Chaeyoung felt drowsy after all the hours of ignoring sleep. Jungkook’s grandfather had asked her to get a rest and by that, she knew that he meant for her to get at least a short nap. But she hadn’t been able to. She had felt anxious at each second, because Jungkook had not yet opened his eyes.

But a smile managed to form on her tired face because his abdomen was already healed. His chest was surprisingly quicker to heal, and she was unsure whether it was because of her or it was because the spirits of Healers had granted her the miracle she wished for. She was left with his shoulder, and perhaps, if she was finished with that, then she would be able to take a short nap.

Chaeyoung’s head slightly turned to the closed door of Jungkook’s room as she placed her hand over his shoulder. Jungkook’s grandfather was talking outside, but she was sure he wasn’t talking to her. At least one other man was outside, talking in hush whispers and Chaeyoung glanced briefly at Jungkook.

Panic rose within her, all the while thinking of how Jungkook’s tormenters could be out there and Jungkook’s grandfather was alone facing them.

But could it be possible that they feared nothing even after the old man had beaten them up? They were knocked out with horrible wounds, but they were lucky that the elder Jeon had spared them their precious lives.

Carefully, Chaeyoung stood and walked to the door, hesitating as she held onto the door handle. She opened it as slowly as she could to prevent the door from making a sound. When the door opened wider and the faint voices became clearer, her brows furrowed.

“It is an urgent matter, sir. Please.”

She stepped closer and stood behind the large frame of Jungkook’s grandfather and saw a mop of blond hair that she recognized immediately.

“Jimin?”

Jungkook’s grandfather stepped aside. “Is this really your brother?”

Chaeyoung’s eyes locked onto Jimin whose eyes had widened as he looked at her from her head to toe, life emptied out of his face.

“Yes. He is my brother,” she said, and her eyes flitted toward Taehyung who had just the same expression as her brother’s, standing just beside him with his mouth hanging open. “And that is my friend.”

Jungkook’s grandfather left them quietly and went to check on his grandson, leaving the three of them breathing silence instead of words to greet each other. It was Jimin, finally, who broke the thickened silence.

“What happened to you?” His eyes glistened and lips trembling as he pulled her into his embrace and Chaeyoung’s brows furrowed in confusion when Jimin hugged her tighter. “Who hurt you?”

Chaeyoung pulled back, pushed some of her hair to behind her ears and watched Jimin’s tears slowly rolled down his cheeks. She turned to Taehyung whose face had went paler than ever.

Jimin brushed his thumbs across Chaeyoung’s face here and there, blue lights glowed under his fingertips and she felt lighter and lighter. It was only then she realized that he was healing her face.

She had cuts caused by the harsh slaps she received from the men who had captured her while she was on her way home. She had thrashed and clawed and tried to fight them, but she was outnumbered. Once her face had healed, only then she remembered the pain on her gut and ribs of when she was kicked by one of the men, the pain on the back of her head of when Jiwon had stepped on with his heavy boot, the pain on her neck when Hanbin was strangling her. She shuddered in fear and like a rush, her tears fell, and she threw herself into her brother’s protective arms.

*

The air was stuffy and Jimin was left with no word in his mouth as he healed each one of the areas where his little sister was injured. He decided that he would ask right after he was done with everything.

Taehyung had pulled him and his sister a little farther from Jungkook’s house, sitting underneath a large tree and told them that they needed somewhere private to talk. Chaeyoung refused to go too far, her reason was muffled and unclear to him as she spoke through broken sobs with her face buried into his shoulder.

He sat in the middle of his sister and his best friend, and every one of them was silent the whole time. Taehyung was staring far into the distance, his finger twirling in the air slowly and the fallen leaves on the ground tens of steps away from them floated in the air, moving in response to Taehyung’s silent command like a slow dance.

Chaeyoung’s tears had stopped, her fingers fiddled on her white dress, impure with blood everywhere. Jimin’s heart ached at the thought of all those bloods on her dress belonged to her.

He breathed out heavily. Perhaps, Taehyung was right. It could not be possible. Guilt began to breed within him for all the assumptions he had made.

“Why did the two of you come here?” Chaeyoung asked.

Jimin felt too guilty to even speak. Now, he was more confused than ever. He wished the answer would just solidify in front of him. When he glanced at Taehyung, his friend lifted a brow, urging him to tell his sister the reason.

“You were not home for dinner and I was worried,” he said with a slight stammer.

Chaeyoung sighed heavily, folding her knees up and wrapping her arms around her legs. Jimin felt a soft nudge on his side and turned to Taehyung who mouthed to him something. Tell her.

“Chaeyoung, there is something I need to tell you,” he said finally after contemplating for a couple more moments.

She seemed to realize how serious the topic would be that she finally looked at him, her body stiffened, and she began to sit straight. “I hope it is not any news regarding Koo Junhoe.”

Jimin’s breath hitched at the way his sister spat Junhoe’s name like it was a sinful word. He shifted on the ground, pushing away all thoughts of the man as he shook his head gently. When Chaeyoung’s brows knitted and forehead creased, Jimin wetted his lips and swallowed a couple times, throat suddenly drying. Taehyung seemed to register the situation that he gently held onto Jimin’s shoulder, assuring him that it would all be fine.

He began to tell his sister. From the moment he was visited by the Supplier and received Red Dahlia, everything the Village Leader told him, the appearances of some faces in his head, how frequent her face surfaced in his mind whenever he thought of the flower. He let out a long breath and turned his gaze toward his sister.

Chaeyoung’s face had lost its color, eyes hollow, lips parted and body frozen. He cleared his throat, trying to assure himself that he was wrong the whole time and that Taehyung was right. But the way Chaeyoung was acting at that moment was making him scared. He was scared that he was right. He wanted her to prove him wrong.

She the air in sharply, her fingers curling around her bloodstained dress. Jimin’s eyes dropped toward the reds around the whites of her dress. Taehyung’s voice repeating the word ‘impossible’ echoing in his head suddenly became distant from the moment he revealed every thought of his. Chaeyoung couldn’t have lost that much