“Taehyung?” I rasp, scrambling up to my feet. “How- how did-,”

“You think I wasn’t tracking you after you almost died?” he snarls, his eyes trained on Tom.

I narrow my eyes. “Which time?”
 

He ignores my snippy comment. “I’m assuming this is where Lucy’s been,” he says. “And seeing how Jimin’s gone, it’s probably safe to say he’s the one who set this whole place up.”

“You don’t understand,” Tom says.

“Oh, I think I do, Hado.”

Anger and shame about the fact that I am the one who led Taehyung here overtakes me. I march right in front of Taehyung, eliciting a gasp of alarm from Tom.

“So what are you going to do?” I ask savagely. “Are you going to report them? Get Jimin and Lucy killed?”

Taehyung presses his lips down into a thin, hard line. “Just explain this to me. How did you manage to convince Jimin Park to help you?”

“He came to us first,” I hiss. His eyes widen in disbelief. “You have no idea what Lucy’s been through, Taehyung. No ing idea.”

“So explain,” he says.

“There’s no time-,”

“Really?” Taehyung raises his hands, which are pulsing with molten-white chi. “You sure about that?”

Harsh, raucous laughter tears from my throat as I stick my face into Taehyung’s, the fury in his eyes undoubtedly mirroring my own. “Oh, are you going to kill me? Burn me into ashes-,”

“Stop it!” Tom yells, shoving himself between us. “Taehyung. When we get inside, Jimin will show you. Just trust us.”

“What? Jimin’s not gonna show him !” I yell as Taehyung snorts, “Trust us? Why the would I trust you?”

Tom pulls a knife out of his pocket- one of the compressible blades that I crafted for him ages ago. He tosses it over to Taehyung.

“This is my only weapon,” he says. “If you’re not satisfied by the time we leave, you can use it however you want on me.”

I lunge for the knife. “Tom, no-,”

“Deal,” Taehyung says, yanking it away from my grasp. “Let’s go.”

I’m livid as we march over to the entrance of the cottage. I refuse to make eye contact with Tom or Taehyung. When Tom lifts a hand to my shoulder, I pettily yank myself away.

Sighing, he withdraws a key from around his neck. “Stay quiet,” he tells us. “I don’t know what to expect.”

The cottage is absolutely silent. Unease creeps up the pit of my stomach as we tiptoe through the dark foyer, turn into a side hallway. The unassuming brown doors lining the walls are all identical. There’s no trace of anyone here. My hand involuntarily reaches for my parang, gripping it tight as I follow Taehyung and Tom through the house.

And then Taehyung rounds the corner and I hear a quiet, “Jesus .”

When I see what he’s staring at, I freeze.

We’re standing in front of a living room, a bright, airy space filled with wide windows that’s a stark contrast from the rest of the dim cottage. A blazing fire crackles in the corner, surrounded by plush cloud sofas and loveseats in muted neutral colors and tiny green succulents lining the hearth. Books with embossed covers are strewn across the wood table in the back.

And Lucy is lying in the middle of a fluffy beige couch, cashmere throws and fluffy pillows strewn around her. Holding her to his bare chest is Jimin. Both of them are fast asleep, their chests rising and falling in unison. Jimin’s lips rest atop Lucy’s silky black hair.

The scene would be lovingly domestic if it weren’t so appalling.

“What in the is this,” Taehyung hisses. “Are you serious? This is still going on?”

Tom gapes up at him. “You knew about this?”

“I thought Jimin was flirty with her in high school- but he was flirty with everyone-,”

I laugh softly. “He doesn’t know .”

“You can’t tell anyone,” Tom utters. His eyes are glued upon the two intertwined figures.

Taehyung peers at my stony expression. “So they’ve been in a relationship this entire time. That’s why he saved her.”

“No. It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?”

Tom doesn’t get a chance to respond, because all of a sudden, we hear Lucy let out a gasp of anguish- so abrupt that the three of us start in shock. Her eyes are still closed as her face twists into a look of distress. Tears begin streaming down her cheeks as she lets out soft, desperate moans of sorrow- like she’s having a nightmare she can’t wake up from. Her silk cami rides up her torso as her body flails around.

“Ow,” Jimin mumbles as her fist lightly hits his jaw. He blinks open his eyes. The moment he registers what is happening, all exhaustion leaves his expression.

“Hey,” he whispers in Lucy’s ear. His fingers gently rub circles onto her bare skin. “Lucy. I got you.”

“Make it stop,” she whimpers in a heartbreaking voice.

“Do you want another chi infusion?” he asks, his voice impossibly tender. “I know the doctors said you should wean off, but if it’ll make it better-,”

“Just one pill,” Lucy pleads. “Just one more, I promise, one is enough-,”

My heart feels like it’s breaking. I grasp Tom’s hand, squeezing it tightly, and he pulls me into his side. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Taehyung tear his eyes away from the living room to stare at the two of us. My gaze flickers to his for a brief moment, and then flits back to Jimin and Lucy.

“I can’t do that, angel,” Jimin whispers.

“Jimin, please, I’m sorry for everything, I’m so sorry, just please, one more-,”

Jimin passes a hand over Lucy’s forehead. Her eyes begin to droop, fluttering rapidly. In the next moment she’s fallen asleep again.

Tom, Taehyung, and I stand in absolute silence. Jimin is staring at Lucy with an intense, unreadable look on his face.

And then he utters, “You’re a week late.”

Tom clears his throat, stepping out from behind the wall. “We ran into complications. Joo and Dev got chi poisoning.”

Jimin’s jaw tightens. “I see. Where are they?”

“I’m here,” I mumble, peeking my head out. “Um... we have some bad news.”

“What is it?” Jimin snaps. He looks incredibly frazzled, dark crescents under his eyes and his entire body sagging in weariness. “What could possibly be worse than you two seeing that?”

Taehyung walks into the living room.

Jimin stills.

And in the next moment, Jimin’s pounced on Taehyung from halfway across the living room, his knee driven square into his chest. I scream, “No!” as he raises his hands, ready to ram them into a terrified Taehyung’s face-

Tom shouts an incantation and Jimin freezes in mid-air. Taehyung takes his incapacitation to scramble out from under him, his chest heaving wildly.

“What the is going on,” he pants.

Jimin’s eyes dart to Tom in pure, smoldering wrath, willing him to free him from his magical paralysis.

“Don’t hurt him,” Tom says slowly, like he’s talking to a feral dog. “It’s too suspicious if you kill him.”

He releases Jimin. The temperature in the room plummets fifty degrees, dropping so low that I can see my breath in short puffs in front of my face. My body is trembling in a mixed reaction to the cold and my fear.

“How could you?” Taehyung whispers. “You’re betraying the Kado, your Junior Vice Captaincy, your friends... for a girl?”

“She had all three of those things before I did,” Jimin snarls.

Taehyung furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “What-,”

“Come here,” Jimin says. When Taehyung doesn’t move, he barks, “Come here!”

Taehyung scrambles over to him in alarm. Any sense of intimidation he previously exuded has been far eclipsed by Jimin’s aura. He winces as his Junior Vice Captain places a hand on his forehead.

Jimin locks eyes with me over Taehyung’s head.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” he snarls.

“He was tracking me,” I breathe. “I’m sorry- I should’ve-,”

“We’ll talk about this later.” Jimin closes his eyes, utters a few inaudible sentences under his breath. Slowly, his palm begins to glow bright blue.

Tom and I stand there for a minute, which stretches into ten, which stretches into twenty. My heartbeat is racing furiously; I have to take a seat on an ottoman to steady myself. Tom slumps down next to me, his head buried in his hands.

And then a ragged gasp leaves Taehyung’s lips.

“Lucy,” he moans. His eyes are wide and glassy. For a second, he simply stares at the floor, unmoving.

Then he roars, “Bastard!” and launches his fists at Jimin.

They’re easy punches- Jimin deflects them effortlessly- but I see a flash of pain across Jimin’s face. Discovering that you forgot about a childhood friend who was so tightly woven into your life is already traumatizing. Learning that your trusted Junior Vice Captain is responsible must be even worse. Taehyung is sobbing by the time Jimin pins his arms behind his back.

“You- how could you- ing- I hate you so much,” Taehyung chokes out. For the second time today, my heart feels like it’s being ripped out of my chest. Tom lets out a breath of unease as I slink forward.

“Tae,” I murmur. My hands gently push his hair back from his face. “I know it’s a lot to take in-,”

“You,” he growls with such ferocity that I wince back. “You knew? And you didn’t tell me?”

“I- would you have even believed me? And I didn’t know the full extent of your memories with Lucy-,”

“ you,” he spits out.

“Just give him some time,” Jimin utters dully. “I just restored 19 years worth of buried memories. He just needs time to process it.”

“H-He’s going to hate me.”

“No. He’s going to realize that you had no choice- and that I had no choice, either.”

My entire body is shaking uncontrollably- my chest starts to get tight and a familiar feeling of terror creeps over me. "What if he tries to tell everyone and gets killed? This is all my fault-,"

"Hey." Jimin plants his hands on my shoulders so firmly that I gasp in pain. "Pull yourself together. We have things to discuss right now."

"Wha- can't we talk later-,"

"No." He stands up, looks directly at Tom. "We need to figure out why your friend's Captain supplied Lucy with illegal magical drugs."

A/N: i hope y'all had a WONDERFUL new years and xmas!! this month 4 years ago is when i started this story. it should hopefully be drawing to a close soon (idw call it though because the last time i said that 2 years ago, i wrote a really ty ending, took a 2 year hiatus, and had to rewrite everything LOL). 

i'm so sorry i've been so bad at replying to comments, work has been insane. i love y'all a lot, i hope life is going well. pls feel free to message me/comment if life is ty and you need someone to vent to, okay? i'm being srs forreal.