trigger warning trigger warning (i'm serious, messed up stuff happens in here)
previously: chaennie went to Jisoo's parents to ask for their help, secrets about jennie's past were revealed, Jays attacked and killed the Kims, chaennie are on the run.
[cont. from prev. chapter]
Irene came up behind Seulgi at the doorway to the living room, heart clenching when she saw Ella staring resolutely at the phone in her lap, as though willing it to ring. The cartoons playing on TV were long forgotten as the shadows in the room stretched longer.
"How long has she been sitting like that? I feel so useless," Irene whispered.
"It's okay Hyun. I do too. Sometimes, there's not much we can do," Seulgi comforted and patted her girlfriend's hand on her waist. So saying, she joined Ella on the couch. Irene was endeared to notice how Ella immediately leaned on her teacher's chest, glad that the girl had an adult that she was open with.
"Sorry I was gone awhile. What did I miss? Did Shin-chan twerk again?" Seulgi asked lightly.
Ella shrugged.
"Did Mommy call again?"
Ella shook her head. "Not since they arrived at the station."
"I'm sure she'll call soon. Wanna play a game? Or more cartoons? Or, if you won't tell Hyun, we can sneak some candy. I know where she's keeping her secret stash."
"Ms Kang?"
"I told you, call me Seulgi or unnie out of school," Seulgi chuckled.
"Ok. Unnie?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do you call Irene unnie Hyun?"
Irene was charmed by the question, happy to hear that Ella had confidence with her teacher. She leaned in to hear the answer, curious.
"Oh it's her Korean name, Joohyun. It's my thing for her. Like you call your friends nicknames, I call her Hyun. It makes me feel closer to her," Seulgi answered easily.
"Mm. Unnie?"
"Yeah?"
Ella fidgeted. "Is Lisa a bad person?"
Irene held her breath, taken aback by the abrupt switch. Even Seulgi took a moment to reply.
"No, I don't think so. Lisa helped me, she's my friend. She was there for me when I needed her, even though I wasn't always nice to her before we got to be friends," Seulgi said. She looked closely at the girl sitting next to her. "Do you think Lisa is a bad person?"
"I...I don't know. She didn't hurt Mom, she kissed her and hugged her lots and she was always really nice to me. But Jennie unnie was talking about all the bad things she did before..."
"You're still very young El," Seulgi said softly. "Most other kids your age don't have to deal with this kind of stuff until they're much much older. It's okay if you don't understand everything that's going on. But for what's it worth, I've seen bad people. Heck, I wasn't very nice to Hyun before, either."
"But you didn't...kill people?" Ella frowned.
"No. No I didn't," Seulgi conceded uneasily.
"But Lisa did," Ella whispered. Irene's heart gave a pang at the uncertainty in Ella's voice.
"That's true," Seulgi sighed, "it's a bit of an impossible situation. But I think Lisa was in a bad situation. She didn't mean to hurt people and she was ashamed of what she did. That's a big difference from bad people. Bad people don't care. I don't think Lisa is one of them."
"So...so she's not a bad guy?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then why did she run away? Mom would still be here if she didn't!"
Irene's stomach dropped. Seulgi looked similarly stricken.
"Ella—"
Ella suddenly chucked the phone aside and crossed her arms, hunched over herself. "Mom is always leaving," she said, upset. "The bad guys will get her and kill her, all because of Lisa!"
"Oh sweetie. Come here."
Seulgi held out her arms but made no move to force Ella in a hug. Ella resisted for a few seconds before she melted against Seulgi's front and Seulgi hugged her tightly, rocking them back and forth. Irene heard the quiet little sobs from Ella and thought her heart was going to shatter. She didn't know how Seulgi was able to stay strong.
"I want Mommy back," Ella wept. "I don't want her to die. I miss her. I..." she swallowed in between hiccups, "if Mom keeps going away because of Lisa, then Lisa can't come back."
"Do you really mean that?" Seulgi said softly.
"Yes!"
Seulgi didn't push her, but she didn't have to—Ella caved in of her own accord after a few moments.
"I'm tired of being good," Ella said miserably. "Even when I'm good, Mommy still goes away, so what's the point? I try to be good so Mommy doesn't have to worry about me when she's in danger. But it doesn't work, the bad guys still get us."
"Oh El," Seulgi said sadly.
"I want Lisa and Mommy back safe together," Ella said. "But Jennie unnie says Lisa is dangerous so—so she can't come back, right?"
Seulgi sighed. "It's more complicated than that."
"That's what grown-ups always say," Ella said belligerently. "Why does it have to be complicated?"
"I ask that myself all the time. It's just...we think a problem is a square, right? But suddenly, it turns into a cube out of nowhere—there's sides to that problem that we never thought about before, but it doesn't mean they're not equally important. Do you get what I'm saying? Life is complicated like 3D shapes, not flat and simple like 2D shapes."
"So...Lisa hurting people and running away is a cube problem?" Ella said slowly.
"Exactly," Seulgi said, "which means we have a harder job trying to deal with all of it. Your mother and Jennie are doing it all alone and they're fighting a big bad guy just to get Jisoo and Lisa back. It sucks that you and me are the ones having to wait, but as long as we're safe, that's how we do our job to help them. It counts, I promise you."
Ella sniffed. "I wish problems were all square."
"Tell me about it," Seulgi sighed, stroking Ella's head. "But, let me tell you what I think, as a grown-up and as your unnie: I think your mother loves you a lot and she would never put you in danger if she can help it. I think if she thought Lisa would hurt you, she wouldn't try to bring her back. That's one part of the cube answered."
"I guess..."Ella said, unconvinced.
"Rosé will be back. And soon, we'll get Lisa back too," Seulgi said firmly. "Your mother promised you would all go to the beach when this is all over, didn't she?"
"She broke promises before."
Seulgi squeezed her before making the girl sit up. She held Ella from the shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
"I know it's unfair and really hard, and it feels like the bad guys are winning right now. That's how it goes. I hate that we have to be the ones brave enough to fight and save our friends too, instead of actual superheroes," Seulgi said softly.
She wiped Ella's tears with her thumb, her voice tender. "But if there's one thing I know, it's that your mother has been able to get through everything because she has you."
"Me?"
"Yes. She loves you so much, anyone with eyes can see that. She goes ape shi—mama bear for you. She'd do anything for you."
"Then why doesn't she stay?" Ella said morosely.
"Because she loves Jisoo and Lisa too, they're important people to her. Are the friends you hang out with during recess important to you? Wouldn't you want to help them if you see them getting bullied?"
Ella's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, of course. Of course I'd help...they're my friends."
"Your mother and Jennie are fighting to make sure nobody is ever hurt again," Seulgi said softly. "They're fighting the bullies to get Lisa and Jisoo back, without any help at all. It's hard, and I don't want to lie to you, it can be scary. But you know what?"
"What?"
"I think your mom is cooler than a superhero," Seulgi smiled, "because she's brave and fights even though she has no superpowers to help her. She's every bit a superhero as the ones on TV."
"She's Super Gay. Jennie unnie too," Ella nodded.
"There we go."
"They're badass."
"Okay let's tone it down now," Seulgi chuckled before she turned serious again. "She'll be back, you'll see. Meanwhile, you wouldn't mind hanging out with your old boring teacher, would you?"
Ella giggled despite her tear-streaked face. "You're not that old, unnie."
"Well, my bones do be creaking and cracking like a grandma's when I stand up, I'm sure you've heard."
Ella buried her face in Seulgi's shoulder, her sniffling ebbing away as Seulgi hugged her and rubbed her back. Irene exhaled and stepped away, glancing at the time on her phone.
She hoped that Seulgi was right. Jennie and Rosé's total radio silence was starting to worry her.
>
"Did we lose them?" Jennie panted, bent over her knees. Sweat rolled down her temple.
"I think so," Rosé gasped, holding the stitch in her side.
They had made it out of the confusing maze of corridors to the tennis lawn without being caught, losing their pursuers rather easily since the guards appeared to be still groggy and unsteady from the gas they inhaled.
Before them stood the wire fence surrounding the property, separating them from the looming darkening woods, beckoning them. Shouts from inside the house had Jennie quickly come to a decision.
"Throw the gun."
Rosé obeyed and to their relief, nothing happened when it hit the wire mesh—it wasn't primed to electrocute them. As though of one mind they scaled the fence, scrabbling clumsily until they dropped on the other side and took off running again.
They heard the dull roar when they reached the first line of trees, which was quickly followed by the ground shaking beneath their feet. The trees swayed, their leaves shivering in anticipation.
And then the world split in two with a thunderous crack. The blast echoed around them, sending Jennie and Rosé flying to the ground and covering their heads. Dust rained—no, poured—from the sky, larger debris crashing around them in the undergrowth and miraculously avoiding them.
Several smaller explosions tore through the air, rocking the ground and making the trees shake, with a wave of heat sweeping over the girls; not enough to burn, but still enough for Jennie to gasp out as all the air was briefly sucked out of her lungs.
Beside the smell of dirt filling her nose, she also caught a whiff of chemicals and burnt wood.
"What the hell kind of explosives did those Jays put in there?" Jennie yelled, deafened from the explosion. All she could hear was ringing.
"What?" Rosé yelled back.
They simultaneously turned to behold the once proud ornate mansion now reduced to a hill of detritus: timber, metal beams protruding from the wreckage like ribs and masonry piled around the semi-demolished foundations, pieces of the remaining walls crumbling in front of their eyes.
Jennie stared, unable to take her eyes off the haunting spectacle.
Black smoke belched out from the remains as though from the mouth of a volcano, billowing upwards towards the sunset sky. The fierce heat of the flames still reached them despite the sizeable distance between the forest's edge and the Kim's mansion. Distant screams and the horrid smell of burning meat wafted through the air, making them both gag.
"God..." Rosé trembled, hugging herself. "What...what..."
Jennie swallowed once, twice, and opened her mouth. But no words emerged to string a sentence that would express her horror and anguish.
The Kims. Dead.
The mansion. Blasted to smithereens.
The innocent staff. Likely dead.
The bleak burning landscape before them inspired little hope in Jennie.
Were there any animals? Jennie though she saw a small shed attached to the house and the thought of any helpless animal being cooked to cinders had her almost choke.
It had happened again. Wherever she went, death followed closely like a faithful shadow, making sure to never leave her side and leaving a deadly trail in Jennie's wake.
When was it going to be her turn? When was it going to end?
Jinyoung's shark smile flashed in her mind, taunting her.
He will pay, Jennie thought, clenching her fist. I will kill him.
"We...we should help them," Rosé rasped, startling Jennie from her hateful reverie, "we...we should...there might be survivors." Her eyes were glossy, lips trembling. "God Jen...this is insane..."
"How?" Jennie said tiredly. "How the hell are we supposed to help? Tell me how Rosé. Just tell me. I'm so fucking tired, I can't even think."
"I don't know," Rosé said in anguish. She sat up, wringing her hands. "They're burning in there and we...it's because of us—"
"No. It's Jinyoung," Jennie said harshly. "Don't you dare shoulder any blame for this one, this is purely his doing. We just came to talk with...Jisoo's parents..."
At the memory of both the Kims' deaths and the Jay's account of Jisoo's supposed rape, Jennie's shoulders slumped and she held her head, fighting against the fresh deluge of tears.
It's all she seemed to be doing lately, crying. It was a wonder she had any tears left at all.
"God, when is this going to end?"
Both girls were snapped out of their spiralling at the sounds of sirens approaching. Ambulances, fire engines and police cars were driving up to the estate in a single file along the winding mountain road, all sirens and flashing lights on as personnel scrambled out of the vehicles and immediately launched into frenzied activity like busy ants, cordoning off the area and shouting to each other.
Jennie turned to Rosé, who looked back with wide eyes.
"We can't go down there," Jennie said, her mouth dry. "It's going to complicate things."
Rosé nodded, gulped then glanced into the dark forest, mirroring Jennie's thoughts.
"Let's hide...in there for a while?" Rosé whispered, sounding terrified at the very idea. She took out her phone, worry creasing her brow. Jennie knew the blonde was beside herself with anxiety over Ella.
"Yeah let's," Jennie said, trying to inject more confidence in her voice than she felt. "At least until...things settle a bit."
"Yeah. They might stop working at night."
"Yeah."
"And we can sneak out of here. Maybe if we keep walking south from here, we might bypass the police blockade and...get to the bus stop. Or the station."
"Sounds like a plan. Keep your light low. You still got the gun?" Jennie said lightly.
Rosé nodded, flexing the bloody gun and grimacing. "It's gross and sticky." She wiped it on grass until she was satisfied to get most of the blood off her hands as well. "Let's go."
Thy set off. Jennie did feel slightly safer walking into an unknown place armed with a weapon. She lit their way with her phone's flashlight, making sure to keep it pointed to the ground to not attract attention.
She needed to be alert for potential danger, even though the edge of her consciousness was starting to fuzz as exhaustion quickly caught up to her, reminding her that she hadn't even been in peak health recently. Moreover, she had just gotten out of hospital, yet here she was fighting gunmen and running from explosions. It sounded like the plot of one of Jisoo's B-movies.
Jisoo...
Jennie shook her head and they walked on, deeper and deeper before switching directions and heading vaguely south where they estimated the woods would lead to the mountain road. Every now and then, they paused so that Jennie could scratch off a discreet piece of the bark as best as she could, to make sure they don't lose their way or end up walking in circles. It was a risk they decided to take, even if police decided to investigate the woods.
"Do...do you think there's...wild animals in there?" Rosé asked at length. Jennie immediately tried not to think of what big wild animals roamed in Korea's woodlands.
"Maybe we'll come across some chicken. Mr Kim said his staff used to hunt birds here."
Jennie's stomach gave a little growl and she suddenly remembered that she hadn't even eaten properly. With a pang she remembered Irene fussing around in her kitchen, cooking up a proper meal for her. Jennie had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from spiralling into guilt and sadness.
Thankfully, Rosé distracted her when she snorted.
"Let me get this straight, are you actually thinking of killing some chicken we come across? Set up a fire and cook it too? We don't even have anything to set up a fire with."
"What about eating it raw like sushi?" Jennie suggested.
Rosé wrinkled her nose. "Rule one of home economics: no raw chicken. Haven't you heard of salmonella?"
"Well excuse me for not being all cooking-savvy," Jennie deadpanned. "I did have home economics one time but then my family got blown up and school kinda didn't have much place in my life after that."
"Even if we were able to light a fire, I thought we were going to stay low-key. The smoke would give away our location."
"Again, raw chicken is an option," Jennie said, smiling despite herself when the other girl snorted.
"And when you're rolling around in agony making a mess of your pants, don't come looking for me."
She heard the faint smile in Rosé's voice. Jennie decided to play along as they walked deeper, twigs snapping underfoot. It kept her imagination from running wild, imagining blood-thirsty creatures hiding in the dark shadows waiting to pounce on them.
She was acutely aware that they were on the edge of delirium, the adrenaline from the attack and chase slowly fading as they walked deeper into the forest, aimlessly talking and wandering like drunkards as priorities shifted in and out of focus.
"Fine, I'll chance samonella, whatever. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."
"I'm thirsty," Rosé said mournfully. "I wish I knew how tapping trees for water worked."
"And hurt Jisoo's trees in the process? How dare you," Jennie gasped. "I'll tell her."
"Snitches end up in ditches."
"Well snitches can also be bad bitches that get away. I'm bad bitches, by the way."
"Excuse me, you're the one scratching their bark right now, you're the one hurting trees," Rosé countered.
"It's for safety. Back to chicken, I'm not giving up on this. My guts will have to deal with salmonella by themselves."
"Jisoo wouldn't like you hunting chickens," Rosé giggled.
"I'm sure Jisoo would forgive us this one time to sustain ourselves. Heck, she adores chicken! So she's okay with buying it from the store but not from this forest? I got to give her a piece of my mind about it when I see her again."
"Please do. And also, slight problem: if there really was a chicken in here, I'm sure it would have roosted by now. They can fly up in trees."
"Oh darn! Well, what else is there in here?"
"The ghosts of our dead lovers, apparently," Rosé said.
"Good thing I don't have a dead lover then."
"What about your ex? He could be dead."
"Really Rosé? You're bringing that scum up right now?" Jennie groaned.
"But he could be," Rosé insisted.
"Fuck, you're right, I suppose. I have no clue what happened to him."
"Why don't you ever name him?"
"It's like Bloody Mary: if I name him, he might show up."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
"He really was a loser huh?"
"He brought out the worst in me," Jennie said heavily, "and well, I guess I brought out the worst in him. I don't wanna talk about it."
"Are we lost?"
Jennie squinted as she pointed her phone around them. "We're lost if we don't know where we're going," she said solemnly. They glanced at each other for one long moment before both dissolving into hysterical giggles.
"God we're lost aren't we?" Rosé said in between chortling helplessly.
Jennie knew she should take control but she couldn't help it—if she didn't let go, she was going to crack. They had faced death multiple times in the space of a few hours and somehow survived and now they were probably going to die, lost in the forest.
If that wasn't hysterical, Jennie didn't know what was.
"Look let's just stay here, this looks like a nice open area, probably Mr Kim's hunters came here a lot," she said at last, looking around the glade.
"Maybe there's some cabin."
"It's nice for a spot of stargazing. We could stay and sleep together under the stars."
"Are you trying to romance me?" Rosé said, batting her eyelashes. She burst into peals of laughter when Jennie's mouth dropped.
"As if! I'd rather kiss a toilet seat!" Jennie shuddered, making Rosé giggle worse. "Are there any old traps around here?"
"You think they might have chickens?"
"They'd probably be rotten, or other animals took them."
"God, I want chicken so bad."
"I thought you didn't want raw chicken."
"Well now I do," Rosé said primly.
"When we get back, I'm going to order ten buckets of fried chicken."
"I'll have twenty!"
"Thirty!"
"Forty!"
"One time Lisa ate fifty!" Jennie chortled.
"You're lying!"
They collapsed on the grass as the evening deepened and the chill of the summer forest night settled on their shoulders. At least, they had a little light from the stars above them. Jennie found it hilarious to lie flat on her back and pretend to kick and swat at the stars. Rosé found it funny too, if her giggles were any indication.
They kept whispering more and more ridiculous things to each other ("like we're at a sleepover" as Rosé put it), the stress of the bizarre day coupled with hunger, exhaustion and thirst taking their toll.
"Do you think if we died here we'd haunt the place? We'd be the dead lovers Jisoo talked about," Rosé wondered.
"Eww!"
"Not like that! I meant the dead lovers to our lovers, Jisoo and Lisa."
"Maybe if I was a ghost, I could leave the forest and go find Jisoo," Jennie mused. "I'd be able to phase through walls."
"Like Kitty Pryde!" Rosé said, nodding enthusiastically.
"Who?"
"Mutant from X-Men, she could phase through matter. And if I'm a ghost too, I'll find Lisa!"
"No I'll find her. You can't be a ghost, you've got to go back to Ella, remember?"
"My baby," Rosé pouted, momentarily saddened, before she brightened again. "But my Lelly Pelly loves ghosts! One time, she learned that lemon juice can be used for invisible ink, so she would write letters from squeezed lemon juice I use for salads. She would leave them around the house for me to find, explaining that it's ghost ink and the apartment is haunted and we should listen to what the ghost wants and do exactly as it says. The ghost was very demanding. It usually asked to gift Ella My Little Pony toys or extra slices of cake or more bedtime stories or extra hours of TV time."
Jennie chuckled. "That's a cute story."
"Yeah, Lisa laughed a lot when Ella tried the trick out with her."
"Of course, she's a clown—"
A snapping twig had them swivel around in alarm, their exuberant chatter quickly transforming into breathless fear. It had sounded thunderous in the quiet darkness, shattering their hysterical bubble as it flung them unceremoniously back to reality.
Neither spoke, breaths held in suspense as the trees around them suddenly seemed to loom over them, enclosing them in and trapping them like prey, lying in wait for whatever or whoever was out there.
Was it a wolf? Was it people looking for them? Jennie couldn't decide which was worse.
Just as she was about to relax and write it off as some (small) nocturnal animal rustling around looking for its meal, another snap resounded and Jennie's heart pounded in her chest.
She strained to hear but now her paranoia kicked into high gear.
Whatever it was, it was moving carefully and deliberately, and—Jennie was convinced—heading straight for them.
"Gun," she whispered to Rosé, not daring to take her eyes off from the direction where the two sounds seemed to have originated. She stretched her hand behind her back like a relay racer, waiting for the cold weight to touch her fingers as she heard Rosé rustle and shuffle forward.
But Jennie never received it.
Something exploded out of the trees from behind them, barrelling towards them at top speed before either girl had a chance to properly turn. In a blink, it tore past, with Jennie flinging itself out of its path at the last second and hitting the ground with a hard thump.
Stars burst in front of her eyes and Jennie shook her head, fighting off the daze as she scrambled to sit up, breathless and stupefied.
"What the hell?"
Her heart lurched when she heard Rosé's fading screams: the creature had snatched her up and galloped away at breakneck speed into the trees. Jennie heard it crashing through the undergrowth, Rosé's terrified cries growing fainter and fainter.
"No! Rosé!" Jennie shouted, jumping to her feet in panic. "Hang on!"
"Hello kitten."
Jennie's entire world froze. Her heart, her brain, her blood, her thoughts—everything seized up as a low mirthless chuckle filled the air, making her hair stand on end.
It can't be.
She hadn't heard his voice in years, and hadn't thought she'd ever hear it again.
Was she hallucinating? Had she hit her head that hard?
Out of the corner of her eye, Jennie spied a robust man saunter out from the shadows.
don't come closer don't come closer.
Almost as though he read her mind, he stopped as soon as he emerged from the trees but Jennie knew the cold sparkle that would be shining in his gaze, the taut clench of his angry jaw.
She dared to turn, desperate to understand, silently begging for her eyes to be playing tricks on her and that the apparition would melt away as soon as she looked it right in the eye.
But he still stood there as she faced him head-on, wearing the same cruel smile that once used to send her heart into a frenzy, a different sort of agitation than what she felt right now.
Maybe Jisoo had been right. Maybe the woods were haunted after all.
"Yoongi?" Jennie whispered.
Her ex tilted his head. "Long time no see, kitten," he purred, and his eyes flashed yellow.
>
Rosé didn't take long to figure out who had her in his clutches: the rough hands that slammed her into the tree trunk were all the clues she needed. Horrible memories hurtled from the past into the present, terrifyingly real and in the flesh.
Taehyung was back, and he was out of control as he'd ever been.
She thought she had grown past the point of fearing him after all she had faced, but when he pushed his face up close, hissing harshly through his teeth with his eyes flashing a terrible and familiar yellow, she couldn't help but wail in fear.
Her two nightmares had combined and before her stood a true monster.
He slapped her violently, cutting her off mid-scream and throwing her to the ground.
"Shut up!"
She didn't have a chance to even use the gun still clutched tightly in her frozen hands because he snatched her up from her hair again. Pain exploded as he pulled savagely, hauling her up and making her howl. Her hands shot up to scratch at his face on instinct, dropping the gun.
"Stop stop Taehyung! Please!"
He snarled, eyes practically glowing in the dark as he shoved her up against the tree trunk again, hard. She arched back in pain but he grabbed her from the jaw and made her look at him as she trembled. His cruel fingers crushed her face, heedless of her attempts to prise them off.
"Where's the girl?" Taehyung grunted. He was panting, eyes furious and darting everywhere. The stink of body sweat had Rosé almost gag if she wasn't too intent on his rapidly shortening temper.
"What—"
"Tell me!" he shouted. His other hand dug into her shoulder like claws, pinning her in place. There was no escape. She could only whimper and burble brokenly.
"I—I don't—who—"
"Ella," he said clearly, his foul hot breath crashing against her face. "Where is she?"
She shook her head. She would never tell him. Not even if he killed her.
"Tell me!!"
"No," she said quietly, summoning what little reserves of courage she had.
He didn't like that answer and showed his displeasure with another slap to her face, and then another and another and another until she couldn't even breathe.
"Where's my daughter?" he screamed dementedly, spit flying. "You took her from me! I'm her father!"
"Get off me!"
She managed to get a hit in his throat, but it only served to enrage him further as he swiftly caught her fists and trapped them above her head.
"Where's. The. Girl?" he enunciated with a snarl. His deranged behaviour coupled with his increased strength had Rosé go weak—she was no match for a monster. She never was.
Lisa. Where was Lisa?
He shook her again, knocking the back of her head against the trunk behind her. Pockets of pain burst at the back of her skull like fireworks and Rosé whimpered.
"Where is she" Taehyung roared.
Heart pounding, Rosé dared to look him straight in the eye but didn't say a word, even as she trembled. She'd protect her baby with her dying breath, especially now that a monster had been unleashed upon the world.
"Where is she?" Taehyung shouted. "Where is she where is she where is WHERE IS SHE?"
Still, Rosé held her ground as he showered her with spittle, stamping his feet and roaring.
Why did he want Ella? What had happened to him? Why did he have the same eyes as Tiger King?
Jinyoung, Rosé thought numbly as Yang's cryptic references to the rehabilitative facility resurfaced. He's behind this.
Taehyung's body was bulkier than she remembered too, and his strength had doubled—no, tripled.
He was also more unhinged, scaring her as his incoherent babbling grew faster before he fixed his gaze on her again as though he remembered something. His eyes burned with insanity, glowering and feral as an animal's.
"You won't tell me," he growled, "so make new one."
Rosé's heart tumbled to her feet. "What—"
In a flash, he had her by the throat and flung her to the ground. She cried out on impact, scrambling to crawl away and yelling when he grabbed her from the ankles. He pulled her back with little effort as she cried for help. She begged and pleaded with him, clawing at dirt and grass but he was relentless, dogged in his mystery goal.
Taehyung held her down as she struggled and kicked and hit out with her fists but he was too fast and easily dodged or ignored her. His dreadful stare turned leery as he straddled her. He smiled wider, canines gleaming when her whimpers turned into wails as she understood his intentions loud and clear.
"Tae please no don't do this, please please," she choked on her terror.
He slapped her and caught her wrists as she sobbed, his growls not enough to silence her weeping as he pinned them above her head. She thrashed and struggled but he was too strong, crushing her wrists and making her scream in pain. Her throat was raw, fear clutching her heart in its icy grip. There was no escape the insane madman above her.
"Shut up and make me baby!" he barked.
"No! Help, someone help—"
Over and over he hit her until she was a bedraggled limp mess lying flat on her back, breathless, broken and at his mercy.
Lisa, her heart sobbed, as though expecting her missing girlfriend to come tearing out of the forest and saving her, as she had done once in a dark alley.
But Lisa wasn't here anymore. The reminder alone had her break down again.
"Stop crying!" he yelled. "Always crying, why crying? I'll make you stop!"
Rosé thought her sanity couldn't crack further but then without warning, he was tearing into her clothes like a vicious beast. She screamed as he ripped her shirt to shreds and attacked with mindless savagery.
Nausea roiled at his repulsive touch and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see, not wanting to feel, not wanting to hear his disgusting noises as he lapped and slurped and feasted.
She retreated far away into her head, the same place she used to go when he used to hit her as she separated herself from her body.
Fight back, screamed her inner voice as his free hand raked down her ribs, leaving behind bruising imprints, do something!
But Rosé didn't react—the only way to save herself, to save Ella, was to lie there: be still, be quiet and pretend not to be there.
Pretend she was still back home, with Lisa holding her safe and close.
It was difficult because reality kept intruding; his hands weren't kind and loving like Lisa; they weren't soft and tender like Lisa.
Is this okay? Lisa used to say anxiously. What about here? Am I hurting you?
Of course it's okay, you don't have to ask, she would smile, basking in Lisa's adoration and worship, feeling like a goddess.
She didn't feel anywhere near godly now, more like she had descended into the hellish pits of her worst nightmares.
The fingers that groped her now were hard, cruel and vicious as Taehyung yanked her pants down in one swift move—even her underwear—grunting in satisfaction as he fixated on the prize. Chill air hit her bare thighs like a knife, raising goosebumps along her skin.
She trembled, screaming inwardly when he snapped her legs open like cracking open a book, but she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to give a reaction. He pressed down with his knees on her thighs to keep her open, even as pain shot up her pelvis and lower back at the sudden weight, the wide angle too much even for her flexible body.
"You're ready," he pronounced.
The air was punched out of her lungs when she felt his fingers jab around her sensitive entry, almost vomiting at the gleeful excitement in his voice. She squeezed her eyes shut when he probed deeper, the squelching noises growing wetter and dirtier.
Lisa.
Hot tears seeped out from beneath her eyelids. She was all alone. Nobody was going to save her this time. She was putty in his hands and she didn't even have the strength to fight back. Too exhausted, too weak, too pathetic.
it will be over soon it will be over soon it will be over soon, she chanted in her head, climbing to a crescendo.
Rosie, I love you, Lisa would say.
I love you too, she would say back, holding her close for sweet kisses to be exchanged in their safe corner of heaven.
Lisa Lisa Lisa Lisa—
And then suddenly all sensations disappeared and she felt Taehyung go utterly still above her. Rosé didn't dare look, didn't dare breathe out as she braced herself for the inevitable blunt pressure that would force itself into her.
But it never came. He sat there, motionless. Eventually, curiosity won over and Rosé cracked open one eye, blinking to adjust to the darkness.
Taehyung sat with his head raised in the air and tilted at an angle, listening to something she couldn't hear. As she watched, he started breathing hard and low, growling softly to himself as he shook his head and hit himself on the temple, over and over.
Rosé propped herself up despite her semi-nakedness, watching on mystified as Taehyung groaned and keeled off her. He thrashed violently like an eel, holding his head and rolling over and over.
Finally, he slowed down and stopped entirely. Rosé watched with bated breath as he stiffly got to his feet. She waited for him to pounce, braced herself for him to pick up where he left off or launch an even more violent assault.
His yellow eyes burned with the intensity of the sun but he never said a word. Abruptly, Taehyung turned and slunk away into the forest, silent as a ghost.
Rosé watched the spot where he disappeared for what felt like hours before she understood that he wasn't coming back. Her whole body was sore, her face throbbed, blood trickled from her nose and she now grew aware of the iron taste in her mouth.
The tremors hit her at the same time as the realisation that she had escaped a far terrible fate washed over her.
He's gone. He's gone. He's gone.
That's when Rosé allowed herself to curl into a ball and fall apart.
>
Jennie hit the ground for the third? fourth? fifth? time with a thump. She lifted her head and spat out blood, coughing because some of it had gone down the wrong pipe. Her face was wet and sticky with blood too, trickling steadily from her split brow.
"This takes me back. Remember our fights?" Yoongi said as he sauntered up to her while she hacked out her lungs.
He had kept up a steady one-sided conversation as he beat Jennie around, telling her all about what he had been up to in the years past, namely scrounging a living then getting picked up by Jinyoung for a job and then being submitted to a rigorous military-grade program to buff himself up and also re-branding himself as Suga, which Jennie found hilarious. She didn't regret the clip to the ear it earned her when she snorted.
Somewhere close by, Rosé screamed again and Jennie raised her head at the pained cries.
"Rosé!" she shouted hoarsely. "Rosé!"
"She won't hear you," Yoongi taunted, "she's dead meat. V was raving when we found you, he wanted to charge the moment we spotted you. She's not going to survive. He was ranting about her taking his kid away."
"Shut up."
Yoongi easily dodged her pathetic attempt at a hit.
According to Yoongi, the man who snatched Rosé was apparently a fellow buddy of his 'that had been at the same facility where I got buffed up.' He went by V but his real name was Taehyung, otherwise known as Rosé's ex boyfriend. When Yoongi had revealed that piece of information, Jennie's stomach had swooped up and down like a plane caught in turbulence when she replayed Rosé's words on the train: Taehyung scared me more than Lisa.
Jinyoung. It had to be Jinyoung behind this. He had to know both their connections to the two men and unleashed them.
Jennie climbed to her feet a safe distance away from Yoongi and put her fists up.
"Not tired yet?" Yoongi said. He sounded amused.
"I could...do this...all day," Jennie wheezed.
He shrugged. "As you wish."
In a flash, he had sprinted and punched her in the gut, sending her flying before she could even react.
"You've grown soft," he taunted as she spat grass. "Come on, kitten, I'm getting bored here."
Jennie clenched her teeth, trying to think through the pounding in her head. She had to outsmart the calculating brute playing with her to save Rosé.
Jinyoung was messing with them again. It wasn't enough he had his Jays storm the Kim's mansion and blow it up. He sent two of his lab rats to take care of the job for good.
It had her blood boiling: Jinyoung thought they were that easy to get rid of? She'd show him. Some way, somehow.
So she was stalling, letting Yoongi talk, taking on the hits, deflecting what she could, because the few times she attempted to punch out he had ruthlessly blocked and returned her punch two-fold. She had stupidly tried bolting into the trees, which earned her a few dozen kicks to her ribs that made her barf up liquid.
It was clear to Jennie that Yoongi didn't know anything at all about Tiger King and the true insidious nature behind Jinyoung's intentions, but something else had her worried—had Jinyoung already worked on improving TK? Was Yoongi one of the successful subjects? Why did Jinyoung truly need Lisa then?
Moreover, Yoongi seemed to react differently than Lisa under the Tiger King effect—he wasn't raging and roaring or frothing at the mouth. He was calm, coherent and clinical, which somehow made it all the worse.
Yoongi crouched down next to her. "Remember you used to call me weak? Said I fight like a girl?" He flexed his fists, smiling broadly. "Not so weak now, huh?"
Shadows gathered at his face, illuminated by the glare of Jennie's phone a short distance away.
"You're right, my bad. You're not weak, you're just Jinyoung's favourite cocksucker now. Congratulations, I'm sure you clean dick really well," Jennie gasped out, unable to resist clapping back.
Yoongi's jaw twitched and his eyes narrowed.
He slammed her face down in the ground, holding her there as she thrashed, her chest burning. He pulled her back up from her hair and she spat out dirt and leaves, heaving for air before he slammed her down again. This happened two more times until Jennie thought she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen—she felt light-headed.
"That's rich coming from you. I heard you were fucking some dyke these days? What's that about? Dick not good enough?" he said but Jennie was satisfied to hear the warning note of anger in his tone.
Attacking his fragile ego always guaranteed to provoke him, especially when she remembered how defensive he got about his appearance and strength. Though they weren't in the habit of divulging their vulnerabilities, Jennie did remember one exception when they had a brief tender moment and Yoongi mentioned he was bullied and called homophobic slurs when he was younger. She didn't hesitate to jump on the opportunity to attack.
"Probably not, especially if they have pathetic dicks like you did. Your buddy V was packing. I bet I'd be able to smell fucking colours after I fuck him."
His nostrils flared but Jennie was relentless.
"But I bet you'd know huh? You look like you'd enjoy a pounding to the ass, baby boy," she crooned as his face twisted. "Pity we never got around to that."
This time, he threw her—literally grabbed her from her shirt and flung her away—and Jennie thumped to the ground once more, groaning on impact. She had little hope of escaping now—Yoongi was growing angry, she could see it in his menacing eyes, cold and cruel as always.
But she had to hang in there. For Rosé. For Jisoo. For Lisa.
Jennie propped herself up, only for Yoongi to grab her from her hair and wrench her head back. She yelled and kicked out but he held her firm, making her still as she came face to face with him: his glowing eyes held her in thrall, knocking the air out of her lungs.
What did she ever see in him? How could she have been so desperate?
"Always thought you were so smart huh? Look where that got you," he spat, face contorted.
Jennie gulped. Oh he was mad now, but still, she couldn't resist replying. "Yeah, wasting my time with a suckass. Tell me, is eating Jinyoung's jizz really worth it?"
"Shut up! I'm not a faggot like you!" He threw her aside in rage and kicked out.
She rolled, narrowly avoiding his heel and wincing as pain flared up in her ribs. His eyes flashed dangerously, making her heart sink as he advanced and easily plucked her off the ground again with one hand closing around her throat.
"Maybe this will get your smart mouth to shut up. I'm not even squeezing yet," he pointed out as she wheezed and scrabbled with the hand at her throat, kicking in mid-air.
"Put me down," Jennie croaked, "want to talk."
She needed to get to Rosé. The other girl was still out there and Jennie was praying that whatever monster she was dealing with Rosé would somehow survive it. Because Jennie wasn't sure she was going to survive long enough to get to her in time. Dark spots dotted her vision. Her whole body ached and flared up with every little movement, even more than when she fought Lisa. All she could smell and taste was blood.
"Oh you want to talk now?" Yoongi gritted. "That's tough, little dyke. This is the end of the line for you. But I'll make it quick, for old time's sake."
"Huh?"
He dropped her and Jennie fell on all fours, heaving and gasping as Yoongi walked behind her but she didn't notice, too busy coughing, until he suddenly seized her up in an arm lock.
Jenie stiffened, heart thundering as she recognised just what Yoongi had in mind. She scrambled frantically to grab his arms but they were corded with steel, immovable as a mountain, stuck fast against either side of her head.
One wrong move, and her whole head would twist out of place. Just imagining the gruesome snap of her neck had Jennie flinch.
"Remember how we used to play?" His breath fluttered against the shell of her ear, making her shiver. "Time flies."
She remembered. The choke hold was a more corrupted version of the technique Hwangssabu used to work out knots and kinks in people's backs and shoulders, the technique Jennie had learned and used on other people after his demise.
Somewhere down the line during her trysts with Yoongi, they discovered their sick fascination with power play, balancing the tightrope of pleasure and torture and using the corrupted choke hold on each other, heightening the thrill of danger and pain.
"Yoongi," she whispered.
His hold tightened. "Say you remember."
"No."
"Liar. Tell me you didn't enjoy it."
"I didn't."
"Liarrrrrrrr," he hissed, drawing out the r. "You'd be begging me to squeeze harder as I fingered you."
Jennie trembled and shut her eyes, remembering how she relished it, because it made her feel something, other than resentment and bitterness. Being on the brink of suffocation while being fucked gave her a sickening rush of exhilaration that later transformed into self-loathing and shame when she was alone, ruminating about the encounter.
"Remember our special knife?" he murmured. "Remember how you used to carve my chest? How you'd tie me up and have me at your mercy? How you'd threaten to cut off my dick if I didn't satisfy you?"
"Stop."
"Remember how I pounded you while you were tied up, hard and fast just how you liked it?" he said, relentless. "Remember how you used to bite me? Always so feisty with your punches too. And you scratched me so good, all up my back, little kitten. The marks would be there for days, like claws. And then you'd lick them clean for me."
She shuddered, nausea mingling with her dizziness.
Those were dark times and she didn't want to remember, didn't want to be reminded of her disgusting side that relished teetering on the knife edge of pain and death, lived for the adrenaline rush, the power she held over another human being. She had boxed up that toxic side and was done with it, never wanting to hear of it ever again.
"Remember how you used to hold me like this and threaten to snap my neck?" he said against her throat, sending little spasms up and down her spine. "Remember how we used to laugh? Remember how I'd choke you within an inch of your life? Remember how you punched me? Remember how we fucked so hard we'd pass out? Remember—"
"Stop," Jennie begged, her voice cracking. "Yoongi, stop..."
But he didn't stop. If anything, he cinched his arms tighter, cutting off her air supply.
"Does your dyke fuck you like that?" he demanded. "Does she make you come as hard as I did?"
"She—huh—better—way—better," Jennie choked out, even though it was simultaneously the worst and best answer she could give. But if she was going to die, she would die with a smile on her face, knowing she had him absolutely enraged.
"Liar," he growled and incredibly, Jennie thought she noted—could it be?—jealousy in his voice.
"She—does,"Jennie gasped, " she—fucks—me—so damn—good."
She hated talking about Jisoo like that, because it was love they had, love they made together, but that wasn't important for Yoongi to know.
He growled, low and ominous, and Jennie knew her time was up.
"If I can't have you," he said, his voice a cold icy kiss against her ear as she felt his muscles around her face tighten, bracing for movement, "then that dyke sure as hell doesn't get to have you either."
Jisoo, I'm sorry. I love you.
Jennie closed her eyes and he—
stopped still.
Jennie cracked one eye open but didn't dare move from the death hold. Yoongi had turned into a statue, his head turned away and tilted back as though he was concentrating on some sound Jennie couldn't hear. They stood there until Jennie felt her neck cramping but still, she didn't dare break the spell that seemed to have enchanted her would-be killer.
Out of nowhere, Yoongi released her unceremoniously and she scuttled a short distance away, heaving and panting as she turned to look back.
His yellow eyes flashed with a burning intensity as he regarded her almost thoughtfully.
"Lucky for you, seems like Jinyoung wants you around a little while longer," he said shortly. He gave a final menacing sneer. "I'm sure we'll meet again, kitten."
Without another glance back, Yoongi turned on his heels and walked away into the trees, disappearing into the night.
Jennie flopped on her back, not even bothering to understand what just happened. She had survived, she was still alive and Yoongi was gone. That's all that mattered.
She had survived. It was over.
Jennie covered her eyes with the back of her hand and exhaled slowly before erupting into a fit of hacking coughs.
>
"Rosé! Where are you? Rosé!"
When she finally summoned enough strength to stand up without passing out from pain, Jennie went in search of Rosé, frantically shining her phone light and calling her name until her voice was hoarse.
The silence of the forest unnerved her as she crashed through bushes and broken boughs and branches.
Jennie prayed fervently to Hwangssabu, to God, to Buddha, to every other deity she could think of and never believed in, but she prayed like never before, begging for Rosé to still be alive, for Rosé to be spared from the curse that made people around her drop dead like flies.
"Rosé!"
And then she heard the broken sobs, their naked misery making guilt crash over Jennie like a tidal wave.
Her heart leapt into overdrive as she hurried faster towards the sound. She moved against the thumping pain that threatened to trip her up, too relieved that the other girl was still alive to stop. Whatever state she would find her in, Jennie would deal with it but most importantly, Rosé was alive.
Yet nothing could have prepared Jennie for the utter devastation that slapped her in the face when she finally stumbled upon Rosé curled up in a protective ball and weeping wretchedly on the forest floor by the waning light of her phone.
"Rosie!" Jennie stumbled towards her. "Oh my god Rosie! It's okay, it's okay I'm here, I'm—"
Jennie's legs gave way. Blackness threatened to shroud her vision but she fought against her waning strength and crawled the last few steps like an infant, dragging herself to Rosé on pure determination and will alone. She gnashed her teeth and put out one hand then the other then the other then the other until she arrived.
"Rosie...hey, oh honey...it's okay, I'm here." Seeing her violated state made Jennie almost crack, forgetting that she herself just narrowly escaped death. "Rosie, look at me c'mon."
"J-Jen?" Rosé sobbed. Her face was a sight, her hair dishevelled and her clothes were in disarray, hanging from her shivering frame as she peered at Jennie, squinting against the phone light. She sounded dazed, her voice wobbling. "Jen, he was here, he...he...I don't..."
Jen propped herself up and opened her arms wide. "I got you. It's okay, sweetheart, you're okay. He's gone, you're safe."
Rosé crashed into her, bawling like a baby. Jennie held her tightly, rocking her as anger boiled away in her veins.
Jinyoung will pay. I'll kill him. I'll kill Taehyung and Yoongi too. I'll kill them all.
"It's okay, sweetheart, it's okay. I'm here. You're safe, he's gone," Jennie soothed, afraid to touch her, afraid that Rosé would crumple up at the slightest touch, fragile as paper. She babbled the same words over and over, throwing in soft endearments as Rosé wept into her neck.
Rosé's meltdown ended sooner than Jennie expected, but then again, she had probably been crying a good while before Jennie found her, piling on the guilt.
Rosé finally heaved a great sigh then pulled back, sniffing furiously. Her face was puffy and bruised purple. She stopped and then shakily pointed at Jennie.
"Jen, oh my god, your face—who did—"
Jennie waved impatiently. "Never mind me. You...he...did he..." she gestured gingerly at Rosé, because she couldn't bring herself to spell out the worst.
Fresh tears welled up in Rosé's eyes as she shook her head and clutched her bare shoulders. "Almost."
Jennie nodded then shrugged off her shirt slowly, wincing at the movements, and handed it to Rosé. "Here, take this. Wear it."
"What?" Rosé stared at the dirty shirt then at Jennie's bare upper body, save for her bra. "You won't have anything to wear."
"You need it right now," Jennie insisted. "You'll feel better. Do you need help with the pants? Can you stand?"
"I...I got it," Rosé mumbled, ducking her head. She hurriedly pulled up her pants and slipped on Jennie's shirt. It had already been a loose fit around Jennie so it fit Rosé just fine. She snuggled into it and nodded gratefully in Jennie's direction, already much calmer. "Thank you."
"No problem. Sorry for the stink. And blood."
"Like I care right now." Rosé sighed and held her head, her shoulders shaking. "God, he was here, that monster was...I didn't think...how did he..."
"I know," Jennie cut in gently. "Yoongi told me."
"Yoongi?"
Jennie smiled bitterly. "My ex. He's a charmer, you just missed him."
"Oh Jen..."
"Getting bludgeoned and strangled to death by my toxic ex in the middle of a forest at night wasn't on my 'Jinyoung is a bastard' bingo card but here we are. And just so you know, I think I can safely say he wasn't a ghost," Jennie added wryly.
Rosé stared at her like she had grown a second head.
Jennie sighed. She slowly lowered herself to the grass, grimacing as her body protested. She made sure to leaving a good amount of space between her and Rosé—they might have hugged it out only moments earlier in the midst of their cathartic relief, but she didn't want to make Rosé uncomfortable by initiating any non-consensual touches.
Jennie glanced at Rosé, noting how the other girl was shivering. She was still running hot on adrenaline from the encounter which protected her from the chill, but Rosé didn't stop shaking.
"Is it okay to hug you again?" Jennie said carefully. She ached to hug and comfort the distraught girl but she hesitated—Rosé twitched at her loud voice and flinched nervously when Jennie moved her hands too wildly. Jennie switched her voice to a softer register, spoke slower.
"You just look like you need another good long hug. Heck, I won't say no either. Seen enough shit today."
All the death and blood and mayhem and pain flashed in her mind's eye but they were all far away, like she was looking at the wrong end of a telescope, numbed from exhaustion and her more recent brush with death.
She was surprised when Rosé all but sank against her front at the invitation, snuggling up like a child seeking shelter. She was warm and alive and breathing shakily, but she clutched on to Jennie like a lifeline.
Jennie didn't protest even as her body ached. She held her tight even when pain flared up, ignoring it all in favour of sharing warmth and reassurance with the other girl: they had survived yet another harrowing encounter, courtesy of Jinyoung, but had not escaped unscathed this time.
"How did this happen? It's...it's got to be Jinyoung," Rosé sniffled. "I saw...his eyes. They were yellow. It has to be..."
"Yes. Tiger King," Jennie said heavily. "Jinyoung is most certainly behind this. Yoongi bragged about being chosen and sent after us."
"Why?" Rosé sniffled. "Why is Jinyoung doing this? Why can't we just have Jisoo and Lisa back?"
"Because he can," Jennie answered wearily, "because he's a bully and he's amused by the game he's playing. We're nothing but a game to him. Don't you see? Even back at the mansion, I was thinking...what if the Jays weren't even going to kill us? What if it was just a ploy to get us out here into the forest to run into Yoongi and Tae?"
Rosé's mouth dropped open in horror. "You mean, he planned for all this? He..."
She clutched at Jennie's wrist, sitting up with renewed urgency.
"We have to go back," she said in distress. "Ella...if Jinyoung touches a hair on her head, I'll—"
"He won't," Jennie said quietly.
"How do you know?"
"If he wants to hurt you, he can use Lisa."
"We don't know that he has her!"
"I'm willing to bet my life on that wager, actually," Jennie said. "Think about it. He likes to taunt us. He probably called earlier to galvanise us into action, to lure you and me out into the open. Then, he sent the Jays to stop us from getting help and he sent his lab rats to torment us some more. He's just playing, he does't really need us anymore. It's a show of strength. He has what he needs. We're just disposable playthings now."
She bowed her head, pacing her breathing. "It's only a matter of time before he...decides it's game over."
Rosé stared at her as Jennie went on. "If he wanted to harm Ella, he had the opportunity but instead, he gave her back."
"He could change his mind. He's a psychopath, he doesn't keep his word, just like Yang didn't. How could you trust him?"
"I don't. But psychopaths uphold codes. They're calculating, they plan ahead. Ella doesn't feature in his plans. You and I do, whatever he comes up with next. It's like some sick hunger games movie."
Rosé went quiet after that, mulling over her words. "We still need to get back home. I need to physically make sure Ella is okay."
"Here, I picked up your phone," Jennie said, handing it over. She had also picked up the gun but didn't mention it, fearing the other girl might be in a fragile state of mind after her horrifying ordeal and do something drastic.
Rosé took her phone with feverish desperation, letting out a little cry of disappointment when she checked the screen. "No signal, dammit!"
"Yeah I figured." Jennie looked up at the inky black sky. "Maybe we should rest a little, we've been through a lot today. When it gets light, we'll try find a way out of this infernal place."
"I—I don't want to stay in here...what if they're still out there?" Rosé said. She shook like the leaves in a gale. "I have to get back to Ella." She buried her face in her hands. "God, what have I done? Maybe you were all right, I was stupid to come all the way here, but I just...I care about Jisoo and you and...I just want Lisa back. I never thought...Tae..."
"Rosie. Hey, hey. Look at me," Jennie said, holding her face. Rosé sniffed but obeyed, her eyes haggard and haunted by the lightwash from Jennie's phone.
"It's okay, it's okay. I would have done the exact same as you did. The exact same," Jennie said earnestly. "We just...didn't think Jinyoung was such a monster." She sighed. "I don't think they'll be back. I think Jinyoung can contact them somehow and he called them off. He doesn't want to finish us off...yet."
"Tae—he did suddenly stop and listen. And then he started sort of fighting himself," Rosé recalled, shuddering. "It was...awful."
"Yoongi stopped and listened too. Maybe it's some high-pitched whistle, like a dog whistle, that we can't hear but they can. Jinyoung stopped them before they could do...something drastic." She lapsed into silence, mulling over Yoongi's words and the information bank she had on Tiger King, withdrawing her hands to press her temple where a killer headache was rapidly building up.
"I think this was a field test for Tiger King subjects," Jennie said slowly. Her head throbbed with the effort to think and form coherent thoughts but she forged through her wooziness. "He's trying to see the amount of control he has on them, how well they respond to emotional stimuli, how they react, and whether he can reel them back in. Fortunately for the both of us, he was able to call them off."
"We were bait?" Rosé said indignantly, her voice turning high-pitched. "That's it? We almost died because Jinyoung turned us into bait? I almost got r-raped," she choked out the word, "I got assaulted because that fucker wanted to run a sick and twisted field test?"
"Two birds, one stone. He would have a field test for his lab rats, using two subjects that are connected to us, and he'd intimidate us in one fell swoop. It's all so neat, practically gift-wrapped. He's a monster playing with us like a cat and mouse. But we're not done. Not yet."
"No, we're not," Rosé agreed, her voice stronger and harder. "He can't keep getting away with all this." She sniffed furiously and wiped her nose with the back of her hand before edging closer to Jennie again. "I guess...we can stay here a little longer then. You do look like you need some rest."
"You too. Lucky it's nice out."
Jennie slowly lay on her back, the grass itchy against her skin, but she was too tired to care as she succumbed to the bone-deep exhaustion, pain, hunger and thirst. She hoped she could drift off soon despite all the aches.
Dimly, she sensed Rosé hadn't joined her to rest but she didn't ask her to—the girl had been still clearly high-strung and traumatised to think of lying down in the same position that she had almost gotten raped in.
"I'll keep watch. For a while at least," Rosé said over her shoulder, seeming to sense Jennie's gaze fixed on her back. "Sleep. I'm not tired. Well, I am, but I don't think I can sleep right now."
Jennie slid her hand through the grass and gently touched Rosé hand, who flinched at first but then let Jennie hold two of her fingers. She turned to look back.
"Thank you for being here, Rosie," Jennie said softly, not bothering to correct herself and say Rosé's proper name. She squeezed her fingers. "And I'm so sorry, for everything. I'm glad you're still alive."
By the light of her phone, Rosé's face softened. "I'm glad you're still alive too."
Jennie smiled as she closed her eyes. Like a toddler, she didn't let go of Rosé's fingers. They were slightly chilled but still pulsing with life, making gratitude sprout in Jennie's heart despite all the pain and horror they had faced in the space of a few hours.
If she could do life all over again, she would make sure to befriend Rosé properly and never let jealousy get in between the development of their friendship.
Jennie had only just started to drift off to sleep as she got used to the ebb and flow of her pain when she felt Rosé go rigid.
"Someone's coming," Rosé whispered urgently. She covered her phone, throwing them into darkness.
"Are you sure?" Jennie rasped.
Rosé tossed her head towards the trees. Jennie propped herself up to see better, gritting her teeth as she did so.
And then she saw it: a ball of light dancing through the foliage, growing larger and larger as whoever it was approached the area.
"A ghost?" Jennie croaked stupidly. She almost laughed at herself when she heard the sounds of twigs and crunching dead leaves under their feet.
A human was so much worse than a ghost right now.
Swallowing, Jennie slowly got out the Jay's gun and flipped the safety. There was no time to run—she could see the person's silhouette. It was slightly relieving to see that it appeared to be just one lone man but the hairs on Jennie's arms rose as she shakily raised the gun in front of her, ready as she could ever be.
At the last second, she managed to drag Rosé behind her and flashed her phone light in the man's face at the same time as he burst out from amongst the trees.
"Stop or I shoot!"
"There you are. Come on, we need to get you out of here," said the man, stopping dead at her command. He sounded exhausted but not threatening, yet Jennie wasn't convinced. He didn't seem armed, but she didn't lower the gun. Rosé scooted closer to her.
"He sounds...familiar," Rosé said cautiously. Jennie could almost picture her frown.
Due to the blinding light from both their phones, Jennie could barely make out the man's features. But when he lowered his phone first, she spied the faintest trace of short blonde hair peeking out from under a snapback.
Recognition slammed into her at the same time as Rosé gasped.
"Jackson?"
*************
{reminder: no hate to irl idols, this is just a story :V}
also chaennie just can't catch a break huh :PPPPP
next chap might be shifting gears a little, we'll see
thanks for voting, reading and commenting!
Also, Born Pink is everythingggg