Hitman vs Mafia ~Mafia!Jimin X Hitman!Reader~

Chapter 25 - Late Night, Simple Talk

I shrug too. "Just felt like stepping outside. I do wonder when I stopped being worried about winter, though."

"What do you mean?"

I stop walking as I see a certain street I knew a little too well. I sigh in remembrance. "When did I stop wondering if I'd survive the winter?"

He stopped next to me. "I never worried much for the seasons changing. It was more if I'd have to fight the next day."

"Oh?"

"Defend my mom and all." He scoffs and kicks at the ground, his shoe making a light scuffing sound. "Seems like a different life, remembering that."

"Ten years ago, would you think this would be you?"

He laughs. "Hell no. Ten years ago, if someone told me I'd have a family, people standing by me, and money, I'd call them crazy."

I smile lightly. "Ten years ago… I wonder what I'd think. I would've been in this life for a couple years at that point." I start walking again, the cool air propelling me. "I doubt I would've even imagined life ten years from then."

"How so?"

"Figured I would've died somehow. I was a young teenager with no skills except surviving the streets. I didn't even know basic math." I laugh like he had. "What a crazy turn my life has taken."

"If you could have a life that isn't this, what would you want?"

Though my feet keep going, my thoughts stopped to think. "Well, I guess I'd want a family. I'd want someone who'd take care of me when I couldn't take care of myself." I shake my head. "Actually, no. I want to travel the world. I want to see what it's like somewhere else. I want to experience the life of a tourist, seeing magnificent landmarks and the odd customs of other countries."

He hums. "That's fair. Both are fair."

"And what about you, oh mighty fighter?"

He chuckles. "I honestly don't know. I haven't thought about this very much. I guess… maybe a dancer." He looks up for a moment as a strong wind ruffles his hair. "A singer too, I guess. I know, it's childish to want something like that, but I couldn't dream of much more."

We pass an advertisement for job applications. I stop in front of it. "Is this what normal people do? Worry about things like this?"

He looks at the sign. "Yeah. It's what I used to do. I used to spend a few hours after school tracking down places that would hire me, but no one ever did."

I smile at the imagined thought of past me doing it, if I'd grown up in a proper environment. "Did you ever wonder if you'd die the next day?"

"Not even once."

"Must've been nice."

"It was."

I drag my hand down the sign before we continue walking again. "Did you know your father?"

He shakes his head. "My mom was a prostitute for her living. She didn't have the slightest clue, but she loved me all the same. She was really a beautiful person, inside and out."

"She must've been."

"Complimenting me?"

"Quite the contrary, actually. She took all your beauty for herself."

He laughs, the golden sound ringing through the empty streets. "Sure. What about you? You've never mentioned parents and didn't seem to have any keepsakes of your past."

I look at the street, watching for where my feet connected to the concrete. "I never knew my parents. My first memory was a late night, like this one, but summer. I remember my small hands on the wall of a building as I looked for somewhere safe to sleep."

"Did anyone help you?"

"I never let them. I didn't trust anyone."

"Why not?"

"I watched other kids disappear or have horrible things happen because adults are greedy. It instilled a pretty simple but concrete lesson."

We fell into silence, continuing our walk. I knew where we were in the city, but we'd gotten pretty far from the suit shop at this point. I stop and turn around. He follows my action, turning around as well. We start walking back.

"Do you still hate me?" he asks.

"I never did. Can't say I particularly like you, though."

"Is that why you took the bed so mercilessly?"

"My back is more precious than yours."

"Sure, whatever." He runs a hand through his hair. "You tortured me when we first met. How can you say you didn't hate me?"

"It was never personal," I reply simply. "I just needed information that you had. I didn't want to go after you guys, actually. Just figured it'd be my last job before escaping."

"I sure hated you for that."

"I did almost castrate you."

"Which was effective," he hums. "Cutting hurts, and cutting a scar hurts more, but threatening my reproduction was ballsy."

"Pun intended?"

"Shut up."

I laugh lightly. "I can say I respect your skills, though. You know how to hold your own. I only beat you when sparring because I have more practice."

"Still got that bruise from last time? From when I kneed you in the stomach?"

"It's faded but there. You still got that one on your forearm from when I socked it?"

"Yep." He lifts his sleeve and shows the faint mark. "It's a good reminder to deflect rather than block."

"Winter air is very strange, isn't it?" I ask, changing the subject. "Gives me this sense of calm when I used to panic."

"Trust me. If someone understands that, it's me."

~~~~~

I don't know when we actually slept that night, but waking up to hear whoops outside wasn't the most horrible wakeup. It was annoying until I went outside and saw the shining smile on Hoseok's face. Then I couldn't resist smiling lightly.

"Got one?" I asked.

"Got one!" he replied.

Yoongi wasn't there, I noticed, to which Taehyung put a finger to his lips as if to signal quiet. Yoongi deserved the nap, so we went quiet soon after. I went back into the room after that, a yawn falling from my lips. Jimin had moved to the bed in the few minutes I was outside. I was going to say something about it at first, but I stopped at the edge of the bed. His breathing was so even that he had to be asleep. I watched his chest rise and fall a few times before going outside. Jungkook was lying on Taehyung's lap, an arm over his eyes. His breathing wasn't perfectly even, but he was clearly trying to sleep. Taehyung was running his fingers through the younger's hair. I sit on the couch across from them.

"Time really is moving, huh?"

Taehyung looks up to meet my eyes. "Slowly but surely."

"I need to do something soon."

"Namjoon-hyung said we can start disturbing more side businesses once Hoseok-hyung and Yoongi-hyung get the two guys agreed. Soon."

I look at the clock on the wall, the seconds going by slowly. If I focused enough, I could hear the soft tick tock, tick tock.

"How long did it take you to adjust?"

"A few weeks, maybe," he hums, knowing exactly what I meant. "It quickly felt natural to call them hyung, and it was definitely nice to lean on someone else for once."

I hum, watching the time tick by.

It was nice.