Yongguk’s POV:

It had been a little bit over a month since the first examination, and things have settled down ever since.

This week, Jin assigned another mission—but only to half of the team since it was pretty minor, so I was excused along with DaeHyun and a few other hyungs. However, Jin decided that the next examination was coming soon, and as he promised, it was going to be a lot harder than the first one.

But until then, I had a few days left to myself.

Swinging my jacket over my shoulder, I prepared to head out.

“Bang,” Jin called out.

I froze.

“It’s time for your promotion ceremony.”

I felt my skin burning as Jin began digging the needle into my skin. Slowly, he inked the dots together to form a letter ‘T’ right next to my previous tattoo, which was a letter a letter ‘S’. I quickly slipped on my jacket after having him wrap and medicate the area.  

“Thanks Jin.”

“I trust you Bang,” he suddenly whispered as I began making my way towards the door. “Don’t make me disappointed.”

“I won’t,” I promised as I felt a pang of guilt suddenly hit me when I realized that I was incapable of keeping my word. Everything was bound to fall apart sooner or later.

Sorry Jin.

DaeHyun’s POV:

I watched Bang leave to his car, and followed closely behind him in mine—careful not to reveal myself.

He stopped at a grocery store and wandered in there for a while before coming back out. In his hands were two full bags of food and drinks. I frowned. There was no absolute way he was going to be able to finish those off by himself. He’s definitely eating with someone else.

I waited until he completely pulled out of the parking lot before starting my engine and following behind him.

After a while, I began to wonder if he was even knew where he was going due to all the excessive turns he took.

He took one last turn—which lead him into a dead end alley—before stopping his car and getting out.

Huh…? Why the hell did he stop here?

My heart began to race as he walked towards my direction. I quickly placed my head down onto my steering wheel, hoping that he wouldn’t recognize me. Unfortunately, my plan failed and he opened my car door.

“Get out. I know you’ve been following me this whole time,” he ordered coldly.

I was reluctant at first, but decided to step outside to prove to him that I wasn’t a coward.

“What the hell are you doing Dae?” he growled angrily. This was the first time I’ve ever seen him this furious at me.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you this question?” I retorted, narrowing my eyes.

“What are you trying to say?”

“You’ve been acting weird lately. I just wanted to see if you were fine or not,” I lied.

“Bull. If you wanted to know something, you would’ve asked me straight up instead following me around like this,” he replied sarcastically. “Look, either way, you need to stay the hell out of my business. I respect your privacy, so I hope you can respect mine too.”

He turned his back on me and began walking back to his car.

“Bang, I don’t know what the you’re trying to pull, but I suggest you stop. I’m not going to hesitate on telling Jin anything if I catch you doing some shady ,” I finally warned.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

I waited for him to respond, but he didn’t.

He kept on walking.

Based on the way he acted and the way I felt, I sensed that all connections between us were lost from that day on.

I’m not going to hold back anymore, Bang.

Jin’s POV:

As I finished cleaning up and packing away all the supplies from working on Bang’s ink from earlier, DaeHyun came back to the lair—slamming the door behind him. I looked at him strangely as he tramped towards me angrily. Although I was unable to decode exactly what he was feeling inside, I could sense a mixture of bitterness and jealousy through his eyes.

“Jin,” he huffed, “I respect you, and so I’m letting you know this. Please watch out for Bang.”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

“What are you saying?” I questioned curiously.

“I don’t even know…” he muttered under his breath, looking just as puzzled as I was. “Just watch out.”

I watched him as he left back outside for a smoke break.

Watch out? For what…?

Natalie’s POV:

“Natalie, come to Umma,” my mother called out gently.

I ran into her arms as she picked me up and placed me onto her laps. Holding me tightly, I felt secure and warm in my mother’s embrace.

Suddenly, the next thing I knew, I was thrown against the wall. My mother walked over to me—her eyes no longer recognizable—and held me up by my throat. Desperately gasping for air, I choked uncontrollably.

“HOW COULD YOU LET THEM DO THAT TO YOUR OWN MOTHER’S GRAVE?!” she screamed, only causing me to cry even harder.

My father walked into the living room. His face was expressionless.

“A-APPA, H-HELP ME!” I managed to choke out.

“No. You deserve this.”

I jolted awake in the middle of the night, gasping for air as if I was still being choked. The image of my parents’ grave being completely destroyed and disturbed suddenly flashed back into my mind as I began crying violently. And before I knew it, exhaustion and pain lulled me back to sleep.

I woke up to the warmth of the sunlight caressing my face.

Although I didn’t have work today, I forced myself to roll out of bed—afraid that if I continued to sleep, I’d dream of the unwanted once again.

After finishing my morning routine, I watered the plant that Yongguk had left behind. Within the past month, I made sure that I watered and gave the plant enough sunlight to grow. It wasn’t until today that I realized that the plant had bloomed into an extremely beauteous pink Aster.

I gazed at it for a while; thinking of the note Yongguk had left before leaving. I still remembered clearly what it had said.

Happy Birthday. I know this isn’t much, but I promise to be back by the time this little plant blooms into a flower. Take care. –B

I smiled sadly when I realized how much I missed his presence. I suddenly began to wonder what he was doing right now, and where he was, and if he was going—

My thought bubble abruptly popped when I heard the doorbell ring.  

Here's a picture of a pink Aster, just in case you guys wanted to know what one looked like since it came up in the chapter! (^.^) I did a little bit of research and found out that Asters symbolize patience, love of a variety, elegance, and daintiness. I also wanted to thank all 12 of my lovely subscribers! You guys are truly the best~ You all motivate me to continue writing hehe (`˘з˘)~♥ Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave me a comment if you'd like! \o/