to deal with him."

"Not now, Namjoon," I muttered.

For the fifteen minute drive, the three of us talked about whatever came to mind. When we arrived at the restaurant, Namjoon got out of the car first. He walked around the car to open the door for me. He took my hand in his to help me out of the car.

We walked into the restaurant to meet the hostess right as we walked in. The woman looked between the two of us before looking down at our intertwined hands. She smiled at us and asked, "Welcome, table for two?"

"Table for RM," Namjoon said. The hostess's smile fell and her eyes widened at his statement.

"R-r-right," she stuttered as she gathered menus for us, quickly. "If you'll follow me."

The hostess led us through the restaurant. I noticed that there were other patrons in the restaurant this time, eating and talking. A lot of them stared as we walked by them. I didn't mind the stares, but I knew that Namjoon would since he was used to being hidden. I gently squeezed his hand. He looked down at me with a smile and my eyes were drawn to his dimples. My heart skipped a beat when I saw them.

The hostess led us to the outside deck seating. Soft music played through speakers and the breeze from the lake was nice and cooling. It was then that I noticed that there were no patrons on the deck.

"Choose any-any s-seat you want," the hostess stuttered.

I sighed as Namjoon picked a table. He pulled out the chair for me to take a seat. I sat down and he took the seat opposite of me.

The hostess handed us our menus and said, "Go ahead and take your time. Your waiter will be with you soon." She quickly rushed off, leaving us alone.

Once she was gone, I turned to Namjoon. He had his eyes on the menu in his hands.

"Did you pay them to have this area reserved for us?" I snapped.

"You said to stop spending so much money," Namjoon said looked over the top of the menu. "Be glad that I didn't buy out the restaurant for the night."

I laughed and began looking at the menu. There were so many great seafood options and even some non-seafood options. I knew that Namjoon would get one of the latter options, since he didn't like seafood.

"Are you going to have alcohol, Ana?" Namjoon asked.

"Are you?" I asked in return.

"That's why I'm asking you," Namjoon chuckled.

"I'll have one drink," I said. "I have work tomorrow."

"Well so do I," Namjoon said.

"There's a big difference between our jobs, Namjoon," I pointed out. The two of us laughed at my comment. The waiter nervously shuffled up to our table to get our drink order. I let out a sigh at the poor guy who looked ready to wet himself at the sight of Namjoon. If only they knew him like I did.

///

After dinner, Namjoon and I went on a walk along the lakeside. I had my hand in the crook of his arm and his hands were in his jacket pockets as we walked side-by-side. The moonlight reflected against the lake as waves lapped against the shore. I rested my head against his shoulder as I looked out at the lake.

It would have been romantic if not for the cold breeze and the cold weather that came with the sun going down. I was actually freezing in this dress that Namjoon had bought me. What made him think that it was a good idea to make me wear a dress in early fall was beyond me.

"I think we're the only two stupid enough to take a walk on the lakeside this late at night," I pointed out with a laugh.

"I agree," Namjoon laughed in agreement. "I thought this would be romantic, but it's just cold."

"I'm the one in a dress," I said. "Who's idea was it for that?"

"I thought you would look beautiful, and you do, so it was a great idea," Namjoon said in a defensive tone.

I laughed and hid my face into his shoulder. He nuzzled his head against the top of mine. I felt him press a soft kiss against the top of my head.

"It's nice to spend time with you like this," Namjoon muttered.

"Like what?" I asked and looked up at him.

"Just the two of us, alone. No JK or Suga watching from a distance. No one else is around to bother us. Neither of our work business. No ugly dog that growls at me. Just you and me, alone."

"It is nice. I'm glad that we're spending this time together," I said. "But there's one thing I still need to talk to you about."

"Oh no. That's never good to hear," Namjoon groaned. He sucked air in through his teeth and said, "Okay, go ahead. I'm ready."

"Why don't you want me working on this case?" I asked. "Who does 'BamBam' work for?"

Namjoon stopped walking which caused me to stop as well. Namjoon looked down at his feet and took a deep breath. He looked back up at me and began speak.

"BamBam works for a mafia called GOT7," Namjoon said. "Bangtan works with them very closely, even though they stay underground more than us. They told me what was really going on with the victim."

"And are you not going to tell me?" I asked.

"I don't want you getting involved, Ana," Namjoon said. "I love you too much to do that to you."

"I don't have to get involved. You can just tell me. If you want me to be in your life, you have to start telling me things, Namjoon."

"I already told you the hardest thing to tell others about myself. Just let me do this one thing for you."

I pulled my arm from his. He took his hand out of his pocket to try to grab my hand. I yanked my hand away from his reach before he could take it.

"Namjoon, I'm not trying to be a detective right now. I'm just trying to get to know my boyfriend's job. A lot of people talk to their boyfriends or girlfriends about their jobs. Why can't you do that with me? I tell you as much as I can about my job. Is it so hard to ask the same thing from you?"

"You're too innocent, Ana. I want to keep you that way. My job corrupts people. You think all my friends were like this when they started. You think JK was? He was such an innocent, cute kid when he started out working for me. Now look at him. My job changes people. I love the way you are now, I don't want you to become someone your not."

"You've talked to my family. You did a background check on me. You know the kind of person I am. You know that I've been like this since before the most traumatic experience of my life, my mother's death. Nothing can change me, I won't let it. You can tell me whatever it is."

Namjoon just stared at me. A silence fell between us as he thought about what to say next.

"GOT7 deals with prostitution and human trafficking."

Every inch of my body's muscles clenched. Namjoon kept his eyes on me. He gave me time to take in what he just said. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

Out of all the worst crimes that can be committed, human trafficking was above murder, in my book. Taking a life was a mercy compared to keeping someone against their will for their whole life.

"You don't . . . do that, . . . do you?" I asked slowly.

"No. My father did that when he was alive, but I stopped it. The money may have be great, but I didn't exactly like the idea of selling people who didn't want to be sold."

"Okay," I nodded. "So what do they have to do with Opal Harret?"

"Opal was one of their prostitutes. She would sell her body for a cut of the profit. I know it's awful. But she was sleeping with Jimin and he, in return, was helping her get out of all of this. And so was BamBam."

"Wait a minute. One of her pimps was helping her leave?"

"GOT7 wasn't her pimp, it turns out it was one of their lower ranked members. The main members of GOT7 never kept a prostitute if they didn't want to stay. But Opal was one of the highest earning women. They didn't want her to leave."

"So they killed her?"

"That's what doesn't make sense about all this. They wouldn't have killed her, only scare her into not leaving. That's why Jones is going to help GOT7 and Bangtan to find out who killed her. If someone is out there, killing their prostitutes, Bangtan has to help them find whoever is doing this. Because if they have the guts to go after GOT7's business, they have the guts to come after ours."

"I understand. But is the prostitution and human trafficking the reason you didn't tell me about this?"

He nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Ana. I never wanted to drag you into this."

"Namjoon, you remember I'm a detective right? I studied criminology. I know about all the terrible crimes in the world. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to start dating you. Sure I was a bit surprised, but it's nothing that I haven't heard about before."

Namjoon let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried that you would be angry, Little Detective. I wouldn't be able to stand myself if you started to hate me. I love you, Ana. More than I thought was even possible."

"You feel more than you think you do, Namjoon," I said as I took his hand in mine. "And I think that you can open up those feelings more around me. Because I-"

I stopped myself from saying two more little words. I stared up at him in shock, I didn't expect myself to say those things to him so early in our relationship. Sure he said it first, but this was all moving so fast.

"It's okay, Ana," Namjoon said. He pulled me close to him and wrapped his left arm around my waist. He lifted his right hand to cup it against my cheek. "You don't have to say it if you're not comfortable saying it yet. I know that you have feelings for me. It may or may not be love yet, but I'm okay with that."

"Thank you, Namjoon," I whispered. "You have to be the best mafia boss boyfriend ever."

"And you are the best girlfriend, Little Detective," Namjoon said. "And I will show you just how much I love you, everyday."

Namjoon started to lean down. I moved to stand on my tiptoes so he wouldn't have to bend over so far. I closed my eyes ready to feel his lips against mine. I felt his breath against my lips, but right before they touched, we were interrupted.

"Hey! Stop being cute if the two of you want a ride home!"

We pulled apart to see JK standing at the road next to the car. Namjoon rolled his eyes as he took my hand and began walking to the car.

"You coming over to my place tonight?" I asked.

"No, not tonight. Unless you want me to sleep over. We could have a fun time together, tonight."

"I have work tomorrow. I don't need a distraction in the morning."

"You're no good at romance, Little Detective."