FIND ME

[ 19 ]

Ashe watched as Namjoon reached out for one of the ends of duct tape. He slowly peeled it off her mouth area, her lips stinging and feeling a tad dry once it was off. She didn't dare to make any noise, as the knife was still placed against her neck, but the deathly glare she was giving the boy was enough to convey what she wanted to say.

Betrayal. Hurt. Anger.

"I know this is crazy, Ashe," he said. "But you have to believe me when I say that I'm not the bad guy."

"Yeah, cause you've really shown me good reasons to believe that," Ashe retorted.

"I haven't killed you, if you haven't noticed."

"You still have the knife close to me, if you haven't noticed."

Namjoon sighed and lowered the sharp object. "Believe me now?"

"Nah."

"I'll explain everything," Namjoon told her. "First of all, I'm sorry for knocking you out. But I need to talk to you alone and without Yoongi knowing."

"You could've simply asked me, dumbass," Ashe said tersely. "Kidnapping someone isn't really going to prevent Yoongi from knowing. The moment he wakes up and finds out I'm not there, he'll call the police. And why can't Grapeface know? Scared that more people will know that you've helped a criminal hide my best friend?"

"Ashe, that's not it-"

"Where is Jimin, Namjoon?" the girl demanded. "What have you done to him? Where is Choi Jeonghan?"

"I don't know anything!" Namjoon exclaimed. "I can't answer your questions because I'm not working for Choi! If it's anyone you should suspect, it's your little crush who you've allowed to come with you here to Gimhae."

"Crush?"

"Yoongi," the raven haired said. "You shouldn't have trust him, Ashe."

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Namjoon sighed. "He's not who you think he is. Yoongi's in on it, Ashe. He's one of the people behind the Parks' disappearance."

Her eyes widened. "You're lying. I've already asked Yoongi. He's not involved in any of this. You're just making this up."

"That's what he wants you to think," Namjoon said. "Yoongi has been lying to you since the very beginning. He knows Jimin, not because it's his 'father' who sold the house to them. He knows Jimin because he is his brother."

"W-what?" Ashe shook her head in disbelief. "How could they be brothers?"

"Jimin's dad isn't really Choi. It's Min Soobin, Yoongi's father," Namjoon explained. "A long time ago, Mr. Min and Jimin's mom had an affair, but he didn't want his wife to find out, so he abandoned Jimin and his mom, who were 'saved' by Choi from poverty and death."

"You're telling me that everything that has happened is because Yoongi doesn't want Jimin as his brother?"

"It's partly the reason," the raven haired said. "But there's so much more to it than you think. Unfortunately, I can't tell you everything else."

Ashe raised an eyebrow. "And why not?" she asked. "How come you even know about this? And how am I supposed to be certain that what you're saying is true?"

"I know someone else who works for Choi," Namjoon told her. "One day, I just got curious with what he has been up to lately, and so I kind of followed him around. I saw him spying on you and Yoongi, and then I also saw a note in his stuff that said he was going to kill you two if you continued trying to find Jimin. I finally mustered up the courage to ask what he was actually doing and he told me some stuff, not everything, obviously, but enough for me to get a gist of what's really going on."