reef knot

twelve

"He's Yoongi's friend," I tell my father simply, before changing the subject. "What happened yesterday?"

"It was Jung Minho's underlings," Dad says with a sigh. "They just barged into my office and stabbed me in the gut." My father shakes his head, banishing the thought from his mind. He turns to me with sincere eyes, taking both of my hands into his. "I've decided to listen to you, Jiyoung," his tone is earnest. "I'm going to retire. I don't want to be in the mafia anymore." 

My eyes widen at his words, and I grin widely. "Really?!"

Dad nods, a smile appearing on his face to mirror mine. "After all of this, I decided I'm too old to continue running the business. I don't want you and your brother to follow in my footsteps. I'm going to retire and run a restaurant instead." 

I can't be happier. "You're serious?!"

My father nods again. "More than ever."

I squeal, pulling him into yet another hug. "I can't believe you're doing this!" I exclaim before releasing him, a big smile on my face. 

Dad grins. "I'll hold a banquet on Christmas Eve to celebrate and announce to all my friends in the mafia about my retirement."

"That's great!" I beam, before a frown takes over. "Does that include Jung Minho?"

Dad nods. "It would be rude if we didn't invite him."

I roll my eyes. "He tried to kill you!" 

Before my father can reply, Yoongi knocks on the door, signalling his arrival. 

"I bought some clothes from the store across the street," he holds up a paper bag in his right hand. "The paperwork is done, Mr. Park. You can discharge anytime."

I excuse myself from the room so Yoongi can help Dad change, returning to the hospital corridor and leaning against the wall beside Taehyung as I wait for Dad to finish changing. 

"Wanna hear a joke?" Taehyung offers out of nowhere. 

"Not really," I mutter, but he continues anyway. 

"What did the blanket say as it it fell off the bed?" he asks with a twinkle in his eye. I shrug, and he continues, "'Oh sheet'," he answers, before proceeding to laugh like a maniac. 

I furrow my eyebrows together, though a small smile forms on my face. "That wasn't even funny."

"Then why are you smiling?" Taehyung wiggles his eyebrows at me, his face already flushed from all the pointless laughter. 

"Cause you look like an idiot," I state with a cheeky grin. 

Taehyung ignores my comment. "Wanna hear a knock knock joke?"

"I don't have a choice, do I?" 

He beams, shaking his head. "Knock knock." 

"It's open," I snap, and Taehyung pouts. 

"You're no fun," he folds his arms, pretending to be mad. "You have no koalafications to be my friend." 

"I'm so hurt I could cry," I reply sarcastically, and Taehyung bursts into unexpected laughter. 

"Dammit, you're feisty," he chuckles.

I'm about to react when Yoongi emerges from the ward, with Dad clinging onto his right arm for support. 

"We're ready to go, Miss," Yoongi tells me politely, the informal tone from before now replaced with a respectful one.

"I'll give y'all a ride," Taehyung offers, and we agree. 

Together, the four of us head home, engaged in small talk and lame jokes.

Little do we know that the 'home' we've always known will soon change into something none of us expected it would turn out to be. 

;;

Yoongi's phone chirps the moment Taehyung's van stops in front of the Park family's villa. He pulls it out of his pocket as Jiyoung helps her father climb down from the vehicle. 

From Jung Hoseok 

Yoongi clenches his teeth. Hoseok never texts him unless it's urgent. This must be important. 

He clicks on the notification, allowing the device to bring him to the messaging application. 

Meet me at the usual place now. 
Received at 10:10 a.m. 

Yoongi mentally starts preparing his death will. 

Turning towards Jiyoung and Mr. Park who are already on their way into the mansion, Yoongi pokes his head out of the passenger's window as he yells, "Taehyung and I have something to take care of. I'll be back later!" 

"We have something to take care of?" Taehyung frowns at Yoongi, clueless as the green-haired boy rolls the window back up. Then, his eyes widen in realization, and he hastily leans away from Yoongi, raising his hands in surrender. "Look bro, I'm straight. You and me? It's never gonna happen." 

Yoongi looks up from his phone, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "What?" 

"You just wanna be with me alone, don't you?" Taehyung innocently asks. "Then you're gonna bring me to my place to do the thing."

"Where did that idea even come from?" It's Yoongi's turn to be disgusted. "We're gonna meet with Hoseok, you dumbass." 

Taehyung's eyes grow even wider. "So it's a threesome now?"

Yoongi rolls his eyes, deciding it would be a waste of his breath to argue further. "Just drive," he orders. 

***

"Look who it is," Hoseok smiles menacingly as Yoongi and Taehyung step out of the van in front of the ice cream parlor. "It's the two traitors of the month." 

"Actually, I quit a few months ago," Taehyung points out, removing himself of blame. "Yoongi is the only traitor here." 

Yoongi glares at Taehyung, suddenly remembering why he cut off all contact with the brown-haired boy after they started working for different bosses. 

"I didn't betray Mr. Jung," Yoongi brings back the topic. "I did that to gain Park Jiyoung's trust." 

"Lies," Taehyung and Hoseok say at the same time. 

"You're obviously starting to like her," Taehyung smirks. 

Yoongi is about to protest, when Hoseok interrupts. "Look dude, I don't care whether you like her or not. Just don't bring your personal feelings into this," he snaps, tone serious. "Stay on task. We have a job to do." 

"Like you said, stay on task," Yoongi argues. "How does attacking and kidnapping Park Jiyoung help us kill her father? It wasn't part of the plan."

"Told you you're going soft for her," Taehyung mumbles.

They both ignore him. "Breaking my nose wasn't part of the plan either, was it?" Hoseok retorts. 

"Like I said, I did that to gain her trust," Yoongi repeats himself. 

Hoseok sighs in exasperation. "Whatever, dude. Now you have to gain my trust." 

"And how do I do that?" Yoongi rolls his eyes. 

Hoseok leans inwards, just close enough for his lips to hover in front of Yoongi's ear. His voice is a bare whisper as he says:

"Kill Park Jonghyun."

+

I'M SORRY THIS WAS SO BORING I PROMISE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE BETTER !! this was just a recap chapter heh xo

anyways welcome back ;) i think it's been at least four (?) months since i last updated :< but i promise the updates will be regular from now on !! 

new chapters up every monday and friday !! 

:hoseokieomo