Jiah was running through the alleyway, trying to heave in deep breaths as she did so in order to continue.

She wasn't going to stop, not now.

"You better come quick," her boss's voice echoed in her ear, "This boy's not going to be able to wait long enough for you."

The vision of Taehyung chained to a seat, blood staining his forehead, arms and legs kept her going.

No. No. No.

She couldn't let anything happen to him.

Finally getting to the restaurant, she threw the door open, only to reveal the pitch-black room. Her breathing got heavier, as she stumbled over her feet, trying to find the switch.

Fortunately, the lights flickered on in a second, her boss standing in the centre of the room, a small pistol in his hand. Sitting on a chair next to him was Taehyung, dangerously close to the gun.

But he wasn't just sitting there; he was crying.

"Jiah! Run!"

"Shut up," her boss snapped, but Taehyung shook his head.

"Jiah, run! They're trying to kill you-"

The gunshot deafened her, the room going black in an instant.

--

Her eyes shot open, bouncing up and gasping for air. Jiah was gripping at her neck, forcing in a deep breath and then puffing out as much air as she could.

Taehyung jolted up as well, hearing the commotion, his eyes filled with worry as he held her shoulders.

"Jiah! Jiah, are you alright?"

She spun to face him, tears now streaming down her face as her previously terrified demeanour was soon replaced with relief, eyes scanning every inch of him before slumping into his embrace, whispering the same thing over and over.

"Thank God. Thank God you're safe."

Taehyung bit his lip, with his eyebrows, furrowed he pulled her closer to him.

He hated that she had to face this nightmare always, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He hated that he wasn't able to tear down the enemy, continually shoving these harrowing thoughts into her head. He wanted nothing more than to fight these tormenting monsters of hers, but he was helpless.

She pulled back slightly, trembling hands rising and taking his face in hers.

His lips that grew cherry blossoms. His cheeks where orchids would bloom. His eyes were made of pure diamond. His eyelashes which caught stardust that fell.

Her lips quivered, and she wasn't even ashamed as she whimpered, staring back at the man before her.

He, too, found tears pricking in the back of his eyes as he watched the woman he loves break down in front of him.

"I'm o-okay," he managed to whisper, not knowing what else he could say.

"Why-" she sobbed, "Why are you doing this, Taehyung? You could be f-free from this; you can walk away and live your own l-life, why are you still here? You can walk away... you can l-leave... I can't," the last two words were just a whisper, but he heard her.

He always heard her.

"Firstly," he planted a soft smile across his lips, "I live here, okay? I can't really walk away."

Waiting for her response, he frowned. Attempt at lightening the mood; failed.

"Secondly," sighing, he rested his head in her lap, looking up at her, "I don't know how many times I'll have to say this; I love you dearly. I'm not leaving you while you're here fighting demons that you wish would leave you alone."

She groaned, leaning back against the bed frame, but only gently as to not disturb his position, "You could get killed Taehyung-"

"So could you!" he added and she shook her head.

"But that's my life. This is who I am, I've had years to get used to it, and now it's all I know- this is not your life-"

"It is."

"No, it-"

"You're my life now, Jiah," his voice was stern, "so you're going to have to put up with me, no matter what you want."

"Taehyun-"

"Do you not love me? You said you love me?"

"More than I could ever describe," she replied, wistfully.

So he got up, pinching her cheek gently, "I love you too, and I'm never leaving you, okay?"

--

"Hello?" Jungkook's tone was more questioning when he answered the phone.

"Good morning!" the cheery voice on the other line was not something he was used to.

Although he didn't hate it.

"What's up?"

"What are you doing today? Are you free?"

"I'm... uh, I'm going to work today, it's Monday."

"Perfect!"

"What?"

"Text me the address of your tattoo shop," Jimin didn't even try to hide the giddiness in his tone, "I'll see you then!"

The line went dead, only leaving Jungkook to stare at his phone screen with his eyebrows furrowed.

After a few seconds of debating whether or not he should send him his address, he ended up doing so.

Because, while he still walked with the notion that Jimin was nothing more than a mere acquaintance, his heart wanted to see him.

And so that morning, he threw on his jeans and top a little faster, pulled his leather jacket over his shoulders a little happier, and strode out of his bedroom feeling a little different.

"Morning, hyung!" Ji Young stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth, "You heading out now?"

"Yes, little man," taking some of the boy's omelette in his hand, Jungkook plopped it into his mouth.

"Can I catch a ride?"

"Only if we can get going now," why did he want to leave so quickly?

"Okay, let's go!" Ji Young grinned, jumping out of his seat and putting the plate into the sink.

It wasn't long before Jungkook arrived at his school, letting him off and sending curt nods the way of schoolgirls who were fawning over him.

Their giggles hid behind textbooks and blushing fighting at their cheeks, they just about melted when he smiled at them.

Ji Young saw the whole interaction, punching Jungkook in the stomach with a snort.

"Trust you to have the girls swooning over you literally in seconds."

"I'm sure you have the same impact on them too, don't you, buddy?"

"Nope," he shook his head, "Girl repellent right here."

Jungkook laughed, ruffling the little boy's hair, "Good. Focus on your studies."

"Oh yeah? Like you did?"

"Like I did," Jungkook lied.

"That's why you dropped out in grade 11?"

"Shut up punk, get to class," he shook his head, "Do you want me to pick you up after school?"

"No, it's okay, I'll take the bus. See you!"

And when Ji Young left, there was only one person left on Jungkook's mind.

With that, he revved his engine (causing more gasps and giggles from the girls again) and headed to his tattoo shop.

To find Jimin leaning his back against his parked car, wearing a simple blue button-down and black slacks. Coupled with a pair of sunglasses to shield him from the blazing sun that morning.

But his eyes-

"Good morning, sunshine," Jimin joked when Jungkook swerved into his usual spot by the door, "On the door, it says you open at nine," he clicked his tongue, "It's nine-fifteen."

"It's my store," he shrugged, ignoring the pet name he had just given him, "I don't get in trouble for opening late."

"Oh the freedom," he sang, a grin threatening to spread across his face.

After Jungkook had taken his helmet off and was now looking at him properly, he hated that all he was thinking was; take your sunglasses off.

"So what's up? Why are you here?"

Now, he let that grin rip across his face. Jungkook could have sworn he felt ten times lighter.

"Why else? You're giving me a tattoo today."

"Huh? I am?"

"I've been debating it for the longest time! And I decided to get an inspirational quote just on the side of my chest, you know? Like down here," he traced his finger from just under his armpit to his waist.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow, unlocking his front door and letting Jimin in.

"An inspirational quote? That's what you went with?"

"Yeah, you said they're famous, didn't you?"

"I did..." he spun to face him, shaking his head.

"I'm joking, I want this," Jimin turned his phone on, showing Jungkook the screen.

Plainly enough, there was a picture of Saturn, spinning on its axis with three small stars surrounding it.

The surprise Jungkook felt couldn't have been hidden from his expression as he looked up at Jimin again.

"What?" he took his sunglasses off, batting his eyelashes, "You said my eyes look like Saturn, didn't you?"

Oh yes. They really did.

They were so beautiful.

Yellow. Gold. Orange.

They were a mirage of magnificent colours, and Jungkook couldn't limit them to one.

How could he reduce something so spellbinding to one word, when the colours invite us to marvel at their simplicity?

He coughed, "Uh- yeah, kinda."

What was happening to him?

Sitting down at his desk, he pointed at the seat across from him, welcoming him to sit down.

"Where do you want it?"

"Where do you think I should get it? I was thinking about the arm, but I need to seem professional in meetings and stuff so probably hidden."

"The peck is a good idea; I reckon that's a perfect place for your first one."

"You just want to see me with my shirt off," Jimin teased, and Jungkook's eyes widened.

Feeling the heat rise to his cheeks, the conflicting emotions that were settled in the pit of his stomach started to rage.

Was he blushing?

"I'm only kidding," Jimin's fingers flew to his shirt, "I think that's a good idea."

"No, no, no-" Jungkook held his hands up, "You can take your shirt off in the room. I'll get my equipment ready."

--

Why was he holding his breath?

As Jimin unbuttoned his shirt and swung himself onto the chair, why was Jungkook staring at the wall behind him, too afraid to turn his head?

He had seen countless people naked; it was his job to. But what was happening to him now?

"So here?" Jimin's voice broke his trance, and he finally looked down.

Was it only his eyes that reflected the gold of Saturn? Because now he was sure it was his whole being.

The little imperfections in his skin seemed like the Milky Way, small comets and asteroids plucked from the sky and splayed across it.

He didn't need tattoos; his body was already embedded with the universe.

As his heart belonged to every star.

"Yep," Jungkook could only croak, and he beat himself internally for it, "You're sure about this?"

Jimin grinned again, and Jungkook had to put down the tattoo gun for fear he was going to throw it at the wall.

When he wasn't smiling, he was begging to see it again. And when he was smiling, he wished it would never leave.

"I'm sure," he bit his lips, "It's not going to hurt much, is it?"

"Uh, I don't know what to tell you, mate," Jungkook looked around and picked up a small plushy. It was a strawberry that one of his client's children had left behind one day. He had kept it for a reason unbeknownst to him, but it would come in handy now.  "Hold onto this and squeeze if it gets too much."

"Alright, let's do this!"

Jungkook put his gloves on, taking a deep breath as he prepared himself to hold place his hand on Jimin's chest.

And when he finally did it, he could see in Jimin look up at him through the corner of his eye.

With that, his fingers started to tremble, and he didn't know how to stop it.

"Don't," his voice was low as he quickly let out and Jimin furrowed his eyebrows.

"What?" he hissed; the pain was starting to get to him.

"Don't look at me; I need to focus."

"Why- Okay."

--

"My gosh-" Jimin was giddy. His eyes had the fire of the sun in them as he jumped off the seat to look at himself at the full-length mirror.

"It's beautiful!"

"Careful, careful!" Jungkook ran behind him, "You haven't put the- you need to put the-" he stopped when he was standing behind him, watching Jimin's reflection in the mirror.

Jimin as well lifted his gaze from the tattoo on his chest, meeting Jungkook's eyes.

"I didn't know I wasn't supposed to look at you when you worked, sorry."

"Oh- no, that's- don't apologise," their eyes never left each other's, although Jungkook really wished he could have looked away.

He hated that Jimin just seeped everything out of him. Everything he'd rather keep under wraps.

"I just- you looked so... cool with the tattoo gun, I don't normally see you that way."

Jungkook blinked, finally being able to look away to save himself from embarrassment.

He didn't want Jimin to see he was blushing again.

Why was he blushing again?

"You mean cool? You don't normally see me that way?" he faked a gasp, "I'm offended."

"You know what I mean," Jimin laughed, "Thank you so much for giving this to me."

"Now sit down again, I'm not done."

While Jungkook put the pad and bandage over his tattoo, Jimin was telling him about some trade deal he had to put up with for the last week. It was something that made him quite angry because of the irresponsible decisions the other party was making.

But Jungkook could only watch as he would roll his eyes, use his other hand animatedly and then wince at the pain, shaking his head at how absurd he found their actions.

And Jungkook smiled.

He couldn't stop himself.

"You can take this off after about seven hours," he said after he was finally finished applying the bandage. "Pat it dry afterwards and put some of this cream."

"That's it?"

"Also after you take your bandage off, try to keep the tat exposed to air as much as possible, it heals faster that way."

"Okay, got it," he hopped off the seat and reached for his shirt, "Thank you so much again. Honestly, it's-"

Jimin stopped talking when he heard a tear.

Looking down at his shirt he realised it had been caught in some sort of machine and when he pulled a little too hard, it ripped a little.

"Did I really just do that?" he rolled his eyes, "I'm so stupid oh my-"

Jungkook got up and untangled the shirt from the machine, "You really did."

"What am I going to do now?" Jimin groaned, "I can't wear that."

"Give it to me," Jungkook took the shirt, "I'll fix it for you. Give me ten minutes."

"You'll fix it?" Jimin raised an eyebrow, "Like what? Reverse time-"

"Have you had breakfast?"

"Well, no, not really."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jungkook had led him out of the tattoo room and into the lounge, walking behind the bench while Jimin sat in the stool again.

"I had a coffee, that's enough for me."

"A coffee?" Jungkook shook his head and turned to his fridge behind the counter and opened it, "I made this a few days ago, it should still be good. You can finish it," he told Jimin as he heated it in the microwave, "Need to clear out the food in here anyway."

"I'm fine, Jungkook, really-"

"Please finish it; no one else's going to eat it."

"Is that because it's not tasty? I mean you said you made it-"

"Okay, you can call me uncool but don't say anything about my cooking until you've tried it," after Jungkook put the container in front of Jimin, he crossed his arms over his chest, "Because you'll have to take it all back."

When he did so, he remembered Jimin was still shirtless, and he blinked as he turned back to his shirt. Reaching underneath the benchtop, he pulled out a sewing kit from the drawer.

Jimin's eyes widened as he tasted the japchae Jungkook had handed him, "This is amazing Jungkook! Are you sure you didn't buy this, and you're claiming-"

"I made it, wow you really have little faith in me, don't you?" Jungkook shook his head playfully as he opened the sewing box.

Pulling out a thread the same blue as Jimin's shirt and a needle, he started to get to work.

"Wait, are you sewing it up? Yourself?"

"Yes. Yes, I am, do you have a problem with that?"

"No, just... you can sew? And you can cook? No way," Jimin nodded, continuing to eat more of the food, "True wifey material."

"Okay first of all," Jungkook started, still sewing, "I don't have to be a woman to cook and sew."

Jimin smiled in agreement.

"Secondly, why does everyone act so surprised when they find out I can sew and cook?"

"Sorry. It's just not what one expects of a member of one of the baddest gangs in the city you know."

Jungkook huffed, "Sewing is manly. So is cooking. I'll have you know, many women fall deeper in love with me after finding out I can do both."

"I'm sure of it," Jimin laughed, "But truly, this is so good, I can't stop eating."

"I'm glad you like it."

"I hope your sewing is half as good as your cooking because I got to go to work in that."

"You're going to work after this?"

Disappointment.

Jungkook heard it in his own voice.

Why did he have to wear his heart on his sleeve like that? And be so blatantly obvious when he spoke?

Jimin definitely heard the small pinch of sadness in his tone and frowned.

"Yeah, a lot of stuff piled up in the weekend, sorry I couldn't stay longer."

Jungkook wanted to shake his head. Don't apologise. You didn't have to stay.

He wanted to tell Jimin he didn't mean anything by it.

But the damn man made it impossible for Jungkook to lie.

"It's okay."

--

That evening, Jiah was already at their hideout, waiting for Jungkook as she went through their next steps.

They were so stuck, it felt like they had just hit a wall, and there was no going around, over, or under it.

Their enemy was much too powerful. They just didn't know what to do.

The door clicked open, and Jiah turned to watch Jungkook trudge in, falling onto the sofa after tossing the keys to his motorbike onto the table.

"Hello," she pat his head as he rested it in her lap, "You okay?"

"Guess who came in for a tattoo today."

"Hmm, the president."

Jungkook glared at her, "Okay fine. I'll just tell you. It was Jimin."

"What? Jimin? Our Jimin? Saturn Jimin?"

"Yep. Saturn Jimin."

"No way! What did he get?"

"Saturn-" Jungkook closed his eyes as he remembered the ink on his skin.

Man, it was beautiful.

"That's so cool," she gushed, "was that his first? I bet he looked amazing, where did he get it?"

"Yeah, it's his first tattoo," Jungkook sat up and started to fiddle with his fingers, "He got it on his chest."

"Hmm, what a sight," Jiah grinned to herself, "Wait- wait a minute."

"Huh? What?"

Leaning over, she reached for his shirt, pulling it down slightly to reveal his latest tattoo as well.

"You guys have matching ones now!" she exclaimed, "Does he know you guys have matching ones?"

"No, uhm, I didn't tell him."

"Jungkook," she sang, "That's cute, you know?"

"What do you know about being cute?" he scoffed. "You don't know what being cute means."

But he, too, didn't remember what he used to think cute was.

Because now, all he could picture was the way Jimin's eyes would crinkle at the sides when he smiled. And how that evening at the Han River, he wore an oversized sweater in which he clutched the ends of the sleeves like they were paws. Or how Jimin would often laugh so much he'd nearly fall out of his chair.

"Okay, anyway, we need to get back to work Jungkook. We need to figure out our next steps."

Jungkook sighed, standing up and walking to their bulletin board.

"I was thinking I meet up with Scar at the office tomorrow, tell him what Hoseok wrote for us, he could help us on our way, right?"

"I just- you looked so... cool with the tattoo gun, I don't normally see you that way."

Jimin's voice rung in his ears.

"Yeah, a lot of stuff piled up in the weekend, sorry I couldn't stay longer."

Jiah faded from view, and Jungkook found himself alone in the room again.

Alone with his thoughts.

Being with Jimin that day made him think about his life back home, how he was trapped in a cage.

He would never have been allowed to befriend someone like him. Now he didn't know how he would have coped without Jimin.

Jungkook never talked about it, but he always felt the anxiety about being taken back home, nipping at him.

One day it'll all be gone, he'd have to leave everything he'd built here and go back to the seat he'd been born to live in.

He wanted to stay, he wanted Jiah, he wanted Jimin, he wanted Hoseok, he wanted everything to be right in his life.

He hated that everything he did was wrong and nothing he did could correct it.

He just wanted everything.

But everything was just wrong.

And he wanted nothing.

He didn't understand how he could feel that way; how could he want everything but nothing at the same time?

But then he realised that wasn't it.

Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.

He had been through life, telling himself he wanted everything.

Telling himself, he was okay with it now. He had twenty-four years to get used to it; he was okay with this life. He wanted this life.

But who was he kidding, he wanted none of that.

He wanted to be free, he wanted to cut off the chains his family put him in, and he wanted to run away.

He wanted nothing.

"I want out, Jiah."

Only then did she blur back into view, her worried eyes coming into focus. That's when Jungkook realised he was crying. His fingers trembling, and his lips shaking as he looked up at his friend.

But more than that, the way he called her name was like a shot to her heart.

"Jungkook..." she whispered, kneeling next to her best friend, taking his hands in hers, "Jungkook, I already told you when you joined; the only way out is in a body bag. We aren't getting out of this."

"I know, and before I used to be okay with all this," tears started to slip from his eyes. And Jiah hated that this was the first time she had ever seen him cry. Over this. "But now, Jiah, now I have too much to lose."

"Bu-"

"I never knew this would happen to me. I never knew I would find people I cared about this much before, Jiah if I died a few months ago nothing would have gone wrong. It wouldn't have hurt; no one would have known."

She had to bite her lip to stop herself from breaking down in front of him too.

Because he put into words all the crazy thoughts running around in her head.

They were a mess.

They both had monsters. They both had demons of their past - blood on their hands.

And that would never go away, no matter how much they pretended their past didn't exist.

They were done telling themselves they killed bad people. They killed because they were ordered to. They were done with it all.

They wanted out. 

That's such a long chapter wow

But I hope you liked it!

The little jikook scenes here literally made me so giddy

The truth is I didn't start the story planning to get these two to be friends but it seemed the characters have a mind of their own honestly

Let me know what you guys think!