Excerpt from Vicious (Sinners of Saint #1)
L. J. Shen

In Japanese culture, the significance of the cherry blossom tree dates back hundreds of years. The cherry blossom represents the fragility and magnificence of life. It's a reminder of how beautiful life is, almost overwhelmingly so, but that it is also heartbreakingly short.

As are relationships.

Be wise. Let your heart lead the way. And when you find someone who's worth it—never let them go.

Namjoon ran past me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me with him, so I was running too, almost falling over, for a reason I didn't know.

"What is chasing you?" I asked, wanting to stop because he definitely looked like the thing chasing him was not that bad.

"Just run, Jin! Run!" He laughed, letting go of my hand.

I followed him. Namjoon was faster but I wasn't a horrible runner so I was directly behind him while he kept looking over his shoulder.

We manuerved and meandered through the busy street and soon I was almost losing Namjoon until I caught sight of him dashing into a music store.

The bell hooked to the top of the frame chimed as I rushed through it and I spotted Namjoon duck into an isle. What the hell? He was still laughing. My head spiraled with what nonsense he must have done that had him laughing and running.

He was bent over, peeking through the small space above the cds in the shelves when I finally caught up to him.

"Did he see us come in?" Namjoon asked, his eyes darting from me to the door.

"Who?" I asked confused following his gaze to the door. I hadn't seen anyone at all. I didn't even have any idea if it was a human or an animal that had been chasing Namjoon.

"What did you do?" I asked, once I had caught my breath.

Namjoon grinned, his chest rising and falling heavily. He was still peeking through the partition, then he stood up straight. "That friend, the one I went to say hi to?"

"Yeah?" I nodded impatiently, crossing my arms over my chest.

"He isn't just a friend, " he explained, licking his lips.

I shook my head. I should have known. The way Namjoon smiled at that guy and automatically excused himself had been suspicious. Then they had disappeared for a couple of minutes before Namjoon had appeared from nowhere running like his ass was on fire.

"He also happens to be married, " he said and it all made sense to me.

"You're having an affair with a married guy?!" I gasped, eyes as wide as saucers as I stared at him in disbelief.

"How was I supposed to know? He wasn't wearing a ring! Plus he came on to me, and you know I hate saying no to people, " he said, defensively. Stupidly. I wanted to slap the shit out of him.

"Okay." I nodded, looking around the store. "Woah, SZA's new album is out. Give me a few bucks, " I said stretching out my hand.

"What?" Namjoon frowned then swatted my hand away. "No!"

"You see! You do know how to say no!" I accused, pointing at him.

"Look," he shook his head, "It's not as simple or as rebellious as it seems, okay? He looked pretty decent. Plus it's all your fault!"

My brows dipped in confusion. "My fault? Please, enlighten me on how I'm the reason you're having an affair with a married man."

"You said I should focus more on nice, decent looking guys. That was exactly what I did. And here we are, running from his husband, " he stated, sniffing and wiping away beads of sweat from his nose. He turned towards the door again.

"I didn't ask you to chase after married men! How can someone who cheats on his spouse with a teenager be decent? Didn't you see his ring?" I fired at Namjoon.

He was so infuriating. It was worse because this wasn't the first time he was caught in a drama with people in relationships. The last one had punched the lights out of him. Namjoon had passed out for three hours only to wake up with a black eye. I thought he would have learned his lessons by now. But he was just as worse.

"Married people don't wear rings anymore. Why are you even mad at me?" He frowned. "You should be consoling me. I was just used. That man used me and played with my emotions. I'm only a kid. He should be arrested. He's a Paedophile."

As I watched my eighteen years old best friend, I couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. I wanted to bicycle kick him into a different century.

"Should I call the police?" He asked, still playing his silly, little childish game.

Without saying anything because I was tired of speaking words had no effect, I turned away and headed for the door. I pushed through, stepping out onto the street. To think I had wasted my precious time running away from Namjoon's self inflicted problems when I was supposed to be at the library researching works for my History assignment.

"So, I shouldn't call the Police," He pressed on following me.

I swiveled, shooting him a glare. He took the hint and bit down on his lower lip. But I could see him fighting back the threatening amusement on his face.

I rolled eyes. "You need help, man. You're in desperate need of a shrink, " I said, continuing with my journey.

"Why are you so mad?" He asked, falling in next to me. "It was fun, adventurous. Tell me you didn't like the adrenaline rush of being chased?"

I shook my head. My idea of adventurous and his were totally different, because I definitely did not enjoy what had just happened. But with someone like Namjoon as my best friend, events like this were bound to happen occasionally.

"You're just pretending, " he resolved, folding his arms. But then I had to set the record straight for him because it seemed like he just wasn't getting it. So, I turned to him, my expression and stance completely serious.

"You think it's funny?" I asked him. He blinked taking in my seriousness. "That guy could have been holding a gun, for God's sake. He could have grabbed anything—a bottle, a brick—and smashed your dumb head with it. He could have caught up to you and beaten the living day lights out of you! Do you realise worse things could happen to you? Or are you just too comfortable being lucky that nemesis hasn't caught up with you yet?"

His lips pursed in a thin thoughtful line. He sighed lowly and lowered his head to scratch his scalp. "Sorry?"

He definitely wasn't sorry and I was definitely not going to continue on the matter. I turned around and walked off. There was no use anyways. My lips were beginning to have blisters from how much I'd spoken, advising this coconut head. He was just too stubborn, too... naive to think his actions were actually causing real damages.

He jogged up to me. "So, where are we headed?"

I wanted to ignore him. I wanted to remain mad at him and just stay in silence until he got tired of talking and went home. But I knew Namjoon too well, he wouldn't leave. He would follow me to the end of the world just to cure his boredom. "The Library."

He groaned, lolling his head. "Why!?" He cried. "What is up with you and the Library?"

"'Cause I have a use for it. You don't."

"You know me, too well. I'm not a school person. I'm more of a... Uh...." He placed his finger on his chin in thought.

"Sleeping with married people kind of person? High school drop out kind of person?"

He laughed. "Lots of billionaires are high school dropouts, " He defended proudly. "There's power in dropping out of school."

"Do you want to know the only way you, Namjoon, can become a billionaire?" I asked, turning to him briefly.

He chuckled, already knowing I was about to insult him. But he nodded, urging me on. "How?"

"By getting married to an already made billionaire, killing him and inheriting his money, " I said. "That is if he's stupid enough to will it all to you.

Namjoon laughed. "And that is exactly what I intend to do."

I shook my head. "You're a fool," I said, never failing to remind him.

Besides the fact that Namjoon was a fool half the time, he was actually a nice guy. Our friendship had started two years ago when he moved to Korea from where he had been based with his mother in America.

His older brother, Hoseok—who was my friend—had introduced us to each other. Hoseok, unlike Namjoon, lived with their dad in Korea. Their parents were divorced, so they had each been with one person until Hoseok became an idol and Namjoon was made to come back home to his roots.

At first, Hoseok had asked me to take of Namjoon who had enrolled in my school, but Namjoon had dropped out two weeks after but he still followed me around till this day.

As we walked, Namjoon engaged me in a conversation about his mother and the younger guy she was dating. He believed the young man was with her for her money, and his mother knew but she didn't care. She had the money and didn't mind spending it for his services.

When we walked into the large hall of the library, I found the place fortunately empty. It was Sunday, so I guess it explained the scantiness to an extent.

I grabbed an empty desk by the window and dropped my bag on the table. Namjoon sat across from me and while I fetched out my study material he retrieved his phone from his pocket and began to play on it to keep himself busy.

During class on Wednesday, I had taken down some book recommendations by the History teacher, Mrs. Chen, so I grabbed the paper and stood to my feet.

"Hey, " Namjoon called loudly, causing a couple of heads turn to us. "Where are you going to?"

I showed the sheet of paper to him, hoping it would answer his questions before waving him off and going to find the books.

The good thing about researching with books was that, each book you picked out would recommend another book for you and that other book would recommend and soon you have enough texts to gather your information from. Unlike internet researches where most of the information was excerpts or articles and the majority of the main information was locked. You'd have to sign up or pay to access them and I wasn't up for all that stress.

So, after visiting a few shelves, I was walking back to my seat with six text books, piled on top each other in my arms. I gently placed them down on the desk and slipped into my seat.

I stretched and straightened up for at least an hour and the half of utter concentration on my research but Namjoon leaned over the table. When I looked up at him, he was smiling slyly at me.

"Don't look back," he said, chuckling lowly.

Of course he shouldn't have started with that because I did look back but he cautioned me, causing me to turn back to him before I could actually see anything.

"Dude, I said don't look back!" He whisper yelled.

My brows furrowed in complete puzzlement. "Why?" I asked curiously.

His cautioning expression changed and he was smiling at me again. He bit his lips. "You have an admirer."

My brows furrowed the more. "What?"

He lowered his head atop the table, snickering. "This one guy, behind you, has been staring at you since you got up."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not in the mood for your jokes."

"I swear to you, " he said. Then he stealthily leaned back up, putting on a neutral look and looked past my shoulders. His expression changed again and he was laughing silently. "I fucking swear he's looking at you right now! Oh my God, you have an admirer."

I shifted on my chair. "Will you cut it out?"

"Turn around. Don't make it obvious that we're talking about him. Just do it casually, you know." He brought his phone to his face, pretending to be busy with it while I knew he was just hiding behind it so he could watch me do as he had said.

Now, I knew Namjoon was a joker. Most of the time he was unserious, but I was curious as to whether he was telling the truth and whom this person was.

So, I took in a deep breath. I scratched the back of my head, waiting for the right time to turn. But how was I to know when the time was right? I put my thumb to my lip and scrapped my teeth on it, probably taking in bacteria amd dusts I had picked up from the books.

I looked up at Namjoon and he was watching the supposed admirer. "Now, " he urged. "Look at him now. He's not looking."

I leaned back on my chair. I licked across my lower lip then trapped it in my teeth. Slowly, I turned resting my head on my shoulder as I looked back.

My eyes scanned the place as I searched the various guys sitting behind me, faces in whatever they were reading. I didn't know why I was bothering with this but curiousity got the better of me.

I heard Namjoon shuffle from across. "The one in the brown shirt," he said, the echo carrying his whisper to other ears because this one guy looked towards us and our gaze locked. Narrowed eyes pierced into mine and I snapped my head forward, and abruptly looked down at my textbook.

Namjoon slid down on his sit and hooded his face with his hand hanging above his brows. He must have seen my puzzled expression because he began to laugh. I was supposed to be working on my school work and here he was, talking to me about some guy checking me out. I rolled my eyes. "You're unbelievable."

"Aren't you going to do anything about it? He's still looking over."

I shook my head, eyes buried in my book. "Nope. Leave me alone."

Namjoon tsked, sighing. "Such a waste of admiration. I would be halfway through slurping on his dick like a popsicle right now, if it were me. God, I can swear with all I have that he has a big dick."

I pulled my lower lip in my teeth, resisting the urge to respond.

"Big thick, veiny with so much sperm. Fuck, he's so hot. I might let him give me an STD, if he has. But he doesn't look like he does althought it doesn't really show on—"

I slammed the book on the table in irritation. "Will you just shut the hell up?!" The burning stares from around me, caused me to keep my composure. "Sorry," I mumbled to everyone and no one in particular, before shooting Namjoon a glare and began to gather my things.

"Hey, where are you going?" He asked, picking up my pen that had rolled over to his front and handing it to me.

I snatched it from his hand and threw it into my bag, ignoring his question. I grabbed my bag, swung it over my shoulder and got to my feet. He started to get to his feet as well. "Stay," I ordered which led him to throw his arms up in the air in surrender. I returned the books to their respective aisles and left the building.

I hadn't even been able to get a single information let alone do my assignment, so I was going to have to settle for the restricted online resources that Google oh-so-kindly offered to me.

Clutching my backpack tightly to stop it from banging against my arm as I jogged down the stairs outside the Library, I heard someone behind me.

Namjoon just didn't get it. I swiveled to tell him off but held my breath and my tongue when I was faced with someone else. The guy from the library, the 'admirer'.

He was much closer, his face slightly slim and sharp around the edge. Deep brown eyes met mine with an inquisitive raised brow.

I immediately turned back around and continued my descent down the stairs, conscious of the person following behind me.

The instant my feet touched the concrete floor of the pedestrian sidewalk, I felt a hand graze mine and my head snapped downwards. His hand was lightly bigger than mine, laced with silver rings on every finger. Indecipherable tattoes covered the entire length of his forearm. When I brought my head up to shoot him a questioning look, he pulled away, slipping his hand into the front of his jean pocket.

"Hi," he said. His voice was soft. Not tiny, but deep yet feathery and appealing to the ears. He licked his lips. They were pink, but a transitioning darker shade of pink. I could guess he was a smoker. "You left in a hurry."

I looked him from the top of his head covered in a face cap but revealing blonde dyed hair down to his slimfit physique, to the Vans Vault on his feet.

My eyes dragged back to his face. His eyes held my gaze. "Sorry?"

"I was hoping to talk to you for minute."

I clutched the strap of my bag tighter, looking around the empty space around us before settling back on him. "Yeah?"

His expression morphed, and he smiled at me, licking his lips again. My eyes instinctively drew to the movement of his mouth. "Yeah. This might seem weird but I couldn't stop staring at you in there. I'd like to get to know you, if you don't mind. What's your name?"

"My name?"

"I think you're very cute," he said shamelessly, scratching an itch under his left eye before taking off his cap and combed his fingers through his full, shoulder length hair. His hair was tousled to the front in a stylish way. I wondered why he had covered it up in the first place.

"Your name, please," He said, breaking my focus from his distracting good looks.

"Jin," I stated. "Can I go now? I'm kind of in a hurry."

His lips tugged up at one side in a cute closed-teeth grin. "Actually, I want you to stay longer. No offense. I tend to speak freely whenever I like someone," He said like what had just come out of his mouth had been the most casual thing ever.

"Don't you think it's too early to like me?" I asked him, brows furrowed.

He shrugged. "I can't help it. I like who I like. There's no need denying it." He gave that cute smile again. "By the way, I'm Jungkook."

"Jungkook," I said, trapping my lower lip between my teeth. He had a unique name that suit him well. It was playful yet elegant, matching his vibrant yet sophisticated demeanor. My brain had never analyzed any name the way it did his. His eyes darted to my lips, forcing me to chew on it. He was still staring, smiling. "There's something about you."

"There is?" He asked. "Am I being weird?"

"Not weird," I said. It was something else but I couldn't place it at that moment. "I just haven't met anyone quite like you before," I said, honestly. "Are you always so... forward?"

"Most of the time. Although, I hope I'm not offending you in anyway. That's the last thing I want to do."

He sounded so gentlemanly. No one had ever spoken to me with such confidence, politeness and gentleness all in one. There was something riveting about his manners.

"You're not offending me, Jungkook. But I really have to go."

"That's okay," he said, letting out an exhale. "But I'd like to see you again. I don't know, maybe we can hang out tomorrow? What time will you be free?"

"I don't think so."

"Please, Jin?"

"I'm sorry, Jungkook, but I'll have to pass," I said to him, watching a shadow of disappointment pass in his expression when he nodded. "I have a lot to do now, so I'm just going to leave."

He flashed a dimpled smile at me, and took one step back on the steps. "Of course. I understand completely."

To be honest, I was shocked he didn't push further or insist I give him my number. Instead, he remained on the steps, his hands shoved into his pockets. As I walked away, I could feel his gaze burning and piercing on me.

Hi, you guys 💕

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I'll like to think the book gets better as we progress but that's up to you to read and find out.

So, there are a couple of things I'd like to inform you about pertaining the theme and warnings of this book.

Theme: romance, angst, lust, thriller.

Warnings: This is a MATURE story. strong language, sex, mentions of self-harm, depression, suicide and death. If there are other things you need to know, I'll inform you about them in the future.

Because the book is just starting out, I'll be posting the first three chapters today. And consecutively, updates will be every Tuesday and Friday.

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Thank you 💕