Tainted [ATEEZ Fanfiction]

Post-Session 7 [Part 2]

Y/N opened the door to her apartment softly. It was already midnight by the time she was back. Tiredness seemed to weigh down her entire body, as if each step just made her heavier. She could feel her mind slowing down, finally taking a rest from such an eventful couple of days.

She turned towards the living room only for her eyes to catch the one thing she didn't think she would see again.

A sort of fear spread through her chest in the form of her airways burning and almost closing up.

"Irene?" She said softly as the brunette stood up from the sofa.

She turned around, her face calm and serene, but her posture and slight shaking told Y/N a completely different story.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her mind running into high alert.

"I worked so hard, you know? Keeping the information secret, finding a way to evade certain doctors or detectives, making sure San was kept warm and safe down there." Irene clicked her tongue, the sound echoing through the empty apartment. "But your sorry ass had to come into the picture"

Y/N swallowed as her hands began to get clammy. She had to find a way out. Irene was not here on good terms and Y/N could see it in the storm resting inside her pupils.

"I thought I could start again without San for once. Get a worthwhile friendship and just live life. But no. That's not for people like me it seems." She said, coming around the couch.

Y/N took a step back on instinct. Something felt wrong. As if she was walking on thin ice that was about to break and allow the water to drown her whole.

"I fell in love" She said almost breathlessly. "That's all I did. I never killed anyone"

Something bitter and almost acidic wanted to rise up Y/N's throat.

"I heard that you were planning a case against me" She said. "Over what? You're a psychology student, not a lawyer, or a detective. You don't know these things"

"And neither do you" Y/N said taking a deep breath in. "We both are on the wrong here"

"So now you regret your decision? Really?" Irene said, a dry laugh coming out of her mouth. "You're as bad as I thought you were. You are ruining my life"

"As if you didn't do it first" Y/N interjected, feeling the knots in her stomach get tighter.

"That was San" Irene said, anger seeping into her tone fully. "He ruined it"

"You cheered me on. You told me to keep going. Irene, deep down you knew someone had to find out, but you forgot your hands are as dirty as San's" Y/N spoke quickly. "You are as bad as him"

Irene bit the inside of her cheek, her head shaking in the process. Y/N took this as her chance. She was not going to live the choking thing for the third time in her young life. Not under her watch.

"Irene" She called out softly. A part of her memory could see her trying to reach San that day. Or trying to see if her brother was responsive. "You need to understand one thing and one thing only. This entire mess has an origin and that's you."

Y/N could see Irene's chest rise and fall quickly.

"But you know that and like any normal person out there, you want to survive, be free, it's normal, Irene. Breathe" She said, lifting her hands up.

It could be seen in many ways as a sign of surrender, but both of them knew the other's methods. Y/N looked smaller. Defenseless.

"We can work this out" She said. "If you tell me your side, maybe we can turn this around. Maybe I'm wrong, but, Irene, I have nothing else but his words to trust. Give me something different then"