Chapter 2

The sound of car doors slamming jerked Jimin awake. She took a few seconds to blink and get her bearings before sitting up. She was still resting against Jongup and smiled at him sleepily. Still in her daze, Jimin blindly reached for ever present bookbag. Only it wasn’t there. In a panic, she stupidly looked around for it in the back seat.

“Where’s my bag?” she asked Jongup’s stiff profile. He had the grace to look ashamed. “Where is it?!”

“Noona--”

Jimin looked out the heavily tinted window, then pressed her face to it in disbelief. “No. No you didn’t do this.”

“Noona!” Jongup’s call was ignored as Jimin tugged harshly on the latch to get out of the car. She looked up and down the familiar street in shock. Spotting Yongguk standing with his hands casually into his pockets, Jimin marched across the lawn with murder in her gaze.

“Are you ing kidding me? This is--”

“The safest house in Seoul,” Yongguk cut in. “You should know that. You used to live here.”

    “This isn’t what I wanted and you know it!” she hissed. Her fists were balled at her sides and she was shaking in her fury. “I meant a dingy little apartment in Jamsil.”

    Yongguk had the nerve to shrug. “You should have been more specific.”

Jimin wanted to smack the taunting tone from his voice. She breathed deeply three times to calm herself. “Where is my bag? I’m not staying here.”

“Shut up and go in the house. You’ll wake the neighbors.”

“Like I give a !” she shouted spitefully. “Give me my bag so I can go!” Yongguk just stood there and watched her. His calm made her lose hers, so Jimin shoved him. Repeatedly. Every time she made contact, she yelled, “Give it to me!”

When Yongguk finally had enough of her abuse, he caught her wrists to hold her in place. “That’s enough,” he growled and shook her gently.

“Hyung, you shouldn’t--” Jongup spoke from behind her. Jimin snapped her head in his direction and gave him a death glare.

“Don’t pretend to worry about me now,” she spat. With all her might, Jimin tried to shake Yongguk off. “Let me go.”

He let her struggle for a more seconds, let go slowly and took a step back. “Come inside so that we can talk. Please.”

After a tense silence, Jimin threw her hands up and shook her head. “Not like I really have a choice.”

She brushed past him and walked into the house she had walked out of four years prior. Like ‘The Shady Lady’, it hadn’t changed much. It looked more like a bachelor pad than she remembered. A little on the messy side, but not trashed. Probably due to Himchan’s nagging, she reasoned. The couches were all black leather now and there were no more pictures on the walls. She assumed it was for the best. Some things from the past were best left in the past.

“This way, noona,” Jongup said quietly. Jimin nodded and followed him, though she knew where she was going. When she walked into the den, she saw the contents of her bookbag spread out on the coffee table and the bag dangling from Yongguk’s fingers.

“How dare you!” Jimin lunged for Yongguk but Junhong jumped up and held her back. “You have no right to go through my things!”

Yongguk let the bag drop from his fingers and went to sit behind another desk. “What have we got, Himchan?”

“No cellphone, no wallet, no credit cards, no ID. A lot of cash, a good amount of jewelry. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds and the like--the good stuff. A computer with the battery taken out. A journal. Shredded bus tickets and food receipts. Toothbrush and such. And, um, some underwear,” Himchan finished cataloguing with a tinge of pink on his cheeks. “From what I can see, the tickets are from places alongs the coasts. I think her story checks out.”

Jimin’s eyes connected with Yongguk’s across the room and he shrugged. “Had to be sure."

“You’re an ,” she said spitefully. Jimin shrugged out of Junhong’s hold and went to gather her things.

“Who are you running from?” Himchan asked.

“Still not your business. What part of, ‘I just need a place to crash and help contacting Z’ was so hard to grasp?”

“If you coming here has endangered us, we have a right to know,” he argued further.

“What you aren’t understanding is, knowing who I’m running from will not make you safer. I told you, the less you know the better.”

“Is it a rival crew?” Daehyun asked and Jimin rolled her eyes.

    “I’ve been out for four years. No one even remembers me.”

“Crazy ex-boyfriend?” Yongguk asked with a grin.

“Hardly.” She rolled her eyes again as she zipped up her bag. Throwing it on her shoulder again, Jimin stood. “This was nice, really, but I’ll be on my way.”

“You walk out that door, I won’t contact Z,” Yongguk threatened. Jimin whirled around to look at him and he sat back in his chair. “I know how to get in touch with him. The better question is, why can’t you?”

“You know what would be fun? If you stopped asking me questions I obviously don’t want to answer.”

He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "You asked for help. I'm trying to help you."

"No, you're trying to wield your power over me and I'm not having it." Jimin headed for the door again when she heard Yongguk call Junhong's name. The youngest ran in front of her and barred the door. Jimin looked up. "I love you and you're bigger than me. But neither of those things will stop me from kicking your if you don't get out of my way. You have three seconds. One."

Junhong looked over her head at Yongguk, who shook his head.

"Two." Jimin took a step back and raised her hand. "Thr--"

"Take the bag." Before Jimin could react, Daehyun ripped the bag off of her arm. Jimin grappled to get it back, but Junhong held her arms still.

"Goddammit! Just let me go!" she cried.

"It's the computer, right?" Yongguk reasoned. "No ID, no passport. Just cash and jewels. Enough to set you up comfortably. Not to mention you're looking for Z. That means you're running with no intention of coming back. A computer seems like an odd thing for a woman on the run to keep with her.” He knelt down to take it out and flipped it over in his hands. Deep in contemplation, he rubbed his thumb on his bottom lip rhythmically. Yongguk took the battery out next and examined the two separate pieces. “I’m curious. What’s on here that’s so important?”

Jimin raised her chin and stared at him defiantly. “How many times am I going to have to tell you that it’s not your business?”

“Tell me,” he ordered. Jimin stayed quiet, so Yongguk held the computer out beside him. “Jae. You think you got a charger for this?”

“I think so, hyung.”

“No!” she screamed. All the men looked up at her in surprise. “Please. Just put it back.”

Yongguk looked from the computer to her a few times before dropping his arms to his sides. “I was curious before, but now I’m worried.”

Jimin buried her face in her hands for a moment then looked up at him pleadingly. “If you have ever trusted me, trust me now. Put it back in the bag and let me walk away. Pretend like you never saw me.”

“Tell me what’s on here,” he asked, taking the bite out of his tone.

Jimin shook her head. “I can’t. Have you not heard me? I’m sorry that I’ve involved you this far. I just didn’t have anywhere else to turn. But if you know, you’ll be in danger too.”

“I don’t scare easily.”

“Neither do I, but I’m scared enough that I shredded my ID’s and am trying to flee the country. I need Z for that. I need you to get to Z.” Jimin ran her fingers through her hair and took several long breaths. “I’m asking you - no - I am begging you to let this go.”

Yongguk and Jimin had a tense staring contest before he broke it. He walked back to the desk and set the laptop down. He tapped his fingers on it, making the only sound in the room. The members looked back and forth between them, waiting for a decision to be made. Yongguk picked the computer up and flipped it in his hands again. “Jae, take this and see what you can do with it.”

“You son of a ,” she spit.

“Hyung, maybe we shou--” Jongup started, but did not finish when Yongguk’s hand made a chopping motion.

“We can protect you, Mini-ah.”

“You cannot protect me from two governments! That is who I’m running from!” she yelled. Jimin sank down to her haunches and dropped her head into her hands. With her fingers gripping her hair, she looked up at him with blazing eyes. “Feel better now?”

No one moved for a long time. Then, Jongup approached her slowly and knelt down before her. He reached out to touch her shoulder gently, then drew her in for a hug. Jimin was still disappointed in him for his part in tricking her, but she needed the comfort. She wrapped her arms around him and let her head rest on his shoulder. Jongup her back soothingly while swaying left to right. When it felt that she had calmed, he relaxed his hold and kissed her cheek. “Can you tell me what happened to you?”

Jimin slumped so that her back rested against the door and drew her knees up. She kept her eyes focused on the floor between her feet and shook her head slowly. “If I tell you this, you can’t un-know it. Knowing what I know has put my life in danger, Jongup. I wasn’t exaggerating. I can only hide in plain sight for so long, especially with all the cameras around Seoul. Hell, I’ve been plain lucky to have survived this long. They will find me and I will disappear. I’d rather disappear on my own terms.”

He sat down crosslegged in front of her and held a hand out to hold hers. “How about you tell me the ‘what’ and leave out the ‘why’. Would that be okay? We’ll get you in touch with Z and out of Korea as soon as possible. We will hide you for as long as it takes. I just really want to understand what’s going on with you.”

Jimin looked into his eyes and debated. She looked around the room at the other men looking at her, they nodded at her one by one. She let out a deep breath and nodded.

“Fine. I’ll tell you what I can....”