Sorry, for this selfish self of mine,

Sorry, even if I'm late already

Rain drove with no destination in her mind. The window on her side was open and the air whipped inside, whipping her hair in directions they were not meant to be in. The vibrations of the engine resonated through her body as she crossed the speed limit. She delved deeper and deeper, right into the heart of Seoul. The car swerved, passing every other car on road like a blur. The restlessness chased the car and the Porshe tried harder to get rid of it. Changing the gear, she spun the steering as she took a smooth turn into one of the less frequented highways. 

Pressing the horn she waited as a pitch black car ahead of her blocked the road. Two other cars slid into view on either side of her as another black car tailed her own. With their windows blackened she could see the reflection of a disheveled girl with panic rising in her eyes. The surrounded car slowed down to match the pace of the others. She honked again but none of them budged. Definitely not the cops. 

Removing her phone she dialed the first number on her contact list. She put the phone on speaker while nervously tapping the steering wheel. On the second ring the phone connected.

"Rain?"

She honked again. "Jin, I'm surrounded"

"What?"

Rain breathed through her mouth as the cars picked up speed around her. "I'm surrounded Jin! Four black cars on all sides, I can't even take a turn or speed up!"

"Where are you?"

Rain looked at a passing road sign. "On my way to Incheon"

"Send your location, I'll be there soon", Jin said and Rain heard the vibrations of an engine before the call ended. Taking a deep breath in Rain looked at her phone and sent her location.

Yoongi's words echoed in her mind as for the first time she let go of her fear and focused on analyzing the situation instead. Placing a hand on the gear and another on the steering wheel she focused on the car directly ahead of her. She was going to get out. But her beloved car wouldn't go unscathed.

Just as a fork in the road appeared, the car in front of her sped up. Seizing the opportunity she changed the gear immediately and waited until there was enough distance between the two cars before taking a sharp left to a fork out of the main road. The cars on either side of her immediately started tailing her.

Placing both her hands on the steering, she stepped on the accelerator that sped her up. The engine humming louder with every crossing limit on the road less taken. Looking at the mirror she saw the cars trailing her closely. With a huff of a breath, her foot fell on the gas, the speedometer crossing a ninety, a hundred, a hundred-twenty. The inertia of the car threatened to throw her body back but she held strong. Adrenaline burned through her veins as the night air whipped through her dark locks, entangling them. Everything was taut, threatened by a thread ready to snap.

Rain's eyes fell on the street lights ahead of her and she sighed in relief as she hoped she was entering the city. Her mahogany eyes flitted to the rearview mirror again as she saw her chasers gaining speed but not enough to catch up with her. 

Looking straight ahead, she saw the lights growing bigger, too fast. Too large to be distant lights. They were no streetlights.  The realization hit her as panic flared in her chest and she turned the car to her left with a twist of her wrists. Too much momentum.

Rain screamed as the glass of her passenger seat shattered, the car pirouetted in circles, rubber burning against asphalt. The tires skidded to a halt, almost toppling the car. Her windshield shattered next and shards of glass grazed every part of her that lay exposed but her hands still held the steering in a vice-like grip. 

She exhaled heavily as she saw headlights line up in front of her. An arm holding a gun stretched out from the car right in front of her. Closing her eyes she braced for the impact as a shot fired, a blur of fire and metal.

Tires screeched all around her. 

The shot never found it's target.

Confused, Rain opened her eyes and squinted at the outline in front of her headlights. A silver Lamborghini Countach. 

Looking around her she let out a gasp. 

To her right stood a black Mercedes, with it's end almost in contact with a charcoal Audi followed by a pearl white Maserati, an onyx BMW M5 and finally a Aston Martin of a metallic beige color completing a hexagon around her own Porsche. 

She heard a set of tires screech and multiple gunshots filled the night sky. She could just make out a Harley-Davidson roll into the scene with the rider illuminated by the headlights of all the cars. As one hand veered the bike, the other held a gun high firing incessantly like  rain pattering on a stormy night. When he stopped directly in front of Namjoon's headlights, her heart skipped a beat and her breath hitched. 

Jungkook's black shirt covered only the arm holding his gun. She could see all his veins pop in his muscles while holding the bike steady with the other. His leather pants, his fingerless leather gloves, his boots, his empty holster threw Rain off her feet. His face bore a look of fierce concentration as he saw the last of the black cars flee from the scene. Placing the gun back in the holster he glanced in Namjoon's direction before kicking off and following the car.

Rain didn't realize she was shaking until her hand struggled to grab the door's handle. Finally throwing open the door she stumbled out. With the adrenaline fading away she felt the ache in her stiff muscles and a burning pain across her cheek, her neck as well as her right arm. 

Just as she staggered towards the silver car, Jin's body collided with her. Holding her tight he finally sighed in relief. Her head rested in the crook of his neck, breathing in his airy cologne. Her hands snaked around his waist releasing a shaky breath. It felt perfect; to be right there in his embrace, shielded from everything that could go wrong. Their breaths rose and fell to the same beat, their heartbeats racing from the witch hunt that could have ended in a worse way.

As Jin pulled away, a strand of Rain's brooch clung on to his woven sweater but before she could stop him, he pulled back completely. 

The string snapped. 

One by one the diamonds the fell to the ground like hailstones pelting the ground, each shining like a shooting star in the short time that the headlights of the midnight car fell on them.

Everyone stood frozen, watching their only way back home fall apart right before their eyes. 

~

The ride back home was deathly silent. Yoongi didn't dare look at the girl sitting beside him in his car. He had clearly seen the shift of emotions in her eyes. From the fear and panic, to their drained look immediately turning to relief when Jin had embraced her. And finally the damp, shimmering look mixed with resentment and horror as they followed the movement of diamonds falling to the ground. She clambered in vain to catch and put them together.  After all that she had gone through that night, she sat in defeat.

If he did not know how much the brooch had meant to her, he knew now. 

His own heart had stopped beating when the brooch broke. His hopes had risen sky high when Jin's message relayed him that they had found the brooch. He had been on the top of Namsan tower then. He had smiled in joy and could not wait to get back. Now, he plummeted head on.

Silence suffocated each one of them when the brooch broke, yet Namjoon had strength to give orders. He had asked him to take Rain back home so if needed he could grab her and disappear. Jin was to stay back. Hoseok was sent to find Jungkook while he had given a pained glance to Taehyung with Jimin by his side, like always, a comfort for his friend. He had felt numb looking at the pile of shiny stones. They were as good as grains of sand, now that its value could not be replaced.

As the car halted in front of their house, his eyes finally flickered to Rain. Her head rested against the window, her eyes closed and her chest rising up and back down with steady breaths. Silently he observed her moonlit face. His eyes falling on the scratches on her face and neck, not deep enough to leave a scar but enough to cut her vein. Her top was stained by blood. Her eyebrows seemed to be knit, even in sleep. A few stray strands had fallen on her face during the ride. He put them behind her ears delicately, careful to not wake her up.

He took in a deep breath, staring out at the sleeping world. Endless thoughts running in his mind wondering if he could have stopped the night's events had he been more observant of her car to pop right into it and drive her away from the danger. Only if he could have been a bit more alert, a tad bit faster. The sleeping figure stirred, curling into herself pulling Yoongi's attention to her. And it was then that he actually looked outside. 

It had started to snow.

~

Rain groaned.

Slowly sitting up, she grimaced at the ache in her arm. Looking at herself she couldn't help but stare at the white bandage peeking out from her shirt. Looking at the lack of shine behind her curtains she concluded that the night had yet not ended. Sliding off the bed she went to mirror on her dresser and stared at the bandaids on her face and neck. As she sat there the night's events hit her like a wrecking ball.

Sliding her hands into her pocket, she grasped cold reality as her fingers closed around one of the many diamonds. Closing her eyes, she saw it all over again. The single strand of the brooch connected to Jin's sweater before getting pulled too far, too fast. The diamonds falling to the ground one by one crushing her hope along the way. 

Opening her eyes she took deep heavy breaths trying to push the discomfort in her chest away. Air refused to go down her neck and her face turned baby pink. It felt as though her body wanted to curl into itself to protect itself from the impending thoughts. Holding her head in both of her hands she felt the onslaught of tears when a soft knock on the door demanded her attention. Sitting up straight she sniffed her tears away and said, "Come in".

The door creaked open and Jin stood there, still adorning the cardigan and pants from the previous night but this time with hair that stuck out in every direction as if he had spent the entire night clawing at it and a single strand of wool astray on his cardigan. The one that had got stuck to the brooch.

Stepping in he placed both his hands in his pockets as he searched her face, pausing at each of the band aids. Her frame sat straight, too uptight and cautious. Yet, her eyes bore the weight of the shattered diamonds.

"How are you?", he asked as he gave a last lingering glance at the bandage near her neck.

Rain saw the way his eyes had avoided her own and she felt guilt claw at her heart. She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault. That it was an accident, but she couldn't, not when the pain of losing not only a way to go back to her birthplace but also one of the last things that her mother had left behind in the world clouded her mind. What would have happened had he not worn that damned cardigan? He did not have to embrace her! Well, even if he did, why did he not wait before abruptly pulling away? Why did he get to decide to involve her with an alternate reality when she was already struggling living one? And yet he had the audacity to face her after she lost the only keepsake that was the proof of her roots. The guilt morphed into fury and her voice was emotionless when she said, "What do you think?".

Jin paused. "Rain I'm sorry for everything that happened".

"As you should be". Rain snapped.

Jin's eyes finally looked at her own and she saw the silent plea to understand him. Taking a deep breath in she sighed. "Why did you come here?"

"Rain I'm really sorry for everything but I can't sit back knowing there is still a way for us to go back to Velros", he started, prodding on the possibility.

"And what is that?" Her voice softened.

"We think that your power or rather your true self could get us back seeing how Aurelia could travel". Jin took a tentative step towards her.

"And how do you think you are going to do that because you see for my true self  I need my memories back" she shot back - skeptical at the hope he offered. 

"I think that if all seven of us use our powers to fabricate a circumstance so that your powers kick in early..."

Rain stood up abruptly and walked to him. Standing just inches away from his face she stared at him with her glossy eyes. "By that you actually mean a life threatening situation so that my powers may show up, just seconds before I die to save me? And what if that doesn't happen Jin? What if I actually do die?"

Jin voice wavered. "No, no none of us would do anything that puts your life in danger I was just-"

"You were just what? Trying to suggest an alternative? Trying to set things right?". Rain scoffed. "That's too high a price I should pay for someone else's mistake." 

Jin sucked a breath. "Rain I need you to understand-"

"No I won't understand Jin! I just lost something that was more than a ticket back home and let's be honest if I hadn't met you all in the first place I would never have been attacked! I would have been just happy living my life the way it was!". Rain breathed heavily. Is it that easy for him to casually drop the idea of risking someone he was not well acquainted with for his own personal interests?

Her words struck a chord in him, stinging the fresh wound of guilt. He went beyond himself to keep everyone safe. He wondered whether she had an ounce of idea what it was like to be cursed with knowledge, unlike her, and to fend for themselves in an unknown world. He remembered the fear in her eyes after the chase. Clearly, someone let their emotions get the better of them. He boomed, "It wasn't only you! All of us lost our way back home and speaking about honesty I wasn't the one who ran off with the brooch on just because someone mentioned their mother! I wasn't the one who was foolish enough to get into trouble wearing something that was apparently so precious to me! I am not the coward who runs away from my past!"

The next few seconds seemed like several hours as Rain's shimmering eyes stared right into Jin's black ones. She saw them shift from anger to regret but it did nothing to soften the impact of his words as they hung in the air elucidating the truth untold. She could not bear the the weight of her actions and her shoulders started curling in again. It was all her fault after all. A tear rolled down her cheek and her quiet voice broke the silence before Jin's could.

"I'm sorry"

Dear Readers,

Oof!

First, I've been gone long enough for ya'll to think I disappeared off the face of Earth 💀

Second, I truly wish I could ditch my reality just so that I can delve into this one, and talking about this one....quite an intense chapter, isn't it?

Not only did Rain go through a roller coaster of emotions but just as she did, the others did too. Owing to her outburst she failed to see their struggles but I for one think her actions are justified to a point.

The chase was quite unexpected and it sure did lead to a very disastrous consequence. Let hold on to our horses and see how Rain manages her way around this one.

Till next time,

Auf Wiedersehen!

~RV