Are you enjoying yourself?” Jimin asked me. After finishing my talk with Yoongi, Jimin called me over.

       “I am. I missed the fresh air. The sun feels even bright right now.”

       “That’s because, it’s already noon.” Jin came up laughing. He had dirt all over his clothes.

       “Hyung, what were you doing?” This was the first time I heard Jimin’s laugh—not the laugh back at the abandon building, but a genuine laugh.

       “Jungkook wanted to wrestle.” Jin whined. “He’s too strong and dragged me around in the dirt.” Jin looked at me.

       “Did you have a good time talking to Suga?”

I nodded, “Yes, Yoongi, was very nice.” Both men just gawked at me. I was puzzled by the looks on their faces. “W-what?”

       “Yoongi?” Jimin mumbled. Jin’s face lit up.

       “Yoongi told you about us, didn’t he?” I was nervous now.

       “N-not much. I-I mean, he told me about you being abandon and s-stuff.”

Jin laughed,” I see. Well my real name Seok Jin, but please just call me Jin.”

       “O-oh, ok.” I mumbled.

       “I can’t believe he opened up to you so fast. Yoongi is the toughest cookie to crack.” Jin laughed more. “I mean, it’s not much, but still. Yoongi is very private.”

       “Jimin, come wrestle me.” Jungkook whined, ending the conversation between the three of us.

       “Aish, this kid!” Jimin laughed running off towards Jungkook.

I looked at Jin, nervous to bring up the topic again, “J-Jin, have you ever met your parents?” Jin smiled warmly back at me.

       “Yes, actually. When I was sixteen, I went to the park to look for a good victim to steal from. I heard my mom laughing. You may think that sounds crazy, that I could remember such a thing, but it is true. I couldn’t recognize her face. She had cut her hair, and her face showed aging. Not much though. My father was there, however, I couldn’t recognize his face either. I guess you never forget your mom’s voice, though. That’s when I noticed the little girl they were playing with.”

       “A little girl?” I was puzzled by the distant smile on his face.

Jin nodded, “She was my sister. Here I was abandon at the age of ten, but there she stood; my sister. She couldn’t have been older than seven at the time.”

I gasped a little, “I-I’m so sorry. That must have been hard to see.” Jin chuckled darkly.

       “What? That after abandoning me all by myself, they decided to have another child? That they chose my sister over me?” Jin looked at me darkly. This was the first time I saw something so sad in his eyes. “You have no idea how much I resented them. Six years, I walked the streets with no mother or father to protect me. I wanted to run up and scream at them for leaving me. I wanted them to see what they had done to their own son…but alas, I opted to walk away.”

       “Walk away?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

       “When I saw my baby sister smile, all I wanted to do was hold her. You see, I could care less about my parents. They didn’t want me, and I don’t want them. But my sister never got to know me, and I never got to be a big brother. I lost so much time with her already. I wish that one day we can meet. I want to know who she is.”

       “Why don’t you go see her?” I questioned. “Surely, you could go find her.”

Jin laughed, “How do you tell someone that you are a murderer?” I froze. I didn’t have an answer for him. “Exactly. Don’t get me wrong, joining BTS saved me. It saved Yoongi…it saved all of us, but we don’t live the lifestyle of saints.”

       “You could always leave.”

Jin shook his head, “No way. I owe my life to Namjoon and the others. You don’t get it. Yoongi and I never had a roof over our head. We lived our entire life off the streets, off of stealing. You know how we got an education? We didn’t. Namjoon was the one who taught us. Yoongi and I have known Namjoon for eight years now? Something like that. He was still in high school at the time, but he was a genius. I don’t remember how the three of us became friends, but we did. He taught us after school. It was…wonderful. Then Namjoon told us one day how he was bent on getting revenge against a guy. He wanted him dead…we would do anything for Namjoon.” Jin looked so calm, “Namjoon didn’t just teach us, he fed us and allowed us to shower at his place from time to time. He cared for us when he could. It was hard, I’ll admit. His father was always watching him.”

       “I don’t understand, though. Why does Namjoon want revenge? Why did you guys join?” I was confused, the more I was told the more I wanted to know.

       “He wants the man who murdered his mother dead. You will never understand, but this man is very dangerous. He is the head of a lot of different organizations. He has a lot of connections and has done more unimaginable things than you could ever dream of. In one way or the other, we’ve all been on the other side of the sword when facing this man. For Namjoon, it was his dead mother…Even if it means killing, none of us care.”

I gasped, “That’s awful!”

Jin shrugged. “Life is a game, Lucy. One you don’t want to play. When you fight against it, it will tear you apart.”

       “J-Jin?” Jin smiled bitterly at me.

       “The only way to survive this game, is to kill. Kill or be killed. We’re all in this now, and we must finish this game. One way or another.” I felt the tears pricking at my eyes.

       “You can’t think of life that way!” I yelled at him. The boys turned to stare at us. “All of you just think of this as a joke. Life is precious! You’re right, it can be taken away from you so quickly. The people you care about disappear before you know it, and life gives you a bad hand. You end up in situations you never knew were possible, but even so…” I was thinking about grandma’s death, I was thinking about being kidnapped, and I was thinking about them. “Even so, you can’t just throw your life away! Living your life every day like it doesn’t matter is wrong. There are people out there that still care about you, who want you to live. They want to see you succeed. I know that t-that’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth. Just look at all of you. You all found each other for a reason, right? Don’t live your life waiting to die, but live it like you could at any moment. Live it to the fullest and become the people you want to be.”

       I was angry. At who, I don’t know. I just felt so troubled that Jin looked at life so indifferently.

I grabbed a fist of Jin’s shirt, “Live your life like you can’t wait to see your sister’s face.” I could see a tear at the corner of Jin’s eyes, but all he did was smile.

Jin rubbed my head, “Thank you. Your words mean a lot to me, but it doesn’t change anything. We will still continue down our path, and none of us will rest until we see that man dead.”

        “Alright, that’s enough serious talk!” Namjoon stepped in, “We are here to enjoy ourselves. There will be no more talk about business. Do we all understand each other?” Namjoon was smiling, but his voice said otherwise. He was very stern. At his command, everyone turned and continue to play. Even Jin left my side to wrestle with Namjoon. Seeing them all like this made me forget that I was kidnapped.

        ‘kidnapped.’ I turned my eyes to the road towards the forest. I didn’t realize it, but I started walking towards it. It was mere curiosity that drove me to walk towards it. It was the sense of freedom that gave me the courage to walk a bit faster. The air smelt so fresh, and the wind felt so good. I could hear the tree leaves rustling. It reminded me of the days that Behn and I would climb trees, playing hide and seek.

BANG

       I froze in my footsteps, crouching at the sound of the gun going off. I turned to see that Jhope was the one that had shot the gun.

       “And just where do you think you’re going?” Came Yoongi’s menacing voice.

       “I-I wasn’t trying to escape!” I put my hands up in surrender, but Jungkook just grabbed my hair, forcing my head to the ground. Taehyung had grabbed my arms, tying them behind my back.

       “Lies, lies, lies.” Taehyung scolded. His glare was terrifying.

       “I swear! I just wanted to see.” I pleaded. I saw the pitiful look Jin gave me, and it made me feel guilty for some reason.

       “I got her.” Jimin mumbled, lifting me with ease and carrying me back into the house.

       “I guess fun time is over.” Yoongi sighed.

 

 

        I was slammed onto the basement floor once more. I moaned in pain.

       “Do you think I’m an easy man?” Jimin growled.

       “What? N-no. I swear I don’t know what came over me.” I sat up the best I could to look at his face. “I just was reminiscing about my brother. We used to climb trees when we were kids. I wasn’t trying to escape. Please believe me.” Jimin scared me. He was always so gentle, but the last punishment he gave me was enough for me to never want to cross him.

Jimin sighed, kneeling in front of me, “I believe you. That doesn’t change the fact that I need to punish you.” My eyes widened in fear.

       “Please no.” I whimpered.

Jimin hummed, “My hyungs have been very kind to you, have they not? Jin cooks your meals, Yoongi even talked to you about his past. Hell, even Taehyung did. We’ve all been doing everything we can do make you feel more comfortable around us, yet you still cause us trouble.”

       “If you feel that way, why don’t you just release me!” I shouted, “Or kill me like Yoongi wanted you to!” Jimin pointed his gun directly between my eyes.

       “Is that what you want? To die? I’ll grant it for you.” Jimin glared at me. “For someone who talks about the value of life, you sure throw yours away pretty quickly.”

       “I-I—” I couldn’t find the words. Jimin cocked his gun. I shut my eyes in fear. I felt the gun move down to my chest, pushing against where my heart was.

       “I told you, I don’t want to kill you. I’m not like Yoongi. I don’t like having casualties. If I can keep someone alive, I choose to do so, but if you want to die…”

       “I don’t want to die!” I shouted. “I just don’t understand.”

       “Don’t you remember me telling you, “Ignorance is bliss.”” Jimin put his gun away, slowly. “You’re starting to know a lot about us. You know our pasts, you know our age, what we look like, and now you know our reasons for killing.”

       “I still don’t know yours.” I whispered.

Jimin smiled, “And I don’t plan on telling you. I just want you to know that we aren’t the bad guys. I wish you could see that what I’m doing is what’s best for you. I don’t want to kill you, but I can’t let you leave either. So my only option is to keep you prisoner.” Jimin pulled me into a hug. I felt so scared, so stiff in his arms. But I can’t lie, his warmth felt nice, too. It’s been way to long since I felt the warmth of a hug.

His voice was very soothing. “I’ll try to make this place easier for you. I’ll find a spare blanket and pillow, and I’ll try to let you come out more often. But you have to obey. You can’t keep leaving my sight.” He held me so tightly. Something told me that Jimin had a fear of losing things. For what reason, I don’t know.

       “I’m sorry.” Was all I could say. Jimin chuckled, untying me and leaving me on the floor. He left the room for a split second. When he came back, he had a paddle in his hands.

       “J-Jimin.” I stuttered, backing away.

       “I told you, you need to be punished.” He bent me over his knee and began the same punishment he had done last week. I knew he could see the bruises that were still there, but that didn’t stop him from swatting as hard as he could. Once more, I knew the other six guys could hear my wails of pain. I begged Jimin to stop, but he continued. It felt like an eternity before the suffering ended. It wasn’t until about forty that he stopped this time. I panted, pleading for no more. Jimin laid me down, leaving with the paddle. He came back once more with a pillow and blanket.

       “I’ll see what we can do about possibly getting you a bed or something, but you have to earn it.” Jimin told me. He tucked me in, caressing my face as the tears fell from my eyes. The pain was unbearable. Suddenly, Jimin kissed my tear-stained cheeks.

       “Don’t cry. Hopefully, this is the last time I’ll have to punish you.” Jimin continued to pepper my face with small kisses. It worked. It stopped my tears. I was so shocked. I’ve never had someone kiss me so gently before.

       “Jimin?”

       “Go to sleep now. I’ll be gone tomorrow, but someone else will be here to keep you company.” Jimin left, locking the door. It was only a little past midday, but all the crying and pain had me exhausted.

       “No matter how sorry I feel for them…No matter how kind they appear,” I whispered to myself, “They are still murderers. I don’t belong in their world. I need to escape.” I closed my eyes, dreading for tomorrow.