Jiah arrived at Angels and Devils, and without wasting any time ran out of the car, into the building. She knew where her brother was, she didn't even think to look around before rushing past the fighting rings and behind the counter, down the stairs and into the basement.
There he was, of course not facing her, he was kneeling with his arms chained behind his back. But she would have recognised her baby brother's form anywhere.
"Let him go," her voice boomed through the room, bouncing off the walls and off the ceiling.
Ji Young immediately whipped his head around, and she caught a quick glance of his face.
His bloodied face.
Without hesitating, she ran up to him but was stopped with a vast force, one person on either side of her grabbing hold of her arms.
"Get off me!" she tried to resist, "What the hell do you want? He's done nothing to you!"
"He hasn't?" he licked his lips and bent down to caress Ji Young's cheek, an action that made Jiah jump forward, trying with all her might to kick.
"You want to tell your sister what you did?"
Ji Young looked to the ground.
"Tell her what you did!" the man now growled, causing Ji Young to whimper quietly, turning to Jiah.
"I beat up someone," he mumbled, and then man barked again.
"What?"
"I beat up his brother!" Ji Young repeated, louder.
"You what?" her voice was barely a whisper. Jiah didn't know what more of her heart could shatter, but at that moment, after hearing Ji Young speak, she felt it break even more.
"And he almost died," the man narrowed his eyes at Ji Young, "Now you're going to have to see how it feels to almost lose a loved one," tilting his head at Jiah, he spoke again, "Although I'm not too sure about the almost."
Right, so their endgame was to kill her. That's why she was there.
Taking a deep breath, she took all of five seconds to look around the room, find anything she could use in her defence. When the man turned back to face Ji Young, she saw in his back pocket something in the faint shape of a key. Looking back to her brother, she saw the chains were tied together with a lock.
While she had never seen Ji Young fight, she assumed he was pretty good because of the fact he almost killed someone. So she decided to trust they could work as a team.
There were only four other people in the room, apart from the two holding Jiah in place, the leader - she assumed - and another girl she recognised to be the one she fought against in the ring that day.
They could do this.
When the leader came closer to Jiah then, reaching a hand out to clutch her neck (perhaps?) she took that moment to put all her weight on the two men either side of her, jump up, and kick both feet at the man's torso.
He fell back, shock evident on his face as he tried to regain his composure. The girl who was standing on the side this entire time started to run forward but before she could get to them, Ji Young was able to push himself up a little, throwing his leg out and tripping her up.
The men next to Jiah just gripped her tighter. They had no idea what to do, and Jiah took that moment of uncertainty to step backward and pull her arms together in front of her. This caused them to collapse against each other, falling back and tearing their arms from her to rub at their foreheads. She then punched the one on her right and kicked the one on her left before jumping over them to get to the leader. She hit him in the forehead, making him stumble backwards, but before he could, she swung her arm around him to take the key out of his pocket.
Throwing it to Ji Young, she made sure it landed next to his hands before turning back to see the other two men reach for her. She was able to throw a few punches at their cheeks, as well as to grab their heads and banging them together.
She couldn't deny that she might have been having a little bit of fun with this.
Facing Ji Young again, she saw the girl he had tripped up stand up again, lunging for him as he fiddled with the key. But before Jiah could run to intercept, he had already unlocked the chains and freed himself, wiping her out with a single punch.
She gave him a look of pride before helping him stand up, bringing his arm over her shoulder.
"Hey, are you okay?" her own voice surprised her. It reminded her very much of their mother's voice; a more loving, gentler, softer version of her own.
"I'm okay," he smiled up at her, through the blood trickling down his face from every crevice.
"You're not, but I guess it's in your nature to pretend you are, isn't it?"
"I-"
"It's okay, Ji Young, I'm not mad. I just need you to be honest with me from now on, okay? When we go home, we're talking about all this; you're going to come clean."
He nodded, "Alright," he continued to lean on her as they walked up the stairs, "But you do know, we don't have any more first aid stuff at home, right? Jungkook hyung finished the last of it after he uhm..."
He didn't have to finish that sentence. After that incident following Hoseok's death.
"Right, uh," she tried to think. No medicine shops would be open, and she didn't want to check him into a hospital because they would ask too many questions, she concluded that Jungkook's phone was dead.
There was only one other option she could think of.
And she really didn't want to have to resort to it.
--
After pressing the doorbell, she waited anxiously, and her brother stood behind her.
The door opened and, understandably, the eyes that stared back at her were initially completely exhausted. Of course, before they widened when they registered who was standing in front of them.
"Jiah, oh my," he reached out for her arms, looking her up and down, "Oh my God!"
She could only feel sorry for him then, there was no other reaction she would have expected from just appearing at his doorstep all bloody and dirty from such an intense day.
"Hi, Taehyung," she breathed softly, slowly stepping aside and motioning her brother, "This is Ji Young."
His eyes almost popped out of his shell as he took in the image of him — what a way to meet the family.
"Oh my God, what happened to you both?" he now instinctively tried to hold Ji Young gently, but he recoiled from his touch. "Oh- sorry, I just-"
"Can we come in?"
"Yes, of course, sorry the place is a bit of a mess I've been up-"
When she walked in, she looked around at all the papers scattered about on the kitchen bench and the coffee table, mugs and mugs everywhere.
"It's okay, Taehyung, I'm sorry to intrude."
"No, you're never-" he lowered his voice, "You're never an intrusion."
Oh man, she really wished she could kiss him.
Now that they were inside and she could see him in the light of his living room, she observed that he was in a cozy light blue sweater and black pyjama pants. Like a personified version of the word soft.
"I just... I needed to clean him up, and we have no more medicine at home, and all the shops are closed at one in the morning, and I didn't want to check into a hospital-"
"Sit down," he told Ji Young, as he cleared some papers from the couch, "Please make yourself comfortable. I'll go get the first aid kit."
"Thank you," Ji Young mumbled, shifting his feet before sitting down, and Jiah followed, sitting next to her brother.
He was back in a few seconds, putting the box on the coffee table in front of Ji Young. He reached for the box, but Taehyung swatted his hand away, "No," he said firmly, "I'll apply it on for you, I'm not letting you do this half-heartedly."
"It's okay, Taehyung, I'll-" Jiah tried to intervene, knowing her brother probably wasn't going to let him do it.
"Both of you are hurt, and if you think I'm going to let you guys leave here without getting treated properly, well, you're very wrong."
Ji Young seemed to give up, and that's when Jiah resigned too.
Taehyung then opened the box, cleaning up the wounds on Ji Young's forehead and arms.
"So," he started to speak, "Your sister tells me you like to play basketball?"
Don't do this Taehyung. Jiah couldn't help but plead in her head, Ji Young hated small talk.
"Yeah," he mumbled, clearly not wanting to continue the conversation.
He sure was a tough nut to crack, and she thanked Taehyung for even trying.
"I used to play in high school too, I was a point guard most of my years, but in my last year they switched me to a shooting guard, and I was so much better at that."
"Really?" Ji Young seemed to perk up at that and Jiah was surprised that he did.
"Yeah, I mean, of course I was amazing at being a point guard," Ji Young smiled a little when Taehyung said that, "But I really shine as a shooting guard. Even won player of the season at the end of the year."
"I used to be a point guard too!" he was getting a little excited, "And this year they changed me to a shooting guard after seeing me shoot a few hoops when playing around by myself. I'm pretty good at it if I do say so myself."
"Hey!" Taehyung grinned at Jiah, "He's like a mini-me!"
Seeing the smiles on both Ji Young's and Taehyung's faces caused her to beam as well.
"I bet he gets better grades than you ever did, though," Jiah gloated, and Taehyung raised an eyebrow, turning back to him.
Now he started to apply some ointment to his wounds, watching sadly as he winced at the touch. But he tried to continue the conversation, "Nah, nah, I was mostly A's at school, I doubt it."
"Mostly?" Ji Young challenged, "I'm all A's at school."
"Yeah right," Taehyung snorted, and Ji Young shook his head.
"I really am! I can show you my report card even," he turned to Jiah, "Noona, do you have my phone? I have a picture of it in there-"
"Hmm, right," Taehyung continued to play along, "How would I know you didn't fabricate the picture? All you kids with your technology these days, I don't trust a picture."
"Okay fine!" he grunted, "I'll show you the real thing next time, that'll put you in your place."
The joke sent the three of them in hysterical laughter, "Okay, I'm all done," Taehyung said once he had covered up Ji Young's cuts with band-aids.
"Thank you," he said, before a long yawn escaped his lips, "Oh my, I'm so sorry-"
"Aw, he's tired," Taehyung pouted and looked to Jiah, "Do you both want to sleep over? I've got a spare bedroom, I can sleep on the couch, and you can both use the beds."
"It's okay-" she was cut off when Ji Young yawned again. However, this one didn't seem involuntary. She was beginning to think he was starting to like Taehyung.
"I'm really sorry I didn't want to barge in on your Saturday like this-"
"Jiah," he shook his head, "I don't need to repeat it, you're never an intrusion, okay? I'll get a blanket and a change of clothes for Ji Young, and he can get settled in the bed, alright?"
She nodded, and he then stood up, disappearing behind his bedroom door.
"Okay spill," Ji Young hissed once Taehyung was out of earshot.
"Huh?"
"Who is he?"
"Oh! He's my boss, at World, sorry I didn't introduce you guys properly-"
"Your boss?" he asked as if to ask 'do you think I'm dumb?', "No, I meant, who is he? 'Jiah'," he coughed and said that last bit in a lower voice, she realised he was trying to imitate Taehyung, "'You're never an intrusion'."
"Shush," she snapped at him, but when Ji Young said it, she was able actually to think about those words. And like that, she felt an instant blush fight at her cheeks.
Luckily, Taehyung returned just moments after and passed Ji Young a folded pair of pants and a t-shirt.
"I wore these in high school, and I think they'll fit you."
"Thank you," he took the clothes and the blanket underneath it, and Taehyung showed him to the guest room.
"Let me know if you need anything, alright?"
He nodded, opening and closing the door behind him.
That was when Jiah breathed out a huge sigh, turning to look at Taehyung.
"Finally it's jus-"
But before she could say anything, he lunged forward and pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her tight.
"Taehyung?"
"Let me hold you," he muttered, "I've been wanting to do that for the past hour after seeing you like this. Let me remind myself that you're alive."
That last sentence made her fall apart, made her lose all the strength in her bones, and she just fell into him.
"I'm alive," she whispered into his chest, and she hated that this was the moment she let those tears she had been holding back all this while, fall. "I'm alive."
He slowly pulled back, taking her by the shoulder and searched for her eyes.
After a few minutes of him drinking her in, he finally spoke. "What happened Jiah?"
Jiah. That was her name. Not sweetheart. Sure, this whole time when Ji Young was around, he called her by her name, but she thought that was because he was around. Now that it's just them and he's still not calling her by the nickname he always did, she could confirm he was mad.
"I'm sorry, I-"
"Who do you take me for, Jiah?" his question took her by surprise.
"Huh?"
"I know you're used to doing everything by yourself, but now I'm here. I told you that we are in this together. I told you that I'm in this with you. That wasn't some empty promise Jiah; I really meant that. I want you to share everything with me. I thought that was what we were doing now."
She didn't reply; she didn't know what to say.
"I need you to promise me that next time something like this happens, you call me. I don't care if you call Jungkook too, or just anyone else, but I need you to call me. I need you to know I'm there for you, and I'm going to stop whatever the hell I'm doing and run to you. You need to trust that."
"I do," he seemed like he approved of that reply and finally let go of her shoulders to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
"Now, let's get you cleaned up," he sat on the coffee table and waited for her to sit down again, "And you're going to tell me what happened."
She didn't even think to refute that, and instead told him all that happened that day.
It was a heavy load for him; of course, he wasn't very used to all this fighting and danger.
"But why did he want to kill you?" he didn't get it, "Why did Ji Young beat him up? He doesn't seem like he would even kill a fly. It doesn't make sense."
"I know," she agreed, "I have to talk to him later about it, I don't think I have the whole story."
He nodded, "Well, I'm done," he taped the last bandage around her forearm and closed the first aid kit, "You're all cleaned up now."
"Thank you," she stood up, and he did too, picking up the box and putting it on the kitchen bench.
"You want to head to sleep now, Jiah?"
Since when did her name feel like another person's?
"Yeah, uhm," she looked around, "I'll sleep on the couch, you take your bed."
"Yeah," he laughed, "Like I'm letting you do that."
"It's fine, really-"
"I mean, we could always share the bed," he shrugged, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.
"Taehyung! My brother's in the next room!" she hissed.
"What?" he looked at her innocently, "I just meant sleep on the bed. Sleep on it together. Just sleeping! Goodness, what were you thinking?" he jokingly covered up his chest with his arms, and she shook her head with a smile.
"Do you have something I can change into? I don't really want to sleep in this."
"Uhm, I've got my office t-shirts-"
"Ugh," she groaned, "In the movies the boyfriend always has like a hoodie he lends his girlfriend, can't you give me one of those?"
"Wow, high profile assassin, mafia member Lee Jiah watches movies?"
"Shut up."
"And no, I don't have hoodies," he said dejectedly, "I've got sweaters!"
"You seem way too excited to lend me a sweater, relax honey."
She said that last bit teasingly, the same way she'd call Jungkook darling, just to make him mad.
But Taehyung definitely was not mad. On the contrary, she could have sworn he was blushing! The cold, casanova Kim Taehyung was blushing because she called him honey!
"I'm gonna go get that sweater," he mumbled under his breath when they were in the room, hiding behind the closet door.
When he came back, he was undeniably blushing.
"I uh... couldn't find pants I thought would fit you so I figured this might be the next best option."
Holding out the pile of clothes, she eyed him curiously as she took the yellow sweater off the top and underneath was a pair of boxer shorts.
"These are fine," she shrugged, "I'm okay with these," she tilted her head at him, a grin appearing at how embarrassed he was becoming, mainly because it was unwarranted. She then did what she'd wanted to do all night, she placed her hands on either side of his jaw and pulled his lips onto hers. He returned the kiss at first, moving his lips with hers, trying to wrap his arm around her waist, but stopped.
"Can you change out of these dirty clothes before we make out?" the way he was so straightforward made her laugh, thinking about how tired he must be.
"I can," taking the clothes, she walked into his closet and changed out of her own clothes.
"What do you think you and your brother would want for breakfast, by the way?" she heard him ask from the bed.
"Oh, Taehyung, you don't need to make us breakfast."
"Can you stop saying that?" he asked when she appeared again, wearing his clothes now and after washing her face. "Let me look after you."
"Okay," she joined him on the bed, "Eggs are fine."
"Scrambled? Poached?"
"Scrambled," she grinned and wrapped her arms around his waist, falling back on the bed, "Can we sleep now?"
"Oh, so you wanted to sleep sleep."
"Yeah, dumbo, sleep sleep."
"Fine," he grunted, and she inched up a little, pressing her lips to his. He smiled, hugging her waist and pulling her to him. Both their eyes drifted to a close, and like that they fell asleep.