Author's POV:
"Are you mad?" You asked Jo who shook his head, sighing. You saw his bandaged hand and said, "I really wasn't going to get out. I was just... hungry."
"It's fine. You probably didn't know that the plan would change." He said.
"I'm... I... I apologize." You said. He looked at you pretty surprised. Of course, he'd be. You were the last one to surrender. You were also surprised at yourself but after almost dying and being saved by them, you felt the need to be at least grateful for something.
"It's fine, honestly. Joel was the bad guy. I'm surprised you didn't run away. I was kind of dumb to leave you on your own. When I told Mr Kim, maybe he was sure you ran away. But we both were surprised seeing you didn't."
His words felt sincere. You felt guilty now. But, they also expected you to run away when they realized. No one trusted one another in here. It was normal for you to run away though. Wasn't it?
"We really couldn't trust you... but maybe this fight with Joel made some trust bond among all of us. We'll need some trust to survive random attacks like this."
"More attacks?" You asked.
"No knowledge for sure but... being with the mafia is kind of risky. Joel also had his eyes on you. Maybe, you were put in danger without us realizing it. Mr Kim wanted to bring you to NYC to accomplish some missions where your presence was needed but Joel was worse than what we thought. You would've been safe in the mansion if this didn't happen."
"I'm alive... that matters." You said. He nodded and said, "We're leaving in a while. You should rest for a while. I hope you're not too shocked."
You nodded and said, "I'm sorry... for fooling you before."
You walked out of there as Jo smiled a little.
"Progress matters." He mumbled.
—Next day
You were sitting in your bedroom when you heard a knock.
"Yes?" You asked. You saw Taehyung entering. Did he know how to knock? Wow.
"What?" You asked again as he said, "Come out for dinner."
"You're calling me...?"
"Jo is out of the house and the maids are on leave."
"Why?!"
"They're on vacation."
"Am I going to do the dishes?"
"I will."
"Who'll cook?!"
"I will."
"You can cook?"
He looked at you with a look which clearly screamed, 'Shut up'. You pressed your lips and went out of the room, sitting on the dining table as he went into the kitchen.
"What are you cooking?" You asked but got no response. Frowning, you got up and went towards the kitchen with that foot of yours. You dressed it again today while getting mocked by Taehyung. Though it was paining a little, you couldn't bear eating grass. Who knew how much torture he'd do to you?
You stood behind him who was cutting vegetables. You peeked and frowned saying, "Grass again?"
"Vegetable soup."
"No!" "Yes."
Your lips formed an angry pout as you glared at his back.
"With chicken steak."
You gasped as he walked away, washing the vegetables. You realised you were in the same kitchen as him. It was different. Ever since you came back from New York, it was different. You both bickered a lot, it kind of stopped during the stay In New York and being home again, he seemed to have his guard down with you. Well, the intense tension between you both was always there but it somehow increased in New York. Was it because of the acts of being a couple? Who knew?
You gulped and shook away your thoughts, walking towards the dining table. He glanced at you once before focusing back on his job.
"Don't add poison." You warned him. You could've sworn he would say something bad but you didn't hear a thing. You tried peeking inside the kitchen to see him shaking his head. You could've sworn you saw his lips twitching but you only saw his side profile walking from one counter to another in 5 seconds.
Almost 20 minutes later, the food was in front of you. You smelled the food as he frowned saying, "Bad manners."
"Shut up. What if you added poison?"
"I can just kill you right now. Why would I need to add poison?"
He had a point. You thinned your lips and sat properly.
"Do you even cook well?"
"See for yourself."
"Why did you give the maids vacation?"
"Because it's the time for summer vacation."
"Woah... acting all kind."
"I am kind."
You let out a deep and short hum, trying not to laugh. He saw your red face and frowned asking, "I must've been too kind to you for that reaction."
"Lol." You spoke, massaging your temples. He frowned harder but his frown disappeared as soon as he saw you chuckling,
"Dude, the funniest thing to me is delusional people. And you're a literal living example of delusional." You chuckled, leaning on your chair. Your teeth were visible.
The corners of your eyes crinkled as your dimples were showing. He just sat there, staring at you. You saw his lips quiver slightly as he gulped.
And you realized what you were doing. For the first time, you laughed—because of him—in front of him—for him.
You immediately stopped, clearing your throat. Okay, being free was nice but this was too friendly now. You gulped and looked down, taking a sip of your vegetable soup. He didn't talk, just looked at his plate. He seemed to be awkward just as much as you were. There was tension between you both you couldn't explain. All thanks to his stares.
"It doesn't seem to have poison." You said, eating. He noticed you as you saw him pressing his lips together. You saw a corner of his lips lifting up into a slight smirk.
"I'll guess the food's good."
"It's not. It's salty." You said, rolling your eyes. He nodded as if he was very convinced. But his expression said otherwise. He was mocking you.
"Is Azure coming after 3 days?" You asked Taehyung who raised a brow saying, "After 2 weeks. Only I can meet her in the vet."
"2 weeks?!" You asked, your eyes widening. He looked unbothered and continued eating.
"Why? That's betrayal!"
"Better than the mess you caused."
"Hey, that's-" You hissed a little as a little bit of the soup fell on your wrists. You saw his eyes flicker as he stared at your wrist saying, "We can see that."
You glared at him before looking at your wrists.
"Umm, where's Joel?" You asked.
"In the basement."
"In the house?!" You asked, your eyes widening.
"No, in the basement of the other house."
"Other house?"
"We have 5 houses here."
"Holy..." You gasped. He noticed your face and shook his head, taking another sip of the soup.
"Why do you want to kidnap Joel? We were at a party with him."
"Not him, exactly. He's a member of the group so he joins in. But, he's my enemy. And he had been plotting to destroy me and my careers."
"Oh... I kind of know about it. But, why is he in Seoul?"
"He threatened me in New York that his arrival in Seoul was a threat to me. So, I planned to attack before he does. He knew it."
"Masterminds everywhere." You blurted out but cleared your throat, your ears turning red.
"You're an exception."
"I'll guess I am the mastermind." He smirked. You frowned saying, "I said you are the exception."
"It's fine. You can't deny facts, no matter how much you hate me, sweetheart."
You rolled your eyes as his smirk deepened. You blinked twice before continuing to eat.
"What will you do with him now?"
"Get the stolen property back and kill him."
"So he stole your property?"
"No, my uncle's."
You nodded.
"Why are you suddenly answering my questions?" You asked.
"When did I not?"
"You never do! Every time I ask, you just say that I do not need to know stuff... the reply that I do not care about."
"I can answer you about anything but the reason for your kidnapping."
"You said you'd tell me when you trust me."
"You can't even trust me, how do you expect to make me trust you?"
He was right in some way. He was saying it in a way as if he was obvious of the facts. Was he, really? You had no idea either.
You cleared your throat and asked, "How do you have 5 houses?"
"Am I in an interview?"
"You said you'd answer questions."
"Why are you so curious all of a sudden?"
"I don't have anything to do. I think about everything at night and it's getting boring now. I need to think about other people's businesses which don't help me at all. Like... boring stuff, you know? You come first when I think of the word 'boring and annoying'."
"I'm not sure if you're getting a single answer after that."
"I deserve one." You said, pressing your lips. He sighed and muttered, "Weirdass."
"Shut up, b*stard."
"I make money so I have houses. 2 of them are from my ancestors." He said.
"You make money. But how? Selling illegal dr*gs? Selling people?" You asked. He stared at you blankly for a moment. A look which said, 'Same shit, different day.' He seemed fed up with you but he still answered, "Business. Legal business. I do not profit from killing or looting others. The Kims are legal mafias who only avenge."
"The portraits said otherwise." You muttered, taking another sip of the soup.
"They look evil. They aren't."
"Your father too?"
He didn't answer this time. Oh, was this another matter you did not get answers about?
"Nothing to you."
So, it is. Okay... not like you were dying to know.
"Okay..." You nodded, pressing your lips into a tight line. You saw him eating quietly. His mischief or chatty self of him died. Did he have father issues or something? God knew.
You just continued eating, that awkward moment again. For a moment, you forgot you both were from different dimensions. This was what was supposed to be you both, right? Not the chatty ones a while ago.
Right— you got swayed, for a moment. It was fine. That's what a lack of people did. You even talked to your own kidnapper like he was some friend.
You sighed and continued eating but soon, he got up and left. You looked at his back leave.
"Leave the dishes, don't try to wash them and get your wrists messed up." He spoke, more like threatened you. He kind of guessed your future actions. You would actually wash it anyway but he was right too. Your wrists were already in a bad shape.
And you were sitting alone, at the dining table. Left with your own thoughts.
"For a moment, he really felt friendly." You muttered. You wouldn't say you hated this. As adamant as you were, maybe, you enjoyed being an interrogator. And it wasn't really the best thing to happen—because it scared you. You were scared of not hating them, not hating him.
Because with every little step of yours to accepting them for your own good, you felt weird. In the end, you'd be at your home, they'd be at theirs. Maybe they'd be rotting in jail years later while you'd be a kidnapped person who survived three torturous or maybe—not so torturous months.
And considering everything, you made a rule.
"Accepting them but within a limit."