✓ 𝑺𝑬𝑹𝑷𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑬

traitor

FLASHBACK

A single, cool tear runs down Areum's hot cheek as she makes her way through the deserted streets of Daerim.

Not a soul was in sight.

No lonely, heroin addicts or prying hookers.

No one.

Her hand shakes as she stares at the pocket knife clasped between her fingers, Min Ji-Hoon's blood trickling off the silver.

Unable to bear the sight anymore, she drops it to the filthy, cold ground below.

It lands with a clatter and thud, mimicking the actions of her heart.

Tonight, Areum had killed a man.

Out of love and commitment, she'd pressed a knife to Yoongi's father's throat, and not just for intimidation purposes.

No.

She'd cut through the thick layer of skin protecting him from life and death.

Only to watch him drain out at her mercy.

Areum hadn't wanted it to come to this but in that specific moment, it seemed like the only way to break Yoongi out of his seemingly everlasting pain and misery.

"I'm sorry . . ." Areum's voice is no louder than a whisper, practically breaking at the core.

Without another pathetic cry for help, she pulls out the letter she'd pre-written for the one she loved the most.

Dear Yoongi,

By the time your eyes skim over these words, I'll be behind bars.

A place that will separate me from you.

Maybe for eternity, maybe for a second.

I guess I haven't thought that far.

Still, I want you to know, I did this for you.

I did it all for you, okay baby?

No matter what the local newspaper reads or the latest headline of the ten o'clock news.

They don't know the real story, our story.

Yours and mine.

Despite what you may think of me right now, one thing I know for sure is that I will love you no matter what.

You remain and will always remain the first person to bring my soul alive, make me feel like a somebody when everyone I've ever known has made me feel like a nobody.

With that said, I love you from the bottom of my heart, forever and always.

Yours truly,

Yuri.

Areum seals the envelope with the blood ingrained into her fingertips before slipping it into the nearest letter box.

It's not long before the heart-wrenching sound of sirens fills her ears and she knows it's over.

Everything she's ever worked towards was about to be vanished before her eyes.

The slate was about to be wiped clean, for, she knew she'd never be the same person again.

"I'm so fucking sorry."

END OF FLASHBACK

"You fucking liar!" Areum storms into her apartment, tears streaming down her face along with her mascara.

Thunder roars above her head while her mind fills with lightning bolts.

She points a finger in Jimin's direction, who'd already decided to make himself at home on her settee.

"There's a difference between lying and not saying anything, baby." He gazes blankly at the women raging before him, completely unnerved by her obvious fury.

Jimin continues to suck on the cigarette poised gracefully between his ringed fingers.

He makes smoking look harmless.

"What, you seriously thought it would be okay to miss out the part where you tell me you work alongside Min fucking Yoongi?!" Areum cries out, voice cracking as she begins to break down from the inside out.

The pain in her voice was unmissable.

It was so true, so fucking raw.

"Look, I didn't want to hurt you, okay?" Jimin rises to his feet, sighing as he approaches the broken women before him.

It was as if he were visiting her in prison all over again.

"Hurt me? Well it's too fucking late for that Jimin." Areum's vision blurs, filled to the brim with everlasting tears.

"You must have questions. I have the answers to those very questions, Angel." Jimin reaches out to feel Areum's reddened cheeks, only to get rejected.

"Don't fucking touch me." With a swat to the hand, Areum stands deadly still yet full of distress.

Her eyes are glued to the ground, too afraid to meet those belonging to the monster currently towering over her.

"Well, that's a first—"

"How the fuck did it come to be that you and Yoongi work within the same organisation?" Areum plucks up the courage to look at Jimin, flames dancing in her eyes as she channels her anger into asking these questions.

Her skin burns before finally catching on fire.

"He had links, Ari. Family connections within the organisation. I guess he wanted to get back at the society which had fucked him over while still being close to you. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the love-fuelled way you'd probably hoped for."

Tears race down Areum's face as reality hits her like a tonne of bricks.

She felt as if she'd been stabbed in the heart and stabbed again.

The world had chewed her up, only to spit her out into the deepest and darkest hole on earth.

"Why would you send me on this mission? Was it his idea?" Areum's lips tremble and despite her obvious anger, she finds herself migrating towards Jimin's open arms.

"It was a mutual decision. We've been worried about your wellbeing recently, scared you're falling off track. Especially since that Jeon fucker cropped up. We needed to know once and for all just how loyal you really were and in getting as far as you did, you've proved yourself."

Jimin places his head on Areum's, hands raking through her tired locks.

"It's okay, baby. I'm here now. The only fucking one who ever will be."