Art of Deceit

IX

Taehyung he's-

"He's what!" I practically scream into the night the moment I reach the end of the torn paper. I had to find the other half because whatever Yeona was going through, whatever she was feeling was exactly what I've been dealing with ever since her funeral.

I turn the note over, in hopes of finding more words but instead all I see is red. "No," it escapes my lips as I drop the paper.

That was blood. It had to be blood and it was dried so I knew it wasn't coming from my hands.

"Annora!" I stand up, ready to be over with this.

I take a step, preparing to run further into the woods but I hear the trees rustling around me, like someone was running towards me instead. "Annora?" I falter, my heart now picking up its pace and then I see it.

I see her. Yeona, running right towards me and a scream escapes my lips as I fall to the ground because this wasn't just Yeona. She was dripping with an inky blackness from head to toe, the same ink dripping out of her eyes like she's crying tears of that darkness.

"You're too late!" She's screaming at me and I'm staring at her, screaming back as fear gripped onto me. "You're too late!" Her ear-piercing voice says again and she lunges at me.

My eyes screw shut the moment I feel the chill of her hand on my shoulders, pushing me back until my back hits something soft but cold. When I open my eyes, she's gone.

I turn around, to see what I hit and another scream is pulled from my lips. "Annora!" She was too cold as she laid on the ground. Her body laid too limp. "Oh my God, Annora, look at me." Her lips were blue and her skin too many shades paler than her usual tan.

Yeona's words come back to haunt me, I was too late. Again.

I was on the verge of breaking, about to give up because I've failed two of my friends. Yeona and Annora. I was ready to give in to the cold night, to lie next to Annora and wait for whatever it was in the night to claim me but then I hear something.

The faintest whimpers from in front of me. I spring to my feet and my eyes find him. "What did you do?" It comes out a whisper instead of a scream like I had expected.

He doesn't respond, instead he continues to cry into his palms. "I'm so sorry," Taehyung's sobs intensifies as I witness him completely shatter in front of me.

There's a sharp sting in my heart and I'm drawn to him, an attraction I don't want but can't help and before I know it, I'm kneeling in front of him.

All I want is to hit him, scream at him, tell him to explain himself but instead my hands land soft on his shoulder. "I tried to stop them." He finally looks up at me. "But she found out and they wouldn't risk anyone ruining us," a shudder courses through his body as he looks back at Annora. "This wasn't supposed to happen. It's all my fault."

"You did this?" I manage to get out and he shakes his head.

"That- that wasn't me. I swear to you, Jina. I have never and will never hurt anyone, much less someone you care about." He hand cups my cheeks and I couldn't help but lean into the warm touch.

He sees this action and something inside him breaks, his eyes searing into mine. "This, this is my fault." He rubs his thumb over my cheek, "first Yeona, now you."

"W-what do you mean?" And then I see the letter he has clutched in his other hand. The other half of the note.

"You-you ruined her," I recalled the words she wrote.

"I didn't mean to. I didn't want to." He inhales a shaky breath. "I didn't want to ruin you too."

"What are you saying, Taehyung?"

He nudges his head at where I'm sitting. "That's where they found her clothes." He said and every muscle in my body freezes. "The policemen couldn't identify the black ink that stained all her clothes but I could." His grip on my face goes a little harder, like he's scared I'm about to disappear.

"I saw that same ink on you the night of the dance and that's when I thought I was too late, so I left in hopes that it'll spare you. But then I saw you again in Italy and I thought maybe by some miracle, I had a second chance." He laughs but it's pained and a tear slips out of his eye and over his cheeks. "I should've known I was never meant for love." He whispers the last words and I couldn't understand it.

Until I did. I don't know how I knew, but I just did. The Art of Deceit. His painting, it was a confession.

I was the girl playing the harp, loving him unconditionally while he couldn't love me.

Why couldn't he love me? And was the demented thing tormenting me his shadow?

Before I could voice out these questions, I feel my insides burn and my body started trembling. "Taehyung," I rasp, feeling an excruciating pain course through my body.

I looked at my hands that were on his shoulders and they become numb, black ink dripping from my fingers.

"I'm so sorry, Jina." He breathed out, so soft it was almost inaudible.

My legs give out and I fall onto the ground as pain overcomes my entire being. My vision goes black as the sounds around me drowned out. The only thing ringing in my ears were Taehyung's soft apologies.

And then finally I'm put out of my misery as I enter into a pitch-black darkness, the last thing I hear being Taehyung's voice as he whispered, "I'll never stop trying."

Jina,

I know we don't talk much now, but I don't know who else to turn to. I don't know who else will believe me. I'm not even sure you will, but I have to try to tell someone.

Warn someone.

About him.

He seemed harmless, lovable even. Too lovable. Like he had somehow mastered the art of deceit.

I don't know how, but he's breaking me. My sanity's falling apart, literally, piece by piece. I can feel my soul being drained away, and I don't know how.

After getting to know him, I've been seeing this thing and it's been tormenting me with every step I take.

Whatever you do, you need to stay away from him, from them. The three of them, they're not who they say they are. Two of them, Dawn and Jungkook, have been trying to protect me from themselves, from him and his shadow but I didn't understand it.

I was too blinded by love. A love that's ruining me.

And then everything started making sense when I overheard them speaking.

Taehyung, he's fallen. Call him what you want, Eros, Cupid, angel of love. He's all of them but none. He's different because he'd wanted a taste of love himself. Dawn and Jungkook have tried talking him out of it but he didn't listen.

Once you love him, there's no going back. And he was never made for love and him not being able to reciprocate the love taints everything he was made for.

His purpose was to bring two people together to love unconditionally. He failed and since he failed to reciprocate that love, the love is corrupted and he fails and he falls. Thus beginning the shadow.

And since I love him the shadow's now mine.

I don't know what else to do because even after knowing all of this, the only thing I want to do is run back into his arms.

I am ruined.

And now, I was ruined too.

A/N: avoid reading comments to avoid spoilers!! one last chapter to go guys🖤