Author's POV || 1.5 years later
"Y/N!" Tzuyu waved at you as you smiled. She sat down as you were checking out the cash of your shop. You had a bagel shop now.
"Girl, Jake has been pestering me to go on a date with him to Hawaii. It's like a first-anniversary honeymoon. But I want to rest at home." She rolled her eyes as you chuckled saying, "Well, no love anymore?"
"Of course, I love him. But... you know, it's more... different now. It's better... more familiar. Yeah." She sighed and smiled a little, looking at a bagel kept on a plate near you.
"That for me?"
"Yeah." You nodded. She grinned and stuffed it in her mouth making you sigh.
"Have you decided to move out?" She asked again. You simply nodded and said, "That apartment's rent is lousy, bro... too much. The landowner keeps raising the rent."
"God, may he find himself in a place full of dead rats."
"You're crazy!"
"You're worse!" She grinned. You smiled and sighed.
"Have you visited Mr Lee?" You asked. Her grin immediately faded as she looked down.
"No... I don't want to."
"He's your father..."
"But what he did was unacceptable. As his daughter, I'd love to meet my loving father again. He was an ideal man to me. But as your best friend and as a human who believes in justice, he was too wrong... too much to be forgiven. He tried to kill you. As much as regret I have in me, I don't want to be a bad human who puts feelings over justice and does unfair to you." She said, her eyes becoming teary. You went out of the counter and hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead.
"It's okay... I love you."
"I love you too." She sighed.
You both smiled at each other as you heard your phone ring. A frown appeared on your face as you picked it up.
"Yes?"
"Look outside your shop." This voice. You knew it. Your heart was pounding as you tried to match the voice. You looked outside the window and gasped to see a familiar figure standing across the road. The same deep brown eyes, the raven hair. He looked broader from afar.
"Tzuyu... do you also see a man across the road?" You asked her as she looked behind and nodded.
"He's handsome, you know him?"
"Shit... this is a f*cked up mess. HOLY SHIT!" You screamed as she flinched, looking at you confused. You immediately ran outside the shop and crossed the road.
And there you were.
In front of him.
"You..." You gasped as the man in front of you gave you his faint smile. He looked so fine yet you saw some tiredness in him. His eyes wandered across your face and landed on your neck.
The locket wasn't there.
You saw him looking down, disappointment coating his eyes. So you slid your hand into your pocket and took out a locket, showing it to him.
"Searching for this?" You asked, smiling. He let out an airy breath and finally spoke, "Y/N."
It had been over a year.
You smiled and said, "Taehyung."
"How have you been?" He asked.
"Good. See? I opened a bagel shop. It runs well. I am good at baking. If not cooking..." You shrugged proudly as he smiled wider and said, "I see."
"You? Have you been good?" You asked.
"I might've gone to some places to serve and got disciplined before coming here." He shrugged.
"What?!" You frowned, gasping.
"Yeah... though I worked with the police, I did some illegal stuff too... to catch them. Hacking, stealing, though not exactly that I killed people but some did die... but since we contributed a lot, I and Jo got some slack together. And... it was quite stuffy there so had to use money. We gave a fine for early leave."
"For real?" You gasped. He nodded, "I came back... a week ago."
"You could've paid for the whole serving time then... why suffer for more than a year?"
"Conscience. Guilt. Regret." He said. You didn't expect him to be that much of a saint. He knew how to be responsible, though he slacked in it too. By using his money. Still.
"You look more handsome... hmm.." You chuckled as he frowned, "After being disciplined for a year?"
"Yeah..." You shrugged. He looked at you and said, "You look wiser. Or is that bullhead hiding in there?"
"It's hiding. It'll come out if you continue to blabber nonsense." You glared at him as he took a few steps closer to you. Your stomach twisted as his familiar scent hit your nostrils. The dark woody scent that you once hated.
"So, did you forget about me?" He asked.
"Do you think I did?" You asked, looking at the locket in your hands. He shook his head and said, "So now... do I make it up to you?"
"Definitely, yes." You grinned. He smiled and nodded, "Okay... one more challenge I guess."
"It's hard... I don't forgive friends who anger me." You said. He smiled and said, "Then I'd like to be an exception."
He hugged you, making your cheeks hit against his chest. You wrapped your hands around his body and said, "I've missed you... and I hated that too."
"I missed you more... a lot." He sighed, placing a kiss on the crown of your head.
"How was the serving..?"
"It's called voluntary work. Though we were sort of forced to do it. We had to wake up at 5 am and clean the roads. Then we worked until 10 pm and slept. It was bothersome." Taehyung frowned and you chuckled, patting his shoulder.
"Where's Jo?"
"He's at home... wanna visit us someday?"
"I'd love to. I miss Azure..."
"She's quite bigger now... she's grown older. And she looks like you."
"Are you telling me I look like a cat?" You frowned. He chuckled and said, "Whatever you think of it."
You pulled away and smiled at him saying, "We're still good friends, right?"
"Always will be." He smiled back, placing a kiss on your forehead as you closed your eyes.
He was familiar. You knew him, you trusted him. You hated him, you loved him. You respected him, but you never agreed with him.
Yet amidst all these, you knew that he was special. Your start was wrong, but the bond wasn't. He was a friend who you wanted to keep as forbidden as it was.
Because when you told him you loved him, you meant it. He was one of your people then. And you knew he was worthy of that.
You didn't love a villain, you loved a hero in disguise of a villain who brought justice to you and many other people out there.
"I am quitting the agent job, by the way. I might not have much money anymore." He shrugged.
"Really?" You asked as he nodded, "I was going to surrender forever. But someone made me want to return... well, I'm quitting this. I've achieved my goal of bringing justice and it's time for me to become a normal human being... like I've always wanted to be."
"Should I train you... hmm?" You asked. He nodded and said, "I need it."
"Okay, You and Jo are my students for now!" You smiled.
You brought him to your bagel shop and served him some food which he was forced to compliment. But it was good either way.
Tzuyu was quite clueless but once she got to know about Taehyung, she glared at him for 20 minutes straight until you had to drag her out and explain the entire situation to her.
"Bullheads friend bullheads." Taehyung sighed, eyeing Tzuyu as you scoffed, "No wonder you're my friend."
"I am not included in that list." He said. You rolled your eyes and mimicked his voice as he sighed.
"I can't wait to meet Jo and Azure." You smiled as he said, "They're at home. Come to our house at 12, tomorrow. I'll pick you up."
"Really, wow." You smiled. He nodded and left the shop.
—Time skip
"You sure lived the best life here, Y/N." Tzuyu said, roaming around the Kim Mansion as you shrugged, "It was hard, okay?"
"I would've just stayed here if I was you. Did you miss us that much?"
"Yeah, your cookies."
She giggled and roamed around. Jo entered the living room with Azure as you hugged both of them, squeezing Azure. She was meowing with you as well.
"Well... she's the closest one to replace you, Tzuyu."
"Am I supposed to fight with a cat over you now?" Tzuyu chuckled. You smiled as Jake was talking to Taehyung.
Jake wasn't informed about these. He only knew Taehyung was an old friend of yours.
The fewer people know, the better.
You all sat for lunch and you said, "Cheers to us!"
Everyone cheered their drinks and you could see Taehyung looking at you worriedly.
"Come on. I won't get drunk and do silly things again." You frowned as he nodded, knowing well you'd do exactly what you said you wouldn't.
You shrugged as you all continued the lunch. This time, it felt better.
You had accepted them as your friends. You all chatted and knew more about each other. It was filled with deep talks, laughter and chatter... chaos.
And you couldn't help but reminisce about those moments which you hated just a year ago. But now, you realized that those moments somehow brought you closer to the people around you. Bad incidents happened, but they always left a lesson.
Bad incidents brought us closer to the people around us. It taught us new things. And it also formed a new squad that you could picture through this lunch.
—1 year later
A year wasn't very long. It was quite short.
Taehyung renovated Kim's mansion, sold 2 of his mansions that belonged to his father and ended the legacy. He let all his workers go, everyone was free, and continued his business and still earned well as Jo assisted him as usual. Jo bought a house near the countryside.
You also shifted to a better apartment closer to your workshop. Taehyung had bought an apartment near yours too.
You said that was unnecessary but he didn't care.
"Taehyung. Have you never read a romcom book before?"
"It's weird..." He said, frowning.
"You can't hate romance! It's so adorable!" You frowned as he said, "I like thriller books better."
"God... I've been doing a wasteful job by recommending cute books to you. You're not worth it." He shrugged and looked out of the library window.
"Tzuyu is staring at us."
"That's the only thing she does. God, her daughter shouldn't turn out as creepy as her."
"Can I snitch?" Taehyung asked, raising his brows as you glared at him. He smiled a little, looking at his book immediately. You both were on a library hangout right now.
Spending time with Taehyung over the year, you realized how humane he was. Unlike that 'mafia boss' mask he always wore, he was adorable.
He grinned and joked, he glared and scoffed, he smiled and cried. He did everything a human did. He was lovely. He just didn't know he was.
You both were better friends now. More like best friends... you often talked over the phone and hung out. You taught him more about socializing and fake-smiling. He needed those lessons.
Thankfully, he was good at those.
But you realized how he was free only around a few people. With others, he was still a cold unsocial jerk. That was him, you couldn't help that.
And sometimes, when he smiled like that while reading a book or pretended to be the same cold jerk before not realizing he showed you his softest sides already, you couldn't help but feel an emotion bubbling in your heart.
He was the best friend you had. And whatever happened in the past remained in the past. It was a new start with him in it and you loved it.
Some past scars would never heal. Some betrayals would never be forgotten. Your forehead had a scar which would take years to heal. But along with the pain, there would be love and joy, family and friends. And that's how life was balanced. By letting go of the old things and embracing the new ones. That was how your life was.
It was a beautiful journey with everyone around you.
And you could picture you and him, 10 years later, sitting here with more people... your own family. Because you knew he would last forever when he took a step toward you and said, "Am I humane enough now?"
"More humane than any normal human." You said, smiling.
"I won't push you away anymore. I've accepted everything after these years. And my life is better now... unlike how I pictured it years ago. Thank you, for being in my life."
3 years of knowing him and he always made sure you were appreciated in his way. Sometimes bullying, teasing... just speaking. Or just by his actions.
"I love you, Y/N. I do..." He smiled and pressed a kiss on your forehead. You closed your eyes, inhaling his scent.
"I'd always imagined you as the top of my blacklist, in jail suffering while I celebrate over your defeat. Yet, here I stand before you, grateful for every moment you've given me and taught me about life and protected me. And I know I'd probably fail, but I'd love to protect you if I can. It took a long time, but I love you. I'll always do it. And, this isn't the kind of love they showed on romcom shows or books, it's the kind of love only you and I would have... slow, familiar and different. But I know that we will work out. We always did." You smiled, earning a heartfelt stare from him.
"I hate mistakes but kidnapping you was the best one I've done... seriously."
"You mean, Jo."
"Yeah." He chuckled.
And you still hated him. Sometimes, when he bothered you or teased you, you hated him. But sometimes, when he smiled at you and... when he simply did his things, you loved him.
You hated him with all the love that existed in you.
"I love you but I also hate you... with love in it..." You smiled as he hugged you, and you inhaled the same... dark woody scent you hated with love. And you placed a kiss on his lips, knowing well he would love it. Because, though he never said it, he always loved you.
The Happy End