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"She hasn't eaten in days..." Jen said as she watched Lisa by the window sleeping soundly next to her brother. She didn't leave his side since they brought him in. We only found out about it when we saw the news.

Demigods are still half-mortals. They might have the gods as their parents but that doesn't mean they're immune to gunshots. Or stabs or anything, really. They just receive extraordinary gifts from their "god" parent. Just like how Mingyu can shapeshift.

Jennie felt a hand on her shoulder. She leaned in to his body for support as she watched her brother fight for his life.

"I'll talk to her, Jen," Yoongi assured her. "You should eat too. Ro bought some food."

Jennie turned to Rosé and held her hand. Seeing her determined eyes,

They walked towards Jisoo and Jin before heading straight to a hospital room.

"Even if he did all of that... he didn't deserve this," she said as she cried. "He's still my brother and it pains me to see him like that."

Jisoo gently patted her back. "He's a strong kid, Jen. He'll come through. They detained Jaewon for questioning."

"Do you think he did it though?" Rosé asked. "Hoseok said he was with his brother that time."

"And you believe him?" Jennie blurted out. "The guy exposed him in public. He'd do anything for that so-called brother of his just to get him out of trouble."

"Jen, Hoseok's our friend—"

"Yours, maybe. Mine, hardly."

"Jen—"

"So now I don't get to be angry at anyone? My brother's barely holding on to his life! What do you expect me to do? Give him a teddy bear for being Brother of the Year?!"

Rosé and Jisoo didn't argue. They understand where Jennie's coming from but they also understand Hoseok.

A few minutes passed and the door suddenly opened.

"I have more food," Taehyung said as he entered the room. "Jimin brought clothes for Lisa too. She still won't eat?"

Jennie sighed before nodding.

"That girl," Taehyung mumbled as he sat across the girls. "She's gonna get sick."

With the exception of Hoseok, all of them decided to take turns visiting Jungkook and watching over Lisa.

"I still can't believe Jungkook was shot," Rosé said softly. "I just hope they find whoever did this to him—"

Suddenly, the hospital room's door opened and an unexpected guest walked in.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" She blurted out causing the guys to jolt up.

"Jennie I—"

"Leave," she cut him off. "We don't need someone like you here."

"Jen..." Rosé held her hand.

"My parents paid for this room so I have the right to tell anyone I don't want here to leave," she spat then locked gazes with Hoseok. "I don't want a traitor around me."

"I was just protecting my brother!" He argued. "You should understand 'coz you have one."

"Yeah but at least I don't go around putting people on the spot," she countered. "He wouldn't be in this position if not for you. You did this to him. And if he dies, you killed him."

Hoseok wasn't able to defend himself. Because deep inside, guilt was eating him up. If he didn't start yapping about Jungkook's identity, he and Lisa wouldn't have argued. Partly, he's guilty.

"Jen, it's no one's fault," Taehyung said as he stepped in between the two. "They said it was am attempted robbery. Exposed or not, it could've still happened."

"You're a hypocrite," Hoseok then spat. "You told Rosé everything even if it wasn't your story to tell. You told Jisoo and Jin too. What difference do we even have?"

This made Jennie's expression soften. She looked away because he was right. Deep inside, Jennie's been blaming herself. If she didn't tell the others, it wouldn't have come to this. If neither one of them knew, all of this would've been prevented.

"You're right," she said softly. "It's my fault. I did this to my brother."

"Jen... No," Jisoo said. "It's no one's fault. I know this isn't the best time to say this but he chose to reveal it himself."

"Jisoo's right," Jin seconded. "I mean, he can always deny it and say he isn't The Fate since someone seemed to have hacked it."

"Why did he even do this stupid blog in the first place?" Jimin sighed.

"It was my idea," Taehyung said which shocked everyone. "I teased him about not being able to confess his true feelings to Lisa. I said if he couldn't talk to her upfront why not be her secret admirer. I didn't think he'd do it but I was really shocked when he told me he actually made a pseudo. And that was The Fate."

"Wait. But The Fate's posts about Lisa was really mean," Rosé chimed.

"Well, Jungkook doesn't exactly know how to deliver his feelings towards another person," Taehyung explained. "He wanted to give what Lisa wanted when we were in middle school. To be Olympus High's Queen Bee. And when The Fate started to post things about Lisa, everybody started talking about her. Everyone wanted to know more about her. Everyone wanted to be her."

"And she became Queen," Jennie said softly. "Because she became the talk of the town. The center of attention."

Taehyung nodded.

"So when she left, Jungkook wanted to find her," he continued. "He kept posting about our friends—anything really, just to get her out of hiding. Then..."

"Jimin and I became a couple," Rosé supplied. "But he shouldn't have posted our video—"

"It was to keep Jimin from getting close to Lisa again," Namjoon suddenly entered the room. "'Coz it would seem like you two had no intention of letting her know."

"It was all on me, Joon," Jimin defended. "I... Rosé wanted to come clean but I stopped her. I was scared she'd get mad at me."

"She was," Jisoo said monotonically. "But I guess not anymore. You both found who you were truly meant for. And she... she looked happy with him too."

"But it got messy 'coz everyone knew..." Rosé mumbled. "Still, I can't do anything about it anymore. Plus what's important is that Lis and I are okay and I'm still with Yoongi."

"So it's his twisted way to send love letters to Lisa?" Jin asked.

"We all know Jungkook isn't the sweet type pf guy," Namjoon said as he sighed. "His ways are... different. Unlike us, he grew up alone. Zeus isn't exactly the fatherly type. So he tried to get Lisa's attention the only way he knew how."

"But didn't Lisa follow him around when we were kids?" Jennie suddenly asked.

"Maybe he did like Lis," Jisoo suggested. "But as what you guys said, he just didn't know how to show it. And when Lisa didn't like him anymore..."

"He got pissed," Taehyung supplied. "So he made it a thing to piss her off too. And then made that site. I guess Jungkook's just... misunderstood. His ways are clearly peculiar but it's Jungkook. For him, everything is always a big scheme."

"I guess he did manage to help us in some ways..." Jisoo said as she held Jin's hand. Taehyung did the same with Jimin. Namjoon and Jennie locked but looked away after a quick second.

"Why are you all defending him?" Lisa suddenly barged in. All heads turned towards the girl by the door.

"Well it's just..." Taehyung scratched the back of his head.

"Well you don't have to defend him," she said. "I still won't forgive him—"

"Lisa—"

"Will you let me finish, oppa?" She rolled her eyes at Namjoon. "I won't forgive 'til he explains it to me himself. So he better wake up soon or I won't forgive him even if he crawls out of Tartarus."

And with that, Lisa grabbed the bag Jimin's holding and went inside the bathroom.

"They are the weirdest couple I've ever seen," Jin commented which the others agreed.

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"What made you agree to Lisa, Tzu?" Mingyu asked as they walked on the street hand in hand. "She didn't actually banish you after the last scheme we did with Ji Eun."

Tzuyu just smiled sweetly at her boyfriend.

"It's all about the right investment, beau," she chuckled. "And right now I think I just made the right decision. Even if Lisa has the crown, I'm pretty sure her seat's very much vacant seeing as his boyfriend has been disposed... she's unfit to rule."

"So you're gonna fill in for her?"

"Oh dear gods, no," she replied before grinning widely. "I'm not just gonna fill in for her. I'm taking over."

"How? I mean, the circle members are still here guarding her throne."

"Oh my dear Mingyu," Tzuyu gently patted his cheek. "You still have a lot to learn. But don't worry. Experience is best first hand."

"What are you planning, Tzuyu?"

She just smirked.

"Do you know how to play chess, Gyu?"

Tzuyu took out a small chess board and laid it out on the grass. She then places the pieces on their respective places.

"These are the circle members. Most of them are just pawns so we don't need to bother ourselves with them," she started then raised the "King" piece. "Let's say this is Lisa. She's protected by all the pieces. Each chess piece has a vital role on this board. So if you want to defeat the enemy you must remove the most powerful piece—the Queen."

Mingyu's forehead creased. "Did you have anything to do with Jungkook getting shot?!"

"Maybe, maybe not," she simply replied. "Whoever shot him might've held a grudge. A big one. But one thing's for sure, it wasn't a robbery."

Mingyu held both Tzuyu's shoulder. "Ya, Tzuyu. Killing is a whole other level! If you shot him you could go to jail! If Zeus finds out, you're toast!"

She removed his hands and scoffed. "I didn't kill him. Someone else took the liberty of doing it for me which at least lessened the work I'd be doing."

"And you know who did it?"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," she said shrugging. "Whoever it was, I'm honestly thankful. I don't need to get my hands dirty this time."

Then she took put her phone.

"I'm not the only one those two ruined."

🌻

"I'm scared. I... I didn't mean to shoot him. I just wanted to scare him—"

"Shhh..." he patted her back to calm her down. "Don't worry about it. No one saw you. And we took his phone and stuff so the cops said it was robbery. All we need to do now is destroy the phone and his wallet and we're all done."

"But... But he might die..."

"Serves him right for everything he did. They did."

"But—"

"Hush now, darling. All's well that ends well."

🌻

Not everything is what it seems. Great storms can't knock an oak tree down but termites can. Beware of the greatest insider, L. Who knows, she might look like a great friend but when the make up wears off she's a just this tiny little devil consuming everything you've worked hard for.

you know you love me, xoxo
The Fate 💋