✓ 𝑺𝑬𝑹𝑷𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑬

red dawn

"Prove your loyalty to us, baby." Areum gulps while the postcard slips from her frail fingers and drops to the ground.

Min Yoongi.

The man who'd shown her what it really meant to be loved and cherished.

The same man she'd betrayed, all those years ago.

She couldn't even pluck up the courage to look at his name, let alone replay all the memories which came with it, whether they were good or bad.

"Who's us?" Areum's voice is bitter as she spits out her emphasis on the word 'us'.

She refused to look Jimin in the eyes, unable to comprehend what it was he were asking her to do.

Instead, her body remains frozen, a block of ice replacing her heart while icicles soar through her veins and rip through her bones.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you, sweetheart." Jimin sighs, a hand reaching out to grace the delicate skin of Areum's cheek.

"Fuck you, Jimin." A dark chuckle leaves his lips when Areum's hand comes flying down on his cheek, the stinging sensation sizzling his flesh and turning it raw.

FLASHBACK

AREUM'S POINT OF VIEW

I've learnt to grow thorns for arms and a shard of glass as my tongue.

That way, it'll be harder for people to break through those barriers and hurt the real me.

The vulnerable, broken side of me just begging to seep through the cracks and into broad daylight, for the whole world to see and exploit.

I refuse to allow that to happen, though.

Why can't you do the same, baby?

You're drunk.

I understand that the poison happily flowing through your veins is holding you back, but you're stronger than this.

You just don't know it yet.

"What happened, Yoon?" I watch as he reaches into his pocket before pulling out yet another cigarette, eyes drawn to the blood stained, ash filled carpet below.

"What's usually happened when I come home like this, Yuri?" He slurs his words yet they hit me like a ton of bricks.

In truth, I know exactly what's happened and exactly who the man behind the gun is.

"He's going to pay for this." My voice simmers down to a whisper as I reach out to wipe the blood off Yoongi's plush lip, the purple socket around his left eye staring straight at me.

"I swear."

"Yeah? how?" Yoongi chuckles softly, forehead pressed to mine.

"Have you ever killed someone?" Reaching for the last of the wine, giggles bounce off the walls of Yoongi's apartment.

He was older than me, by three years to be precise.

He'd welcomed me into his home, kind of like a stray puppy up to no good.

He saved me when no one else was prepared to, and despite the rough edges surrounding him, he truly is an angel.

A fallen angel, as you could say.

"Yuri, my Father's a prison guard. He'd turn you inside out."

I watch, hypnotised as Yoongi laughs once again, only this time, his gummy smile makes an appearance.

That damn smile.

It'll be the death of me, just you watch.

"I'm not one to back down, Yoon. You should know that by now." I observe as he inhales the burning nicotine from his cancer stick, enjoying the thrill of it running down his throat, only for it to be cast back out as blue smoke.

"You truly can't be tamed, can you princess?" I shake my head like a giddy child.

"But you wouldn't want me any other way, Yoon." I snatch the cigarette from his rough fingers before taking a drag myself.

He watches with adoration, dreamy eyes locked on mine.

Oh, how I could get lost in those blue pools.

It's as if they're staring straight into my core, unravelling every single detail concerning my being, without doing so much as battering an eyelid.

"Mm-hm, you got that right." Before I know it, he closes the small gap separating our hungry lips, the first line of contact sparking electricity through my veins.

We'd done this hundreds of times, maybe even thousands, but that wasn't stopping the thrilling effect he had on my heart and soul.

Every.

Damn.

Time.